Feature Archives

On Friday, March 27, protesters decried budget cuts to home care workers in front of the State Building in Oakland. SEIU claimed that the California budget passed in February contains $1 billion in "trigger cuts" to home care, health care, higher education, SSI/SSP, and CalWORKS. The protest was part of a day of action organized by SEIU that included a rally at the Capitol Building in Sacramento and in five other cities.

No Justice No BART (NJNB) are holding a series of disruptive actions with the goal of seeking accountability for the abuse and murder of Oscar Grant. After successfully blocking the fare gates at Fruitvale BART in their first demo, NJNB chose the BART station in the upscale Rockridge neighborhood for their second demonstration on March 19th. NJNB is committed to demos at various stations until justice for Oscar Grant is reached. NJNB's next action will be at MacArthur BART in Oakland, Thursday, April 2nd at 4pm.

On Saturday March 21st, five people were killed, after police pulled over a man in East Oakland. Copwatch13 writes: "[F]or the second time in recent months, police in Oakland shot and killed a young African American man apparently after prematurely resorting to the use of deadly force when alternative remedies were available. This time, the haste on the part of police caused them to lose two of their own just after two other officers had just been shot...." A vigil and rally for Lovelle Mixon and his family was held Wednesday, March 25th.

Revolutionary and civil rights activist Richard Aoki died on March 15, 2009. Aoki was a founding member of the Black Panther Party (BPP), becoming a Field Marshal. Using his military training, Aoki assisted members of the BPP in acquiring weapons and trained members in defending the community from the Oakland Police. Aoki was also a leader in the third world Liberation Front (twLF), resulting in the establishment of Berkeley’s Ethnic Studies department.

On Saturday, March 21st, protest marches took place across the U.S. and around the world on the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. In the Bay Area, four days of demonstrations protesting the continuing war on Iraq officially commenced on Thursday, March 19th with leafleting at more than 20 BART stations and a march in Berkeley. On Wednesday, March 18th, a group of persons wearing masks smashed the windows and splattered red paint at the U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Center in Berkeley. On Saturday, March 21st, a demonstration sponsored by ANSWER began with a march from Justin Herman Plaza at 11am culminating in a rally at Civic Center Plaza. On Sunday, March 22nd, a Rally in the Valley for Peace and Justice was be held in downtown Fresno.

On Tuesday March 10th, the “Activism Right There (A.R.T.) Festival” was held at Zellerbach Auditorium at UC Berkeley. The festival, part of a week of events commemorating the 40th anniversary of the founding of the third world Liberation Front (twLF) strikes, featured a variety of radical performances.

On March 13th, 2009, Tristan Anderson, an Indymedia journalist from Oakland, California, was critically wounded in the village of Ni'lin after Israeli forces shot him in the head with a high-powered tear-gas canister. Tristan is a dedicated activist and reporter who has long been committed to social and environmental justice in the U.S. and abroad in places such as Oaxaca, Iraq, and Palestine. Tristan has posted his reports to Indybay since 2001. Tristan's family reported Sunday that he has moved his fingers in response to a request from a doctor.