Feature Archives

Non-profit public interest and women's legal groups, along with nationally respected private employee rights law firms, have filed a class action suit against Wal-Mart (including Sam's Clubs) charging that Wal-Mart discriminates against women. Women have complained about their treatment in over 20 California Wal-Mart stores. The next hearing in the case will be on August 8, 2005 at 1:30pm at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The hearing will take up the issue of Wal-Mart's appeal of the class certification order in the case.

Groups Plan to Protest New Walmart in Oakland | Building Bridges Radio Report About the Women's Suit | Wal-Mart Class Action Lawsuit | Another women's lawsuit website | The Wal-Mart Litigation Project | Alternet Article: The Women of Wal-Mart

A memorial for Joan Norman will be held on Sunday, July 31st, at 3:00 PM at Forks State Park, just a half mile south of Cave Junction on 199. Read more and watch a video about Joan

7/24/2005: Yesterday was moving day. Joan Norman was moving into an apartment that she had endured two years on a waiting list for, in Brookings. She was killed in a car accident and her nephew, who had been in the car with her, survived with minor injuries. Joan Norman was interviewed by a Portland Indymedia reporter during the women's actions in the Biscuit earlier this year. Ms. Norman had been arrested on March 8th, and one of her statements in the interview was, "There are only 5% of the old growth trees left in the United States." She was arrested twice during the Biscuit campaign. At 72 years of age, she spent several weeks in jail, as she had refused bail on the moral grounds that she was not the law breaker. She was arrested more than 100 times in her more than 30 years of activism.

Activists were attending a Sisters of the Siskiyou benefit in Ashland when this news was relayed to them last night. Joan Norman had been their "number one Sister of the Siskiyous, dear friend, mentor and leader." The group decided to do what would have please Joan-- Biscuiteers will take lawn chairs and sit down in front of the McGuire timber sale. The action will occur in a timeframe most respectful toward Joan's family. Details about Joan's memorial will be announced soon.

Read more on Indybay's Environment and Forest Defense News Page

The “Crusade for Life” has made plans to harass women at health clinics in the Bay Area from July 15th-27th. Radical Women and other local organizations are encouraging people to help to defend the clinics and to send the message that the Bay Area is pro-choice and stands up for reproductive rights. The Bay Area is being targeted precisely because of the long-standing tradition of honoring and protecting a woman's right to reproductive self determination.

Planned Clinic Defense Actions: July 22nd: About 15 people were stationed all morning at two clinics in Oakland. As of 11:30am, there was no anti-choice presence at the Women's Choice Clinic. July 23rd: A Press Conference and Rally to Fight the Anti-Choice Bigots was held at 9:00am at Eddy St. and Van Ness. Photos: 1 | 2 | Video | Audio: 1 | 2 The main messages of the press conference were: "NO to John Roberts! NO to PROP 73! And NO to the 'Crusade for Life'!" Anti-choice protesters were visible from the press conference. A protest was held at Planned Parenthood on Saturday, July 16th, and, as the organization has since expressed concerns about the "negative impact on our ability to provide services," no pro-choice protest was scheduled for that site for this weekend. Report from Pro-choice journalist: 7/17

Monday, July 25th: Clinic Defense and pro-choice presence at Women’s Choice Clinic in Oakland started at 8am. The anti-choice group also made plans to be in Berkeley on July 26th and in Richmond on July 27th. Read more ways to help defend clinics | Recommended Procedures for Clinic Defense & Patient/Escort Assistance

Maribel had a court date on August 3rd. The Fresno police department's felony assault charges against Maribel were dropped. Press releases and Audio According to the Free Maribel website, the Cuevas family looks forward to recuperating for the rest of the summer before school starts up again. Maribel's family and their attorneys are very grateful for the international and national support that everyone has provided.

