Plan a fun evening out for “Dinner and a Movie” to benefit the Oakland Greens.  Note that we are coming up to the 38th anniversary of the Sandinista Popular Revolution and April 28th will be the 30th anniversary of Ben Linder’s assassination. The movie is called “American/Sandinista” (2008) by local film maker Jason Blalock, and is a retrospective of Linder’s project twenty years after he was killed by the Contras.

Your speaker Don Macleay is featured in the film because he was the project director up until a month before Ben was assassinated.   Macleay will also be traveling to Nicaragua on the 26th to participate in the 30th anniversary in San Jose de Bocay, the town near where Linder was killed and where a hydroelectric plant bearing his name was subsequently built on the stream that he was investigating.

Join us for discussion with people who during the 1980s were there on the ground.  Doors will open at 6 p.m. and dinner will start at 6:30 p.m.  The movie will start at 7:30 p.m.  $20 is a suggested donation, but no donation is too big or small, and as always no one will be turned away for lack of funds. This is a family-friendly event and is wheel chair accessible.

Oakland Greens funds are used to print literature, help with publishing the Alameda County Green Voter Guide, and produce direct community actions with a focus on mobilizing youth to become social justice warriors/candidates/activists.

Please join us for an Art Build Monday April 24th from 4-8pm. This art build is in preparation for the general strike and May Day actions on May 1st.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1239048449465541/

This is a great way to come talk about messaging and find ways to participate in the national day of action. You don’t need art skills to come (but much appreciated!), and youth and families are welcome.

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

SCENT FREE: We ask that guests do their best to be as scent free as possible. Please refer to this resource from the EastBay Meditation Center for more information on what that means: https://eastbaymeditation.org/accessibility/PDF/How-to-Be-Fragrance-Free-.pdf

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.

• 1
• ​.​ David Brower and the Sierra Club’s battle to halt dams in the Grand Canyon
• 2
• ​.​ Lois Gibbs and Love Canal residents’ struggle against 20,000 tons of toxic chemicals
• 3
• ​.​ Paul Watson and Greenpeace’s campaigns to save whales and baby harp seals
• 4
• ​.​ Chico Mendes and Brazilian rubbertappers’ fight to save the Amazon rainforest
• 5
• ​.​ Bill McKibben and the 25-year effort to address the impossible issue – climate change ​

Surrounding these main stories are strands like environmental justice, going back to the land, and movements of the global south such as Chipko in India and Wangari Maathai in Kenya. Vivid archival film brings it all back and insightful interviews shed light on the events and what they mean. The film, which is directed by Mark Kitchell,
​(​husband of Occupy Forum’s own Ruthie Sakheim​) offers a deeper view of environmentalism as civilizational change, bringing our industrial society into sustainable balance with nature.

Time will be allotted for Q&A, discussion and announcements.

Join me at a Community Forum on Immigrant & Refugee Rights on 4/25! Know-your-rights training, resource tables, etc. https://t.co/NzRiUT7Vpo pic.twitter.com/PWyXq3A0Gl

— Keith Carson (@Keith_Carson) April 17, 2017

Tuesday 4/25: All Out to Berkeley City Council

In an unprecedented move, the Berkeley City Council is considering fully withdrawing their  participation in Urban Shield. A decision in favor of pulling out of Urban Shield by the Berkeley City Council paves the way for other cities in the Bay Area to do the same. Join us on Tuesday to show mass opposition to Urban Shield’s war on our communities.

