ECHOES OF HIS SPEECH
An actor will recreate RFK’s speech at St. James Park, given just weeks before his assassination 50 years ago
About a week after announcing his candidacy for president in 1968, U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy paid a visit to San Jose — part of a long day that also took him to Sacramento and Stockton. He was greeted by some 2,000 people at the airport when he arrived on the afternoon of March 23 and drew a crowd of about 10,000 for a speech at downtown’s St. James Park. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles less than three months later, and a memorial forum was installed at the park in his honor in 1970. That’s where a coalition of San Jose community groups will commemorate the 50th anniversary of his visit on March 24 , reflecting on the beloved politician and his legacy.
San Jose City Councilman Raul Peralez and historian Ralph Pearce will be giving speeches, and actor Jeffrey Brian Adams — a Santa Clara University grad most recently seen in SF Playhouse’s “She Loves Me” — will re-enact Kennedy’s speech in the park. Students will be there, reflecting on the speech and talking about what they would do if they were president. And some of the groups sponsoring the event with the San Jose Downtown Residents Association — including the Preservation Action Council, History San Jose and San Jose Walks and Talks — will be on hand to provide historical context for the speech as well as tours of the park.
And probably unlike the original event in 1968, there’ll be live music and food on hand. The whole thing runs from 2 to 6 p.m., and it’s free, though participants are being asked to register for tickets on Eventbrite. Artist Ben Henderson has created a phenomenal commemorative poster that will be distributed to those in attendance while supplies last.
RICE TO SPEAK AT SJSU >> Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is certainly no stranger to Bay Area audiences, thanks to her stints as Stanford University’s provost and as a member of the Hoover Institution. But she’s also a great name to launch “Insights,” a new series at San Jose State University that aims to expose students to a variety of speakers in economics, business and international affairs.
Rice will speak at 7:30 p.m. March 22 in the ballroom of the Diaz Compean Student Union, followed by a conversation with San Jose State President
Mary Papazian. SJSU students can get free tickets to the speech, which is underwritten by the Valley Foundation, but it’s $20 for everyone else through Ticketmaster.
BLAST FROM THE PAST >> I’m an unapologetic fan of Santa Clara Valley Brewing‘s beer names, which are usually tied to the region’s geography and history, like Electric Tower IPA and Peralta Porter. The latest release from owners Tom Clark and Steve Donohue is a kettle sour beer, brewed with blackberries, called Psychotic Reaction.
The name should tickle anyone with a love of San Jose’s rock and roll history (looking at you, Dan Orloff and Mark Purdy). It refers to the 1966 song by the Count Five, “Psychotic Reaction,” a title suggested to Count Five guitarist John Byrne by a classmate at San Jose City College. The song hit No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The beer will be released March 24 at Santa Clara Valley’s Alma Avenue taproom, and you’ve got to think they’ve got the perfect music to go with it.