Feature Archives

In an interview originally broadcast August 6, John Malkin spoke with three professors at UC Santa Cruz who co-signed or supported a letter to the Chancellor calling for an end to police and ICE presence on campus. "Our country is witnessing the brutal effects of the entrenched racist history of policing, a history that goes back to 'slave patrols' and 'Indian patrols' and that continues to disproportionately target African Americans, Native Americans, Latinx Americans, and Asian Americans."

The original Mission Santa Cruz adobe and the replica mission were spray painted during a demonstration organized in Santa Cruz in support of the abolition of police. The phrase "Fuck Your Citizenship" was painted on the Neary-Rodriguez Adobe, and the phrase "Maldita Cruz" was spray painted on two structures. Additionally, the word "genocide" was painted on the state park plaque, and the mission bell located in Mission Plaza Park was removed. Two weeks later, Mission Santa Cruz was spray painted again during a defund police march.

July 4 is a U.S. holiday marking the country's independence from England, but anti-racism activists used the occasion to declare, "No one is free until we are all free.” Being that the holiday traditionally is a painful reminder of this country's history of colonization, genocide, and enslavement, alternate Independence Day events in Northern Californian cities from Oakland to San Francisco to Santa Cruz issued demands to end racism, war, and climate devastation.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day when the Union army pronounced in Texas that all enslaved peoples in the United States were finally free. Among the many Bay Area protests this year was a thousand-strong march in San Francisco. In Oakland, the ILWU shut down the port before thousands marched through downtown. Santa Cruz marched in large numbers as well. In Palo Alto and Fresno, protesters painted "BLM" and "Black Lives Matter" in huge letters in the street.

Demonstrations continue around the Bay Area in the name of George Floyd, who was murdered by Minneapolis police on May 25, with tens of thousands taking to the streets. Police force has met protests in every corner of the Bay Area. Demonstrators say they won’t be stopping despite the risks posed by police attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic. Check out the full feature with coverage from across Northern California.

Community members in Santa Cruz organized a "physical distancing" protest on April 20 to demand the City and County of Santa Cruz provide hotel vouchers for the homeless during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Homeless people and their supporters organized the demonstration following California Governor Gavin Newsom's press conference statement on April 18 that cities and municipalities that are blocking the State's effort to provide hotels for the homeless will be "judged" by history.

Hubster writes: The Santa Cruz Hub for Sustainable Living is a constellation of community-based projects that has been building and celebrating community and offering crucial resources since 1994. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, many of the Hub’s projects are currently or will soon be struggling to pay the bills, particularly those projects which rely upon small cash donations from public-engaging programs. We are fundraising to account for rent / expenses at this unpredictable time.