Calendar
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Dr. Roger Bales, PhD, environmental engineer and climate scientist
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Kathleen Dowd, CNM, NP, MSN, nurse midwife and maternal-health leader
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Dr. Nina Hasen, PhD, Vice President of HIV and TB Programs at Population Services International
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Fred Lipschultz, PhD, senior climate scientist and expert in global warming research
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Devorah Lyn, co-chair of the Jewish Earth Alliance, mobilizing the Jewish community on climate change and ecological stewardship
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Dr. Ernest Moy, MD, MPH, previous Executive Director of the VHA Office of Health Equity
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Dr. Greg Spooner, PhD, physicist and nonviolent activist in climate justice movements
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Dr. Sharon Goldfarb, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, clinician-scientist, nurse practitioner, and public health advocate
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.
Speaker: Grover Furr
To Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 873 8882 4824
Passcode: 042428
Khristian Rakovsky, born in Bulgaria, 1873, was a physician, a political activist. He was a Trotsky ally from early on, who helped found Nashe Slovo, a journal edited by Menshevik leader, Julius Martov. He served as a diplomat during the Russian Civil War. He was chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars from 1919 to 1923. From 1923 he was with the Left Opposition. In 1929 Khristian Rakovsky was exiled for his participation in Trotsky’s faction. In 1934 Rakovsky “capitulated” and swore off future Trotskyite conspiracy. The Soviet leadership had evidence that he was lying. Despite this, Stalin permitted him to return to Moscow and gave him a responsible job.
At the 1936 and 1937 Moscow Trials Rakovsky went far beyond criticizing the defendants. He called for their executions before they had even testified!
Grover Furr is a historian of the Stalin period of USSR socialism 1917 -1991. He teaches Medieval English Literature at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Among his previous numerous books: Khrushchev Lied, Blood Lies, Trotsky’s Lies, Yezhov vs. Stalin, Stalin…Waiting for the Truth.
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FOR OUR FULL SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING PROGRAMS,
AS WELL AS PAST PROGRAMS, GO TO ICSSMARX.ORG
NOTE: Our past programs have been recorded, and placed on YouTube. For a listing of our past programs, see the “Icss Marxist” channel on YouTube, and at icssmarx.org.
Public Forum with KSHAMA SAWANT in person!
$20 at the door. No one turned away for lack of funds
How can we build an effective movement to achieve justice & peace?
Trillion$ For Human Needs Not Wars & Environmental Destruction! Abolish ICE! Free Palestine!
Kshama Sawant: ten-year elected socialist to the Seattle City Council, leader of the Revolutionary Workers Party/Workers Strike Back, current candidate for U.S. Congress, leader of Seattle getting highest hourly minimum wage in the nation!
Jeff Mackler: Socialist Action National Secretary, twice a candidate for the U.S. presidency, leader/founder United National Antiwar Coalition, Director Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
hosted by BFUU’s Social Justice Committee
As Trump tries to drag us into another endless war that a majority of Americans don’t approve of and Congress did not authorize, we must once again show who has the power in this country.
On Saturday, March 28, millions of us will come together to reaffirm that in this country we have No Kings. RSVP now!
Last June, 3 million of us came together for the first No Kings. Then, 7 million in October. And now, March 28 is on track to be the largest No Kings mobilization yet and the largest nonviolent demonstration in U.S. history.
Trump wants to control us—a key feature of authoritarian rule. This administration wants to consolidate the media, surveil our social media, and twist the truth so we don’t rise up. But if he believes we will roll over and allow him to take our freedoms, he is mistaken. Instead, we will come together en masse and show that we will fight to protect one another and our country.
Dictatorship is not our inevitable fate—we know we can overcome this repression when we unite.
Our momentum is growing as everyday people are fed up with this president and administration, who are raking in riches for themselves while too many of us struggle to afford basics like health care, food, and housing.
Will you RSVP now to join a rally in your community?
More and more of us are seeing past their lies—that as a nation we can’t afford quality health care for every American but then go on to dish out tax breaks to the richest people, send ICE agents to terrorize our communities, and fund wars that fuel their interests. And collectively, we are saying enough is enough.
They’re counting on you staying home. But we’re coming together again on March 28 to make it clear to Trump that his fear and intimidation aren’t working.
There are over 2,500 events already taking place across the country. Check out the map here to find an event near you. Be a part of history and RSVP to join now. And then, forward this email to a friend and invite them to join you!
A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.
P.S. Don’t see an event near you? Sign up to host one!
Build Community Power Through MH First Training
Join us in strengthening our collective ability to keep each other safe and make a lasting impact in our communities.
The next Mental Health First Community Crisis Response Training will take place on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM via Zoom.
Register here: bit.ly/mhfirst-training0328
This virtual training is designed to equip community members with the skills needed to respond to mental health crises, support those in distress, and connect people to healing justice resources within our neighborhoods.
MH First is grounded in the belief that our communities can care for one another without relying on law enforcement. Through peer support, de escalation, and non punitive, life affirming interventions, we work to interrupt and eliminate the role of police in mental health crisis response.
We are committed to decriminalizing emotional and psychological crises, reducing stigma around mental health, substance use, and domestic violence, and addressing their root causes including white supremacy, capitalism, and colonialism.
