Calendar
Come learn about continuing developments, support our Occupiers and help us plan our next steps in opposition to this theft of our public commons.
THE POSTAL SERVICE WANTED TO SELL THE POST OFFICE TO HUDSON-MCDONALD DEVELOPMENT GROUP. HUDSON-MCDONALD BACKED OUT OF THE DEAL IN EARLY DECEMBER.
THE CITY OF BERKELEY SUED THE POST OFFICE TO STOP THE SALE. A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER WAS IN PLACE UNTIL DECEMBER 17th, BUT WAS LIFTED BY THE JUDGE WHEN HUDSON WITHDREW.
There was a hearing in Federal Court on December 11th.
THE FEDERAL JUDGE WILL DECIDE WHETHER THE LAWSUIT WILL CONTINUE OR BE DISMISSED – HE’LL DECI”DE SOMETIME AFTER JANUARY 8TH.
THE POSTAL POLICE HAVE BEEN RAIDING THE OCCUPATION INTERMITTENTLY IN THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING. BUT THE OCCUPIERS ARE NOT LEAVING! Read about one of the eviction attempts here.
Get an overview of the sale announcement here.
Here’s a good more general overview piece.
Davic Rovics gave a concert on the Post Office steps recently. Check out pictures and video of him playing.
Also CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE. and the Save the Berkeley Post Office website, and First they Came for the Homeless Facebook for updates.
BPOD is an offshoot of Strike Debt Bay Area, which itself is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and a chapter of the national Strike Debt movement, which is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.
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Hello everyone!
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I have just received the most outrageous news tonight that I believe requires our immediate attention!
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The young women and young men (including CAL student) who launched the Black Lives Matter movement and led the amazing shut down of the BART for 4.5 hours during Black Friday are being charged with criminal trespassing and restitution for their acts of civil disobedience. If you missed the impact of this shut down, here is the link:
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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/28/1348086/-Breaking-Black-Lives-Matter-Protesters-Shut-Down-BART-at-West-Oakland-Station
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There initial hearings are Monday and Tuesday morning at the Alameda County Courthouse and we need people to turn out in large numbers. If there are any clergy, particularly non-black clergy, who can turn out in clergy attire, it would be very helpful.
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Also, we need people to flood BOS President, Supervisor Keith Carson office (510) 272-6695 and the District Attorney Nancy O’Malley office (510) 272-6222 over the next 48 hours to dismiss this case. There is a growing trend across the country to retaliate and target protest leaders to shame, threaten and deter their/our leadership. Meanwhile, masked anarchists who appear to be largely non-black cause vandalism, fires, and property damage and are not arrested or charged!!!
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We must stand with them and make this public. These young women are our generation’s Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, etc.,
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Please let me know if you are with me so we can make plans…be clear things will be very fluid here on out…so, let’s gear up if you are able!
We all know there will never be justice on stolen land… until we take a stand for justice. We encourage everyone to join Vanja Mawusi Abena’s yearly Boycott of BART. This individual 2 day solidarity action honors the victims of BART police. This is an individual action. This is not affiliated with any other protest or march plan by Oscar Grant’s family or other organizations. We encourage you to participate in the Grant Family’s annual vigil and other events held for Oscar Grant in his memory on January 1, 2015.
Please use other means of transportation beside Bart. to get to your NYE & NYD destinations. BIKE, RIDE SHARE, WALK.
For more info on trip planning for NYE & NYD visit : http://www.511.org/
“Here on Earth, tell me what’s a black life worth? A bottle of juice is no excuse, the truth hurts. And even when you take the shit, move counties get a lawyer you can shake the shit. Ask Rodney, LaTasha, and many more! It’s been goin’ on for years, there’s plenty more! When they ask me, when will the violence cease? When your troops stop shooting niggas down in the street” – Tupac Shakur
Proposal for Prison Noise Demos Across North America on New Year’s Eve
… we organize noise demonstrations every New Year’s Eve outside the walls of prisons,
jails, and immigrant detention centers. Sometimes these are the facilities
where specific comrades are held and sometimes these are facilities in which
social prisoners and rebels unknown to us have been left to rot. Either way,
we use our voices, banners, sound systems, instruments, and fireworks to
remind prisoners that they are never alone.
