Join us for the Thinking Ahead speaker series with a discussion of Sabeel Rahman’s book, “Democracy Against Domination“, moderated by john a powell, with community organizer Christina Livingston and pollitical scientist Paul Pierson.

Unchecked corporate power is a danger to our way of life. What would a political economy where we all belong look like? What values, institutions, and movement strategies must we develop to achieve this vision in an era of growing inequality and resurgent right-wing populism?

The event will be followed by a reception, with finger food and refreshments. The event is organized with New America California and the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

 Fundraiser backyard party for Oakland Women’s Strike Organizing Collective! *

*- We’re slinging pizza and drinks to raise $ *

*- For those who can’t attend in person, but would still like to contribute, look for @May_Day on Venmo. *

*- Funds raised will go towards the ASL interpreter fees from March 8, t-shirts & screen-printing supplies and food for May Day. *

McCarty AB 1185 Letter to the Journal

Narrated by Liam Neeson, this award-winning, landmark documentary tells the dramatic story of the events that took place in Dublin during Easter Week 1916, when a small group of Irish rebels took on the might of the British Empire.

The film – featuring a combination of rarely-seen archival footage, new segments filmed on location worldwide, and interviews with leading international experts – also uncovers the untold story of the central role Irish Americans played in the lead-up to the rebellion. Although defeated militarily, the men and women of the Easter Rising would wring a moral victory from the jaws of defeat and inspire countless freedom struggles throughout the world – from Ireland to India.

An initiative of the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame, this documentary tells the story of the 1916 Easter Rising in a comprehensive way and, for the first time, places these events in their proper historical, political and cultural context as the precursor to an independent Irish state and the disintegration of colonial empires worldwide.

This screening will be a feature-length version of the original 3-part television series.

Doors at 6:30pm, film starts at 7pm. Free snacks and popcorn, as always!

Sheriff Ahern not only continues to cooperate with ICE by notifying ICE on prisoner releases, but he is also the head of the California Sheriffs’ Association, which promotes the same practices. He even signed a letter as the head of their political action committee to support the nomination of arch racist Jeff Sessions for U.S. Attorney General.

Keep the pressure on Ahern to stop cooperating with ICE!
#NotMySheriff #StopICE

Bring your signs and loud voices!
Please contact us if you would like to endorse.

Tax the Rich Rallies every Monday from 5-6 pm on upper Solano in front of the Oaks Theater and the Chase Bank.

All are welcome!

Also We’ll be at  SURJ (Stand Up for Racial Justice) event that starts at the Grand Lake Theater on Saturday April 1^st from noon-1 :00 PM.

For our calendar of events, songs to download and more: www.occupella.org.

A discussion about agreements between local police and federal enforcement and surveillance agencies.

Welcome & Opening Comments: Pastor Michael McBride, The WAY

Moderators: Councilmembers Davila & Harrison

SPEAKERS TBA

Closing remarks: Mayor Arreguin

There is a conference call on how we win Medicare for All in California that we need you to be on. We have a real opportunity to solve the health care crisis in California and lead the way for the nation with the passage of S.B. 562. That’s why Our Revolution is joining the California Nurses Association and over 70 organizations statewide in sponsoring this bill, which would guarantee:

• Medicare for All in California
• More lives saved through preventative treatment
• Improved quality in health care delivery
• The elimination of health care premiums and deductibles

Join us for the call on Monday, April 17th at 6:30 PM PST.

RSVP FOR THE CALL �

This is about us, our family, and our community. We must transform the health care system to benefit us, not the giant insurance and pharmaceutical companies that are making billions of dollars in profits off of our illnesses. We can do this. We must do this.

In addition to featuring speakers from the California Nurses Association, we’ll be hearing from local leaders and grassroots organizers who are leading the way to pass S.B. 562 and guarantee universal health care to all of California. We need you to be on it too.

RSVP your space on this urgent statewide conference call.

