Feature Archives

Undaunted by civil rights violations last year by the Santa Cruz Police Department, this year's Last Night DIY Parade and Celebration enthusiasts returned in full force to take over the streets on New Year's Eve in Santa Cruz. Last year, the celebration erupted into the national headlines when it was discovered that Santa Cruz Police had violated the civil liberties of organizers by spying on their meetings for three months, gathering information about the group and engaging in other activities unrelated to the stated purpose of their investigation. According to the Last Night DIY website, "Last Night is a decentralized, collective, spontaneous, open, public New Year's Eve celebration, a completely organic event, organized and put on at a grassroots-level." (en español) Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

SF videographer Mike Kavanaugh screened "FARMCORE - The Movie: Punk Rock History of the SF Farm" on Thursday, November 30th at 7pm at the Roxie Film Center (3117 16th St, at Valencia). "Farmcore" is a documentary that tells the story of San Francisco's legendary Farm, located in the Mission District during the 1980s. Punk shows at The Farm featured such bands as the Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Black Flag, and Butthole Surfers. The Farm also hosted community gardens, an art gallery, child daycare center, and a multicultural community space. After all other major punk clubs in the city had been shut down, the Farm raged on until late 1987, when it became an early victim of gentrification of the Mission District.

Several local hard rock bands have organized a show that will be a fundraiser for Sandra Tellis, the 45 year-old woman from Oakland who was was beaten, tied up, and set on fire on September 1st. She survived, and is reportedly recovering slowly in a Bay Area hospital. The bands will play on Friday night, October 27th at the Uptown, at 1938 Telegraph Ave. in Oakland. Doors are at 8pm for this 21+ event. Participating bands in the show include Placenta, Soul Broker, The Greenhouse Effect, and Stonecutter. The bands' share of admission will go to a fund that has been set up to benefit Tellis.

Xicana Moratorium Day was celebrated on Sunday, August 27th in San Francisco’s Dolores Park. The yearly event commemorates the original Chicano Moratorium Day in Los Angeles in 1970, when 30,000 marched and police rioted, killing three people. Youth in an organization called Huaxtec now organize the commemorative event. This year, around 1,500 people went to Dolores Park to enjoy hip-hop and roots Xicana music. The theme of the 2006 Xicana Moratorium was “Stop the Violence on the Borders and in the Streets.” Photos

While most Bay Area rappers have been "goin' dumb" this summer, Rico Pabon has been doing the opposite. Although the soulful, salsified beats on his new album "Louder than Fiction," give it the vibe of hand-clapping party album, Rico's words encourage folks to expand their minds instead of just losin' them. Whether performing with his Afro-Latin hip-hop band Agua Libre or dropping tracks with The Coup and dead prez, Rico reps like a Puerto Rican Chuck D. who ain't afraid to smile.

In a narrow alley off 24th St, a cluster of Nepali peasants raise their fists in resistance as two women smash chains of imprisonment. A small child with AIDS cries at the tombstones of her dead parents. Nicaraguan campesinos celebrate their bountiful corn harvest with music and dancing. Welcome to Balmy Alley, a corridor of more than 70 murals in the heart of the Mission district.

John Malkin of Free Radio Santa Cruz interviewed Russ Rankin, lead vocalist of Santa Cruz based punk band Good Riddance. Russ talks about the band, political influences, activism and punk rock and their new album My Republic.

Audio: Download the mp3 (1 hour and 7 minutes / 30.8 MB)

The quartet exploded onto the world punk scene with their 1995 debut For God and Country and quickly began to cultivate a reputation for combining a strong social/political message with energetic live shows. Read more