A Taste of History:
Movements Without Borders: Expanding the Story of Belonging
Saturday, March 21, 2026 | 4-7 p.m.
California History Center, De Anza College
Proceeds from A Taste of History support De Anza student multimedia and archival projects that preserve and share our local history.
- Tickets: $95/$175 for two (additional group packages available)
- Parking: Flint Center Garage
This 16th annual A Taste of History fundraising event will bring us together for food, wine, entertainment and fellowship as we consider how a shared commitment to freedom, dignity and a belief in the value of every voice expands democracy and strengthens the community we all depend on.
Attendees will enjoy:
- Welcome from FHDA District Chancellor Lee Lambert
- Acknowledgements from De Anza College President Omar Torres
- Historical framing of event themes by California History Center & Foundation Board Member Ruben Abrica
- Poetry readings by dynamic local poets Claudia Melendez and Joseph LaCour
- Entertainment by student drumming group Foothill Beats
- Savory and sweet catering from nearby businesses
- Wines from local producers, including Silver Mountain Vineyards, Kings Mountain Vineyards, House Family Winery, Farm Day Family Winery and Cooper Garrod Vineyards
Presented in partnership with the Foothill-De Anza Foundation. Refreshments generously provided by Bun Me Up with wines from local producers. Special thanks to winery coordinator Laura Ness.
Claudia Meléndez Salinas
Claudia Meléndez Salinas is an award-winning journalist, poet and author. Her first book, “A Fighting Chance,”
was published by Arte Público Press in 2015. In 2017 she cofounded Voices of Monterey
Bay, a bilingual internet magazine for California's Central Coast. Her poetry was
included in “Somos Xicanas,” a national anthology of Chicana poetry published in 2024.
Her poem “Transitioning” was the recipient of the 2022 Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Award,
and her poem “Abuelita” the recipient of the 2022 La Raíz Magazine Award in Spanish.
Joseph LaCour
Joseph Jason Santiago LaCour is a Filipino and French Creole spoken word poet and hip-hop artist from the Midwest now living in Santa Cruz. You can find him most weekends at Sacred Mud Henna and Tattoo Studio at the Tannery Arts Center offering workshops, coaching and henna and jagua hand art by appointment.
Foothill Beats
Foothill Beats serves as a healthy outlet for the community focused on generating joy, camaraderie
and appreciation of other cultures through the universal language of rhythm. They
seek to transcend human-made borders by exploring a range of drumming styles from
West Africa and the African diaspora, including Brazilian and Afro-Caribbean genres.
About the California History Center
The historical record resides not just in traditional archival records and books, but also in the minds of living people, expressed through forms of social connection and interaction. The California History Center is now exploring how to create openings in various communities to find new knowledge that will come out of dialogue and interaction.
This effort centers the CHC as part of a shift in paradigms of how we see "doing" local history work. CHC's model is not a passive, one-way process of downloading knowledge into minds. It does not objectify and essentialize concepts into historical factoids. It is a way of educating through open dialogue utilizing a framework that social and community spaces provide, and the minds and spirits of the community members that inhabit those spaces.