A CALL TO ACTION
 
Quick read:
California is named after Queen Calafia, but few Californians know this and she is not officially recognized by the State of California i.e. her likeness does not appear on the Seal of California, a sculpture of her does not stand atop the State house dome.
The CALAFIA Project intends to fix this.
 
Full text of The CALAFIA Project’s  CALL TO ACTION follows:
 
CALL TO ACTION
The CALAFIA Project
 
 
 
Unbeknownst to most Californians, our state is named after a mythical Black Amazon queen. A queen who first appeared in the Spanish adventure novel, Las Sergas de Esplandian, written by Garci Rodriguez Montalvo circa 1500. In the early 1500’s, the Conquistadores espied what they though was an island they reckoned similar to that in Montalvo’s novel and named it California. The rest is history, as they say… except it’s not, because most Californians have never heard of Queen Calafia and most Californians don’t know that California is name after Calafia.
The purpose of The Calafia Project is to return Queen Calafia to her rightful place in California’s historical record and to reintroduce the Calafia story to the residents of California.
 
 
This is a
 CALL TO ACTION

Please understand that the Calafia story is not a tale which simply receded into ancient history and was lost in time.  Instead, it is a story that has been kept under wraps since California became a state. A story that is still actively being suppressed. This is a shame and a travesty for many reasons. We have lost the wonder that is wrapped up in Calafia’s story, the chronicling of a great adventure tale.   It should not be forgotten. It should not be left on the cutting floor. 

The Seal of California
These stories and characters have been lost to us, the citizens of California, because as part of the founding of the State of California, Queen Calafia was purposely not included on the Great Seal and instead Minerva, a Greek Goddess was chosen. For the founders of the 31st U S State the message was arguably that Queen Calafia and the story of California was insignificant in comparison to the arrival of the Europeans, as proclaimed by their choice of the alabaster goddess Minerva. 
Moreover the seal was designed by Robert Selden Garnett. When the Civil War broke out Garnett joined the Confederate Army. One can imagine that Garnett and the members of the California Constitutional Convention were not about to place a Black Queen on the Great Seal of their newly minted State. Especially at the time when the Civil War was looming on the horizon and the western states were heatedly debating whether to be free or slave, Union or Confederate.
 
The One Official Recognition of Calafia 
 
Although portraits of Califia can be found throughout California, fashioned by various artists and although poems have been composed, texts written, none have been designated official by the State of California. We know of only one exception; as a part of the replica of the 1847 Revenue Cutter C.W. Lawrence. This replica, named the Californian, was built in 1984 just in time for the Summer Olympics in LA. In July 2003, the Governor signed a bill making the Californian the official tall ship of the State of California. The ship’s figurehead was meant to be a portrait of Calafia.
 
 
The Californian’s Figurehead- A truly bizarre twist 

The woman chosen to pose for the figurehead was a well known Hollywood actress Catherine Bach. The woman who, hold your breath…,  played Daisy Duke on the TV series, The Dukes of Hazzard. Yes, Daisy Duke of the Dukes of Hazzard. She was the ditzy blonde in short shorts that rode around in a car named General Lee. The car displayed a confederate flag painted on the roof. I’ll stop here to allow you to take in the irony of it all. 
 
Commercial Calafia- Califia Farms 

As recently as 2010, a California Corporation named their business after Queen Calafia (alternative spelling: Califia) Califia Farms is their name and as part of creating their identity they have recast Calafia as a woman who is clearly not a Black Amazon Queen. Neither her Amazonian culture or her Black complexion is mentioned on their website introduction/presentation. Their logo image also looks more like a robust and rustic peasant that a Black Amazon Queen.  The whole effort seems to be an attempt to rewrite the story of Calafia by casting her as someone she simply is not. 
   
And so this 
CALL TO ACTION
asks the question, 
“which side are you on?” 
Should California continue to ignore Queen Calafia. Should most Californians continue to live in ignorance of whom their state is named after? Or should we choose to change course and embrace our state’s namesake, learn her story, put her on the Great Seal of California and embrace the truth that California is named after a mythical Black Amazon queen?  
 
