On Thursday, July 8th at 7pm at 555 Main St. in Watsonville, the Brown Berets are hosting a workshop by acclaimed Bay Area artist and activist Favianna Rodriguez. The Watsonville Brown Berets state, "There has never been a movement for social change without art and visual communications being central to that movement. Graphics are powerful living reminders of struggles for worldwide peace and justice." Favianna will discuss the process of developing art in collaboration with community-based organizations. She will also discuss steps for designing visually engaging posters for social justice campaigns.

Favianna Rodriguez is an artist-entrepreneur who has helped foster resurgence in political arts both locally and internationally. Named by UTNE Magazine as "leading visionary artist and changemaker,” Rodriguez is renown for her cultural media projects dealing with social issues such as war, immigration, and globalization, as well as for her leadership in establishing innovative institutions that promote and engage new audiences in the arts. In 2001, Rodriguez co-founded the EastSide Arts Cultural Center in Oakland. In 2003, she helped established the Taller Tupac Amaru print studio to promote the historical practice of socially-engaged printmaking. In 2009, she co-founded Presente.org, a U.S.-based, nationwide organization dedicated to the political empowerment of Latinos via the internet and mobile messaging.

Read more | Hidden in Plain Sight: Media Workers for Social Change

On June 26th, the Santa Cruz Indian Council Inter-tribal Gathering took place in Louden Nelson Park. There were many performances by native dancers. Elders spoke about the rich history and plight of Native Americans. There were also many vendors and informational tables.

The Santa Cruz Indian Council (SCIC) is an inter-tribal Non-Profit 501-(c)(3) organization composed of Native American and non-native members in the Central California region. SCIC is dedicated to teaching respect for traditional Native American cultural values.

Video and Photos: Part 1 and Part 2

In this chapter of the series “Hidden in Plain Sight,” Indybay volunteer Peter M writes about Greg Landau. Landau is a record and film music producer living in the Bay Area. He learned filmmaking from his father, Saul Landau, while traveling throughout Latin America. Greg spent most of the 1980s in Nicaragua, where he was baptized by fire working for the Ministry of Culture in the Sandinista government. He relates the experiences that formed the cultural perspective informing his career today.

“Greg Landau has produced over fifty CDs, and coordinated and composed the music for a number of movies, both small and large, including this year’s 'La Mission.' His productions have been nominated for Grammy awards four times. Most of his recordings are of Latin American artists, and the roots of his musical mission are in his experiences in Latin America—although in Landau’s world San Francisco itself is a Spanish speaking town where Latin American culture can take center stage.”

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After 8 years, 13 locations and over 150 free films to the community, Guerilla Drive-In is being targeted by the Santa Cruz Police. On May 14th, local film The Jesus Factor by Cheri Lovedog, showing under the Soquel Ave bridge, was shutdown by Santa Cruz police officers before it even started. This is the second time in two weeks that the authorities have shut down the screenings.

In the comments section of the Guerilla Drive-In article, people are reporting that on May 11th, a MDC (Millions of Dead Cops) concert at Coaster's Boardwalk Bowl in Santa Cruz was shut down in the middle of the performance. MDC apparently upset a security guard with their lyrics and was stopped from playing under threat of arrest in a large display of police force by SCPD, Sheriffs, Scotts Valley police and other jurisdictions.

Read more | Free Movies in the Park Face Political Backlash

With San Francisco's annual Gay Pride approaching, members of the the local LGBTQ community are asking visitors to honor a boycott called by employees at a growing list of city hotels, including the Westin St. Francis, Hilton at O'Farrell, Hyatt Fisherman's Wharf, Grand Hyatt, Le Meridien, The Palace, and the W Hotel.

Determined to win adequate healthcare for themselves and their families, workers at these hotels have called for a boycott of their workplaces. Over 9,000 San Francisco hotel employees have been working without a contract since mid-August 2009, despite repeated attempts at negotiations.

To draw attention to the workers' plight, protesters demonstrated in San Francisco's Union Square on May 8th. A flashmob of activists invaded the Westin St. Francis Hotel and performed to accompanying horns and drums of the Brass Liberation Orchestra with their own version of the Lady Gaga song Bad Romance, "Don't Get Caught in a Bad Hotel," to an amused audience of tourists and hotel guests, before going on to do a similar action at the Grand Hyatt. The event was organized by San Francisco Pride at Work, One Struggle One Fight, and the Brass Liberation Orchestra.

Photos and Videos: Don't Get Caught in a Bad Hotel! | Unite Here Local 2 Labor Boycott Of St. Francis

On April 5th, Teachers for Class War spoke with Hollister educator and poet Joe Navarro about local struggles, his 1st grade students, poetry and history. An educator since 1994, Navarro is a "literary vato loco," teacher, student and community activist. He also has experience as a factory worker, union leader, author and poet, and a father.

Navarro is a contributor to The Cost of Privilege: Taking On the System of White Supremacy and Racism and author of Ambidextrous (In Two Languages)." In the interview, Navarro discusses what politicized him, and the non-traditional road he took to find his way back to the classroom to teach. Finally, Navarro talks about the need for, history of, and struggles over bilingual education in Hollister, and the problems with "zero-tolerance" policies.

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Tea Party movement members may have thought they were prepared for counter-protesters when they came to San Francisco on their national day of demonstration against taxation, April 15th. At a late afternoon event in Union Square, some Tea Partiers held bright pink signs marked "infiltrator" over the heads of youthful leftists, who carried signs poking fun at the Tea Party penchant for misspellings. On at least one occasion a contingent of right wingers tried to surround the counter-protesters, threatening to "call the police if you make a false move."

But the Tea Partiers didn't count on that fact that San Francisco has a rich history of creative counter-protesting. In a smaller protest in Civic Center earlier in the day, mocktivist Billionaires for Wealthcare in formal attire bragged about their "old money, oil money, and dot-com money" and thanked members of the right wing gathering for "shooting themselves in the foot and helping the wealthy keep their tax breaks".

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Billionaires for Wealthcare