Feature Archives

On February 5, a meeting was held among more than 90 antiwar, labor, veterans, environmental, political, gay, social justice, and human rights groups and individuals. They met to see if they could work together in the Bay Area under the banner of "Stop the War in Iraq! Bring all the Troops Home Now! And plan for a mass action in New York on April 29, 2006 as a major focus; and plan an event in the Bay Area for those who can't go to NY on 4/29." The group decided to plan a conference (for) sometime in April. Groups all over the Bay Area and even the Central Valley were represented; however, the meeting was by invitation-only.

A public meeting for people who agree with the group's basic goals will be held on Saturday, February 25th at 10:30am at the ILWU Local 6 Headquarters South of Market in San Francisco. Additional nominations for the steering committee will be accepted. Read more, including the text of the invitation to the February 5th meeting.

Thousands converged on Union Square last Tuesday for "Drown Out Bush's Lies!" during Bush's State of the Union address. The World Can't Wait organized event demanded "Bush step down, and take your program with you!" Nearly 3,000 people chanted, drummed, danced, booed and hissed through Bush's speach as it was projected on a large screen behind the stage. For the highlight of the night, protesters toppled a 40-foot Bush statue.

Photos: 1 2

The Bay Area Coalition to Fight the Minutemen held its first local action, a rally for Justice for Migrants and Immigrants on Sunday, February 5th at 24th St./Mission BART Plaza. 100-150 people greeted the Caravan for Migrants as it arrived from Fresno. The Caravan was heading from San Diego to Washington, DC.

The rally was in Spanish and English, with representatives of the Caravan, BACFM, MEChA de USF, and Mujeres Unidas y Activas speaking. A spontaneous march walked through the heart of the Mission, with chants and signs denouncing the border, racism and the INS/ICE and affirming the rights of migrants and immigrants. Protest organizers felt that the large turnout of corporate media outlets meant that actions like this one could be important in influencing the debate around immigrants' rights. Report

An event announcement said that messages of the protest would include "NO! to anti-migrant legislation like HR 4437, NO! to the 4,000+ deaths on the border, and NO! to the US Border Patrol murder of Guillermo Martinez Rodriguez on December 30th, 2005." People at the rally said, "YES! to human rights – No One Is Illegal!" Anuncio bilingüe

On January 20th, 2006, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation that would have required property owners to disclose evictions of disabled or elderly tenants to potential home buyers. The disclosure bill had been passed by the Board of Supervisors in a 6-4 vote. On January 25th, over 50 tenants and housing activists spoke out in a demonstration at San Francisco's City Hall in response to the veto and Newsom's promise to veto another proposal aimed at achieving the same goal.

Randy Shaw of Beyond Chron reports that "virtually every policy position endorsed by the Mayor this year echoes that of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the San Francisco Association of Realtors. These constituencies elected Newsom to do their bidding, and, after two years of business interests complaining that Newsom had deserted them, he has apparently returned to the fold."

Read More | Photos & Video

1/29/2006: Dozens of protesters rallied last night in San Francisco to protest Senator Hillary Clinton’s continued support of the Iraq War and occupation. After a brief rally organized by the International Socialist Organizations, members of Not in Our Name, Ten Against Torture, and other organizations fielded questions from the media while slogging up and down the sidewalk. During Clinton’s prepared remarks inside the fundraiser, members of CODEPINK unfurled a banner from the balcony and twice interrupted the event with chants of “stop supporting war.”
Photos & Report

March 18th was a Global Day of Action against occupation, on the third anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. People gathered at 11am at Civic Center in San Francisco for a rally, a march, and then another rally at Civic Center.
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Audio: 1 | 2

Protests also took place in cities throughout California, including protests in Walnut Creek (Photos: 1 | 2 ) , Eureka (Photos: 1 | 2 ), Palo Alto, San Rafael (Video), Sacramento (Photos) , Fresno (), Orange County (), and Los Angeles (Photos) .
Read More On Indybay's Anti-War Page

On Tuesday, January 31st, World Can't Wait held protests in many cities around the US during President Bush's State of the Union address. Several thousand people are reported to have attended a protest in Union Square in San Francisco that included the toppling of a 30-foot statue of Bush. ( Photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Video ) Earlier, Bernal Hill was liberated with a huge Bush Step Down sign.

Read more about World Can't Wait on Government and Elections News Page