Calendar
On July 11th, several key bills are being heard by California Senate and Assembly committees, and SURJ has been asked to show up to support!
PLEASE RSVP BELOW!
Earlier that day, the Assembly Public Safety committee is hearing another vital bill – SB 10, the California Bail Reform Act — which would ensure that people are not held in dangerous, overcrowded jails after arrest simply because they cannot afford to post bail. SB 10 is co-sponsored by the Ella Baker Center and Essie Justice Group.
Come join SURJ members on July 11th to attend these important hearings and support these important bills! We will be organizing carpools!
For more information, please email basebuilding@surjbayarea.org
We the People will hold a “People’s Assembly Health Committee” Hearing on SB 562 where the people will vote! We are joining with the Poor People’s Lobby day on SB 562 and will highlight stories of patients, seniors, nurses, doctors, business and it wouldn’t be complete with out a few words of doom and gloom from our industry opposition J. We have buses coming from multiple locations. Please help push out this event and mobilize a great assembly!
Buses coming from around the state!
RSVP here: http://bit.ly/PeoplesAssemblyHealthCommittee
OAKLAND:
STOP 1: Pick up @ 10:00AM at 22nd and Kaiser Plaza (next to CNA Headquarters in Oakland)
Please check Facebook and our web site for more.
July 11 we head to city hall and demand land so we can create villages.
We created an effective, immediate, humane and dignified solution that addressed the housing and homeless state of emergency. we cant wait for the city’s slow, money driven bureaucratic process. folks need homes and services NOW! not 5 years from now. the monies and programs the city is FINALLY putting towards low income and no income housing won’t house folks immediately.
but #TheVillage can house folks NOW until the city has secured permanent #HomesForAll.
There are 6,000 folks without homes in oakland. that number will continue to grow unless the city acts like we are in a state of emergency and allows the community to enact our creative and effective solution.
Our displaced residents on the streets want land to build a village for folks in recovery. we want land for a harm reduction village. we want land for a village for families with children and homeless youth. we want land for a lgbtq village. we want land for a village of elders. we want land for a village for women.
please share far and wide.
City Of Oakland Public Safety Committee – Oakland City Hall
The FCC wants to destroy net neutrality and give big cable companies control over what we see and do online. If they get their way, they’ll allow widespread throttling, blocking, censorship, and extra fees. On July 12th, the Internet will come together to stop them.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN ON JULY 12TH?
Websites, Internet users, and online communities will come together to sound the alarm about the FCC’s attack on net neutrality. We’ll provide tools for everyone to make it super easy for your followers / visitors to take action. From the SOPA blackout to the Internet Slowdown, we’ve shown time and time again that when the Internet comes together, we can stop censorship and corruption. Now, we have to do it again!
HOW CAN I JOIN?
We’re just getting started with organizing this massive day of action, so sign up and we’ll get in touch soon with more information. If you have ideas or want to help, let us know. If you run a high-traffic website, startup, or small business, get in touch, your participation is extra important!
Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, against Urban Shield, and to advocate for privacy and surveillance regulation ordinances to be passed by our State Legislature and around the Bay Area, including the Alameda and San Francisco County Boards of Supervisors, the BART Board of Directors, and by the Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond and Davis City Councils.
We are also engaged in the fight against Predictive Policing and other “pre-crime” and “thought-crime” abominations, drones, improper use of police body cameras, ALPRs, requirements for “backdoors” to your cellphone and against other invasions of privacy by our benighted City, County, State and Federal Governments.
Oakland Privacy (nee Oakland Privacy Working Group) originally came together in 2013 to fight against the Domain Awareness Center (DAC), Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub. OPWG was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network; its members helped draft the Privacy Policy that puts further restrictions on the now Port-restricted DAC, and made Oakland’s new Privacy Advisory Commission to the City Council happen. We were also the lead in having Alameda County pass the most comprehensive privacy and usage policy in the country for deployment of “Stingray” technology (cell phone interceptors). Oakland and Fremont have followed suit. In conjunction with other groups we fight against Urban Shield and other killer-cop trainings.
We have presented our work at RightsCon in San Francisco and at Left Forum and HOPE in New York City.
