Imagining Community

Guillermo Mash with Imagining Community presenting the concluding episode in our Imagining Community three part series on the life and times of Bill Russell (1934 - 2022). The episode centers around Bill Russell's upbringing and how his family shaped who he was as a person, forming the springboard for a conversation with Cory Himp Hunt, Chico local musician, poet and KZFR 90.1FM Peace and Social Justice host, as we dig deep into my upbringing and the deeply personal missteps, travails and misgivings with racism and bigotry.

The voice of Bill Russell is from the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. It is an excerpt from a 3-hour interview in 2013 with Bill Russell and Taylor Branch. Bill Russell is an NBA Legend, Presidential Medal of Freedom reciepient and a civil rights Icon. Taylor Branch is an American author and historian who wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy chronicling the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and much of the history of the American civil rights movement. All of our audio clips featuring Bill Russell were from this archive.

We end the episode landing on what people of all races, Caucasians in particular, can do to change the atmosphere of racism by telling personal stories of racism transgressions and how their views changed, for the better, because of it.

We close with an audio clip by Toni Morrison who lays bare the bereft nature of Racism and what "white people" need to do about it. Morrison was one of the most celebrated authors in the world. In addition to writing plays, and children's books, her novels have earned her countless prestigious awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. Morrison was a leading voice in the civil rights movement.

The planet lost one of it's finest artistic reflections on Tuesday, September 27th with the death of Carey Wilson. It was always a joy spending time with my friend Carey Wilson. With his gentle smile and carefree laugh, augmenting well crafted words.

Remembering Carey Wilson features the music, poetry and spoken word of a man who will always be my favorite Chico Culture Vulture. With the musical and witty genius of Jeffy Bee as he recalls some of his favorite memories with Carey when he was the drummer in Jeffy's band Biggs Roller. Jeffy also performs Tractor, an original song inspired by Carey's love of tractors. Listeners are also treated to two Biggs Roller songs featuring Carey Wilson on drums.

With Guillermo Mash reading a dozen of the Facebook posts loving on Carey since his death on Tuesday, September 27th. The show concludes with a phone conversation with Carey, Guillermo Mash, Rob Davidson, Carey's Creative Writing professor when he was in the graduate program at Chico State. It's a real treat to hear Carey read a dozen of his poems at the beginning of the ending segment.

The bulk of the Remembering Carey Wilson episode was culled from two Imagining Community shows Carey contributed to -- In Concert with Water from September, 2021 and the Carey Wilson Appreciation Show from June of 2022.

Hello, Guillermo Mash welcoming you to part 2 of a special Imagining Community series on the legendary life and times of Bill Russell. As aired on the KZFR 90.1FM Peace and Social Justice Show. Listen to Part 1 on the Imagining Community podcast available on your favorite podcasting platform.

William Felton Russell, Feb-12-1934 to Jul-31-2022, had his #6 Boston Celtics jersey permanently retired across the entire NBA on Aug-11-2022. A first in the 76-year history of the league. For the 2022-2023 NBA basketball season every player in the league will wear a commemorative patch for Russell and every NBA arena will have the Boston Celtic's shamrock with Russell's #6 at center court.

His endurable basketball accomplishments tended to overshadow his humble civil and human rights advocacy that culminated with him being honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

Todays segment features highlights from the last two hours of Bill Russell's 3-hour interview in May of 2013 for the Civil Rights history project. It covers a lot of ground, just as the life of this extraordinary man did.

Our Imagining Community Series concludes on October 7th as Cory Himp Hunt interviews me about the series, where I'll share my personal experience with racism. It will be a raw and unfiltered view of what I saw, what I did and what I regret about the racism and intolerance that permeated my childhood and early adult life. Including the last time I used the N-word. It's vital to me that this series moves forward the message and actions of Russell locally, and helps raise awareness and action for equal treatment and respect for all.

Addison Winslow, raised, rooted and renting in Chico, converses with fellow urban renewal activists Nick Botek and Terry Burton at a coffee shop across the street from Collingwood Garden in Toledo, Ohio. As broadcast on the KZFR 90.1FM Ecotopia program, August 7, 2018.

00:00 - Show introduction with Ecotopia guest host Guillermo Mash.
02:27 - Interview lead-in - How urban agriculture is transforming Detroit , by "Fearless Farmer," Davita Davison for Ted Talks, 2018
15:27 -- Addison Winslow on location with Nick Botek and Terry A. Burton.

One of the most popular and engaging Imagining Community KZFR Studio #416 musical creations featuring the music and curations of Jesi Naomi. With live portions recorded on the North Fork of the Feather River in Belden, California and Big Chico Creek on the Campus of Chico State. Originally aired April 2021 during Imagining Community's year-long series on water.

