Calendar

Hey Friends!

Wanted to extend an invite to housing activist folks to come visit Youth Spirit’s Tiny House Empowerment Village some weekend soon. We are doing “builds” Sat and Sun 930 to 4pm every weekend at 633 Hegenberger Rd near the Coliseum and its a ton of fun. Deeply Spirited and also Covid safe. Text 510-282-0396 for directions from BART.

Stop by and say hello!! We would love to show folks around!

Do you want to learn effective techniques to intervene in an unjust world?
Do you want to plan effective and powerful direct actions?

East Bay DSA’s Direct Action Working Group is excited to continue our Direct Action Training series this weekend! The training will take place on Zoom from 10 am-12 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Attending both days is highly recommended. This training will cover the same ground as the previous Direct Action training which was very well received.

As racist violence, unemployment, evictions, and climate chaos keep increasing, we need to expand our capacity to leverage our collective power. This training series will introduce creative ways to escalate ongoing campaigns, participate in mass uprisings, and keep each other safe in our confrontations with capital and the state.

The training is 4 hours spread across two days. Please attend both days.

Direct Action Part 1: Sat Dec 19 (10 am-noon)
•History and examples of Direct Action
•Action Team roles, action design
•De-Escalation
•Affinity Groups & Decision-Making
•The Police

Direct Action Part 2: Sun Dec 20 (10amnoon)
•Gear/equipment
•Messaging
•Security Culture
•Basic First Aid

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqdeqhqjkuEt0GhjejXGHpkw-AyFwtvcnf

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Do you want to learn effective techniques to intervene in an unjust world?
Do you want to plan effective and powerful direct actions?

East Bay DSA’s Direct Action Working Group is excited to continue our Direct Action Training series this weekend! The training will take place on Zoom from 10 am-12 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Attending both days is highly recommended. This training will cover the same ground as the previous Direct Action training which was very well received.

As racist violence, unemployment, evictions, and climate chaos keep increasing, we need to expand our capacity to leverage our collective power. This training series will introduce creative ways to escalate ongoing campaigns, participate in mass uprisings, and keep each other safe in our confrontations with capital and the state.

The training is 4 hours spread across two days. Please attend both days.

Direct Action Part 1: Sat Dec 19 (10 am-noon)
•History and examples of Direct Action
•Action Team roles, action design
•De-Escalation
•Affinity Groups & Decision-Making
•The Police

Direct Action Part 2: Sun Dec 20 (10amnoon)
•Gear/equipment
•Messaging
•Security Culture
•Basic First Aid

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqdeqhqjkuEt0GhjejXGHpkw-AyFwtvcnf

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Current login info here

Sun, Dec 20, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm

CONFIRMED: The Present Farmers’ Movement in India: A Working Class Perspective
The present farmers’ movement in India has evoked a lot of interest among progressive and democratic circles around the world. In this context, certain questions need to be answered: What do these farmers actually want? What are their principal demands? What are the three Farm Bills and whom does they benefit? Where are the demands of poor peasantry and agricultural proletariat in this entire picture? Where do the urban working class of India figure in this scenario? As Plekhanov once said, living people think on living questions and these are some of the living questions of our times. As Marxists, we need to answer these questions in order to articulate a proletarian position on these issues
Our speaker is Abhinav Sinha (Editor, ‘Mazdoor Bigul‘, Writer ‘Red Polemique‘ Blog and Political Activist, Delhi, India) to speak on this topic.

Sun, Dec 27, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: The Three Concepts of Freedom

Synopsis: In this session we will compare and contrast the Liberal, Democratic, and the communist concepts of freedom. We will discuss that the Liberal freedom consists of the legal guarantees against outside intrusions. Democratic freedom emphasizes the right to participate in the life of the community, and the communist understanding of it consists of self-determination, i.e. non-alienated life.

Our speaker, Kambiz Sakhai, was born and educated in Iran. His studies included: Sociology, Middle Eastern Studies and Psychology. He has lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 30 years. He is one of the founders of ICSS. 

Moderator: Raj Sahai

Sun, Jan 3, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Open Planning Meeting
CONFIRMED: Group Discussion: 2020-2021 The Year in Review and Preview.
Time to get together, talk about what happened in 2020, and discuss our hopes, fears, and tasks for 2021. Everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion. Concrete proposals welcomed and will be  considered by the Program Committee.

