Feature Archives

Act Against Torture descended on the route to San Francisco's Independence Day celebration on July 4th to encourage locals and visitors alike to celebrate July 4th by taking a stand for human rights: to shut the prison at Guantanamo, to restore habeas corpus rights, and to repeal the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

Peace advocates gathered on 41st Avenue in Capitola on June 26th to protest the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the recent troop surge, which has resulted in greater casualties, not fewer; and the recruitment of at-risk youth by military recruiters, many of whom use lies and manipulation in order to get people to sign up. Ten people engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience and were arrested by Capitola Police when they stayed in front of the Army recruiting office door when asked to disperse.

The Fresno Center for Nonviolence 15th anniversary celebration was held on Saturday, June 23, 2007. Each year the center presents the “Way of Peace” awards to community activists, brings a top notch speaker to the event, and provides dinner. The speaker this year was Antonia Juhasz and Sunday Food Not Bombs provided a vegetarian dinner. Way of Peace awards were given to Sue Kern, Dr. Marc Lasher, Fran Saunders, Berry Nishkian, and Frances Sivak (posthumously). Way of Peace Youth Awards were given to Rosanna Spicer and Nick Clark. A Way of Peace organizational Award was given to Teatro Immigrante.

On Saturday June 9th, a delegation from the Vietnamese Association of Victims of Agent Orange arrived in San Francisco. They were met upon their arrival by many U.S. supporters including members of Veterans for Peace and members of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign. The delegation spoke at the Veteran's Building in San Francisco on June 10th.

A Rancho Cordova fundraising event for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was delayed three hours on Thursday, May 31 while the Sacramento County bomb squad investigated a coffin brought to the area by antiwar protester Stephen Pearcy. About 20 protesters showed up and organizer Pearcy brought along his usual displays, including his mock coffin with a U.S. flag draped over it.

On June 7th, dozens of people gathered at the San Francisco Federal Building to vigil and conduct civil disobedience to oppose the ongoing occupation war in Iraq. Organized by Declaration of Peace Bay Area, this event takes place every first Thursday of each month. While activists tried to block the entrance to the building, the names of Iraqi war dead were read.

Cindy Sheehan published an open letter on Memorial Day whereby she announced her decision to return to a non-activist life apart from the anti-war movement. Cindy Sheehan first rose to prominence in the summer of 2005 when she set up a camp outside of George Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch and held vigil in order to meet with the President and ask him what noble cause her son had died for. Since then, she has been villified by war supporters and Democrats as she continued to campaign for an end to the war.