Special guest speaker for January: Chairman Fred Hampton, Jr. Don’t miss this!

APTP meets monthly on the 3rd Wednesday of the month.

The Anti Police-Terror Project began as a project of the ONYX Organizing Committee. We are a Black-led, multi-racial, intergenerational coalition that seeks to build a replicable and sustainable model to eradicate police terror in communities of color. Founding coalition members include the Black Power Network, Community Ready Corps, Workers World, and the Idriss Stelley Foundation.

Come by our open Orientations every First and Third Thursday of the month at 6pm! We’ll introduce you to the variety of ways you can get involved at the Omni, whether through joining a working group or a collective—or starting one of your one. Write our Communications Working Group with questions: comms@omnicommons.org

The End of Policing with Alex Vitale

Join Center for Political Education and Critical Resistance in welcoming internationally renown expert on alternatives to policing, Alex Vitale, to the Bay Area! Vitale will discuss his new book, THE END OF POLICING in conversation with CPE’s Rachel Herzing. The conversation will be moderated by CR’s Kamau Walton.

Thursday, January 18, 2018
7-9pm
City College of San Francisco Mission Campus, Room 154

“…we can’t just tinker with the police response, to make it a little bit nicer or to make the police department a little more diverse, because none of that gets at this core problem. We have to really, directly address the politics of the country, that’s largely bipartisan, that says that the only way we can solve problems is to criminalize them. Whether it’s homelessness, severe mental illness, discipline problems in schools, youth violence, etc., we’ve got to break this mindset that policing is the only tool that people can have.”

–Alex Vitale from an interview with FAIR

Link to The End of Policing, on Verso Books:
https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing

A medley of readings on race, art, politics and sanity.

Currently-scheduled trial dates/times are:

• Tuesday, Jan 16, 2018 — 8:30 am until 2:00 pm
• Wednesday, Jan 17, 2018 — 10:00 am until 3:30 pm
• Friday, Jan 19, 2018 — 8:30 am until 2:00 pm
• Tuesday, Jan 23, 2018 — 8:30 am until 2:00 pm

As many of you know from press coverage in the East Bay Express and elsewhere, the coal trial begins this coming Tuesday, Jan 16th in the case that local developer Phil Tagami and his coal industry backers have brought against the City of Oakland.

No Coal in Oakland asks its supporters to attend the trial, even if only for a single day or a few hours. It is important for the court to see our community’s grave concern about the proposed coal terminal’s threat to health, safety, and the environment.

At issue in the trial will be whether the Oakland City Council was presented with substantial evidence of a danger to public health and safety before it voted in 2016 to ban coal storage and handling in Oakland. Constitutional issues raised by Tagami’s lawyers — asserting that the City of Oakland’s jurisdiction over the proposed coal terminal is preempted by federal law — will be considered only if and only after the judge finds that there was indeed the substantial evidence required to authorize the City to ban coal under the terms of its contract with Tagami.

When you come to court, please wear a red No Coal in Oakland t-shirt if you have one; otherwise, any red shirt will signal to the court where you stand. Dozens wore NCIO t-shirts at this past week’s hearing, so Judge Vince Chhabria and the attorneys on both sides recognized how seriously Oakland is taking the decisions before the court.

Any changes to the trial schedule will be posted on the No Coal in Oakland Events Calendar — judges sometimes need to juggle their calendars, so please check for updates before heading to San Francisco! We intend to update the Events Calendar by 5pm the day before any court date for which there is a change or cancelation, but if you check after 8pm you are virtually certain to see any new information.

Location: Philip Burton Federal Building / 450 Golden Gate Avenue (between Larkin and Polk) / San Francisco. The closest BART station is Civic Center. To enter the building you will need to go through a metal detector (airport style security, no boarding pass required). The trial will take place in Judge Chhabria’s courtroom on the 17th floor.

No Coal in Oakland encourages all supporters to respect courtroom decorum: our red shirts will convey our message clearly. Cell phones that go off during the hearing may be confiscated.  To get into the courthouse, you need to bring government-issued picture ID.

