Calendar
We hope you all had an active and inspiring Earth Day, May Day, and Spring Rebellion. Our next Open House is this Saturday, May 10, at 11 am PT, 12 pm MT, 1 pm CT, 2 pm ET. Activists who participated in the Spring Rebellion will join us to talk about their local actions. We will also provide an overview of Non-Violent Direct Action in climate activism and brainstorm ideas about what activists need in this moment to fight climate collapse. We hope to see you all there!
Register Here for the May 10 Open House
Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite. All are welcome!
For our May, 2025 meeting we will be reading the first fourteen essays in The New Possible: Visions of Our World Beyond Crisis (Barnes and Noble). For our June meeting, we will read the remaining essays.
2020 upended every aspect of our lives. But where is our world heading next? Will pandemic, protests, economic instability, and social distance lead to deeper inequalities, more nationalism, and further erosion of democracies around the world? Or are we moving toward a global re-awakening to the importance of community, mutual support, and the natural world? In our lifetimes, the future has never been so up for grabs. The New Possible offers twenty-eight unique visions of what can be, if instead of choosing to go back to normal, we choose to go forward to something far better.
Assembled from global leaders on six continents, these essays are not simply speculation. They are an inspiration and a roadmap for action. With essays by: Kim Stanley Robinson, Michael Pollan, Varshini Prakash, Vandana Shiva, Jack Kornfield, Mamphela Ramphele, Justin Rosenstein, Jack Kornfield, Helena Nordberg-Hodge, David Korten, Tristan Harris, Eileen Crist, Francis Deng, Riane Eisler, Arturo Escobar, Rebecca Kiddle, Mike Joy, Natalie Foster, Jess Rimington, Jeremy Lent, Atossa Soltani, Mark Anielski, Ellen Brown, John Restakis, Zak Stein, Oren Slozberg, Anisa Nanavati, and Fr. Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam
Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included (in chronological order) Doughnut Economics, Limits, Banking on the People, Capital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, The Deficit Myth, Revenge Capitalism, the Edge of Chaos blog symposium , Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons, The Optimist’s Telescope, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, Exploring Degrowth, The Origin of Wealth, Mine!, The Dawn of Everything A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Beyond Money, Less is More, Cannibal Capitalism, Debt, the First 5000 Years , Poverty, By America, End Times, Jackson Rising Redux , The Feminist Subversion of the Economy, How Infrastructure Works, Inside the Systems that Shape our World, Wealth Supremacy, The Persuaders, The Path to a Livable Future, Solidarity, Mutual Aid, Breaking Together, Making Sense of Chaos and TechnoFeudalism.
Speaker: Bahman Azad
To Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 851 7586 0127
Passcode: 580909
Call one of these numbers and enter the codes above:
• +1 646 931 3860 US
• +1 669 444 9171 US
The US/Israel are actively and overtly preparing for war on Iran. From their perspective current conditions may be favorable for an attack due to several strategic and geopolitical factors. Iran could be nearing weapons-grade uranium enrichment levels, but it does not yet have a nuclear deterrent capability. Additionally, regional instability—such as the weakening of Iran’s allies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen—may reduce the risk of retaliation. Israel’s recent normalization of relations with several Arab states could also provide a buffer against diplomatic backlash. Domestically, political leaders both Washington and Tel Aviv may view military action as a way to demonstrate resolve and shift focus from internal issues. Combined, these conditions create a strategic window in which a limited strike or broader campaign against Iran might be deemed militarily effective and politically propitious.
Our speaker, Bahman Azad, is eminently qualified to discuss the current volatile situation in west Asia. He is a retired professor of economics and sociology. His area of research includes the political economy of capitalism and socialism. He is the author of the book: Heroic Struggle, Bitter Defeat: Factors Contributing to the Dismantling of the Socialist State in the USSR. Bahman is currently the president of the U.S. Peace Council, a member of the secretariat of the World Peace Council, and representative of the World Peace Council at the United Nations. He is also a member of the administrative committee of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC).
Bahman Azad is affiliated with the anti-imperialist, Iranian “10 Mehr” Group. He was co-chair of Venezuelan Embassy Protectors Defense Committee and is currently serving as the coordinator of the Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases and co-coordinator of the Hands-Off Syria Coalition.
NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:
occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)
On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over six years, since October 2011! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally. Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.
At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.
General Assembly Standard Agenda
Welcome & Introductions
Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
Announcements
(Optional) Discussion Topic
Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.
Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area
San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv
Dial by your location
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of World BEYOND War and campaign coordinator of RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie and When the World Outlawed War. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and hosts Talk World Radio.
