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What’s up, San Antonio? What is your social calendar looking like these days? Is there room for more events on your itinerary? What fun is still unwritten in the murky unknown that is the weekend ahead? A crystal ball probably won’t provide you concrete answers, but this curated “things to do” compilation might.

Without further ado, here are some things happening in San Antonio this weekend. Have a fun event/party/pop-up/concert to share? Send us an email at with the subject line “TTD” to news@mysa.com.’

Things to do Friday Jan. 13

DreamWeek

Friday officially kicks of DreamWeek in San Antonio, 17 days with more than 200 events that celebrate our humanity by creating environments for civil and civic engagement to embrace ideas and dreams for the common good. We’ll highlight a few these next two weeks, but check their extensive calendar for more thoughtful, cultural events each day around the city.

Friday night at the Planetarium

It’s opening night for the season at the Scobee Planetarium at San Antonio College, a chance to learn about stars, planets, black holes, and distant galaxies. The Scobee Planetarium offers Friday night public presentations at 6:30 p.m., 8 p.m., and 9:30 p.m. The 6:30 p.m. show is family-friendly, the 8 p.m. show is a live presentation of “The Sky Tonight,” and at 9:30 p.m., there is a movie presentation. Children must be 6 years old or older to be admitted to the 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. programs.

Find it: Scobee Education Center and Planetarium, 1819 N. Main Ave., San Antonio, TX 78212

Cost: Adults are $5, children, seniors, military, and teachers are $4, members of the Alamo Colleges community are $2. Tickets are sold in person at the box office 30 minutes before showtime.

Spurs Back Home in the Dome Game

Be a part of history as the Silver & Black try to break the NBA attendance record. The Spurs will take on the Golden State Warriors at the Alamodome at 6:30 p.m. The Spurs announced last week they were within 5,000 tickets of the record and within 8,000 of selling out the Dome. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to take part in the many in-game festivities and features that pay homage to the team’s 50 years in San Antonio.

Find it: Alamodome, 100 Montana St., San Antonio, TX 78203

Cost: Tickets start at $29.

Candlelight Yoga

Connect to Flow Yoga presents this class at Mission Crafts Chandlery designed to give you a full body stretch, help you gain a sense of relaxation, and unwind from your busy week with soft, warming candlelight and sound bath. All participants will receive a meditation candle for class. The one-hour class starts at 6:30 p.m.

Find it: Mission Crafts Chandlery, 1010 S. Flores, Suite 106 San Antonio, TX 78204

Cost: Registration is $20. Registration closes Jan. 12 at 11:59 p.m.

Fantasia

One of the OG winners of American Idol makes a stop at the Tech Port Arena on Friday. Bringing R&B hits like “When I See U” and “Enough,” Fantasia will get the crowd swaying with her smooth vibes. Doors open at 7 p.m. All ages.

Find it: Tech Port Arena, 3331 General Hudnell Drive, San Antonio, TX 78226

Cost: Tickets start at $40.50.

Michael Martin

San Antonio’s legendary folk-rocker Michael Martin, lead singer of the Infidels, is doing a solo show Friday at The Backyard on Broadway from 5-7 p.m. Get some snacks and drinks while Martin’s voice soothes the week’s troubles.

Find it: Backyard on Broadway, 2411 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78215

Cost: Free

Early Eyes

Minneapolis-based alternative group Early Eyes makes a stop at the Paper Tiger on Friday, ready to bring a mellow, electronic, jazzy sound to the Small Room. They’ll keep the room moving with upbeat songs from last year’s debut album, Look Alive! Doors open at 7 p.m.; show is at 8. All ages.

Find it: The Paper Tiger, Small Room, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., San Antonio, TX, 78212

Cost: Tickets are $18.

Cost: Free

Things to do Saturday Jan. 14

Last Chance Market

Ready to support some local artists? Last Chance Market and Sunshine Bakery are having a Second Saturday pop-up at Poetic Republic Coffeefrom 9 a.m. to noon. You can enjoy coffee, local shopping and live music while you shop for jewelry, clothing, art and more.

