top
Santa Cruz IMC
Santa Cruz IMC
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Wed Nov 5 2014
21st Annual Peace and Unity March in Watsonville
Police Take Leadership Role in 2014 Peace and Unity March
The annual Watsonville Peace and Unity March took place on November 1. This year, for the first time since the initial event in 1994, the Watsonville Police Department was given a large role in determining the route of the march. The event was originally founded by the Watsonville Brown Berets, and the group remained primary organizers of the march from the beginning through 2011, but in 2014 organization of the event became professionalized.

Speaking confidentially during the march, multiple organizers stated that the Watsonville Police Department imposed changes shortly before the event, which altered the planned route, thus eliminating many traditional stopping points and neighborhoods with historical significance to the march. One organizer, speaking confidentially, said he was disappointed with the Watsonville Police Department's orchestration of events leading up to and during the march. Many people who attended the march were receptive to the police presence.

Most participants in the march advocated for peace without presenting any solutions, demands, or critiques, but some marchers displayed messages critical of police and prisons. Sin Barras, a community-based group out of Santa Cruz that works to eradicate the prison industrial-complex, carried a large banner calling for "Peace Without Police."

imc_photo.gif Read More with Photos

Previous coverage of the Peace and Unity March in Watsonville: 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013
2025-12-24 Advocates Rally at Governor’s Office to Pardon UC Berkeley Student Zoe Rosenberg Front Page | Police State & Prisons | Education & Student Activism | Central Valley | East Bay | North Bay / Marin | California | Government & Elections | Animal Liberation2025-11-16 "People Over Billionaires" March Tours San Francisco's Ritziest Neighborhood Front Page | Health, Housing & Public Services | Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism | San Francisco2025-11-15 First Day of Starbucks Strike Shuts Down Stores in Santa Cruz Front Page | Labor & Workers | Peninsula | California | U.S. | Santa Cruz Indymedia2025-11-11 Gay Shame Organizes Costume March to ICE Courthouse in San Francisco Front Page | Police State & Prisons | Racial Justice | LGBTI / Queer | Arts + Action | San Francisco | U.S. | Americas | Immigrant Rights2025-11-11 Remembering the Armed Occupation that Protected the Ohlone Burial Site on Lee Road Front Page | Police State & Prisons | Environment & Forest Defense | Racial Justice | Education & Student Activism | Americas | Santa Cruz Indymedia2025-11-05 Report from Department of Pesticide Regulation Underestimates Cancer Risks Front Page | Environment & Forest Defense | Racial Justice | Health, Housing & Public Services | Labor & Workers | Education & Student Activism | California | Santa Cruz Indymedia2025-11-04 Amid Widespread Protests, Trump Calls Off National Guard Deployment to SF Police State & Prisons | Racial Justice | San Francisco | South Bay | Peninsula | California | U.S. | Americas | Immigrant Rights2025-10-12 Professor of Medicine Fired Over Social Media Posts Criticizing Israel's Genocide in Gaza Racial Justice | Health, Housing & Public Services | Anti-War | Labor & Workers | Education & Student Activism | San Francisco | California | Palestine2025-10-04 California Caves to Oil Industry with Health, Environmental Rollbacks Environment & Forest Defense | Health, Housing & Public Services | Central Valley | California | Government & Elections2025-10-03 Writers Organize to Defend Freedom of the Press and Protect Palestinian Journalists Anti-War | Labor & Workers | Media Activism & Independent Media | Arts + Action | San Francisco | California | International | Government & Elections | Palestine2025-09-27 tooromakma hinse nii is Part of the Greater Juristac Landscape Environment & Forest Defense | Racial Justice | South Bay | Americas | Santa Cruz Indymedia
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$120.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network