‘There is nothing more tragic than to sleep through a revolution’ — Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
SANTA CRUZ, CA — The Big Ass Strike Rally began at noon on Friday, May 24, at the main entry at the base of the sprawling campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz. At one corner of Coolidge Dr. and High St. United Auto Workers Local 4811 was holding a rally, attended by about 300 people. There were UAW strikers (grad student researchers and other academic workers), the UCSC Gaza Solidarity Encampment protesters, students, some faculty, and other supporters from the community. On High St. the rally elicited choruses of horns from passing traffic, honking support for the students and the UAW. The picket line on High St. crossed Coolidge Dr., union members filing back and forth on the green light carrying signs that read “UAW on Strike Unfair Labor Practice” and blocking the Coolidge Dr. main entrance.
On the opposite corner was UCSC’s Barn Theater, next to which was the UCSC Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Under the auspices of the UCSC Students for Justice in Palestine, the encampment moved from its May Day Quarry Plaza occupation to the Barn Theater location so that they could join the UAW in solidarity. A guided tour of the 30-tent camp by 19-year-old student resident Caleb began at the long banner hoisted over and spanning the camp’s entrance, reading, “There are NO Universities Left in Gaza.” The camp resembled a mini-Rainbow Gathering. There was the first aid station, a library, the arts and crafts area, an education space where teach-ins were held, and there was a food table offering packaged foods and drinks.
Most of the campers were attending the rally across the street. Various generations were represented, plus assorted dogs and at least two shady-looking individuals, perhaps spies. A couple of toddlers moved to the beat as the set-up sound system blasted music. Amidst a flurry of Palestinian flags, UAW picket signs and other hand-drawn messages, speakers led the crowd in chants such as “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation”; and “Disclose, divest —we will not stop, we will not rest.” And of course the perhaps soon-to-be-outlawed by the U.S. Congress: “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free.” Chants of “Free free Palestine!” erupted periodically. At least two of the speakers thanked Food Not Bombs, to great applause, for helping to feed the student protesters.
The Gaza Solidarity group had set up a food service station at the rally, and there was a line waiting to be served a plated, warm vegetarian meal. Borrowing FNB’s canopies, tables, trays and equipment, the students were serving foods cooked by fellow protesters at a FNB kitchen opened to them for their use. The 30 to 40 tent encampment was also receiving daily food donations from their many supporters.
On the day after the Big Ass Strike Rally came Soupstock, Food Not Bombs’ 44th birthday party, held at San Lorenzo Park’s Duck Pond and Stage. A diverse crowd of about 300 housed and unhoused were in attendance, including families, all being welcome. About 200 vegetarian/vegan meals were served, put together by the combined efforts of FNB volunteers and the students — a liaison made in heaven.
Soupstock featured a number of bands, the dynamic poetry of Santa Cruz’s young Black poet Lyrical I, and an informative talk by UCSC grad student researcher/UAW striker Isabel, who explained the union’s five demands calling for free speech, investment transparency, and divestment. She added a sixth demand: that UCLA pay the medical and hospital bills of the anti-war demonstrators and UAW workers so brutally beaten by both the pro-Israel counter protesters and the multiple police agencies in riot gear, sicced on them by UCLA, who had the peaceful protesters arrested, then “cleared” the encampment, bulldozing their tents and belongings — not unlike the tactics employed on the unhoused.
Next, Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry presented the nonprofit’s prestigious 5 Carrot Award to Joy, a FNB volunteer, who lends her kitchen to FNB, which in turn is also used by the students so they can cook for the UCSC Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
As in the 60’s, a generation was coming together. The torch has been passed, and the students have run with it. The peace movement has returned with a roar. And yes, the kids are alright — and then some.
Gloria A Lightheart was herself homeless for over seven years. Now living in subsidized housing, she continues to fight for the rights of the houseless.
