Feature Archives

Faith in Community held a rally today in front of Saint John’s Cathedral to protest the high level of forecloses in Fresno and throughout the country. In 2008 alone, banks foreclosed on 12,571 homes in the Fresno region, a 102.5 percent increase over the previous year.

January 2009 marked the 3rd year that Eric McDavid has spent behind bars. His arrest and imprisonment were a direct result of government infiltration and entrapment. Eric has spent the last three years of his life in a cage for what amounts to thought crime. Those years have been full of challenges and struggle. Most recently, Eric has been enduring lockdowns at the prison, the loss of phone and internet access, and a move.

Following a series of Town Hall meetings that have been held since the murder of Oscar Grant, the first in a series of Caravans for Justice traveled to the California State Capitol on February 19th to speak out and lobby legislators on the issues of Oscar Grant and police killings, repressive gang laws, Three Strikes, the San Francisco 8, environmental justice, and other laws and issues that negatively effect urban communities of color.

A coalition of community groups are demanding the City of Fresno establish police accountability and community confidence in the police department. Representatives from 20 grassroots organizations were at Fresno City Hall on February 13th calling for an independent investigation into the beating of a homeless man by a Fresno police officer. Video of the incident has been shown nationwide.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) placed United Healthcare Workers (UHW) West in trusteeship on January 27. UHW members work in hospitals, convalescent facilities, and in home care. The International wanted to remove 65,000 members from UHW and put them into another, newly formed local, while UHW wanted the plan to be decided by a democratic vote of the members. UHW supporters held a rally and march on the evening of January 27 to protest the action.

On January 20th, 2009, George W Bush left the White House and Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. The transition was marked in several ways across Northern California. From San Francisco to Fresno to Santa Cruz to Mountain View to Sacramento, the transfer of power was met with relief, cautious celebration, and determination to keep the fight for social justice alive. Many are concerned about military policies of George Bush that Obama may continue or expand.

On December 23rd, homeless people and supporters took to the streets of Sacramento to protest oppressive laws and discrimination. Marching through the cold streets of Sacramento they demanded safe ground, the right to live without being arrested, fined, and their property being confiscated. In Sacramento there are more than twelve hundred people who go to sleep under the skies every night.