Feature Archives

Valerie Paget and Tracie Jones, a Pasedena couple affected by the passage of Proposition 8, are on a march through California to demonstrate their conviction that the California Supreme Court should revoke Prop 8. They are marching from West Hollywood Park to the California Supreme Court in San Francisco. In coordination with Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign, they will deliver a petition to revoke Prop 8 that has been signed by over 250,000 people.

On Nov. 20th, the City of Palo Alto announced that its controversial police chief will retire on Dec. 19th. Chief Lynne Johnson sparked protests and a march on the city when she stated that she had instructed officers on her force to make "consensual contact" with African American men to counter a crime spike in Palo Alto. Although the police chief made several attempts at apologizing, many residents of the city and surrounding communities were left wondering why she directed her officers to look for African Americans with do-rags when victims of a 5-month city-wide crime spree had variously described suspects as being of African American, Pacific Islander, Latino or white descent.

Join the Impact organized nationwide protests on November 15th against Proposition 8 and other anti-gay measures that were passed in November 4th's election. The SF protest took place on the front steps of City Hall. The Oakland protest took place in Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Other local protests included Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Fresno, Modesto, Mountain View, San Rafael, Santa Rosa and Tracy.

On November 10 the Palo Alto City Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning racial profiling. In doing so they acknowledged the damage caused when Police Chief Lynne Johnson, commenting on a recent crime spike, said that she ordered her officers to question African Americans they see in Palo Alto to find out who they are. At a rally against racial profiling in front of Palo Alto's City Hall on November 9, several hundred people called for the police chief's resignation and a boycott of Palo Alto businesses.

On October 27, San Mateo Superior Court Judge Beth Freeman ruled against East Palo residents seeking affirmation of their city's authority to enforce and implement its own Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Tenants and the City of East Palo Alto have been in a legal dispute with Page Mill Properties/Woodland Park Management since January 2008 over Page Mill’s repeated violations of the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, raising tenant rents 2 or 3 times in one year totaling raises of 20%, 30%, and even up to 100%.

Neoliberalism is the economic view that emphasizes the importance of economic growth and asserts that social justice is best maintained by free market forces with minimal government interference. Author Naomi Klein called it a myth in a speech to over 600 people in a standing room-only auditorium at Stanford University on October 16th. She was rewarded with a standing ovation.

Sarah Palin flew into San Francisco to attend a GOP fundraiser on October 5. Several hundred angry protesters gathered in front of the Hyatt-Regency Hotel in Burlingame, adjacent to the San Francisco airport, to demonstrate their displeasure with the GOP platform. Following the vice-presidential candidate's recent debate with Democratic candidate Joe Biden and her attacks on Obama's character made at a speech in Carson, California on October 4th, many protesters' signs referred to Palin as an outright liar.