Gabriel Thompson is a journalist and author in Oakland. He is the author of America’s Social Arsonist: Fred Ross and Grassroots Organizing in the Twentieth Century (University of California Press), Working in the Shadows (Nation Books), and There’s No José Here (Nation Books). His most recent book is Chasing the Harvest, an oral history collection from California’s fields.
Without its lifeline, a stream of federal aid, Lemoore is in crisis mode—and residents of all political stripes are united in outrage.
The heat is on big banks and CEOs as labor and community activists band together.
A regional college class made social justice happen on November 6.
Industry leaders and their Senate allies are trying to kill reforms protecting immigrant workers.
The USDA proposes to increase line speed in poultry plants, but the debate is only about food safety. What about the workers?
Despite occasional friction, unions and Occupy have found a way to live happily together.
Yes, a small minority of protesters destroyed property, but the vast majority were nonviolent in their general strike against corporate greed.
In less than two weeks, Occupy Oakland went from its first public action to calling for a city-wide general strike.