Allen Michaan, the long-time owner of the Grand Lake Theatre, is putting his mouth where his money is. The high-traffic side of the marquee that faces Interstate 580 doesn’t advertise the movies playing inside.
Instead, Michaan started posting political messages on that portion of the marquee during the 2000 Presidential election, as he and millions of other Americans watched in horror while democracy was hijacked by a cabal of political operatives, elected officials, and eventually the United States Supreme Court. Since then, Allen has continued to use his message board to comment on city, state, national, and global political issues. Only occasionally, for a few days at a time, will you find anything other than an impassioned and decidedly left-wing comment or exhortation as you walk or drive along Lake Park or Grand Avenues.
I tend to agree with Allen’s take on these things, so I took it upon myself to expose the marquee to a wider audience. (You will find a nearly-complete archive of Grand Lake marquee messages at Flickr.com.) I originally started the online archive on another site, which occasionally drew the attention (and wrath) of conservative bloggers. Some of the images gathered hostile, and occasionally unhinged, comments. Since moving to Flickr, which looks and works much better than the previous site, we’ve received far fewer comments.
So please do help spread our Flickr URL around. Located as it is in Barbara Lee’s congressional district, the Grand Lake marquee isn’t pissing off nearly enough right-wing knuckleheads. I want the world to see what this neighborhood hero has to say.
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