On November 10, 2024, Swanson was awarded the Real Nobel Peace Prize by the Lay Down Your Arms Foundation in Oslo, Norway. Swanson was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. He was also awarded a Beacon of Peace Award by the Eisenhower Chapter of Veterans For Peace in 2011, and the Dorothy Eldridge Peacemaker Award by New Jersey Peace Action in 2022, and a Global Peace Leadership & Excellence Award in 2024.
OTU’s Mission
The Oakland Tenants Union is an organization of housing activists dedicated to protecting tenant rights and interests. OTU does this by working directly with tenants in their struggle with landlords, impacting legislation and public policy about housing, community education, and working with other organizations committed to furthering renters’ rights. The Oakland Tenants Union is open to anyone who shares our core values and who believes that tenants themselves have the primary responsibility to work on their own behalf.
Monthly Meetings
The Oakland Tenants Union meets regularly at 7:00 pm on the second Monday evening of each month. Our monthly meetings are held in the Community Room of the Madison Park Apartments, 100 – 9th Street (at Oak Street, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station). To enter, gently knock on the window of the room to the right of the main entrance to the building. At the meetings, first we focus on general issues affecting renters city-wide and then second we offer advice to renters regarding their individual concerns.
If you have an issue, a question, or need advice about a tenant/landlord issue, please call us at (510) 704-5276. Leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will get back to you.
Please email contact@oaklandprivacy.org a few days before the meeting to get up-to-date location information or obtain Zoom meeting access info.
Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, police militarization and ICE, and to advocate for privacy, surveillance regulation of both corporations and the state, and government transparency, around the Bay and nationwide.
We fight against spy drones, facial recognition, tracking equipment and online tracking, police body camera secrecy, anti-transparency laws, and requirements for “backdoors” to cellphones; we oppose “pre-crime” and “thought-crime,” — to list just a few invasions of our privacy by all levels of Government, and attempts to hide what government officials, employees and agencies are doing.
We draft and push for privacy legislation for City Councils, at the County level, and in Sacramento. We advocate in op-eds and in the streets. We pursue lawsuits as necessary to protect our rights. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and believe no one is illegal.
Check out some of what we worked on in 2024, with links back through 2019.
Oakland Privacy originally came together in 2013 to fight against the Domain Awareness Center, Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub. OP was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network. We helped fight and in 2018 we helped win the fight against Urban Shield.
Our major projects currently include local legislation to regulate state surveillance (we got the strongest surveillance regulation ordinance in the country passed in Oakland!), supporting and opposing state legislation as appropriate, battling mass surveillance in the form of facial recognition and other analytics, mass aerial surveillance, ubiquitous license plate readers, online tracking and ID requirements, street surveillance, and fighting to ensure local governments adhere to State privacy and transparency regulations.
On September 12th, 2019 we were presented with a Barlow Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for our work, and on March 16th, 2021 the James Madison Freedom of Information Award by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists.
If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy email listserv, coming to a meeting, or have questions, send an email to:
Check out our website: http://oaklandprivacy.org/
Follow us on twitter: @oaklandprivacy, and/or on Mastodon at https://mastodon.social/@oaklandprivacy, and/or at Bluesky at @oaklandprivacy.bsky.social
Come join us as we plan SudoRoom’s non-profit and beyond future! We’re getting good momentum with great things ahead of us.
This Wednesday meetup is open to members and the public.
Main topics:
- Non-Profit status – how do we get there from here
- What will be made possible by non profit status
- Ideas for upcoming theme nights
- Ideas for collaborations with other cool spaces
- Coordination around major art and cultural events in the next few months in the SF Bay Area and beyond
We’re fighting back against attacks on our students, educators, and communities launched by the Trump/Musk administration.
Join educators and allies on May 17 to stand up for students and defend public education!
- Workshop on how ICE operates and Knowing Your Rights, RSVP here
Yet, despite decades of zionist aggression, for 77 years, Palestinians continue to resist, fighting for their land, their liberation, and their return. As the genocide in Gaza intensifies, violence in the West Bank escalates, and attacks on our movement grow, now is the time to show the ruling class that the world rejects Zionism—and that the masses stand with Palestine.
This Nakba 77 March will bring together people from across the world to demand:
1️⃣ An end to the genocide in Gaza;
2️⃣ A full and immediate two-way arms embargo on Israel;
3️⃣ The release of all Palestinian political prisoners;
4️⃣ Immediate humanitarian aid and reconstruction for Gaza;
5️⃣ An end to the Zionist occupation of all Palestinian land.
In Palestine and in exile, the struggle for liberation continues. We refuse to be silenced. We call on all Palestinians, and on every person of conscience, to march with us this May 17 for a free Palestine. Your voice, your presence, and your solidarity are needed now more than ever.
“Police Brutality”
That is the name of my book.