If you would like to attend our meeting and would like a quick introduction to what we’re doing before we dive right into the thick of our agenda, send email to contact@oaklandprivacy.org and one of us will arange to meet you before the meeting.
Stop by and learn how you can help guard our right not to be spied on by the government. Look on the whiteboard inside near the entrance to the OMNI for our exact location within the OMNI.
If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy Working Group email listserv, send an email to:
oaklandprivacyworkinggroup-subscribe AT lists.riseup.net
or send a request to contact@oaklandprivacy.org
For more information on the DAC check out
Tomorrow the Assistant Sheriff and Commander of the Alameda County Sheriff’s department will be giving an overview of Urban Shield 2017. This is an opportunity to demand the Alameda County Board of Supervisors end their reliance on Urban Shield and militarized policing.
Next opportunity to turn out against Urban Shield:
Meeting of Alameda County Taskforce on Urban Shield
Friday, August 11th, 9am
Conference and Training Center
125 12th St, 4th Fl
Oakland, CA
Join us for the Thinking Ahead speaker series with Richmond City Council member Melvin Willis and journalist Steve Early on a discussion of community empowerment and transformative policies that help get big money out of politics.
What can we do to ensure everyone shares in the prosperity that they contribute to? Come hear how progress-minded activists transformed a city dominated by a narrow corporate agenda into a model for a greater shared prosperity.
RSVP here.
Greetings all,
Decarcerate Alameda will be hosting a CURB Letter to the Editor Training and a working meeting as we prepare for an emergency mobilization.
Letters to the editor are a quick and easy way to influence reporters, editorial boards and public opinion and a great way to practice our arguments and talking points. Please try to bring in a recent article you may want to respond to (especially about Alameda County), as well as a laptop, pen & paper, or whatever writing utensil suits you.
Reach out with questions, no need to have been at any recent meeting to join!
In the summer of 1892, the nation’s largest steelmaker (Carnegie) took on its most militant labor union, with devastating consequences. Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick head a fascinating cast of characters, including Pinkerton guards and anarchist Alexander Berkman. Directed by Steffi Domike and Nicole Fauteux.
To evoke the period, the film employs documentary techniques, primary sources, dramatically staged scenes shot on location in the Pittsburgh area, and lyrical commentary found in poetry, song and fiction. Labor Singer Jimmy Kelly Will Lead a Sing-Along Song Salute to Woody Guthrie, the Dustbowl Balladeer.
‘Feminist’ Police Chief and Mayor promote ‘Good Old Boys’ Club
#FireRapistCops
#ProsecutionNotPromotion
JOIN US IN PICKETING THIS OUTRAGEOUS OPD PROMOTIONS CEREMONY, where Chief Kirkpatrick is promoting three of the criminal cops responsible for covering up the child rape actions of OPD (and other jurisdictions) police officers.
Chief Kirkpatrick has approved major promotions for the very officers who failed to properly investigate the rape scandal, notify the federal monitor, DA and Mayor, and even encouraged “Celeste Guap’ to destroy evidence in the case. Schaaf closed her investigation before findings were even issued.
According to a brief filed by Jim Chanin and John Burris, who originally filed the class-action which led to the NSA, “There is no evidence that any of the officers engaging in this behavior, or any of the supervisors who observed it and apparently failed to report it, stop it, or discipline their subordinates, were ever investigated, and if appropriate, disciplined by the Oakland Police Department.”
APTP has no faith in the Mayor’s or Chief Kirkpatrick’s ability to get a handle on the blatant culture of sexual abuse and general disregard for the rights of the Black community, people of color, LGBTQIA, undocumented, disabled and unhoused people of Oakland.
Please comment if your organization would like to endorse the event. All: please share and invite your friends. Bring your signs and your voices!
Watch this page for updates!!!
Come stand with the mothers of murdered children and family members this and every Friday to pressure District Atty George Gascon to charge killer SFPD cops with murder who executed Mario Woods, Jessica Nelson, Luis Gongora Pat, Alex Nieto, and all the rest.
Bring signs! STOP POLICE MURDER! We have signs that say “Mario Woods is our Son”, and signs for each one murdered.
