Calendar

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May
25
Fri
Open Discussion and Workshop on Copwatching @ Oscar Grant Plaza
May 25 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

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Asylum Seekers Fundraiser: Moria Art Exhibit @ Omni Commons
May 25 @ 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

This fundraiser is a traveling art show raising money to fund the Asylum Seekers: Moria documentary while spreading awareness of the inhumanity surrounding the refugee crisis in Europe. This show will feature artists from all over the world with work focussed around asylum seekers. Pieces of the documentary will be played with Q&A following by the documentarians Anne Di Grazia and Irene Hollebrandse who recently got back to the US after shooting the documentary in one of the worst refugee camps in Greece: Moria. Each art work will be part of a rolling auction sold to the highest bidder at the end of the show tour.

Come look at art, watch some of the documentary and learn about the experience from the filmmakers.

Entrance fee: $10,-

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Film: The Organizer. A Documentary About ACORN, its Growth and Demise. @ New Parkway Theater
May 25 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Special Community Showing with Wade Rathke, Founder and Chief Organizer of ACORN.

The ORGANIZER is a film about people who have dedicated their lives to the hidden, usually message and always controversial job of building power for the powerless. It’s also a very human story about organizational tension, personal tragedy, betrayal and ultimately resilience. The film is about how ACORN as a political force the poor, marginalized and forgotten was built.

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May
27
Sun
Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library : Trotsky’s Theory of Fascism @ Niebyl Proctor Library
May 27 @ 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Our comrade, Elazar Friedman, will be back in town to celebrate his 85th birthday and discuss Trotsky’s theory of fascism. He will cover:

1.) The contribution of Clara Zetkin in 1923 addressed to the ECCI will be an important source that strongly influenced Trotsky. Reprising her elements of the newly evolved aspects of Fascism differing from previous right wing dictatorships will lay the foundation for Trotsky’s comprehensive model.

2.) Ernest Mandel in his intro to Trotsky’s Struggle Against Fascism in Germany posits 6 dynamically inter-related elements that compose Trotsky’s evolutionary model of Fascism. These will be summarized and compared to the models employed at the time by the Comintern and the KPD

Trotsky struggled might an main to apprise the working class movements in Germany of the deadly menace of Nazi Fascism and to correct the suicidal adventurist positions devolving from the Comintern such as SPD being the principal Social Fascist enemy and the distortions of Lenin’s position on United Front (ultimatist United Front from below) trying to bypass that most of the German working Class was in SPD led unions and organizational SPD -KPD United Front against Fascism were needed.

The Dimitrov speech in 1935 to the 7th Congress of the ECCI and his dialogue with Stalin criticizing the dictate on Social Fascism will be discussed and the flip flop to the opportunist class collaborationist Popular Fronts that paved the way to Fascist victory rather than stopping Fascism.

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Abolition of Policing Workshop with Critical Resistance @ Sierra Club
May 27 @ 11:00 am – 1:30 pm

This Critical Resistance workshop explores the role and history of policing in the U.S., the way it has impacted different communities, and how people have resisted and challenged its inherent violence. This workshop also goes over how we can reduce our reliance on policing by highlighting the various ways that building up community strength and practices lead to true safety that does not depend on law enforcement.

We are asking for a $5 – 20 donation, however no one will be turned away for lack of funds. 100% of donations will go to support Critical Resistance.

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Indivisible East Bay @ Sports Center
May 27 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

EB All Member Meeting at Sports Basement, Berkeley. RSVP (free) here.

Mission and Goals

Indivisible East Bay is a chapter of the Indivisible movement. We are a grassroots organization focused on stopping the Trump administration’s policies by:

  • Lobbying our group’s Members of Congress (MoCs) with office visits, calls, emails, and rallies.
  • Lobbying our MoCs on topics of laws, policies, and nominations.
  • Collaborating with other Indivisible groups and sharing resources for meetings and events.

