Calendar
The Montreal Student Movement Convention is a gathering of students from 5 continents that has been in the planning for nearly a year. From June 19-22, students will converge at the University of Quebec at Montreal to meet fellow organizers and learn from organizers all over the world about building student unions, creating intersectional movements, and taking a crucial step towards uniting as a global movement.
The good news is that registrations have been pouring in, and more students than originally expected will be attending the convention.
As I’m sure many of you realize, as soon as June 27th, I (Amber Whitson) am likely to be issued a stayaway order from the Albany Bulb.
I have spent SO MANY years exploring and studying the Bulb! The thought of having to just shelve that knowledge, for it to only be brought to the surface on the rare occasion that someone happens to ask me something about the Landfill, just kills me.
I would like to impart what knowledge I have about the Bulb onto as many people as I can, while I can still show the features to them myself. That way they can spread the knowledge to others whom they bring here, and so on and so forth…
To that end, I will be hosting three hikes, of graduating difficulty levels, around the Bulb, starting this coming Saturday.
The two least difficult tours (Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22) will include trips through places where people used to live: Mom-a-Bear’s, Pat’s, Gary’s, Chet’s and our place (of course) and others…
I think it is important to educate as many people as possible (who don’t already know) about the fact that pretty much ALL of the improvements that have ever been made to the Landfill were indeed done by people living there. My hope is that it will also help participants to understand a little bit better about how people lived, day to day and season to season, when we lived there.
The second level of difficulty tour (Sunday, June 22) will include a trip down to what is left of the Open Letter. As well as a trip down to the apricot trees (where the Neck and Plateau meet) and to the Buckeyes that Andy and his friends planted. The second tour will also include a venture to the remains of the Hermitage Caldarium, where Sandy lived when Phyl and I first came to the Bulb (at Sandy’s suggestion). The Caldarium sat on the far western edge of the Bulb had a fully functional, handmade hot tub, fashioned from pieces of the debris that the Landfill is made of.
When the Caldarium was burned to the ground, in late 2007, by a recently released psych-ward patient, Andy Kreamer gave Sandy his home, where Sandy lived until the recent eviction. The second tour will also include a trip down to Andy’s/Sandy’s old place on the eastern edge of the Landfill.
Both the first and second tours will start at 10:00am on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
We will meet near the Cove (aka “keyhole”, “firepit” etc.) near Albany Beach.
The most difficult hike (tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, June 24) will include a voyage down the very steep hillside on the north side of the Neck, to where the headstone of William E. Carter (born 1842/died 1889) was dumped and still lays on its back at the water’s edge.
It is very important to me that I have the opportunity to host these tours for people, so that other people can find the amazing things that are everywhere out there, for years to come, regardless of whether any of the indigenous Bulb-dwellers are allowed to come here, or not.
As I’m sure many of you realize, as soon as June 27th, I (Amber Whitson) am likely to be issued a stayaway order from the Albany Bulb.
I have spent SO MANY years exploring and studying the Bulb! The thought of having to just shelve that knowledge, for it to only be brought to the surface on the rare occasion that someone happens to ask me something about the Landfill, just kills me.
I would like to impart what knowledge I have about the Bulb onto as many people as I can, while I can still show the features to them myself. That way they can spread the knowledge to others whom they bring here, and so on and so forth…
To that end, I will be hosting three hikes, of graduating difficulty levels, around the Bulb, starting this coming Saturday. The two least difficult tours (Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22) will include trips through places where people used to live: Mom-a-Bear’s, Pat’s, Gary’s, Chet’s and our place (of course) and others…
I think it is important to educate as many people as possible (who don’t already know) about the fact that pretty much ALL of the improvements that have ever been made to the Landfill were indeed done by people living there. My hope is that it will also help participants to understand a little bit better about how people lived, day to day and season to season, when we lived there.
The second level of difficulty tour (Sunday, June 22) will include a trip down to what is left of the Open Letter. As well as a trip down to the apricot trees (where the Neck and Plateau meet) and to the Buckeyes that Andy and his friends planted. The second tour will also include a venture to the remains of the Hermitage Caldarium, where Sandy lived when Phyl and I first came to the Bulb (at Sandy’s suggestion). The Caldarium sat on the far western edge of the Bulb had a fully functional, handmade hot tub, fashioned from pieces of the debris that the Landfill is made of.
When the Caldarium was burned to the ground, in late 2007, by a recently released psych-ward patient, Andy Kreamer gave Sandy his home, where Sandy lived until the recent eviction. The second tour will also include a trip down to Andy’s/Sandy’s old place on the eastern edge of the Landfill.
Both the first and second tours will start at 10:00am on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
We will meet near the Cove (aka “keyhole”, “firepit” etc.) near Albany Beach.
