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…

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.

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.

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.

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/

 

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.

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

(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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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.

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

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 ♥

Dogtown Redemption, with post-film discussion

Open as MANY homes as possible…

Hold them as long as possible…

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.

“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

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

The demand for justice is happening and needs you!

A fundraiser for survivors of the fire that burned down the homes of 58 people on Mission and 29th.

Door fee will be $10 USD (but no one turned away). We’ll also do a raffle (please message if you have suggestions for raffle prizes). El Rio are kindly donating all bar proceeds from 8-12 to the fund.

All proceeds will go directly to the familes and will be matched 1-1 by a corporate sponsor. The Mission Economic Development Agency will process all donations and won’t be charging a fee.

Please join ex-Calavera restaurant workers and the Bay Area Restaurant Worker’s Movement (BARWM) for a rally, community meal and celebration of resistance across the food system!

On July 1st, BARWM will be scaling up our #BoycottCalavera campaign, giving voice to ex-Calavera employees fighting wage theft! We’ll be serving up delicious, free tamales made with love from Tamales La Oaxaqueña! Come hungry, and help us turn away customers with our irresistible community meal. We will host a rally with ex-Calavera employees, community organizers and other food workers sharing stories of resistance and celebrating our many struggles together. And there will be music!

As part of this next phase, BARWM seeks to deepen our relationships with food, economic and racial justice groups organizing across the Bay. We believe in a food chain solidarity that transcends borders and industries, to heal our rotten food system while fighting for justice on the job.

Join us as we launch our official #BoycottCalavera endorsement letter with a celebration of food and music as we continue to educate Oakland residents about the labor exploitation and injustices that have been going on in our very own city.

More information on the campaign & the BARWM: https://goo.gl/LYGBUX

The Tony Award-winning SF Mime Troupe opens in Berkeley July 2 & 3, then San Francisco July 4 with its 57th season premiering “Schooled“

Education. It’s like the weather: everyone has an opinion but nobody does anything about it. That’s how Livina Jones feels about her son Tom’s new school, Eleanor Roosevelt High. With it’s old textbooks, crumbling classrooms, and racist treatment of kids just like hers Livina believes Roosevelt is exactly the sort of school that can benefit from a little free-market common sense. The nanny-state government has failed to see students as individuals, and failed to give them the real-world skills they’ll need to get ahead. So who says it isn’t time for some big money, for-profit schooling?

Edith Orocuru, for one. She’s the long serving history/civics/American government/basketball coach at Eleanor Roosevelt, and she’s willing to fight for her version of education as long as her reconstructed hips will allow. But is she fighting for a system that can be fixed, or is she just too blind by her past to see how times have left her and her school behind? And when an efficiency expert, Mr. Babbit, is assigned to improve her class is it a sign that Edith is behind the times, or a sign of something more sinister? And with privatization on the line, and a Wall Street heavy hitter lined up to fold the entire district into his conglomerate, suddenly the next School Board election is more about a hidden agenda than the open curriculum. And when did the hall monitors start wearing brown shirts and arm bands?

Dogtown Redemption, with post-film discussion