On April 6, community members gathered at the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz for the opening reception of "Occupy Art", an exhibition of art from Occupy Santa Cruz. In addition to fine art, photography, and protest relics from the movement, spoken word performances were held, and Brent Adams previewed his OSC documentary. The densely packed exhibition is an attempt at documenting the Occupy movement in Santa Cruz while encapsulating the feeling of the protest experience.

"Occupy Art" is ongoing through the month of April at the Resource Center for Nonviolence, which is located at 612 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz.

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On April 4th, a dozen people demonstrated on the sidewalk in front of the Wells Fargo Bank located at 74 River St. in downtown Santa Cruz, and across the street from the vacant bank building at 75 River St.

The event was held to "encourage those victimized by the bank to learn they have allies", according to an announcement published on Santa Cruz Indymedia that morning.

The demonstration was also called to "support the hundreds of people who visited or protested the vacant building at 75 River St. in late November and early December last year." The announcement asserts that Santa Cruz County District Attorney Bob Lee "has selectively chosen 11 people" for prosecution, including journalists and activists, "in a case of political targeting previously unknown in Santa Cruz."

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On April 1, community members gathered at the Town Clock in Santa Cruz to share food and spread the message that: Food Is A Right, Not A Privilege. The demonstration was held in conjunction with international actions calling for an end to laws restricting acts of compassion, and was organized locally by Food Not Bombs Santa Cruz and the Occupy Santa Cruz Food Justice Working Group.

A press release on the Food Not Bombs website describes the difficulties community members around the world have been having when attempting to share food with those in need: "It has been distressing to receive so many reports in the past few weeks of people being threatened with arrest or cities adopting new laws limiting people's right to share free food with the public. People in Belarus, England, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Florida have been contacting the Food Not Bombs global coordination office about having been threatened with arrest for sharing food. Others report that their local governments are considering laws to limit acts of compassion. Food Not Bombs volunteers in Minsk have been arrested for sharing meals and police raided a benefit concert on March 24, 2012 charging 15 volunteers with sentenced to administrative arrests."

Read more and view photos | Houston City Council Hearings on Anti Food Sharing Ordinance | Houston Keep Sharing Free! Important Documents

See also: No Fooling - April 1 Action in Fresno | Venice Homeless Sweep Stopped: A Good Day in Venice for Street People

Previous coverage: Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs Meal at City Hall

Santa Cruz County District Attorney Bob Lee has embarked on a full frontal assault against independent media in Santa Cruz by including four regular contributors to the independent news website Indybay.org amongst the eleven people charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors after the occupation of a vacant bank building on November 30th, 2011. District Attorney Lee apparently believes it is his duty to dictate how events such as the occupation of the vacant bank at 75 River Street should be reported on by the media, and if he does not approve of the coverage, then journalists risk the DA bringing charges against them.

The National Press Photographers Association (NPAA) and The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) wrote a Letter Brief addressed to the court seeking dismissal of charges. In a related joint press release, the NPAA and RCFP wrote: "This is just the most recent case where journalists have been interfered with and arrested while covering Occupy Wall Street protests throughout the country. In almost every case, those charges — ranging from disorderly conduct and obstruction of governmental administration to trespass — have been dismissed or the defendant journalists have been acquitted." So why is Bob Lee pursuing these charges, at taxpayer expense, unless to unfairly promote one journalistic viewpoint over another by deterring independent journalists from closely reporting on social justice movements as they happen?

Read More | En Español | Santa Cruz IMC

NPPA & Reporters Committee Seek Dismissal of Charges Against Photojournalist Covering Occupy Protest | Society of Professional Journalists letter to Santa Cruz DA in support of Indybay reporter Bradley Stuart Allen | Journalism Groups Protest Prosecution of Photojournalist

Audio: KPFA Evening News Speaks with Bradley Stuart Allen || Davey D Interviews Bradley Stuart Allen on KPFA's Hard Knock Radio || Chris Burnett Interviews Bradley Stuart Allen on KPFK's Indymedia On Air || Dennis Bernstein Interviews Bradley Stuart Allen and Ben Rice on KPFA's Flashpoints

Sixteen Thousand People Send Messages to Journalists Arrested During Occupy Protests

See also: Preliminary "Conspiracy" Hearing for Two Reporters in the 75 River St. Persecutions || Bogus Attack on Journalists Around November Protest Goes On and On || Day Three of "Conspiracy" Frame-Up Hearing || Two Courts Cream the Constitution: Justice Santa Cruz Style Rides Again!

