$97.00 donated in past month
|
Occupy Wall Street in New York called for a nationwide May Day General Strike. Cities and towns across the United States are heeding the call. Workers will be striking, students will be leaving classes, and banks and other large corporations will be forced to close for the day across the nation. May 1st, 2012, promises to be the largest American May Day since the Immigrant Rights May Day in 2006 and probably the most widespread and furthest reaching in decades.
On May 10th, the Santa Cruz City Council defeated a resolution supporting AB 1081, The Trust Act. The resolution would have supported opting out of the "Secure Communities" (S-Comm) program in Santa Cruz County. S-Comm is a federal program that requires local law enforcement agencies to share the fingerprints of all people arrested to immigration enforcement and target those suspected of immigration violations for detention and deportation. This mandated sharing occurs regardless of the type of crime and even if the charges are dropped.
This federal program, forced on local jurisdictions, has been responsible for the mass deportation of innocent people from Santa Cruz County while destroying families and violating their basic human rights.
On May 25th, over 50 activists entered Coonerty's lecture class at UC Santa Cruz to make his support of "Secure Communities" more publicly known, and point out the contradictions in his "progressive" ideals.
 Read more with video and photos |  Santa Cruz City Council Votes for ICE and "Secure Communities" (S-Comm) | previous coverage: While Mayor Coonerty Hammers Away at Civil Liberties, the ACLU Awards Him
The California coast, from Davenport south through Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Castroville, is Brussels sprouts country. Most of this vegetable in North America comes from these fields, although a growing harvest now takes place in Baja California, in northern Mexico. In both California and Baja California, the vast majority of the people who harvest Brussels sprouts, like those who pick other crops, are Mexican.
Hundreds of students and community activists held a rally at CSU-Fresno in support of the Dream Act. The rally was prompted by media reports that Associated Student president at CSUF, Pedro Ramirez, was undocumented. The news about Ramirez's immigration status was first reported earlier this week in the CSUF Collegian newspaper and later on MSNBC, the BBC, and other national and international media outlets.
The rally in the free speech area was disrupted by Tea Party activists who tried to gain media attention by reading a statement, just before the rally was to begin. The media at the event swarmed around the Tea Party members, but soon the crowd began chanting and reporters lost interest in the impromptu press conference. The 10-15 Tea Party members were far outnumbered by the 100's of Dream Act supporters.
Speakers at the rally were mostly undocumented students who gave their personal stories about how their immigration status has affected them. Also included as a speaker was CSUF president John Welty who said "it's time to pass the Dream Act."
Organizers of the event skillfully turned revelations about Pedro Ramirez into an opportunity to mobilize students in support of the Dream Act at a time when it is being discussed in Congress. They urged rally participants to contact their Congressional representatives to pass the Dream Act, which will give undocumented students the ability to complete their education.
Read more and view photos
The California Nurses Association (CNA) held a press conference Thursday, August 19th accusing Sutter Health's California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), which operates St. Luke's Hospital, of discriminating against Filipino nurses. The union filed a class action grievance on behalf of Filipino applicants denied jobs at the hospital and, along with Filipino community groups, filed a complaint asking the San Francisco Human Rights Commission to investigate the discrimination claims.
At the press conference, the union provided sworn declarations made by three former managers at CPMC. The declarations claimed that the hospital had instituted a policy against hiring Filipino and foreign-graduate nurses. One former manager reported that a CPMC executive repeatedly instructed him not to hire Filipinos, telling him, "The Filipinos are always related, or know each other and that's not good. You're not to hire them."
Union and community leaders suggested that the decline in the hiring of Filipino registered nurses is connected to their activism. The union presented data showing that Filipinos made up 66 percent of the nurses at St. Luke's when CPMC took over the hospital in 2007. But beginning in 2008, after nurses, including many Filipinos, successfully campaigned against CPMC's planned closure of St. Luke's, the number of Filipino new hires dropped to 10 percent.
Read More
Fuck ICE writes: "On Friday evening, August 6, we gathered outside the Santa Cruz County Jail to demonstrate our solidarity with the people locked up inside and express our hatred of imprisonment. About 30-40 of us stood in the middle of Blaine Street, next to both the main County Jail (where 336 people are locked up) and the Women’s Facility (21 people). We banged on drums made from 55-gallon barrels with the intention of creating as much noise as possible to breach the prison walls. Our portable sound system blasted insurgent hip-hop, including N.W.A’s 'Fuck the Police' and the Geto Boys’ 'G-Code.' We carried two banners stating, 'Free All Prisoners' and 'Chinga la Migra/Fuck I.C.E.'
"Chants included 'We Are All Illegal, Todos Somos Ilegales,' 'Chinga la Migra, Y La Policia,' and 'Revolt on the Outside, Revolt on the Inside!' We also told jokes at the expense of cops and jail guards. At one point, as the jail guards stood on the roof of the jail watching us, people started chanting 'Jump! Jump! Jump!' We also used a megaphone to attempt to speak directly to the prisoners and let them know that they are not forgotten and that they have support from the outside."