This is our chance to guarantee #healthcare for ALL! Join our effort, register for the call: https://t.co/avx7dBjsp8 #FridayFeeling #resist pic.twitter.com/2a7QrzPH2L

— RoseAnn DeMoro (@RoseAnnDeMoro) April 14, 2017

What: On Tax Day, in commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s prophetic speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” multi-issue peace and justice activists will do three public, participatory readings of the speech in front of Oakland’s Federal Building.

When: There will be three readings, starting at 12 noon, 2 pm and 4 pm. Each reading will take approximately one hour, with 16 readers taking turns. A closing ceremony will follow the last reading.

Why: April 18 – 28, 2017 have been designated as Global Days of Action on Military Spending by the International Peace Bureau, to challenge military spending and call for redirection of funds to meet human needs. Military spending continues to increase, as the Trump Administration plans to strip $54 billion from human and environmental spending to increase already massive spending on the military. The plan raises Pentagon spending to well over 60 cents of every discretionary dollar in the U.S. budget. Endless U.S. wars and occupations have cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars, while the needs of growing numbers of Americans go unmet. Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech laid bare the relationship between U.S. wars abroad and the racism and poverty being challenged by the civil rights movement at home. “I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today–my own government.” King’s words are as relevant today as they were half a century ago. Organizers of the readings honor the full legacy of his work opposing the “triple evils” of militarism, racism and poverty. Tragically, Dr. King was assassinated exactly one year after delivering this speech.

This event is part of a year-long campaign launched by the National Council of Elders on the 50^th anniversary of King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, and organized by Western States Legal Foundation.

Co-sponsors: Anti Police-Terror Project; Asian Americans for Peace & Justice; Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice; CodePink Golden Gate; East Point Peace Academy; Ecumenical Peace Institute/CALC; Fifth Stream Music; Idle No More SF Bay; Jewish Voice for Peace Bay Area; Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center; Nafsi Ya Jamii (The Soul Community); National Council of Elders West; New Jim Crow Movement-Vallejo; Oakland Peace Center; OneLife Institute; Physicians for Social Responsibility- SF-Bay Area Chapter; Prevention at the Intersections; Tri-Valley CAREs; Women for Genuine Security; West County Toxics Coalition; Western States Legal Foundation; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, East Bay Branch; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, San Francisco Branch

The Defund DAPL Coalition is on the march to urge the SF Board of Supervisors to continue their divestment from banks financing Transcanada,  the company constructing the KXL Pipeline right through Lakota lands of the Great Sioux Nation.  A related demand is for the City conduct a feasibility study for a municipal bank so we can rid ourselves of these parasitic banks once and for all.

Join us as we march along Market Street, home to many branches of banks financing DAPL and Keystone XL, including Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Bank of America.  This event comes in tandem with Rainforest Action Network’s Week of Action (April 15 – 21) to prevent banks from giving Transcanada project-level financing for the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Volunteers are needed:
Native singers and drummers
Food donations for participants awaiting to give testimonies at the BOS meeting
A canopy and table (in case of rain)

If you want to volunteer, please show up at 3pm and await assistance from the organizers.  The SF Board of Supervisors meetings always vary on time, so there’s a likelihood that participants will miss lunch or dinner.  Please donate snacks!   This is an alcohol and drug free event (this includes marijuana).  If there are any questions, please email sfdefunddaplcoalition@gmail. com.

Street Theater Performance + City Council Meeting

On the heels of Emeryville City Council, Oakland City Council will pass a resolution on April 18^thcalling for sanctuary workplaces for immigrant workers. This is part of a month-long escalation heading into the May 1^st mass strike in which tens of thousands of Bay Area workers will walk off the job to demand immigrant rights.

Before the Council meeting, roughly 300 immigrant workers, community supporters, and faith leaders will rally outside City Hall. They will then jam into City Council chambers and join Oakland lawmakers to speak out about their experiences and then pass the resolution calling for sanctuary workplaces.