Please find the box of signs and “Say Their Names” for the Media.
Join Berkeley Copwatch on Saturday, July 15th to get training on how to…
* deal with the police
* safely assert your rights
* safely and effectively observe the police in your community.
The trainings usually last 2 – 3 hours.
This is a free event; snacks will be included! Bring your bodies and your buddies, as well as questions, concerns, stories, resources.
And in the meantime, check out the Berkeley Copwatch Know Your Rights Pocket Card here: http://
Join us for the first coalition gathering of the Qilombo Healers Collective! Help us build a permanent healing space with ongoing programming that promotes autonomous, accessible and holistic healthcare in our communities. The Medical Industrial Complex has never given us meaningful options for accessible holistic healing. With TrumpCare threatening to cut MedicAid to 22 million low-income people across the country, the need for autonomy from America’s failed health system is more important than ever. We want to spread health and wellness knowledge and empower our communities to care for ourselves, rather than relying on the profit-driven healthcare system that values their bottomline over our lives.
We are group of about 10 healers and health educators from a wide range of backgrounds and modalities. We have been meeting since February developing our vision for an autonomous network of groups and organizations dedicated to decentralizing health knowledge and sharing our skills, practices and traditions with the community. We are renting a room in Qilombo, and have converted it into a permanent healing space. We hope to use this space as a home base for coordinating a series of classes, workshops and healing clinics, as well as a free or low-cost space for healers to practice their crafts.
So far we have been coordinating with members of the People’s Community Medics, the Healing Clinic Collective, the Black Wellness Collaborative: Healing with the People, and several herbalist, yoga teachers, massage therapist, sounds healers and Reiki practitioners. We have also reached out to a self-defense collective, a free clinic and several HIV prevention and education organizations. We are welcoming all groups and individuals who share our vision to help us build this project and coordinate our existing work to strengthen and support each other in the hard times ahead.
Please RSVP and share this event with your friends, collectives, organizations and anyone who shares our vision who you think would be interested in participating and/or sharing their knowledge and resources.
See you on the 15th!
Solidarity,
The Qilombo Healers Collective
July 15th Nationwide Protests – Rally at UN Plaza then March to the Mission
To all who agonize and rage at what’s being done to the people, protest and demand:
THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO! In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America!
Only the people acting together in the streets and public square can force this demand before the world. Should we fail to do so, the future and values we aspire to could be brutally cut short by the actions of the Trump/Pence regime.
The Trump/Pence government has been step by step criminalizing dissent and bludgeoning the truth with worse to come. Stripping away basic rights and the rule of law is at the core of fascism. Group after group is demonized and targeted along a trajectory leading to real horrors. We must not let this be normalized. History has shown that fascism must be stopped before it becomes too late.
July 15th must be a day when every person, every group –religious, community, service, political organization – all who feel the tremendous threat to humanity posed by the Trump/Pence regime – stand together showing the world that people here are determined that this regime must go …not in two years or four, but now.
On July 15, with conviction and courage, overcoming fear and uncertainty, we will act together to resist and say NO!… Not for ourselves alone, but in the name of humanity.
Contact Refuse Fascism to volunteer or to make your organization a partner or co-sponsor of July 15th.
Get involved: 510-253-5551 norcal [at] refusefascism.org
Endorse/signup Facebook.com/RefuseFascismBayArea
Refuse Fascism 917-407-1286; info [at] refusefascism.org http://www.refusefascism.org
Price: Free
8:00 a.m. Water Ceremony & Registration
9:30 a.m. Walk Begins
There are several places along the walk where folks can join the walk – please see the details of the route below.
The walk will end at Martinez Shoreline Park, end of Ferry Street in the City of Martinez, California
Please feel free to join us for the prayers for the water at 8:00 a.m. We will walk to the shore and make our prayers. Feel free to bring a small bottle of water from your area to join the waters in the Carquinez Straights (where the Delta meets the Bay) in Pittsburg.
Registration for the walk will begin at 8:00 a.m. Walkers will be asked to agree to the Nonviolent Principles. For details on what to bring/not bring, please go to “What To Expect” in the tabs above.
