Feature Archives

On February 24, Russia began a military invasion of Ukraine, claiming its goals were to "demilitarize" and "de-nazify" the country. Bay Area Ukrainians protested in San Francisco on February 26 and 27, many agreeing with calls for maximal NATO involvement. On March 6, Code Pink and other anti-war organizations called for a Global Day of Action to protest the invasion, while also pointing to NATO expansion as having contributed to the crisis.

As the Biden administration keeps up a steady stream of predictions of imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with shipping weapons and troops to Eastern Europe, anti-war groups in the Bay Area are responding. On February 5, they heeded the call put out by Code Pink and others to protest. Demonstrations were held in San Francisco (both at the Embarcadero and Speaker Pelosi's house), Oakland, Berkeley and Santa Cruz.

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion. Advocates for reproductive justice showed up on the forty-ninth anniversary of the decision to reignite the movement to control their bodies. Activists provided a counter-presence to the annual anti-abortion “Walk for Life” in San Francisco. Reproductive justice supporters rallied at the Federal Building/U.S. Courthouse, then marched to where Walk for Life was holding their opening event.

On January 6, cities and towns throughout the Bay Area and across the country held remembrance vigils and protest rallies on the one-year anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol building. Demonstrators identified former President Trump and the Republican Party as responsible for assaulting democracy in an attempt to reverse the outcome of a free and fair election. Many observers view the country as never having been so divided since the civil war and fear a recurrence.

As the US Supreme Court stood poised on December 1 to uphold a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, demonstrators across the US took to the streets. A new organization on the reproductive justice movement scene, Strike for Choice, said the date, which coincided with World AIDS Day, "is fitting because we owe so much to the Act Up movement that moved the needle on the government’s attitude towards powerless AIDS patients."

International Human Rights Day was marked on December 10 by a diverse protest at San Francisco's Federal Building, calling out worldwide crimes against humanity. Countries and policies targeted were the US-supported Saudi war in Yemen, fascists in Myanmar, Israeli colonization of Palestine, attacks against the free press, police brutality, and the US Supreme Court's attack on women. Protesters later marched to a second rally at Powell and Market Streets.

On October 30, a Day of the Dead rally was held in front of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's house in San Francisco. It was at the end of a funeral procession from Alta Plaza Park. A mock coffin with "68000" painted on it was carried to remember the number of people who died this year because of a lack of medical care. The Speaker's house has been a frequent target of demonstration. She has been viewed as a captive of corporate lobbying, unwilling to enact real healthcare reform.