Martin Nicolaus

A few members of the La Peña Community Chorus and members of other Bay Area choruses joined together on the main stage of Earth Day in San Francisco on Sunday April 22 to sing “This Land is Your Land” simultaneously with similar groups in a number of other cities and countries.   This very short …

The La Peña Community Chorus of Berkeley recorded these two pieces as a message of support for the people of Aysén, Chile, who have since the beginning of this year been in a state of confrontation with the central government. Lichi Fuentes, co-director of the chorus, and a native of Chile, organized the performance. I …

With my family background of resistance and survival in Nazi Germany, I sometimes forget how many other dictatorships there have been and are, and how many other families resist and survive, or not.  A poignant testimony to the sufferings of the Argentinian people under the dictatorship there comes in a song by Victor Heredia, Ojos …

In October 2010, I had the honor to present a lecture on addiction at a psychiatric hospital in Victoria BC.  The 8 a.m. “Grand Rounds” lecture arose out of my work on addiction in connection with LifeRing Secular Recovery.  That chapter of my life story remains to be written.  My hosts, the able LifeRing Canada …

A major public relations campaign by the Port of Oakland and its allies in the Chamber of Commerce and in Oakland’s political establishment either had no effect or backfired, as the size of the crowd that marched on the port on Monday December 12 easily topped the initial effort November 2.  Although there was some …

The shadow of the earth eclipsed the moon on Saturday morning Dec. 10, exactly as astronomers predicted.  Here are some snapshots of the event as seen from Berkeley’s Cesar Chavez Park.  Short slideshow below.

As part of a nationwide series of demonstrations aimed at stopping and rolling back home foreclosures, more than 100 people gathered in Oakland’s historic DeFremery Park on Dec. 6, and then walked half a block to the home of Gayla Newsom and her family, who have re-occupied their home that was taken away by Chase …

They say in the Occupy Movement that if you’re looking for its leaders, you should look in the mirror.  Taking that as a cue, I’ve rough-drafted the beginnings of a manifesto for the Tent Party, a political movement that doesn’t exist yet, but probably should.  The Tent Party embraces both action and advocacy. Rough draft …

A video collage from four different cameras showing the UC campus police pepper spraying nonviolent student protesters.

Students from several area colleges held a rally outside the California State Building on Wednesday Nov. 16 at 4 pm.  After a brief opening presentation, the mike was opened to anyone who wanted to speak.  I edited short clips from a number of the speakers into a 5-min video that’s up on YouTube, or here: