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The Bay Area IWW invites you to join them in commemorating Judi Bari Day (May 24th) to honor their late comrade and fellow worker. Judi Bari was a revolutionary ecologist active in Earth First! and a member of the IWW. Her story is detailed here, here, and here.
Background:
Just Before noon, on May 24, 1990, while driving through Oakland, Judi Bari and her comrade and fellow Earth First! / IWW member Darryl Cherney were nearly assassinated by a bomb placed under Judi’s drivers’ seat. The two were headed towards Santa Cruz to raise awareness about “Redwood Summer,” a summer-long campaign of nonviolent protests to be held in Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma, and Marin counties aimed at timber firms engaged in accelerated clearcutting of California’s old growth redwood forests, as well as severely exploiting the timber workers involved in the logging.
Miraculously, Bari survived severe injuries (and would live another seven years, until she succumbed to breast cancer), and Cherney largely escaped injury. They weren’t so lucky in escaping a police dragnet. The Oakland Police and FBI were on the scene in minutes and quickly blamed Bari and Cherney for transporting the bomb themselves, making the absurd claim that they had created the bomb to engage in an act of violent ecological sabotage and that the bomb had accidentally exploded. The pair would be quickly exonerated, and years later, after Bari had passed away, the two won a $4 million lawsuit against the FBI and Oakland PD for violation of their rights and civil liberties. The identity of the bomber remains undetermined after 35 years.
Sometime after the two won the case, the City of Oakland declared that May 24 would be known as “Judi Bari” Day in honor of the deceased organizer. Every year at approximately 11:30, Judi’s surviving comrades gather at the site of the bombing (On Park Blvd at E 34th Street, just down the hill from MacArthur Freeway / I-580, next to Oakland High School) to “Mark the Moment” (11:53 AM) of the bombing and honor her memory and discuss relevant current struggles.
WHEN & WHERE
Saturday, May 24
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM – Marking the Moment: Gather near Oakland High School on Park Blvd. near East 34th St. in Oakland;
4:00 – 7:00 PM – IWW Social: Gather at the Bay Area IWW Union Hall (Grassroots House), 2022 Blake Street at Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley for a social (food & beverages will be provided), a showing of the documentary, “Who Bombed Judi Bari?” and a brief discussion about Judi Bari’s green unionism, revolutionary ecology, and their relevance to current organizing campaigns.
