Feature Archives

Four of the nation's biggest banks — Bank of America, Citibank, Chase and Wells Fargo — are ruining the American economy, say activists who are taking to the streets this month to urge bank customers to "break up that affair with your big bank." In the San Francisco Bay Area members of the Raging Grannies launched a culture jamming action at banks in three cities to give the message some "real teeth".

Via Gathering Forces, JOMO writes: "In the past two years, the issue of gay marriage has dominated the scene of queer struggles. Some of us are actively supportive, others, grudgingly supportive, and more others who rail that yet again, queer struggles are being monopolized by assimilationist, middle class versions of normality and family: 'We are the same as you, except for in bed.'"

On February 20, 2010 – The Israel Ballet’s recent performance of Don Quixote was protested by a coalition of activists who sought to highlight the troupe’s role in the Israeli government’s attempt to whitewash its record of war crimes, violations of international law, and other atrocities through promotion of its country’s artistic and cultural workers. Only two days prior, activists in Burlington, VT succeeded in disrupting the Israel Ballet’s actual performance with a banner saying "No tutu is big enough to cover Israel's War Crimes".

On February 25th, 2010, activists and organizations from around the world joined together in solidarity with the Palestinian residents of Hebron/al Khaleel, through local protests that demand the opening of Shuhada Street to Palestinians and an end to the Israeli occupation. In San Francisco, nine were arrests, after protesters holding a banner that read "Israeli Apartheid closes streets" closed off Powell Street and refused police orders to disperse, while a crowd of hundreds looked on cheering. In Al-Khalil, a peaceful march to Shuhada st, was met with tear gas, stun grenades, and arrests.

February 7th marks the anniversary of Hampshire College's "divestment" from the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, the first institution of higher education to wash its hands of the systematic exploitation of the Palestinian people by the Israeli state. Following a two-year campaign by Students for Justice in Palestine, the Board of Trustees agreed in 2009 to withdraw its investments from six companies targeted by SJP because they profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

On February 4th, demonstrators for women's reproductive rights protested in front of the CBS affiliate in San Francisco. They rallied to protest the network's plan to air a commercial from a right-wing anti-abortion group during the Super Bowl on February 7. The demonstrators chanted and sang a song written by the Raging Grannies of South Florida, giving the acronym CBS a new, unflattering meaning.

On January 27th, Howard Zinn died at the age of 87. Zinn was a historian, and professor in the Political Science Department at Boston University. He was the author of more than 20 books, including A People's History of the United States which he published in 1980.