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.

Over a thousand women took to the streets of San Francisco on October 17 in solidarity with actions nationwide responding to the anticipated loss of women's rights with Amy Coney Barrett replacing the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, as well as to protest the crimes of Donald Trump more generally. After right-wingers were chased away from City Hall and police given the runaround, marchers, protected by a wall of shields, headed south on Market Street.

Breonna Taylor was fatally shot in her home by Louisville, Kentucky, Metro Police Department officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove on March 13. A Grand Jury returned an indictment for one officer with three counts of wanton endangerment for shooting into neighboring apartments — and no charges directly related to the murder. Announcement of the Grand Jury's decision on September 23 sparked protests across Northern California.

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.

Facebook blocked hundreds of accounts days before a September 21 online event targeting the Coastal GasLink pipeline. The pipeline is set to cut through sovereign Wet’suwet’en land, defiantly ignoring hereditary chiefs of their rights, title, and consent for the project. The project would lock in decades of increased fracked gas and the impacts to climate, air, water and the risks posed to Indigenous camps built along the route.

The police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and too many more, have mobilized unprecedented numbers of people to take to the streets and declare that Black Lives Matter. Black people are 300% more likely to be killed at the hands of police than white people. Black people have been 28% of those killed by police since 2013 despite being only 13% of the population. A central feature of the current uprisings is the call to defund police departments, a demand also taking root in Santa Cruz.

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.