National Call out For NYE Noise Demos: http://t.co/cx04ewMGiL For Oakland meet at 14th & Bway at 21:00 on 12/31.
— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) December 20, 2014
On New Year’s Eve, as the clock winds down on 2014, the powers that be will hope to be ringing in a new year that carries forward business as usual. That must not be allowed to go down because business as usual in Amerikkka includes wanton police murder of Black people. The refusal of grand juries in Ferguson and Staten Island to indict the cops who murdered Michael Brown and Eric Garner made this clear. So the powerful, beautiful and necessary outpourings that have disrupted this society’s normal routine must continue and escalate on New Years Eve and into the New Year.
We should live in a society where those who are entrusted with public safety would sooner risk their own lives than kill or injure an innocent person. But in this society, cops who brutalize and murder are given the benefit of the doubt and are almost never punished in any way for their crimes. This is illegitimate and unacceptable. It must be STOPPED, and it’s up to us to stop it! On New Year’s Eve, we must act in many different ways to do just that.
If you think that police murder must STOP, be out in the streets with that message out on New Years Eve. Say in a loud, clear voice – NO NEW YEAR UNDER THIS OLD SYSTEM! And – WE CAN’T BREATHE! Bring your whistles and blow them loudly. Bring your signs and banners.
And if you think that torture, that violence against women and attacks on women’s rights, that attacks on immigrants and the pillaging of the environment of the planet, that US wars for empire and attacks on people for who they love and how they love and more must be stopped; join us in the streets on New Year’s Eve. Bring your signs and banners too. Figure out imaginative ways to say NO MORE to all these horrors.
Rock In the New Year with Resistance to Police Murder!
No New Year Under this Old System!
We Can’t Breathe!
On New Year’s Eve, as the clock winds down on 2014, the powers that be will hope to be ringing in a new year that carries forward business as usual. That must not be allowed to go down because business as usual in Amerikkka includes wanton police murder of Black people. The refusal of grand juries in Ferguson and Staten Island to indict the cops who murdered Michael Brown and Eric Garner made this clear. So the powerful, beautiful and necessary outpourings that have disrupted this society’s normal routine must continue and escalate on New Year’s Eve and into the New Year.
We should live in a society where those who are entrusted with public safety would sooner risk their own lives than kill or injure an innocent person. But in this society, cops who brutalize and murder are given the benefit of the doubt and are almost never punished in any way for their crimes. This is illegitimate and unacceptable. It must be STOPPED, and it’s up to us to stop it! On New Year’s Eve, we must act in many different ways to do just that.
If you think that police murder must STOP, be out in the streets with that message on New Year’s Eve. Say in a loud, clear voice—NO NEW YEAR UNDER THIS OLD SYSTEM! And—WE CAN’T BREATHE! Bring your whistles and blow them loudly. Bring your signs and banners.
And if you think that torture, that violence against women and attacks on women’s rights, that attacks on immigrants and the pillaging of the environment of the planet, that U.S. wars for empire and attacks on people for who they love and how they love and more must be stopped; JOIN US in the streets on New Year’s Eve. Bring your signs and banners too. Figure out imaginative ways to say NO MORE to all these horrors.
All Families of Love one killed by Gun Violence, Please bring an 8×10 photo and Love one favorite color balloon to be release.
Come meet us at the Grant Station for the 5th annual vigil/celebration for Oscar Grant to be held on New Year’s Day at the Grant Station (Fruitvale BART Station).
Join the Oscar Grant family on this Day of Remembrance!
WE ARE ALL STILL OSCAR GRANT
SPEAK OUT:
• Family of murdered victims
• Artist
• Community Activist
LIVE Performances:
• Libation
• African-Native-Latino Ceremony
• Poetry, music, spoken word
• Candle lighting, Balloon Releasing
• Words of inspiration Min. Keith Muhammad
• RGB–Young Gifted and Black–Our Children
GUEST APPEARANCES:
Ryan Coogler — Director of Fruitvale Station
Skyler Jett — Preforming “Peace is the Answer”
http://www.youtube.com/
Taylor Burrise,
http://www.youtube.com/
Sabel
Rankin Scroo,
https://www.facebook.com/
Kev Choice,
http://www.youtube.com/
A.D.Burrise
Jasiri X — Preforming
https://www.youtube.com/
Ras Ceylon “, Ras Ceylon is an emcee, educator and organizer bringing revolutionary music, a hip-hop meets reggae dynamic and explosively conscious lyrics.”
