Calendar
Rally, march & direct action to commemorate the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the place where new US nuclear weapons are still being developed today.
8 am rally with speakers: Daniel Ellsberg (legendary activist and leaker of the Pentagon Papers), Marylia Kelley (executive director of Tri-Valley Cares), and a Hibakusha (Japanese atomic bomb survivor). With wonderful music by Emma’s Revolution. Together, solemnly we will commemorate the nightmarish effects of nuclear weapons–from uranium mining to testing use–on the people of Japan, the Marshall Island, and the First Nations–and all the people living near nuclear facilities across the country and around the world. We will recommit ourselves to efforts to abolish these indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction Please bring a large photograph of a loved one. As always, we act in the spirit of nonviolence.
At 9:00 am we will march to the gates of Livermore Lab, where we will join in an Obon dance, (Japanese folk dance). Following the dance those who choose will peaceably risk arrest.
For those who wish, camping the night before is available at Lake Del Valle. Contact scott [at] trivalleycares.org to RSVP.
All ages welcome!
In a totally ironic twist, Berkeley Police Assaulted people and beat one man over the head after the June 20th Berkeley City Council meeting re: Urban Shield.
Police Review Commission June 20, 2017 Subcommittee:
Agenda action and discussion, plan for investigation whether June 20 BPD was appropriate, review BPD and other documents and ask questions of Police Chief or designee.
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
Eric, who is facing charges stemming from the counter demonstration against an alt-right/fascist rally in Berkeley on April 15, needs our support!
His court date is Friday August 10 at 9am. Rene C. Davidson Courthouse (12th and Oak St in downtown Oakland) Dept 11.
Thus far, public call outs have not been made for court support because alt-right trolls have also shown up to harass Eric and his supporters. For supporters at court this has even meant risking getting their photo taken and their identity researched online, which increases the risk of being doxxed.
At this point, we believe that these risks are now a part of the nature of doing support for anti racist, anti fascist, feminist, and queer comrades dealing with state and right-wing vigilante repression. The Anti Repression Committee has always promoted the idea that repression is not something that we can avoid, but it is something we can be prepared for. With that in mind, we strongly encourage everyone in our movements to prepare for repression in the form of right-wing doxxing, but to not let this risk prevent us from showing up to support those who are baring the brunt of repression. While there are always many individuals who cannot and should not put themselves in vulnerable positions (just like some people cannot be on the front lines in street protests), we maintain that if enough of us show up with our bodies in the court room to support comrades like Eric, it will strengthen the very movement the right wing and the state is attempting to neutralize. This also continues to set a precedent that if any of us are under attack we will be supported by each other.
August 10 is Eric’s preliminary hearing and his case will be the only one heard in that court room. Therefore, if you can, please come and pack the room so there’s no space for the trolls and their cameras. But before you come to court, please check out this article to educate yourself on how doxxing works and what kind of personal information you can wipe clean from the internet about yourself -especially your home address, place of work, and contact information of you and your family.
https://itsgoingdown.org/time-beef-defense-against-far-right-doxxing/
Together we’re stronger! Let’s do this ya’ll!
Public Banking Gets a Hearing at the California Treasurer’s Cannabis Banking Working Group’s Final Public Meeting
Click Here to Listen and Watch Live on Thursday at 9:30am PacificThe final public meeting on Thursday, August 10th, of the Cannabis Banking Working Group will be held in West Los Angeles. The entire four hour session is dedicated to reviewing public banking as a solution to the lack of banking services being provided to the cannabis industry. Tune in via the webcast — it’ll be an informative discussion and public debate. Matt Stannard, representing Commonomics USA, will be asking some important questions, noting that there are other markets where private banks are not providing banking services, proposing a four-phase approach to public banking, and suggesting that the state may wish to consider issuing a new banking license — a Public Bank Charter.
The Divest Build Coalition is a group of activists who believe that there can a symbiotic relationship between 1) divestment from fossil fuels and big banks, 2) addressing a host of social issues and 3) creating public finance that stops feeding Wall Street and sucking the life out of local communities.
We are currently organizing the state of California and intend to ultimately transform the progressive activist landscape of the state by closing the loop on our tangible resources that can be used for good. Commonomics USA is a founding organizer and will be providing more information at www.divestbuild.org.
