Calendar

9896
Feb
5
Thu
Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission @ Oakland City Hall
Feb 5 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

1. Call to Order, determination of quorum

2. Open Forum/Public Comment on Non-Agenda matters

3. Information Item: a. Report from Public Works regarding OPD request for video footage.

4. Action Items:

a. Annual Reports 1. Shotspotter Annual Report (OPD)

b. Use Policies 1. Spotspotter – Gunshot Location Detection System (OPD) DGO I-20 2. GPS Tracker – Vehicle GPS Tracking Device (OPD) I-33 3. Responsive Easy Charging Products with Dynamic Signals – Evenergi LLC (OPW)

78501
Feb
7
Sat
Suds, Snacks, and Socialism at the Starry Plough: The Attack on Black Studies @ Starry Plough
Feb 7 @ 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm

The Attack on Black Studies

              Doors open at 1:30 p.m.

Please register in advance at
https://bit.ly/SSS-BlackStudies
to receive your personal link to participate in this event online

At this forum we will cover the history of Black studies and the origins of Black History Month. Our speakers will also discuss how faculty and students at schools and universities are resisting the Trump administration’s blatant efforts to banish African Americans from U.S. history and culture, and how this attack is just the latest demonstration of racism in this country.

Dr. James Garrett – President, Global Community Advancement Centers; co-founder of the modern Black Student Union Movement, Black/Ethnic Studies Programs, and the Modern Black Arts Movement

Rekia Jibrin – Assistant Professor of Critical Studies in Education at UC Santa Cruz

Gerald Sanders – Co-Founder of the Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality; member of the Peace and Freedom Party and Democratic Socialists of America

*Organizations listed for identification purposes only.

Please help us celebrate our return to the Starry Plough by ordering food and/or drinks.
Please arrive early to place your order so that you do not miss any of the presentations.
An open discussion will follow the presentations.
We will be accepting donations which will be divided among the sponsoring organizations.

This event is sponsored by the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party,
the Alameda County Green Party and Bay Area System Change Not Climate Change.

For more information email <info@sudssnackssocialism.org>

78506
Strike Debt Bay Area Book Group: A Paradise Built in Hell @ Online
Feb 7 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite.  All are welcome!

For our February, 2026 meeting we will be reading and discussing the first three chapters of  A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit (Amazon) (Alibris).  For our March meeting we will finish the book.

The most startling thing about disasters, according to award-winning author Rebecca Solnit, is not merely that so many people rise to the occasion, but that they do so with joy. That joy reveals an ordinarily unmet yearning for community, purposefulness, and meaningful work that disaster often provides. A Paradise Built in Hell is an investigation of the moments of altruism, resourcefulness, and generosity that arise amid disaster’s grief and disruption and considers their implications for everyday life. It points to a new vision of what society could become-one that is less authoritarian and fearful, more collaborative and local.

Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Our first book was  Doughnut Economics, and our most recent books were What’s Left – 3 Paths Through the Planetary Crisis, The Age of Insecurity and Elinor Ostrom’s Rules for Radicals. For the rest of our reading list see here.

78484
Feb
8
Sun
Why is there Constant War in West Asia? @ Online
Feb 8 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Join Zoom Meeting:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85449203697

Green Sunday:  Why is there Constant War in West Asia?

West Asia has experienced conflict, invasion and upheaval for the last eight decades. Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya and Syria have all been attacked, destabilized and occupied. In the last year, Israel and the US attacked Yemen and Iran with the threat of more attacks in near future.

Rick Sterling will discuss the major factors driving these events, the current situation and prospects for the future.

Rick Sterling is an independent journalist writing for Antiwar, Global Research, LA Progressive, ConsortiumNews and other publications.  He has travelled extensively in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. He is a contributing author of the book “JFK and RFK’s Secret Battle Against Zionist Extremism”.


Sunday, February 8th, 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm Via Zoom: please see the access info below.

(Note:  This 1:00 pm starting time is only for February’s special Green Sunday event — March’s Green Sunday will start at 5:00 pm).


Green Sundays are a series of free public programs & discussions on topics “du jour ” sponsored by the Green Party
of Alameda County and held on the 2nd Sunday of each month. 

78503
Feb
15
Sun
SIR! NO SIR!, presented by Refuse Fascism NorCal @ New Parkway Theater
Feb 15 @ 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
$15

Tickets available in person on day of show.

The fascist Trump regime has sent troops to American cities to suppress widespread public opposition to cruel ICE kidnappings, deportations and cold-blooded murder. He’s sent military to attack Venezuela and threatens to send soldiers to oppress more countries and people.

Will soldiers carry out illegitimate, unconstitutional and immoral orders of this regime? Or will they refuse?

Sir! No Sir!, takes you inside the rebellion that spread among the US military in Vietnam. This was a big part of forcing the US to end that war. This history lesson has largely been erased from public memory.

78509
Feb
21
Sat
Extinction Rebellion US Open House
Feb 21 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Does the resistance in Minneapolis and around the country give you hope that people can work together to change their government and create a better world?
Are you concerned that as we contend with the many urgent social crises, the climate emergency has receded from public consciousness, even as the climate crisis becomes more urgent by the day?
Are you trying to help others see the connections between these convergent crises?
You are not alone, and we would love to see you at our February 21 Open House for new and returning activists, where we will work together to find answers and discuss courageous, peaceful, and powerful actions that honor the inspiration of Minneapolis.

