Feature Archives

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.

Read More with Photos

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)

The City of Emeryville will host a community meeting on Saturday June 3rd, 2006 at 10:00am at the Recreation Center at 43rd and San Pablo across the street from the Arizmendi Bakery. The last item on the agenda is discussion of Starbucks coming to the plaza at 43rd and San Pablo. Emeryville residents are encouraged to go sign up and voice their opinions.

The City of Emeryville is reportedly planning to place a Starbucks at 43rd and San Pablo, across the plaza from the worker-owned Arizmendi Bakery. (This in spite of the fact that there is a Starbucks some three blocks away, at 3839 Emery St.) Several years ago when the plaza was built, the city agreed under overwhelming citizen pressure to reserve the spaces in the plaza for non-corporate locally owned businesses. This is how Arizmendi, a worker-owned cooperative, came to be there. The city is apparently planning to go back on that promise and bring a Starbucks in. A post to Indybay says that the City Council will be meeting in a closed session on June 6th to approve the plan.

Emeryville and East Bay residents and supporters of worker-owned businesses are encouraged to contact Emeryville City Council members and register their opposition to the Starbucks and to the way it is being approved. If the Council feels enough pressure, it could delay the decision, or even cancel the new store. Read more
Arizmendi Bakery in Emeryville | Emeryville City Council webpage | Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives (NoBAWC)

For the past fifteen years, the Teen Bike Shop’s Community Garden, located in Union City's Decoto District, was in hibernation and filled with weeds. However, Maricela Reynoso, a Decoto native, and other community members took the initiative to start a collaborative effort to revitalize the community garden. In the past few months, community involvement has soared with youth and people of all ages stopping by to pick weeds, plow the land, remove debris, plant plants, and bring donations.

The garden has provided a space that unites the community, and where youth can create something from the ground up. Working with elders who often rely on natural herbs and plants as everyday remedies has taught many of the local youth the medicinal properties of plants and the importance of their existence and care. The garden has also served as a way to show youth that working with nature- and not against it- helps to enhance their community and its resources. Photos and report

Union City's Teen Bike Workshop

On Wednesday, May 31st, Bay Area Women in Black will host an event entitled "Palestinian Lesbians Speak Out from the Occupation." The event will take place at 7:00pm at the Berkeley Friends Church at 1600 Saramento Street at Cedar, in Berkeley. The event will be a fundraiser for ASWAT.

Two Palestinian human rights activists from Israel will be speaking that evening. Rauda Morcos is the co-founder of ASWAT, an organization that broke the silence for Palestinian lesbians and the first Palestinian woman to publicly come out of the closet. She will address the work of ASWAT and the everyday conflicts she experiences between her national and gendered identity. Rauda is in the US to accept a distinguished award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Nisreen Mazzawi is an environmentalist and feminist and is the Political Coordinator of Bat Shalom of the Jerusalem Link and Coordinator of the Women Empowerment Project in the Palestinian unrecognized villages in the north of Israel. She will speak about organizing Palestinian women under occupation.

ASWAT | Bay Area Women in Black | Kersplebedeb article about Rauda Morcos | International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission | Advocate Interview | Indybay's Palestine News Page

On June 16th, workers at Landmark Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley voted 22 to 2 in favor of unionization with the IWW. Rising tensions at the Shattuck Cinemas over the years have pushed workers to demand an end to unfair working conditions and greater accountability from management.

For over 20 years, May 15th has been celebrated as International Conscientious Objectors Day. Each year activities are focused in a country where war objectors are being harassed or persecuted. This year the international focus is on the United States' denial of the right of soldiers to object.

Courage to Resist and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors initiated an Oakland action for Monday, the 15th of May. The protest in Oakland started at 4:00pm at Oakland Civic Center (12th and Broadway), with a rally. People marched down Broadway to 21st St., where they blockaded the Oakland Military Recruiting Center. They pasted signs with statements such as "Resist, Don't Enlist" and "Army of None" to the windows of the center.
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | Video

This mobilization was held in support of ongoing campaigns to support GI objectors, resistance of military recruitment and a possible draft, and end the war and occupation in Iraq and global policies of empire. Read more

Read more on Indybay's Anti-War News Page