I forgot to ask this month's subject, Ernesto Saavedra, if he was named after Che. Even if his parents didn't think of it, it would have been appropriate. For this Ernesto is a 24/7 organizer of [...] Continue Reading
Social Justice
ACLU’s Request for Department of Justice (DOJ) Investigation
On February 9, 2009, Fresnans watched a video of the beating of a homeless man by two police officers on the television news. People were shocked and outraged. On February 11, representatives of 13 [...] Continue Reading
Municipality of San Juan Copala under Siege
The village of San Juan Copala is a small dot located within the huge Low Mixtec region, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. The village is inhabited by the Triqui people, with their own culture, customs, [...] Continue Reading
Oscar Grant and the Role of Militant Action
"MY SON WAS MURDERED. HE WAS MURDERED. HE WAS MURDERED. HE WAS MURDERED, and the law has not held the officer accountable the way that he should have been held accountable." These are the words of [...] Continue Reading
The Battle for Kaiser: SEIU Calls for World War III
California Healthcare Workers Showdown The new National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) has won another stunning victory in its campaign to decertify and defeat the Service Employees International [...] Continue Reading
Book Review: Labor’s Civil War in California
Photo above is of the book cover from http://www.pmpress.org/content/article.php/CalWinslow Labor's Civil War in California: The NUHW Healthcare Workers Rebellion does a phenomenal job of bringing [...] Continue Reading
Punishment by Cold
Just because someone has been in the prison system for an exorbitant amount of time does not mean he or she has "seen it all." The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) [...] Continue Reading
Why We Support Immigrant Rights
Around 100 years ago, the tragedy of the Mexican Revolution unfolded in Ciudad Juarez with explosions and gunfire that could be heard across the river in El Paso, Texas. There, U.S. businessmen and [...] Continue Reading
The American Civil Liberties Union – at Your Service
It was just three years ago, in July 2007, that the new Greater Fresno Area Chapter of the ACLU-NC (Northern California) got sufficiently organized to hold its first full agenda Board meeting. Because [...] Continue Reading
From the Editor
Last month (May), this newspaper received the "Way of Peace" award from the Fresno Center for Nonviolence. J.D. McCubbin introduced me to the overflow crowd at Margaret Hudson's barn, and I accepted [...] Continue Reading
When the Smoke Clears (It’s Just Medicine)
"I come to powwow to be an Indian to get a sense of myself. This is part of Indian spirituality, to help each other and to celebrate with each other. When I come to powwows, I gain strength to carry [...] Continue Reading
Stop the Execution
The state of Georgia has been trying for 18 years to kill Troy Davis, who is very likely innocent of the murder he was convicted of, and has no previous criminal record, The U.S. Supreme Court has [...] Continue Reading