Feature Archives

Protests to demand that every vote be counted spontaneously became celebrations of Trump losing after the presidential election was called by the major corporate news networks on November 7. Rally speakers reminded their audiences that though they celebrate, they must continue to agitate for change. The damage done by Trump is extensive, including stirring up a new generation of racist hate groups, and pre-Trump struggles for justice and equality, such as the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight against climate change, will carry on.

At vigils recalling Ruth Bader Ginsburg's groundbreaking life, speakers said that many civil rights, particularly abortion rights, could be rolled back. Raising candles, many demonstrators observed silence in her honor, while others voiced serious concern about what her death would mean to the composition of the US Supreme Court and ultimately what it could mean for justice and equality for women and all historically oppressed people.

President Trump has said little about the wildfires raging in California, Oregon and Washington for weeks, other than to suggest poor forest management was primarily to blame. “These are climate fires,” says Timothy Ingalsbee, an Oregon-based wildland fire ecologist and former wildland firefighter. “Though some scientists hesitate to attribute a single event to climate change, these are exactly the conditions predicted by climatologists.”

On August 21, Tiburon cops questioned the owners of Yema, a store on Main St. The officers insisted the merchant, who is Black, show proof that he really did belong inside the store he owns. One week later, 500 protesters marched to the police station in solidarity with the store owner and called for an end to racial profiling. Yema Khalif said he was working late when officers came to the door of his athletic store and assumed he, his co-owner, and a friend who are also Black, did not belong in the store.

Despite limited concessions by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy following public outcry against mail delaying tactics, community members and postal workers rallied to demand that Congress save the US Postal Service in protests across the US. Naturally the San Francisco Bay Area was no exception. Many here have long been concerned about privatization schemes. A national day of action on August 22 drew protests throughout the Bay Area.

As San Quentin faces California's deadliest coronavirus prison outbreak, protesters are marching to demand that Governor Newsom grant mass releases. COVID-19 infections spread quickly amongst the incarcerated because of inhumane prison infrastructure, say demonstrators who have shown up hundreds at a time outside the prison gates. By continuing to detain men at the Marin County facility, activists insist, the Governor is giving them death sentences.

Vallejo has the highest number of police killings per capita in northern California. In 2012, police shootings accounted for six of the 20 homicides in the city. The frequency of officer-involved shootings stood at around 38 times the national rate. On Saturday July 11, upon the release of the body cam recording of the June 2 murder of Sean Monterrosa, another demonstration demanded justice for the Vallejo Police Department's many victims. On June 20, the police killed yet another young black man.