Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

"The Che, which is a worker-owned collective residing on the University of California campus in San Diego, is being threatened with eviction," Chris Burnett, a former collective member, said on Indymedia on Air. "The Che Cafe has been run by students since its foundation in 1980. Many will likely have heard of the Che Cafe as a music venue, which has hosted artists from all over the world; some may have eaten there their famous all-you-can-eat vegetarian dinners; while others may have gone to a political solidarity event.

"During the 1980s, the Che hosted countless events in solidarity with the people all over Central America and worked to bring down Apartheid. In the '90s the Che served as an organizing hub for those in solidarity with the Zapatistas and hosted countless events to oppose the first Gulf War. Today it continues in that tradition, still hosting artists [and] events and is still run collectively. For many of the hundreds of people who have joined the collective, it introduced them to the concepts of collectivity and consensus decision-making.

"The Che to this day serves as a model for a new society, teaching the building blocks of organizing and working together outside of traditional capitalist relations, specifically, the soul-sucking existence of a top-down boss-worker relationship. . . ."

Discussion with collective members (past and present): Indymedia On Air - Che Cafe show by Chris Burnett

More: Save the Che: Letter from Zack de la Rocha by Chris Burnett

Calls for action: Save the Che (Facebook) | Petition

Resources: Che Cafe website | Blogspot

PASADENA--More than fifty people filled the office lobby of Fannie Mae on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 in a call for the federal housing agency to change policies which are evicting long-term homeowners.

The crowd gathered to call attention to the plight of Jaime and Juana Coronel, an Azusa couple who have "worked their whole life to afford the house they've lived in for almost 25 years. The Cornels lost their home of 25 years to improper foreclosure. Now, the Cornels, after renting three years from Fannie Mae, they qualify to buy back their home. We have a letter here today that proves that the Coronels are qualified to buy back their home at fair market value, but Fannie Mae won't sell it back to them at market price. Fannie Mae is intent on evicting the Coronels to sell this house at the same price, that the Coronels can afford, but to someone else."

Full story and photos: Furious Homeowners Occupy Lobby of Fannie Mae in Pasadena by Los Angeles People's Media

United We Stand organizers noted, “The Woodstock location withdrew a few days before the event and had to be relocated to a farm (outside of Woodstock). Keep up your spirits, Free & Equal intends for this event to have similar historic implications towards the goal of world peace.” With the success of the last minute change, “this event sets up an even greater path for future festivals.”

Lee Camp told the audience, “We’re putting our differences aside long enough to realize the two party duopoly is nothing but a sham. We agree on 90% of the structural issues in this country. Ask them what the differences are…in Wall St. or the military-industrial complex or the prison-industrial complex.”

Immortal Technique opened his short set rapping his chilling song "Bin Laden," accusing the U.S government of masterminding terrorism. "Bush funded al-Qaeda, and now they blame the Muslim religion, even though bin Laden was a CIA tactician, they gave him billions of dollars, and they funded his purpose, Fahrenheit 9/11, that's just scratchin' the surface." He morphed into “The Point of No Return,” indicting the perpetrators of genocide and imperialism throughout history...

Full story and photos: United We Stand Festival Ignites a Wave of Action for Indy Journalists and Active Citizens by Occupy Los Angeles OWS

As Los Angeles went to the polls for the statewide district primary elections, members of Occupy Los Angeles gathered in "Solidarity Park" (otherwise known as the lawn of Los Angeles City Hall on Spring St.) for a picnic and educational outreach action about jury nullification.

When asked what "jury nullification" means, one woman responded, "Juries can not be punished for their verdicts. When you sit on a jury, you have the right to vote according to your conscience and to judge the law being applied to the case."

As the march traveled, a woman read a public service announcement about this history of jury nullification: "Did you know that before the Civil War, juries often refused to convict people for helping slaves escape, even though they had clearly broken the Fugitive Slave Laws? And did you know that even before that, most northern states had outlawed slavery as a result of jury verdicts? Most important, did you know that jurors today have the same power to reject bad law as they had back then?"

Full story and photos: Election Day with Occupy Los Angeles: Know Your Rights Juror Education Rally by Los Angeles People's Media

HOLLYWOOD -- On Saturday May 24th, people from the Los Angeles area responded to the global call to action for a "March Against Monsanto" by collaborating to produce an urban gardening festival with the theme "It's time to take back our food!"

The day started at 10 AM at vegan café Elderberries (7564 Sunset Blvd), where 3,000 edible, organic seedlings were on hand for distribution during the "Plant Against Monsanto" portion of the day. Kale and tomatoes were just a few of the open-pollinated non-genetically engineered (GE) varieties given away.

Volunteer Morgan Peters was one of the people to address the crowd, "There is a lot you can do on a daily basis. There's a lot going on right now in California. There's a bill in the senate that will be voted on next week (looks like it will be Wednesday), and it's for labeling GMOs. It's called SB 1381 and it's just like Prop 37 except it's a little cleaner, streamlined, a little fresher."

Full story and pictures: Los Angeles community members unite in Hollywood to #FarmLA and Plant Against Monsanto by Jessica Lux