Feature Archives

Van Jones spoke at UCSC on April 25, on "Growing Greener, Growing Together: Sustainability, Social Justice and the Future of the Progressive Movement." Van Jones is the Executive Director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a national organization in Oakland, CA, that has focused on positive alternatives to incarceration and violence in urban America.

Root Force swept through Watsonville on April 26th for the first stop of their tour through the greater Bay Area. Root Force gave a presentation on the direct action campaign in solidarity with communities in Guerrero, Mexico and San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador. These communities are resisting massive infrastructure expansion projects which are causing ecological devastation, massive dislocation and cultural disruption. The evening included live music, puppets, an excerpt from a film, and a slideshow.
Root Force will continue on to Berkeley (4/29), San Francisco (4/30), San Jose (5/01) and Santa Rosa (5/02).

International Workers' Day (May Day) is a May 1st celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement. May Day was originally the commemoration of the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago. In most of the world, May Day is marked by massive street rallies led by workers, their trade unions, anarchists and various socialist and communist parties.

The First and Second Red Scare periods ended May Day as a mass holiday in the United States until 2006 when millions of people took to the streets to support immigrant rights. The Great American Boycott rocked the Central Coast with an economic boycott and large demonstrations in Salinas, Seaside, Watsonville and Santa Cruz.

In 2007, students and workers in California, across the U.S. and around the world organized walk-outs and demonstrations proclaiming, "We Are All Humans! No One Is Illegal! Actions in the Monterey Bay Area included student walk-outs, marches, rallies with music and dancing as well as film screenings. In Salinas, four simultaneous marches joined together and went to the Soccer Complex for a rally. At Pajaro Valley High School, approximately 500 students walked out of school to demand justice for migrant people and a stop to the raids. The Movement for Immigrant Rights Alliance (M.I.R.A) at UC Santa Cruz organized a week of actions which included a May Day rally at UCSC and march downtown to join with a march from the Beach Flats. ( Photos: 1 | 2 | 3). Also in Santa Cruz, the Reel Work Film Festival held a march down Pacific Avenue and over to the Vets Hall for songs, stories and films. In a march organized by the MigraWatch Network, thousands of people marched in the streets of Watsonville and Pajaro to protest against immigration raids. After the march and a rally in the Plaza with music, dancing, speeches and a performance by White Hawk Dancers, the Guerilla Drive-In screened the new documentary Crossing Arizona outside the office of the Watsonville Brown Berets. ( Photos: 1 | 2)

Santa Cruz City Hall Courtyard hosted a jean art exhibit on April 25th as part of Denim Day in Santa Cruz. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and wearing denim, "Wear Your Jeans", is part of an international protest of an Italian High Court decision to overturn a rape conviction because the victim was wearing jeans. Denim Day is about challenging myth-based injustice.

Every year on April 20, folks gather around North America to celebrate and smoke. UC Santa Cruz has historically had one of the largest gatherings around, a self-fulfilling prophesy of sorts, spurred on by UCSC's unique cultural history and the occassional spotlights from outside (like Rolling Stone Magazine a few years ago). Its a big community event - a place where thousands of people can bring a bunch of friends, musical instruments, frisbees, you name it, and just have fun. This year, cops and administrators attempted to intimidate students, but the party went on.

Vinny Lombardo writes: "In this photo-essay, I've got alot more questions, than answers. "Jews Are Poison." "Jews Caus Wars." "Jews Spread Porn." These are the messages I've scene angrily scrawled on many benches along Pacific Ave."

On April 14th, Santa Cruz County activists crowded into the First Congregational Church to honor some of their own local heroes of Latin America Solidarity. The evening was filled with good food, laughter and inspirational words from a variety of community members. The event bridged the divide between young and old and brought together people from north and south Santa Cruz County.