Feature Archives

The Bay Area Radical Mental Health Collective will hold an April 19th follow up to a community dialogue that was held several weeks ago. People will come together to talk about strategies for radical peer advocacy. Organizers hope that participants will leave with ideas, information, and skills that they can use when someone in the community is in crisis. On following Wednesday evenings, there will be Free Skool Classes at the Long Haul from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Topics will include suicide prevention and nutrition. There will also be a Radical Mental Health Cafe Night with dinner and a movie at the Long Haul on Sunday, April 23rd at 7pm. The Monday Night Support Group will at the Berkeley Free Clinic will continue each week at 6:30pm.

Read more about the Radical Mental Health Collective and the upcoming events

Bay Area Grandmothers Against the War will protest the continuing and rising costs of the Iraq war paid for by our income taxes on Monday, April 17, at noon at the Federal Building in Oakland. At 1 pm the group will march to the Civic Center Post Office - 201 13th St. Oakland. Details At noon there will be a war tax day protest in San Francisco that will focus on the plight of Palestinians and at 6:30pm a "Tax Day Action & People’s Life Fund Granting Ceremony" will take place in West Oakland.

With similar protests in New York, Philadelphia, Bellingham WA, and Petaluma, this action is part of a nationwide effort by grandmothers to highlight the demand that taxes be used to improve life -- not to destroy life by. The grandmothers are especially concerned about the adverse effects of this vastly increased public debt. Funding for education, health, transportation and the entire social infrastructure is diminishing. The ballooning national debt means future generations will be burdened with paying it off for the indefinite future. To emphasize the fact that our country is “in the red” the protesters will be dressed in red.

Northern California War Tax Resistance | National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee | Tax Day Protests Across the U.S.

The Grand Jury Resistance Project and the Prison Literature Project will hold an event to send letters to those imprisoned in the current “Green Scare.” The Prison Letter Writing Café will be Tuesday April 25th 2006 at 7:00pm in Berkeley. Paper, envelopes and stamps will be provided, as well as prisoner bios. Help on how to write letters to prisoners, including specific prison regulations, tips and suggestions will also be available.

“Mail time is often the brightest part of a prisoner's day," organizers of the event said. "Letters help show that there is a whole movement of support outside the prison walls - and that they are not alone.”

READ MORE.

On April 11th, a crowd of 200 gathered at UCB to support a" sweat-free UC". Condeming the University's use of sweat shop labor in the production of collegiate apparel, and promoting United Students Against Sweatshops' designated supplier program, students staged a "Naked Truth" rally and sit in that resulted in 18 arrests and more verbal volley from University administration

Students were disturbed that their legal observer, a member of the National Lawyer's Guild, was removed by police at the beginning of the sit in while the University's legal advisor was allowed to stay on for the duration of the event. The sit in ended in 18 arrests for "trespassing and refusing to leave" after aproximately 2 and a half hours of proposals and demands.
Read More | Photos | USAS action alert | United Students Against Sweatshops

Previous Anti-Sweatshop Coverage: UC Sweat-Free Coalition Crashes UC Office of the President | Students Strip for Sweat-Free UC |UCSC students fight for sweatshop free apparel | Creative Activism Raises Issues at Denton's Investiture Friday | Students and Workers Demand a Sweat-Free UC

On Monday, April 10th, 2006, immigrants and their allies continued their recent historic mobilizations in cities all over the US to oppose HR 4437.

Nearly five thousand people marched and rallied in Oakland. What began as a relatively small group at 100th avenue this morning, swelled to thousands as clusters of immigrant workers, families, youth, and supporters awaited the march all along International Boulevard. The eight mile march ended with a rally outside the Oakland Federal Building.
Photos: 1 | 2

At noon hundreds of UC Berkeley and high school students walked out of class to protest anti-immigration bill HR 4437 and the Senate's proposed compromise. They demanded civil rights and amnesty for immigrants in the United States. Earlier in the morning, protesters set up a mock border at Sather Gate, a busy walking avenue on campus, complete with chain link fence and barbed wire. Protesters marched down Telegraph Avenue and Shattuck Ave carrying signs, drumming, and chanting. During the march, there was a moment of silence for Ontario, California 8th grader and organizer Anthony Soltero, who shot himself in response to threats from his assistant principal.
More | Daily Cal Report | Berkeley Daily Planet Report

Read More On Indybay's Immigrant Rights News Page

On Wednesday, March 22nd there will be a rally for affordable health care for Oakland School Employees. Oakland Schools Administrator Randall Ward wants school classified employees, who are the lowest employees in the district, to pay for future increases in their health care. These workers have not been given any pay raises in the last few years. The rally will demand a fair contract and respect from the Oakland Unified School District. People will gather from 4:00 to 5:30pm on Wednesday, at 1025 2nd Avenue in Oakland. Flyer

SEIU Local 790

The East Bay Permaculture Guild organized a Sunday, March 19th Sustainable Caravan to permaculture sites in East Oakland. The tour began at 10:00am and lasted until 1:00pm. The caravan planned to "journey along the streets and watersheds of the East Oakland Hills, deep into the heart of the Dimond District and San Antonio neighborhood, to welcome the beginning of Spring." Participants visited East Oakland gardens and parks that feature examples of urban farming, green and natural building, remediation and restoration, graywater systems, neighbor cooperation, and community activism. The caravan will consist of bikes, biodiesel, and ride sharing, demonstrating a range of sustainable transportation.

Some permaculture resources: Permaculture Activist Magazine | Permaculture.net | City Repair | East Bay City Repair Oakland | Sustaining Ourselves Locally | Permaculture Design Institute | Alameda Point Collaborative | Urban Permaculture Guild | Urban Ecology