Calendar

9896
Jun
27
Mon
Jobs 4 Freedom Final Push @ Alameda County Bldg
Jun 27 @ 9:30 am – 12:00 pm
Join us for the final push to get the #Jobs4Freedom approved by the Alameda Board of Superviors at the next BOS meeting. We will be meeting at 9:30am for a press conference and then heading into the meeting to speak up and show support for the more than 1400 county jobs the #Jobs4Freedom re-reentry hiring program will bring to the area.

If you have not already done so, please sign our Change.org petiton:http://chn.ge/25GcwZU

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The Jobs for Freedom Initiative provides needed solutions to the employment barriers formerly incarcerated residents face in our County.  The goal of the initiative is to develop a pipeline for a minimum of 1,400 members of the Alameda County formerly incarcerated residents and opportunity youth to obtain Alameda County jobs. The initiative utilizes a best-practice model to provide leadership development, reduction of employment barriers and court advocacy for participants that have continued contact with the criminal justice system.  Building from successful employment models like the Jobs Now! program in San Francisco and Project Search in Alameda County, the Jobs for Freedom Initiative will strengthen outcomes for our re-entry population. We want the Alameda Board of Supervisors to support the establishment and implementation of the Jobs for Freedom Initiative as proposed by the Justice Reinvestment Coalition of Alameda County.
Over the last 5 years, Alameda County’s criminal justice system has experienced a decreased average daily population of 1,400 bed days in Santa Rita and Glen Dyer jails per year. Legislative advances like AB109, SB 678 and Proposition 47 have provided the impetus for such changes, yet research shows that without gainful employment, formerly incarcerated people are likely to reenter the system.  People who have convictions or even arrests without conviction face enormous barriers to employment. Incarceration leads up to a 30% decline in employment post release.  90% of employers utilize criminal background checks resulting in a 50% decrease in hiring callbacks for those with arrests or convictions on their record.  Alameda County’s elevated formerly incarcerated population, 375,000 of a total population of 1.2 million necessitates County leadership in providing quality jobs with good wages and benefits to the formerly incarcerated.  Leadership from the County on providing good jobs to this population will lift up entire families and strengthen our community.
We urge you to take action at the Board of Supervisors meeting in June 2016 to support the implementation of the Jobs for Freedom program in FY2016-2017, in its full concept with the following components: 1. County Employment. Alameda County shall designate 1,400 permanent County jobs across classifications and county agencies for this Initiative to ensure that individual people’s skills and interests are matched by the diversity of job offerings. While the salaries and fringe benefits shall be subsidized through this Initiative for 12 months, the employing agency shall cover the ongoing costs after the first 12 months. 2. Leadership Development. All Initiative county employees will be offered leadership development and mentoring services from Job Coaches/Mentors, who may have been incarcerated themselves and are hired by community-based agency(s) to ensure culturally specific and community level support.  3. Court Advocacy.  Community based Court Advocates will assist people who are being held in Alameda County Jail pending resolution of their criminal case to attain Release on Own Recognizance (OR) in order to be placed into county employment, and those on Alameda County adult probation supervision to be terminated early from supervision. Court Advocates will also support Initiative county employees in attaining all criminal records related remedies. 4. Reform County Policies. During the first year of the Initiative, Alameda County shall assess and report on its implementation of its Fair Chance “Ban the Box” policy, and identify opportunities for expansion, including but not limited to, application to all private employers, and/or contracting preferences for employers hiring people with records.
61213
BAN Coal in Oakland – Special City Council Meeting
Jun 27 @ 4:00 pm – 9:00 pm

First vote on a Coal Ordinance.

Rally at 4:00 PM, Fill the Council Chambers at 4:30 PM.

Come to the special City Council meeting and speak out for a complete ban!

Will the Council vote to ban coal storage and export from Oakland? Or will they compromise and allow coal with some phony “mitigtions” that won’t protect Oakland from coal dust and won’t stop the global climate impact of the coal burned overseas?

 

 

61004
NO Homeless Sweeps in Oakland! @ Lobot Gallery
Jun 27 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

The Jack London Square Business Improvement District (JLID) is organizing through the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council to clear Oakland homeless encampments. They are having a meeting specifically about the encampments with Oakland police on Tuesday, June 28th at 5pm at 333 Broadway. JLID is aggressively gentrifying Oakland and relies on the lack of public accountability to continue operating as the shady entity it is.

