Sahar Saba, a soft spoken young woman, stood firmly as darkness fell. She spoke of the hell that is her home; where 'everyone has a story to tell’ about a sister, a brother, a parent, or a child who was tortured, raped, killed; sometimes before their eyes.

She repeated several times that the problem of fundamentalism persists in Afghanistan. That RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, sees the persistence of fundamentalism as the major problem for women, children, and the Afghani culture in general. That the US attack and presence has done little to improve the situation, that indeed the situation has gotten worse under the US supported warlords.

Audio: Rockin' the Boat: Interview with Sahar Saba

[ Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan I Afghan Women's Mission ]

The santa cruz anarchist infoshop, located at 509 broadway, off of ocean street, is now open!

April 1 marked the opening of the Santa Cruz Anarchist Infoshop. There is a huge anarchist lending library, a giant zine collection, free tea, amazing people, soon-to-be free public internet access and computer publishing access, and much much more. Come see for yourself. It is open Mon-Fri 3-7pm, Tues and Thurs 'til 9, then Sat and Sun from 11-7. See you there!

Local parents are worried about the safety of their children.

Since the School Board’s decisions to close Branciforte Elementary and to cut the transportation budget, families are wondering how their children will get safely to schools 2-3 miles from their homes.

Many of the Branciforte students live in the neighborhoods surrounding Grant Street Park. In all three scenarios presented to the School Board these students are now in the Delaveaga attendance area. There is currently no safe route for these children to walk or bike to their new school. Many families are unable to drive their children to school, and without the transportation funds formerly available, there is no money for buses.

Santa Cruz Copwatch is a community based organization comprised of students, professionals, activists, community leaders, and others that seeks to provide police oversight by observing police activity, aiding people in airing their concerns and grievances with the police, and reporting their findings to the community. Copwatchers observe and record but do not interfere with police activity. Independent citizen police review and oversight is vital in all communities, but is especially important in Santa Cruz with the recent elimination of funding for the personnel of the Citizens' Police Review Commission.

Please join Santa Cruz Copwatch for a special screening of These Streets are Watching on Wednesday, April 7, from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM at the Resource Center for Nonviolence.

Join the Global day of Action in San Francisco Saturday, March 20, 2004 11am at Dolores Park, 18th & Dolores Sts.

On March 20th, the one year anniversary of the U.S. war against Iraq, a Global Day of Action will bring hundreds of thousands of people into the streets in cities around the world.

This will be a unified demonstration opposing the criminal and empire-building policies of the Bush administration and their impact abroad and at home. The march calls for an end to the occupation and corporate control of Iraq and to bring the troops home now. It calls for an end to the occupation of Palestine. It calls for the funding of human needs, the funding of social programs and demonstrates against the ever-expanding attacks on all immigrants, labor rights and everyone's civil liberties - It calls for a united stand against racism here and abroad.

Audio and Photos: Images and Sound from SF March 20th Event

The 3rd Annual Practical Activism Conference, Tools for Local and Global Change, was a day-long conference which took place on October 29, 2005 at the University of California at Santa Cruz. It offered a series of workshops addressing activism and change in the local and global context, as well as keynote speeches from Daniel "Nane" Alejandrez and Nzingha Dugas.

In contemporary America, disunification, or splintering, has rendered the left ineffective. Such has long served as the eulogy of leftist movements and ideas within the states. The problem has worsened in recent years, and has thus led to a lifeless decay in the strength of all real progressive actions. Clearly, this has given way to today’s breed of libertarian rightists, neo-conservatism, and many other crypto-fascist uprisings. Disintegration, lack of solidarity, and a true misunderstanding of who/what the real enemy is, has led to the recent polarization of our movements.

This is an effort to save the most biologically diverse body of water on Earth.

With legislation on the verge of passing to close the "School of the Assassins", the time has come this November to stand up against violence, torture, and war!