Read more |  On ICE, Imprisonment, and White Supremacy | What is the "Secure Communities" Program?
Protests took place on July 29th throughout Arizona, and around the U.S. and Mexico, against attacks on immigrants. These protests happened the day that Arizona's anti-immigrant law, SB1070, went into effect. Three hundred people demonstrated and spoke out at 24th and Mission in San Francisco. There were also actions in the Fruitvale district in Oakland and other cities throughout the Bay Area and beyond.
The day before, a federal judge blocked many of the most controversial parts of Arizona's immigration law from taking effect, delivering what many see as a last-minute victory to opponents of the crackdown.
In response to the partial injunction, Carlos Garcia of the Puente Movement stated, "There is no partial solution to hatred. We reject unconstitutional laws and racist immigration practices that profile U.S citizens, separate families, terrorize communities, and rob us of our basic humanity."
SF Photos |
 Audio |
Santa Cruz Responds to SB 1070 |
US Judge Blocks Controversial Parts of Arizona's SB1070
July 29th Action Announcements:
Napa |
Downtown Oakland |
Fruitvale in Oakland |
Santa Cruz |
San Francisco |
Petaluma
On July 29th, a diverse showing of Santa Cruz residents rallied at Depot Park and marched up Pacific Avenue to the town clock in protest of Arizona's Senate Bill 1070, a legislative act that is said to be the broadest and strictest anti-immigrant measure in decades. The demonstrators proclaimed solidarity with all communities resisting SB 1070, a law they say scapegoats migrants, and also voiced outrage to local police and sheriffs working with the federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within Santa Cruz County neighborhoods and jails.
Demonstrators carried homemade signs with statements including, "Blame Wall Street, Not Immigrants" and "Destroy Every Border, Solidarity to Detainees & Prisoners, Free Them All!"
Photos | Reportback from Immigrants Rights March | Saying No to 1070 on the Day It Took Effect | Arizona Indymedia
Despite little evidence of activity that would endanger public safety, during daylight hours on May 2, San José police stopped cars for inspection without any obvious traffic violation or unsafe behavior, according to an eyewitness who documented traffic stops. Police issued numerous citations and arrested Latino drivers.
Later that evening, as traffic backed up downtown, police road blocks prevented cars from turning south from Santa Clara Street towards San José State University or east from Fourth Street. Several drivers later complained that police refused to allow them to reach their homes even when they offered to show proof of residence in the area. Police conducted a similar action on the night of May 5. The actions effectively evacuated the city center and shut down street celebrations for two nights.
Community activists have repeatedly appealed to the San José City Council to review police practices on Cinco de Mayo. Many residents are wondering how the city can afford thousands of hours of police overtime pay for extreme enforcement actions on Cinco de Mayo while the city faces a budget crisis.
Read more |
2009 Photo Survey: San José Police Department Targets Latinos
San José Peace and Justice Center
Updates 5/11/10:
hunger strike at uc berkeley still going strong
Updates 5/10/10:
Police Raiding UC Berkeley Hunger Strike |
Hunger Strike Raided: Rally at 3:30pm |
Hunger Strikers |
hella cops defend chancellor birgeneau's house from hunger strikers
On Monday, May 3rd, the Chican@/Latin@ community at Cal, which includes RAZA, Mecha, Xinaxtli, and others began a hunger strike in front of California Hall in response to the new Arizona SB1070 Law and to the charges imposed on student protesters this school year. The six demands issued include that President Yudof and other UC Chancellors publicly denounce Arizona’s SB1070 and that all the charges be dropped against student activists in the year 2009-2010, particularly those charged with student conduct beginning in November 20th and December 11th 2009. Strikers issued a call to action against racism and oppression for Friday, May 7th.
The Hunger strikers write: We, the hunger strikers of UC Berkeley, are calling out to all people of color, to our communities of color, to take a stand this Friday, May 7th at noon against racism and all the many forms that this oppression takes in our society. We call upon communities of color and all our allies to protest at locations of power, wherever it may be that you are best able to protest, whether that be an administration building or city hall. We must unite and let those in power know that we are standing together to oppose the criminalization of our communities. Let them know that we will not allow them to target workers for firings on our campuses through the misguided privatization policies of our campus administrations. Let them know that we will not allow them to target our fellow students that have stood up to them in past, that stand up to them in the present, and that will stand against them in future protests. Let them know that we are all one: workers, students, community members. Let it be known that we will not be divided.
Read More |
Photos:
1 |
2 |
Call to Action from UC Berkeley Hunger Strikers
See Also:
UC Berkeley Agrees to Settle Angela Miller’s Conduct Charges
Previous Related Indybay Feature:
UC Berkeley Rally in Defense of Students Facing Suspension
|
|