Find it: Poetic Republic Coffee & Wine Co., 2330 S. Presa St., San Antonio, TX 78210

Cost: Free

Nature Photography Workshop at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center

Mitchell Lake Audubon member and photographer, John Lewis, will be sharing his expertise with all skill levels during this nature photography workshop from 9-11 a.m. Bring your camera and learn tips and tricks on how to capture great nature photos, then enjoy a hike to work on techniques learned during the workshop. Ages 16 and up.

Find it: Mitchell Lake Audubon Center, 10750 Pleasanton Road, San Antonio, TX 78221

Cost: Registration is $15 for members and $20 for non-members. Preregistration required.

SoFlo Market and Destash Sale

Another market option in the downtown area is the SoFlo market, with a major twist this month. This Destash Sale also allows artists and makers to de-stash art and craft supplies they no longer use, including textiles and fabric, tools, magazines, books and more. You just might find an unexpected treasure. Besides the art supplies, more than 80 great artists and makers will be bringing their new products for Valentine’s Day and spring season with live music and food trucks keeping the party jumping all day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Find it: SoFlo Market, 1344 S. Flores St., San Antonio, TX 78204

Cost: Free

Family Gardening Workshop: Plant a Pizza Garden

Get the tools and knowledge to plant your own container garden with the essential herbal flavors for making delicious pizza. In this workshop at the San Antonio Botanical Garden from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., participants will learn how to plant, tend, harvest, and utilize garden herbs. Primary adult registration includes container garden kit.

Find it: San Antonio Botanical Garden, 555 Funston Pl., San Antonio, TX, 78209

Cost: Primary adult registration is $35 ($31.50 member) including garden kit; $13 per child ($11.70 member), and $15 per additional adult ($13.50 member)

An evening with Maureen Johnson

New York-based author Maureen Johnson will be at Nowhere Bookshop chatting with the store’s proprietress, Jenny Lawson, about her newest release Nine Liars, a murder mystery set in London. Talk begins at 6 p.m.

Find it: Nowhere Bookshop, 5154 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78209

Cost: Tickets are $19.99 and include access to the event and a copy of Maureen’s book!

Ladies Night Improv

The improv-troupe House Party has taken up residence in the Black Box Theatre at Black Potion gaming tavern. This Saturday, the group brings together an all-female lineup of performers from San Antonio and Austin for an evening of short-form games and long-form improv. Show is at 8 p.m. Ages 16 and up.

Find it: Black Potion, 1900 Fredericksburg Road, Suite 101, San Antonio, TX 78201

Cost: Tickets are $10.

Movie in the Park — ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’

Grab a blanket and enjoy a family-friendly motion picture under the stars at the base of the Tower of the Americas. The movie will start at sunset. All ages welcome. Food and drink available for purchase.

Find it: Tower of the Americas, 739 E. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78205

Cost: Free

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Things to do Sunday Jan. 15

Traditional Turkish Brunch for a Cause

An official DreamWeek event, the Raindrop Foundation’s Turkish Brunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. will feature Turkish breakfast staples including Turkish bagel (simit) and tea. The Raindrop Ensemble will perform and Shokare Nakpodia of Dreamvoice will give the keynote address.

 

As we set out to build “Live Like a Local,” our evergreen city guide with the depth you love from the San Antonio Report, we knew we wanted to make a list of our favorite “puro San Antonio” experiences.

As any local knows, this is a city like no other — a center of culture and commerce, arts and tourism. Military City USA. The Alamo City! Whatever you call it, San Anto is a place for fun, family and community. To capture that spirit, we asked our staffers to tell us their favorite things you can only do here.

Here are 15 places and experiences that capture the essence of San Antonio. How many have you tried?

