Calendar
This Friday, March 22nd from 3-7pm we are excited to do a soft launch of The People’s Clinic!
The People’s Clinic is an abolitionist wellness and recovery center for people impacted by state/police violence and frontline organizers taking action against genocide.
(1/3) pic.twitter.com/aN3uXvzkrf
— Anti Police-Terror Project (@APTPaction) March 21, 2024
Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite.
For our May meeting we will be reading by (Amazon, Penguin). For our June meeting we will finish the book.
An insider account of activists, politicians, educators, and everyday citizens working to change minds, bridge divisions, and fight for democracy—from disinformation fighters to a leader of Black Lives Matter to Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and more—by the best-selling author of Winners Take All and award-winning former New York Times columnist
“Anand Giridharadas shows the way we get real progressive change in America—by refusing to write others off, building more welcoming movements, and rededicating ourselves to the work of changing minds.” —Robert B. Reich, best-selling author of The System
The lifeblood of any free society is persuasion: changing other people’s minds in order to change things. But America is suffering a crisis of faith in persuasion that is putting its democracy and the planet itself at risk. Americans increasingly write one another off instead of seeking to win one another over. Debates are framed in moralistic terms, with enemies battling the righteous. Movements for justice build barriers to entry, instead of on-ramps. Political parties focus on mobilizing the faithful rather than wooing the skeptical. And leaders who seek to forge coalitions are labeled sellouts.
In The Persuaders, Anand Giridharadas takes us inside these movements and battles, seeking out the dissenters who continue to champion persuasion in an age of polarization. We meet a leader of Black Lives Matter; a trailblazer in the feminist resistance to Trumpism; white parents at a seminar on raising adopted children of color; Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; a team of door knockers with an uncanny formula for changing minds on immigration; an ex-cult member turned QAnon deprogrammer; and, hovering menacingly offstage, Russian operatives clandestinely stoking Americans’ fatalism about one another.
As the book’s subjects grapple with how to call out threats and injustices while calling in those who don’t agree with them but just might one day, they point a way to healing, and changing, a fracturing country.
Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included (in chronological order) 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, Mine!, The Dawn of Everything A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Beyond Money, Less is More, Cannibal Capitalism, Debt, the First 5000 Years , Poverty, By America, End Times, Jackson Rising Redux , The Feminist Subversion of the Economy, How Infrastructure Works, Inside the Systems that Shape our World, and Wealth Supremacy.
Resisting the Purging of pro-Palestinian Faculty
Speaker: Danny Shaw
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89531900427?pwd=mXg1rSZe3ONl4pfWlALW4ornc32Eez.1
Our speaker, Danny Shaw, is among the many voices for Palestine who have been punished for speaking out against genocide. After 18 years of teaching in the Latin American and Latinx Studies Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, he was fired last month for his social media posts educating and organizing against the Israeli-U.S. genocide in Gaza. He has been camped out with the hundreds of students, faculty, alumni and staff that make up the Columbia Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
We urge you to sign the petition in support of Danny Shaw, who has spoken at the Marxist Library a number of times. The popular faculty was fired in retaliation for his outspoken public stand for Palestinian liberation. The petition can be found at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeHtHV8F-TmazoQVzDCTE-Or2DcImwC_92qp8c2oVcOUBGm3w/viewform
The witch-hunt was led by the Zionist doxxing and blacklisting operation Canary Mission. Despite receiving numerous death threats, Danny continues to teach as a volunteer at the Columbia University’s pro-Palestine encampment.
Danny Shaw holds a BA in Sociology and Latin American Studies from Colombia University and a master’s in international affairs with a specialization in South American and Caribbean Studies from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.
He is affiliated with the Midwestern Marx Institute and frequently appears on TeleSUR, RT, and other progressive media. Danny is also a retired Golden Gloves boxer, fighting twice in Madison Square Garden for the NYC heavyweight championship. He is the author of six books and numerous articles.
See:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/04/17/bpdx-a17.html
https://www.instagram.com/profdannyshaw/reel/C5Ref73uQRu/
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 the Santa Cruz County Chapter of the ACLU of Northern California for this virtual event regarding the rapidly increasing use of mass surveillance technology by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. The expert panelists will discuss the current surveillance situation, what’s to come, the dangers of mass surveillance, how to monitor law enforcement’s use of surveillance technology and hold them accountable for misuse, our reasonable expectations of privacy, and what we can all do to protect our privacy and advocate for more protections.
