Feature Archives

For the 5th year running, the burning of American flags took place on July 3rd at Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz. Organizers say they raise the burning flag up as a sacred symbol representing their highest ideals as Americans, and that the "American Flag is so great a symbol that it represents the right to burn it."

Robert Norse comments, "Burning a flag in solidarity with the Honduran people on July 4th makes more sense to me than burning a flag as a celebration of the First Amendment. Divorcing flag-burning from its visceral ('Yanqui, go home!') content is a way of stripping the action of its force."

A Committee of Outside Agitators, write: "On September 24-25th, leaders from the 20 richest and most powerful economies of the world will assemble in Pittsburgh, PA to discuss how they can further entrench their power in the face of the most devastating global depression seen in the last 70 years. We will meet them there."

Volunteers transformed a run-down warehouse space and bleak parking lot in downtown Santa Cruz into a cozy community and performance space with a large patio surrounded by a beautiful garden. Inside and outside, people gather around small tables for coffee and conversation, reading, talking, meeting, and enjoying performances and art.

After print-runs for the SF and NY Anarchist Book Fairs, a magazine entitled Unfinished Acts: January Rebellions is now available on Indybay in digital format. The magazine is a collective recounting and analysis of events surrounding the shooting of the unarmed, 22-year-old Oscar Grant III by BART police officers in the early hours of 2009 on the Fruitvale station platform.

On Wednesday, June 10th, hundreds of people who will be affected by Newsom's budget cuts took to the streets to demand that the Board of Supervisors save front-line services, and take a more balanced approach to the San Francisco budget. The demonstration followed a proposed budget, released by Mayor Newsom, that will terminate critical health and human services, while pumping up salaries for police by 25% and adding many new high paid patronage positions into his own administration.

On May 19, Melissa C. Roxas was abducted along with two Filipino companions, Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Jandoc from a house, in La Paz, Philippines. Melissa Roxas is a well known community and cultural activist and human rights advocate. She is a member of the cultural group Habi-Arts and of BAYAN-USA, the progressive alliance of Filipino organizations. Roxas and her companions were taken by suspected elements of the Philippine Armed Forces, who accused them of being members of New People's Army, the military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Susan Jordan, a civil litigator and criminal justice lawyer from Mendocino County, died on Friday, May 29th in a plane crash in Utah. She was 67 years old and left a legacy of civil litigation and criminal justice work behind. Jordan represented several prominent political activists throughout her career, including Earth First!'s Judi Bari after she was car bombed with Daryl Cherney in 1990 and members of the SLA, Symbionese Liberation Army in the kidnapping of Patty Hearst.