Calendar
Speaker: Mark Albertson
June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler hurled 3,300,000 German troops against the Soviet Union, the start of the greatest land war in modern times. It will be the Soviets who will win the land war, defeating the German Army, not the United States and the Western allies. During the second chapter of the Great War, Britain will incur 495,000 dead; 405,399 for the US. A colossal 25,000,000, one of every seven in the Soviet Union, will die in 47 months. Yet the Eastern Front will loom large in the irrevocable alteration of the global dynamics of power. No longer will the Europeans dominate the globe. The two big winners were the US and the USSR. This mark a new global geopolitics and usher in the Cold War.
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.
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Meeting ID: 873 8882 4824
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In the five years since the murder of George Floyd, where does the movement against racist police violence stand, locally and nationally? Please join us for this Sunday’s panel with two renowned guests, Steve Martinot and Walter Riley.
Steve Martinot has been a human rights activist for most of his life, as union organizer, community organizer, and anti-war organizer, including Latin America solidarity work. He has worked as a machinist and truck driver, and taught literature and cultural studies at the University of Colorado and San Francisco State University. His latest book is “Police Brutality: A Study of Police Culture in the US”. Some of his previous books, published by Temple University Press, include, “The Machinery of Whiteness,”, “The Rule of Racialization” and “Forms in the Abyss: a philosophical bridge between Sartre and Derrida.” He l ives in Berkeley and has led seminars on the structures of racialization in the US, and was active in a neighborhood assembly and with participatory budgeting.
Walter Riley is a renown civil rights attorney and organizer. Walter grew up in Jim Crow North Carolina; first being active in the NAACP there around desegregation and voter registration campaigns, then a leader in the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), in the era of the freedom rides and their strategy of mass direct action.
Walter moved to the Bay Area in 1965, attending SF State and was very involved in the 1968 strike there around ethnic studies a nd a Black Student Union, and was afterwards, working in support of a Black Caucus amongst SF Muni bus drivers. He was also involved with the Black Panther Party and other community political groupings, and has been active in fighting the racist system and violent police culture here ever since. For example, Walter was attorney for Black Livers Matters protestors.
He has also received awards for his legal work from the California Black Legal Association and the National Lawyers Guild. He is a founding member of the Coalition for Police Accountability, as well as the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund and has been active lately in the fight against removing Pamela Price as County DA and against the corporate political offensive in Oakland.
The people of Los Angeles have courageously stood up against Trump’s reign of terror against immigrant families. In response, the administration has deployed the National Guard and heavily militarized federal troops in an attempt to spread terror and intimidate people out of exercising their right to protest.
But we refuse to be silenced! The people of the Bay Area demand ICE get out of our communities, stop the deportations, and stop the raids.
For those who believe in immigrant rights, for those who believe in democracy, for the entire working class – now is the time to take to the streets in protest!
Find actions near you here.
You can be a part of the massive outpouring of opposition on No Kings Day: Nationwide Day of Defiance on Flag Day, during Trump’s birthday military parade in Washington, DC.
Called by Indivisible and a huge coalition of partner organizations, local activists, pro-democracy and pro-worker organizations will come together for marches, rallies, and demonstrations. Trump’s military parade will not be the big story of the day—we will!
As the call to action says, “Donald Trump wants tanks in the streets and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington — it rises up everywhere else.”
The organizers make clear that all events will include a commitment to nonviolence and de-escalating conflicts.
Find actions near you here.
The narcissist-in-chief is throwing a ridiculous military parade for himself in DC – everywhere else we rise up to say NO KINGS!!
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR UPDATES!
Before 1:00: Gather at Wilma Chan Park (810 Jackson St.) – we recommend you arrive by 12:45. Parking will be challenging, so take BART to Lake Merritt Station (right next to the Park). Come early and have lunch in Chinatown!
1:00: March kicks off! March for 1 mile to Oscar Grant / Frank Ogawa Plaza.
1:15: At the Plaza: live music, plus tabling by the orgs co-sponsoring the event!
1:45-ish: Rally kicks off!
MCed by the fabulous Francisco Herrera!
Confirmed Speakers so far:
-Representative Lateefah Simon
-Pastor Mike McBride: https://livefreeusa.org/our-team/
-Joe Hawkins: https://www.oaklandpride.org/joeh
2:45/3:00-ish Rally wraps up!
SPONSORED BY Indivisible East Bay, along with these wonderful partners:
-50501 East Bay
-Alameda County Dems
-Bay Area Coalition
-Faith in Action
-Food & Water Watch
-Indivisible Kensington
-Indivisible Euclid
-Kehilla Community Synagogue
-ProRep Coalition
-Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
-Working Families Party – California
Speaker: Raj Sahai
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 873 8882 4824
Passcode: 042428
• +1 646 931 3860 US
• +1 669 444 9171 US
The Nation State in South Asia in the Era of Capitalist Decline
South Asian nation states were formed at the end of WWII, when Colonial Imperialism was given a body blow by the war. Britain, France and other European colonial capitalist states were badly weakened. Socialism was in ascendency, but US capitalism was also advancing. Today capitalism is in decline and is in its rottenest stage in the G-7 countries. The impact of it in South Asia will be examined, keeping in view the short military conflict between India and Pakistan.
Raj Sahai is a retired engineer and has been a researcher and activist with the Institute of Critical Study of Society, which he joined in 2006. He is a US citizen, an immigrant from India, he has lived in Illinois and California since 1966.
