Alex Darocy Photography

On December 13, community members in Santa Cruz joined people across the country for a national day of protest against police violence. The focus of the protests have primarily been on the police killings of three black individuals, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice, which all came to national attention in 2014. After a rally at the Town Clock, demonstrators marched down Pacific Avenue to the corner of Cooper Street where a die in was held for 4 1/2 minutes, which represented the 4 1/2 hours that Michael Brown's body lay dead in the street after he was killed by Ferguson, MO police officer Darren Wilson in August. Pacific Avenue As people laid down on Pacific Avenue, a large crowd formed, speakers were heard, and traffic was stopped. Demonstrators also stopped traffic during a short rally at the corner of Pacific and Soquel Avenue, and then again on Ocean Street in front of the Resource Center for Nonviolence (RCNV), which was the ultimate destination of the march...

In a continued series of actions to oppose the tuition hikes approved by the University of California Regents in November, students at UC Santa Cruz left their classes on December 8 and marched around campus and to the administration building. Some administrators and staff scurried out of Clark Kerr Hall as hundreds of students marched through the building; others stayed in their offices as the demonstrators walked by, pounding on the hallway walls. Many students also stopped to pound at the door of the office of the Chancellor, which is locked and fortress-like. Eventually a group rallied on the roof of the building and an open mic was held. The roof of Kerr Hall. The student walkout at UCSC was the first major action held on campus to oppose the tuition increase since the six-day occupation of the Humanities 2 building ended the day before Thanksgiving vacation. Since returning from vacation, students have been organizing and have decided against making further demands of th...