We will be meeting at Lobot Gallery on Monday, June 27th at 6pm to plan a community response and tell them that the ONLY acceptable way to move homeless encampments is to provide housing to homeless people!

If you can’t make the planning meeting, please do still turn up on Tuesday to show that there is public support for ending povert

61212
Justice for Kayla Moore Organizing Meeting @ Grassroots House
Jun 27 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

By ANDREA PRICHETT

So it has been more than three years since Kayla was killed by Berkeley police. And yes, I believe that she was killed by the police. Perhaps unintentionally, but with an arrogance that should be considered criminal nonetheless: they killed her. Six cops participated in the killing of Kayla Moore. This transgender, African American woman who weighed almost 350 pounds, found herself underneath about 1,200 pounds of agitated police. By the time they got off of her enough to realize that she wasn’t breathing, it had also become clear that none of them would put their mouths to hers to offer CPR and assisted breathing.

So now these cops are going to go on trial in October as part of a civil lawsuit. There is no telling how much of the treatment she received from BPD had to do with her race, her gender identity, her size or her disability. But we know that her life was devalued by those officers to the point where they stopped listening to her. One officer characterized the sound of her last words as “verbiage” that he had learned not to hear.

JOIN THE NEXT ORGANIZING MEETING

Next meeting is June 13, and the following on June 27

61060
Jun
28
Tue
Antioch March for Justice @ the corner Mahogany and Manzanita Way
Jun 28 @ 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm

IN THE PAST YEAR, THE ANTIOCH POLICE HAVE KILLED TWO PEOPLE IN THEIR CUSTODY… THIS IS INEXCUSABLE!!.. IT WAS ONE YEAR AGO ON JUNE 25th 2015 A STILL NAMELESS MAN WAS KILLED IN THE APARTMENTS AT THE END OF CLAUDIA CT. THE OFFICERS INVOLVED, OFFICERS BROGDON AND KIDD. AND MOST RECENTLY, ON FEBRUARY 5TH THIS YEAR, WENDELL CELESTINE, JR. WHO WAS APPARENTLY SLEEPING IN A CAR WAS CONFRONTED BY CORPORAL MORTIMER AND OFFICER MORAGA. AFTER WHAT THE OFFICERS CLAIM WAS A “VIOLENT STRUGGLE” WENDELL CELESTINE, JR. WAS DEAD. THESE ARE JUST 2 INCIDENTS, THERE ARE PLENTY MORE.

WELL WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE OFFICERS? HAVE THEY BEEN DISCIPLINED OR PUNISHED? OR WILL THEY RECEIVE PROMOTIONS AND AWARDS?
JOIN US FOR A MARCH AND RALLY PLUS A SPEAK OUT ON THE STEPS OF CITY HALL TUESDAY JUNE 28TH LET CITY OFFICIALS AND THE MAYOR KNOW THIS MUST STOP!

@ 4 pm We will gather at Contra Loma Estates Park then @ 5 pm we will head out on a march thru the neighborhood and on to the Antioch police station…

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NO Homeless Sweeps in Oakland!
Jun 28 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

The Jack London Square Business Improvement District (JLID) is organizing through the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council to clear Oakland homeless encampments. They are having a meeting specifically about the encampments with Oakland police on Tuesday, June 28th at 5pm at 333 Broadway. JLID is aggressively gentrifying Oakland and relies on the lack of public accountability to continue operating as the shady entity it is.

We will be meeting at Lobot Gallery on Monday, June 27th at 6pm to plan a community response and tell them that the ONLY acceptable way to move homeless encampments is to provide housing to homeless people!

If you can’t make the planning meeting, please do still turn up on Tuesday to show that there is public support for ending poverty rather than criminalizing and brutalizing poor people.

61211
No Housing in Peoples Park! @ Berkeley Old City Hall
Jun 28 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm

As part of the new economic development plan for Telegraph Avenue, aka the “Telegraph Public Realm Plan”, the economic development manager for the city of Berkeley (Michael Caplan) is recommending that Berkeley city council support new student housing in People’s Park.

