Feature Archives

The Bay Area Industrial Workers of the World rallied outside Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley, CA, in support of the theater’s workers. Fellow workers from all parts of North America to participate, putting the number at about 125 Wobblies and union-supporters.

On Monday, August 28 and Tuesday August 29, hospital workers at John Muir Medical Center's Concord Campus went on strike, urging the management to come back to the bargaining table. Without a contract since October, members of the 450-strong union have been struggling to prevent the profit-oriented John Muir management from cutting back their families' healthcare packages. Other issues of concern include the need for safe staffing guidelines, protection from unnecessary layoffs, and a ban on low-bid subcontracting.

A hip hop show was held on Saturday September 2nd at International Capoeira Angola Foundation in Oakland, to benefit the Doe Family. 150 people came together to raise consciousness and funds to combat police brutality through hip-hop, dance and spoken word. The Doe Family is a group of activists sueing the SF Sheriff's Dept. for using torture against non-violent protesters, which left several people with lasting injuries including broken bones, torn ligaments, nerve damage, and post traumatic stress disorder. Photos

On Labor Day, Monday September 4th, KPFA's Labor Collective will protest the station's banning of labor program proposals. People will gather at 1pm outside of KPFA's studios, 1929 Martin Luther King Drive at University in Berkeley. The Labor Collective says, "We call all supporters of 'Free Speech Radio' to join the picket line and speak out to protest the banning of labor programming proposals to KPFA."

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.

On Saturday, August 19th, which would have been Abeer Hamza's 15th birthday, candlelight vigils were held in several cities. Abeer Hamza was the young Iraqi woman who was raped and killed, along with her family, in March of this year by US occupation forces. The vigils in for Berkeley, New York, and Los Angeles were organized by a group of 8 young women who were outraged by the story of what happened to the Hamza family. In Berkeley, people gathered for a vigil at Willard Park from 7:30 to 9:30pm. Photos

The Oakland City Council recently approved a deal which would sell off the city's waterfront for a low price to a private developer. A BetterOaktoNinth.org is circulating a petition to save the city's waterfront and public space, and must gather all of its signatures by August 17th. The Oak to Ninth Project would wall off the waterfront, demolish the historic Ninth Avenue Terminal, build housing next to I-880, and create yet more traffic congestion. This project was approved in spite of the fact that voters voted in favor of a different plan, the Estuary Policy Plan, in 1999.