Feature Archives

On August 29, 2006, Hurricane Katrina attacked the Gulf Coast of the United States. A Category-5 hurricane, Katrina destroyed entire towns and left a trail of destruction in her wake. But the impact was magnified by city, state, and federal government negligence, and in no city was there a better example of the government’s failure than in New Orleans, where thousands were killed—both by water and bullets—and hundreds of thousands were left behind to save themselves.

In early August 2006, almost one year after the disaster, survivors sit down and talk about their experiences of fighting for survival in the days following Katrina, and how their lives have progressed since returning to New Orleans. Providing accounts of living in a city whose populace has largely been forgotten, the survivors give a stinging description of a slow reconstruction process that is ignoring the human cost of rebuilding. Down But Not Out shows the people directly affected by the fallout from Hurricane Katrina, and lets those who experienced it tell the stories themselves. Read more and download flyer

Former U.N. Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter and Media Critic Jeff Cohen spoke on December 9th in Santa Cruz about the media's complicity in the build up to the Iraq War and it's aftermath.

Undaunted by civil rights violations last year by the Santa Cruz Police Department, this year's Last Night DIY Parade and Celebration enthusiasts returned in full force to take over the streets on New Year's Eve in Santa Cruz. Last year, the celebration erupted into the national headlines when it was discovered that Santa Cruz Police had violated the civil liberties of organizers by spying on their meetings for three months, gathering information about the group and engaging in other activities unrelated to the stated purpose of their investigation. According to the Last Night DIY website, "Last Night is a decentralized, collective, spontaneous, open, public New Year's Eve celebration, a completely organic event, organized and put on at a grassroots-level." (en español) Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Keith McHenry, co-founder of the international Food Not Bombs movement, will be a guest on The Wake Up Call Show at 8:30am on Sunday, December 17th on 101.1 FM, streaming live at www.freakradio.org and archived at www.huffsantacruz.org/brb.html .

McHenry's decade-long struggle with repressive authorities in San Francisco and Santa Cruz contributed significantly to winning the right to serve free food to visibly poor people in public places. McHenry now lives in Arizona and has been in contact with hundreds of local Food Not Bombs groups across the country.

On Wednesday, December 13th, at 7pm, there will be a solidarity event for the people of Oaxaca, Mexico at the Veterans Hall in Santa Cruz. Bilingual film screenings of Granito de Arena (Grain of Sand), a documentary of the teacher's struggle in Oaxaca and Victoria en Todos Santos (Victory in All Saints), shot on the streets during the attempted illegal takeover of Radio Universidad by the Federal Police, as well as a bilingual presentation from Miguel Zafra, a native Oaxaqueño and member of the Frente Indigena de Organizaciones Binacionales (FIOB). Read more (en español)

Despite the now mainstream awareness of the disaster status of global warming, the Federal government is right now aggressively pursuing the radical environmental community in Federal Grand Juries, essentially a revival of the McCarthy hearings. In the Grand Jury, even people not accused of committing any crime, simply of holding 'relevant information' ie. who do you know, what is your political affiliation, are stripped of their fifth amendment rights and can be jailed for years for simply refusing to speak or give information. The Grand Juries are unconstitutional and pose an extreme attack on Free Speech and space for dissent.

The Grand Jury is authorized only to obtain whether there is enough evidence for a trail to commence. However, they are carried on in secret without any admittance by the Federal Government. Therefore, the public is only made aware of their methods and very existence by those who are subpoenaed and put the word out.

Santa Cruz events: Dec. 8th: Films and Speakers at RCNV || Dec. 9th: Discussion, Workshops, Music and Food

see also: IMC-US: One Year Later: Oppose the Green Scare! || SF and Fresno Events to Support Green Scare Prisoners || Green Scare - Reflections in Green and Black

Oakland, Ca - Bill Shiebler, who is the President of the University of California Student Association (UCSA), released a statement in response to the recent police brutality against students at the UC and the Police Brutality Resolution that was passed at the UCSA Board on November 18th, 2006. On October 18th, 2006 during a demonstration at UC Santa Cruz, the police used batons and pepper sprays indiscriminately and without warning against students. On November 14th, 2006 UCLA Campus Police officers used their tasers several times against UCLA student Mostafa Tabatabainejad at the Powell Library.