Santa Barbara County Action Network will celebrate and honor Dick Flacks for his lifelong activism during our "Making History/Making Blintzes" Brunch and Fundraiser on Sunday, Nov. 12 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at El Paseo Mexican Restaurant, 10 El Paseo, in Santa Barbara.
"Making History/Making Blintzes"
Brunch & Blintzes,
Music & Merrymaking
SBCAN’s Tribute to Dick Flacks
featuring
Prof. Flacks and Friends Looking Forward
Investigative journalist Melinda Burns will interview Dick about his lifelong activism. Then Dick will ask community members he has worked with over the years to briefly comment on their hopes and concerns for the future.
Those who will be giving comments are:
3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann
Former president of UFCW Local 770 John Grant
Environmental Defense Center Chief Counsel Linda Krop
Santa Barbara Unified School District Trustee Gabe Escobedo
and CAUSE Co-Executive Director Lucas Zucker.
Also invited is Daraka Larimore-Hall, who does a podcast with Dick and is the former vice chair of the California Democratic Party.
We hope you will join us in recognizing Dick Flacks and support SBCAN’s important work by sponsoring and attending our event.
Thanks to our Early Sponsors:
Dick Mazess
UFCW Local 770
Anna & Petar Kokotovic
Harvey Molotch & Glenn Wharton
Santa Barbara Independent
Former State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson & Judge George Eskin (ret.)
Marc Chytilo & Nancy Weiss
Janet Blevins & Gary Smith
Gail Osherenko & Oran Young
Rich Appelbaum & Karen Shapiro
Eileen Boris & Nelson Lichtenstein
Leila Rupp & Verta Taylor
SBCC Foundation
Santa Barbara Foundation
CAUSE
SEIU Local 721
Santa Maria-Lompoc Branch of the NAACP
Martin Luther King Jr Committee-Santa Barbara
1st District Supervisor Das Williams
David Landecker
Ruth Ackerman
BL Borovay & George Relles
Goleta City Councilmember James Kyriaco
Gail Teton-Landis
Vicky Blum
Evely Laser Shlensky
Virginia Souza
Congressman Salud Carbajal
Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County
Goleta City Councilmember Kyle Richards
Dick has dedicated his life to social activism. He and his late wife Mickey chronicled their political and personal lives in their memoir, “Making History/Making Blintzes.” The book throws light on how their values were formed from growing up “Red Diaper babies” in 1950s New York City and beginning their social activism in the 1960s, through using folk music as self-expression, to making blintzes for their family.
More than 20 years ago, Dick and Mickey Flacks helped found Santa Barbara County Action Network—the first countywide grassroots progressive organization in the region’s history. They invited several activists to meet in their living room to discuss how to build bridges between the north and the south parts of the county and between environmental and social justice movements. The group founded SBCAN in January 2002. Today, those bridges are in place and thriving, with several strong, progressive organizations supporting each other.
SBCAN will celebrate Dick’s lifelong contributions through music and merrymaking, blintzes and brunch. We’ll hear some of Dick’s personal life story, see a short, fun video, sing some music and hear from some community leaders who work with Dick. They will join him to speak of their concerns and hopes for the future.
Your sponsorship will honor Dick Flacks and reflect your commitment to the community. You will also benefit from significant publicity through our email and Facebook promotions, on our website, in public acknowledgements and in our Tribute Book. We will help connect you with our members and friends throughout the county.
This event will also help SBCAN raise some of the funds needed to keep doing our part to carry this type of work forward.
We hope you will support SBCAN and join us in honoring Dick through your sponsorship and by attending the event.
Please respond by Nov. 3 to be published in the Tribute Book.