A Without a Roof special segment: The July, 13 2022 groundbreaking ceremony for Chico Housing Action Team's exciting new tiny home village. The show leads with three Without a Roof vignettes, circa 2013, of houseless human beings suffering mental illness on the streets of Chico, providing a context for the desperate need for emergency shelter projects such as Everhart Village. Includes the entire ceremony with attendee interviews by Guillermo Mash for KZFR 90.1 FM.

A special post Camp Fire episode broadcast on KZFR 90.1FM in May of 2019, featuring local artist and educator Jess Mercer. -- "Every school has it's own energy and cultural. I just try to work with that. I'm not just there for the kids but the staff as well to offer them relief and something positive. For four hours on a Monday we do something different; which is called celebrate joy, be present and just njoy each other's company." -- Jess Mercer

"My journey in life is to find peace. Peace is what keeps people sane. Loyalty and love are the precious objects of peace." -- Shadow, from the book Writing for Donuts, Volume 2

I produced a Writing for Donuts expose (tinyurl.com/w4dKZFR) for KZFR 90.1FM which aired Wednesday, January 12th on the Writing on Air program. Once curated into the worthiness it deserved, I listened to it over and over. You see, some of the youth who wrote for donuts are my friends. Precious friends who I share time and stories -- with the earnest care nestled within as a runaway in 1976. As much as their experience converges and diverges with mine, the essence is the same. Making ones way as a teenager. Some of the wisest words I have read are, "be the person you needed when you were a child." Being the person I myself needed is the most precious actuation of loyalty and love I have given to bear.

One of those friends is Olivia who high-fived me when I told her I was a runaway at 16. "Me too," she said. Years later she named here first vehicle Guillermo, after me. Another is Kyle, who once told me he couldn't believe he had a friend like me. I stopped walking and looked him in the eye, "I feel the same about you."

Guillermo Mash on behalf of KZFR and Writing on Air, thanks all the voices who contributed to this radio segment and to the 104 writers featured in the book.

A, Aaron, Adam, Alex Jury, Alexa B, Alexander Wolf, Amanda C, Angel, Anonymous, Ashley, Bre H-W, Brelyn, Buggy, Carrington Forbes, Cedra T, Coral D, Courtnie B, Death, Dennis G, Donna A, Dr Jones (aka doughboy), E, EIT, Emporer Augustus the Elitist, Figs, Flying Spirit, Gabi, Gaby R, Girl, Gypsy, Hati, Hezi (Aka Heather S), HG, Jace, Jackson NJ, James, Jaymi, Jimmy V, Joe, Jose, Joseph, Joseph Franke, Josh, JR, Justin, Justin F, Justin Fernandez, Justin R, Kay, Kim S, Krystal Gatewood, Kyle, Kyle M, Kyle T, Lily, Loredana, Lucia, M, Malinda, Mama bear, Manalo G, Maxson, Mike R, Moose, Natalie Stowe, Nick, Prudence and Adam, Purple Dragon, Robert H, Robert L, Rocco W, Ross, S, Sandwhich, Sara Clifton, Shadow, Shae, Shaun P, Shawn Pope, Shelley, Sho Thao, Siena, Skorase, Skorase Spyglass, Sky, Spencer Douglas Hines, Stefanie, Summer, Sweet, Talara, Taylor K, That one Girl, The son you used to know, Tim L, Tyler, Unknown, Veronica, Vivian, Will, Will F, Zachary Foster, Zak, Zane S

Writing for Donuts volumes one and two are available at the Bookstore, 118 Main Street in Chico.

"Best practices comes out of many minds." -- Bob Trausch, co-founder of Chico Housing Action Team (CHAT), on solutions founded on listening to, and collaborating with, the entire community.

Solutions Across the Divide, Thursday, January 6, 2022 on KZFR 90.1FM. Produced and hosted by Bill (Guillermo) Mash, featuring a talking across the divide conversation with Chico News and Review Editor, Jason Cassidy and Enterprise Record Editor, Mike Wolcott.

"I think there are some solutions to be found in this town. Cuz there are a lot of people who care that are really smart people." -- Mike Wolcott

"A big part of it is to getting people in the same room together. It's really hard to call somebody a name, or even to identify a person as an enemy or a problem. The divide can be bridged by just being in the same room." -- Jason Cassidy

We also feature conversational prompts from clips featuring the insights and wisdom of Bob Trausch, and Justin Lee author of Talking Across the Divide: how to communicate with people you disagree with and maybe change the world. Lee, a gay christian, has spent more than twenty years building bridges between conservatives and progressives.