Sun, Jan 10, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: Michael Roberts,  The Story of the Year of the COVID: But What Now for 2021?
2020 will go down in history – a worldwide pandemic from a previously unknown virus deadly to humans, killing millions or leaving them with permanent health problems; forcing lockdowns across the world that destroyed the world economy in the worst slump in the history of capitalism; and driving millions globally into poverty and loss of livelihood.  Where did all this come from?  Can capitalism come out of this unscarred?  With vaccines on the way is the crisis over?  What are the prospects for lives and livelihoods in 2021?

Raj Sahai is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join the 12/27 Zoom Meeting

Sun Dec 27, 2020 10:15am – 1:15pm Pacific Time

Raj Sahai is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2591082607?pwd=TTdlcFlnZEVCdWt2VlRHeWZLeHNKQT09

Meeting ID: 259 108 2607

Passcode: 6MwQP7

One tap mobile

+16699006833,,2591082607#,,,,,,0#,,396538# US (San Jose)

+13462487799,,2591082607#,,,,,,0#,,396538# US (Houston)

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbXBRf3FyY

The DSA Labor Ed Study Series: Lessons from the 1930s for the 2020s presents a film screening of The Killing Floor, which highlights the plight of workers fighting to build an interracial union in the meatpacking industry in the years leading up to the Chicago race riot of 1919.

The screening is open to everyone. Participants of our Labor reading groups are encouraged to join and reflect on this period leading up to the Great Depression, as we currently read about Black workers and the fight against racism in the 30s. We’ll host a short discussion after the film for those who stick around.

RSVP for Zoom link.

Schedule a pickup

Schedule a pickup

Current login info here

Sun, Dec 20, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm

CONFIRMED: The Present Farmers’ Movement in India: A Working Class Perspective
The present farmers’ movement in India has evoked a lot of interest among progressive and democratic circles around the world. In this context, certain questions need to be answered: What do these farmers actually want? What are their principal demands? What are the three Farm Bills and whom does they benefit? Where are the demands of poor peasantry and agricultural proletariat in this entire picture? Where do the urban working class of India figure in this scenario? As Plekhanov once said, living people think on living questions and these are some of the living questions of our times. As Marxists, we need to answer these questions in order to articulate a proletarian position on these issues
Our speaker is Abhinav Sinha (Editor, ‘Mazdoor Bigul‘, Writer ‘Red Polemique‘ Blog and Political Activist, Delhi, India) to speak on this topic.

Sun, Dec 27, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: The Three Concepts of Freedom

Synopsis: In this session we will compare and contrast the Liberal, Democratic, and the communist concepts of freedom. We will discuss that the Liberal freedom consists of the legal guarantees against outside intrusions. Democratic freedom emphasizes the right to participate in the life of the community, and the communist understanding of it consists of self-determination, i.e. non-alienated life.

Our speaker, Kambiz Sakhai, was born and educated in Iran. His studies included: Sociology, Middle Eastern Studies and Psychology. He has lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 30 years. He is one of the founders of ICSS. 

Moderator: Raj Sahai

Sun, Jan 3, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Open Planning Meeting
CONFIRMED: Group Discussion: 2020-2021 The Year in Review and Preview.
Time to get together, talk about what happened in 2020, and discuss our hopes, fears, and tasks for 2021. Everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion. Concrete proposals welcomed and will be  considered by the Program Committee.

Sun, Jan 10, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: Michael Roberts,  The Story of the Year of the COVID: But What Now for 2021?
2020 will go down in history – a worldwide pandemic from a previously unknown virus deadly to humans, killing millions or leaving them with permanent health problems; forcing lockdowns across the world that destroyed the world economy in the worst slump in the history of capitalism; and driving millions globally into poverty and loss of livelihood.  Where did all this come from?  Can capitalism come out of this unscarred?  With vaccines on the way is the crisis over?  What are the prospects for lives and livelihoods in 2021?