This walk is approximately 13.5 miles from beginning to end. There will be support vehicles available for people who wish to take breaks during the walk. Medics will also be available. Water will be provided – please bring your reusable water bottle.
Walk #2: Saturday, May 20th
We will begin near the Martinez Shoreline Park at the end of Ferry Street
in the City of Martinez, California
8:00 a.m. Water Ceremony & Registration
9:30 a.m. Walk Begins
There are several places along the walk where folks can join the walk – please see the details of the route below.
The walk will end at the 9th Street Park in the City of Benicia, California
Please feel free to join us for the prayers for the water at 8:00 a.m. Feel free to bring a small bottle of water from your watershed to join the waters in the Carquinez Straights (where the Delta meets the Bay) in Martinez.
Registration for the walk will begin at 8:00 a.m. Walkers will be asked to agree to the Nonviolent Principles. For details on what to bring/not bring, please go to “What To Expect” in the tabs above.
This walk is approximately 9.5 miles from beginning to end. There will be vehicles available for people who wish to take breaks during the walk. Medics will also be available. Water will be provided – please bring your reusable water bottle.
Everyone will be taken back to their vehicles at the end of the walk. If you are coming to the walk with friends and have two vehicles, please consider leaving one vehicle at the end.
Please consider CARPOOLING – You can sign up to give rides or receive a ride here:
https://www.groupcarpool.com/t/8wh0vr
Make sure you keep this phone number with you on the walk:
(510) 619-8279
Scroll down to see the map of the walk.
We will begin in Martinez and walk through the Shell Refinery in Martinez on the public road. It gets exciting when we walk across the Martinez Benicia Bridge over the Carquinez Straights! Once we get to Benicia, we head over to the Valero Refinery where we stop to pray for clean air, water, soil and safe jobs in our communities. We then walk through town to the 9th Street Park for the closing circle, a meal and the final prayers for the waters.
All walkers are encouraged to carry the water for at least five minutes in prayer for the life of the waters around the world.
Please go to the “What to Expect” page for more information:
http://www.refineryhealingwalks.com/what-to-expect.html
Walk #3 – Sunday, June 11th
We will begin at Ninth Street Park in Benicia
8:00 a.m. Water Ceremony
9:00 a.m. Registration
9:30 a.m. Walk Begins
There are two places along the walk where folks can join us – please see the details of the route below.
The walk will end at Lone Street Park in Rodeo
Please join us for prayers for the water at 8:00 a.m. Feel free to bring a small bottle of water from your watershed to join the waters that we will be carrying in prayer along the walk and putting into the Bay at the end of the walk.
Registration for the walk will begin at 9:00 a.m. Walkers will be asked to agree to the Nonviolent Principles. For details on what to bring/not bring, please go to “What To Expect” in the tabs above.
We also request that walkers keep the Four Agreements in mind:
1) Be impeccable with your word
2) Don’t take anything personally
3) Don’t make assumptions
4) Always do your very best
For more information: The Four Agreements
This walk is 10.8 miles from beginning to end. There will be vehicles available for people who wish to take breaks during the walk. Medics will also be available. Water will be provided – Please bring your own refillable water bottle.
There will be three “return” points where people can be taken back to their cars at mile 4 and mile 6 (see map) and at the end. If you are coming to the walk with friends and have two vehicles, please consider leaving one vehicle at the end.
Sure you’re coming? Please carpool to the walk by offering a ride or accepting a ride as soon as possible by signing up here:
CARPOOL
Let us know you’re coming! RSVP BELOW!
Make sure you keep this phone number with you on the walk:
(510) 619-8279
We will begin in Benicia, home to the Valero Refinery, and proceed through Vallejo. Crossing the Carquinez Bridge is always a treat! Then we head toward the Conoco Phillips 66 Refinery in Rodeo , ending at Lone Tree Park.
Walk #4 in July
Sunday, July 16th
Rodeo Conoco Phillips 66 Refinery to Richmond Chevron Refinery California
We encourage folks to walk with us the entire day. It is truly a beautiful, profound and inspiring way to make a difference.