Often in low-wage workplaces, immigration status is often not an issue until workers stand up for higher wages and better working conditions. Then suddenly, employers retaliate with threats of deportation and problems with ICE. Under Trump, both documented and undocumented immigrants are under increased attack. The Oakland resolution calls for workplace sanctuaries that are free from fear, threats, and retaliation when workers stand up for living wages, better working conditions, and a voice on the job.

What: Rally and Street Theater/Oakland City Council meeting to pass Sanctuary Workplace Resolution

When: 4:30pm rally and street theater, 6:30pm council meeting

Who: Immigrant workers, community supporters, and faith leaders

WHEREAS, every Californian should have a right to health care;

and WHEREAS, while the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) brought many improvements in health care and health care coverage, it still leaves many Californians without coverage or with inadequate coverage;

and WHEREAS, although Republicans failed in their first attempt to repeal and replace the PPACA, President Donald Trump vows the effort will continue;

and WHEREAS, administrative actions already taken by the Trump Administration, without legislation, threaten to undermine the implementation of the PPACA and increase the number of uninsured;

and WHEREAS, Californians, as individuals, employers, and taxpayers have experienced a rise in the cost of health care and health care coverage in recent years, including rising premiums, deductibles, and copays, as well as restricted provider networks and high out-of-network charges;

and WHEREAS, businesses have also experienced increases in the costs of health care benefits for their employees, and many employers are shifting a larger share of the cost of coverage to their employees or dropping coverage entirely;

and WHEREAS, rising healthcare costs harm individuals, families, employers and communities, and, from the perspective of City Government, cause cuts in other vital services;

and WHEREAS, California is one of the largest economies in the world, and has the ability to stand up for our values and our vision of a society of mutual respect and caring by providing health care for all, even if the nation does not;

and WHEREAS, Senate Bill 562 (SB 562) would create the Healthy California program to provide comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage and a health care cost control system for the benefit of all residents of the state;

and WHEREAS, SB 562 would provide that the program cover a wide range of medical benefits and other services and would incorporate the health care benefits and standards of other existing federal and state provisions;

and WHEREAS, SB 562 would provide for the participation of health care providers in the program, require care coordination for members, provide for payment for health care services and care coordination, and specify program standards; a

nd WHEREAS, SB 562 would create the Healthy California Trust Fund in the State Treasury, as a continuously appropriated fund, consisting of any federal and state moneys received for the purposes of the act;

and WHEREAS, SB 562 would create the Healthy California Board to govern the program, made up of 9 members with expertise in health care; and would also require the Secretary of California Health and Human Services to establish a public advisory committee to advise the board on all matters of policy for the Healthy California program;

and WHEREAS, SB 562 was introduced by Senators Lara and Atkins, and co-authored by Senators Allen, Galgiani, McGuire, Skinner, and Assembly Members Bonta, Chiu, Friedman, Nazarian, and Thurmond;

and WHEREAS, SB 562 is sponsored by the California Nurses Association, Communities for a Better Environment, and many more;

and WHEREAS, the City of Oakland’s endorsement of SB 562 is consistent with Resolution No. 80617, passed by Oakland City Council in 2007, which endorsed Senate Bill 840, “The California Universal Healthcare Act”;

now, therefore be it RESOLVED: That the City of Oakland endorses SB 562, the Healthy California Act;

and be it FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Administrator transmit this Resolution to the City of Oakland’s legislative representative for transmission to the State Legislature.

EFF Launches Community Security Training Series

EFF is pleased to announce a series of community security trainings in partnership with the San Francisco Public Library. High-profile data breaches and hard-fought battles against unlawful mass surveillance programs underscore that the public needs practical information about online security. We know more about potential threats each day, but we also know that encryption works and can help thwart digital spying. Lack of knowledge about best practices puts individuals at risk, so EFF will bring lessons from its comprehensive Surveillance Self-Defense guide to the SFPL.

