"Not Enough Space" is a traveling art exhibition commemorating 25 years of political imprisonment of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners Carlos Alberto Torres and Oscar López Rivera.

The Opening Reception for "Not Enough Space" will be held on Friday, May 19th from 6pm to 10pm at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Gallery (2868 Mission Street in San Francisco). The event will include special guest José E. López, the Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center (Chicago), who is also the brother of Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera. The John Santos Quintet will perform. Authentic Puerto Rican Hors D'oeuvres will be served.

The exhibit will be in San Francisco until June 16th. A Closing Cultural Event will take place on Sunday, June 11th from 4pm-8pm, with music and dance by Rico Pabón, Son Borikua, and Cacique y Kongo. In following months, the exhibit will travel to places such as Michoacan, Mexico, New York City, and Vieques.

Mission cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) | National Boricua Human Rights Network | Not Enough Space Catalog | Puerto Rican Cultural Center of Chicago | John Santos | List of Political Prisoners Held in the US

Interview and in-studio performance on Free Radio Santa Cruz with singer, songwriter and political activist Jim Page. The rich tradition of topical song writing is alive and well. Jim Page's songs bring a phenomenal mix of humor, irony and lyrical brilliance to exposing the outrages and absurdities of our times. Read more

audio (mp3): Performace and Interview with Jim Page (61:17 minutes / 56 MB)

The 2nd Annual Bay Area Anarchist Music Festival will take place on Friday, May 19th at the Edinburgh Castle (950 Geary St. at Larkin) in San Francisco, from 10pm onward. The event will be a benefit for the Kate Sharpley Library (KSL). Performers will include Emcee Lynx, Drowning Dog & Malatesta, and Nate Mezmer. Barry Pateman from the KSL will speak.

The Kate Sharpley Library was named in honor of Kate Sharpley, a World War I anarchist and anti-war activist, one of the countless "unknown" members of the movement who have been ignored by "official historians" of anarchism. Read more about the event

Read more on Indybay's Global Justice and Anti-Capitalism News Page

The 6th annual Youth And Power 2006, put together by the Watsonville Brown Berets, was a great success. It attracted youth from Watsonville, San Jose, Salinas, Santa Cruz, Aptos, the Bay Area, as well as L.A. and other locations. "Brown And Black Power" was the theme of this years event. Youth were educated about issues that affect us as a community and the social justice movement as well as entertained with great performers and special guests. The vets hall was full to its capacity, it was peaceful throughout the night and seeds were planted in young minds, the future soldiers of the movement. Read more and view photos

see also: An Open Letter to the Hip Hop Community on Immigration

Photos: Heads Spin at Youth and Power 2006
Videos: Immortal Technique at Youth and Power 2006
download the videos: The "Invasion Tour" || Point of No Return || Fourth Branch || Peruvian Cocaine || History of Our People || Bin Laden || DJ GI Joe || Harlem Streets || Here Forever

On Friday April 14th an evening of anti-border fun was held to benefit the Bay Area Coalition to Fight the Minutemen. The event at Balazo Gallery featured a Chican@ dinner at 6pm and a lineup of bands at 7:30. Firme, Fuga, Myth of Progress, Baader Brains, Entartete Kunst, Chest Full of Arrows, the Wills Wilde performed, and DJs Bonnie Blue and Zapatita kept the dancing going on into the night.

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In association with the Brava Theater Center, the Dell’Arte Company presents Shadow of Giants by Matthew Graham Smith. This two-night, special engagement will be held Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25 at Brava Theater Center.

Shadow of Giants is about the struggle over one redwood tree. It is a struggle with international ramifications, a struggle that involves tree-sitters, ghosts and mythology. An athletic ensemble of five actors portrays the ongoing conflict between environmentalists desperately fighting to preserve the last of the ancient forests, and the big timber companies who own them. It’s a story of a divided community, greed, hope, and power, told through dynamic physical theatre.

Based in a former logging town on California’s North coast, the Dell’Arte Company is an artist-managed professional touring company with a long history of creating original work that is inspired by their region. This ongoing ensemble of artists has created more than 35 award-winning, original works of theatre since 1977, and has toured with acclaim to international festivals.

READ MORE.

The artwork of Jason Justice was on exhibit at the Thoreau Galleries in San Francisco's Presidio. Jason Justice is a local activist and graphic designer. Dozens of patches, cards, picket signs, and posters that he designed for organizations such as the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, UniteHERE Local 2, Courage to Resist, and DanceSafe were shown through April 20th. The Thoreau Galleries are located in the Thoreau Center for Sustainability on Lincoln Boulevard in the Presidio. Read more

"My Name Is Rachel Corrie" was supposed to be opening in New York at the New York Theater Workshop during the week of March the 20th. However, the producers of the play were told that it was going to be postponed indefinitely. This play was based on Rachel's Corrie's diaries. The text had been edited from her diaries by Alan Rickman, who directed, with Megan Dodds playing Rachel, the show as it was performed by the Royal Court Theatre-- to overwhelming critical acclaim. The show appears to have been postponed due to its political content. Read ISM suggestions for writing letters to protest the New York Times's coverage of this story.