Show up to the city council special session at 5:30PM (this is not the regular meeting which starts at 7PM) and speak during the public comment period. Show your support for keeping People’s Park as an open space.

2019 will be the 50th anniversary of People’s Park. In 2019, the public can demand that People’s Park be turned into a California State Park, as to be preserved in perpetuity. People’s Park could also be placed on the national historical register. Developers and UC Berkeley are well aware that there is mass support for People’s Park’s preservation, but they ignore public sentiment by continuing to place People’s Park under threat of development.

61191
Tell Regulators to Stop Subsidizing Dirty Energy @ Oakland City Hall, Third floor
Jun 28 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

cpuc logoCome to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Rate Design Forum and tell them our tax dollars should not subsidize natural gas, but support clean energy generation and storage.

This forum, one of eight held throughout the state, is intended to explain CPUC’s new structure of electricity rates. The agency says the new rates will more closely reflect costs and promote cleaner electricity. Some of the changes modify the Self-Generation Incentive Program, which is intended to provide subsidies for “distributed” (decentralized) electricity generation and storage projects that help reduce greenhouse gases. Electricity industry analysts at GTM Research report that the changes will be positive in “democratizing” the development of clean energy storage.

But there’s a catch. So far most of the subsidies have gone to a company that produces fuel cells by burning natural gas – a fossil fuel that emits greenhouse gases and harmful pollutants. And natural gas itself is mostly methane – a greenhouse gas 84 times as powerful as carbon dioxide.

The rate changes will help other companies share in the program, but will still subsidize the use of fossil fuel. The CPUC staff recommended ending subsidies for fuel cells produced with natural gas and biogas, so the subsidies could go to truly green energy production and storage. But policy makers ignored this recommendation.

Come tell regulators to stop subsidizing pollution and climate catastrophe!

61200
Oakland Livable Wage Assembly meeting @ SEIU Local 1000 Union Hall
Jun 28 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Join us to fight for a livable wage for all Bay Area workers! We collaborate in principled reflection and action on what the Bay Area livable wage would be and where we are at on the right to a livable wage.
Living-wage

The Oakland Livable Wage Assembly builds Community and Power among those who seek higher wages and better work life conditions for area workers.

Our work together encompasses:

(1) The concerns of precarious, care and contingent workers,
(2) Campaigns to improve wages for low wage workers, and
(3) Efforts by unionized workers and unions to improve wages and quality of work life.

We share stories and information in an egalitarian and participatory way to build relationships and build the movement.

Oakland Livable Wage Assembly meets every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8:00 PM at the SEIU Local 1000 Union Hall, 436 14th Street #200, Oakland, CA

Please love and support one another ~ We have a duty to fight ~ We have a duty to win!

olwa.org

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1568668586707336/

Since 1978

 

 living_wage

 

59288
Film Screening: AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS @ Omni Commons
Jun 28 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Directed by Grace Lee

What does it mean to be an American revolutionary today? Grace Lee Boggs (June 27, 1915 – Oct. 5, 2015) was a Chinese American woman in Detroit whose vision of revolution will surprise you. A writer, activist, and philosopher rooted for more than 70 years in the African American movement, she has devoted her life to an evolving revolution that encompasses the contradictions of America’s past and its potentially radical future. The documentary film, AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS, plunges us into Boggs’s lifetime of vital thinking and action, traversing the major U.S. social movements of the last century; from labor to civil rights, to Black Power, feminism, the Asian American and environmental justice movements and beyond.

Doors open at 7pm, film starts at 7:30. Free popcorn and snacks, as always.

61074
Jun
29
Wed
Protest the Deforestation and Poisoning of the East Bay Hills by UC Berkeley @ UC Berkeley (Southside Entrance)
Jun 29 @ 12:00 pm

Protest the Deforestation and Poisoning

of the East Bay Hills by UC Berkeley

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Wednesday, June 29, 2016 – 12 Noon
UC Berkeley (Southside Entrance)
Bancroft Way and Telegraph Ave
Berkeley, California

map of targeted east bay forests

(Black areas: Targeted East Bay forests –  From: FEMA EBH EIS)

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STOP THE DEFORESTATION AND
POISONING OF THE EAST BAY HILLS!

