Noel C. Cilker

This past Sunday and all throughout June, cities around the world from Athens to Lisbon to Bogota to Albuquerque celebrated Gay Pride. In big American cities like San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, millions of spectators showed up to watch hundreds of floats jaunt down main streets in their city's pride parades. In San Francisco's parade, it is common these days to see politicians, high schools, and dozens of corporations making their way down Market Street clad in rainbow garb. Marchers get political in the 2017 San Francisco pride parade.   Douglas Zimmerman / SFGate.com But how did all this pride start? Go back forty-eight years to 1969 in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. On the early morning of June 28, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar that catered to gays, lesbians, transgendered and others on the margins of the community. Police raids were common on gay bars, but this time the patrons fought back, setting of a rio...

As a historian, it gives me a jolt of joy when a president has a firm grasp of history. We saw that earlier this week when President Trump met with the president of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela. The American president quipped: "The Panama Canal is doing quite well. I think we did a good job building it, right — a very good job." It was the Panamanian president's response that made me smile: "Yeah, about 100 years ago." It's nice when a president has a firm grasp of history. President Varela of Panama and President Trump.   Prensa Latina Some on the Internet are having fun and saying President Trump gaffed by taking credit for building the canal, but they could be making something out of nothing. He never actually stated that he's responsible for it. Regardless, it doesn't hurt to review how the canal came to be . . . yes, about a hundred years ago. The idea for a canal across Panama came long before the United States was involve...

A week and a half ago, President Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. In my post last week , I listed a few of the past presidents who took action on behalf of the environment, which included both Democrats and Republicans. In response to the president's withdrawal, many businesses, state governors and city mayors pledged to uphold the U.S.'s side of the agreement, even if the country as a whole is no longer a participant. On June 1st, the so-called Climate Mayors from around the country released a statement vowing to move forward on environmentalism, proclaiming: "If the President wants to break the promises made to our allies enshrined in the historic Paris Agreement, we’ll build and strengthen relationships around the world to protect the planet from devastating climate risks." Mayors who signed on include Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, Martin Walsh of Boston, Bill de Blasio of New York City and Ed Lee of San Francisco. But ...

Just in time for World Environment Day , President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement on Thursday, joining Syria and Nicaragua and flustering many state and local governments, businesses and citizens. Many of those organizations vowed to uphold the agreement  in defiance of Trump's decision. San Francisco lights its city hall in green - joining New York, Boston, Atlanta, Paris, Montreal, Mexico City and others - in protest of President Trump withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement.   Twitter There has been some support of the withdrawal. The Washington Examiner  called it a "terrible deal for the U.S." : "Exiting the agreement means the U.S. can lead with strength in promoting energy and environmental policies, protecting U.S. jobs and easing the costly regulatory burden across the country. Now the Trump administration can push ahead with a plan that conserves the environment while protecting ...

Tonight begins the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the third consecutive Finals between the two teams, the first time that has happened in NBA history. As you're enjoying the historic nature of it all, let's go back even further to basketball's origins and the first game ever played. In 1891, the United States was in the throes of the Second Industrial Revolution but the Progressives were making noise about supporting workers over company profits. President Benjamin Harrison signed anti-monopoly legislation and tried (but failed) to advance voting rights for African Americans. But in winter time Massachusetts, James Naismith had more immediate concerns. His class at the Springfield YMCA was rowdy and cabin-fevered due to the cold weather outside. Dr. Luther Gulick, his boss at the YMCA, told him to create an "athletic distraction" to burn off the boys' energy. So Naismith went to work. He didn't wan...