Hang out at Yanaguana Garden

In 1968, HemisFair Park hosted a World’s Fair, landing San Antonio an enduring spot on tourist itineraries. Now known as Hemisfair, the park features apartments, a children’s theater, restaurants and Yanaguana Garden, named for what natives called the San Antonio River before the arrival of Franciscan missionaries. The garden is popular among families, who bring kids of all ages to climb the sculptural jungle gym, pet the big glass-tiled panther made by popular local artist Oscar Alvarado, pop pingpong balls on freely accessible tables and generally exhaust themselves running around arbor walks and corkboard-floored fountains.

Savor flavor at Carnitas Lonja

It doesn’t get much more puro than a restaurant that features a single dish: carnitas. Chef Alejandro Paredes opened Carnitas Lonja in 2017 to feature the traditional dish he knew from his native Michoacan: chopped pork stewed in fat. Eschewing fancy terminology such as “confit” (though the term applies), the simple menu offers a choice of a half-pound or a pound, served with pico de gallo, salsa and pickled onions. The dish has won Paredes accolades from around the nation, and the James Beard Award-winning chef has been featured on PBS and in the New York Times. Lonja regulars will note that on weekends, the back patio shares space with Fish Lonja, offering a rotating seafood-focused menu of Paredes’ traditional Mexican favorites.

Stroll across the Robert L.B. Tobin Land Bridge

Named for the affable former mayor, Phil Hardberger Park opened in 2010 as a natural area split by busy Wurzbach Parkway. A conservationist effort resulted in completion of the 150-foot-wide, landscaped Robert L. B. Tobin Land Bridge, connecting the east and west sides of the park and named for a prominent local philanthropist. The wheelchair-accessible bridge spans the parkway below to allow people — and wildlife! — to pass freely and safely over the road, for uninterrupted views of the 330-acre park’s natural surroundings. Artistic sculptural blinds allow visitors to discreetly gaze at wildlife, and night-vision cameras allow researchers to track the land bridge’s effectiveness in conveying animals across.

Play a round at Cool Crest

Located in the quaint Deco District, the design of Cool Crest Miniature Golf recalls the art deco era and takes advantage of the putt-putt course’s location on a gently sloping hillside just northwest of downtown San Antonio. Two meticulously maintained 18-hole courses offer fun and challenge, with ample shade provided by flourishing greenery. The coronavirus pandemic inspired Cool Crest’s owners to open the Metzger Biergarten, an entertainment-driven outdoor patio that hosts live music, food trucks, a monthly craft market and Singo, a musical take on traditional bingo, with putt-putt golf gift cards offered as prizes.

Explore local art at First Fridays

Each first Friday of the month, hundreds of locals gather at the Blue Star Arts Complex for the First Friday art walk. Artists and artisans open their studio and gallery doors to the public for crowds to stream through and possibly take home a handcrafted artwork that appeals to their liking and their pocketbook. The ever-changing array of accessible visual arts is complemented by restaurants, a brewpub, a small grocer and live music.

Go global at San Fernando Cathedral

Musical Bridges Around the World is a local nonprofit organization that aims to unite global cultures through art. Its performance season runs for six months in fall and spring, with free Sunday concerts inside historic San Fernando Cathedral, San Antonio’s downtown anchor for nearly 300 years. Concerts feature music of countries and cultures around the world, from Argentina to Ukraine, and touch on styles from jazz to classical piano.

March with thousands for MLK Day

San Antonio hosts what is often proclaimed the largest MLK Day march in the country, and that was true long before it became an official federal holiday. Hundreds of thousands join in, from local residents to marchers from across the country, who walk the Eastside route from MLK Park to ​​Pittman-Sullivan Park, where Negro League professional baseball teams once played. The march serves as the culmination of the citywide Dreamweek celebration — actually several weeks — of San Antonio’s Black communities. After two years of cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city should be ready for a strong return to the march in 2023.

