Feature Archives

Demanding action for homeless families at higher risk from coronavirus, homeless and housing insecure families successfully moved into six vacant, state-owned properties in the El Sereno neighborhood of Los Angeles on March 14, with scores of community supporters coming out in support. In the next few days, similar families reclaimed more houses, with thirteen providing shelter now. CalTrans owns the houses, and activists estimate that nearly 200 sit vacant.

Santa Cruz City Councilmember Drew Glover faces attack after attack by City Staff and other City Councilmembers. Several members of the Commission for the Prevention of Violence Against Women (CPVAW) have continued their attacks on Glover by filing a complaint on behalf of former CPVAW Commissioner Kevin Grossman, regarding a Facebook post by Glover. Also, Councilmembers Donna Meyers and Martine Watkins are continuing to seek Drew's censure, even after a video has circulated clearly showing Councilmember Meyers screaming at Councilmember Glover and pounding her fist loudly on the council dais.

The Anti Police-Terror Project again joined with multiple organizations to lift up the radical legacy of Martin Luther King all weekend long, culminating in the 6th Annual Rally and March on Monday, January 20. The Oakland MLK march demands were: Housing as a Human Right, Close the Camps, No School Closures, End Police Repression, Climate Justice, No More War. Cities that held Martin Luther King Jr weekend events around the Bay Area included San Francisco, San José, Santa Rosa, El Cerrito, and Hayward.

On November 24, what was to be known as the Housing Justice Village began to take shape in Oscar Grant Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall. Housed and unhoused activists set up a number of tents on the grassy lawn to protest the city's never ending war against the homeless: demolitions, evictions, and tows of residential vehicles. In a political show of force, the city of Oakland directed a small army of police to mass arrest and jail 22 of the demonstrators on what would otherwise be a citable infraction. On December 2, arrestees held a press conference to address the city's attack and why they protested in the first place.

On November 20, more than a thousand UC Berkeley students chanted “Berkeley is a sanctuary, no Coulter, no ICE" and similar slogans as they protested right-wing mouthpiece Ann Coulter. They formed a mass demonstration at the front door and blocked the back doors to Wheeler Auditorium, where the conservative media pundit addressed a group of 350 students. One student who interrupted Coulter's speech was arrested and held overnight in jail. Six other protesters arrested at the demonstration were quickly released.

Two homeless mothers reclaimed possession of a vacant investor-owned property in West Oakland on November 18. The mothers, Dominique Walker and Sameerah Karim, are the founding members of Moms for Housing, created to address the extreme challenges working mothers face in finding safe and affordable housing for themselves and their children. The Moms for Housing have announced their intention to remain in the home until it is returned to the Oakland community. Their supporters are surrounding the home, and will remain in place until the transfer of the home to community control has been negotiated.

After attorneys for the family of Isiah Murrietta-Golding released video of the 16-year-old being shot in the back of the head while fleeing officers, over 100 people protested in Fresno on October 28. The demonstration was held at the Federal Building in downtown Fresno. Some called it murder and protest signs demanded justice. Speakers spoke passionately about ending the constant shooting of young people in Fresno by the police. Police chief Jerry Dyer is running to be the mayor of Fresno, but Reverend Floyd Harris, who spoke at the demonstration, said he has taken out papers to run against Dyer.