"Sincere people can be wrong, and wrong people can be sincere. I know it sounds simple, but it's more powerful than you think." -- Justin Lee

Guillermo Mash from Imagining Community coffee chats with life-long, mid-twenties-aged, Addison Winslow who shares his extensive knowledge of the neighborhoods of Chico, California. All within the context of Strong Towns and Not Just Bikes, two popular, apolitical research organizations that shed light on what makes for a safe, happy and thriving community.

We set the tone with three Paradise, California residents displaced by the Camp Fire, passionately speaking from the podium of the climate chaos action outside the San Francisco office of BlackRock Corporation. Followed by the audio portion of "A message from the future of Paradise", concluding with, Allen Myers, the Filmmaker and Executive Director of Regenerating Paradise.

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Guillermo Mash with Imagining Community welcoming you to our 2021 season finale on water, featuring an interview with water protector and h20 policy analyst Jim Brobeck. It's a feature unlike none other this year as Brobeck details the symbiotic relationship between his music and the watersheds he has championed to farmers, electeds, enthusiasts and the precious community of humans, wildlife, flora and fauna. With waterside musical performances as recorded and produced by Imagining Community for our 2021 series on water.

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Introducing Covering Ground Farm in Chico, California. CGF is an all organic regenerative farm realized by farmer Paul Prather, owner and chief architect. Features interviews on Covering Ground Farm in August and September with Paul Prather and Jared Geiser, a local AG expert and farmer who shares his extensive knowledge about mulching.

"We still have a lot to go in this process. The LAFCO approval stage is a new beginning." -- Debra Lucero, Butte County Supervisor for District 2

Highlights from the Tuscan Water District public hearing held on September 28th during the Board of Supervisors meeting. Includes all of the comments Supervisor Lucero made after the public input portion concluded. With Commentary by Guillermo Mash.

"Supervisor Lucero represents the district I live in. I applaud and appreciate the hundreds of hours she has dedicated towards reseaching this issue and educating the public on the nuts and bolts. Her efforts greatly enhanced public awareness and input on the TWD which is precisely what a supervisor should be doing for the benefits of their constituents, particularly when District 2 comprises the bulk of the proposed TWD map." -- Guillermo Mash
With musical guest the North State Symphony, including a show ending interview with Music Director Scott Seaton.

An Imagining Community spotlight on the project management actions of the Vina Groundwater Sustainability Plan. Our segment features Jim Brobeck, water policy analyst and Vina GSA Stakeholder Advisory Committee member as he summarizes all 15 of the proposed Tuscan Aquifer, Vina Sub-basin PMAs.

Thank you Jim Brobeck for your detailed insights on the first set of proposed projects to bring the Vina Sub Basin groundwater into compliance . We end our show with Dry Dry Dry, a Jim Brobeck original recorded on the south bank of Big Chico Creek by Imagining Community. Plz share this podcast with your friends and check out our social media on youtube, facebook and instagram.

Imagining Community reporting for KZFR 90.1FM for Thursday, September 9, 2021 with a short report on the recent vigilante murder Guy Steven Vanzant, a destitute man living Without a Roof at Teichert Ponds. Followed by continuing coverage of the Tuscan Water District featuring the joint Vina Groundwater Sustainability Agency and Rock Creek Reclamation District board meeting where a review of the Sustainable Groundwater Management plans was voted on. Thus closing the books on changes to the Project Management Actions that were submitted to the state on Friday, September 10, 2021

As aired on KZFR 90.1FM on September 2, 2021 -- Audio excerpts from the 4.5 hour Butte County Water Commission TWD agenda item discussion, concluding with a 6 to 3 vote to recommend. With commentary and opinion by Guillermo Mash, host of Imagining Community.

"There's so much animosity and controversy going on right now. I think people should see this film because they need to know what is really happening. What the cops are doing and what their paid officials are doing." -- Smiley, houseless in Chico, California on why you should see[1] Lost and Found in the Park.
A special Without a Roof "Lost and Found in the Park" segment with Respectful Revolution filmmakers Stacey Wear and Gerard Ungerman, joined by the words and wisdom of the nine houseless neighbors featured in the gritty, 50-minute film featuring nine people living outdoors in Chico's two main encampments - Tiechert Pond and Comanche Creek. As aired on KZFR 90.1FM on July 28, 2021.
[1] Online viewing options coming SOON.

