Feature Archives

The People’s Revolutionary Organization (PRO), which is based in Petaluma, organized Pirates of Propaganda, a day of workshops about youth radio, stencil and graffiti art, and writing and self-publishing using Indybay. The group organized 30 days of action in July. By putting on events and workshops all month, the PRO wanted to show that activism is, “Essentially about doing stuff, and taking initiative... showing that single issue politics can be connected, even within a small group of people.” On July 23rd, about 15 people gathered at Free Mind Media Info Shop in Santa Rosa for workshops about making radio, stencil art and graffiti, and posting to Indybay. Report and photos

In October, Modern Times Bookstore, an independent, collectively owned and operated progressive bookstore in San Francisco's Mission District, will be celebrating its 35th anniversary. For a while, it had seemed as though the bookstore would suffer the fate of many other local bookstores that have closed recently, such as Changemakers in Oakland, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place for Books in SF, and Cody's on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. A new collaboration with New College of California is one of the reasons for the store's security.

On July 3rd, fiesta mysteriosa hosted Santa Cruz's 2nd Annual Old Time American Flag Burn at Seabright Beach. The celebration was a B.Y.O.F. event. Before the burning and melting of more than a dozen American flags, people gathered around the fire pit to share their personal feelings and beliefs about burning American flags. It is legal to burn American flags, however the burning of US currency is illegal. Dollar bills, powerful symbols of global capitalism, were also burned, despite the illegality of the act.

Having been the target of numerous recent anti-war demonstrations, the Oakland Military Recruitment Center on Broadway at 21st Street met a different type of adversary on June 7th. The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army (CIRCA) invaded and occupied the military recruitment center in downtown Oakland for about 45 minutes until they were forced out by city police and the center shut down for the day.

Major Mischief reports: We went to see if us clowns could fly big planes and drive big cars too, but the army people were too serious and tried to kick us out. Once we played some games and explained consensus to them, they were a little happier with us. We decided their army was boring and set up our own recruiting table for the "Army of Fun" outside while the rest of us tried to get them to laugh.

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Four inch figures representing "every person who has died in Iraq since we invaded" are on display in Watsonville as part of the Pajaro Valley Arts Council exhibit, Sculpture IS, which is showing June 2nd through July 30th. Thirty-nine regional artists are showing over seventy pieces of work ranging from installation and performance art to a variety of sculptures that are kinetic, functional, traditional and collaborative. "Counting Lives Lost, Making Tangible an Abstract Measure of Grief" was installed by a volunteer group of artists over Memorial Day weekend. Read more and view photos

Invitations were distributed to Reclaim The Streets of Santa Cruz on June 3rd with a free street party for everyone. Slowly but surely, musicians, artists, chalkers, dancers, bikers, disc tossers, walkers and other party goers began arriving at Pearl Alley in anticipation of Saturday night's "experiment in spontaneous urban uprising."

Free loaves of challah and a jug-band got the party started in Pearl Alley. At about 8pm, people drifted into slow-moving traffic on Pacific Avenue to "take over the streets and reclaim community space for community use!"

People left Pearl Alley then marched down Pacific Avenue to Laurel where they danced and played in the intersection before continuing up Laurel and then Cedar. Reclaim The Streets continued up Cedar and got word that the Dyke March was on Pacific and heading towards the Town Clock. The street party acted swiftly to join the Dyke March, bringing an interesting twist to both events. Read more and view photos

Audio: Indynewswire Show: SC Reclaim the Streets Coverage

They were kicked out of the Santa Cruz Farmer's Market on Wednesday, but on Thursday the ruckus music of Shakey Bones was welcomed on Freak Radio, Santa Cruz's renowned community pirate radio station. Shakey Bones formed in January of 2006 in Walnut Creek, a "boring suburban town in the east bay." ( Audio | Photos)

Shakey Bones plays, "RUCKUS MUSIC. New tunes, old tunes, rewritten tunes and all kinds of other madness. We make all our own cds, and send them out ourselves. Up the punx. Fuck the naysayers. Bash the fash. Eat the cake. Save the world." Read more

audio (mp3): Shakey Bones Live on FRSC (1 hour 10 minutes / 32 MB)