Activists worldwide plan to hold public space readings of Rachel's emails and journal entries during March 16th, the anniversary of Corrie's death. People plan to give fliers to passersby to encourage them to ask themselves, "Why are people so frightened of Rachel Corrie's words?" Read more

Democracy Now's Interview with Vanessa Redgrave | Warren Guykema's letter published in Counterpunch | More articles about the play | If Americans Knew's Rachel Corrie page | Rachel's Words website

The 12th Annual Radical Performance Fest took place on Friday and Saturday evenings, March 17th and 18th, in San Francisco. Doors opened at 7:30pm, with the shows beginning at 8:00pm, at SoMarts, 934 Brannan (at 8th Street). This politically laced, and artistically creative event raised money to send local youth (ages 15-25) to the Art in Action summer camp. Artists on Friday night included Colored Ink, Olga Salamanca, Sparlha Swa, and more. On Saturday night, perofrmers such as Samsara, deep dick collective, and Joe Navarro graced the stage.

SoMarts Cultural Center | Blue Buddha's Basement

"el enemigo común" scratches beneath the surface of neoliberalism, at some of the most hidden atrocities in recent North American history. The film documents instances of paramilitary activity against indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico from 2002 through 2005 while including scenes from an international human rights movement in 2003, in Miami against the Free Trade Area of the America's, and in Cancun against the World Trade Organization. The three locations in isolation expose the disparity of North American resistances, but together bring us closer to understanding the nature of an emerging common struggle. The film will be screening in San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Cruz in the upcoming two weeks.

Watch Trailer | Austin Inymedia | El Enemigo Común Blog

San Francisco Screening (2/9) | Oakland Screening (2/13) | Santa Cruz Screening (2/16)

Local diva/artist/poet Aya de León held her annual Alternative Valentine's show, on Tuesday, February 14th at 8pm at the La Peña Cultural Center. Flyer This spoken word and musical event celebrated "love of self, of spirit, of family and community, of peace, of democracy!" The evening was hosted by Aya de León, with guests such as members of Kreatibo, Alicia Raquel, Mike Molino, and the band Panama. Aya de León married herself in 1996 and has been throwing celebrations of self-love ever since.

La Peña Cultural Center | Aya de León

Stew Albert, a prominent member of the "Youth International Party" (Yippie!) an unindicted co-conspirator in the infamous Chicago 1968 "Conspiracy Trial," an instigator of People's Park and so much more died in his sleep on January 30th. Albert had incurable and inoperable liver cancer, but his belief in a better world and his unfaltering activism reportedly kept him busy until the very last moments of his life. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, February 1st at 1:00 at the Havurah Shalom at 825 NW 18th Ave in Portland, Oregon. Albert kept a weblog- "a personal log by an American radical activist who knew he was dying of cancer, but stoically continued to rant against empire." Read more

Stew Albert's Yippie Reading Room website | Stew Albert's Blog | Read more about the Yippies

Over a thousand people joined the Dia de los Meurtos (Day of the Dead) procession through San Francisco’s mission district November 2nd. Dia de los Muertos is an annual Meso-American holiday dedicated to ancestors and loved ones now gone. The procession was lead by the Rescue Culture Collective and ended at the Festival of Altars in Garfield Park at 25th Street and Harrison. Not in Our Name joined others, including CODEPINK, in remembering the over 100,000 Iraqis and 2,000 US troops killed due to our government’s current war without end on that country.
Photos

On September 10th, 2005, the 7th Annual 911 Power to the Peaceful Festival (PTTP) took place at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. (Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4) PTTP is an annual series of free, outdoor music and arts festivals with a social justice message bringing together international musicians, local artists and renowned speakers in a large festival atmosphere. Tens of thousands of people atteneded the concert. This year, the San Francisco Mayor’s Office proclaimed September 10th Power to the Peaceful Day at the festival. Saturday's theme, Bring ‘Em Home, seeks to remind the public that the best way to support American troops abroad is to bring them home today.

This year, PTTP included a skate ramp, a zero-waste program that included bio-diesel vegetable fuel for power, an open-air art gallery, earth-conscious vendors, massage and yoga, a DJ dance floor, eco-village, kid’s zone, a food drive, and the SF Bike Coalition. Social, environmental and political organizations such as Indybay had tables with information and wares for sale (cell phone pics). The event was broadcast live on KPFA radio. A festival after party and all-star jam closed the night out on the 10th at 1015 Folsom.

On Sunday, September 11th, Michael Franti will host the Social Justice Forum at Cell Space on Bryant Street from 11am-5pm. There will be a ‘Power To The Peaceful Yoga Workshop’ at 2pm on Sunday at the Yoga Tree-Yoga Flow classroom in the Castro District. PTTP will also include a 1st Annual International Film Festival, co-presented by Amnesty International, at the Roxie Theater on September 12th and 13th with highlights including a clip of Robert Greenwald’s upcoming release "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" and Michael Franti’s film about his journey to Iraq, Palestine and Israel last year titled "I Know I’m Not Alone."

Past Indybay Coverage of Power to the Peaceful