Panelists include:
Tracy Rosenberg, Oakland Privacy & Executive Director, Media Alliance
Nick Hidalgo, Technology and Civil Liberties Program Staff Attorney, ACLU Northern California
Matthew Guariglia, Senior Policy Analyst, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Mike Gennaco, Independent Police Auditor for City of Santa Cruz, Office of Inspector General for Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, OIR Group
Moderator: Gary Patton, Professor, UC Santa Cruz & former Santa Cruz County Supervisor
If you are requesting Spanish interpreation, please register by Monday, May 6, so that we can make that available. The audience is encouraged to pose questions to the panelists.
May 20 event on Zoom. Join us! #privacy #surveillance pic.twitter.com/5augKq5jLM
— Media Alliance (@twrling) May 7, 2024
Join experts for a Student Loan Help Clinic hosted online or via telephone. Topics covered include student loan basics, repayment plan information, loan forgiveness options, and more.
Hardware Hacking Tuesdays are better than ever! Plus Fix-It Clinic!
Each Tuesday we welcome all to bring their hardware (and software and firmware) projects to Omni Commons, or simply come by to learn and tinker! All welcome, about 7:30pm until ∞ …whomever’s left standing!
We are inside the Omni Commons at 48th and Shattuck, see the link at the end of this text to call in in case the doors are locked!
○ Projects: can range from building course materials for teaching local kids electronics to a robotic arm that draws, to light projection art, to people building their own microchip boards! We provide the space, tools and peer learning – you bring your project and enthusiasm!
○ Group Sewing: Learn to do simple mending or get help with technical fabric and textile projects. In addition to regular machines our Sewing Lab features heavy-duty industrial sewing machines and sergers. Our in house sewing guru CC has worked for Academy or Art College, Tesla, SuitX, and Zipline and has vast sewing machine repair and maintenance experience; bring your own machine to tune up for tip-top operation and sew alongside others.
○ General Repair: Fix it Clinic’s weekly Oakland residency: bring your broken, non-functioning things – electronic gadgets, appliances, computers, toys, sewing machines, fabric items, etc.– for assessment, disassembly, and possible repair. We’ll provide workspace, specialty tools, and guidance to help you disassemble and troubleshoot your item. First-time repairers and “Fixing Families” are heartily invited. Learn more at https://www.fixitclinic.org/
Join us every Tuesday evening for a trifecta of awesomeness; you can also jump in virtually via our zoom-like video conference at this link: https://meet.waag.org/turtlesturtlesturtles
On May 22, @StrikeDebt is rallying in DC to demand Biden fund education NOT genocide. Join us!
Can’t make it in person? Support by sharing, liking, and telling your friends in the DC area to come out.
Cancel debt & defund the war machine.
RSVP here: https://t.co/FpecspnVui pic.twitter.com/tZT7SSYH9B
— magnetic deviation 🟥 (@thingsinthesink) May 13, 2024
Speaker: Mark Albertson
Extract: Sykes-Picot (May 1916) was a secret convention held during World War-I between Britain and France supported by imperial Russia for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. The Sykes-Picot agreement led to the division of Turkish-held Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine into various French- and British-administered areas. Mark Albertson, historian, will go through that progression of the April 1914 request by Arab nationalists desiring British assistance with their nationalism in throwing off the Ottoman yoke; the British acquiescing in November 1914 when the Ottomans join the Germans and Austria-Hungary; the Hussein-McMahan Correspondence; the Damascus Protocol; Sykes-Picot Agreement; Balfour Declaration; San Remo Conference; Treaty of Sevres; & the Treaty of Lausanne.
The inhabitants of the area in question did not forge the borders of the nations they are in, the British and French did, for colonial aspirations in expectation of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Sole Arab nation of any consequence forged by Arabs was Saudi Arabia. The Palestine-Israel conflict is a product of this colonial division of the land of Arabs.