We’ll see you in court!

ABOUT NO COAL IN OAKLAND

No Coal in Oakland is a grassroots organization founded by the Oakland Fossil Fuel Resistance in 2015 to fight an attempt by local developer Phil Tagami and Kentucky coal company Bowie Resource Partners to convert a corner of the former Oakland Army Base into the largest coal export facility in the Western United States. For the latest information and news of upcoming events, check out our website at nocoalinoakland.org or come to one of our open community meetings.

Check NCIO Events Calendar for court dates
Follow on Twitter
Friend on Facebook
Visit Our Website

Sogorea Te Land Trust is partnering with Planting Justice to repatriate a piece of land in East Oakland. The shared vision includes the creation of an indigenous cultural site with a traditional arbor, a place for ceremony, and a place to remain true to the original teachings and pass them onto the next generations. Please Join us to bless this land and celebrate this collaboration.

11am: Blessing of the Land at 319 105th Ave, Oakland, CA

12:30-3: Walk from Planting Justice to Intertribal Friendship house

3-6 prayer and meal at the Intertribal Friendship House 523 International.

Sogorea Te Land Trust is an Urban Indigenous Women led land reclamation project calling on us all to heal from the legacies of colonialism and genocide, to remember different ways of living, and to do the work that our ancestors and future generations are calling us to do.

To find out more visit http://sogoreate-landtrust.com/

Planting Justice is a grassroots organization with a mission to empower people impacted by mass incarceration and other social inequalities with the skills and resources to cultivate food sovereignty, economic justice and community healing.

To find out more visit http://plantingjustice.org/

The California Sanctuary Campaign, the Alameda County Immigration Legal & Education Partnership, ACLIP, the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, the Council on American Islamic Relations, CAIR-SF Bay Area, the Oakland Justice Coalition, and the Coalition for Police Accountability will come together in front of the Oakland Federal Building to stand vigil against current White House policies which directly threaten the lives of people of color in this country and abroad.

According to Rev J Alfred Smith Jr of Allen Temple Baptist Church, “the president’s stated policies and actions will promote the ethnic cleansing of whole swaths of Black and Brown people whether native born, immigrant or refugee, seeking opportunity and the ability to raise their families in dignity. The president repeatedly makes racist and misogynistic statements which result in directives from his DOJ and the Congress while families are separated by federal authorities, children are left without healthcare, jails fill with our youth, and refugees are refused asylum.  We must take a moral stand against the president and his party before these destructive attitudes and actions do any more damage.”

The vigil is being held the day prior to the historic Women’s March which will take place in cities and towns across the country to assert that women’s rights are human rights. The vigil calls attention to the special jeopardy that women of color face as a result of current policies which threaten not only their economic well-being but their safety in the streets, at their workplaces, and in their homes.

We call on other cities to protest outside local federal buildings at noon on Friday, January 19^th. If we cannot look to our president or the Congress to uphold the moral authority of our country’s stated values, then we must do it ourselves.

In January, 5% of all Saturday brunch proceeds at Reem’s will be donated to the Arab Resource & Organizing Center!

Join AROC at Reem’s on Saturdays and support local Arab organizing!

AROC is a local grasssroots organization that builds power in the Arab and Muslim community through immigration services, organizing and mobilizing against racism, war, repression and Zionism.

@AROCBayArea
www.araborganizing.org

John Borst, PhD, WISR Alumnus, Presenter

Advocates of neoliberalism or market fundamentalism envision a world free of government
intervention in which self-regulating markets replace political judgements in shaping and
determining economic equity for people.

As the guiding economic narrative/ideology in the United States since the election of President Reagan,
seminar participants will increase their awareness of the dystopian consequences of neoliberal
governance by our country’s ruling and financial elite (e.g., the “1%”), as well as be able to identify,
explore, and/or take steps to build an alternative democratic future intended to create a more just and
healthy “We the People” society.

