One reader explains why she gave up on both political parties and found hope elsewhere instead. Others discuss Occupy’s place in Santa Cruz and money’s place in our lives. Plus: An update about Matt Groening’s (first) famously silly cartoon.
Posts Tagged: Occupy Santa Cruz
Occupy Santa Cruz: Down But Not Out
With a reluctance to engage local government and little coordination or strategy, some wonder what sort of impact the Occupy movement will continue to have here and on the national stage. Appealing to public anger over wealth disparities has carried the movement so far. But without a strong blueprint or vision to inspire more people, can the movement continue to capture the sympathies and energy of local communities and become the grassroots democratic movement it hopes to be?
Letters to the Editor, April 18-24
Kimberly and Foster Gamble never meant to mislead anyone, according to a team member from the controversial movie ‘Thrive.’ And the pair will respond to concerns about the locally made cult documentary when they have time.
Letters to the Editor, April 11-17
One reader defends a local documentary film and says being crazy is nothing special. Other readers take a close look at the occupation of 75 River Street.
Journalists Say They Were Targeted for Covering Occupy
After surveying the December damage to a vacant bank building owned by Wells Fargo that included graffiti, broken cameras and damaged ceiling tiles, investigators from Santa Cruz Police Department went to work. They came up with preliminary list of 12 suspects—out of more than 75 who passed through the building—involved in the three-day occupation of 75 River Street. Police handed their list over to county District Attorney Bob Lee’s office, and Lee’s office served 11 warrants to suspects.
UCSC Alum Edited Occupy Movement Paper
Two weeks after the first protestors unrolled their sleeping bags in Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street’s inaugural newspaper hit the streets of lower Manhattan, hot off the people’s press. Among those hawking that first free issue of The Occupied Wall Street Journal was UCSC graduate Michael Levitin. A journalist by trade, Levitin jumped at the chance to join in the paper’s creation and help broadcast the diversity of voices and shared frustrations from within the fledgling movement.
A Student’s View
It’s 4:30am Wednesday, not yet daybreak, at the intersection of Hagar and Coolidge on the UCSC campus. Already a few dozen intrepid protesters have gathered to block access to campus from the main entrance despite the chill of dawn and undoubtedly short-circuited sleep cycles. Soon word comes from the other entrances: they have been effectively blocked, and the protesters have their first victory before the sun has even appeared on the horizon.
Santa Cruz’s Year of Notoriety
A month-by-month breakdown of all the Santa Cruz news that national media saw fit to print, televise and otherwise comment on.
Homeless of Occupy Look Ahead
On the lawn of San Lorenzo Park hours after police broke up the Occupy Santa Cruz camp, Devin Gonzales, 18 years old and homeless, is sitting on a picnic blanket with his legs crossed. Gonzales gazes across the park’s duck pond toward the collapsed tents of the Occupy camp he had been calling home. “This was finally a safe place to come,” says Gonzales, who had never felt safe sleeping on the San Lorenzo River levee or in the woods of Felton.
Is Occupy Finished?
Questions loom large after the eviction of the Occupy Santa Cruz camp: Is this the end of the protest? Will there be further action advancing the movement’s ideals? Have they even figured out, specifically, what those ideals are yet?
