Feature Archives

The insurrection in Greece has entered its second week with increasing numbers of occupations of high schools, universities, government buildings, and TV and radio stations. Municipalities have declared autonomy and workers have taken over trade union offices, critiquing union bureaucrats across the country.

There was a solidarity march and general assembly in San Francisco on Saturday, December 20th. Protesters marched to New College, the Mission Police station and then up Market to Powell Street. The protest ended in Union Square. There were 5 arrests as police in riot gear moved in after protesters entered the Westfield Shopping Center.

From the open publishing newswire: "Last night rocks were thrown through the windows of 2 Bank of Americas and another ATM location. We did this because the uprising of our comrades in Greece, England, Moscow and elsewhere will not go without a response. People here are killed by cops, screwed by banks, and we will revolt with just as much fury."

On Saturday December 6th, two Greek policemen in Athens had a verbal argument with several youth. During the argument, one of the cops pulled his gun and shot 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos twice, killing him. Alexandros was active in the anarchist movement in Greece and in response to his murder, thousands of anarchists and students gathered in the centers of most of Greek cities. The evening in Athens evolved with the takeover of several buildings at the Polytechnic University, and rioting throughout the whole center of Athens. Protesters attacked and set on fire, police departments and banks, until the early hours of the next morning. Protests and riots took place again on Sunday and Monday.

lisam writes, "I’ve been involved in countless demonstrations and protests that have been deemed “violent” by both the police forces assigned to control the crowds and the mainstream media who tend to use them as the primary source for their stories. But never in the years that I was involved in massive demonstrations against the corporate control over globalization, did I witness anyone getting trampled or ignored when they had been hurt."

On November 17th at the Bike Church and SubRosa Infoshop in Santa Cruz, a benefit event was held for Dineh (Navajo) families at Black Mesa who are resisting forced relocation from their ancestral homeland and the expansion of devastating mining operations by Peabody Coal. Broken Rainbow is an Academy Award winning documentary that tells the story of this genocidal, industry-led displacement of over 14,000 Dineh.

The brand new documentary "Terrorizing Dissent: Election Cut" will be screened on the evening of Saturday, November 8th at the Resource Center for Nonviolence. Independent media activists from Twin Cities Indymedia and other groups have released a new film which chronicles the events at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. The documentary shows exclusive footage of the criminalization of dissent in St. Paul, interviews organizers now charged as terrorists under the Minnesota PATRIOT Act, and uncovers who ordered the violence against demonstrators.

SubRosa, a new community space in downtown Santa Cruz, hosted its grand opening event on November 1st. The event included an art show, spoken word, live music, food, and a first look inside this vibrant new social space.