For more information please see
http://YesToEconomicJustice.net.

Please RSVP johnb@wisr.edu if you plan to participate by videoconference or phone and provide a
phone# in case of technical difficulties.
Log on: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/727623581
You can also dial in using your phone.
(872) 240-3311; Access Code: 727-623-581

WOMEN’S MARCH OAKLAND 2018

On January 21, 2017, more than 100,000 women and their allies marched in Oakland, part of a global mobilization of 5 million people for women’s rights, human rights, social justice, and civil liberties.

That day sparked a movement that has galvanized the nation, harnessing the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change.

We have made our voices heard in town halls and state capitals, on Congressional phone lines and the news, down the street, and across the internet.

On Saturday, January 20, 2018, we will march again in Oakland.

Join us!

WOMEN’S MARCH UNITY PRINCIPLES

We believe that Women’s Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Women’s Rights. We must create a society in which women – including Black women, Native women, poor women, immigrant women, disabled women, Muslim women, lesbian queer and trans women – are free and able to care for and nurture their families, however they are formed, in safe and healthy environments free from structural impediments.

ENDING VIOLENCE

Women deserve to live full and healthy lives, free of all forms of violence against our bodies. We believe in accountability and justice in cases of police brutality and ending racial profiling and targeting of communities of color. It is our moral imperative to dismantle the gender and racial inequities within the criminal justice system.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

We believe in Reproductive Freedom. We do not accept any federal, state or local rollbacks, cuts or restrictions on our ability to access quality reproductive healthcare services, birth control, HIV/AIDS care and prevention, or medically accurate sexuality education. This means open access to safe, legal, affordable abortion and Lessina birth control for all people, regardless of income, location or education.

LGBTQIA RIGHTS

We firmly declare that LGBTQIA Rights are Human Rights and that it is our obligation to uplift, expand and protect the rights of our gay, lesbian, bi, queer, trans or gender non-conforming brothers, sisters and siblings. We must have the power to control our bodies and be free from gender norms, expectations and stereotypes.

WORKER’S RIGHTS

We believe in an economy powered by transparency, accountability, security and equity. All women should be paid equitably, with access to affordable childcare, sick days, healthcare, paid family leave, and healthy work environments. All workers – including domestic and farm workers, undocumented and migrant workers – must have the right to organize and fight for a living minimum wage.

CIVIL RIGHTS

We believe Civil Rights are our birthright, including voting rights, freedom to worship without fear of intimidation or harassment, freedom of speech, and protections for all citizens regardless of race, gender, age or disability. We believe it is time for an all-inclusive Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

DISABILITY RIGHTS

We believe that all women’s issues are issues faced by women with disabilities and Deaf women. As mothers, sisters, daughters, and contributing members of this great nation, we seek to break barriers to access, inclusion, independence, and the full enjoyment of citizenship at home and around the world. We strive to be fully included in and contribute to all aspects of American life, economy, and culture.

IMMIGRANT RIGHTS

Rooted in the promise of America’s call for huddled masses yearning to breathe free, we believe in immigrant and refugee rights regardless of status or country of origin. We believe migration is a human right and that no human being is illegal.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

We believe that every person and every community in our nation has the right to clean water, clean air, and access to and enjoyment of public lands. We believe that our environment and our climate must be protected, and that our land and natural resources cannot be exploited for corporate gain or greed – especially at the risk of public safety and health.

For more event information:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/womens-march-…

Details
RIOTcon (Radical Interactive Open Technology Conference) is a new conference seeking to highlight the intersections between radicalism, art, and technology. Hosted in Oakland, CA

SCHEDULE
11 am
Main Room:
Advanced Tactics for Guerrilla Eco Street Art By Kasey Smith

Telegraph Room:
Hackerspace and The need for community By Mitch Altman

12 pm
Main Room:
Building a Better Opposition: The Pursuance System and the Second Wave of Online Resistance By Steve Phillips

Telegraph Room:
Free Crack Pipes For Better Public Health Outcomes By Maggie Mayhem

1pm:
Main Room:
Audience Choice Lighting Talks
Have a talk you didn’t get to submit but still want to talk? Come to this talk to let the audience decide what they want to hear. 15 minutes each.

