Calendar

The problem of climate change is the most severe crisis of our time. The future of life on this planet is at risk. Despite the serious warnings of climate scientists, corporations around the world are continue to be directed by their drive for profits. And the governments that represent their interests continue along the same path of environmental destruction. The future of our species cannot remain in their hands. The choice in front of us is clear – we have to organize our forces to save ourselves and life on our planet.

Join us for a discussion with author and scholar, Andreas Malm, to discuss this challenge of our lifetime. Malm is author of numerous books including: Fossil Capital, Corona, Climate, Chronic Emergency, and White Skin, Black Fuel – On the Danger of Fossil Fascism. He will be speaking to us from Sweden, so take note of the time change of our meeting.

Link to Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/1i56gYZrA

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82158800683?pwd=N2J6UjgxNWhNak1WRWdUdm9CUit4QT09

Meeting ID: 821 5880 0683
Passcode: 340756

City Lights has 3 online panels on the theme of “In Praise of Good Bookstores”.

You can access all 3 of them via the City Lights Eventbrite page, here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/o/city-lights-booksellers-amp-publishers-30129073452

Links to the individual sessions (which begin at 11 am, 12:30 pm, and 2 pm respectively) are here:

In Praise of Good Bookstores – Session 1: The Presence of Books

In Praise of Good Bookstores – Session Two: The Making Of A Good Bookstore

In Praise of Good Bookstores – Session Three: The Building of Communities
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-praise-of-good-bookstores-session-three-the-building-of-communities-tickets-275968076947?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

 
We have invited Judy Greenspan, a longtime leader and organizer for Workers World Party to talk about life in the WW and about WW positions on the burning issues of our time.

Judy Greenspan is a member of the Bay Area Branch of Workers World Party. Judy, who uses pronouns them/them, is also an Oakland public school teacher, a union rep for substitute teachers in the Oakland Education Association, a writer for Workers World newspaper, and a long time activist in the prison abolition movement.
Judy will present a history of Workers World Party and the role it has consistently played in the working class movement in the U.S.  Judy will discuss WWP’s positions on self-determination, the fight against racism, sexism, gender and transphobia and anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry. Judy will also talk about the significance of the recent Amazon and Starbucks workers union victories to the working class and progressive movements in this country. They will also discuss the rise of the rightwing, the US war drive and how we can fightback.

LOGIN INFORMATION

Our Zoom room will be opened up, as usual, at 10:15 for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc.. The program (and recording) will begin as close to 10:30 am as possible and will end at 12:30, but the Waiting Room will remain open until about 1 pm for informal discussion.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2591082607?pwd=S2R1czVWNE4xdEVNZGtlekVuelQ2QT09

Meeting ID: 259 108 2607
Passcode: ICSS2241rs
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Dial by your location
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Meeting ID: 259 108 2607
Passcode: 8548345688
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kc4RrpvAiQ

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

“Let’s Agree to Disagree” — with Mickey Huff!!  Director of Project Censored
His new book is sub-titled: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management and Critical Media Literacy
Breaking through the polarization is essential, so don’t miss this riveting program!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89559844652
Meeting ID: 895 5984 4652

In this age of extreme polarization, hyper-partisanship and “siloed information,” our society is challenged on agreeing to disagree, and our democracy has become fragile, and political future seems almost hopeless. America is in need for re-establishing a more tolerant and centered civil discourse.  What is the media’s role and how can we counter this? Every major change in the media promises democratic possibility and inclusive public conversation –  only to see old patterns of division and exclusion recur, and a challenge to civil liberties and free speech.  Is there a direct parallel between our world today to that of post-World War I America when the United States faced another raging pandemic and economic recession, with the Red Scare, and other sources of tumult?

Mickey Huff and Nolan Higdon, who teaches at UC Santa Cruz, have just written a book that discusses the origins of our current hyper-partisanship, and provides a roadmap to break through the polarization entitled:

Let’s Agree to Disagree, A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management and Critical Media Literacy.
Mickey will present an overview of the book and answer questions on this vital, urgent topic.