Can’t attend on Tuesday? Support with CALL IN DAY: Monday, April 24th,.
Call Berkeley City Council and demand that they end police militarization. Here is sample call in language and contact info:

“Dear Councilperson _________,
I am writing to urge you and all Berkeley City Council members to take leadership in putting an end to Berkeley’s engagement with the militarization of police and disaster preparedness represented by the annual Urban Shield exercises and weapons expo, funded by DHS through the Urban Areas Security Initiative. Urban Shield’s emphasis on SWAT teams as the response to emergencies – including natural disasters – as well as the extremely militarized scenarios, diminishes resources for responding to the ordinary emergencies community members face every day. Berkeley should not be participating in war games funded by the Department of Homeland Security, which involve not only nine Bay Area counties, but teams from around the United States.That is why I ask you to exercise your leadership and reject any future funding from UASI, Berkeley’s participation in Urban Shield, and to stand with Alameda County communities, and people across the country.
Regards,
_______”

CONTACT INFO FOR BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

Map of Berkeley Council Districts

Mayor Jesse Arreguin/ (510) 981-7100/ mayor@cityofberkeley.info
District 1/Linda Miao/(510) 981-7110/  lmaio@cityofberkeley.info /
District 2/Cheryl Davila/ (510) 981-7120/ cdavila@cityofberkeley.info
District 3/  Ben Bartlett/ (510) 981-7130/  bbartlett@CityofBerkeley.info
District 4/ Kate Harrison / (510) 981-7140 /  kharrison@CityofBerkeley.info
District 5 / Sophie Hahn/ 510) 981-7150 / shahn@CityofBerkeley.info
District 6 / Susan Wengraf / (510) 981-7160 / swengraf@CityofBerkeley.info
District 7/ Kris Worthington / (510) 981-7170 / kworthington@CityofBerkeley.info
District 8/  Lori Droste / (510) 981-7180 / ldroste@CityofBerkeley.info

Join AROC, as part of SFILEN, in holding Immigrant Family Day at City Hall, where we gather our community members to raise their concerns, speak about the issues they are facing, and demand that SF fight for immigrant rights and continue supporting SFILEN in providing critical legal services, education and outreach to immigrant communities throughout the city.

San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network (SFILEN), a unique and groundbreaking collaboration of thirteen organizations, including some of the region’s pioneering immigrant service providers and some of the city’s leading legal advocacy organizations – each with decades of experience providing free and low cost immigration legal services and community education to low income immigrants in San Francisco. We represent immigrants from African, Arab, Asian, and Latinx communities.

It’s here! The first vote on our Healthy California Act, SB 562 (Lara & Atkins), will be on Apri 26th. Please join us for a rally, march and then pack the room to show that we urgently need to move SB 562 forward and guarantee healthcare for all in California.

Details:
*Noon Rally
*March to the Capitol
*1:00pm Hearing in Senate Health (plan to stay as long as it takes to get a Yes vote!!!)

Bus pick ups in many locations! You must RSVP here for a seat:www.goo.gl/VIwz1x

We will meet Thursday morning at 10a and establish a nonviolent response to the craziness of #AnnCoulter and her ilk. /1

— RespectBerkeley (@RespectBerkeley) April 27, 2017

Join us across from MLK Park in downtown Berkeley. Spread the word. We will remain until 3p. We will keep ths feed updated. /2

— RespectBerkeley (@RespectBerkeley) April 27, 2017

The International Socialist Organization invites all solidarity-minded students and other members of the Berkeley community to the launch of the “Alt Right Delete” conference. Please join us at the intersection of Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue on April 27 at noon as we announce this conference and rally in defense of the oppressed majority. “Alt Right Delete” will take place at UC Berkeley on Aug. 19, at the beginning of the fall 2017 semester. It will be an important opportunity for new and returning members of the campus community who want to tackle the threat posed by the political right wing, which is growing emboldened from the White House to the streets of Berkeley.

The BART Board will be holding three evening meetings this year to create greater access to board meetings for BART riders and constituents. The first evening meeting of the year will be held on April 27th. At this meeting the Board will consider a sanctuary policy, energy policy, sustainability policy, legislative positions, and other items.

Please join us at this evening meeting to share input on these items or any other BART issue. There will be time at the beginning and end of the meeting for general public comment for items not on the agenda.

If you can’t make it to the meeting, you can watch it online:http://www.bart.gov/about/bod/multimedia.aspx

The meeting agenda will be available online on Friday, April 21st:http://www.bart.gov/about/bod/meetings/2017

The Justice Reinvestment Coalition of Alameda County will be hosting a Town Hall on April 27th at The Way in Berkeley with our elected reps to hold them to their commitment to create a program that results in Alameda County hiring formerly incarcerated persons for permanent, full time benefited jobs including training to meet minimum requirements and pass the Civil service exam.

