Feature Archives

On November 14th, students in the EA Hall Middle School MEChA Club held a free community arts event at the Brown Berets Bike Shack warehouse in Watsonville. The event was initially supposed to be held at the city owned Youth Center, however City Staff were opposed to a fee waiver for this event due to the "political nature" of the bands lined up to perform. This has created a stir with some conservative people in the community who are afraid of anything that promotes Mexican or Xicana/o identity.

Rainbow Theatre, the only multicultural theatre arts troupe in the UC system, will be kicking off their 16th season on November 5th and continuing through November 15th. In the tradition of Teatro Campesino, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and Theatre of the Opressed, Rainbow strives to bring the untold stories of people of color to light.

More than two dozen protesters blocked the entrances to the San Francisco office of Blue Shield of California early in the morning of October 28. They were joined by close to 200 other single payer system health care advocates, who festooned the building with crime tape and chanted loudly. The demonstrators charged Blue Shield with crimes including murder, breach of contract, and subversion of democracy.

It was the Raging Grannies versus Billionaires for Wealthcare outside the Stanford Park Hotel where Congressman John Boehner spoke to a $1,000 per plate Republican crowd in Menlo Park on October 12. The Grannies went on the offensive and tried to give the Billionaires a "shot of reality" as the two street theater groups protested the House Minority leader's event.

On October 11, San Francisco’s Arab Cultural and Community Center will present the 15th Annual Arab Cultural Festival, the largest celebration of Arab heritage in Northern California. This day-long event will showcase the arts, entertainment, food, traditions, and most importantly the spirit of the Arab and Arab-American people, and their contributions to the Bay Area’s cultural landscape.

On September 26 pioneering performing artists including Temple of Poi and OmniCircus graced Golden Gate Park's band shell stage. The surrounding Music Concourse was a spectacular maze of demonstrations for wearable art, 3D film viewing, and independent media publicity. The gigantic "Show and Tell" drew small tots with doting parents, hip singles, and Raging Grannies.

The amplified voices of activists calling out for health care reform resounded in front of Embarcadero Center in San Francisco on September 22nd. Some called for Anthem Blue Cross, which has offices in the building, to drop their option to a public option, others carried placards espousing a single payer plan for the nation. A dozen "Billionaires for Wealthcare" dressed as golfers, yachtsmen and wealthy socialites, mocked the excesses of health care insurance company executives and investors.