Feature Archives

Activists on the West Coast from Bellingham, WA to San Diego, CA organized highway banner drops on August 29 to amp up the Global Chevron Boycott, which has been initiated as a priority campaign by Palestine's Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Chevron operates and co-owns fossil gas fields off the coast of occupied Palestinian land that Israel has illegally claimed, and also manages a pipeline that runs from Israel to Egypt.

Israeli settlers have murdered beloved Palestinian human rights defender Awdah Hathaleen, from the Umm Al-Khair community in Masafer Yatta of occupied Palestine. Awdah, who had flown to San Francisco International Airport in June 2025 for a humanitarian visit in order to share his story and experiences of living under Israeli occupation, was detained and deported back to Palestine, where he was murdered only weeks later.

Scientists have confirmed a dead gray whale that washed up in Richmond died as a result of blunt force trauma due to a suspected vessel strike. The news comes as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a revised population estimate showing continued decline in eastern north Pacific gray whale numbers, some 13,000 individuals, the lowest since the 1970’s.

On February 15, activists from Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) protested outside a Neuralink lab in Fremont to protest the company’s cruel experiments on animals. Owned by Elon Musk and headquartered in Fremont, the company has subjected primates and pigs to invasive brain chip implants. Employees have spoken out saying the procedures are rushed and cause needless suffering and deaths. Neuralink has killed more than 1500 animals.

On July 19, hundreds of people showed up in Dublin to oppose the establishment of new detention centers in Northern California and across the U.S. ICE has signaled serious interest in reopening the notorious FCI Dublin prison as an immigration detention center. FCI Dublin was closed in 2024 due to powerful survivor-led organizing following years of horrific staff sexual abuse, retaliation, and medical neglect.

Despite being sued by Trader Joe's, activists with the grassroots animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) continue to protest at their stores. On July 19, the group held a 40-minute funeral for the chickens being sold inside an Oakland store. They mourned the countless chickens who suffer and die at Trader Joe's "free-range," "organic" chicken supplier. DxE investigators have documented systemic animal abuse at Petaluma Poultry.

Activists in Northern California are not waiting for court challenges to stop Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Protests are ongoing and have cropped up outside Tesla showrooms in Berkeley, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Corte Madera and Seaside, amongst other locations. The earliest of these happened on a national day of action on February 15. The action at the Van Ness Tesla location in SF grew to about a thousand people.