As aired on KZFR 90.1FM on 6/3/2021 -- "I am really grateful for water. Water is definitely a teacher. It's about learning and being humble, a humble student of water, and understanding that water is relationship. That we are part of a watershed, that we have waters inside of us and waters around us, and that is not a coincidence." -- Sheridan Noelani Enomoto

Sheridan Noelani Enomoto's wisdom and passion for water, and Run4Salmon. Guillermo Mash reflects on the passion love and wisdom of the Indigenous community, as covered by Imagining Community since November, 2019.

Allen Harthorn, Executive Director of Friends of Butte Creek, details the three main solution points that FoBC are working on. A true deep dive into all things Salmon and how FoBC is making a difference in the Butte Creek Watershed.

Music by Jesi Naomi and Jim Brobeck

Ideal conditions for a prescribed burn were present on Monday, May 17th as approximately 100-acres of grassland in Upper Bidwell Park off Wildwood Avenue in Chico, California was burned as part of the City of Chico's recently adopted Vegetation Fuels Management Plan. Guillermo Mash covered the #goodfire burn for Imagining Community, snapping the first image of smoke in the air at 9:10 a.m. concluding our coverage at 2:30 p.m. as it was declared, "all tied in." Our segment starts with Mike Watner, Fire Captain with the Chico Fire Department.

Zeke Lunder has 25-years of experience putting out fires and managing wildland landscapes. In this Imagining Community Episode Lunder will be discussing red flag warnings and fire safety contrasted with the 550-acre Gunnison grassfire just north of Chico, California on Saturday, May 8, 2021. This segment aired on Chico News and Review on the Radio for Thursday, May 13, 2021.
We end the episode with a bonus feature, as aired on the May 6, 2021 edition of Imagining Community on KZFR 90.1FM. In this segment Lunder covers the gamut of his experience with fire from the salmon observation deck at the home of Allen Harthorn with Friends of Butte Creek, in Helltown, California.
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Imagining Community continues our coverage of defunding university police with breaking news from California State University Fullerton, as reported by the school's student newspaper the Daily Titan, along with a follow-up interview with Melys Bonifacio-Jerez, co-intern of Students for a Quality Education (SQE) on the campus of California State University, Chico.
Students for Quality Education was formed in 2007-2008 by California State University students to build a student movement for educational rights in public higher education, with assistance by the California Faculty Association. Today SQE has an active presence on all 23 California State University Campuses providing a student body led voice for change, including organizing statewide actions such as the Northern California Defund the University Police Car Caravan protest held in the parking lot of the University Police Department at California State University, Sacramento on Saturday May 1st.
As aired on KZFR 90.1FM Chico News and Review on the radio, Thursday, May 6, 2021.

"Defund disband, no more cops on stolen land." -- Melys Bonifacio

Imagining Community delves into what "defund the police", means, the marginalized communities affected by police brutality and what police officers, sheriffs and community members think about Defunding the Police. Music from Defund the Sheriff, and several other tracks, are used to relay the strife and passion of the movement to defund the police.
The spotlight feature is from the Saturday morning May 1st California Faculty Association in collaboration with North State Students for a Quality Education caravan protest on the campus of California State University at Sacramento. 17 automobiles and roughly 3 dozen protestors attended the event staged in the parking lot directly in front of the Sacramento State police department. Assistant Chico State Professor Lesa Johnson gave a rousing speech at the start of the event to recognize the courageous work of CSU students towards disarming and abolishing on campus police presence.
As aired on KZFR 90.1FM on Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Imagining Community with a special, Thursday, April 15, 2021 KZFR 90.1FM Chico News and Review radio segment on the successful Sacramento Source to Sea kayak trip by Mount Shasta residents Alyssa Winkelman and Ari Kosel who, along with Alaskan filmmaker Jamie Trapp, completed a 21 day Sacramento River paddle at the Golden Gate Bridge on April 3rd. The crew had to change their plans for rafting from the Box Dam at Lake Siskiuyou, downstream ~25-miles to Sims Flat near the unincorporated community of Castella, California due in large to the low flows below the dam.
Imagining Community talked with Winkelman on Monday, April 12th about the low water levels experienced during the entirety of their trip, her observations on water conservation within the Chico agriculture community and details on the production of their documentary film.
Please follow and like Imagining Community on your favorite podcasting platform, and enjoy our imagery on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube Stay abreast of our 2021 series on Water by signing up for our a monthly newsletter. Until the next time always remember, if you have a roof be grateful.

The crew of Sacramento Source to Sea discusses Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Native American culture with Mechoodpda Tribal member, and TEK educator Ali Meders-Knight at GRUB CSA Farm in Chico, California on day 8 of their paddle. This segment was aired on KZFR 90.1FM on Thursday, April 1, 2021.
Imagining Community extends huge congrads to the Source to Sea crew for completing their journey to the sea on Saturday, April 3, 2021!