Telegraph Room:
A History of Fire in California’s Ecosystems By Natalie Wilkinson

2pm:
Main Room:
F[oia] the Police by Freddy Martinez

Telegraph Room:
Fighting Cyber Dystopia with Tech Solidarity and the Digital Commons By Mai Ishikawa Sutton

3pm:
Main Room:
Internet Art, Aesthetics, and Activism By Jeff Ray

Telegraph Room:
Using the blockchain to create a token backed by a land trust by Josh Wolf

TALK SUMMARIES
Advanced Tactics for Guerrilla Eco Street Art By Kasey Smith
Generally, guerrilla gardening is employed to support a narrow range of social causes. How can we borrow from their toolkit to expand our tactics and augment other forms of protest art? We’ll cover the basics, delve into some underutilized tactics, and ideate on additional implementations.

Hackerspace and the need for community by Mitch Altman
The hackerspace movement has grown as big as it has because of the need for community. Community takes a lot of effort, yet the benefits are incredibly rewarding. This talk covers these and other aspects of creating effective communities.

Building a Better Opposition: The Pursuance System and the Second Wave of Online Resistance By Steve Phillips
Our free, open source, and secure Pursuance System software enables participants to: create action-oriented groups called “pursuances”, discuss how best to achieve their mission, rapidly record exciting strategies and ideas in an actionable form (namely as tasks), divvy up those tasks among one other, share files and documents, get summoned when relevant events occur (e.g., when they are assigned a task, or when mentioned), request help from others, receive social recognition for their contributions, and to delegate tasks to other pursuances in this ecosystem in order to harness its collective intelligence, passion, and expertise.

Pursuance can be used for a great many things. But we, its creators, have certain interests. Specifically, we are focused on organizing activists, journalists, and non-profits in order to solve serious problems we face as a society — the surveillance state, the police state, the drug war, and many more.

Free Crack Pipes For Better Public Health Outcomes By Maggie Mayhem
Although controversial, harm reduction strategies have been proven to be successful in reducing infection and negative health outcomes among substance users. The benefits of needle exchanges are numerous: people are tested for HIV and Hep C and linked to care if needed, fewer discarded needles are found in public spaces, people are trained on how to prevent overdoses and what to do if someone is experiencing one, wound care is available, and case management and support is offered. Most of all, infections are prevented by providing people with the clean supplies they need so they aren’t reliant on sharing or re-using equipment.

Although many cities begrudgingly accept the benefits of syringe access programs, providing similar resources to crack cocaine and methamphetamine users is almost uniformly forbidden even in some of the most progressive cities due to stigma and fear of substance users. The risks associated with smoking increase when substance users share pipes, especially when the glass is broken or mouth wounds from burns are present. Given that pipes are classified as drug paraphernalia, they can be difficult to access and costly to carry so ad hoc pipes are made from unsafe materials such as broken light bulbs and discarded trash. This presentation will outline why safer smoking supplies are needed, how they work, and what you can do to support them.

A History of Fire in California’s Ecosystems
By
Natalie Wilkinson presents historical context of fire in California’s ecosystems utilizing several texts by experts such as Neil Sugihara, Stephen Pyne, and Raymond Clar. An analysis of the history of fire practices of the Native American Era and how they changed during colonization up until present practices, will address governor Jerry Browns statement, that the state faces a “new normal” of fire risk exacerbated by climate change. The talk will end with a discussion about steps forward; what should be expected from our national resource agencies after such a catastrophic fire season.

F[oia] the Police by Freddy Martinez
F[OIA] the Police is a high-level overview of different techniques used when sending Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to police departments in the United States. The talk tells the story over the last two years of using public record to inform activism, drive journalism, and help change laws. FOIA laws, like all systems, can be hacked and worked around using creative tricks, some of which this talk will highlight. Finally we will address the need for democratizing this internal knowledge and spreading it throughout civil society.

