Feature Archives

Following a series of Town Hall meetings that have been held since the murder of Oscar Grant, the first in a series of Caravans for Justice traveled to the California State Capitol on February 19th to speak out and lobby legislators on the issues of Oscar Grant and police killings, repressive gang laws, Three Strikes, the San Francisco 8, environmental justice, and other laws and issues that negatively effect urban communities of color.

Federal authorities have arrested four animal rights activists accused of protesting animal abuse at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, a FBI press release reported on Friday, February 20th. The activists are accused of "chalk[ing] defamatory comments on the public sidewalks", protesting while "wearing bandanas to hide their faces", and distributing leaflets with the contact information for vivisectors on them. All four will be charged at least in part under the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

Diverse communities in the U.S. have been standing together to bring about social change at the grassroots level in an unprecedented wave of euphoria set off by the inauguration of Barack Obama. Whether in public meetings, workshops, or protests the unity of purpose and momentum is palpable. What will it take to translate that human energy into real change?

After a year and a half of bargaining, custodians, gardeners, food service workers and drivers organized through the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299 voted to accept a historic agreement with the University of California (UC). This new agreement includes wages increases over five years of 4%, 3%, 3%, 3%, and 3%. UC service workers will have a state wide minimum wage that reaches $14.00/hour by the end of the contract.

Environmental leaders from throughout the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas have asked Federal District Judge Saundra Armstrong to deny the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s motion to block disclosure of the chemicals used in the CheckMate pesticides sprayed on Monterey and Santa Cruz residents as part of the government’s Apple Moth Eradication Program. EPA has requested Judge Armstrong to prevent disclosure of the chemicals in the spray, claiming the manufacturer’s proprietary interest outweighs the public’s right to know.

In an unprecedented outpouring of popular opposition to U.S. policy in support of the Israeli invasion of Gaza, a full month of nearly continuous protests brought tens of thousands into the streets of major cities in the state of California. In the city of San Jose more than 3,000 people demonstrated over a period of four successive weekends beginning on January 4, 2009. They halted traffic and shopping in Silicon Valley's high-end shopping district, Santana Row. More than 10,000 demonstrated in San Francisco between December 28 and January 10. Thousands more in southern California and in the state capital of Sacramento took to the streets in support of Gaza during the weeks-long attack.

The small town of Carpinteria, California is the latest battleground in Native Americans’ fight against racism. The controversy over a supposedly “harmless” high school sports mascot has alienated the Native American population of Carpinteria, who have come to fear violent reprisals from the non-Native community.