Fifty years of support and participation in the drive toward democracy in South Africa has earned some recent recognition for a new Santa Rosa resident, both here and there.

The South African award bestowed upon George Houser is named for Oliver Tambo (left) ,  the African National Congress' president-in-exile during the years that Nelson Mandella was imprisoned.  Tambo died in 1994.  Non-violence was a consistent theme throughout his lifetime of political involvement, George Houser recalls, starting with his early participation in the American Civil Rights Movement.

The Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County will hold their annual Community Celebration and Awards Ceremony--at which George Houser will be honored-- Saturday evening, Nov. 13 at the Sebastopol Veterans Building from 5-8:30 pm. A silent auction and no-host bar with hors d'oeuvers will precede the presentation of the awards, which begins at 7:30. Tickets are $40 at the door. Information at (707) 575-8902.

Bayard Rustin and George Houser (right)  in a sit-in protest against segregated restaurants in Toledo, Ohio in 1947.

As Houser explains, South Africa was the only region on the continent that was claimed and colonized  by the Dutch, who introduced the concept of apartheid, a state-controlled form of enforced segregation.

Houser, an ordained Methodist minister, was interviewed about the role of the clergy in pressing social justice issues on the PBS/ Tavis Smiley blog.

Pre-industrial skills (such as friction fire-making, show at left) are making a comeback at the first annual Buckeye Gathering, an event that has drawn more than 200 neo-primitive students to an isolated hilltop above the Russian River.

The California Buckeye, namesake plant for the event, was chosen as an especially apt symbol of their intentions for the Gathering, says co-organizer Russell Sparks.

Genine Coleman, a co-organizer of the Buckeye Gathering, says it represents the realization of a growing desire to hold this kind of a “skill share” event somewhere in northern California.

Their site selection process finally settled on the Indian Education Center at Ya-Ka-Ama, near Forestville.

Here are some pictures from the gathering: A group decorating a rawhide parfletch, basket weaving materials, Mayan weaving, and the central arbor. Photos courtesy of Genine Coleman and the Buckeye Gathering.

Nuclear non-proliferation is back on the United States’ diplomatic agenda, but there are some deep differences in how to pursue that goal, both at home and among the nuclear nations.

Advocates for a complete dismantling of the world’s nuclear weapons stores have what might, at first blush seem like some unlikely allies among the military leadership of the United States. Arms control expert Dr. Arien Pregenzer explains that thinking.

As the drive toward alternative power sources increases, the call for expanding nuclear power plants is also growing. That should not be a problem, says Dr. Pregenzer, at least from a weapons control perspective.

Dr. Pregenzer’s talk on “Moving toward a World Free Of Nuclear Weapons” will be at 7:30 tomorrow evening, at the Spring Lake Village Auditorium, hosted by the World Affairs Council of Sonoma County.

Sebastopol’s Enmanji Temple, a cornerstone of the area’s Japanese culture, is the subject of a short documentary film that reveals a key episode in the preservation of the historic structure.

There is a strong element of autobiography in many of Lina Hoshino’s films, and Leap of Faith grew out of her curiosity about her new surroundings after she moved North from San Francisco to the small town of Penngrove, north of Petaluma.

As she leanred more about the multi-cultural history of her new home, Lina discovered a trove of recordings made by the local Japanese-American Citizens League, which led her to the subject for her film.

Leap of Faith will have its  World premiere on KRCB Public Television on Monday, May 3 at 9, pm with a repeat broadcast Tuesday, May 18 at 11:30pm.