I invite all who are interested to come to a meeting. We will discuss relations between the police and the people, the effects of police violence, and its relations to many other issues – like housing, the homeless, and the nature of free speech.
I do not make a case for cahoots. What I analyze is the police culture that can be brutal, and think that it moves toward their own end goal. I analyze local videos, local witnesses, and the ideas of ordinary people. I don’t listen to the cops.
There are three big issues that drop out of this analysis:
1- Police operations that should be peaceful (like calls by people needing help), end up with someone killed (shot, tased, strangled, etc.).
2- The secret issue of race and white supremacy; the police means of fostering racialization through their brutality.
3- Torture is not for information; the police want servitude or obeisance.
Bring your ideas, your experience, your critiques, and join us.
The book will be available at the meeting.
Or, you can get it at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, or Xlibris
Steve Martinot PO Box 11842, 94712 martinot4@gmail.com
A call to discuss a book, with an open Q and A
“Police Brutality”
An analysis of the culture of the local police in the US
By Steve Martinot
Police Brutality discusses the current police culture in America and how it affects our lives. Steve Martinot will discuss his book, followed by an open Q&A. Discussion will also be about current matters, such a the new community formed around objections to Elon Musk’s financial rioting; how Trump presents himself as having a “Royal Mind;” and the meaning of recent plainclothes arrests of immigrant residents and others.
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When a man runs away from police restraint (as in handcuffing) and the cop shoots him, we know that the cop has decided to shoot this person. He can say he did it against disobedience. But obedience is irrelevant to dead men.
The circularities of police reasoning:: arresting a person for resisting arrest.
A cop stops a motorist, a few words are spoken; and then the cop rips open the car door, pulls the driver out of the car and throws him on the street. Or is the cop arresting him for objecting to the cop? That would be police impunity. The cop is the law, and a law above the law. All this even happens in Berkeley (see the Copwatch documentary).
When a homeless person took a sandwich from a downtown store, the cops surrounded him and one fired his gun. He hit the guy in the jaw. That means he was aiming for his head, which means he intended to kill him – but missed.
Copies of Police Brutality will be available. .
Speaker: Anthony D’Agostino
To Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 873 8882 4824
Passcode: 042428
Call one of these numbers and enter the codes above:
• +1 646 931 3860 US
• +1 669 444 9171 US
Join us on Sunday, May 18th for a community-wide rummage sale! What better way to reduce, reuse, and recycle while supporting an amazing cause?
🥳 This will be a family-friendly event with food, music, and crafts alongside tons of awesome, gently used items. All proceeds will go directly to the beneficiaries surviving genocide.
🧤We will have new and vintage furniture, art supplies, pet supplies, outdoor gear, tools and construction supplies, music and audio gear, and more.
☎️CALLING FOR DONATIONS:
If you have items to donate to the sale, please bring them between 9am and 11am on the day of the event. All items must be in a good working condition without too much visible wear.
😷 There is an ADA accessible restroom indoors and we will have a relaxation station inside as well. Masking required inside, with limited masks provided. The rest of the event will take place outdoors.
🛍️ Plan for how you will transport your newly purchased items by bringing reusable bags/boxes, or maybe a friend with a pickup truck!
NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:
occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)
On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over six years, since October 2011! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally. Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.
At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.
General Assembly Standard Agenda
Welcome & Introductions
Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
Announcements
(Optional) Discussion Topic
Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.
Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area
San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv
Join us this evening online and in person for our monthly general meeting! We’re meeting in person at The People’s House in Oakland, The Breathe Building in Sacramento or online. Register Here.
Our monthly meetings are opportunities for or broader to community to be briefed on our work, learn more about how to support the work of APTP committees and participate in calls to action.
Federal Court Hearing on Berkeley Homeless Union (BHU) v City of Berkeley lawsuit
See https://berkeleyspeaks.org/unhoused-in-berkeley/
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3:25-cv-01414-EMC – Berkeley Homeless Union et al v. City of Berkeley et al Motion for Preliminary Injunction |
To enter Judge Chen’s virtual courtroom, please click the link below:
https://cand-uscourts.zoomgov.com/j/1619911861?pwd=TjVma1lnMlJlNHR3ZE9QMkFjNkFndz09
Webinar ID: 161 991 1861
Password: 912881
For important information and guidance on technical preparation, please see https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/zoom/.
All cases are being heard via the Zoom Webinar link above.
Federal District Court Judge Edward Chen. will hold a hearing on the suit to prevent sweep of 8th and Harrison encampment.
The BHU’s claim is that the City is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The lawsuit has already resulted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), the first step toward the Union’s goals in resisting the city council’s stated intention of closing down 8th and Harrison. Plaintiffs are attempting to add the threatened Ohlone Park dwellers to the suit.