Sellassie Blackwell Lyrical, Positive Hip Hop. artist representing the Bay Area will be doing a tribute to Oscar Grant.
And many more artist to be announced
WHY:
1. We Are ALL STILL Oscar Grant
2. We should never forget
3. Release a balloon in the name of your Love one Killed
4. Come to embrace and Support all who have lost a Love one to Gun Violence
5. Show your Love to Oscar Grant daughter, Tatiana, now 8yrs old
Much Love from Tatiana and family of Oscar Grant, Hope to see you at the vigil!! “We Are All Still Oscar Grant”.
There will be poetry, music, spoken word, candle lighting, Balloon releasing and speak out.
“Every tragedy represents an opportunity to move the agenda for justice forward.” We cannot forget and will not forget what happen on January 1, 2009 at 2:11 am. Join us in remembering and celebrating our martyr comrade brother, Oscar Grant. His life was taken to remind us that We Are All Oscar Grant.
It was the COMMUNITY that led to the resignation of Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff.
It was the COMMUNITY that led to the resignation of Bart Chief of Police, Chief Gee.
It was the COMMUNITY that led to the resignation of Bart General Manager, Dorothy Dugger.
It was the COMMUNITY that led to the resignation of police officer Johannes Mehserle.
It was the COMMUNITY that led to the Department of Justice to open a investigation of Civil Rights violation against the Bart Police.
It was the COMMUNITY that led the demonstration Downtown Oakland, making it known, “No Justice, No Peace”.
It was the COMMUNITY that joined with the ILWU Local 10 to shutdown l the ports in Northern California.
It was the COMMUNITY that helped usher in the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals establishing that using stun guns without an imminent threat of harm is unreasonable.
The COMMUNITY have made HISTORY, not VICTORY for the first time in 458 years of California History a officer was charged, arrested, convicted and sentenced to prison for killing a unarmed Black Man in the line of duty. Victory is when we have DESTROYED a racist criminal justice system and replaced with a true Freedom, Justice & Equality for ALL people!
Please come to Wiley Manuel Dept 112 at 2pm on Friday (tmrw!) to do court support for comrades, TJ and DT,arrested at march New Years Eve.
— Russell Bates (@crustyrustyMAD) January 2, 2015
Folks have marched hundreds of miles all over the East Bay from East Oakland to West Oakland and out past North Oakland.
Folks feet gotta be aching by now!
Folks gotta be gettin tired of all the kettling!
so let’s do a night ride and show some love for all our people’s, let’s show how deep the solidarity runs between our communities. How about creating a critical mass bike ride for #BlackLivesMatter for #NativeLivesMatter!
We’ll be riding around Oakland!
Why?
Cause these are our streets!!
this is open to all folks. bring the music, ya feel me! Fixies, commuters, scrapers, peeps with kidseats, roadies, bmxers…if it’s got wheels then you need to show up n show your luv for #MikeBrown #EricGarner #AlexNieto #AndyLopez #OscarGrant & all the countless folks that have lost their lives to police violence.
Some of us will get together this Saturday at noon to help plan for the garden. I would like to invite people from Transition, Berkeley and Albany and the farmers market master gardeners and see if anyone shows up and get more advise.
Members of First They Came for the Homeless and Berkeley Post Office Defenders are asking people to participate in the creation of a community garden on the west side of the Berkeley Post Office. Please come to a planning meeting on Saturday January 3rd at noon. Honey bees, hummingbird flowers, tiered and vertical gardening, heirloom seeds, organic non GMOs, and medicinal plants are all part of the chat. First They Came for the Homeless members have been at the post office at 2000 Allston Way for over 3 months and we want to expand our use of the space with new ecological planting, growing, weeding and harvesting possibilities . This will help to maintain ongoing protection of the Berkeley Post Office and post offices all over the country from sale and privatization and also will support our community connection with the earth.
