(2020-12-31). The Freedom Struggle in 2020: Angela Davis on Protests, Defunding Police & Toppling Racist Statues. democracynow.org 
In a Democracy Now! special, we revisit our June 2020 interview with the legendary activist and scholar Angela Davis about the uprising against police brutality and racism launched in May after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The protests have helped dramatically shift public opinion on policing and systemic racism, as "defund the police" became a rallying cry of the movement. Davis is professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. For half a century, she has been one of the most influential activists and intellectuals in the United States and an icon of the Black liberation mov…
(2020-12-31). Victories For Palestine Continued On US Campuses In 2020. popularresistance.org Despite the challenges of online/remote learning, campus activism has not stopped over the past year. National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) is currently planning their 2021 conference, celebrating 10 years of this annual reunion of SJP chapters from around the nation. And many student chapters have passed significant resolutions around some major issues, from censorship, to the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, to divestment and, most recently, the training of campus police by the Israeli military. As we wrap up 2020, here is a representative sample of…
(2020-12-31). Stop The Sweeps in Santa Cruz: Activists Resist Closing San Lorenzo Park. indybay.org Interviews with human rights activist Abbi Samuels and unhoused activist Hannah, who lives in a homeless encampment in San Lorenzo Park in downtown Santa Cruz.
(2020-12-30). Cancel the Rents builds people power to stop evictions in Boston. liberationnews.org 
The following is a guest statement by Cancel the Rents Boston, a collective of activists and residents organizing to fight against housing displacement exacerbated by COVID-19, anchored in the heart of Roxbury. An estimated 337,900 jobs have been lost in Massachusetts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The city of Boston has 38,872 confirmed COVID cases …
(2020-12-30). 'Sold out': Uighurs fear deportation as China ratifies extradition treaty with Turkey. middleeasteye.net 
'Sold out': Uighurs fear deportation as China ratifies extradition treaty with Turkey | Uighur activists urge Turkish government not to abide by agreement that could put tens of thousands at risk of being detained in internment camps
| Wed, 12/30/2020 – 10: 17 | Supporters of China's Muslim Uighur minority protest in Istanbul against B…
(2020-12-30). Climate Activists Mount Utility Strike. popularresistance.org Santa is not the only one giving out coal this year. Climate activists like Johnny Sanchez and Sonja Birthisel in Portland, Maine, recently sent their utility company an envelope of coal instead of payment towards their electric bill. This symbolic act of defiance, organized by the No Coal No Gas coalition, is part of a broad New England consumer strike against utility payments to protest the continued burning of coal. | The Strike Down Coal campaign launched on Sept. 1 and aims to continue until ISO New England — the system operator responsible for running New England's energy grid and power system —…
(2020-12-30). The Activist Roots Of Black Feminist Theory. popularresistance.org The idea that race, class and gender are interrelated dynamics of power and oppression has gained sufficient currency in the academic world to go by the shorthand "intersectionality," or "intersection theory." But the origins of contemporary Black feminist theory are not sufficiently known or acknowledged, and, given the invaluable work of university-based theorists, too many assume that the core concepts of Black feminism were born in the academy. In fact, much can be traced to activists in groups including the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Third World Women's Alliance, and the Combahee…
(2020-12-29). Israeli settlers enter Al-Aqsa compound despite Covid-19 lockdown. middleeasteye.net 
Israeli settlers enter Al-Aqsa compound despite Covid-19 lockdown | Provocative move taken when most Palestinians in Israel and East Jerusalem are restricted from travelling to holy site | Tue, 12/29/2020 – 12: 01 | Israeli far-right activists have repeatedly pushed for an increased Jewish presence at Al-Aqsa mosque compound (Screengrab) | Dozens of Israeli settlers entered Al-Aqsa compound on Tuesday in occup…
(2020-12-29). Activists, Health Care Workers Are Fighting To Keep Mercy Hospital Open. popularresistance.org Chicago – A coalition of activists are demanding elected officials maintain pressure on Mercy's ownership to keep the hospital open or sell to someone who will. | The activists held a vigil Monday, a week after a state board unanimously rejected Mercy Hospital's request to close. Board members agreed closing the Near South Side institution would negatively impact South Siders, especially in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. | Mercy Hospital leadership announced in July the city's first chartered hospital would shut down, citing monthly operating losses of $4 million and shifting trends in the field of healt…
(2020-12-29). The NDAA, Trump and the Military Industrial Complex. globalresearch.ca For decades, the National Defense Authorization Act has been the lifeblood of the US imperium, guaranteeing a flow of money across the military. A better term for such a bill would use the word offence in it, but lawmakers and …
(2020-12-29). Argentineans to Hold Vigil in Support of Safe Abortion Bill. telesurenglish.net Argentina's feminist movements Tuesday called for a vigil in front of Congress to accompany the Senate vote on the Safe Abortion bill. | RELATED: | The vote, which will begin on Tuesday afternoon and end on Wednesday morning, will also be accompanied by anti-abortion demonstrations. | The square in front of the Congress will be divided with a fence. The left side will be set for women's rights activists, while the right si…
(2020-12-29). Educating the City Manager (and his Neighbors). indybay.org On December 20th and 21st, Santa Cruz Union activists demonstrated and spoke in front of City Manager Martin Bernal's suburban house at 96 Brookwood Drive. Bernal's police have begun demolition of the San Lorenzo survival campgrounds destroying tents, gear, and other property. In winter weather, with no winter shelter, defying a shelter-in-place CDC order–Bernal's decree raised much outrage.
(2020-12-28). Conviction of Loujain al-Hathloul in Saudi Arabia Condemned as 'Blatant Attack on the Most Basic Human Rights'. commondreams.org "We stand with the al-Hathloul family and their friends who have not given up, and continue to call on the Saudi government to free Loujain," said Ariel Gold of CodePink. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-12-28). Russia Is Cracking Down on Political Performance Art, Again. Why It Should Listen, Not Lash Out. counterpunch.org Performances by artists and activists on political topics have been a sensitive spot for the Russian authorities for years. But as the authorities' crackdown on civil society intensifies, so does the creative non-violent response exposing and drawing attention to it. This in turn increases the pressure authorities exert on the artists and activists in efforts
(2020-12-28). Best of 2020: Philadelphia's deadly MOVE bombing and me. salon.com Our 2020 retrospective continues with this essay by a child of MOVE activists about why apologies aren't enough…
(2020-12-28). Kabul doubles security as series of targeted killings rock city. laprensalatina.com Kabul, Dec 28 (efe-epa).- The Afghan government on Monday decided to double the number of police officers in Kabul, even as a series of targeted attacks against politicians, activists, intellectuals and journalists have rocked the city almost every day over the past few weeks. "The presidential palace of Afghanistan has planned to double the number …
