Feature Archives

On February 15, activists gathered at the office of Merced County District Attorney Nicole Silveira to ask her to prosecute documented criminal animal cruelty and worker abuse at Foster Farms’ slaughterhouse in Livingston, instead of prosecuting the individuals who rescued two animals from just outside the facility. Two women are being charged with theft, with the trial set to begin March 7 at Merced County Superior Court.

On November 14, 48,000 University of California workers walked off the job. They continue to hold the line as they work toward a fair contract. The teaching assistants, researchers, and post doctoral researchers are represented by United Auto Workers. Union organizers said that the strike will continue until UC ends its unfair labor practices and starts bargaining in good faith. Many faculty members are striking in solidarity.

It has been 60 years since the the Cuban Missile Crisis, and now may be the closest the world has been to a nuclear war since then. In October, anti-war activists in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley joined others across the nation to demand that elected leaders work to reduce the risk of nuclear war. On November 10, Youth vs Apocalypse, CodePink, Veterans for Peace and others rallied at Lockheed Martin's San Francisco office.

On August 27, anti-LGBTQ+ bigots, Proud Boys, and other white nationalists held a Straight Pride rally in the Central Valley town of Modesto, California. After announcing their rally location weeks ahead of time, only thirty alt-righters showed up at the Planned Parenthood location. There they faced about two hundred reproductive justice and LGBTQ-rights supporters who shouted down the small group of right-wing extremists.

On February 24, Russia began a military invasion of Ukraine, claiming its goals were to "demilitarize" and "de-nazify" the country. Bay Area Ukrainians protested in San Francisco on February 26 and 27, many agreeing with calls for maximal NATO involvement. On March 6, Code Pink and other anti-war organizations called for a Global Day of Action to protest the invasion, while also pointing to NATO expansion as having contributed to the crisis.

On January 6, cities and towns throughout the Bay Area and across the country held remembrance vigils and protest rallies on the one-year anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol building. Demonstrators identified former President Trump and the Republican Party as responsible for assaulting democracy in an attempt to reverse the outcome of a free and fair election. Many observers view the country as never having been so divided since the civil war and fear a recurrence.

On September 1, Texas’ anti-abortion law banning the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy went into effect, despite the 1973 Supreme Court ruling which established a constitutional right to this form of healthcare. Reproductive justice advocates in the San Francisco Bay Area and across the country held major protests on October 2 and October 3, with the fate of Roe v. Wade and legal abortion on the line. Indybay has coverage from a dozen cities.