Feature Archives

December 17th marks the 5th Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. The day calls attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers. The Sex Workers Outreach Project conceived of the event as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River murders in Seattle, Washington. This day empowers sex workers and their supporters to come together to organize against discrimination and to remember victims of violence. A press conference on Monday on the steps of San Francisco City Hall (Polk side) at 11:30am will announce that the 5th Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers will take place in Civic Center Plaza at 6pm.

Anti-choice protesters have reportedly been harassing, intimidating, threatening, and blocking patients, friends, family, and staff of reproductive health clinics in Oakland for years. The City of Oakland and East Bay clinics are uniting to support an ordinance protecting safe and unrestricted access to clinics. On Tuesday, December 4th, Oakland's City Council will consider an ordinance that would define penalties for those who try to interfere with access to clinics. Supporters will gather outside of City Hall for a 5pm rally.

August 26th is Women’s Equality Day. The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. The 2nd Annual California Women's Equality Day Parade and Rally will take place on Saturday, August 25th, beginning at 9:30am at Sacramento's Southside Park, and ending in a rally on the West Steps of the Capitol at 11am. On Thursday, August 30th, Radical Women celebrated Women's Equality Day with an event at New Valencia Hall.

Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr recently announced that her office would not be filing any charges in the De Anza gang-rape case, in which an underage, unconscious young woman was assaulted by a group of De Anza College baseball players. At a Thursday May 31st press conference, community members gathered outside the DA's office in San Jose to demand justice for the young woman. Within a week's time, it was announced that Carr would pass the case on to state Attorney General Jerry Brown.

Santa Cruz City Hall Courtyard hosted a jean art exhibit on April 25th as part of Denim Day in Santa Cruz. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and wearing denim, "Wear Your Jeans", is part of an international protest of an Italian High Court decision to overturn a rape conviction because the victim was wearing jeans. Denim Day is about challenging myth-based injustice.

On Thursday, April 19th, at 5:00 p.m., a rally was held at Civic Center in San Francisco to oppose the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Federal "Partial-Birth" Abortion Ban. Many say that the decision, which was announced on April 18th, will endanger women's health by eroding the scope of Roe v Wade. In a 5-4 decision, the justices upheld the Federal Abortion Ban that had been passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2003. This federal ban will come into effect within a few weeks. It will trump California's strong pro-choice laws and ban certain abortions, without an exception to preserve the health of the woman.

Alice Nuccio, a member of Local 510, the Sign and Display Workers Union, and an activist in the social justice community in the Bay Area, died of cancer on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007, at age 46. Her fellow activists and Local 510 members held a memorial service on Saturday March 24th at 6:30pm, at the St. Martin DePorres House, 225 Potrero Avenue (near 16th St.). Her life as an activist began with the anti-nuclear peace movement on the east coast in the late 1970s, then continued with her relationships, serving food with Food Not Bombs, working on AIDS issues with ACT UP, participating in the direct actions that shut down the WTO in Seattle, and organizing Anarchist Cafes. Alice fought for people to have more access to information about their illness, as well as for more holistic and less intrusive healing methods. Alice enjoyed community gardening, potlucks, bonfires at the beach, spending time with her cat, and collective musical experiences such as playing music with friends.