Join Us! Click here to become a Commonomics USA member.
Commonomics USA envisions a world where a Commons-based economy creates economic and ecological security for all. We educate and advocate for the reclamation of the Commons from predatory capitalism and privatization, and build model law and policies that establish sustainable, economically just systems based in the Commons.
ICAC’s next Working Group meeting will be on Thursday, August 10. We will have a guest speaker, Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern who speak to us about his department’s efforts on addressing homelessness, immigration and refugee, and other matters of importance to the faith communities. Please join us.
Sheriff Ahern Speaks
At one of the last Beloved Conversations classes, people of color from the community came to speak about ways we as a congregation can be an ally against racism.
One of the speakers talked about the policies and practices of the county sheriff as having a big impact on people of color.
We can make a difference and find out more by attending this event. I went to a town hall with the sheriff last month and felt that I learned a lot about how much power the sheriff has, and how he is using that power. (and am now determined to do something about it)
There are 53 recommendations for improvement of the Bart Police Oversight Citizen Review Board system. Oscar Grant family would love to hear your concerns and will be happy to talk about the details once you’ve had a chance to review the recommendations. https://drive.google.com/
These will be on the agenda for the Bart Board of Directors meeting on August 10th (this is an evening meeting starting at 5 pm) and on the Bart Police Oversight Citizen Review Board committee meeting agenda for August 14th (starting at 4 pm). It would be helpful to hear your thoughts about the recommendations and answer any questions you may have about how/whether we might implement the recommendations. There is no immediate plan for the Directors to vote on implementing anything until we can take a closer look at what’s actually possible and what resources would be needed to put any these changes into place. The August 10 meeting is an opportunity for the Directors to begin discussions about the report and to ask any questions they may have of Mr. Gennaco and Mr. Zisser, who helped in the recommendation for improvement, and hear the community concerns. There will also be an opportunity for public comment on the agenda item. https://drive.google.com/
1992 Jerrold Hall – Murdered
1997 Robert Greer – Murdered
2001 Bruce Seward – Murdered
2008 Kenneth Carrethers – Excessive Force
2009 Oscar Grant – Murdered
2010 13 yrs – attempted to Tase
2010 Fred Collins – Murdered
2010 Jason Johnson – Tased
2011 Charles Blair Hill – Murdered
2014 James Nate Greer – Murdered
2014 Tommy Smith – Murdered
2014 Robert James Asberry – Tased
2014 Nubia Bowe – Excessive Force
2016 Andrea Appleton – Excessive Force
2016 Michael Smith – Excessive Force
Film Showing & Discussion
At 8:15 am, on August 6, 1945, a blazing, million-degree fireball suddenly appeared just above the Japanese city of Hiroshima, instantly killing, burning alive, or vaporizing tens of thousands.
The U.S. had just exploded the first nuclear bomb over the center of a city of 350,000. killing between 140-150,000. Three days later, on August 9, the U.S. dropped an even more powerful nuclear bomb on Nagasaki, destroying the city and murdering another 70,000 people.
WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN reveals the unimaginable destructive power of the bombs, the inconceivable suffering and extraordinary human resilience. Director Steven Okazaki tells the amazing, shocking and inspiring stories of fourteen survivors.
WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN stands as a powerful warning that, with enough nuclear weapons to equal 400,000 Hiroshimas, we can’t afford to forget what happened on those two days in 1945. We also can’t forget that the US is the only country that has ever used nuclear weapons in war, that the US government has never said it was wrong to use them against Japan, and that to this day, it has a policy justifying first use of nuclear weapons in future wars.
This is especially true now under the Trump/Pence fascist regime with Trump’s finger on the nuclear button. In just the past weeks, Trump/Pence have threatened millions around the globe by deploying attack aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines to the Korean Peninsula, setting up the THAAD anti-missile defense system in South Korea and threatening Iran and other countries.
Next opportunity to turn out against Urban Shield!
9:10 am Task Force Discussion Groups Small groups will generate a list of proposed actions for each question under consideration by the Task Force. (Facilitation Team) – In small groups, formulate responses to the five learning questions under consideration by the Task Force – Develop summary of small group proposals (i.e., topics with unanimous/majority support; topics requiring further study; and unresolved topics with no consensus) Attachment Discussion IV.