Known for being the first American woman to fly in space, astronaut and physicist Sally Ride is one of NASA’s most prominent figures. Even though she logged nearly 350 hours in space, little was known about Ride’s personal life — until now. Currently celebrated as the world’s first-known LGBTQ+ astronaut, Ride had a long-term partnership with Billie Jean King’s mentee-turned-science-writer and professor Tam O’Shaughnessy, which they kept private until Ride’s passing in 2012.
For this Sundance Award-winning documentary, diretor Cristina Costantini (Mucho Mucho Amor) uses a seamless blend of archival footage and intimate interviews to paint an honest and affecting portrait of Ride. Preserved in books, our collective pop-cultural memory, and even a Janelle Monáe song, Ride’s legacy looms large. However, by juxtaposing its titular subject’s storied career with her struggles with fame, privacy, and queerness, this film understands that even history’s most enduring heroes are just like us.
With Jonathan Reischl and Bill Shields
A light breakfast will be offered at 9am and the program will begin at 9:30am.
| The final Forum of the 2024-2025 year is also the kickoff event for San Francisco LaborFest 2025. Bill Shields will introduce our subject and main presenter, Jonathan Reischl. Jonathan will then discuss resistance to the MAGA attack on federal government workers and services from his perspective as an Enforcement Attorney at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a member of the National Treasury Employees Union, Local 335.
Jonathan and Bill will also discuss the Federal Unionist Network (FUN) fightback against Trump’s attempt to destroy all federal unions. Many federal employees and service recipients are people of color, and there is a strong racial justice component to this resistance. Jonathan Reischl has worked at the CFPB since 2015 and lives in San Francisco with his partner and daughter. Bill Shields is Chair Emeritus of Labor and Community Studies at City College of San Francisco and Director of the Workers Voices Storytelling Project. You can also attend via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/96934465087?pwd=R7voICnycAZuWXPjdGlrMnhn6NbEMg.1 Phone in at +1 669 900 6833, Meeting ID: 969 3446 5087 |
Speaker: Stansfield Smith
To Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87388824824?pwd=QTWNvr8cGeGo1ZDW7x9Y8W0sDaNxRc.1
To join on the phone:
Meeting ID: 873 8882 4824
Passcode: 042428
+1 646 931 3860 US
+1 669 444 9171 US
Sunday, June 22, 2025: 10:30am-12:30pm Pacific Time
With the current occupant in the White House unleashing the Marines and National Guard against immigrants, banning US entry to citizens from nearly 20 non-white countries, flouting court orders, accusing media as “the enemy of the people,” and extending executive power, can the US be said to be fascist or on the brink of becoming so?
To have a provocative discussion on this topic, we have invited long-time activist and past speaker Stansfield Smith to return to present on his recent article (https://orinocotribune.com/trump-fascism-a-reality-check/).
Stansfield Smith was a leader of the Chicago Committee to Free the Cuban 5 and has been active in defense of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua for years. He has put out the Venezuela & ALBA Weekly News since 2013 and the online newsletter for the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition for the past three years. He has published in LA Progressive, Dissident Voice, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Covert Action, Monthly Review online, and other websites. Smith is a long time anti-war activist, and opposed US interference over the years in Latin America. His website is ChicagoALBASolidarity.org.
Donation: $20 (to pay instructors, fund supplies for the group, and cover other costs – but – there’s no pressure to pay)
Take This Workshop form trained and experienced Street Medics, and join our team that will be attending large protests very soon – ready to help any activists injured or hurt.
We Are CA Teach In: What’s really happening in LA?
Virtual Teach in Tuesday, June 24th, 6:30-8:30PM
The Trump administration has launched an unprecedented and unlawful invasion. Armed militarized federal agents are disappearing our neighbors from job sites, schools, and neighborhoods. Families are terrified.
But through the fear, something powerful is happening: Angelenos are rising. Together. We’ve seen faith leaders kneeling in prayer in front of federal troops. Teachers, small business owners, and neighbors taking to the streets in peaceful resistance. From South LA to the San Fernando Valley, from Boyle Heights to Pasadena, neighbors are showing up for each other.
This virtual session will prepare us for the road ahead by training-up on who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes and how we take action together:
- Know Your Rights info – how to spread power not panic
- Expose the real villains – the billionaires and bullies profiting off our people and future
- A plan for nonviolent resistance to keep ICE out of our communities and to push back on the MAGA murder budget
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Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite. All are welcome!
For our July, 2025 meeting we will be reading the first two sections (approximately 115 pages) of Stellar, A World Beyond Limits and How to Get There (Amazon), (Goodreads) For our August meeting, we will finish the book.
A bold re-examination of the past, present, and future of humanity, Stellar challenges conventional thinking and offers a vision of hope and optimism – a necessary antidote to the fear and despair that define our times.
Stellar uncovers the root causes of today’s biggest challenges, from war and economic instability to inequality and environmental collapse. It reveals why solutions to these issues are little more than band-aids, why our political and economic structures are failing, and how to unlock humanity’s full potential.
Stellar reimagines what’s possible – a world that gives rather than takes from both people and planet. A Stellar World where today’s pressing issues simply dissolve, where humanity can thrive, free from fear, scarcity, and despair.
This book will transform how you see the world, and your place in it.
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, Wealth Supremacy, The Persuaders, The Path to a Livable Future, Solidarity, Mutual Aid, Breaking Together, Making Sense of Chaos and TechnoFeudalism.