Is it a walking fortress? Or can it be an opportunity for a conversation? What do you think?
Photo by Mark North
On Wednesday, Nov. 4, about 150 UC Berkeley students gathered for a protest on Sproul Plaza demanding the release of Paula Albornoz Hernandez, a fellow student who was detained by ICE last Friday while waiting to board a flight with her boyfriend at the San Francisco Airport.
Is it a walking fortress? Or can it be an opportunity for a conversation? What do you think?
Photo by Mark North
Attachment is the root of all suffering… Or is it?
It was Poetry Night! This past Friday, the Pulse hosted our second poetry workshop in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Union Center.
In 2025, Margarita Fedorova married her husband, Sami Younis, over Zoom from her home in San Jose. Instead of celebrating her marriage with a honeymoon, the UC Berkeley student embarked on a mission to safely and legally retrieve her husband from the Gaza Strip. Over a year after their marriage, her husband is still waiting.
The fourth installment of Marvel's Spider-Man franchise, "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," premiered this past July. The movie has since become the highest-grossing film of the year and the third highest-grossing film of all time, scoring high with audiences for its heartfelt performances and emotional character arc. However…
The latest film to divide the internet is Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime,” an unflinching portrait of the behind-the-scenes drama that took place during the making of “To Catch a Predator”.
Photo from Baltimore Magazine.
On Saturday Oct. 10th, the City of Berkeley hosted its 34th annual Pow Wow and Indian Market in MLK Civic Center Park. Serving as a celebration of Indigenous People’s Day, the event was rich with history, ceremony and competition.
Beneath the stage of San Francisco’s Castro Theater, a thrumming sea of twenty-somethings and older adults alike eagerly awaited the arrival of musician Geordie Greep and his band.
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is a three-day music festival that took place last weekend in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. This free festival was founded by Warren Hellman, and first started in 2001 when it only had two stages and was only available for a day. The now 25-year-old festival is still free and remains without any corporate sponsors.
On Wednesday Sept. 30, several UC Berkeley students assembled for a demonstration on Sproul Plaza in support of Lupe Gallegos-Diaz, director of Chicanx Student Development (CLSD), the Latinx Student Resource Center (LSRC), and lecturer. She was abruptly placed on administrative leave in late August.
Photo by Noah Mendieta
With great melancholy, I have watched a social claustrophobia overtake many public places, and I wish it were not so, but my favorites are my remedy for it.
I was having a normal Sunday night, scrolling Tik Tok, until I saw a post that caught my attention: “Sydney Sweeney hurt us all with that ad, and it is that deep.”
Photo by Michael M Santiago/Getty Images
This past Friday, The Berkeley Pulse got in touch with our child side. Pulse leadership curated our first K-12 creative expression workshop at Stiles Hall, lifting up the voices of Berkeley’s youth through improv, poetry and rap. After a busy week at the top public institution, a dozen UC Berkeley students volunteered to facilitate the workshop, showing up in a big way to support the youth. The youth taught us a lot.
It is not just about words. It is where you belong, who you are, and how you carry that with you when you move from one world to another. UC Berkeley student Helena Li captures this in her award-winning essay, “A World Without Borders.”
Photo copyright 2026 by Mark North
@marknorth.creative
On Sept. 9, several UC Berkeley students filled the ASUC’s senate meeting in support of Lupe Gallegos-Diaz, director of Chicanx Student Development (CLSD), the Latinx Student Resource Center (LSRC), and lecturer. She was abruptly placed on administrative leave on Aug. 27.
The Living Legends co-founder’s path from Berkeley sidewalks to children’s books and Hip Hop Fairyland offers young creators a demanding lesson: independence is infrastructure that drives change.
Superb Productions kicks off the semester with a high energy concert on Sproul Plaza, revitalizing Berkeley’s history of activism through live music.
There are only so many times you can say, "I'm so cooked," before something inside you changes. It can start after midterms, after your fifth lunch at Local X, or even after spending just a little too much time with your friend in DG or ADPI. . .
BERKELEY, Calif — This past May I was invited to a memorial service for a woman I never knew, and I’m so glad I went.
OAKLAND, Calif — Cali Joy thinks in constellations.
One artist leads to a DJ. One DJ leads to an organizer. One organizer leads to a food program, a muralist, a parent, an elder, a youth event, a camera, a flyer, a stage. In Cali’s world, nobody is simplified to their profession. A rapper can also be a storyteller. A dentist can also be a community worker. A mother can also be an artist. A show, therefore, can also be a way of keeping memory alive.
That is how she talks about Sunspot Jonz and Friends, the June 27 hip-hop event presented through Cali Joy Productions and centered on Sunspot Jonz, the Bay Area artist and Living Legends co-founder. The night brought together artists and community members from across Oakland’s creative ecosystem.
OAKLAND, Calif — Last weekend at the Lama Shack, Cali Joy Productions and Infinite Chi curated a creative community in Oakland, featuring artists such as Sunspot Jonz, Equipto, Z-Man, DJ Mike, Naru Kwina, DJ BeatsMe and others in a backyard setting for educators, creators, and community organizers.
Anti-tobacco campaigns seem to be one of the most effective health campaigns we’ve seen in our country. What then, causes a progressive city like Berkeley to have a resurgence of smoking? And of all things, why are its students one of the largest statistics?
Photo Essay by Javier Mazorra
We should be consistent with UC Berkeley’s history of pioneering cultural innovations. This means standing up for what we believe. If we don’t use our agency, we will lose our agency.
While campus erupts in debate over the legacies of those long dead, the response to powerful, living figures–those of who are actively shaping policy and people’s lives–feels quieter. And that raises an uncomfortable question: Why is it easier to protest history than power?
Because the most meaningful activism is not just loud. It is informed.
Are you currently planning your summer at UC Berkeley? In case you missed the Summer Opportunities Fair, here’s what you need to know!
On the eve of last week’s midterm elections, about 75 people gathered in UC Berkeley’s Genetics and Plant Biology Building to hear David North deliver a lecture titled “Capitalist Crisis, Imperialist War and the World Socialist Revolution.”
Photo courtesy of World Socialist Web Site