Many community organizations and individuals have been have been working collaboratively participating in actions to keep this beautiful and historic resource as a post office and for public use. Right now we have had some success as there is no identified buyer and we are waiting to see what will happen with the city lawsuit against the United States Postal Service and how things will develop with the zoning overlay passed by the Berkeley City Council in 2014 to keep it zoned for public use.
You can see more at https://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com
For more information of our community garden project contact First They Came for the Homeless on Facebook
We want the unheard voices to be present so we can begin to rebuild and protect our communities.
This event is to bring together disengaged youth and community members from Hunterspoint, Potrero Hill, Sunnydale, Mission, Fillmore, Tenderloin, and Lakeview who are not currently active in this movement happening across the nation.
Engaging youth requires innovative strategies. Black and Brown intellectuals can analyze the system and organize all day everyday, but “what good do your words do if they can’t understand you”, we need the youth who aren’t plugged in to be apart of this movement. #BlackLivesMatter
Because you matter! We matter! Our hoods matter!
San Francisco has the fastest out migration of Black people since post-Katrina New Orleans. I feel that it is time that we show the city we are still here, we are young, we are strong, we will fight our whole lives long.
This symposium will bring together experts, practitioners, members of community development organizations, local high school and college BSU ambassadors, and youth leaders to create innovative solutions to the racist issues that directly impact youth and their communities. A list of demands to stop police brutality, change current policy and practices as it pertains to law enforcement, and reinvest in Black and Brown communities will be presented to the community at this symposium. The symposium will develop a series of key calls to action and plans for major demonstration utilizing social capital and existing community resources as mechanisms for youth development worldwide.
The active engagement and development of leadership skills among disenfranchised youth in marginalized neighborhoods of San Francisco is essential to national security, stability, capacity building, and increased quality of life worldwide. This symposium will bring together community organizers from around the Bay Area, along with practitioners and members of community development organizations, subject-matter experts, and youth leaders to showcase and exchange their experiences and best practices in this area.
“The great problem is how in the world is one going to invest these children with a new morale and a sense of their own worth if the country isn’t going to do it. The country won’t do it… ”
Please watch this poignant film “Take This Hammer” if you haven’t already of Bayview Hunters Point in 1964 with James Baldwin…everything in this video is still relevant today.
Gear up to get MARISSA ALEXANDER out of jail!
Free Marissa NOW East Bay is holding an exciting fundraising event to fund our cross-country caravan to spread the word about Marissa.
We will have a potluck, music, spoken word, theater, and testimonials from the womyn who are going on the caravan!
Come out, support, and REPRESENT the Bay!
Marissa, a Black woman who defended herself from abuse & threatened death, by firing a warning shot into the ceiling – injuring NO ONE – is still being persecuted, is back in jail plus she has a new hearing coming up Jan 27th!
We are planning a cross-country caravan to arrive in Jacksonville by Jan 27th: Make the freedom of Marissa a national STAND UP, FIGHT BACK cause.
Please bring an organic dish to share, if possible. And don’t forget your own plate, utensils, cup. We go green!!!
And feel free to bring musical instruments, written words to share, and a lot of money!!! Or just bring yourself!
You can also go to our online donation site – THANK YOU BREEZE – at http://www.gofundme.com/freemarissacaravan
Pack the courts! Come out to Department 9 to support James as he begins his fight against serious charges from Black Friday in San Francisco.
CHECK THE FACEBOOK EVENT FOR ANY LAST MINUTE CANCELLATION, POSTPONEMENT OR TIME CHANGE.
“Let Oakland’s New Mayor know, “THERE WILL BE NO BUSINESS AS USUAL” UNTIL OPD STOPS THE WAR ON BLACK LIVES
On Monday, January 5th, Ms. Schaff will be inaugurated as Oakland’s mayor. We will convene outside the Paramount Theater as a silent wall along the sidewalk from BART to the entrance of the theater so that every guest of the Mayoral Inauguration knows that Oakland expects the new Mayor to have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to police terror in Oakland.
We ask attendees to join this SILENT protest, wear all black, join the line on the edge of the sidewalk and wear or hold your choice of signage (we’ll be posting some examples for you to print on this event).