Cool down at Las Nieves

There’s no way around it, San Antonio summers get hot. Thankfully, locals get creative in providing relief, and the line runs around the block most summer evenings at the three locations of Las Nieves Fruit Cups & More. The store touts its Mangonada specialty, with the mellowness of mango fruit and the savory spice of chamoy, but the list of Italian ice tropical fruit flavors is long: cantaloupe, piña colada, coconut, pineapple, “limon loco” and more. Frito pies are popular here, and Las Nieves has a variety featuring Flamin’ Hot Cheetos topped with melty cheese and jalapeños. Corn in a Cup is another local specialty, a take on the traditional elotes cob corn street snack. To keep the chill going and keep it all in the family, have a fruit paleta at El Paraiso Ice Cream, run by the same Flores family.

Browse for foodie treats at the Pearl

Ever try a gelato made from grass-fed water buffalo milk? If such tasty delicacies spark your interest, look no further than the Pearl Farmers Market on Saturdays and the Makers Market on Sundays. Long known for its finely curated mix of boutiques and restaurants, the Pearl hosts weekend markets that focus on local vendors. Orobianco Italian Creamery’s small-batch gelato joins a lively list of local producers including popular Holdman Honey, Tio Pelon salsas, Three Six General butchery from nearby San Marcos and produce from several farms. The newish Makers Market introduces food-related artisans to the mix, including Barclay Pottery and Meechi Ceramics.

Experience Day of the Dead

With echoes of its indigenous, Spanish and Mexican heritages, San Antonio comes alive for Day of the Dead. Just after Halloween, catrina masks and makeup appear with papel picado decorations and special pan dulces, all to honor ancestors who have passed on to the next world. Many families maintain quiet ceremonies at home and in neighborhood cemeteries, but the whole city turns out for two big festivals, the popular Muertos Fest at Hemisfair, and the newer Day of the Dead Festival at La Villita. Muertos Fest features music, food and a parade the whole family can join, while the Day of the Dead Festival aims to be the biggest Día de los Muertos — as the holiday is called in México — celebration in the U.S., with live coverage on national television of its flagship river parade.

Catch a live set at Floore’s Country Store

Located just outside Loop 1604 in Helotes, the honky tonk known locally as Floore’s has hosted such “local” legends as Willie Nelson and Robert Earl Keen, as well as a host of up-and-coming country pickers, grinners, pluckers and crooners. Be prepared to dance with the crowds in the spacious interior — or just people watch the lively oldsters and smiling youngsters gliding in pairs across the floor — or enjoy shows on the outdoor stage.

Attend Mass at the missions

San Antonio’s missions might be 300-year-old tourist destinations and a designated UNESCO World Heritage site, but they also host weekly masses for local congregations, with many attendees continuing a generations-old tradition. Visitors are welcome, and the ancient grounds are ideal for strolling after Sunday services, particularly in summer when the Pride of Barbados, Esperanza, and other colorful local flowers are in bloom. Get there early for the annual “double solar illumination” at Mission Concepción, though, as the small church fills up quickly for this treasured annual tradition.

Behold the bats at Bracken Cave

The swirling cloud of bats that emerges from Bracken Cave, the world’s largest known bat colony providing a summer home to an estimated 15 million bats, is so dense it shows up on weather radar. The spectacular display can be seen from May through September by reservation only at a preserve just north of San Antonio. In the early evening, visitors can witness the whirlwind of Mexican free-tailed bats headed out on their nightly search for food, gobbling up millions of mosquitoes that might otherwise harass area residents.

Cowboy up at the stock show and rodeo

The vaquero tradition runs deep in San Antonio, merged in this multicultural city with southwestern cowboys, now joined by cowgirls and vaqueras. Each February for two-plus weeks, the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo takes over the AT&T Center for a good old-fashioned rope-’em-dogies, bull-riding rodeo, with multiple nights of country music stars. Family events include Mutton Bustin’ for kids, who must remain on their shaved sheep for 6 seconds to win, and the Western Heritage Parade and Cattle Drive, where onlookers can gape as cowboys drive hundreds of longhorn steer right through downtown.