We take care of us.
We’ll set up our blue canopy at that corner with an Occupella sign hanging from it.
We will have QR codes with lyrics to songs we can sing, but if you want to print it out ahead of time, go to https://docs.google.com/
Marcie will have a QR code on site and lead us to sing along with the Mighty Marching Chorus when they pass by.
See you Saturday! Invite your friends! Share our location so folks don’t go to the original location. – Thanks, Love and Peace, Hali
Build Community Power Through MH First Training
Join us in strengthening our collective ability to keep each other safe and make a lasting impact in our communities.
The next Mental Health First Community Crisis Response Training will take place on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM via Zoom.
Register here: bit.ly/mhfirst-training0328
This virtual training is designed to equip community members with the skills needed to respond to mental health crises, support those in distress, and connect people to healing justice resources within our neighborhoods.
MH First is grounded in the belief that our communities can care for one another without relying on law enforcement. Through peer support, de escalation, and non punitive, life affirming interventions, we work to interrupt and eliminate the role of police in mental health crisis response.
We are committed to decriminalizing emotional and psychological crises, reducing stigma around mental health, substance use, and domestic violence, and addressing their root causes including white supremacy, capitalism, and colonialism.
We take care of us.
Refreshments at 2:45PM
Join the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo on Sunday, March 29th, for an afternoon panel, discussion, and musical performance to celebrate Oakland’s long history of international solidarity! Learn from Oakland’s own movement leaders about local resistance against the South African apartheid regime, and how we’re carrying on this legacy today through the fight for an Arms Embargo. History shows us that when Oakland fights, we WIN.
Please take 10 seconds to register at this link, and share this invitation far and wide!
Featured panelists include:
• David Canham, Executive Director of SEIU 1021 & Former anti-apartheid organizer in South Africa
• Nesbit Crutchfield, Organizer & former Chairperson of the Bay Area Free South Africa Movement
• Andrea Prichett, Educator & former leader of UC Berkeley Campaign Against Apartheid
• Clarence Thomas, Former Executive Board of ILWU 10 & Black Panther Party member
• Pastor Michael McBride, Founder & Lead Pastor at The Way Christian Center in West Berkeley
+ With musical performance by the Vukani Mawethu Choir
+ Refreshments from Shawarmaji served at 2:45pm
As a proud endorser of the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo, we can’t wait to see you there!
Agenda Packet:
Selected Relevant Agenda Items:
ANNUAL SURVEILLANCE REPORTS For each Annual Report, the Privacy Advisory Commission will consider a vote to provide one of the following recommendations to the City Council: (1) that the benefits to the community of the surveillance technology outweigh the costs and that civil liberties and civil rights are safeguarded; or (2) that use of the surveillance technology cease; or (3) propose modifications to the corresponding surveillance use policy that will resolve concerns.
a. Pen Register 2025 OPD Annual Report on the use of pen register technology to track dialing, routing, and signaling information for investigations.
b. Cellebrite 2025 OPD Annual Report on the use of Cellebrite technology to extract and analyze data from mobile devices for investigative purposes.
c. Crime Tracer 2025 OPD Annual Report on the use of CrimeTracer to access records, locate individuals, and support criminal investigations.
d. ShotSpotter 2025 OPD Annual Report on the use of ShotSpotter to identify and locate gunfire for rapid police response
SURVEILLANCE USE POLICY AND SURVEILLANCE IMPACT REPORT FOR CONSIDERATION The Privacy Advisory Commission will consider a vote to recommend that the City Council either adopt, modify, or reject a proposed surveillance use policy or changes to an surveillance use policy that has already been approved by City Council. a. Proposed changes for DGO I-24: Law Enforcement Records Search Platform, Previously Referred to as DGO I-24: Forensic Logic CopLink
Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite. All are welcome!
For our April, 2026 meeting we will be reading and discussing the first three chapters of The Pacific Circuit, by Alex Madrigal (Amazon) (MacMillan). For our May meeting we will finish the book.
Alexis Madrigal reveals how understanding Oakland explains the modern world.
In The Pacific Circuit, the award-winning journalist Alexis Madrigal sculpts an intricate tableau of the city of Oakland that is at once a groundbreaking big-idea book, a deeply researched work of social and political history, and a vivid rendering of the defining themes of the twenty-first century.
Oakland’s stories encompass everything from Silicon Valley’s prominence and the ramifications of a compulsively digital future to the underestimated costs of technological innovation on local communities―all personified in this changing landscape by the city’s lifelong inhabitants.
The Pacific Circuit holds a magnifying glass to the legacies etched by generations of systemic segregation and the ceaseless march of technological advancement. These are not just abstract concepts; they are embedded in the very fabric of Oakland and its people, from dockworkers and community organizers to real estate developers and businesspeople chasing the highest possible profits. Madrigal delves into city hall politics, traces the intertwining arcs of venture capital and hedge funds, and offers unprecedented insight into Silicon Valley’s genesis and growth, all against the backdrop of Oakland―a city vibrating with untold stories and unexplored connections that can, when read carefully, reveal exactly how our markets and our world really function.
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 A Paradise Built in Hell, 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.