Feature Archives

A flashmob invaded the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco on May 8th, singing and dancing before an amused audience of tourists and hotel guests. The activists performed to accompanying horns and drums of the Brass Liberation Orchestra with their own version of the Lady Gaga song Bad Romance, "Don't Get Caught in a Bad Hotel". The spectacle drew attention to a boycott called by the workers of the hotel who are eager to get a fair contract and affordable healthcare.

The world premiere screening of La Vie en Verte: The WAMM Movie will take place on Wednesday, May 12th, 6:30pm at the Riverfront Theater, as part of the Santa Cruz Film Festival. La Vie en Verte documents the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), a "collective of patients and caregivers [who have been] providing hope, building community and offering medical marijuana on a donation basis” for over a decade. In the film, we meet Valerie and Mike Corral, and follow their journey as they dedicate their lives to offering compassionate care despite the antagonism of the brutal federal government. Valerie and Mike Corral will be at the screening, in addition to directors Charlie Hall and Bevin-Bell Hall.

On April 5th, Teachers for Class War spoke with Hollister educator and poet Joe Navarro about local struggles, his 1st grade students, poetry and history. An educator since 1994, Navarro is a "literary vato loco," teacher, student and community activist. He also has experience as a factory worker, union leader, author and poet, and a father.

Wednesday, April 21st was the first day of the expanded Farmers' Market in downtown Santa Cruz. However, it was strangely quiet compared to previous weeks. Notably absent from Parking Lot #4 was the weekly drum circle and the crowd it attracts. And a vendor was selling artisan bread where for years, Food Not Bombs had been distributing free meals to anyone.

On April 15th, Tax Day, a right wing organization called Bay Area Patriots held a Tea Party attended by about 200 people in Union Square in the late afternoon. Earlier in the day a similar group, who said they were inspired by Speaker Pelosi's characterization of the Tea Party movement as artificial, held an anti-Pelosi protest in Civic Center that drew only a handful of demonstrators. At both events, seasoned San Francisco mocktivists found plenty to make fun of.

Simón Sedillo, a community rights defense organizer and filmmaker, will be making presentations in the Monterey Bay Area on Indigenous Strategies for Hood Liberation and screening the new documentary film Xip Xop oaXaca. On Thursday, April 22nd, Sedillo will be at Cabrillo College at 1pm and at the Brown Berets Bike Shack in Watsonville at 7pm. On Friday, April 23rd, Sedillo will be presenting at UC Santa Cruz at 11:30am.

On April 15th, a new direct action group calling themselves “Offset This!” disrupted the “Navigating the American Carbon World” conference at the Marriott Hotel in San Francisco. The protesters said that carbon trading is a false solution that distracts attention from the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions. One protester was arrested after causing a ruckus during the plenary session.