Author Archives: laborsolidaritycommittee

Well, at least for four hours. It was five years ago today that intrepid Occupiers pitched tents on Oscar Grant Plaza, likely figuring they would be rousted in days, if not hours. Little did they know. Two days ago, on October 8th, 2016, in celebration of that event and everything that came afterwards, while tents did not reappear on the Plaza, popup structures full of photos and art did show up. Posters, t-shirts, and banners from Occupy Oakland and Occupy San Francisco’s histories were on display as well, all viewed by … Continued

Mike Zint will not take ‘No housing’ for an answer. After seventeen months of Occupying the downtown Berkeley Post Office ended in April, evicted by Postal Police, Mike and his First They Came for the Homeless comrades, supported by Veterans for Peace, have turned their attention to the woeful state of Berkeley’s homeless services. They have occupied the sidewalk outside of the Berkeley Food & Housing Project (commonly known as ‘The Hub’) on Fairview St., in Berkeley (near the Ashby BART). The Hub is supposed to serve as a central … Continued

Yvette Felarca, a Berkeley teacher, has been an activist for years. From participating in Occupy Cal in 2011, left, (she is a lead plaintiff in the suit still pending against UC Berkeley by Occupy Cal protesters in which police beat students and faculty in November 2011), to taking on Fascists in Sacramento recently as a member of BAMN.  Of a sudden, the Berkeley School District wants her gone.  Below is an article written about her problems with the school district by Mark Airgood. After Ms. Felarca helped prevent the neo-Nazi/KKK … Continued

It will shortly have been five years since tents appeared on Oscar Grant Plaza; almost five years since OPD turned downtown Oakland into a war zone. Since then farms and Post Offices have been Occupied, freeways, bridges and City Council meetings taken over. Battles have been lost and won, while, arguably, the hurly-burly continues unabated. Has anything changed? Come to ‘Beyond Occupy – Five Years Hence’ on October 8th, to reminisce about the past, debate the present and discuss what the next five years will bring. Beyond Occupy, at Oscar … Continued

Three hundred rallied in Latham Square and marched on Saturday, Sept. 10th, 2016 in support of the nationwide Prisoners’ hunger strike, begun Sept. 9th. That date is the anniversary of the 1971 Attica Prison Uprising, 45 years ago. Supporting actions around the country have been organized by the IWW_IWOC – Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (@IWW_IWOC). “We created one of the most brutal prison societies in the world…they will resist.” #Attica45 #PrisonStrike https://t.co/tJ2ikwxadx — Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) September 9, 2016 Touring downtown Oakland, with stops at various large company outlets that use … Continued

From 8:00 AM until Noon on Friday, September 9th, 2016, hundreds of activists protested the Urban Shield militarized police training and weapons of repression exhbition in Pleasanton, CA. They blocked three entrances to the Alameda County Fairgrounds where the event is being held for hours, and twenty-three people were ultimately arrested, cited and released. Tweets and tweetpics as the protest unfolded. Solidary statements from locals. All respect, solidarity & love to everyone who’s putting themselves in harm’s way to stand up for what’s right today. We’ve got your back. — … Continued

On Friday, September 9th, at the Alameda County Fair Grounds in Pleasanton, CA, beginning at 8:00 AM, activists from around the state will converge in protest against this year’s Urban Shield conclave. Urban Shield is a 4-day SWAT training and global weapons expo that will be held in Pleasanton, CA September 8-12th. We come in peace ready to blow you to smithereens.Urban Shield brings together law enforcement agencies from across the world – from the State of Israel to the Ferguson Police Department – along with many Bay Area police … Continued

Kali is free! Kali, a resident of the Occupy Oakland Occupation at Oscar Grant Plaza in 2011, was arrested in a raid on the plaza a month after the tents were cleared in November, 2011.  His crime? Sitting on a bench, possessing a blanket, and being on parole. Arriving at Santa Rita after futile attempts to bail him out, he was then charged with assaulting a prison guard Kali later informed us that guards viciously attacked and beat him while transferring him to solitary, after which he was then charged … Continued

No Coal in Oakland A report on the campaign (revised August, 2016)   Many activists have expressed interest in an account of how the No Coal in Oakland campaign was organized.  This article is a response, but is not a history.  It is structured thematically rather than chronologically, and the many amazing activists and organizers are not identified by name.  Some of our initiatives came from organizations and some came from individual activists, but this account does not attempt to credit them, as every idea became a shared project.  Unlike … Continued

In April, 2016, the Postal Service through the Department of Justice, threatened to sue Berkeley if Berkeley did not rescind the Historic District Zoning Overlay Ordinance, passed in September of 2014, that made most commercial uses of the zone (see right) – which includes the Post Office at 2000 Allston Way (8) – illegal. This ordinance was passed in the middle of a four-year fight to save the downtown Berkeley Post Office from sale and privatization, begun in 2012 and ended, at least temporarily, by a Federal Judge’s decision in April … Continued