Raj Sahai is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join the 12/27 Zoom Meeting

Sun Dec 27, 2020 10:15am – 1:15pm Pacific Time

Raj Sahai is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2591082607?pwd=TTdlcFlnZEVCdWt2VlRHeWZLeHNKQT09

Meeting ID: 259 108 2607

Passcode: 6MwQP7

One tap mobile

+16699006833,,2591082607#,,,,,,0#,,396538# US (San Jose)

+13462487799,,2591082607#,,,,,,0#,,396538# US (Houston)

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbXBRf3FyY

The community host the 12th Annual Oscar Grant Vigil sponsored by the Oscar Grant Foundation!

Schedule a pickup

Schedule a pickup

Current login info here

Sun, Dec 20, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm

CONFIRMED: The Present Farmers’ Movement in India: A Working Class Perspective
The present farmers’ movement in India has evoked a lot of interest among progressive and democratic circles around the world. In this context, certain questions need to be answered: What do these farmers actually want? What are their principal demands? What are the three Farm Bills and whom does they benefit? Where are the demands of poor peasantry and agricultural proletariat in this entire picture? Where do the urban working class of India figure in this scenario? As Plekhanov once said, living people think on living questions and these are some of the living questions of our times. As Marxists, we need to answer these questions in order to articulate a proletarian position on these issues
Our speaker is Abhinav Sinha (Editor, ‘Mazdoor Bigul‘, Writer ‘Red Polemique‘ Blog and Political Activist, Delhi, India) to speak on this topic.

Sun, Dec 27, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: The Three Concepts of Freedom

Synopsis: In this session we will compare and contrast the Liberal, Democratic, and the communist concepts of freedom. We will discuss that the Liberal freedom consists of the legal guarantees against outside intrusions. Democratic freedom emphasizes the right to participate in the life of the community, and the communist understanding of it consists of self-determination, i.e. non-alienated life.

Our speaker, Kambiz Sakhai, was born and educated in Iran. His studies included: Sociology, Middle Eastern Studies and Psychology. He has lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 30 years. He is one of the founders of ICSS. 

Moderator: Raj Sahai

Sun, Jan 3, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Open Planning Meeting
CONFIRMED: Group Discussion: 2020-2021 The Year in Review and Preview.
Time to get together, talk about what happened in 2020, and discuss our hopes, fears, and tasks for 2021. Everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion. Concrete proposals welcomed and will be  considered by the Program Committee.

Sun, Jan 10, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: Michael Roberts,  The Story of the Year of the COVID: But What Now for 2021?
2020 will go down in history – a worldwide pandemic from a previously unknown virus deadly to humans, killing millions or leaving them with permanent health problems; forcing lockdowns across the world that destroyed the world economy in the worst slump in the history of capitalism; and driving millions globally into poverty and loss of livelihood.  Where did all this come from?  Can capitalism come out of this unscarred?  With vaccines on the way is the crisis over?  What are the prospects for lives and livelihoods in 2021?

Raj Sahai is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join the 12/27 Zoom Meeting

Sun Dec 27, 2020 10:15am – 1:15pm Pacific Time

Raj Sahai is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2591082607?pwd=TTdlcFlnZEVCdWt2VlRHeWZLeHNKQT09

Meeting ID: 259 108 2607

Passcode: 6MwQP7

One tap mobile

+16699006833,,2591082607#,,,,,,0#,,396538# US (San Jose)

+13462487799,,2591082607#,,,,,,0#,,396538# US (Houston)

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbXBRf3FyY

Zoom link

What is the state?
Do we need it?
Why or why not?
Let’s hear from CDP members, supporters, and naysayers!

Fishbowl Rules:
The Middle: Only 2-4 people may have their microphones on at a time.

Tapping In: To tap in, let us know in the chat and the facilitator will put you in the stack.

Tapping Out: If you’ve been in the fishbowl for a long time and you see that someone is trying to tap-in, feel free to say “I’m tapping out.” Mute yourself to officially leave the middle. That will let the facilitator know that they can tap someone in.

Topics: The facilitator will have questions prepared in case participants run out of things to say but please feel free to come with your OWN questions and ideas about how to overcome spectator politics! This is a participatory event!

If you need closed captioning, please let us know by emailing communitydemocracyproject@gmail.com and we will try our HARDEST to make it happen!

Join us for a screening of the Kiss the Ground film and a follow-up Q&A panel discussion hosted by Citizens Climate Lobby, Business Climate Leaders, and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers for Environmental Action.