We will not shout, chant or do anything that makes this an arrestable action. This action is meant to unify Oakland residents (current and those that have been displaced) in a powerful message of solidarity that says to the new mayor: IT ENDS TODAY.
The Anti Police-Terrorism is a project of the ONYX Organizing Committee in collaboration with individuals and organizations such as The Community Ready Corps, the Alan Blueford Center for Justice, Healthy Hoodz and the Black Power Network.
Anti-Police Terrorism Project Facebook
“Reckoning with Torture”
Dramatic Reading of related documents in a film produced by CodePink, ACLU, The National Lawyers Guild & World Can’t Wait
In 2010 CodePink, ACLU, National Lawyers Guild, and World Cant Wait organized a week of“Berkeley Says No to Torture.”
Q&A and Announcements to follow.
Come learn about continuing developments in the battle save the Berkeley Post Office and the Postal Service from privatization, support our Occupiers and help us plan our next steps in opposition to the theft of our public commons.
THE POSTAL SERVICE WANTED TO SELL THE POST OFFICE TO HUDSON-MCDONALD DEVELOPMENT GROUP. HUDSON-MCDONALD BACKED OUT OF THE DEAL IN EARLY DECEMBER. THE CITY OF BERKELEY SUED THE POST OFFICE TO STOP THE SALE. A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER WAS IN PLACE UNTIL DECEMBER 17th, BUT WAS LIFTED BY THE JUDGE WHEN HUDSON WITHDREW.
Get an overview of the sale announcement here. Here’s a good more general overview piece.
There was a hearing in Federal Court on December 11th.
THE FEDERAL JUDGE WILL DECIDE WHETHER THE LAWSUIT WILL CONTINUE OR BE DISMISSED – HE’LL DECIDE SOMETIME AFTER JANUARY 8TH.
THE POSTAL POLICE HAVE BEEN RAIDING THE OCCUPATION INTERMITTENTLY IN THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING. BUT THE OCCUPIERS ARE NOT LEAVING! Read about one of the eviction attempts here.
Stay tuned for a possible new Chalkupy and Community Gardening event at the Post Office.
Also CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE. and the Save the Berkeley Post Office website, and First they Came for the Homeless Facebook for updates.
BPOD is an offshoot of Strike Debt Bay Area, which itself is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and a chapter of the national Strike Debt movement, which is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.
: : : : : : Reclaiming King’s Legacy : : : : : :
“This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
There is a state-sponsored war on Black lives in the United States and people across the country are demanding it comes to an end. As long as it remains business as usual to gun down Black women, men and children in the streets of this country, there will be no business as usual anywhere or for anyone. Shut. It. Down.
Oakland’s Anti Police-Terrorism Project is calling a bay area wide spokescouncil to plan and coordinate actions for the upcoming Martin Luther King Day weekend (1/16-1/19). Let’s carry forward and amplify thestruggle, together!
PLEASE SAVE THE FOLLOWING DATES for upcoming meetings in your calendar, and check back on this page because locations will be announced when they are confirmed.
Monday Jan 5th 7pm
Thursday Jan 8th 6pm
Saturday Jan 10th 10am
Monday Jan 12th 6pm
Wednesday Jan 14th 6pm
What is a spokescouncil?
A spokescouncil is a collective framework for direct action mobilizations, where large masses of people organize themselves into smaller teams called “affinity groups”. Affinity groups plan their actions independently with the intention of advancing the larger goal of the spokescouncil. Affinity groups are represented by at least one person (“a spoke”) at the meetings, where they are able to share resources and coordinate their actions with other groups.
Why a spokescouncil?
We propose the spokescouncil as a solution to many of the shortcomings of unstructured mass assemblies. We intend to provide a highly structured organizing space with clear tactical and messaging guidelines, that empowers participants to organize independently and in parallel. We intend to inspire a multitude of diverse actions and awaken the massive potential we have as a community engaging in direct action.
* The Anti Police-Terrorism Project is a project of the ONYX Organizing Committee in coalition with individuals and organizations like The Alan Blueford Center for Justice, Healthy Hoodz, Community Ready Corps, Idriss Stelly Foundation and more
** for questions or more information about the spokescouncil please contact aptpspokescouncil@gmail.co