Feature Archives

The community of Santa Cruz won a victory on January 23rd in Parking Lot #4, the lot at Cathcart and Cedar. There under the two tall trees, the weekly drum circle bounced back from last week's police intimidation. Last week cops with ticketbooks dispersed the drummers, Food Not Bombs, and anyone loafing, loitering, or lingering with warnings of $100+ fines.

On January 16th at about 4:20pm, Santa Cruz Police Sgt. Flippo, Officer Auldridge, and three other cops (two as back-up) began writing warnings to folks on the edges of the drum circle in the Cathcart parking lot. The drummers, after ignoring the police for awhile, moved to Pacific Avenue to continue drumming at Soquel and Pacific. The Trash Orchestra calls for drummers to participate in a rousing drum circle on Wednesday, January 23rd at the Cathcart parking lot.

On two successive Wednesdays, December 26th and January 2nd, police officers ordered a peaceful drum circle to leave the parking lot on Cedar Street alongside the Santa Cruz Farmers Market. The police are enforcing a new municipal ordinance, which went into effect in mid-November, that activists refer to as the 'Parking Lot Panic Law.' The merchant-backed law prohibits lingering in a parking lot or garage, unless you have a vehicle there (and then only for fifteen minutes).

Rico writes, "This year, the third year of the Last Night DIY celebration, did you notice the trend of the city starting to claim the party as it's own? It's awesome to feel accepted of course, but it's a double-edged sword. After the first couple years of getting nothing but grief from the cautious city administrators, conservative local media, and uniformed fascists, this year the Senile and the Good Times claimed that the celebration was "quickly becoming a Santa Cruz tradition," and "was a uniquely Santa Cruz event." Hahaha. That cracks me up."

Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra writes, "Invite us to wade through teargas with you, or break through police lines, to create a distraction while you rob a bank to redistribute the wealth in the name of the Cause. Invite us to help tear down the walls of oppression -- understand that it is totally okay if you mean this literally."

RT writes, "Myspace, blogs, and online networks are like a dream for police investigators. Where they used to have to go out and interview people, check records, walk the street, now they merely have to go online. Investigation from the convenience of their offices."

On December 12th, Sharon Delgado read selections from her new book "Shaking the Gates of Hell: Faith led resistance to Corporate Globalization." She is a Reverend of Earth Justice Ministries, a former organizer with the Resource Center for Nonviolence, and a global justice activist. Delgado outlined portions of her book, and some of the ideas and philosophies behind her resistance to corporate globalization.