Committees

A Brief History Of Techquity

Kudos to Elizabeth Schaaf, for bringing into the world yet another ham-fisted buzzword, one which not only embraces and mingles the bleak connotations of “tech” and White Supremacy, but more importantly where these things intersect. It is well apparent, her inner entrepreneurial bureaucrat is unhinged, unchained, and best of all, unchecked! Lizzy modestly describes techquity as mere trickle-down economics, but it is so much more than that. To appreciate what is meant by techquity, one must appreciate the deep historicity of the term, especially as relates to Oakland. To understand … Continued

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UnFired!

On Saturday, October 17th, labor organizer Shonda of EBOC and the Oakland Livable Wage Assembly was out of a job at the Kentucky Fried Chicken at 28th & Telegraph. Shonda… was unjustly terminated yesterday afternoon. She has an impeccable track record in her former place of employment, KFC/Pizza Hut… with zero write-ups and many loyal customers who consistently go back to the store just to see her. For over 3 years, Shonda has been the best employee in the store, she is experienced, hard working and most of all, her … Continued

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Open Letter to the Smashy Community,

Dear assorted hooligans, vandals, and other such free associating ruckus types, Understanding this is being read by police, especially Sean Whent (aka Top Cop!), pardon the length. When we say “Diversity Of Tactics” we’re not talking about voting, boycotting, marching, or writing firmly worded letters to the editor. When anyone says diversity of tactics, they are talking about you, you spray painting, wheat pasting, window smashing, cop car stomping, tear gas huffing, rubber bullet chewing, brick chucking, police fucking, champions of liberation through chaos… or is it chaos through liberation? … Continued

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Open Letter To The Business Community

Dear comrades, First, for the plebs in room, let us specify who we are. We are Oakland Grown, NoBAWC, retailers, street vendors, weed merchants, sex workers, entrepreneurs, artists, and proles of every collar. We are anarchists, communists, feminists, radicals, queer, PoC, and we are from here. As a community, we are proven allies, even after getting smashed and looted in the chaos of the movement. Those of us who have been able to survive the impact of vandalism, looting, and riotous cops who fill our streets and stores with poison … Continued

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Open letter to police chief Sean Whent

Dear Sean Whent, I realize you’re a busy man, so I’ve hidden truffles all through this communiqué, to help you keep up your stamina. I realize it probably takes a lot to get a rise out of a “Top Cop” like yourself, but I assure you, you’ll be doing barrel rolls all the way back to Walnut Creek. As well, given the high rates of cuckoldry in your profession, and the prettiness of your wife, let’s keep this short. Top Cop, you have upset the most transformative and influential economic … Continued

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Open Letter to Schaaf and Company

Dear Elizabeth Schaaf, Chamber of Commerce, et al…, Liz… Lizzy, your attempts to destroy Oakland’s business community have not gone unnoticed, so consider yourself, henceforth, on notice. As you proceed lockstep with your predecessor realize, we dealt with her too. I do wish we had a chance for a proper introduction. Perhaps your recently greased FBI associates will be kind enough to share their files with you, but as you’ve no security clearance of any importance, and as you may be neither willing nor able to perform the “favors” necessary … Continued

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“Black People Had War Declared on Them By Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.”

On Thursday, May 21st, 2015, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, in response to window breaking during protests the evening of May 1st, promulgated, secretly, new edits prohibiting night time street protests. These were enforced by Oakland Police that night when Black Lives Matter protesters attempted to take to the streets after a #SayHerName rally remembering Black women killed by police terror. Forced back onto the sidewalk under threat of arrest, Black Lives Matter organizer Cat Brooks spoke out, saying then and there “We Gonna Take Back These MotherFuckin’ Streets!” Inevitably, the … Continued

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A Body Camera Won’t Bring a Dead Boy to Life Nor Revoke a License to Kill.

Police pull up suddenly on some young black men. One of them runs. A cops gives chase. “Shots fired.” One more dead. “I feared for my life.” This is a script that is running on loopback in cities large and small across America. But it’s a script that some say might become less popular if there was an unimpeachable witness to the play – video as it happened. The Oakland Police have had body video cameras for some years now. Three years ago to this day, late into the night … Continued

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From Baltimore to Oakland: Solidarity March for Freddie Gray.

Some one hundred people gathered across from the Oakland Federal Building last evening, April 27th, 2015 at 6:00 PM, participating in a short rally and preparing to march. March they did, into West Oakland, looping back through Oscar Grant Plaza, marching uptown, then downtown to the police station on 7th, and uptown again before dispersing around 10:30 PM. At its high point, the march may have been more than two hundred strong. Called before Baltimore erupted, the protest took on additional significance as reports of police terror came out of … Continued

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ILWU TO SHUT DOWN PORT OF OAKLAND ON MAY DAY IN SUPPORT OF #BlackLivesMatter.

That’s really all you have to know. Oh, and be there, May 1st, 2015 at 9:00 AM to march from the APL Terminal to OGP. Oh, and the significance of May Day across the world. #BlackLivesMatter activists and allies have shut down freeways and BART here in Oakland and around the country, speaking out, marching and protesting. They’ve made it clear that enough is far too much. That something needs to be done yesterday. Instead, all of us have watched, every day, as more black lives become #hashtags. A policeman … Continued

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