We will also focus on the following, in order of declining priority:

  1. Lobby our representatives at all levels (state, local, county, party, judges, etc) to take actions (both symbolic and real) to oppose the Trump administration’s policies.
  2. Help indivisible groups in red & purple districts lobby their MoCs (CA & other states) to oppose the Trump administration’s policies.
  3. Help allied organizations, like Sister DistrictSwing Left, and Brand New Congress to support progressive MoCs under attack or to influence or replace MoCs in red & purple districts.
  4. Alert our members (e.g. not direct mobilization) about ways to personally support State legislation that supports our goals, such as AB 14 (campaign financing disclosure) or SB 54 (protect immigrants from ICE).
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Occupy Oakland General Assembly @ Oscar Grant Plaza
May 27 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:

occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

 

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 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 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)

On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over six years, since October 2011! 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

Welcome & Introductions
Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
Announcements
(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

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Oakland Greens: Free Dinner and a Movie @ It's Your Move Games
May 27 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Dinner: 6:30 PM

Movie: 7:30 PM

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Liberated Lens general meeting @ Omni Commons
May 27 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

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.

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Film night: The Chinese Exclusion Act @ Omni Commons ballroom
May 27 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Discussion after the screening with Cynthia Choy, Co-Executive Director of Chinese Affirmative Action, and Nancy Wong, daughter of victims of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Free snacks and popcorn.

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May
28
Mon
Memorial Day Interfaith Prayer Gathering
May 28 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Please join us on Memorial Day morning for an interfaith prayer gathering to honor the ancestors.

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People’s Park: how to save this beautiful experiment! @ Longhaul
May 28 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

64746
TENANT AND NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS, Public Meeting. @ Omni Commons
May 28 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Tenant and Neighborhood Councils (TANC) is a member-run housing organization built out of the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America. We encourage all tenants of private landlords, unhoused people, and public housing residents, to join us in organizing councils.

Existing avenues for combating rising rents, slumlord behavior, and evictions are channeled through non-profit organizations. These types of organizations, while a critical resource for tenants, do not necessarily challenge the larger structural dilemma that we face—the subjugation of housing under capitalism.

Effectively challenging well-heeled landlords, developers, and state managers depends on moving beyond individual relationships to landlords and towards organizing collectively as tenants against each and all landlords. Only then can we build our capacity to fight back against the forces that structure our lives.

Capitalism spurs investors and speculators to treat housing as storage containers for wealth with high rates of return rather than places to call home. From the history of the housing struggle across the country, we have seen that it is often the most precarious among us who are pushed out of our homes, made to live on the street, or forced into squalid living conditions. Throughout history, working class people—and especially working class people of color— have fought against discrimination, exploitation, and displacement. The history of housing struggles reveal our particular housing problems as collective ones that arise from capitalist housing market.

We understand our struggles as being interconnected, and our organizing against those who profit massively from precarity and misery in our daily lives follows this insight. We are building power towards a future where housing is constructed and allocated according to necessity—not according to profit.

 

WHO WE ARE

We are a group of Bay Area tenants who are fed up with rising rents, evictions, and harassment at the hands of landlords. We are fed up with our neighbors having no option but to live unsheltered and at constant risk of police harassment. We want to stop landlords, developers, and cops from looting our communities.

Capitalism is what connects all of these housing issues. Profit has been prioritized over our quality of life. There is only one way to push against a system that exploits our need for housing: we have to get organized. Together we can take collective action, and begin to force overdue rent reductions across the Bay Area.

If you or someone you know wants to organize for lower rents, timely maintenance, end landlord harassment, or focus on any other housing issue—reach out to us.

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May
29
Tue
Net Neutrality Lobby Day – Sacramento. @ State Capitol
May 29 @ 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Register here.

Get on the bus! This Tuesday May 29th we’ll be overwhelming Comcast and AT&T’s lobbying power in Sacramento and showing lawmakers our support for SB 822, California’s comprehensive Net Neutrality bill. SB 822 is the strongest Net Neutrality bill in the country, and the large Internet Service Providers are spending millions to try and stop it. But we’re not going to let them because we know what’s at stake.

A free and open Internet is critical to our ability to thrive as Black people and people of color in this country. Social movements like #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo have proven how critical it is for our voices to be heard online while we fight for our lives offline.

That’s why Color of Change and the Center for Media Justice are teaming up take a bus full of open Internet lovers to the state capital to make sure lawmakers hear our voices and respect our digital civil rights.

Space is limited so register today to reserve your spot on the bus:

Registration is free; light breakfast and lunch will be provided. We will be meeting in downtown Oakland at 8:30am for a brief lobby day training and light breakfast before departing for the State House. We will return to Oakland by 5pm.

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URGENT MARIO WOODS PRESS CONFERENCE @ Hall of (In)Justice
May 29 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm



We are enraged and disheartened by the cowardly decision of the SF DA – George Gascón to not file charges against the officers who killed Mario Woods.  The same day at the same time, DA Gascón also announced no charges in the fatal police shooting of Luis Gongora Pat.

