Feature Archives

On April 5th, Teachers for Class War spoke with Hollister educator and poet Joe Navarro about local struggles, his 1st grade students, poetry and history. An educator since 1994, Navarro is a "literary vato loco," teacher, student and community activist. He also has experience as a factory worker, union leader, author and poet, and a father.

Wednesday, April 21st was the first day of the expanded Farmers' Market in downtown Santa Cruz. However, it was strangely quiet compared to previous weeks. Notably absent from Parking Lot #4 was the weekly drum circle and the crowd it attracts. And a vendor was selling artisan bread where for years, Food Not Bombs had been distributing free meals to anyone.

The International Cannabis and Hemp Exposition took place at the Cow Palace in Daly City on April 17th and 18th. The expo, which had the first permitted area for the use of medical marijuana, was the largest event of its kind to hit Northern California. Prominent members of the cannabis community discussed a wide-range of topics, however the main buzz, on and off stage, was the initiative to "legalize, control, and tax cannabis in California," which is to be decided by voters in the state during the November 2010 elections.

Simón Sedillo, a community rights defense organizer and filmmaker, will be making presentations in the Monterey Bay Area on Indigenous Strategies for Hood Liberation and screening the new documentary film Xip Xop oaXaca. On Thursday, April 22nd, Sedillo will be at Cabrillo College at 1pm and at the Brown Berets Bike Shack in Watsonville at 7pm. On Friday, April 23rd, Sedillo will be presenting at UC Santa Cruz at 11:30am.

When local activist Wes Modes accepted a misdemeanor plea deal in December 2009 for his part in defending the Farmer's Market Drum Circle, he figured that would be the end of it. A year suspended sentence and some community service. No problem, he thought. Now the Santa Cruz District Attorney is saying that Wes violated his plea agreement by organizing the Last Night DIY parade.

Roger Mentch, founding member of The Hemporium, a medical marijuana collective in Felton, says that protection for Santa Cruz patients, growers, caregivers, and collectives is long over due. He is helping to form a new chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) in Santa Cruz County to help bring together like minded people to have a voice regarding safe access to medical marijuana. Everyone is welcome to get involved and attend the first meeting on Thursday, April 22nd from 7:15-8:45 at the Louden Nelson Center in Santa Cruz.

Four-Twenty (including 4:20, 420 and 4/20) has long been associated with marijuana use and marijuana activism. 4:20 is a time of day when people smoke marijuana. April 20th has evolved into a counterculture holiday, known for large gatherings of people celebrating and consuming marijuana, a.k.a. cannabis. Thousands of people gather annually in Boston, Boulder, New York, Santa Cruz, Seattle and many other cities in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and elsewhere around the world.