Our speaker, Mark Albertson, is a frequent presenter at the Library. Mark is a military historian with a commanding knowledge of geo-politics. He is the historical research editor at Army Aviation magazine and is the historian for the Army Aviation Association of America. He has authored several books: USS Connecticut: Constitution State Battleship; They’ll Have to Follow You! The Triumph of the Great White Fleet; On History: A Treatise. He is at work on a two-volume history on the saga of Army aviation. Mark teaches history at Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89531900427?pwd=mXg1rSZe3ONl4pfWlALW4ornc32Eez.1
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
Beginning in June– hoping to solidify a regular monthly meeting time. We will try out the 2nd Monday of the month, so June 10 from 6-8p. Also, starting next month will be bi-weekly newsletters with updates, resources and announcements.� 🤞
Update–
The Federal loan consolidation deadline has been extended until June 30th. The Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) is holding a workshop to discuss the options available to borrowers right now as well as what folks can expect to see later this year. Some folks will have payments cut in half through the SAVE plan, others will have their debt canceled through the IDR & PSLF Adjustments. Student Debt Workshop on Tuesday, May 21st at 7pm ET (4PM PT)
[disclaimer– this is not a Debt Collective affiliated event, but I thought it may hold some useful info for those still uncertain about the consolidation process}
Join Zoom Meeting–>
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89423587022?pwd=QW5CNjBvRG8zbk9QQnBkeTdEdC8yUT09
Meeting ID: 894 2358 7022
Passcode: 123456
Dial by your location
� +1 669 4444 9171 US
� +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
Tonight, May 27th
All Eyes on Rafah
Vigil for Palestine
Lake Merritt Amphitheater
7:30pm@YallaBerkeley @AROCBayArea pic.twitter.com/kgafEG7Rv3— Mama Lisa (@LisTeague) May 27, 2024
Hardware Hacking Tuesdays are better than ever! Plus Fix-It Clinic!
Each Tuesday we welcome all to bring their hardware (and software and firmware) projects to Omni Commons, or simply come by to learn and tinker! All welcome, about 7:30pm until ∞ …whomever’s left standing!
We are inside the Omni Commons at 48th and Shattuck, see the link at the end of this text to call in in case the doors are locked!
○ Projects: can range from building course materials for teaching local kids electronics to a robotic arm that draws, to light projection art, to people building their own microchip boards! We provide the space, tools and peer learning – you bring your project and enthusiasm!
○ Group Sewing: Learn to do simple mending or get help with technical fabric and textile projects. In addition to regular machines our Sewing Lab features heavy-duty industrial sewing machines and sergers. Our in house sewing guru CC has worked for Academy or Art College, Tesla, SuitX, and Zipline and has vast sewing machine repair and maintenance experience; bring your own machine to tune up for tip-top operation and sew alongside others.
○ General Repair: Fix it Clinic’s weekly Oakland residency: bring your broken, non-functioning things – electronic gadgets, appliances, computers, toys, sewing machines, fabric items, etc.– for assessment, disassembly, and possible repair. We’ll provide workspace, specialty tools, and guidance to help you disassemble and troubleshoot your item. First-time repairers and “Fixing Families” are heartily invited. Learn more at https://www.fixitclinic.org/
Join us every Tuesday evening for a trifecta of awesomeness; you can also jump in virtually via our zoom-like video conference at this link: https://meet.waag.org/turtlesturtlesturtles
Beginning in June– hoping to solidify a regular monthly meeting time. We will try out the 2nd Monday of the month, so June 10 from 6-8p. Also, starting next month will be bi-weekly newsletters with updates, resources and announcements.� 🤞
Update–
The Federal loan consolidation deadline has been extended until June 30th. The Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) is holding a workshop to discuss the options available to borrowers right now as well as what folks can expect to see later this year. Some folks will have payments cut in half through the SAVE plan, others will have their debt canceled through the IDR & PSLF Adjustments. Student Debt Workshop on Tuesday, May 21st at 7pm ET (4PM PT)
[disclaimer– this is not a Debt Collective affiliated event, but I thought it may hold some useful info for those still uncertain about the consolidation process}
Join Zoom Meeting–>
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89423587022?pwd=QW5CNjBvRG8zbk9QQnBkeTdEdC8yUT09
Meeting ID: 894 2358 7022
Passcode: 123456
Dial by your location
� +1 669 4444 9171 US
� +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
Why do we do mass copwatching shifts?
This is a chance for us to teach our shifts practice: listening to the scanner, how to copwatch as a team, incident documentation, entry into our database, and more.
We hope that people will take what they learn into their daily lives AND join copwatch for some of our weekly shifts! We are always seeking to train up more shift facilitators.
Wanna know more about our shifts? Check out the copwatch handbook packed with 30+ years of experience. (https://www.berkeleycopwatch.org/handbook)
Accessibility info: Meet in the backroom of Grassroots House. There is a ramp at the front. Masks are encouraged.