We are joined by

JUSTICE 4 LUIS GONGORA COALITION

CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY JOHN BURRIS

GWEN WOODS

NAACP

REV DR AMOS BROWN

SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE (SURJ) SF

SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE (SURJ) BAY AREA

SAN FRANCISCO DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA

SAN FRANCISCO FOR DEMOCRACY

INDIVISIBLE SF

SF BERNIECRATS

HARVEY MILK DEMOCRATIC CLUB

FAMILIES OF VICTIMS OF POLICE VIOLENCE

And other community groups and leaders

Please come out and join us and stand for #Justice4MarioWoods and Justice for all victims of police violence.

Wealth and Disparities in the Black Community – Justice 4 Mario Woods
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Wealth-and-Disparities-in-the-Black-Community-Justice-4-Mario-Woods-1597022747260594/

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The War Economy: Poor People’s Campaign Week 3 @ West Steps
May 29 @ 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

THE WAR ECONOMY: MILITARISM & THE PROLIFERATION OF GUN VIOLENCE *RSVP http://bit.ly/PPCWeek3*

50 years ago, Dr. MLK Jr. started the Poor People’s Campaign to spark a radical revolution of values across the nation. The campaign was intended to turn his dream, our dream, into a reality. Black, Brown, Yellow, Red, White, folks of every color where invited to band together across differences to build a Beloved Community across the nation. Weeks before the Campaign, King was assassinated. The original movement was unable to come to fruition.

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is picking up where the movement stopped in 1968. Join us for our third week in a SEASON OF NONVIOLENT MORAL DIRECT ACTION. America is in a crisis of values. We must take nonviolent radical action to stand for the dignity of all people in our nation and around the world.

In the third week, we are focusing on the deep violence of The War Economy, American Militarism, the Mistreatment of Veterans, and the Proliferation of Gun Violence. With 140 million American living in poverty, how can we justify spending 57 cents out of every dollar, of our discretionary budget, on the military? How can we remain silent as our veterans go homeless and American-made bombs keep dropping all over the world?

Join us in Moral Resistance as we change our national narrative with over 30 other states in coordinated nonviolent moral fusion civil disobedience.

PLEASE NOTE: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO RISK ARREST TO JOIN THIS ACTION. We need all hands on deck!

Schedule:

8:30am-9am: Arrive Sign-up for Nonviolent Moral Fusion Direct Action and support role training @ Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1300 N St, Sacramento 95814. If you are participating in Nonviolent Moral Fusion Direct Action, or supporting as a Marshal, Medic or Peacekeeper you must join this training. (even if you have already been trained!)

9:00am-12:00pm: Final Training for everyone planning on participating in the Direct Action or as a Marshal or Peacekeeper.

12:00pm-2:00pm: Set-Up & Learning Songs (anyone who wishes to volunteer is welcome to meet up at the volunteer tent on the Capitol steps to help set-up)

2:00pm: Rally and Press Conference on West Steps

3:00pm Demonstration.

————————–——-

FOR THOSE WHO NEED FREE SIMPLE HOUSING IS OFFERED IN LOCAL CHURCHES. Fill in this form: http://bit.ly/PPCHOUSING

TRANSPORTATION
The Bay Area: Please fill out this form and local organizer will be in touch soon: http://bit.ly/2IwHBtX

Central California: Please fill out this form and local organizer will be in touch soon. http://bit.ly/2LbXt2t
As this is significantly larger zone to try and cover, we will do our best, but can’t be certain we will meet everyone’s needs. Please organize as much as you in your local communities to see what is possible with carpooling and transportation options.

Los Angeles & Southern California: Please fill out this form and a local organizer will be in touch soon. http://bit.ly/2x33VFU

San Diego: Ride-share Facebook Group (it will take a second for the group to become visible to you as you must be approved by an admin to join)

If you have any questions please be in touch at california@poorpeoplescampaign.org

————————–———

Thank you for joining with us to launch a multi-year movement to transform the moral narrative of this nation!

Meet you at the Capitol!

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Gayle McLaughlin discusses Winning Richmond @ Pegasus Bookstore
May 29 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Corporate-free candidate for Lt. Governor, Gayle McLaughlin, discusses her new memoir, Winning Richmond: How a Progressive Alliance Won City Hall.  