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UC Berkeley, the East Bay Regional Park District, the City of Oakland, and others, with funding from FEMA and other public moneys, plan to kill over 450,000 healthy trees in the East Bay hills, some over a hundred years old, on over 2,000 acres of public lands from Point Richmond to Castro Valley.
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The destruction has already started, and is expected to escalate as early as August, the end of the official nesting season, unless we stop it.
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Millions of animals will die from the loss of homes and food and the devastation left by bulldozers, chainsaws, and poison, and the air quality and climate in the Bay Area will suffer. Large amounts of herbicides are planned to be applied over a 10-year period, including Roundup (glyphosate, Monsanto), Garlon (triclopyr, Dow), and Stalker (imazapyr, BASF).
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These pesticides have been shown to cause serious health problems in both humans and animals, as well as complex negative ecological impacts on forest organisms. They persist in the soil, and have found their way into watersheds and ground water. Roundup has been banned in many countries because of its toxicity, and the World Health Organization recently classified glyphosate as a 2A probable carcinogen. The poison would affect everyone who uses the parks, and wash into the bay from the creeks. Do we need more cancer and chronic illness?
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When asked for public comment about one of the most important parts of cities — our parks and open space — of the 13,000 people who responded, 90% opposed the plans. Since then, over 65,000 have signed a petition demanding the projects be stopped. Why is the will of the people being ignored?
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Under the guise of fire safety, the agencies involved plan to kill moisture-rich forests that precipitate over 10 inches of water from fog drip in the midst of drought.  According to FEMA, the goal is to transform much of the East Bay parks landscape into “grassland with islands of shrubs”, but this will increase fire danger by creating a highly flammable environment where fires can spread quickly, driven by winds unimpeded by tall trees. Our once beautiful parks will be barren and desolate, and when the rains start, the landslides will come.
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These destructive actions are driven in large part by the ideology that the eucalyptus, acacia, and Monterey pines are non-native plants, that are harmful to native ecosystems. Conservation biologist David Theodoropoulos thoroughly debunked this ideology at a recent event in Berkeley, viewable online at youtube.com/watch?v=n1i3RP7eDFc
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Eucalyptus are the preferred nesting site for eagles, hawks, and large owls, and preferred resting site for migrating Monarch butterflies. They also feed hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators. Monterey pines create incredible animal and plant diversity. A survey of 173 ornithologists reported that 47% of birds eat from non-native plants.
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In spite of the myths, eucalyptus are actually less flammable than native bay laurels. Firefighter David Maloney, appointed to the Oakland-Berkeley Mayors’ Firestorm Task Force to investigate the causes of the 1991 Hills Fire and make recommendations to prevent its recurrence, said:
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“The Task Force Report concluded that the spread of the fire was mostly due to the radiant heat generated by burning houses… The spread of the fire was not due primarily to burning trees — eucalyptus or any other species.”

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For more details, visit these websites:

SaveEastBayHills.org
MillionTrees.me
HillsConservationNetwork.org
EastBayPesticideAlert.org/wpad.html
TreeSpiritProject.com/sfbayclearcut
BAPD.org/trees.html

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Get in touch, and get involved:

Coalition to Defend East Bay Forests
Contact: defendeastbayforests@riseup.net
Alerts: lists.riseup.net/www/info/eastbayforests-info
Info: facebook.com/CoalitiontoDefendEastBayForests

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No Clearcuts, No Pesticides

Defend East Bay Forests!

 

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61183
Code Pink’s Weekly Peace Vigil @ on the steps in front of Senator Diane Feinstein's office
Jun 29 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm

JOIN CODEPINK, WORLD CAN’T WAIT, OCCUPYSF Action Council and others at the huge PEACE banner

Feel free to bring your own signage, photos, flyers, …Additional signs and flyers provided.
Stand (or sit) with us and the huge PEACE banner.

On the steps facing Market Street, below Feinstein’s office,
Directly above the Montgomery BART/Muni station.

61071
Coalition for Police Accountability @ PUEBLO Offices
Jun 29 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

 This should be a short meeting – we need to prepare for the Councilvote on the Kalb/Gallo measure.