Paddle the San Antonio River

San Antonio prides itself on its namesake river, which can be enjoyed on foot along the River Walk or riding Go Rio river shuttles. But intrepid adventure seekers can take matters into their own hands and rent a kayak for self-guided tours along the 13-mile stretches of the River Walk’s north and south stretches, known colloquially as the Museum Reach and the Mission Reach. At points you might forget you’re in the seventh largest city in the country, surrounded by native plants and tangles of live oak forest. The Mission Reach gets a star turn during the city’s annual Fiesta celebrations with the Fiesta Flotilla event. Members of the public can sign up to join the floating parade, festooned in festive Fiesta gear, and show their oar-handling skills on a competitive watercourse.

 

Clad in a blue wool sweater, thick black leggings and boots, Angie LaPenta lifted bags of food into the bed of a truck on a recent Saturday afternoon. She wore a black beret over silver hair, pulled snug over her ears. As she worked, a silver chain and crucifix reflected the midday sunlight atop her dark pullover.

The 84-year-old inspiration was one of 50 volunteers loading cars and trucks with meals and packs of bottles to hand out to the homeless community during Pastor Shetigho Nakpodia’s “1,000 Plates for the Hungry” DreamWeek event.

When photojournalist Sam Owens and I visited Redeemer’s Praise Church on South Pine for the event, we knew we had the makings of a Monday column within minutes of meeting LaPenta.

During a break, she shared stories about helping those who live in the shadows of the city. On Christmas morning, LaPenta’s friend Carlos Cantú stopped his white pickup near the Hays Street Bridge on the East Side, where the homeless lay tucked away in makeshift camps, out of sight.

LaPenta opened the passenger side door and called out to the unseen that she had presents for them. When a young woman came her way, LaPenta handed her one of the bundles, along with her blessings. Then the woman asked LaPenta if she could have another gift, for her mother, who slept beside her under the bridge.

“It broke my heart,” LaPenta said. “When you see people without shoes, it’s heartbreaking.”

On ExpressNews.com: Iraq War veteran offers San Antonio healthy options at Southeast Side gourmet olive oil shop

LaPenta is one of the many residents who feed, clothe and uplift San Antonio’s homeless without fanfare. For the past year, she’s been one of Nakpodia’s volunteers who travel across the city to feed the unsheltered.

At the event, Nakpodia hugged LaPenta, who is a whisper below 5 feet tall. Dressed in a yellow and purple motif-head wrap and full-length dress, the pastor said Cantú and LaPenta also trim the trees around the rust-painted church. The pastor said the slim grandmother, who does yoga, carries away tree stumps without help.

“She’s out here every Saturday,” Nakpodia said. “She’s amazing.”

LaPenta was born and raised in Natalia, 30 miles from San Antonio. She learned compassion and how to tend to the sick when she helped care for her mother, bedridden for eight years. Her mother died when LaPenta was 10.

“She taught me how to love, how to respect people and that we are all the same under the eyes of God,” LaPenta said

The octogenarian has known the aches and pains of hard labor since she was a child. She worked in the fields of West Texas with her family, hunched over, picking crops that included cotton, green beans, black-eyed peas and strawberries. After her mother died, she joined her father, brother and seasonal migrant workers in picking sugar beets in Colorado.

LaPenta is the last of six siblings still living.

On ExpressNews.com: ‘The sky is no longer the limit, only your beginning’: Aviation exec’s flight from poverty to opportunity

By 1968, she had been a single mother of three children for 10 years. Her doctor said LaPenta was so thin she’d have to be hospitalized if she didn’t relocate to the city. She moved her family to San Antonio, where she met her future husband, Frank J. LaPenta.

It wasn’t love at first sight for her. Her kids fell in love with the man who played softball with them and other youngsters on their street. She recalled he would stare at her during the games. Smitten, he proposed two weeks later and told her to take her time thinking it over. But if she said no, he planned to keep trying to win her love.