We want to pack the house!

If you or someone you know is formerly incarcerated and can benefit from this jobs program we especially need you to tell your story. Please text to 510-246-5901.

Please join the Arab Film Festival, Berkeley City College‘s Arabic Language instructor Gaye D. Walton-Price and Yalla Arabi: SF/East Bay Arabic Language Meetup for a FREE film screening of “The Runner” (Subtitled in English)

FILM TRAILER: https://vimeo.com/149860780
SYNOPSIS:
The Runner is a film by Saeed Taji Farouky about Salah Hmatou Ameidan, who uses his talent as a runner to protest against the occupation of his homeland, Western Sahara. The film suggests that the runner’s physical endurance is his political weapon. It is the story of a champion long-distance runner whose journey transformed him from an athlete into the symbol of a national liberation movement.

NO CHARGE to attend!

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Middle East War, the Centers for Middle Easter Studies at UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara will host contemporaneous events to address this significant milestone.

10:00 AM – Panel Discussion.

3:30 PM – Keynote Address by Noura Erakat – “Taking the Land Without the People”

Hmm. Should any human being have to pay another human being to use the Earth?

The most fundamental social justice truth guiding all champions of liberty and freedom for all ought to be that “No one should have to pay another person rent for access to the Earth.” And yet 100 days in a row of Trump, and two terms of Obama, and 241 years into the USA, hardly a pip about that all embracing truth.

The commies talk vaguely of sharing the means of production. The religionists talk about surplice value. The defenders of conventional capitalism extol privatizing access to the material universe in the greatest insult to the spirit of liberty.

Come along on a free walking tour that presents San Francisco’s 128 year old concrete proposal for how to share the value of the Earth itself. It’s about social movements as they strain to discover a universal solvent of love, with love defined as “excluding no one from equal access to place.”

If you are prepared to give up all of your identity politics agitation, this 2 and half hours are for you!
For more event information:
http://www.TheCommonsSF.org

First Voice Parking Lot Sale

The First Voice Apprenticeship Program at KPFA hosts a Parking Lot Sale, featuring bargains, nibbles, entertainment for all ages, and a Trump piñata! This event takes place from 11 AM –  4 PM, with station tours at 11:30 AM and 1 PM.

On April 29th there will be a People’s Climate March in Washington, D.C. All over the country there will be sister marches. In the Bay Area, we will be having a rally at Lake Merritt with a procession around the lake. We are trying to join hands around the entire lake. What a statement that would make to send an image of hands around all of Lake Merritt out to the world. If you’ve ever wondered if your presence at a rally really matters, well, it does at this one. To do this, we need each & every person, & we need you to commit to bringing at least 5 friends/family members/housemates with you!

10:30 am: Interfaith Service. Look for the white tent 100′ to the left of the Lake Merritt Amphitheater.
11 am:      Rally at Lake Merritt Amphitheater (south end of lake)

Family-friendly, children’s activities, info tables, and main stage with Maria Gomez as MC and Barbara Lee as speaker.

11:30 am Music: Occupella and Lake Shore Baptist chorus
11:50 am Official Welcome, Ohlone Prayer and Local Campaigns: Idle No More, SF BAY, No Coal in
Oakland, Richmond Refineries, Livermore Aquifers, Community Choice Energy
12:30 pm Music: Rupa and the April Fishes
1:05 pm The Big Picture: Labor representative, Barbara Lee, Greg Akili
1:20 pm Music and Spoken Word: Rafael Jesus Gonzalez, Laurie Lewis, Jevon Cochran
1:40 pm Resist, Build, and Rise! Bay Resistance, SB 562 Single Payer Health, Code Pink, Labor, Interfaith,
BLM, A Just Transition, Housing Rights
3:00 pm Circle the Lake: Led by Calpulli Huey Papaloti-Aztec Danzantes + the Boomshake Women’s
Drumming Collective