John Trudell, 1946-2015
John Trudell, who died Tuesday, was a poet, a soldier, a musician, and an outspoken activist for Native American issues. He spoke with KRCB during a North Bay visit several years ago, and today we...
View ArticlePressing for Action on Homelessness
The drama of Monday’s overnight “Solidarity Sleep-Out” to raise awareness of homelessness in Sonoma County became a multifaceted discussion of the issue on Tuesday. Events such as those of the past...
View ArticleLocal Granges Face Unwanted Identity Choice
From the outside, it looks like business as usual at local grange halls across northern California. But a bitter internal power struggle between the state and national offices is forcing each...
View ArticleAn Insider’s History of the Black Panthers
The Black Panthers may have been the most polarizing political movement in 1960s America. Current Santa Rosa resident Elbert “Big Man” Howard was one of their founding members, and recounts some of the...
View ArticleThe History of Women’s History Month
It is Women’s History Month again, as it has been every March since 1988. But the roots of that national observation reach back even further, to 1977, when they first sprouted here in Sonoma County....
View ArticleSebastopol’s Village Building Convergence Resumes
The Sebastopol Village Building Convergence is underway for a second and more extensive time, with an increased focus on neighborhood projects and informational programs. A full schedule of events for...
View ArticleRev. Billy Ramps Up His Environmental Evangelism
The Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir have intensified their act from anti-consumerism street theater to impassioned activism in defense of the earth. Their faux evangelism carries a real and...
View Article‘Ecological Handprints’ Captures Grass-roots Global Innovation
Is it possible to fight poverty and climate change at the same time? The answer is emphatically yes, and Rocky Rohwedder has examples to prove it. Rohwedder, who has now retired from his position at...
View ArticleProtesters Question SoCal Fracking Resumption
A proposal to reinstate fracking for oil and natural gas in federal waters off the Southern California coast drew protesters to Camarillo earlier this week. Suzanne Potter explains why the clean water...
View ArticleFugett Takes the Helm at Conservation Action
The new head of Sonoma County’s leading environmental advocacy group says she’s spent her life so far preparing for that job. In addressing many important issues, says Sonoma County Conservation...
View ArticleA Life of Progressive Activism
Sonoma County has long been home to a fervent and persistent community of progressive political activists. One of them is now telling his personal story in a new autobiographical account of nearly four...
View ArticleExhibit Highlights Disability Rights Activism
Almost 40 years ago, an unprecedented sit in at the Federal Building in San Francisco helped launch the nationwide disability rights movement. A special exhibit coming to SRJC details that historic...
View ArticleCalls Are Mounting to Restrict Glyphosate
Thanks in large part to the widespread use of genetically modified corn, soy and other crops, herbicides containing glyphosate are being more widely used than ever before. At the same time, new...
View ArticleAnti-Nuke Activists Reunite, Reflect
When local opposition scuttled plans for an atomic energy plant on Bodega head in the early 1960s, the seeds were sown for subsequent no-nukes protests throughout California and beyond. Members of the...
View ArticleH.U.T.S to Shelter the Homeless
Sebastopol artist Harold Wallin had a vision for a simple but solid shelter for homeless individuals. Now he’s leading a team of volunteers who are building ten of them. But where they will go remains...
View ArticleIndivisible in Sonoma County
Activists and citizens in Sonoma County seeking to oppose the Trump administration are finding support and gleaning tactics from the Indivisible Guide, and the local chapters that are promulgating it....
View ArticleBad News, Good Energy at Health Care Town Hall
A fired up crowd eager to defend the Affordable Care Act filled the Marin Civic Center, to hear a panel led by Congressman Jared Huffman detail the problems they foresee in the new,...
View ArticleDebunking the Idea of "Reverse Racism"
Whether its unconscious or overt, racism remains a sensitive issue in America. But the idea of “reverse racism” isn’t an inversion of that—it’s an example. A free public gathering to examine and debunk...
View ArticleTax Deadline Day Spurs Calls for Presidential Transparency
The April 15th deadline for filing 2016 income tax returns applies to all American, including President Trump. It is also serving as an occasion for renewed calls for him to make public his past tax...
View ArticleRandy Ertll this week on A Novel Idea, Sunday 1/7 @ 4pm
Born in the USA as a baby but sent back to El Salvador when his mother was deported, Randy Ertll has spent a lifetime in activism. He eventually made it back to this country and grew up in South...
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