Although Berkeley voters rejected Measure S, a controversial proposal that would have criminalized sitting on commercial sidewalks, we shouldn’t mistake it as an endorsement of inaction. The simple fact still remains: We need to address homelessness. I didn’t support Measure S, but I’m not calling it a day, as many Read More…
Once again, we are the margin of victory. Despite what people said about young voters losing enthusiasm and the 2008 election being a fluke, we have again defied expectations and turned out in even higher numbers. From the passage of Proposition 30 to re-electing President Barack Obama, our voices were Read More…
It’s been easy to overlook the youth vote — until recently, we’ve been seen as an immobilized voting bloc, to be recruited as volunteers rather than to be courted as a constituency. However, we challenged that notion in 2008 when we more than tripled our turnout as one of the Read More…
On the morning of Nov. 14, 2011, Francisco “Pancho” Ramos-Stierle and other activists were meditating peacefully in Oakland’s Frank Ogawa Plaza in solidarity with the adjacent Occupy encampment. As police officers moved in to clear out the encampment, they ordered Ramos-Stierle and others to disperse. Read More…