It's one or the other, which will it be?
 
We are confident that you will join us. With your help, I believe this will be the year of Calafia - when her name becomes known, and her story told. 
We can make this happen.
This is our CALL TO ACTION. Please send it to every Californian you know and post it where you will.  
 
To join The Calafia Project write a note to: calafia@antenna-theater.org . Include a word about your interest; from simply offering your name as a supporter ( petition at: https//bit.ly/38hcBpK ) to helping us create some of the various events we are planning. ( e-mail: calafia@antenna-theater.org )  
 
The CALAFIA Project thanks you for your time. Please tell everyone you know.
 
There’s a new world waiting.
 
 End of Call To Action

 
 
 
 
CALAFIA EVENTS
 What follows is our list of events and projects we plans to produce this year, or maybe next, to get the word out about Calafia.
 
 
But first a quick summary of last year’s production. 
 
Calafia Returns
On October 3rd, 2021, Queen Calafia arrived, passing under the Golden Gate Bridge aboard her royal yacht accompanied by her golden armored Amazon warrior women and Griffins. She landed in Sausalito, greeted by the Mayor of Sausalito, The Cal Alumni Band, Lighthouse Singers, Emperor Norton and many other dignitaries, performers, and well-wishers.  Luckily the evil Queen was a no-show and everybody in attendance, from all accounts, had a great-grand time.  
 
And now:
Calafia Events planned for 2022.
 
1 Calafia At The Mark Hopkins Hotel
The big one: I’m hoping we can organize a Calafia visit to view the beautiful Calafia portrait painted on the walls of the Room of the Dons at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco. Hopefully we can create this event sometime in the summer.

2  The Transformation of the California Seal
We will be introducing a new Calafian Great Seal of California, probably in front of the San Francisco Civic Center Federal Building where a large bas-relief of the current California Seal is mounted over the entrance. We may use projectors to lay the image of the new Calafia Seal over the old Minerva Seal. 
This could also be a kick-off event to introduce an official ballot measure to replace Minerva with Calafia.
 
3  Griffin Excavation
And for a delightful and less serious romp we will be exploring, with local archeologists, suspected sites of Calafian Era burial grounds. We know that the Queen and her warriors rode Griffins so we surmise that a professional excavation should net some petrified  bones of this once magnificent creature, the Californian Griffin. The scientists we are working with expect to uncover Griffin remains from suspected ancient Calafian Era burial sites scattered throughout the California territories. We shall see. 
 
4 The Calafia Celebration 
The culmination of the year’s Calafia events will be held in Dunphy Park, Sausalito, CA, 0ctober 2nd. It will be the first celebration of Queen Calafia’s California Holiday.  We intend for this celebration to become an annual event and ultimately an official California holiday.  Calafia, Amazon warriors, the Evil Queen, Griffins, Conquistadores, Emperor Norton, and many others will be in attendance. 
 
Other Projects Envisioned 
Above are the big Calafia Celebrations which The Calafia Project intends to focus on this year but we have many other plans to introduce Calafia to Californians. Following is a list of these Calafia projects.
 
Proclamations
We’ve received beautiful Proclamations from Oakland and Sausalito. This year we will be interested in securing proclamations from San Francisco and Berkeley and also because The Calafia Project is a state wide effort we hope to gain proclamations from cities outside the Bay Area such as San Diego, Los Angeles and from other jurisdictions throughout the State.
 
Receptions 
Queen Calafia has been invited to various receptions such at the GLBT Historical Society Museum, The Montalvo Art Center (Garci Rodriguez Montalvo was the author / creator of Queen Calafia).
We suspect other organizations will want to host receptions for Calafia.

Parades
The Pride Parade would be a perfect venue. Calafia would make a great Grand Marshall.  Carnival too.  Calaifia is almost certain to be a part of the Sausalito 4th of July Parade.  