Mickey Huff is the director of Project Censored and president of the nonprofit Media Freedom Foundation. To date, he has co-edited 13 editions of the Project’s yearbook, including most recently Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2022, with Andy Lee Roth. He is also co-author, with Nolan Higdon, of United States of Distraction: Media Manipulation in Post-Truth America (and what we can do about it) (2019). Huff received the Beverly Kees Educator Award as part of the 2019 James Madison Freedom of Information Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California. He is professor of social science, history, and journalism at Diablo Valley College, where he co-chairs the history program and is chair of the Journalism Department. Huff is executive producer and host of The Project Censored Show, a weekly syndicated public affairs program that airs across the U.S. on Pacifica Radio. Additionally, Huff sits on the board for the nonprofit Behind the Headlines and serves on the editorial board for the journal Secrecy and Society. For the past several years, Huff has worked with the national outreach committee of Banned Books Week, working with the American Library Association and the National Coalition Against Censorship, of which Project Censored is a member.  His newest book with Nolan Higdon is published by Routledge.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89559844652

Meeting ID: 895 5984 4652
One tap mobile
+16699009128,,89559844652# US (San Jose)
+12532158782,,89559844652# US (Tacoma)

Meeting ID: 895 5984 4652
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbmHLDhwS9

https://acgreens.wordpress.com/
Express your green ideas and “like” us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/greenpartyofalamedacounty/

Participation and/or donations appreciated!  https://acgreens.wordpress.com/donate/

#OakMtg #AlaMtg Alameda Co Board of Sups Public Protection Committee invites feedback on the potential establishment of Sheriff's Oversight. Monday,4/11, 5:30-7:30 p.m. pic.twitter.com/AgkRIoiA2A

— Rachel B (@UCBRachelB) April 5, 2022

Register here to receive email confirmation and a link:  https://tinyurl.com/ALCOAB1185

OTU’s Mission

The Oakland Tenants Union is an organization of housing activists dedicated to protecting tenant rights and interests. OTU does this by working directly with tenants in their struggle with landlords, impacting legislation and public policy about housing, community education, and working with other organizations committed to furthering renters’ rights. The Oakland Tenants Union is open to anyone who shares our core values and who believes that tenants themselves have the primary responsibility to work on their own behalf.

Monthly Meetings

The Oakland Tenants Union meets regularly at 7:00 pm on the second Monday evening of each month. Our monthly meetings are held in the Community Room of the Madison Park Apartments, 100 – 9th Street (at Oak Street, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station). To enter, gently knock on the window of the room to the right of the main entrance to the building. At the meetings, first we focus on general issues affecting renters city-wide and then second we offer advice to renters regarding their individual concerns.

If you have an issue, a question, or need advice about a tenant/landlord issue, please call us at (510) 704-5276. Leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will get back to you.

“Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.” – Karl Marx

This history is the history of class struggle. To understand the class struggle is to understand the fundamental conflict within capitalism, between capitalists and workers, and the means to move beyond it. It keeps our hope for a better world from becoming sentimental and anemic and empowers it with the means for fundamental change. Without an understanding of class struggle, socialists have no political program outside of a moral stance that the current system is unjust. But with that understanding lies the power for putting the wheels of history back into motion.

Readings

The ABCs of Capitalism – Capitalism and Class Struggle

Please email contact@oaklandprivacy.org a few days before the meeting to get up-to-date location information or obtain Zoom meeting access info.

Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, police militarization and ICE, and to advocate for surveillance regulation around the Bay and nationwide.

We fight against spy drones, facial recognition, tracking equipment, police body camera secrecy, anti-transparency laws and requirements for “backdoors” to cellphones; we oppose “pre-crime” and “thought-crime,” —  to list just a few invasions of our privacy by all levels of Government, and attempts to hide what government officials, employees and agencies are doing.

We draft and push for privacy legislation for City Councils, at the County level, and in Sacramento. We advocate in op-eds and in the streets. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and believe no one is illegal.

Check out some of what we worked on in 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Oakland Privacy originally came together in 2013 to fight against the Domain Awareness Center, Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub. OP was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network.  We helped fight and helped win the fight against Urban Shield.

Our major projects currently include local legislation to regulate state surveillance (we got the strongest surveillance regulation ordinance in the country passed in Oakland!), supporting and opposing state legislation as appropriate, battling mass surveillance in the form of facial recognition and other analytics, mass aerial surveillance, ubiquitous license plate readers, and pushing back against ICE.

On September 12th, 2019 we were presented with a Barlow Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for our work, and on March 16th, 2021 s James Madison Freedom of Information Award by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists.