The most difficult hike (tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, June 24) will include a voyage down the very steep hillside on the north side of the Neck, to where the headstone of William E. Carter (born 1842/died 1889) was dumped and still lays on its back at the water’s edge.
It is very important to me that I have the opportunity to host these tours for people, so that other people can find the amazing things that are everywhere out there, for years to come, regardless of whether any of the indigenous Bulb-dwellers are allowed to come here, or not.
We will return to W.C. BART at 7:05pm and McArthur BART at 7:30pm. This bus will allow you to go directly to the capitol rally site, or join the march for the last mile! This is a free / sliding scale donation bus. We will pass a hat on the bus.
Click on the link, then click JOIN on BUS and then fill out the form to reserve your seat:
Carpool link: http://www.groupcarpool.com/t/x6qgkn
California March for Democracy! 99Rise.
Join the Sunflower Alliance in a support rally for Democracy!99 – Rise in Sacramento
We’ll show our support for those who marched 480 miles from southern California to protest the institutionalized corruption of our government and the capture of energy policy by the fossil fuel industry.
For details visit 99rise.org or marchfordemocracy.org/
The Park Community Garden is on Park Blvd. at the corner with Cleveland street a couple of blocks down from Oakland High.
Check out all the organic veggies and free range fowl.
Park Community Garden
Sunday, June 22nd
Join us starting at 2pm.
Film at dark: Bees & Mushrooms
Bring a potluck dish, bring a friend!
To donate or coordinate, text or email:
parkcommunitygarden@gmail.com
(510) 698-9298
Where are we going next? �
OccupyForum has been meeting for over two years with the mission of educating ourselves about the main Occupy issues, building an affinity group, (and holding space for Occupy folks to get together), and building coalitions with our allies (like Greenaction, International Forum on Globalization, Homes Not Jails, Sunflower Alliance, Strike Debt, Global Exchange, Save City College and many more). We’ve held over 90 Forums with insightful panelists and Q&A sessions which have led to further participation in planning and holding actions, coalitioning, and to understanding how our movement works.
Now it is time to evaluate how we’re doing; what could be improved, and where we should be going with this group, including how we work together at the Forum sessions. Some suggestions have been to show some of the great documentaries on our situation and have breakout groups, to have potlucks to build the affinity aspect, to have nights where we hold an action (like the Fed Up With the Fed action), to talk more intimately and honestly about how we see the future of this country unfolding and visioning what we’d like to see. We are looking for more active participation, where each of us takes a role in co-creating the OccupyForum.
Please come on Monday, June 23rd, to contribute ideas and energy to pushing the OccupyForum to its next iteration with a mandate to match the times in which we find ourselves, 3 years after Occupy began. See you there!!
The Postal Service has put the Berkeley Post Office up for sale!!
The Postal Service has started to outsource Post Office services to Staples, replacing union jobs with low-paying, low benefit work.
And we’re fighting against both!
Come help us plan our next steps.
We’ve began the “Don’t Shop at Staples” campaign with some awesome… what else? … postcards to send to Staples management! Here’s the front of the postcard. The campaign has been adopted by Postal Unions, the San Francisco Labor Council and has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, and has gone national!
All four Postal Unions have joined together to support maintaining full service, public Post Offices in every community, with expansion to include postal banking, and to oppose subcontracting and privatization of services. The California Federation of Teachers passed a resolution in support of opposition to Staples. We are trying to get the Alameda Labor Council to pass a similar resolution.
And we need to be prepared if the Post Office announces a sale! The Advisory Commission on Historical Preservation came out with its report, recommending that sales of Historic Post offices be halted until the USPS conforms with historical preservation law. Here is our response. Also the Office of Inspector General’s report on the sale of Historic Post Offices came out recently – anything could happen now since Congress’ “request” that no historic Post Offices be sold until it had come out has been honored and no further Congressional request or mandate has come down. Come help us plan our response.
We have joined with other activists in Berkeley to put a ballot initiative on the ballot to rezone the Berkeley Post Office and other areas in the Historic District to prevent privatization, and also to insure a better Downtown Berkeley. We succeeded in getting the necessary signatures; it will be voted on in November, but Tom Bates and the City Council have nefarious plans to undermine our coalition.
Encouraging articles are still coming out about using Post Offices as banking facilities for the unbanked. We held a forum on postal and public banking on March 29th on the Post Office steps.
We are planning our next event, ‘Jam the Sale.’ Come help us out!
THINGS ARE HAPPENING!
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called a special UN Climate Summit on September 23 to “catalyze action by governments, business, finance, industry, and civil society”. It’s unlikely any more will come of this meeting than came of the gatherings in Copenhagen, Cancún, Kyoto, and elsewhere. But a large number of environmental and progressive organizations are planning actions in New York City right before and during the UN meeting to call the world’s attention to the failure of world “leaders” to deal with the crisis. One of these actions, the People’s Climate March, will take place on Sept. 20 and 21. It is spearheaded by 350.org and endorsed by about 100 other organizations.