Imagining Community welcomes you to experience the all women, three person crew of Sacramento Source to Sea, during their layover at GRUB CSA Farm in Chico, California. We start our segment with Francine Stuelpnagel who, along with her husband Lee, hosted the crew for an overnight on their all organic, 25-acre Community Supported Agriculture farm in Chico, California. We transition to Ali Meders-Knight, a Traditional Ecological Knowledge educator and Mechoopda tribal member reflecting on the experience of sharing her cultural and ecological knowledge with the crew of Sacramento Source to Sea. Our Imagining Community segment concludes with the insights and laughter of the Sacramento Source to Sea Crew as they cover the gamut of Manager the mascot, birds, funny moments, pranks and reflections of the sights and sounds of the upper Sacramento River. Recorded on location at GRUB CSA Farm in, fittingly enough, a barn.

The latest Shane Grammer mural project titled “The Last Forgotten Flower”, spreading cultural awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, was all set to commence at Fifth and Ivy in Chico, California on Saturday, March 20th, when Grammer's newly formed Hope Through Art Foundation received news the day prior to the installation that the location was a no go. Although the owner of the wall was thrilled to beautify her businesses with the mastery of an artist who gained national fame for his burn-scar murals in Paradise, California, permission to use the lawn of an adjacent fraternity house as a staging area was denied. That's when Ali Meders-Knight, a local native American artist and Mechoopda Tribal member, sprang into action securing an alternative site.
The new site at 2nd and Cedar near downtown Chico was not only a better location visually, it's canvas was much bigger than the original site and allowed local mural artist Christian Garcia to contribute a wolf to the tapestry along with Indian Paint Brush flowers painted by Ali Meder's Knight, all done alongside Grammer's stunning portrait of a native American woman Let's listen now to all three of the artists sharing thoughts on their collaborative work with Ron Toppi on location for Imagining Community.
The event was attended by some sixty people, including Debra Lucero, Butte County Board of Supervisors for District #2. We include three additional interviews for extended coverage that wasn't aired on Chico News and Review on the Radio for KZFR 90.1FM on Thursday, March 25, 2021.
Click here for Imagining Community photography from the mural dedication.

"What I do, and what my office does, is we study, learn about, monitor and protect the environment and biological resources. Especially around Lake Oroville. A lot of what I do is monitoring projects for the species and ecosystems that are around the lake, and around the Feather River." -- Dennis Finger, a molecular environmental biologist and scientific aid with the California Department of Water Resources
An Imagining Community conversation in Upper Bidwell Park with Dennis Finger. Witnessing Dennis describe his wildlife sightings and the passion he has for the outdoors and watersheds was a joy to behold. Enjoy...

"Our core mandate is to raise resources for programs serving young women. Girls and young women, and connecting them to nature, to outdoor adventure and outdoor education opportunities. Where I live in California in the Bay Area, and other places, it can be easy to loose sight of the fact that women, and particularly girls, remain very, very inequitably served with those sort of opportunities." -- Alison Wright, co-founder of The Cairn Project
Imagining Community spotlights The Cairn Project, for girls and young woman, expanding outdoor access by supporting community-based wilderness and outdoor education groups around the country through a small grants program.
We open our segment with audio excerpts from the recent youtube video "Would you like ice with that?" produced by outdoor adventurer Annie Le Outside who spent the entire month of February, 2021 immersing herself in the frigid waters near her home in Scotland to raise money for The Cairn Project. Followed by audio from a 2018 video by co-founder Sarah Castle as she trains for her Collegiate Peaks Loop hike, leading us into an Imagining Community phone interview with The Cairn Project's other co-founder, Alison Wright.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge featuring a January 2020 pyrogeography field tour by Don Hankins, professor of Geography and Planning at California State University at Chico. The walk was a component of a Prescribed Burns on Private Property workshop hosted by Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve, and highlights major aspects of using fire to shape and heal the landscape including necessary burn qualifications, native grasses, burn techniques and practical tips by Hankins. You'll hear from a handful of the two-dozen participants, including wildland firefighter Ross Brannon and Wolfy Rougle, conservation associate at Butte County Conservation District. It's fitting that the walk was entirely in the rain, sometimes heavy, for our in production season 3 year long story on water! The low rumble of pitter patter you'll hear is rain bouncing off the umbrella protecting our recording equipment.
Mechoopda Tribal Member and TEK educator Ali Meders-Knight provides commentary on the audio excerpts and leads our segment with Miwok tribal member Don Hankins qualifications as an internationally recognized expert in the field of pyrogeography.