Register here for the February 21 XRUS Open House

What would you most like to see covered at this Open House? Recognizing the urgency of our other national crises, what are the most effective ways to help activists bring the climate crisis back into public consciousness, connecting the dots between the climate crisis and the global spread of authoritarianism? Your input will help us with our planning over the next two weeks. You can email us at the address below or just respond to this email.

xrus_chapter_engagement@unitedrebellion.com

In the meantime, here is a recent article that has helped us think through these issues and that you might find inspiring.

I don’t know how to do this, but I’m going to keep doing it anyway.

If you have helpful answers to the questions Emily poses at the end, we would love to hear them too. As Emily says, “None of us get through this by ourselves.”
We hope to see you on February 21 and look forward to hearing any suggestions and questions in the meantime.
Love and rage,
XRUS Chapter Engagement and Support
78504
Feb
22
Sun
Reflections on contradictions in China based on traveling in Chinese cities @ Online
Feb 22 @ 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

 

To Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87388824824?pwd=QTWNvr8cGeGo1ZDW7x9Y8W0sDaNxRc.1

Meeting ID: 873 8882 4824
Passcode:  042428

 

Speaker: Amit Singh

 

Based on personal experiences during his two to three weeks stay in China with his partner and child, the speaker will put forward observations, stories and interesting encounters. The speaker will try to highlight contradictions in Chinese society, capital and state, and would focus upon the present state of the Chinese economy, education, health and other parameters. The talk will also dwell upon how to characterize China. Should China be characterized as capitalist/state-capitalist or  market socialist (socialism with Chinese characteristics) or semi-peripheral or imperialist or semi-colonial or oppressed or oppressor? Should the emergence of China as a competitor of the US  in many areas be seen as a great anti-imperialist development? Or, can it be argued that Chinese capitalist development will lead to inter-imperialist conflicts and wars throughout the world? How much power do the Chinese working class assert in China?  Should the present Chinese model be followed by other countries?  The speaker will also touch upon the state of productive forces, science and technology in China, and will also assess the Chinese military capabilities. During the whole talk, the speaker will aim to compare Chinese, Indian and the US development with the help of figures, tables and other visuals.

Dr. Amit Singh finished his Masters and PhD in Mechanics from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where he  had been involved with anti-war and labor organizing efforts at Minneapolis. Currently, he is a faculty at IIT Bombay, India, where he is involved in the struggles around working class-caste issues including resistance against attack on freedom of expression, on academic freedom and attack on national minorities.
https://www.me.iitb.ac.in/faculty/prof-amit-singh

78513
Feb
24
Tue
WTO/99, with post-film discussion @ New Parkway Theater
Feb 24 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

An immersive archival documentary that reanimates the clash between the then-emerging World Trade Organization (WTO) and the more than 40,000 people who took to the streets of Seattle to protest the WTO’s impact on human rights, labor, and the environment.

 

Want to chart the degraded trajectory of the U.S. power elite even further? Then grab a ticket to the mind-melting mash-up film HELLO DANKNESS, which takes surrealistic satirical aim at our present political calamity. Together, these films form a double-header charting the precipitous decline of the AmeriKKKan ruling class

78514
Feb
26
Thu
Update from Venezuela @ Online
Feb 26 @ 6:49 pm – 7:49 pm

 

To Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87388824824?pwd=QTWNvr8cGeGo1ZDW7x9Y8W0sDaNxRc.1

Meeting ID: 873 8882 4824
Passcode:  042428

• +1 646 931 3860 US
• +1 669 444 9171 US

Speaker: Roger Harris

 

On February 12, the imperialist newspaper Financial Times published the results of a poll claiming that 72% of respondents felt Venezuela was ‘moving in a positive direction’ after the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3rd. They also claimed that US-supported Maria Corina Machado enjoys commanding popularity over interim President Delcy Rodriguez, even though President Trump has admitted that Machado doesn’t have enough support or respect within Venezuela to lead the country.

The poll was commissioned by a senior adviser with the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and was conducted by a USAID-aligned non-profit organization.

Roger Harris, a Venezuela solidarity activist and independent journalist, has just returned from Venezuela and will update us on current developments in Venezuela since January 3rd, as well as resistance to the US attack within Venezuela.

Roger Harris is on the board of the Task Force on the Americas and the secretariat of the US Peace Council. He is active in the Sanctions Kill campaign and the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition. He is a founding member of the Venezuela Solidarity Network. His writings may be regularly found at Counterpunch, LA Progressive, Antiwar.com, and the Orinoco Tribune.

78515
Mar
7
Sat
Strike Debt Bay Area Book Group: A Paradise Built in Hell @ Online
Mar 7 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite.  All are welcome!

For our February, 2026 meeting we will be reading and discussing the first three chapters of  A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit (Amazon) (Alibris).  For our March meeting we will finish the book.

The most startling thing about disasters, according to award-winning author Rebecca Solnit, is not merely that so many people rise to the occasion, but that they do so with joy. That joy reveals an ordinarily unmet yearning for community, purposefulness, and meaningful work that disaster often provides. A Paradise Built in Hell is an investigation of the moments of altruism, resourcefulness, and generosity that arise amid disaster’s grief and disruption and considers their implications for everyday life. It points to a new vision of what society could become-one that is less authoritarian and fearful, more collaborative and local.

Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Our first book was  Doughnut Economics, and our most recent books were What’s Left – 3 Paths Through the Planetary Crisis, The Age of Insecurity and Elinor Ostrom’s Rules for Radicals. For the rest of our reading list see here.

78484