dress (pronouns he/ze) was born and raised in xučyun (Huichin), the Sacred Unceded Lands of the Chochenyo-speaking Lisjan Ohlone Peoples (colonized as most of Alameda County, CA), in the part now known as San Leandro.
Most well-known as a non-violent peace activist with a flair for the dramatic, dress became involved with direct action politics in 1982 after becoming frustrated with the paranoia of selling cannabis in the underground market. He was arrested five times a year from 1983-87, the most flamboyant being his arrest in a wedding dress at the June 1983 International Day of Disarmament Action at Lawrence Livermore Labs. In January 1984, ze began wearing dresses all the time as a personal action against patriarchy. At the same time, he became a witch in the Reclaiming Tradition.
Ze participated in innumerable peaceful demonstrations against various government and corporate policies and practices, hitchhiking across the country in 1983 to attend the 20th anniversary March for Jobs, Peace and Freedom in Washington, D.C. In 1984, ze hitched to Colorado for an action at Rocky Flats and then to Dallas for the Republican National Convention. From there he hitched to Illinois and walked nearly 500 miles to West Virginia with the Walk for the Earth. His last arrest in that period was at the Nevada Test Site, attempting to stop a nuclear test in hopes of forcing the US to accept the Soviet Union’s offer to continue its testing moratorium.
In 1988 dress stopped risking arrest to become a father and resumed underground cannabis sales, while taking on a job summarizing depositions as a cover. His daughter Arienna is now a public defender in Birmingham, Alabama. His son Morgan is an aspiring actor and stunt performer in Seattle.
After nearly getting busted twice in 1997, he stopped his underground business and took a part-time assistant job with the National Center on Marital and Date Rape. dress resumed participation in direct action political events, and was arrested at least eight times from 1997-2004, starting with an unexpected arrest in 1997 for bicycling the SF Bay Bridge to advocate for a bike path and rail in the design of the replacement bridge.
In 2000 ze resumed underground cannabis sales and began selling to some of the new medical cannabis dispensaries in the SF Bay Area. In late 2001, ze met Kala, another Reclaiming Witch, whom he later married in grand fashion.
In 2005 dress and Stephen DeAngelo founded the iconic Harborside Health Center in Oakland. From 2006 through 2019, dress negotiated and managed Harborside’s banking and electronic payment services relationships, as well as its cash management, including carrying over a million dollars in cash to tax agencies. He oversaw the initial POS systems and inventory management, along with insurance matters. He also managed its acclaimed free holistic services program.
Ze sold his interest in Harborside in January 2019. As a personal effort toward reparations and in acknowledgement of how he and other cannabis leaders benefitted from white male privilege, dress has committed to giving 30% of his Harborside, Inc. shares to former employees identifying as female and/or African-American, once all his shares are free from an extended lockup period. He is excited to promote this model in the cannabis industry, creating a path toward equity for all as a step toward transitioning privilege.
After a 20-year hiatus, dress resumed playing saxophone and clarinet in 1999 and has been playing with the Funky Nixons and the Brass Liberation Orchestra ever since.
In 2015, dress joined Michael Tsang at Super Processor to work on bringing legitimate and reasonably priced credit card processing to the cannabis and hemp industries. They are poised to launch the SuperNet card early next year.
He still resides in xučyun (Huichin) in the area colonized as Oakland, CA, with Kala in a purple multi-generational home that includes Kala’s daughter and son-in-law and their children, two cats and a bunny.