Journalism
Calafia’s history has been hidden from sight for so long that there are many stories to be told- a varitable treasure trove of characters and events of historic and mythic proportions. And there is muckraking to do. Who are the participants and what is the mechanisms that so thoroughly and successfully separated Calafia from California?

Calafia’s California Cuisine
We are looking for a super creative chef to create a nouveau Calafia California cuisine, possibly with influences from the era of the Spanish Dons but primarily  Calafian dishes.

School Silibus 
We are in conversation with an educational organization with the intent to develop an educational program centered around Calafia to the California School system.

By Appointment
As part of Queen Calafia’s duties she will make the final determination as to what goods and services will bear the royal imprinture. For example, she shall judge what will be called the Calafia Cocktail, etc.

Calling Calafia  -The New California Anthem
The present California Anthem is a bit on the insipid side. We will be writing a beautiful Calafia song, Ode to Calafia . This project should lead us into the creation of a Calafian Choir and the Queen’s Own World Beat Band.
 (If you see some project with which you’d like to become involved, please make your interest known to us. Write us at: calafia@antenna-theater.org  )
 
 
The Calafia Project Advisory Board
We are forming an Advisory Board.  Folks, such as yourself, who are interested in the Calafia Project are invited to join. Please make yourself known to us, write:  calafia@antenna-theater.org  
 
Thus far we have Amalia Mesa-Bains , Professor of Chicano Studies.
And myself, Chris Hardman, Artistic Director of Antenna Theater. 
My interest in Calafia, I believe, deserves a quick explanation. My father was a Hollywood writer and as such was always on the lookout for amazing untold stories. He discovered the story of Calafia and told me about her.  I, in turn, have worked to include her story in various projects, in part, as a homage to my father, Richards (Ric) Hardman.
 
​
And You

This is an all-inclusive project. Everyone is invited. The return of Calafia should usher in a new multi-cultural California. I'm sure you can imagine what a sea change it would be to have Calafia on the Seal of California and just how many people would feel that the State of California has come to accept and celebrate a history full of various cultural influences.   Some may feel that they have a particular relationship with Queen Calafia (please join our advisory board) but the truth is that every Californian is the ultimate possessor of the Calafia story. Calafia is our shared origin story, although as yet most Californians don’t know this to be true. 
 
The CALAFIA Project purpose is to re-introduce Calafia to the people of California.  
 
ANTENNA

The CALAFIA Project is a project of ANTENNA Theater. ANTENNA Theater is a not-for-profit 501c3 established in 1980. ANTENNA has invited it’s audiences to experience the world in new and different ways. The Theater created some of the very first site specific productions in which, for instance our audience walked though forests at night.    ANTENNA invented the “audient”. The audient moves though the theatricalized space doing the action they are asked to do as delivered by their personal audio player thus they become both their own actor as well as the spectator. 
Antenna done many projects that exist outside the traditional definition of theater-  The ECOlogical Calendar, AllTime, The HEART of San Francisco and others. Visit ANTENNA Theater’s website explore more. 
  
 Allies
Following is a short list of folks that we have collaborated with on The CALAFIA project thus far.  We have not included the many persons and organizations that are interested in the project. We will announce these colaboratons once our mutual plans are settled.
 
City of Oakland 
City of Sausalito  
Sausalito Historical Society
GLBT Historical Society Museum 
Emperor Norton
Amazon Queen
Lighthouse Singers
Call of the Sea
( this is a very small slice of a much larger list of interested parties. Please consider joining this list Your support breathes life into the project. Contact: Chris Hardman, calafia@antenna-theater.org . 
 
 
 
And so let it be said:
There is one woman without whom California would not exist,
and her name is
CALAFIA.
 
 
This is our
 CALL TO ACTION
 Help us bring Calafia home.
 
 
Footnotes:
 
1 The Minvera Seal of California,

Original Seal of California with Minerva. Still in use today. 
 
 
 
2 The Californian Figurehead
 
The figurehead of the Californian, the official tall-ship of the State of California. 

3 Califia Farms 
 
Califia Farms replaces the black queen with a fair skinned woman and neglects to tell the actual story of Calafia. Below is their official website explanation of who they imagine Calafia to be. A study in omission. 
 