The cure to climate change has been here this whole time, and it’s right under our feet. Kiss the Ground is a full-length feature documentary that focuses on regenerative agriculture and soil health as a leading solution to the climate crisis.

We will be discussing the ways that our relationship to food and farming directly impacts the planet as a whole. When we’re farming right, we can regenerate our soil, build community, strengthen local economies, promote biodiversity, restore ecosystems, fight climate change, and heal our bodies.

Thanks for coming together to watch this film and participate in this engaging discussion, highlighting the intersection of agricultural policy impacts on farming and climate action.  And thanks for being on this path to regeneration with us!

Run of Show:

Jan 2-6 at your leisure: Watch the feature-length film on Vimeo at your leisure

Jan 6 – 3:30 pm PST: Come together to watch the educational cut of the film with us on Zoom followed by a panel discussion and Q&A starting at 4:15 pm PST

Register here

Public Banking is on the move in California and across the country! Last year, California passed a groundbreaking law that allows for the creation of up to 10 local/regional banks, and there is a growing effort here to create the first statewide public bank in over 100 years. In addition, US Representatives Rashida Tlaib (MI) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) have introduced the Federal Public Banking Act, which would foster the creation of public banks across the country by establishing national guidelines and ways to finance them.

The California Public Banking Alliance is convening two conversations with national experts to explore the role public banking can play in winning economic and ecological justice.

Panel 1 – 10am to 11am: Putting People and Planet Before Profit. Featuring Emily Kawano and Mike Strode of the US Solidarity Economy Network. Moderated by David Cobb with CPBA and Cooperation Humboldt.

Panel 2 – 11:15am to 12:15pm: Public Banks, Fossil Fuel Divestment and Community Reinvestment. Featuring Reina Tello of People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights (PODER) and Sylvia Chi of Asia Pacific Economic Network (APEN). Moderated by Doug Norlen with CPBA and Friends of the Earth.

This space is to support the difficult emotional work of dismantling white supremacy within ourselves and our communities in order to fortify our hearts, minds, and bodies to continue to show up for racial justice.

We will provide opportunities to explore internal barriers that are holding us back from living out our desire to work for racial justice and practice how to deeply listen to each other to create a culture that supports calling people into the movement from a place of love.

We utilize large group and small group dialogues that are grounded in theories of social change and anti-racist white identity development. We see this space as open to any white person who is interested in honest conversation, reflection, and confrontation with race, racism, and white privilege. This space is intended to be a support to help people to build resilience in order to move into a more active role in dismantling white supremacy.

This session, part of our series exploring Calling In VS. Calling Out, focuses on the difference between calling in and calling out; what calling in looks like; and when and why to use this skill.

More info and register here: https://www.surjbayarea.org/events/saturday-dialogues-creating-a-call-in-culture9918536

Part II on January 23rd Facebook Event page

At the southern end of the Japanese archipelago lies Okinawa, host to a vast complex of U.S. military bases. A legacy of World War II, these bases have been a fraught issue for decades—with tensions exacerbated by the often volatile relationship between islanders and the military, especially after the brutal rape of a 12-year-old girl by three servicemen in 1995. In Night in the American Village, Akemi Johnson takes readers deep into the “border towns” surrounding the bases—a world where cultural and political fault lines compel individuals, both Japanese and American, to continually renegotiate their own identities.

Joining Akemi in conversation is author of Green Island and former Fulbright scholar, Shawna Yang Ryan. In a story that sweeps across six decades and two continents, Green Island traces the course of Taiwan’s history, from the end of Japanese colonial rule, to the decades under martial law, and finally to Taiwan’s transformation into a democracy. This lush, lyrical novel depicts a family and a nation grappling with the nuances of complicity and survival, raising the question: How far would you be willing to go for the ones you love?

RSVP to receive the Zoom link to participate in the live Q&A! The event will also be streamed via YouTube Live.

We’ll meet via Zoom. Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com for the invite.

For our January meeting we’ll be reading the entries in the Edge of Chaos blog symposium, orchestrated by Beth Plutchak. The symposium is available as single .pdf accessible and downloadable here.

Strike Debt Bay Area hosts a non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included Doughnut Economics, Limits, Banking on the People, Capital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, The Deficit Myth, and Revenge Capitalism.

Join us – all are welcome!