Fighting Cyber Dystopia with Tech Solidarity and the Digital Commons By Mai Ishikawa Sutton
These days it seems impossible to go a week without news of a major scandal involving a large, networked computing platform. Infamous stories include Google image search algorithms that return racist and sexist results to users, or Twitter’s repeated failure to moderate aggressive trolling and systematic intimidation that aim to silence marginalized voices. Why do many tech companies neglect to address (or foresee) such glaring problems with their user platforms, even despite good intentions? What does a different approach to technological innovation look like?

This talk will explore some recent trends and innovations within the tech solidarity movement, such as platform cooperativism and digital commoning projects. It will explain how they may offer an alternative to the dominant model of profit-fueled tech development — projects and enterprises that instead center equity, diversity, and democratic control by design. It will end with ideas on how technologists and artists can help bolster this movement to democratize control over our internet infrastructure.

Internet Art, Aesthetics, and Activism By Jeff Ray
In this lecture and visual presentation, we will be exploring current and past internet art and artists including the political collage animations of Ken Tin Hung, the digital interventionist work of Paolo Cirio, and the computer game manipulation of Jodi (art collective). We will talk about the genre as a whole and its capacity to be one of the most political of all art genres. We will discuss some of the tools to create this kind of work including open source, inexpensive software tools and various other resources including Bay Area classes and organizations. There will be a 15-minute questions and answers period at the end of the presentation. My artist website is jeffrayarts.com.

Bio: Jeff Ray is an artist, musician, digital arts instructor, and arts activist. He is currently teaching net art and web design at Cal State University San Marcos. He recently taught Game Art at the University of Nevada, Reno, and in the past has taught sound art and conceptual information arts at San Francisco State University. He currently helps develop the programming and artist outreach at Escondido’s “A Ship In The Woods” art gallery.

Using the blockchain to create a token backed by a land trust by josh wolf
While much of the attraction to cryptocurrency is its ethereal nature, is it possible to apply the technology to build a real-world intentional community that relies on a new form of cryptocoin as its primary currency? A round-table discussion.

Every two years in April, Labor Notes hosts a conference of about 2,000 labor organizers in Chicago. Labor Notes is the rabble-rousing left wing of the labor movement, and it works to support bottom-up, militant, democratic unionism and to empower rank-and-file members to hold union leadership accountable. This event is a crucial chance for rank-and-file members from across the country to come together and get important skills, learn about each others’ fights, and draw much-needed inspiration from stories of victory.

1) Justice 4 Angel Ramos
In January of 2017, 21-year-old Angel Ramos was violently murdered by the Vallejo Police Department.  Since that time, the State has refused repeated requests from the family to retrieve the coroner’s report.

And to add insult to injury, as a result of their public demands for justice, the family of Angel Ramos is continuously harrassed by the VPD.  Police show up to the family’s home at all hours of the day and night, follow them in the street and one of his sisters was approached by a police officer at a club where she was told to stop doing what she was doing.  This family needs our support.

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 3 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall.  If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph.  If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 3:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland.  (Note: we meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months,  once Daylight Savings Time springs forward we tend to assemble at 4 PM).

On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 2 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over five years! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally. Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.

At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.

General Assembly Standard Agenda

1. Welcome & Introductions
2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
3. Announcements
4. (Optional) Discussion Topic

Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.

Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area

San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv

We document current events, make films together, steward an editing suite and share a film equipment library. We also host film screenings, often with local directors, and put on an annual short film festival for independent Bay Area filmmakers. Our goal is to make the digital filmmaking accessible – no overpriced college degree or certificate program required!

We are also a good group to reach out to if you’d like to screen a film at the Omni. We can be reached at [ liberatedlens@lists.riseup.net ].

We usually meet in the basement, unless otherwise noted.