EFF has tailored this series for technology beginners who may be unaware of potential privacy dangers, but already use smart phones or computers. Library patrons are invited to bring their devices to EFF’s introductory classes which include discussions of basic online security concepts and privacy tools. Lisa Wright and Willie Theaker, members of EFF’s TechOps Team, will facilitate Digital Privacy and Security: A Beginner-to-Intermediate Workshop followed by Encryption Apps for your Phone: An Intermediate Workshop. There will be two opportunities to attend each class.

• Digital Privacy and Security: A Beginner-to-Intermediate Workshop
  Tuesday, March 28, 2017
  6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

• Encryption Apps for your Phone: An Intermediate Workshop
  Tuesday, April 4, 2017
  6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

• Digital Privacy and Security: A Beginner-to-Intermediate Workshop
  Tuesday, April 11, 2017
  6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

• Encryption Apps for your Phone: An Intermediate Workshop
  Tuesday, April 18, 2017
  6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

Event details are included in each link to the EFF calendar above. Space is limited and attendance is on a first-come, first-served basis so attendees should prepare to arrive early. We encourage all EFF supporters to help people in their circles learn more about online rights issues and how to keep themselves—and each other— safer.

At the end of April, EFF’s spring Bay Area Members’ Speakeasy will feature a more advanced workshop on email encryption and key generation open to EFF members and their guests—we encourage you to bring a friend! Following the workshop, all EFF members will be invited to join our PGP keysigning party to help bring the community together and further expand the web of trust. If you are a current Bay Area member accepting email, you will receive a personal invitation including event details. Not a member yet? Join today!

With the Surveillance Self-Defense project and these local events, EFF strives to help make information about online security accessible to beginners as well as seasoned techno-activists and journalists. We hope you will consider our tips on how to protect your digital privacy, but we also hope you will encourage those around you to learn more and make better choices with technology. After all, privacy is a team sport and everyone wins.

Acclaimed anti-racism author and educator Tim Wise will speak at a benefit to raise funds for Legal Services for Prisoners with Children(LSPC) and All of Us or None’s statewide mobilization to Sacramento on May 7 & 8 – “Quest for Democracy Advocacy Day.”

LSPC Executive Director Dorsey Nunn will also speak about the importance of this mobilization for formally incarcerated people, families of incarcerated people, and their supporters.

Wise will speak on “The Great White Hoax: Racism, Divide-and-Conquer and the Politics of Trumpism,” a presentation that explores the rise of Donald Trump and the way Trumpism reflects longstanding traditions of white racial resentment in America. By placing current politics in a historical context, this talk allows the audience to understand what is new, and not so new about the rise of Trump. Furthermore, this presentation documents the way in which Trumpism is rooted in a common and ignoble history in which monied elites have pitted white working class folks against people of color, while ignoring the real causes of economic and social pain felt by millions. From Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric to his calls for “law and order,” Wise lays bare the intellectual absurdity of the Trump phenomenon, and demonstrates conclusively the way in which it it tied to an implicit or even explicitly white nationalist worldview.

Wise has spent the past 25 years speaking to audiences in all 50 states, on over 1000 college and high school campuses, at hundreds of professional and academic conferences, and to community groups across the nation. He is the author of seven books, including his most recent, Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America, and his highly acclaimed memoir, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son. His other titles include Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority; Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama; and Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity.

Tickets (available below) are sliding scale $10 – $50, no one turned away for lack of funds. Email info@surjbayarea.org with ticket requests or questions. All proceeds go to Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and All of Us or None to support the May 7 – 8 mobilization to Sacramento.

ACCESS NEEDS: This event is wheelchair accessible. If you have specific access needs, please email info@surjbayarea.org, and we’ll be happy to work with you to accommodate them.

We ask that attendees please refrain from wearing scented or fragranced body products or laundry detergent, to support access for people with chemical sensitivities. There will be a scent free section of seating offered.