“You’re not going to marry me,” LaPenta said, “you’re going to marry us four.”

They were wed for 48 years; Frank LaPenta died five years ago.

“God blessed us and kept our marriage together,” LaPenta said.

The couple ministered to the homeless for 10 years. She’s dedicated her goodwill stops in memory of her late husband.

Once a week, she makes sandwiches for the homeless around her South Side neighborhood. Cantú, 73, drives her to areas from Pecan Valley Drive to Brooks.

Cantú knows how it feels to receive a plate of food — he lived on the streets when he was a young man. Meeting LaPenta gave him an opportunity to offer others the same help he once received.

“To them, it’s something real big, very special,” he said. “They don’t know if they’re going to get a meal the following day or not. It’s kind of hard to swallow when you see people waste a lot of money when they could be using it for something positive.”

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio window washer working to provide better days for family

Before we left, LaPenta shared one last story from their travels around the city. She recalled a cold, rainy day when she saw hints of a camp by a South Side drainage ditch. Cantú parked the truck, and LaPenta stepped out to see a young woman climb up an embankment. The woman said she was caring for several older people. The pair handed her four meals. She thanked them and carried the food to the group clustered in the dark culvert.

“It made me cry,” LaPenta said. “I’ve never gone without food or a home. I’ve been blessed.”

February is celebrated across the nation as Black History Month, and in San Antonio, that history runs deep. Black history in San Antonio is often overshadowed by those who fought for Texas’ independence. Historical figures like Ella Austin, Artemisia Bowden, and Charlie Bellinger have had a lasting influence on San Antonio.

There are several historic landmarks on the East Side you can see — including Ellis Alley and the Healy-Murphy Center — and several organizations will be hosting Black history events throughout the month as well. Here’s how you can celebrate San Antonio’s Black history this month.

Living history in San Antonio

 

San Pedro Creek dig unearths church cornerstone, illuminating more of AME community’s history in San Antonio

An archeological dig last year on the banks of the San Pedro Creek Culture Park in the west end of downtown San Antonio unearthed the cornerstone of the post Civil War-era Saint James African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The initials AME and the year 1875 are among the markings chiseled into the cornerstone. Researchers believe the church stood on the site from 1871 to 1877.

The river authority is building walkways, retaining walls, public performance space, art installations and water features all along the creek. It’s also adding landscaping to convert what was once a trashy creek and cement culvert for floodwaters into linear park space.

The artwork includes a five-panel mural that tells the county’s 300-year-old history and a lighted waterfall that will sync to music or voices speaking into a retro 1950s style microphone in front of TPR, which sits on the creek banks in the 300 block of West Commerce Street.

TPR’s Dreamweek panel discussion delved into this archeological significance, and the actual history with participation from the African American Archive and Museum, the city’s Office of Historic Preservation, Army Corps of Engineers, Trinity University and the current. St James AME Church pastor.

History of Black cowboys told in new exhibit at San Antonio’s Witte Museum

The traditional story of the Wild West needs a re-write to make it historically accurate.

The cherished fable of the horseback hero of the open range doesn’t reflect the actual racial diversity of the cattle drive.

For example, the 1960s cowboy TV show “Rawhide” was a fictionalized portrayal of the 1870s cattle trail. The characters, including Rowdy Yates played by a young Clint Eastwood, were all white. But — in fact — one in four of the cowboys on the trail was Black.

“A number of the cowboys were born in slavery and they began their journey as cowboys enslaved, as enslaved children,” said Ronald Davis, a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Texas at Austin.

He co-curated the Witte exhibit The Black Cowboy: An American Story. It tells the story of how frequently Black people did the tough and perilous work of settling the West.

The Witte exhibit, The Black Cowboy: An American Story, runs through April 2202.