 

THIS CONCLUDES OUR LIST OF CALAFIA EVENTS PLANNED FOR 2022.

Contact:
Chris Hardman, Artistic Director
ANTENNA Theater
calafia@antenna-theater.org
ANTENNA Theater continues to be lucky enough to work with many talented and energetic folks to make this profound historic shift materialize and wish to thank each and everyone that stepped forward and gave their time and talent to welcome calafia back to californiathis last October.

Come join us this year to help make it clear that Calafia is here to stay.






​

​THERE IS ONE WOMAN WITHOUT WHOM CALIFORNIA WOULD NOT EXIST
Her name is Queen Calafia:
A Mythical Black Amazon Warrior Queen!
On Sunday, October 2rd,  2022, Queen Calafia  returned to California. Joined by a parade of boats, she  will sail beneath the Golden Gate Bridge aboard her Golden Royal Barge. Queen Calafia will  land  in Sausalito, accompanied by her golden-clad Amazon warriors and griffins.
Don't miss this historic event.

​End of 

​CALAFIA'S HISTORY
 
Queen Calafia was a beautiful, black warrior Queen, who first appeared in the 1510 adventure novel of chivalry “The Adventures of Esplandian.” by Spanish poet Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo. She ruled over the fictional island of “California” and led a fierce army of Amazon women warriors and Griffins, flying mythical beasts.  The captivating Queen Calafia and her story inspired Spanish explorers led by Hernan Cortes in 1536, who landed on the Baja California peninsula. Believing that they had discovered an island, they named it “California”, after Queen Calafia and her mythical reign – the name endures to this day.

Queen Calafia arrives in Sausalito, California

Cocky California bloviates about his super great State.
​

​ 

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Riddler tells the riddle of Queen Calafia
​
There’s a name we know to be,
Once known and yet unknown, 
that lives on the tips of our tongues 
and yet goes unspoken.

Join the Calafia Project

Let’s return Calafia to her rightful place in our people-story. 
Tell everyone you know about Calafia and  Join The Calafia Project 

The New Calafian version
of the Seal of
the state of California

Calafia deserves to be on the Seal of the State she is named after.  
Above is a draft drawing of our first Calafian Seal of the State of California.  Below is the actual Seal of the State of California. The white woman warrior should be Calafia but clearly is not. Who is this character and why is she on the Seal of California?  Doesn't make sense.

Premiere of the Calafian Great Seal of the State of California, SF Tenderloin Community Expo, November 19th, 2021

An eight foot square drawing of the Calafian Great Seal was debuted before the audience at the Expo and then the audience, lead by Zoomani the Artist, proceeded to paint the very first Seal on the very first day of the unveiling of the Calafian Seal of the State of California.

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By the end of the day the canvas was still being painted, so at this point it remains a work in progress. The direction is strong and we look forward to seeing the finished work. 

​ 

The Calafia Portrait in San Francisco

​
If you have ever visited San Francisco, you may or may not know that one of its secrets
is its rich art and culture. San Francisco is the famed Europe of the United States of
America, yet compared to New York City , Chicago, and Los Angeles it has been referred
to as a lesser state in terms of aesthetically pleasing artistry. San Francisco not only
embraces the lost art

3 of displaying hidden gems in natural settings, it also has
conserved history of famous artists painting the worlds narratives via murals in man
made buildings, hotels and towers. The detail of the wonderment of the story of Calafia
has been one of San Francisco’s utterly hidden and most important gems.

Here is a story of a strong and powerful female, is our country finally ready to listen?

The Mark Hopkins Hotel can be found at the top of the hill between California
and Pine. Enter the Room of the Dons to find the Calafia mural. This is one of the nine
seven-foot-high panels painted by artists Maynard Dixon and Frank Von Sloun (1926).
Decorating the upper walls one panel shows Queen Calafia and her Amazons set
against a gold leaf sky.

  Mural at the Mark Hopkins Hotel, San Francisco | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TheDons_Detail.jpg