Maribel Cuevas, a small 11-year old girl in Fresno who speaks more Spanish than English, was attacked by neighborhood boys who threw water balloons at her in late April. She grew frustrated and threw a rock at the boys. One of the boys, 9 year-old Elijah Vang, needed stitches as a result of being hit by the rock. A neighbor called 911, but before 3 police cars and a helicopter had arrived, Maribel had already apologized to the boy's family. The Fresno police (who only spoke English) arrested Maribel and took her away in handcuffs. She was incarcerated in juvenile hall for five days, and was made to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet for a month. Elijah Vang and his family have reportedly moved out of the neighborhood. Maribel is being charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon. Her lawyer has accused the police of criminalizing childhood behavior. Women's rights activists are encouraging people to write to the District Attorney, Elizabeth A. Egan, and ask her to drop the charges against Maribel. Contact info for local officials
Maribel's first court date in her trial will be August 3rd at 8:30am. A vigil for Maribel was held in Fresno on Friday, July 29th at 8:00pm in front of Fresno County Juvenile Hall. Photos | Photos and Video

Free Maribel Website

The San Francisco Reproductive Rights Coalition will hold its next meeting on Monday, May 23rd in San Francisco's Women's Building. Bay Area activists will gather to start discussion of next year's Roe v. Wade Day, which is likely to be countered by a 2006 "Walk for Life- West Coast." The Reproductive Rights Coalition aims to continue its work to restore full reproductive rights to women nationwide.

The coalition's additional concerns include Operation Rescue's recent targeting of an abortion provider in North Oakland, and the fact that the group Americans United for Life has successfully gathered enough signatures to place the California Parental Notification Act on the ballot for California's next statewide election. This proposed law puts young women’s right to abortion and privacy in grave danger. Read more about the meeting

Refuse & Resist! Bay Area mobilized against Operation Rescue at the The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Conference. OR came to San Francisco to harass, intimidate, and defame the women's health professionals who participated in the conference. Operation Rescue had a small number of people out during each day of the conference, and groups such as Refuse & Resist and the RCP went out at different times with literature and banners to show their support from the ACOG conference attendees. Operation Rescue's planned civil disobedience against the conference seems to never have materialized. A press conference by representatives of the City of San Francisco and pro-choice organizations was planned for Wednesday, May 11th.

R&R's Call to Action for May 9th | Photos | Photos and Report from May 7th | OR's call to action | San Francisco: Pro-Choice and Proud

Code Pink in the Bay Area will hold a Mother's Day protest on Saturday, May 7th. They will gather at 1pm at CBS-5's offices on Battery Street at Broadway in San Francisco. The will march through "San Francisco's media block" and end at the U.S. Military Recruiting Office on 670 Davis Street. They say, "Mother's Day was originally started after the Civil War as a protest to the carnage of that war, by women and men who had lost their sons. Today, we are seeing the carnage of the war in Iraq and watching family and friends lose their loved ones. Reclaim Mother's Day as an anti-war day." There will be events in other cities such as Menlo Park this weekend, as well. Raging Grannies and others will gather on Sunday, May 8th at 11am at the Menlo Park Farmer's Market to sing anti-war and counter military recruiting ditties, and watch a Julia Ward Howe re-enactor recite the original Mother's Day Proclamation. More details

CodePink says, "It is with our Mothers’ pride and fierce determination to end all war, that we will convene a “Congress of Women without limit of nationality” on May 8th, Mother’s Day: All we want for Mother's Day is our troops home from Iraq now. We will also begin the call to Governor Schwarzenegger and our State Legislators to bring our California National Guard home from Iraq by Labor Day, 2005." Mothers and others will gather on Sunday, May 8th, from 4pm to 6pm at the Vietnam War Memorial on the capitol grounds in Sacramento. They will hold a General Congress of Women without limit to nationality to "reclaim the origins of Mother's Day and to begin calling our National Guard home from Iraq."

Mothers, Daughters, and Grandmothers from CodePink, Gold Star Families for Peace, Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, Grandmothers for Peace, and many others have come together to embrace the message written by the original mother’s day founder, Julia Ward Howe, in 1870: "Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

Read more about the Mother's Day Call for Peace