Events

 

Thursday, Feb. 10 | Noon to 1 p.m.: The Role of Code-Switching in DEIB | Virtual

Dr. Dana E. Crawford explores the psychological toll of code-switching, the price of notcode-switching and more in this free virtual event. Register here.

Saturday, Feb. 5 | 1-3:30 p.m.: Saturday Afternoon at the Movies @ Ella Austin Community Center

“The Bronze Buckaroo” and “Two Gun Man from Harlem” will show as part of the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum’s “Black History Month and Let’s Rodeo” event. There will be food trucks at the event.

Saturday, Feb. 12 | 3-4 p.m.: My Life as a Reader and Writer: A Visit with Author Varian Johnson | Virtual

Children’s and young adult author Varian Jones will share about his life and work in this San Antonio Public Library event.

Sunday, Feb. 13 | 4:30-6:30 p.m.: Black History River Tour @ La Villita

SAAACAM will host a 100-minute guided tour about the history of African American people in San Antonio. Tickets are on sale on the organization’s website.

Tuesday, Feb. 15 | 6-7 p.m.: Towards a Certain Future: Preserving African American Cultural Memory | Virtual

This SAPL event explores the transformation of historic spaces due to gentrification and what’s being done to preserve African American cultural memory and heritage in this time of change.

Tuesday, Feb. 15 | 6 p.m.: Living in My Skin @ The Carver 

“Living in My Skin” is a film about what it means to be a Black man in San Antonio. The in-person screening will be followed by a discussion with a panel of local men. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP here.

Sunday, Feb. 20 | 3:30 p.m.: The Untold Truths From Her Womb @ The Little Carver Civic Center

Presented by The Liberation Center, this dinner theater will highlight a feminine perspective of world history and the resistance, revolution and liberation that shaped the world.

Saturday, Feb. 26 | Starting at 2 p.m.: Film screenings @ Slab Cinema Arthouse

At 2 p.m., Slab Cinema will screen “I Am A Dreamer,” a documentary about today’s current state of affairs. Then at 4:30 p.m., “Daughters in the Dust,” an award-winning film. At 7 p.m., Slab Cinema will screen “Us.” The 2 p.m. screening is free; the other movies are $10.

Sunday, Feb. 27 | Starting at 2 p.m.: Film screenings @ Slab Cinema Arthouse

Slab Cinema will screen a couple of foreign films: “Touki Bouki” and “Black Girl” at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. respectively. Both movies are $10.

Digital Exhibit | Barrier Breakers: Pioneers in Medicine

The San Antonio Area African American Community Archive and Museum presents African American history-makers in San Antonio who changed the medical science field.

Here’s our roundup for the most enticing exhibits, shows and other events scheduled in the Alamo City.

Trésor Rusesabagina came to a panel discussion featuring Rwanda’s ambassador to the United States hoping to confront her about the kidnapping and imprisonment of his father, the “Hotel Rwanda” hero Paul Rusesabagina.

“I’m going right into the lion’s den,” he said, hours before the panel assembled Friday evening as part of the annual DreamWeek series of events pegged to the city’s observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“I’m going to the event representing my father. There’s a way of telling them that we’re not intimidated,” Rusesabagina said. “What they’re doing is coming to the scene of the crime. My dad was lured out of San Antonio, his home.”

The showdown didn’t happen. After a three-hour discussion about Rwanda by the ambassador, academics and other specialists in the country, the moderator said there was no time for questions. She later took a few, but Rusesabagina was still in line when it ended.

The panelists uniformly praised Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, without mentioning his human rights record.

The elder Rusesabagina became famous for sheltering hundreds of people at the hotel he managed in 1994, when Rwanda was wracked by an intertribal genocide that killed as many as a million victims. He later fell out with Kagame, whose efforts to reunite the country have been accompanied by an intolerance for political opposition.

Rusesabagina lived in exile in Belgium and San Antonio. He was abducted to Rwanda in 2020 on a chartered flight, fooled into thinking he was on his way to a speaking engagement in Burundi, then tried for his leadership of an opposition group the government said was responsible for terrorist violence.

