On Thursday, June 2, the world famous church of anti-corporate-consumer-craze will be back in Santa Cruz with performances at UCSC and at a local union-busting behemoth. Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping will be singing down goliath, they may face the fierce fires of starbucks.

The schedule for June 2nd is
4-6 Performance / Talk at UCSC Media Theater
6-8 Possible Retail intervention at a local Chain Store
8-10 Performance followed by a THURSDAY NIGHT Guerrilla Bike-in Movie Showing of "Night of the Iguana" under the Soquel Bridge

[ Rev. Billy and Night Of The Iguana at the Guerilla Drive-In || Guerilla Drive-In to Challenge Rules Around Public Space || Santa Cruz Guerilla Drive-In Rousted by Authorities (7/9/04) || Rev. Billy and the Church's Visit on 4/20/04 ]

Video: Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping at the Guerilla Drive-In

Audio: Interview with Groucho Monarchs at the Guerilla Drive-In w/ Rev. Billy

On May 27, the Fourth Annual Youth and Power event took place at the Veterans Memorial Building in Watsonville. The theme was "Youth Empowerment Through Art, Education, and Music." About three hundred people, mostly teenagers, enjoyed an evening of music, dancing and great food!

A commenter writes, "...this event will never just come and go. It was about planting seeds of consciousness and revolution in the minds of our young people of Watsonville.I think we accomplished that. Events like ours rarely get attention of the local mainstream press, but let the growers put on some drunkfest like the Stawberry Festivel and the press is all over it. No big deal, because our work continues. Thanks Indymedia for covering Youth and Power and thanks to the Watsonville Brown Berets for all the work you do in this community."

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Audio: Entrevista/Interview: Fernando Suarez del Solar

See also: Kick Recruiters Out of Our Schools! Regional Youth BBQ (6/4) || All Around the U$, Recuiters are Feeling the Heat

On May 22, Alli Starr and Medea Benjamin spoke at Bookshop Santa Cruz on behalf of CodePink Women For Peace and a new book called "Stop the Next War Now: Effective Responses to Violence and Terrorism." Local Folk-Goddess Diane Patterson got the evening started by singing and playing guitar.

Audio: Download the mp3 (44:22 minutes / 15.2 MB)

A discussion time followed the presentation and Medea talked about her experience at the Halliburton Shareholders meeting which took place on May 18, 2005 in Houston, Texas. She also talked about her experience at the Iraq War Protest which took place in Fayetteville, North Carolina on March 19, 2005 and included Iraq veterans, military families and resisters. Medea says that one good thing going on these days is that the U$ Imperial Forces have been too busy to stop the momentum of Latin American social movements.

Alli talked about the Art in Action camp which takes place each summer in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Q and A: Download the mp3 (11:05 minutes / 3.8 MB)

Palestine Awareness Week at UCSC features seminal speakers and an evening of Palestinian culture.

The Committee for Justice in Palestine at UCSC invites the public to attend a series of stellar events focusing on the Israeli occupation, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Palestinian culture. The events are free and open to all.

Please come share in the stories of struggle and survival and the celebration of Palestine’s ancient cultural heritage. On Tuesday, May 24, we will hear from Israeli Robi Damelin and Palestinian Nadwa Sarandah from Parents Circle and Bereaved Families Supporting Peace and Tolerance. On Wednesday, May 25 Khalil & Noura Isa will talk about the psychological effects of the occupation and Arab activism in the United States and abroad. Thursday evening will feature professional Debkeh Preformers (traditional Arabic Dance), Music, Food, Art and Dress from the Middle East.

May 25 in downtown Santa Cruz: From Loss to Hope: Israeli and Palestinian Women Work for Reconciliation

On May Day 2005 in Santa Cruz, the Wobblies marched from the Tom Scribner statue to a rally at the Clock Tower. Rabble rousers played guitar, sang and spoke about the past, present and future of the labor movement. Speakers and singers included Faith Petric, Fred Hirsch, Mark Levy, David Winters, Fellow Worker Will and Brian from the Santa Cruz General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World.

After the rally, we marched down Pacific Ave. and gained the support of many onlookers as we chanted, "We Don't Need the Bosses, the Bosses Need Us!!!"

For better or worse, there were more people that wanted to watch The Wobblies than could fit into the main dartroom of the Poet & Patriot. Those of us that did not make it into the film screening celebrated 100 years of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) with a live performance of Rebel Girl by Phil Free and a birthday cake.

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3

Audio: Singing and Soapboxing

People need a lot more meaning and freedom in their lives. More connection, more intrigue, and more adventure. Adventure Club is part of our effort to create more joy and more resistance. Adventure Club may not change the world, but for those who commit to try, it will make their world more interesting, exciting, and engaged.

Peace is not something you wish for, it's something we create, something we do, something we are, and something we give away.

It's our parade. It's your parade. No city-sponsorship. No corporate donors. We make it happen together.

Recently I was reading reports of police assaults on Black people and of Black people fighting against the police in Memphis and Miami. This called to mind a story I was told a while back. A rookie cop was riding in his police car with his veteran partner when a report came in that there was a Black man in the vicinity with a gun. As their car screeched around the corner, a young Black man suddenly appeared sprinting up an alley--into a dead end. "Shoot him!", the older cop screamed, "Go on, shoot him-- it's free!" "It's free!" Think about that for a second. "It's free!" In other words, here's a chance that gets a pig to sweating and salivating with anticipation--a chance to "kill a nigger" with the already provided cover that a Black man--a Black man, any Black man--was reported in the area with a gun. This is an opportunity too good to pass up: "Go on, shoot him--it's free!" Well, in this case, the rookie was not ready for that--perhaps he was one of those rare ones who joins a police force actually believing the "serve and protect" bullshit--

A do-it-yourself parade. No city-sponsorship. No corporate donors. We make it happen together.