Feature Archives

On January 20th, 2009, George W Bush left the White House and Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. The transition was marked in several ways across Northern California. From San Francisco to Fresno to Santa Cruz to Mountain View to Sacramento, the transfer of power was met with relief, cautious celebration, and determination to keep the fight for social justice alive. Many are concerned about military policies of George Bush that Obama may continue or expand.

Barack Obama has chosen Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the Presidential inauguration. Warren and his Saddleback church are well known for their strong anti-gay and anti-abortion views. LGBT activists demonstrated at Saddleback following the passage of Prop 8.

"A Day Without A Gay" protest and boycott took place across the US on December 10th to show opposition to California's Proposition 8 and show the power of the LGBT community. Organizers encouraged people to "call in gay" to work and spend the day volunteering at local LGBT and/or human rights organizations. There were several rallies in the Bay Area, including a noon rally in UC Berkeley's Sproul plaza and a 4pm press conference in Oakland's Frank Ogawa Plaza.

From Chicago IMC: The worker occupation of the Republic Windows and Doors factory on Chicago's Goose Island by members of UE (United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America) Local 1110 went into its third day on Sunday, and workers have vowed to continue the occupation until they are paid back pay and benefits, or until the plant is re-opened.

Barry Cooper, a former Texas police officer with eight years of specialty in drug interdiction, first made waves when he released the film "Never Get Busted Again," a how-to guide for evading police drug seizures. Austin, Texas-based Cooper's latest project, 'KopBusters,' is not nearly so benign, and sparked an immediate response after RAW STORY covered a news brief of their first sting.

On Saturday, December 6th, supporters of death-row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal gathered at Philadelphia City Hall for a protest march through downtown that concluded at the Federal Court Building. International solidarity actions were alsoheld in France, Switzerland, Germany, England, and Mexico, while in the US, events were held in Detroit, San Francisco, Baltimore, Portland, and San Diego.

lisam writes, "I’ve been involved in countless demonstrations and protests that have been deemed “violent” by both the police forces assigned to control the crowds and the mainstream media who tend to use them as the primary source for their stories. But never in the years that I was involved in massive demonstrations against the corporate control over globalization, did I witness anyone getting trampled or ignored when they had been hurt."