Previous Related Indybay Features: Occupy Santa Cruz Marches to Protest Repression of the Occupy Movement | Demonstration at Wells Fargo in Solidarity with 75 River St. Arrestees | Vacant Bank Occupied in Santa Cruz

The legendary poet, essayist and feminist Adrienne Rich died on March 27, 2012, at the age of 82 in her Santa Cruz, California home. Rich was one of the most celebrated poets of the last half-century and a lifelong advocate for women, gay and lesbian rights, peace and racial justice. Rich drew widespread acclaim for her many volumes of poetry and prose, which brought the oppression of women and lesbians into the public spotlight.

Adrienne Rich was a key figure in the women’s movement and an uncompromising critic of the powerful. Rich won numerous awards and honors, including the National Book Award for the 1973 collection Diving into the Wreck. Refusing to accept the award alone, she appeared onstage with poets Audre Lorde and Alice Walker, and the three accepted the award on behalf of all women.

Alice Walker & Frances Goldin on the Life of Legendary Poet Adrienne Rich

Gary Johnson is a homeless activist who maintained a nightly protest at the Santa Cruz Courthouse from late December until earlier January against local and state laws which criminalize the basic human necessity to sleep. Johnson, who slept next to a sign which stated "6.36.010 647(e) A LEGACY OF CRUELTY", was arrested four times for "lodging" in violation of Penal Code 647(e) and "trespassing" PC 602(o) during his protests. "6.36.010" is the Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban, officially known as Municipal Code 6.36.010, which makes it a crime to sleep outdoors in Santa Cruz, with or without bedding, at any time between the hours of 11pm to 8:30am.

After witnessing Gary Johnson's arraignment on February 17th, Drew Lewis wrote, "The crime the prisoner was accused of was sleeping on the park bench in front of the County Courthouse. I sat there in awe and disbelief that our government was wasting so much of our tax dollars and police time prosecuting a homeless man with nowhere to sleep at night while allowing real criminals in the banking system to steal peoples' homes through foreclosure fraud and many other real crimes against our society."

A jury trial was held March 20th-22nd at the Santa Cruz Courthouse, the publicly owned building which Johnson slept in front of. About an hour after assembling, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all four counts of "illegal lodging". Johnson's attorney, Ed Frey, noted the jurors looked somber as they left. "In my opinion, [because of Judge John Gallagher's rulings] the jury had no idea what was going on."

Johnson has been incarcerated since January 6th for the crime of sleeping. Judge Gallagher slated the sentencing hearing for March 29th at 8:30 AM in Dept. 2.

Read more | SleepCrime Prisoner Faces Four Years in "Lodging" Trial | SleepCrime Defendant Denied Necessity Defense

Previous related coverage: Sheriff's Deputies Wake, Question and Photograph People at Peace Camp 2010 | Attorney Ed Frey Arrested on 35th Night of Santa Cruz Peace Camp 2010 | Gary Johnson Held on $5000 Bail for Sleep Protests at Santa Cruz County Courthouse

On March 1st, hundreds of students at the University of California Santa Cruz, with the aid of local community members, built a tent university at the base of campus as part of a coordinated day of Occupy Education actions statewide. A general strike with regards to the main campus was also planned, and students blocked both entrances to the university, which effectively shutdown UCSC for approximately 16 hours. In the words of one UC police officer that day, "students have taken control of the campus."

It was a cold, rainy day, but according to reports from demonstrators, hundreds of students showed up to both entrances of the UC Santa Cruz campus during the pre-dawn hours. Police subsequently set up roadblocks down the hill from the campus entrance on Bay Street, and vehicular traffic heading towards UCSC was limited. While the police barricades were in place, the actual blockade of the main entrance was only casually maintained by the demonstrators. At the time of the first rally, which was scheduled for noon, tents and geodesic domes were set up, and a variety of classes and workshops were held. At the rally, in addition to student speakers, professors spoke, as did community members involved with Occupy Santa Cruz.

Read more and view photos | Photos part 2 | A Small Taste of Student Fists: The UCSC Campus Shutdown

March 5th, 2012: Thousands Protest at State Capitol to Save Public Education and Social Services

Coverage of Tent University Santa Cruz in 2005: Police Brutalize Students for Sitting on Lawn at UCSC || Mass Arrest: UCSC Cracks Down on "Tent State" University || UCSC Academic Senate Releases Tent University Report That Includes Anonymous Spy Testimony