Feature Archives

From the solidarity website: "Peppy and Krystal are exceptional and caring humans. For decades they have been active participants in solidarity with oppressed and marginalized people. Their tireless advocacy and community building has put them in the crosshairs of state repression. They will both undoubtedly face a long and arduous court process in the months, if not years, ahead.... Today they need our support."

On July 14, climate activists demanded a stop to Wells Fargo's reckless funding of fossil fuels. The action was part of a "block party" by local climate action groups that included loud chanting, carnival style games, music, street painting and dancing. Protesters said they timed their event to keep the pressure on the bank as it released its quarterly earnings report. Six protesters locked themselves down to block the entrance and were arrested.

In response to anti-government protests after police murdered a seventeen-year-old boy of Algerian descent, the French government has taken a number of repressive anti-democratic actions. Several hundred protesters were tried, convicted, and sentenced to lengthy prison terms within just forty-eight hours. One teenager with no prior record was sent to prison for a year and a month for allegedly throwing an empty soda can at a group of police.

San Francisco's is one of the biggest Pride parades in the world, but as it has grown larger so have criticisms that it has become too corporate. While this year was an opportunity to push back against a wave of homophobia and anti-trans hate across the US, as usual corporate floats abounded at the main event along Market Street. The real spirit of resistance was in the smaller People's March held at the same time in the Tenderloin district.

Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst-turned-peace activist who revealed that the U.S. government had been lying about its war on Vietnam, died on June 16. He was best known for leaking the Pentagon Papers to news outlets in 1971. He became a vocal anti-war campaigner. In a 2019 interview, Ellsberg said, "an act of truth-telling, of exposing the realities about which the public had been misled, can indeed help end an unnecessary, deadly conflict."

In a pseudonymous communiqué published on Indybay on May 21, "some vandals" write: Under the cover of night, with the Frisco fog as our accomplice, a crew of friends vandalized over 10 of the right-wing, pro-police “Fentalyfe” street poster installations.... These disturbing posters are part of a $300k campaign, by reactionary group Together SF, that is shaming drug and Narcan users, and calling for the racist criminalization of poor people.

Banko Brown was a 24-year-old transgender organizer in San Francisco. On April 27, Walgreens' security guard Michael Anthony shot and killed Banko after accusing him of shoplifting. Anthony was arrested by SFPD. When the SF DA refused to file charges, the community was outraged. Banko's friends and community members have continued to protest to demand accountability for the killing. On May 26, Banko's family filed a wrongful death civil suit.