This Spring, NoDAPL water protectors and legal team members will be facilitating trainings across Turtle Island sharing knowledge about resistance to the grand jury convened against water protectors at Standing Rock. We want to build our capacities for strong movement defense against state repression.

As extraction becomes the norm and the government ramps up its repression against those who stand in resistance, this workshop holds valuable information for those who struggle for Indigenous sovereignty, earth liberation and a future without oppression.

This two-hour workshop is open to all who have participated in the movement at Standing Rock; those who have supported the efforts on the ground from their homes and territories elsewhere; as well as all those who wish to continue fighting on the many frontlines that continue emerging across Turtle Island.

The fight isn’t over at Standing Rock, as nearly 800 Water Protectors continue their battles in the courtrooms with some facing federal felony indictments that carry a potential of 15 years in federal prison. The grand jury convened against water protectors continues, as does the resistance to it. Strong movements and interdependent relationships make us resilient against attempts to shut down our struggle.

Join us in discussing ways to defend our movements together!

This event is being hosted by Water Protector Anti-Repression Crew,Qilombo Oakland and Antirepression Crew

El Akkad was born in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in Doha, Qatar, until he moved to Canada with his family. He is an award-winning journalist and author who has traveled around the world to cover many of the most important news stories of the last decade. His reporting includes dispatches from the NATO-led war in Afghanistan, the military trials at Guantanamo Bay, the Arab Spring Revolution in Egypt, and the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson, Missouri.

“American War: A Novel” is an audacious and powerful debut novel: a second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one family caught deep in the middle-a story that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself.

Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, and that unmanned drones fill the sky. When her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she begins to grow up shaped by her particular time and place. But not everyone at Camp Patience is who they claim to be. Eventually Sarat is befriended by a mysterious functionary, under whose influence she is turned into a deadly instrument of war. The decisions that she makes will have tremendous consequences not just for Sarat but for her family and her country, rippling through generations of strangers and kin alike.

Event host Greg Bridges is a radio dj and journalist living in Oakland. Currently he can be heard over KCSM and KPFA, where he has a weekly show and is a contributor to KPFA’s Hip Hop and social affairs show HardKnock Radio. Greg has written for various publications including Jazz Now Magazine and Bayshore Magazine.

advance tickets: $12: T: 800-838-3006 or independent bookstores, $15 door, KPFA benefit info: kpfa.org/even

This is the first important hearing in the lawsuit by developer Phil Tagami attempting to overturn the City of Oakland’s ban on coal storage and handling at the former Oakland Army Base.

The Court will hear a motion by Sierra Club and San Francisco Baykeeper to be accepted as “intervenors” so that they can participate as full parties supporting the City’s effort to defeat Tagami’s lawsuit.

In addition, the court will consider two motions to dismiss sections of the lawsuit – one seeking dismissaal of Tagami’s claim for breach of contract and one seeking dismissal of Tagami’s claim that his constitutional rights were violated by the City’s ban because it discriminated against out-of-state commercial interests and unduly burdened interstate commerce.

If these motions for dismissal are granted, the case will be considerably narrowed, which makes it easier to defend the ban.

After the hearing, we will gather to debrief and discuss the implications of the court decisions.

More information at NoCoalinOakland.info.

6:00pm :: Opening Night Reception
Join us before the screening on the Castro Mezzanine to meet Festival filmmakers and special guests while enjoying local food & beverages to kick-off Green Film Fest 2017. Separate ticket required. 21+

7:30pm :: Opening Night Premiere

Mark Kitchell’s new film:
The Evolution of Organic: PREMIER

2017 Green Fire Award Finalist: It started with a motley crew of back-to-the-landers rejecting industrial farming. It went on to spawn a renewed connection with our food and land. Filmmaker Mark Kitchell (Berkeley in the Sixties; A Fierce Green Fire) presents a celebration of Californian organic farming told by the people that started it all thru to a new generation who continue to reinvent the food system.

evolutionoforganic.com

DISCUSSION WITH: Mark Kitchell, filmmaker, & special guests