 Indymedia is a collective of independent media organizations and journalists offering non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues in the San Francisco Bay Area and worldwide. Get involved: meeting and volunteer info | ![[independent media center]](/im/imcsfobbfrontright.gif) newswire | features | publish | about | contact | subscribe current news as of friday, march 30, 2001 | |||
| ||||
|
|
|
 Housing Activists Challenge Displacement This week in SF, protesters and media activists team up to challenge community and cultural destruction by greedy landlords and technology companies. Following a direct action on Tuesday 3/27, there will be a week of film & video showings at the Whose City? and Bulldozed! festivals. In the East Bay, the "eviction for profit" system may get another boost as Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown begins his bid for re-election. This week Brown considers an alternative to the much needed Just Cause Evictions Measure; though appearing to support tenants, this new legislation will actually hasten the gentrification process. In a recent victory, the Grant Building Tenants Association finally succeeded in staving off evictions and securing affordable rents. The Coalition on Homelessness has announced a Thursday March 29 direct action at noon against the city's plans for homeless shelter "redesigns." sf imc housing coverage
 Marriott Workers Fight for Union ContractEmployees protested outside the 4th Street Marriott on March 22 & 23, alerting convention-goers and Marriott customers to the hotel's unfair labor practices. Photos: 1 2 3 4 sf imc labor/may day coverage  April 1& 2 Actions in SF Calling for the Release of FTAA TextSpecial Coverage On April 20-22 in Quebec City, Canada, leaders of thirty-four nations will meet to further the ratification of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a more extreme version of NAFTA. Despite its ready availability to advisors from the business sector, the proposed text of the FTAA agreement remains inaccessible to the general public, including members of Congress. Meet at 16th and Mission at 2pm on Sunday for festive procession to Powell & Market, followed by actions in Union Square, or gather at Yerba Buena Gardens at 1:30pm for Reclaim the Streets. Direct action will occur 7:30am on Monday morning at Bank of America (Kearny and California Streets).
Visit Stopftaa.org for details on upcoming events. On April 11, leaders of Brazil's landless workers movement will speak out against FTAA in Berkeley.  Cesar Chavez Holiday Parade and Festival March 31Saturday, March 31 will be the first official state holiday for Cesar Estrada Chavez, the American labor organizer who founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. The parade will begin at noon at Justin Herman Plaza and end up at Civic Center Plaza for a 1 PM program and festival. sf imc labor/may day coverage  EZLN Supporters Shut Down Mexican Consulate March 2213 protesters shut down the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco to protest the Congreso Mexicano's refusal to meet with the Comandancia Zapatista and to implement the San Andreas Peace Accords. The protest coincides with a solidarity protest in Sacramento where Mexican Presidente Fox is stopping during his visit to California. Fox announced a decree on the 3 Zapatista demands. Anarchy Week in San Francisco  Anarchists gathered in San Francisco throughout March 22-26 for an annual book fair and café. The week also included meetings, speakers, films, and performances. On Saturday, an impromptu Reclaim The Streets party paraded through the city.April 5 National Day of Action Against State Repression On Thursday, April 5th, Indiana pre-trial hearings will begin for Frank Ambrose over his alleged involvement in Earth Liberation Front (ELF) tree spiking. The first person in North America officially charged with an ELF action, Ambrose maintains his innocence and believes that the F.B.I. and State authorities are framing him in their hunt for a conviction against underground ELF. Demonstrations will be held in solidarity with Ambrose, ELF, and against state repression.  Opposition to U.S. Violence Towards Iraq ContinuesU.S. bombs have been killing innocent Iraqis for the last ten years, as brutal economic sanctions decimate the country's infrastructure. The Bay Area's Coalition to End Sanctions Against Iraq (CESI) has begun mobilizing for the National Days of Action to End the War Against Iraq, April 26-28. Read a participant's account from the November 11th humanitarian expedition to Iraq, when peace activists, journalists and Greek politicians joined to challenge the UN imposed sanctions. www.endthesanctions.org. Upcoming actions  Pacifica Demonstration at NFCB ConferenceA demonstration was held at the National
Federation of Community Broadcaster's Conference in
SF on March 24. Watch video from 3/24 teach-in featuring Amy Goodman, Dan Coughlin, and Bernard White. Update on current situation. Join the KPFA Truth Squad.
