Newsitem List

On Friday, March 31st, thousands of students from local schools, including Watsonville High, Pajaro Valley High, Aptos High and Renaissance High, marched and rallied against HR 4437 in Watsonville. In anticipation of the walkout, both Pajaro Valley High and Watsonville High decided to close their school doors in an effort to keep students safe. The following three bilingual audio mp3s were recorded on Friday, March 31st. The first mp3 is from the rally in the Watsonville Plaza and star...

The 2006-2007 school year will no doubt go down in local history as one of the most exhausting, tumultuous years in the existence of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). From the near-strike with school support staff (SEIU 790), to a second round of school closures, to the departure of former Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, to the expiration of the Consent Decree and the resultant obligation to create a new assignment system, we have been living in a public education maelstrom. ...

A small but committed group in Berkeley targets the notorious law professor who gave Bush the justification to torture detainees...

Revolutionary hip-hop and activism!...

On Thursday, March 30th, I spoke with Watsonville High School students about the walkouts which took place on Monday, March 27th and Tuesday, March 28th. Students share their reasons for walking out, why they do not support attempts to create anti-immigrant laws as well as the actions of fellow students, teachers, administrators and police. Many of the students discuss instances of police brutality which they saw and heard about from friends. Police brutality included hitting a student in...

This morning dozens of middle school students in east Oakland organized a walkout to protest H.R. 4437...

On Wednesday, March 29th, hundreds of students from Santa Cruz High, Santa Cruz Community, Habor, Aptos, Soquel and Cesar Chavez (Barrios Unidos) left class at 10:00am to meet at the Clock Tower and march to the Santa Cruz County Courthouse. They marched for immigrant rights and justice and against HR4437. After the walkout and march, I went over to Santa Cruz High and spoke to a small group of students. Ricky, a student at Santa Cruz Community and Edwin, a student at Santa Cruz High, dis...

The legislation, entitled the “Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005” lumps different reactionary symbols together creating a powerfully xenophobic, racist, and militaristic trope. All at once it evokes themes of threatening terrorist who seek to destroy America with swift and violent action, alongside the threat of a racial other who will destroy America slowly via a silent invasion....

District 5 Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi held up poster showing the school district’s plan to have administration offices at John Swett Alternative Elementary School. Many are upset at the planned merger of John Swett and John Muir Elementary Schools. At a press conference yesterday at the Public Utilities Commission community advocates, teachers and parents were in attendance to voice their concerns. All speakers urged the San Francisco Board of Education to rescind their vote....

On Monday, March 27th, 2006, high school students went on strike to protest against HR 4437. In Watsonville, police responded by violating the civil rights of students, including detaining students at 2:00pm for "walking out of school" even though their school, Renaissance High School, had gotten out at 1:15pm. Another student at Renaissance was arrested after refusing to get on a bus. She was already out of school and did not walkout. (Audio is 18 minutes and 30 seconds)...