Terry Ortega’s Favorite Stories and Reviews of 2020

Community in Our Communities

Lila Downs at the Bowl in 2018 (L)/ The all-female crew at La Cuadrilla (R)

Wed Dec 30, 2020 | 04:52pm

After eight years of getting to know communities from Ojai to Lompoc, and especially after 2020, I am left with hope for 2021. It was a difficult year that tested patience and resilience of people and the places where they live. With the reckoning of institutionalized racism and the Black Lives Matter movement and the strength of women in agriculture to the communal mourning for the newborn baby giraffe who died at the zoo, there was much to be moved by. I want to thank those of you for providing me with the inspiration and passion to highlight the creative and innovative ways in which we attend events, the virtual, online, livestreamed, and on-demand, and I especially want to thank those of you who used the Week and the online calendar for entertainment and learning opportunities that occurred this past year. Stay engaged in 2021 and Happy New Year!

Santa Barbara Observes Black History Month 

From Alabama to State Street, Santa Barbarans Look Back and Ahead 

By Brian Tanguay / February 6, 2020

A Pilgrimage to Montgomery, Alabama

Getting Goosebumps at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church

By Brian Tanguay/March 4, 2020


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The Agro Women of Santa Barbara County 

Five Life and Business Lesson from Our Female Farmers

By Ninette Paloma/ July 2, 2020

Santa Barbara Zoo Staff Mourns Death of Newborn Giraffe

Calf Showed Signs of Distress Soon After Birth 

By Michelle Drown/ July 23, 2020

The Bowl Abides 

Santa Barbara Bowl Prepares for 2021 and Beyond

By Michelle Drown/ August 13, 2020

The Bowl Abides

David W. Blight’s ‘Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom’

The author’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography sharpens our understanding of the orator’s life and influence on the nation.

By Brian Tanguay | Wed Aug 26, 2020  

The Echoes of America’s Past in America’s Present

Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning is essential reading.

By Brian Tanguay | Thu Jun 25, 2020 | 3:35pm

‘The Power Worshippers’

Katherine Stewart Exposes Influence of Christian Nationalists

By Brian Tanguay / Mon Mar 02, 2020   


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