Alex Darocy Photography

Community members in Santa Cruz commemorated Juneteenth this year with a large march from Louden Nelson Center to Santa Cruz City Hall, where speakers were heard. Reverend Deborah L. Johnson of Inner Light Ministries started off the speeches with a history of the Juneteenth holiday. Other speakers included Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.

In shocking news to the Santa Cruz activist community, Sherry Conable was identified as the woman found dead on Cowell Beach on the morning of February 4. Sherry participated in and organized countless political demonstrations and anti-war events over the course of decades in the Santa Cruz area. She will be dearly missed. Sherry holds her iconic peace wreath at a demonstration at the Santa Cruz City Council in March of 2015 to protest the SCPD purchase of a Bearcat vehicle . According to early media reports, the cause of her death has yet to be determined. Independence Day 2014 , Ocean Street, Santa Cruz. Independence Day 2016 , Ocean Street Santa Cruz Sherry speaking to protest the SCPD purchase of a Bearcat vehicle in front of City Hall in February of 2015.

Rain showers persisted throughout the evening of the 75th Freedom Sleepers community sleepout, which was organized at Santa Cruz City Hall on December 13-14. In response to the weather, individuals slept at a variety of different locations around city hall to maintain their protest against local laws that criminalize homelessness. At the previous sleepout, held on the evening of December 6-7, the sleep protesters faced the coldest and harshest weather of the season thus far, with temperatures lowering into the mid-30s. Freedom Sleepers at city hall during the 75th Community Sleepout on December 13-14 The Freedom Sleepers are a coalition of unhoused and housed activists who have been sleeping weekly at Santa Cruz City Hall since July 4, 2015. They use sleep as an act of civil disobedience, and the primary demand of their protest is for the city to repeal its camping ban ordinance, which prohibits sleeping anywhere in public between the hours of 11 pm and 8:30 am. Additionally, s...

Santa Cruz police initiated a raid at City Hall on November 23 at 3:30 am, shortly after it stopped raining that evening, to clear from the area approximately two dozen individuals who had been sleeping and sheltering themselves from the weather under the eaves of the buildings in the complex. Officers issued citations to individuals, and made one arrest. City Hall property is closed to the public between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am. Many of those sleeping at City Hall were participating in the weekly Freedom Sleepers sleep protest, while others were simply sheltering themselves from the wet weather temporarily with the group. SCPD officers wake up individuals sleeping at Santa Cruz City Hall to avoid the rain on November 23. The evening of November 22-23 marked the 72nd community sleepout organized by the Freedom Sleepers, a coalition of unhoused and housed activists who have been sleeping at Santa Cruz City Hall since July 4, 2015 to protest local laws that criminalize homele...

On November 8, the 70th Freedom Sleepers community sleepout was held at Santa Cruz City Hall, with about three dozen individuals participating and making it through the night. There have been periods of wet weather recently, but Tuesday nights have been dry in Santa Cruz, and attendance at the sleepouts has remained consistently high since August of this year. The Freedom Sleepers are a coalition of unhoused and housed activists who have gathered to sleep at City Hall one night a week since July of 2015 to protest local laws that criminalize homelessness. Many of the Freedom Sleepers are also active as volunteers with Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs, which shares food at the sleepouts and operates a "free market." By sleeping at City Hall, the Freedom Sleepers are engaging in a civil disobedience protest that directly violates the city's camping ban, which outlaws sleeping anywhere in public between the hours of 11 pm and 8:30 am. Despite intense pressure from the ...