Feature Archives

As the US Supreme Court stood poised on December 1 to uphold a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, demonstrators across the US took to the streets. A new organization on the reproductive justice movement scene, Strike for Choice, said the date, which coincided with World AIDS Day, "is fitting because we owe so much to the Act Up movement that moved the needle on the government’s attitude towards powerless AIDS patients."

International Human Rights Day was marked on December 10 by a diverse protest at San Francisco's Federal Building, calling out worldwide crimes against humanity. Countries and policies targeted were the US-supported Saudi war in Yemen, fascists in Myanmar, Israeli colonization of Palestine, attacks against the free press, police brutality, and the US Supreme Court's attack on women. Protesters later marched to a second rally at Powell and Market Streets.

On October 17, a caravan of 20 autos parked in front of Mark Zuckerberg's Palo Alto home so protesters could honk loudly and deliver a pink slip to the Facebook CEO while chanting, "Mark, You’re Fired!" The protest came on the heals of whistleblower Frances Haugen’s testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee. Haugen, a former Facebook employee, told senators the social media giant's products "harm children, stoke division, and weaken our democracy."

Responding to legal pressure from the Center for Biological Diversity, the federal government finalized a new rule on July 30 expanding critical habitat protection along the West Coast for critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales. The population of Southern Residents stands at just 74 orcas. The National Marine Fisheries Service designated 15,910 square miles of new critical habitat, expanding current protections in Washington’s Salish Sea south along the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California to Point Sur.

Members of the Yemeni-American community and world peace activists grieved on the third anniversary of the loss of 40 children whose lives were taken by a 500 pound US-made, Saudi and United Arab Emirates-led bomb. On August 8 in San Francisco, demonstrators laid down 40 pairs of shoes and 40 backpacks to memorialize each child's life. Speakers at the rally co-hosted by Yemini Alliance Committee said that the US government is complicit in the devastation to life and land as it continues to arm Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Line 3 is a tar sands oil pipeline that violates the treaty rights of Minnesota tribes. On July 16, five activists were cited at a demonstration at the federal building in San Francisco that was organized to draw attention to President Biden's inaction on the issue. The Line 3 pipeline is a project of Canadian fossil fuel company Enbridge, to increase their exports of tar sands oil. Climate and Indigenous rights activists in the Bay Area again stood up to stop the construction of Line 3 in solidarity with a National Day of Action on August 13.

Alan Clements has been on a quest for freedom that’s taken him to Myanmar, Yugoslavia, Australia, Bali, and even to Santa Cruz. He’s been a Buddhist monk, a performer, and an investigative journalist in areas of war and extreme conflict. Clements’ books, stage performances, and World Dharma meditation retreats have always grappled with the challenge of living open-hearted and authentic in a world of suffering and violence. His latest book — Extinction X-Rated — is part autobiography and partly a “dark satire about good and evil.”