Urgent Help Needed For INS Detainee The Immigration and Naturalization Service is currently denying medical care to a woman previously incarcerated at Chowchilla Women's facility, likely retaliating against her sexual harassment grievance against two male guards. Details Seattle ACORN Workers Denied Right to Unionize On February 26th, staff workers at Washington ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) organized with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and asked employer Doug Bloch for recognition. Bloch refused to bargain with the union, despite its membership of nearly all workers, whose main demands included a forty hour week, paychecks on time and in full, a sexual harassment policy, job safety standards, and lunch breaks. Read more 3/19 Protest Against Israeli Prime Minister's US Visit Approximately forty people gathered in front of the Israeli Consulate on Monday to express their outrage towards Ariel Sharon, Israel's recently elected right-wing leader. Legislation Introduced to Assist Homeless Children in Schools H.R. 623, a comprehensive homeless education bill, is currently being deliberated in Congress. Read about the campaign to urge U.S. representatives to co-sponsor the proposal. Queer Activist Attacked In Chicago Ifti Nasim, a well-known writer, poet, and activist in the Chicago's LGBTQ Muslim community was verbally and physically assaulted on March 12. Details Activist Destroys Columbus Statue In San Jose Wielding a sledgehammer, Native American justice activist James Cosner smashed a life-size statue of Christopher Columbus in front of dozens of witnesses at City Hall in San Jose, California on March 8th. As marble chips flew, Cosner shouted "Genocide! This man murdered us!" Details May Day: Get Ready Reclaim the Streets is already gearing up for a reclaiming of May Day at Justin Herman Plaza. May 5 Annual Protest Against the Drug War's Failed Policies On May 5th, there are over one hundred marches, rallies, & forums planned internationally to contest the on-going destruction of the "Drug War".
 Northern California Forest Defenders Resist Clearcutting Special feature page: Activists in the Mattole and elsewhere are maintaining their struggle against logging plans that threaten to level the state's critically endangered old-growth forests and despoil several highly sensitive watersheds. A new treesit, complete with its' own billboard-sized banner, was unveiled Friday, March 8th at Maxxam/Pacific-Lumber's timber harvest plan (THP) 1-00-309 near Rattlesnake Creek in Humboldt County, a tributary to the upper North Fork of the Mattole River.  Citizens Revolt Against PG&E Bailout ScamPublic outcry against the PG&E scam is growing as utility bail-outs continue - the state will pay utilities twice market value for part of the power grid. Watch video from a March 3rd forum sponsored by Oakland city council member Jane Brunner. See the "Energy Crisis" Special Report for more teach-in info and the low-down on Gov. Davis' latest bedmates.  IMC Housing ProjectThe housing crisis affects every type of person in the Bay Area--from public housing tenants whose homes are being threatened with demolition to seniors who are being evicted from homes they've lived in for the last 20 years to middle-income people who are being squeezed out of the market by high-paid dot.com employees. Read more
Archived highlights of SF Bay Area IMC coverage >> sf.indymedia.org is an independent, non-commercial news and content service provider for the San Francisco Bay Area. It is modeled on the original Independent Media Centers set up to cover events in Seattle (1999) and Washington DC (April 2000). Since then, the indymedia network has expanded to every continent as media activists around the world establish ongoing local IMCs. Contact our editorial collective with feedback (do not e-mail news releases or articles to the IMC - you must publish stories yourself); technical concerns should be directed to the tech collective. For further info, call 510-549-0732. Last updated Wed Mar 28 19:09:58 PST 2001 |
|
 |
|
|
|||||||||
©2000-2001 San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise noted by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the people contributing to the site and are not necessarily endorsed by the SF IMC. Please Read | |||||||||||||||