become part of my community
dress wedding civil-disobedience 1983 -2004
1983
University Hall, January, protesting UC connection and oversight of Livermore Labs and Nuclear weapons research and testing; incarcerated 1 day; Failure to disperse
UC Berkeley, March, protesting UC connection and oversight of Livermore Labs and Nuclear weapons research and testing; incarcerated 3 days; Failure to disperse
Vandenberg Air Force Base, June, protesting MX missile testing weapons research and testing; incarcerated; 3 days; Federal trespass
Vandenberg Air Force Base, June, protesting MX missile testing weapons research and testing; incarcerated 1 day; Federal trespass; released with one-year Ban and Bar Order
Livermore Labs National Laboratories; June 21 (in wedding dress), protesting Nuclear weapons research and testing; incarcerated 14 days; Obstructing the roadway
1984
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, January 1984, protesting issuance of lower power test license despite news that control panel was installed backwards; Incarcerated 2 days; Trespass
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, March 1984, protesting issuance of lower power test license despite news that control panel was installed backwards; Incarcerated 1 day; Trespass
San Francisco, protesting Democratic National Convention; Incarcerated 1 day; Failure to disperse
Rocky Flats, near Boulder, CO, August 1984, protesting nuclear weapons production; Incarcerated 2 days; Federal trespass
Dallas, TX, August 1984, protesting Reagan and Republican National Convention; Incarcerated 2 days; Failure to disperse (also my only failure to appear as I left Texas and did not return for trial)
1985
Livermore Labs National Laboratories; April, protesting Nuclear weapons research and testing; incarcerated 1 day; Obstructing the roadway
US Federal Building, San Francisco, March, protesting military aid to El Salvador and Guatemala; Incarcerated 1 day; Federal trespass
Berkeley, September, behind UC Greek Theater Grateful Dead Show, Incarcerated 1 day; Intoxicated in public (I admitted I had consumed alcohol when cops were rounding us up)
US Federal Building, San Francisco, November, protesting military aid to El Salvador and Guatemala; Incarcerated 1 day; Federal trespass
1986
Livermore Labs National Laboratories; March, protesting Nuclear weapons research and testing; incarcerated 1 day; Obstructing the roadway
San Francisco, April, protesting corporate greed; Incarcerated 1 day; Failure to disperse
US Federal Building, San Francisco, May, protesting military aid to El Salvador and Guatemala; Incarcerated 1 day; Federal trespass
US Federal Building, Oakland, September, protesting military aid to El Salvador and Guatemala; Incarcerated 1 day; Federal trespass
1987
Port Chicago Naval Weapons Station, September; protesting weapons shipments to El Salvador and Guatemala; Incarcerated 1 day; Federal trespass
US Federal Building, San Francisco, protesting military aid to El Salvador and Guatemala; Incarcerated 1 day; Federal trespass
Site 300, San Joaquin, CA, April/May, protesting nuclear weapons testing; Incarcerated 2 days; Federal trespass
Nevada Test Site, November, attempting to stop underground test blast in order to have Soviet Union continue their testing moratorium of two years; Incarcerated 1 day; Federal trespass
dress wedding civil-disobedience (cont.)
1997
San Francisco off-ramp of the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge, September 1997, Biking for bike and rail access on the new span to replace the one damaged in the October 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake; Incarcerated 1 day; Operating an unauthorized vehicle (bicycle) on a motor way,
1998
San Francisco Fremont St. off-ramp of the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge, September 1998, Biking for bike and rail access on the new span to replace the one damaged in the October 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake; Incarcerated 1 day; Operating an unauthorized vehicle (bicycle) on a motor way,
1999
Treasure Island, May, Biking for bike and rail access on the new span to replace the one damaged in the October 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake; Detained for 1 hour, not arrested
Seattle, WA, December 1999, protesting World Trade Organization Summit; Incarcerated 3 days; Failure to disperse (Received $4,000 settlement in class action lawsuit for violation of 1st amendment rights)
2000
Oakland side on-ramp to the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge, September, Biking for bike and rail access on the new span to replace the one damaged in the October 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake; Incarcerated 3 days; Operating an unauthorized vehicle (bicycle) on a motor way,
2002
San Francisco, May, Brass Liberation Orchestra protesting Bechtel; Incarcerated 2 days; Failure to disperse
2004
New York City, NY, August 2004, protesting George W. Bush and Republican National Convention; Incarcerated 2 days; Failure to disperse (Received $14,500 settlement in class action lawsuit for violation of 1st amendment rights)