In solidarity, a Bay Area action is being planned. If you want to help plan the fall action, please come to this meeting. And spread the word.
Film evenings begin with optional potluck refreshments & social hour at 6:30 pm,
followed by the film at 7:30 pm, followed by optional discussion after the film.
UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
Episode 7: Johnson, Nixon, and Vietnam: Reversal of Fortune
by Oliver Stone
Humanist Hall is wheelchair accessible around the corner at 411 28th Street
The Politics of Debt Reading Group, a subgroup of Strike Debt Bay Area, meets every other week to discuss readings on debt and related issues agreed to from previous meetings.
This meeting we will be discussing Chapter’s 2 & 4 of Taibbi’s Griftopia.
Here is a PDF with the reading material (large!)
Peeps are continually staffing a table outside of Staples, 24-7, ongoing for almost a week now. Come by and say hello, hang out, and give them your support!
Meeting of the City of Oakland’s “Privacy and Data Retention Ad Hoc Advisory Committee” – open to the public.
When:
2nd & 4th Thursdays
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Where:
Council Chambers
Oakland City Hall
14th & Broadway
Read the announcement from the City of Oakland City Administrator’s Weekly Report (April 25, 2014):
This committee was created by City Council action during the discussions earlier in the year about the Port Domain Awareness Center (DAC). The goal of the DAC is to improve readiness to prevent, respond to and recover from major emergencies in the Oakland region and ensure better multi-agency coordination across the larger San Francisco Bay Area. The goal of the Privacy and Data Retention Policy is to ensure there are safeguards to protect against potential misuse of the data or violations of individuals’ privacy rights and civil liberties. The meeting is open to the public. For questions about the Ad Hoc Committee, please contact Joe DeVries, Assistant to the City
We need to show up to these meetings and pressure the City to adopt a privacy policy that makes privacy a priority, not only “security” or administrative convenience.
Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA) has launched a new series of workshops focused on helping you:
> – understand how to access credit,
> – address credit reporting problems, and
> – address debt collection problems
Please come if you have questions for us, or documents you want us to review- you name it. We’re covering everything from student loan debt, auto loan questions, and medical debt to how to access the credit that you want and need.
Rising Tide will be hosting a teach-in/fundraiser on anti-extraction/direct action movements in North America.
The wealthy few are destroying our climate, our ecosystems and our
communities. They destroy Appalachia’s mountains for profit they make from
coal. They’ve poisoned the Gulf of Mexico and Indigenous and frontline
communities from Alberta to the Gulf Coast for profit they make from oil.
They are destroying communities from New York to American West for profit
they’ll make from natural gas.
In California and the Bay Area, the fight against extraction is becoming a
reality as industry is paving the way for more and more fracking while
“oil by rail” proposals are becoming more prevalent.
Now frontline communities and grassroots direct action allies from across
the continent have risen up against the fossil fuel industry. In the past
three years, from Washington D.C. to the streets of St. Louis and
Richmond,CA to the highways and byways of rural Idaho and Montana, the
fight against fossil fuels has intensified with massive amounts of direct
action and grassroots organizing.
Event to include:
– Panel on the North American anti-extraction movements; speakers TBA
– Amazing videos from recent direct actions
– Snacks, booze
Please join Rising Tide North America as we host a climate forum on the
growing movement against fossil fuel extraction in North America.
This event is a fundraiser for Radical Action for Mountain People’s
Survival [RAMPS]. A non-violent direct action campaign based in the
southern coal fields of West Virginia, dedicated to ending all forms of
strip mining in Appalachia.
This event is a Rising Tide production.
The KONO Community Benefit District invites you to an open meeting about Oakland First Fridays. The event will be hosted by KONO Board President Phil Porter, KONO Executive Director Shari Godinez and Oakland First Fridays Fundraiser/Coordinator Sarah Kidder.
Come find out more about the event-ask questions, bring ideas, share concerns. We’re also actively seeking volunteers to get involved with the workings of the event before, during and after the first Friday of each month on either a short or long-term basis. The meeting is open to anyone with an interest in the Oakland First Fridays.
Thursday there was music in front of the staples store in Berkeley (Shattuck & Durant) from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. A great new singer/guitarist named Josh Foster, as well as Redd Welsh on vocals and electronic organ. During that time there were consistently about a dozen people at the Boycott Staples table, not counting the many passers-by who stopped and showed their support.
TOMORROW FRIDAY there will be more music from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. Redd Welsh will be there, and the call has gone out to other musicians to join us. Come one, come all! Let’s get a big crowd out there! Dancing, anyone??
Boycott Staples. Stop the privatization of our Post Office.
Support the 24/7 occupation at Berkeley Staples.
Organized by First They Came for the Homeless.
No description.