10:40 am Task Force Discussion Group Reports Task Force will make a preliminary assessment of the proposed actions generated in the small group discussions. Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 (Facilitation Team) – In plenary session, present summaries of small group proposals for addressing the five learning questions (with Q & A) – Preview Meeting #6 Discussion V.
11:50 am Public Comment (Chairman, Muntu Davis, MD, Department of Public Health)
Socialist Action presents Rebel Films. This week’s film is the John Pilger documentary entitled “The Coming War on China.” Pilger, an incisive critic of Western economic and military power, documents the American military bases now encircling the world’s newest superpower. This is both a warning and an inspiring story of people’s resistance to war.
You can join Sunflower Alliance in gathering petition signatures at the Our Power event in Richmond on August 12th. Come by our table.
On this statewide day of action, join volunteers across California in hosting Petition-Gathering Events at our local farmers markets, grocery stores, shopping centers, and community events. You will:
1) Hand out fact sheets to raise awareness about the gargantuan amounts of money the oil industry is spending to continue to drilling and polluting in California,
2) Collect as many petition signatures as possible to demand that our legislators stop taking dirty oil money and start prioritizing public health over industry profits. That petition is here.
To sign up to host an event in your community and get more information and materials to print out, start here.
If you haven’t had the chance to sign and share the Oil Money Out petition, please add your name here. Thank you for everything you are able to do to help us spread the word about the petition and our upcoming petition-gathering events.
14th & Broadway, Oakland, 7pm. See you tonight. pic.twitter.com/72KBGO4pJx
— Berkeley Antifa (@berkeleyantifa) August 12, 2017
All out for the emergency response rally tonight, 7PM Oscar Grant Plaza.https://t.co/iZ5l655niL
— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) August 12, 2017
This skillshare will be focused on radical first aid/first responce. The facilitator will share information regarding protecting yourself at actions and protests, treating the effects of “less-than-lethal” technologies, and give a report back about their work at Standing Rock.
Indivisible SF stands with nonviolent protesters against white supremacy all over the country, particularly in Charlottesville, Virginia, the city where violent white supremacists attacked innocent people last night and today.
President Trump has condemned violence “on many sides,” without specifically naming white supremacists, leading them to feel supported by his statement. We want statements from all of our elected officials that clearly, expressly condemn white supremacists.
Please join us this evening, August 12 at 8:30 PM, at Union Square for a peaceful silent candlelight vigil to protest white supremacy, white supremacist violence, and Trump’s silence.
You do not need to be a member of Indivisible SF. Please cover your mouth with your hand or with tape (no masks, please) and remain silent for the duration of this nonviolent action. Please bring a candle (electric preferred) if you have one.
Come stand up for immigrants, refugees and the marginalized folks ensnared by the criminal injustice system who are inside the Bay Area’s regional ICE detention center / Contra Costa’s county’s jail—and show your support for their visiting loved ones too. It’s our responsibility to fight the right wing’s racist, xenophobic, anti-Muslim, ableist, transphobic, homophobic, misogynist ramp up of authoritarian policing, detention and deportation practices—if not now, when?
FEATURING:
Rabbi Dev Nolly and members of Kehilla Community Synagogue
Bend the Arc Bay Area Resistance (Co-organizer)
Occupella
and more TBA…
Let Our People Go is a youth-and-elder-friendly action that opposes the detentions/deportations and mass incarceration with activist debriefs, music, art, stories and representation from different faith communities (including faithful and faithless humanists). Accessible site, easy parking, bathrooms available closeby in the visitors waiting room.
LET OUR PEOPLE GO was initiated by members of the Kehilla Immigration Committee on the 2nd Sunday of every month, modeled on the 1st Saturday vigils held by our partners at Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. Many of us, especially caregivers, can’t get to evening meetings or attend long weekend events and marches, but we want to show up and we want to get youth involved in this struggle. This one-hour protest is a way for more families with tweens/teens—especially those with citizenship privileges—to stand up for our peoples and bring more attention to this immoral site of internment right in our community.
Send us your ideas via letourpeoplego@kehillasyna
Just announced: there's a rally to #RefuseFascism at 2pm today in SF at 24th & Mission streets, in response to #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/9A1bquZdxT
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation) August 13, 2017