Feature Archives

Lane writes: The following flyer was posted in the Seabright neighborhood, detailing the attack that the woman survived. The flyer has been torn down, possibly by the police, as it challenges conventional responses to violence against women:

ATTACK On Thursday, July 20, around 10:15pm, I was attacked on Cayuga between Logan and Idaho. A man in his early 30's with short (buzzed) dark hair, wearing a white hooded sweatshirt knocked me to the ground and pinned me down, with his hand on my throat. I fought back and screamed and he ran away. I ran after him for about a block, yelling at him until he disappeared, and then ran to my home up the street.

I did not call the police. I do not need a police report. This is my report, and it is for the community that I live in so that we can feel strong in our neighborhood, not for the police to file away. The armed gang known as the police do not offer the type of comfort and compassion that I need to deal with my trauma. The last thing that I needed to hear was that I should not have been a woman walking alone at night. Read more

Audio: SCPD Meeting With Seabright Neighbors About Recent Sexual Assaults

Rico Thunder writes: Dear council members,

The new police policy on police spying is a failed product resulting from a failed process. Unfortunately, you never understood the gravity of this issue. At the heart of this is nothing less than our rights to free speech and free assembly, right to privacy, and right to due process.

Let's be very clear: The people of this community got together to create a grassroots New Year's parade to replace a defunct city-sponsored event. It was to be an act of peaceful civil disobedience with the clear political intention to challenge the Draconian event permit process. Santa Cruz police made a rash decision to infiltrate the group in order to gather information for public safety reasons. Armed undercover officers infiltrated the planning meetings in a private home, created dossiers on organizers and others involved, gathered information about other events, tipped off other agencies, and participated significantly in the meetings.

Apparently, in Santa Cruz the right to free speech, free assembly, and right to privacy are worth protecting at the national level, but when these rights are threatened in our own community, the Council has shown that it has neither the interest nor the will to protect citizen's civil liberties.

It is clear that the city is not willing to negotiate this process in good faith. From the beginning it was clear that the Council had little interest but stilling the embarrassing public relations nightmare this has become. This city has delivered nothing more than adamant dismissals, empty assurances, broken promises of a remedy, a closed-door process, and a useless policy. Read the full letter to City Council

SC-IMC coverage of Santa Cruz police spying: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

see also: ACLU Report Details Government Monitoring of Protest Groups

A group of racists who organize through the website "Illegal Immigrant Protest dot com" called for an "Illegal Immigrant Protest Rally" at the Town Clock in Santa Cruz on July 22nd. Peace and social justice activists from across Santa Cruz County put out a call for solidarity with migrants and to confront and educate the out-of-town "anti-alien" group. About 30 activists showed up in solidarity with migrants and 3 "anti-alien" protesters came to Santa Cruz to scapegoat problems in our society on people migrating from Mexico to the United States. Feeling far too outnumbered and unwelcome, the racists returned to their cars and drove back over the hill.

On Friday afternoon in Watsonville, community members let Maria Shriver, wife of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, know just how they felt about her visit to their heavily immigrant city. Carrying signs that read, "Arnold Supports Terrorists" and "No Somos Tu Picture Op! Terminator Go Home!", people protested the visit from California's first lady. Billed as a promotion of the food stamp program, many attendees felt it was staged as a public relations opportunity with the Mexican-American community on behalf of her husband, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who is up for re-election this November.

The Federal Department of Homeland Security provided the Pentagon with information on anti-war protests at UC campuses last year, according to the most recent government documents released to the ACLU of Northern California. This disclosure includes two previously redacted reports on student protests at UC Berkeley and Santa Cruz. Following an administrative appeal, that information was released. Both bulletins indicate that the source of the information was "a special agent of the federal protective service, U.S. Department of Homeland Security."

On June 30th, the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) with the city and county of Santa Cruz presented oral arguments in a constitutional challenge to the federal government’s prohibition of medical marijuana. The case, County of Santa Cruz v. Gonzales, represents the first significant challenge to the federal government’s prohibition of medical marijuana since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Gonzales v. Raich.

It was a sunny afternoon on Sunday, July 9th, and as part of the international days of solidarity with the South Central Farm (SCF) in Los Angeles, around 60 people paraded through downtown Santa Cruz, carrying colorful anti-development signs and banners, handing out leaflets, taping posters up everywhere, and playing improvised drums.

A majority of sidewalk onlookers were curious and willing to read the handouts, and a few joined in. The rally began at the clocktower and grew in numbers until spilling out on to Front St. Comfortably filling most of the asphalt, the assembly proceeded down Front to Laurel Street, turning to come back northward up the crowded Pacific Avenue drag and finally ending in a courtyard area across from the Post Office. Marchers congregated in the courtyard to listen to speakers, announcements, and a statement from the farmers, broadcasted from the mobile bike cart PA system.

Speakers touched on the topics of public space in Santa Cruz, the current status of the S.C. Farm, related historical struggles, local guerilla farming plans, memories of past spaces lost to developers, the Radcliff Elementary School Garden, local areas threatened by development, and an introduction to seedballs. A large quantity of the clay-based balls, made up of native wildflower seeds, were distributed among the crowd. People went their separate ways with the "seed bombs" in hand, placing them thoughtfully throughout the city as a small guerilla gardening action. Add a comment to this report back

Audio: SCF Statement of Solidarity with Santa Cruz Rally || Santa Cruz Solidarity with South Central Farmers

Photos: Signs of Solidarity with the South Central Farm || Developers Don't Give A Fuck About Us

see also: Days of Solidarity Follow Plowing Under of South Central Farm