We will begin at Lone Tree Park in Rodeo
8:00 a.m. Water Ceremony – Feel free to bring water from your watershed!
9:00 a.m. Registration
9:30 a.m. Walk Begins
There are several places along the walk where folks can join the walk – please see the details of the route below.
The walk will end at Keller Beach in Richmond
You can join us at any time during the day of the walks.
Call this number to find out where we are: (510) 619-8279
Make sure to keep the phone number on you if you are joining us on the walk!
Registration for the walk will begin at 8:00 a.m. Walkers will be asked to agree to the Nonviolent Principles. For details on what to bring/not bring, please go to “What To Expect” in the tabs above.
This walk is approximately 13 miles from beginning to end. There will be vehicles available for people who wish to take breaks during the walk. Medics will also be available. Water will be provided – Please bring your own refillable water bottle.
Everyone will be taken back to their vehicles at the end of the walk. If you are coming to the walk with friends and have two vehicles, please consider leaving one vehicle at the end. Carpool: Sign up to drive or be a passenger here: CARPOOL
There will be two points where folks can get rides back to the beginning in Rodeo, at the Hilltop stop in Richmond and at the end at Keller Beach.
We will begin at Lone Tree Park in Rodeo within sight of the Conoco Phillips 66 Refinery and walking to Richmond, stopping to pray at several places including the Kinder Morgan facility and the gates of the Chevron refinery. We will end at Keller Beach in Richmond, the last natural beach left in the San Francisco Bay where we will all enjoy a delicious meal made by Mike Bear and his family and youth from Urban Tilth in Richmond!
Can’t come but want to support? Welcome us at Keller Beach in Point Richmond and feel free to bring a dish to share if you would like.
The Museum of Capitalism is hosting an in-person artifact donation event on July 16th from noon-5pm. RSVP, and bring your artifacts of capitalism to be considered for inclusion in the museum’s collection. If you live out of town and are interested in contributing, please visit our new artifact donation platform to submit an item for consideration.
Individuals who possess items related to the history or memory of capitalism, or tied to a personal experience that could help others to understand or feel life in capitalism, are invited to come forward and share their stories with Museum curators. All participants who submit an item for consideration will receive professional photographic documentation of their item, whether or not the Museum wishes to catalog the object for its collection. Donors will be asked to complete a short questionnaire about their donations, and Museum curators and volunteers will conduct short interviews with selected participants.
How are National Security Tools being Used for Deportation?
Since the election, Donald Trump began his campaign to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. He used racist rhetoric to target our communities. Over the course of his Presidency, there has been a sharp increase in immigration arrests.
In March, ICE agents and the FBI used a stingray, an extremely invasive breach of privacy, to track Rudy Carmaco-Carranza, a 23 year old immigrant from El Salvador. A stingray, also known as a cell-site simulator tricks nearby phones into providing location data and can interrupt cell service.
Come join:
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus,
Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach
CAIR – San Francisco Bay Area,
Centro Legal de la Raza
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF),
National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
ROC the Bay: Restaurant Opportunities Center Bay Area
SEIU Local 87
Learn more about how national security tools like Stingrays, created post 9/11 in response to to the War on Terror, are being used to target immigrant communities here.
The event will include a Know Your Rights Presentation by:
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
CAIR – San Francisco Bay Area
followed by a Resource Fair with the opportunity to speak to attorneys.
On July 16th, also join Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) for Movement 003: A Party to Benefit Immigrant Rights!
~ Movement ~ is a recurring gathering dedicated to inclusion, connection, activation, and transformation. It is a space that brings together diverse local artists, people who like to dance and express, and nonprofits that work every day to defend the rights of marginalized communities. Ultimately, Movement is a supportive, nurturing environment where our various communities can unite in healing, celebration, and hope.
All benefits from this event will be donated to organizations defending immigrant rights, from which representatives will be joining us and available to discuss their work and volunteer opportunities. Our beneficiary in July is Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI).
The Labor Action Committee (LAC) is meeting to discuss what we can do to re-ignite and build the movement to Free Mumia.
We will view a short film (20 minutes) followed by a discussion on the many ways we can build the movement to Free Mumia and all victims of racist frame ups.