He was sentenced to 25 years in prison last September on offenses ranging from financing terrorism to recruiting child soldiers.

Kagame has run the Central African country since 2000 and is credited with leading it into a period of stability and prosperity, but his government has been accused by Human Rights Watch of practicing arbitrary detention, ill treatment, torture and possibly murder of dissenters. The group also has criticized Paul Rusesabagina’s abduction, solitary confinement and trial.

Rusesabagina’s reputation in Rwanda has waned, though his heroism for saving 1,268 people during the genocide became known around the world after being dramatized in the 2004 Hollywood film “Hotel Rwanda.”

During questions, neither the moderator, documentary filmmaker Carol Pineau, nor others on the panel responded to a person in the audience who asked for the humanitarian release of Rusesabagina.

The ambassador, Mathilde Mukantabana, dismissed the notion that her embassy played a role in an incident last spring in which two people were accused of snooping on a videoconference class at St. Mary’s University attended by Trésor Rusesabagina, his mother, Tatiana, and a sister, Anaise Kanimba.

“Why would we want to spy in a classroom?” Mukantabana asked, drawing laughter from some in the crowd of around 50 people.

On ExpressNews.com: FBI probes St. Mary’s Zoom ‘intrusion’ linked to Rwandan regime

At the time, St. Mary’s President Tom Mengler, in a university news release, had said the Rwandan government used a spy based in its Washington embassy “to listen in” on the April 6 videoconference class involving students, staff and guests.

Trésor Rusesabagina, 29, said he didn’t oppose Friday’s panel discussion because it gave critics a chance to point out the government’s problems. It was titled “Rwanda Then & Now: Milestones in Rebirth & Growth” and was organized by Rwandan Community Abroad of San Antonio at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.

Bill Israel, a retired St. Mary’s associate professor of communication studies, lambasted the forum, calling it “bizarre” that DreamWeek organizers would host it when Rusesabagina was one of their keynote speakers months before he was abducted.

“Two years after you invite him as the featured speaker, how are you going to invite people who are after him and trying to kill him?” Israel asked.

The DreamWeek website states that “anyone can host an event as long as the invitation is public and participants are allowed to engage in an open forum and civil environment.”

One person who appeared via video, Margee Ensign, president of American University of Nigeria, touted a “performance-based” Rwandan government with top leadership “focused on unity, not division.” Another panelist, a St. Mary’s University professor of international relations, R. Célina Jacquemin, also sketched a flattering portrait of the Kagame government.

A DreamWeek project manager, Lilly Guindy, described the panel as “a community-curated event” hosted by Rwandans in San Antonio.

“Definitely, some people have different views, but that’s the beauty of America and that’s the beauty of the Martin Luther King legacy,” said Moses Rudasunikwa, president of Rwandan Community Abroad of San Antonio.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, plans to introduce a resolution in Congress demanding Paul Rusesabagina’s release on humanitarian grounds.

Trésor Rusesabagina described his 67-year-old father, a cancer survivor, as frail. He said his dad has lost a lot of weight, hasn’t seen a doctor, remains in solitary confinement and isn’t allowed contact with other inmates, even in church.

“They’re trying to break him,” Trésor Rusesabagina said. “He’s not broken.”

sigc@express-news.net

 

A large mural with six different visions representing the diversity and inclusion within San Antonio had its official debut on Sunday.

The Brick at Blue Star Arts Complex filled with high-energy chatter from behind the curtains that would soon open to highlight designs and fashion from local artists and business owners in front of about 50 to 60 spectators early Sunday evening.

Aside from showcasing local talent, the event also raised funds through voluntary donations for El Progreso Memorial Library in Uvalde and for DreamWeek, which is celebrating its 10th year with more than 200 events that end Jan. 30. This year’s theme is “Our Future.”

A huge, inspirational summit is marking its 10th year in San Antonio. This year’s theme is “Our Future.”