Feature Archives

Women in Black held an action in the affluent 4th Street shopping district in Berkeley on Jan 26. They marched in protest of the escalating violence in the Middle East. The demonstration also marked Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish New Year for trees, which is relevant today because trees are being targeted and destroyed in the conflict. Israeli forces are uprooting olive and fruit trees in Palestine. Photos

One year after the death of nine women in a 2 month period because of medical neglect at the Central CA Women's Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, California Prison Focus and the CA Coalition of Women Prisoners continue to demand that this abuse must end. On 4/27 demonstrators met at the prison gates in a call to end the lockdown, support healthcare not prisons, stop physical, mental, and emotional abuse of prisoners, and an outside investigation of the facility. Details

prisons.org | womenprisoners.org

5/9: "I was wheeled in here in an ambulance-- will I be wheeled out in a hearse?"Women in the Central California Women's Facility prison in Chowchilla say that their medical needs are routinely neglected. Activists say, "People have been left to die because they?re not getting the medical care they need." The California Department of Corrections refuses to speak to the media. Full story On 5/13, protest the continued abuse of women at the CCWF nursing facility and Governor Davis' failure to address this issue.

12/11/2003 Shannon Williams was sentenced to unsupervised probation (for disturbing the peace), and her charge of prostitution was dismissed.
8/27/2003, Oakland: According to the police report, undercover officer Mark Turpin announced: "I'm an ass man." Moments later, Oakland police officers swarmed into the apartment, surrounding Shannon Williams, a former Berkeley High School teacher charged with prostitution. Ms. Williams, a 5'1" woman, was held at gunpoint while police officers laughed and joked. The officers initially refused to allow her to get dressed, saying that she must remain in her negligée as they transported her to the police station. She was forced to plead and cry, before they would permit her to put on clothing. On learning of the case, community members are voicing their dissatisfaction with police conduct and the squandering of police resources on prostitution; an outdoor rally in support of prostitution was held during Ms. Williams' court appearance on 8/27. Enemy Combatant Radio Interviews Shannon