A group of political activists, environmentalists, and social justice advocates formed a Progressive Alliance that took their city back from the Chevron Oil Company. They transformed Richmond, long polluted and poisoned, into a national leader in sustainability, equity and grassroots democracy, giving hope to the San Francisco Bay Area, the state of California, and the world. Gayle McLaughlin was at the center of that long-term struggle, organizing with co-activists, going door-to-door campaigning and serving as the two-term Mayor of Richmond, California. This is her story. This is Richmond’s story.

​..”.the eyes of the country are on you. And if Chevron can roll over you, they and their buddies will roll over every community in America. If you can stand up and beat them with all of their money, you’re going to give hope to people all over America that we can control our destinies.” — Bernie Sanders at Richmond Town Hall for the Richmond Progressive Alliance

64729
SudoMesh: Save the Internet @ Omni Commons
May 29 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Hello we are here to Save the Internet!

Join us every Tuesday in the Omni Commons mezzanine to help build a community-owned and -operated wireless mesh network in the East Bay!

Every Tuesday night, we meet to discuss on-going projects, technical bugs, community and media outreach, finances and budgeting, and upcoming events, such as node mounts, office hours, and workshops.  Newcomers are encouraged to come on the last Tuesdays of the month for general orientation, but are welcome at any meeting.

A wireless mesh network is a network where each computer acts as a relay to other computers, such that a network can stretch to cover entire cities.

Our goal is to create a wireless mesh network that is owned and operated by the community.

Want to help create an alternate means of digital communication that isn’t governed by for-profit internet service providers? Join us for the mesh hacknight! We need people of all backgrounds to help with everything from community involvement and grant writing to mounting antennas on buildings and developing software!

Learn more at https://peoplesopen.net and http://sudomesh.org/

64665
May
30
Wed
End the SF Gang Injunctions Press Conference & Rally @ Steps of City Hall
May 30 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Come stand with Critical Resistance as we call on the San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera to #EndtheSanFranciscoGangInjunctions

Recently, the City Attorney removed 34 out of the 42 people named on the Western Addition gang injunction under pressure from community advocates. While this is a good start, we want the City Attorney to remove all listed individuals from ALL gang injunction in San Francisco.

Join us on the San Francisco City Hall steps to call for an end to the injunctions.

**Please share the event with your friends, family members, and community members.

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Cyrus Farivar discusses Habeas Data: Privacy vs. the Rise of Surveillance Tech @ Pegasus Books
May 30 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

 

Cyrus Farivar discusses Habeas Data: Privacy vs. the Rise of Surveillance Tech

Ars Technica senior business editor Cyrus Farivar presents a critical and historic look at how 50 years of American privacy law is inadequate for the near-future of surveillance. Join us at Pegasus Books Downtown for a discussion and book signing of Habeas Data.
ABOUT HABEAS DATA

You are being watched.

Whether through your phone or your car or your credit card, caught on a CCT camera or tracked through your online viewing history, government agencies know where you are, and are quietly collecting your most intimate, mundane, and personal information.

Is this even legal?

Habeas Data shows how the explosive growth of surveillance technology has outpaced our understanding of the ethics, mores, and laws of privacy.

Award-winning tech reporter Cyrus Farivar makes the case by taking ten historic court decisions that defined our privacy rights and matching them against the capabilities of modern technology. It’s an approach that combines the charge of a legal thriller with the shock of the daily headlines.

Chapters include: the 1960s proceeding against a drug dealer that established the “expectation of privacy” in nonpublic places such as your home (but how does that ruling apply now, when police can chart your every move and hear your every conversation within your own home — without even having to enter it?); the 1970s case where the police monitored a lewd caller — the decision of which is now the linchpin of the NSA’s controversial metadata tracking program revealed by Edward Snowden; and a 2010 low-level burglary trial that revealed police had tracked a defendant’s past 12,898 locations before arrest — an invasion of privacy grossly out of proportion to the alleged crime, which showed how authorities are all too willing to take advantage of the ludicrous gap between the slow pace of legal reform and the rapid transformation of technology.

A dazzling exposé that journeys from Bonn, Germany to Oakland, California, from the halls of the Supreme Court to the back of a squad car, Habeas Data combines deft reportage, deep research, and original interviews to offer an X-ray diagnostic of our current surveillance state.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrus Farivar is the Senior Business Editor at Ars Technica and the author of The Internet of Elsewhere. He is also a radio producer and has reported for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio, Public Radio International, The EconomistWired, The New York Times, and others.

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