If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy email listserv, coming to a meeting, or have questions, send an email to:

contact@oaklandprivacy.org

Check out our website: http://oaklandprivacy.org/

Follow us on twitter: @oaklandprivacy

“WATCHING YOU WATCHING US”

Oakland Privacy works regionally to defend the right to privacy and enhance public transparency and oversight regarding the use of surveillance techniques and equipment.  Oakland Privacy drove the passage of surveillance regulation and transparency ordinances in Oakland and Berkeley and is kicking off new processes in various municipalities around the Bay.  To help slow down the encroaching police and surveillance state all over the Bay Area, join us at the Omni.

Join KPFA for this special Zoom event when Steve Wasserman hosts Azar Nafisi and her book, Read Dangerously

Afar Nafisi with Steve Wasserman : A KPFA Zoom Event

Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times

The New York Times bestselling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran returns with a guide to the power of literature in turbulent times, arming readers with a resistance reading list, ranging from James Baldwin to Zora Neale Hurston to Margaret Atwood.

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Come hang out at the Empty Homes Tax mobilization tomorrow at noon — we will be training for signature gathering and having a fun BBQ 😎 See you there! pic.twitter.com/CgM10SfpWy

— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) April 15, 2022

New Member Orientation!

Get involved with community-based police accountability and the struggle for justice! Copwatch will be hosting a new volunteer orientation (with snacks) where we will have info sessions on copwatching shifts, Know Your Rights trainings, creative projects, casework, and our police incident database.

This even will be held outside, socially distanced with masks.
Accessibility: The location is at ground level, in a grassy area.

For questions, email: berkeleycopwatch@yahoo.com

It’s been almost 2 years since SLPD officer Jason Fletcher murdered #justice4steventaylor while he was having a mental health crisis. Join us on Saturday, April 16th at the new Steven Taylor Park Site (@ San Leandro Marina) to celebrate life, justice, and community healing! pic.twitter.com/6eVkvNyLoR

— CURYJ (@CURYJ) April 14, 2022

Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the the online invite.

For February, 2022 we’re reading the first three chapters of The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by the late David Graber and co-author David Wengrow.

For March, we’re reading the next four chapters, 4-7.

For April, we are finishing the book.

All are welcome!

“A dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution―from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality―and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation…”

Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included Doughnut Economics, Limits, Banking on the People, Capital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, The Deficit Myth,  Revenge Capitalism, the Edge of Chaos blog symposium , Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons, The Optimist’s Telescope, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, Exploring Degrowth, The Origin of Wealth and Mine!.

Ww have invited Laura Wells to discuss the historic decision this year in which the Green Party and the Peace and Freedom Party created a Left Unity Slate of statewide candidates for the June 7, 2022 primary in California. This cooperative strategy was based on the many shared values between the two parties, all of which will save lives, money, and the planet. Among the values are a single-payer “Medicare for All” healthcare system, real justice not increasing criminalization, truly affordable housing, public ownership of energy, ending wars for profit, public banking, and a comprehensive climate plan including meaningful work that provides a living without destroying the planet.

Topics to discuss include the challenges and successes of these two progressive socialist and eco-socialist parties, and ultimately, the question of what does it really take to shift our states and nations toward socialist values for the survival of people and planet?

Laura Wells is a political activist in California and in solidarity with Latin America. She has been an organizer and a candidate for the Green Party, and is running again for state Controller in 2022. She also ran for Congress in 2018, and governor after the global financial meltdown in 2010. A former financial systems analyst, Laura focuses her platform on taxing the rich, public banking, reforming Proposition 13, and saving money and lives with an improved Medicare for All healthcare system.

For a list of the Left Unity Slate candidates, see https://leftunityslate.org/, and for Laura’s blog and campaign website, see https://laurawells.org/

ZOOM LINK

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2591082607?pwd=c1JuWjJyQ1hqTWFTNE8xUmhNYjJsdz09

Meeting ID: 259 108 2607
Passcode: ICSS2247rs
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,2591082607#,,,,*0620301838# US (San Jose)
+13462487799,,2591082607#,,,,*0620301838# US (Houston)

Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

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

Join KPFA for this very special, IN-PERSON EVENT, when Beverly Guy-Sheftall hosts Alice Walker and her book, Gathering Blossoms Under Fire.

From National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize�winning author Alice Walker and edited by critic and wwriter Valerie Boyd, comes an unprecedented compilation of Walker’s fifty years of journals drawing an intimate portrait of her development over five decades as an artist, human rights and women’s activist, and intellectual.

*Proof of COVID-19 vaccination required for entry, masks strongly encouraged.

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