Feature Archives

Joshua Shepherd writes: I have a self-inflicted wound. I joined the United States military. I didn't know. I couldn't see. I couldn't hear. I was borne of wounded folk. I became wounded myself. Let us heal. I am currently using a Twitter account @FortressBayArea to name militarisms past and present. I aspire to a kind of community solidarity where we challenge our neighbors to stop inflicting wounds for their own sake and that of others. The foundation of the modern Bay Area was laid on conquest. Of land, of people, of spirit. One of UC Berkeley's cornerstones was shifted 5° to align with the Golden Gate and mark the coming conquest of the Pacific.

Protests and actions in San Rafael, Oakland, Los Angeles, across the US, and around the world marked the 17th birthday of Palestinian teen activist Ahed Tamimi, imprisoned since December 19 and facing charges before an Israeli military court. Ahed was seized by occupation forces in a pre-dawn raid on her family’s home in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah. She is one of over 350 Palestinian children imprisoned by the Israeli occupation and one of nearly 6,200 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. On February 13, an Israeli military court ordered journalists to leave the courtroom then extended Ahed's detention until her next hearing on March 11.

On November 11, the Korea Peace Walk traveled 20 blocks along Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, pausing to rally at historic sites of the labor movement and Black Panther Party activism. The celebrated date activists chose originated as Armistice Day on November 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. About 70 people marched for over two hours from from 23rd to 44th Street. At the final rally at Koryo Place, the center of a district of small Korean family owned businesses, pungmul (풍물) drummers pounded furiously. Pungmul drumming and dancing is rooted in Korea’s collective farming culture and has long been actively used in political protest there.

On November 16, the Public Art Commission of Palo Alto voted unanimously to remove the artwork of Adriana Varella from the city’s public art collection. "Digital DNA", a seven foot tall egg shaped sculpture made of recycled circuit boards, imparts a political message—that technology generated by Silicon Valley has a far-reaching impact. It conveys that modern technology can enslave us, and reminds the viewer that technology is also used for warfare. In protest of the commission's decision, the artist has created a more than 5 foot wide collage titled "Censorship Committee of Palo Alto" that is currently on display at an art show about censorship in New York City.

On November 4, a rally in San Francisco's Union Square kicked off Bay Area participation in a national campaign to drive out the Trump/Pence administration. A long and spirited march snaked through the city following the rally. Protests were held on the same day in twenty-two cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle and Portland. To promote the day of action, Refuse Fascism, a project of the Revolutionary Communist Party, took out a full page ad in the New York Times.

As tensions ramp up between the U.S. and North Korea, speakers at a rally in San Francisco on August 15 called for the halting of US/South Korea military exercises along the Korean Peninsula. The annual war games are scheduled to be held starting August 21 and coincide with North Korea's threat to Guam. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North Korea) views the joint exercises as continued acts of war, as there was never a signed peace treaty at the end of the Korean War in 1953. On August 28, in response to the United States and South Korean war games, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has launched an unarmed missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean.

A coalition of social justice activists demonstrated with signs, banners, and flyers outside the annual RSA cyber-security conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco on February 14 and 15, educating attendees and the public about how Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) enables and profits from Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, and from racist immigration and incarceration policies in the United States. HPE is a platinum sponsor and participant in the annual RSA Conference. The protests followed last month’s Global Day of Action against HP, with over 150 demonstrations in over 60 countries around the world