61217
Meditation Happy Hour @ Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice
Jun 29 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Join us for free weekly meditation happy hour on Wednesdays, co-hosted by the Art of Living Eastbay Berkeley/Oakland.

We will teach simple and easy guided meditation and breathing techniques to let go of stress and trauma, let your hair down, and celebrate!

We believe that love is the universal language. We also believe that love is the universal cure to heal what ails societies worldwide. These meditation happy hours are our love offering to the community and are the result of a beautiful new & evolving partnership w/The Art of Living facilitated by Neelam Patil…& the universe ♥

61190
Dogtown Redemption, with post-film discussion @ New Parkway Theater
Jun 29 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Dogtown Redemption, with post-film discussion

 

A surprising number of Americans make their living off America’s vast rivers of trash. They are America’s unseen. DOGTOWN REDEMPTION tells the story of one river, and the humanity of its inhabitants in Dogtown, West Oakland, a lively, bustling yet invisible corner of California.

We follow the lives of three recyclers: Jason Witt, the titan of recycling, Landon Goodwin, a former minister, who struggles with his own fall from grace, and Miss Hayok Kay, the ultimate outsider, formerly a punk rocker from a prominent Korean family, now at the mercy of the elements and predators. Through them, we are introduced to the art, science, economics and politics of recycling: what it offers, how it touches the poor and why it matters to all of us.

 

(95 Minutes)

 

61187
Eastbay Homes Not Jails @ Omni Commons
Jun 29 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Open as MANY homes as possible…

Hold them as long as possible…

61035
Jun
30
Thu
Court Support for Leeloo! @ Wiley Manuel Courthouse, Dept 104
Jun 30 @ 9:30 am – 1:00 pm

Leeloo is an artist and musician living with mental illness. She is also a trans woman of color.

Leeloo had a crisis situation that was mishandled by John George Hospital, resulting in an irresponsible discharge that left her on the streets of San Leandro without a phone, glasses, or money. As a result, she allegedly acted out of her own self preservation and as a result is jailed in ‘protective custody’ at Santa Rita.

We are fighting for her to get her case seen in Behavioral Health Court. Please come out and show support for Leeloo! We will be wearing all black in solidarity with Leeloo.

The more community that can show up for her proves to the DA that she is an excellent candidate for this ‘diversionary’ legal process.

*The event is listed at 9:30am on Thursday. There’s likely to be some waiting around, folks are welcome to continue arriving any time before 11am.

61214
Stand With Us Against Eviction: Stand With Us At City Hall
Jun 30 @ 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm

“WE HAVE NO PLACE ELSE TO GO.”

Like thousands of other Oakland residents, our family was evicted by a slumlord after we reported
him to the City. After 6 months of living out of our car, searching three counties for housing or even
shelter services with no help in sight, we have decided to take our struggle directly to City Hall. Since
we cannot find shelter, we will take shelter in this public building until our city officials provide relief
for us and the thousands of other families who have been displaced.
Stand with us at Oakland City Hall (14th & Broadway) this Thursday (June 30th) at noon.

If you have nowhere to stay,
stay with us at City Hall Thursday night.
Hot meals will be provided.
#HousingIsAHumanRight #StopStayExpand

More info (PDF):

nowhere-else-to-go

61220
Stop the New Alameda County Jail @ Ella Baker Center Offices, suite 1125
Jun 30 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

The Sheriff wants to build a new $55 million jail expansion at Santa Rita for treating mentally ill inmate.  It needs to be stopped in its tracks and the money redirected to mental health treatment outside of jail.

We’ve got some momentum to re-invigorate and have a lot to discuss with the decarceration plan. Here a tentative agenda for 7/28, feel free to add additional items by directly replying to me.

  • Check in
  • What’s happening, what’s coming up in the community
  • LeeLoo Update
  • Individual and org commitments
  • Shared leadership structure and coalition admin.
    • agenda setting
    • meeting location
    • facilitation
    • meeting frequency
    • listservs
  • Decarceration Plan

61001
Justice for Mario Woods Coalition
Jun 30 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

The demand for justice is happening and needs you!

61072