Calendar
Learn about the latest developments: lawsuits, restraining orders, and Einstein’s Mayoral campaign!
Watch a movie, hang out. Bring a pillow.
Book Release Celebration with Journalist Nora Barrows-Friedman
IN OUR POWER: U.S. STUDENTS ORGANIZE FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE
(Just World Books)
The Middle East Children’s Alliance is thrilled to host this celebration of award-winning reporter Nora Barrows-Friedman’s new book which documents the emergence and success of the Students for Justice in Palestine movement, using many of Nora’s investigative interviews with activists nationwide. Her journalistic experience in Palestine and close engagement with Palestinian solidarity activism give Nora a unique ability to help these inspiring student leaders tell their stories!
Special Guest MALIHE RAZAZAN, who cohosts KPFA’s “Voices of the MIddle East” program, will interview Nora about her book. And activists from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) will participate in the Q and A with Nora.
Nora Barrows-Friedman is a staff writer/editor with The Electronic Intifada and has contributed to Al-Jazeera English, Truthout.org and more. Past Senior Producer/co-host of KPFA’s investigative news magazine “Flashpoints”, in 2009 she received the Lifetime Achievement Media Freedom Award from the Media Freedom Foundation.
On Oct 7, 2014m 26 yr O’Shaine K. Evans was shot 7 times by SFPD officer David Goff.
O’Shaine was born in Montigo Bay, Jamaica, and was living with his Mom in Oakland where he was training to become a boxer.
O’Shaine was not a threat to anyone and was described as a “humble soul” and a “quiet mama’s boy” by family and friends,
O’Shaine family, friends and supporters demand :
* Release the police report, autopsy, surveillance video/
audio of the SFPD “Town Hall” meeting !
* Explain why SFPD held a “Town Hall” WITHOUT inviting O’Shaine’s family or District Supervisor Jane Kim
* Explain why O’Shaine’s mother was NOT allowed to ID his body
* Launch an INDEPENDENT investigation of O’Shaine’s death, including events leading up to and following the shooting
* End racist police assassinations, from SF to Ferguson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Facebook : Justice 4 O’Shaine Evans
Donate : youcaring.com/O’Shaine
200 urban farmers occupy the last piece of East Bay farmland and plant 15,000 seedlings to save it from becoming a shopping mall. This is a story about what we can accomplish through collective action, and it takes on one of the most powerful institutions in the world. Its about all of us!
We have showtimes! Occupy The Farm is playing at 12:00 pm, 2:20 pm, 4:50 pm, 7:00pm and 9:30 pm at the UA Berkeley 7 on 2274 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley starting November 7!
It’s playing several times a day for 7 days straight. Then we go to New York and Los Angeles. Please help get the word out so that theaters in more communities will take the plunge to book the film.
Later on, it will be available for community screenings and home, but right now we have the opportunity to bring wider awareness of the issues of sustainable food systems and urban farming to a whole new group of people who otherwise would not be aware.
Hang out with or come visit Strike Debt Bay Area at First Friday. Discuss the politics and societal impact of debt and income inequality. Learn about our myriad projects and how you can get involved!
This month we’ll be doing a few economic experiments at the table, giving people easy ways to barter and use alternative credit reports.
Look for us between 24th & 25th streets on Telegraph.
Did you occupy the farm?
Occupy the Farm Film Screening and After Party
The film has had a big break in the first three cities, but without the kind of advertising budget Hollywood films usually depend on, we need people power to let folks know it exists!
Join us for the afterparty on opening night!
RSVP here
See you at the movies!
The film tells the story of the 17-year struggle to protect 20 acres of public farmland (the “Gill Tract”, in Albany) from development into a supermarket, housing complex, and strip mall.
The filmmaker has received a big break from Regal Cinemas, the largest theater owner in the country, but on the shoestring budget of an independent film, we’re depending on people power to get the word out.
5 screenings per day
United Artists 7 Movie Theater
Second Sundays:
Interfaith prayer meeting for healing, dedicated to the survivors and victims of violence and police brutality in Oakland.
We are organizing this gathering for the community to connect, share prayers, writings and poems from all spiritual traditions, reflect and recharge and build coalitions interested in healing.
Please feel free to bring quotes or passages to share
All are welcome
We will serve simple breakfast.
Our constitutional system of checks and balances is broken. A Congress in the hands of corporations and their lobbyists can no longer protect the public from special interests and government, with its surveillance and endless wars for oil and profit. Independent media have emerged as a powerful check on government abuses. Whistleblowers play an increasing and vital role in getting information to the public.
Our five panelists will engage in a lively discussion of the public’s need for greater transparency and constitutional protection from government intrusion and abuse. How do “We the People” protect ourselves?
Our Panelists:
Daniel Ellsberg: Activist, whistleblower, co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Norman Solomon: Author, activist, co-founder of RootsAction.org; coordinator of ExposeFacts.org.
Trevor Timm: Journalist and Columnist for the UK Guardian, executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Marjorie Cohn: Law professor at Jefferson School of Law; author and human rights activist; former president of the National Lawyers Guild.
Ahmed Ghappour: Hastings College professor of law; national security and cybersecurity litigator.
This Forum is the third in a series of Civil Liberty forums presented by St. John�s Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, California.
Hearing Postponed Until December 11th.
Plaintiffs City of Berkeley and Mayor and Members of the City Council of the
City of Berkeley have filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary
injunction, to enjoin defendants United States Postal Service, Patrick R. Donahoe, Tom A.
Samra, and Diana Alvarado from completing a sale of the Berkeley Post Office. According to
that motion, “the City believes that USPS will attempt to convey the Post Office property at any
moment,” even though USPS reportedly has not performed the reviews required by the National
Historic Preservation Act or the National Environmental Policy Act.
This order hereby ENJOINS the named defendants from completing the sale of the
Berkeley Post Office until a hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction can be conducted.
Plaintiffs must post a bond in the amount of $5,000 and serve all named defendants with the
complaint, summons, and all papers (including this order) by 10:00AM ON NOVEMBER 6, 2014.
The hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction will take place at 8:00AM ON NOVEMBER 10th, 2014.
(signed)
WILLIAM ALSUP
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Billy Nessen is a long-time activist, most recently working with UC Berkeley students (Fossil Free Cal) to demand the Regents divest from big oil, coal and natural gas.Nessen, a leader of the student anti-apartheid divestment movement at Berkeley in the ‘80s, will give us a history of the movements he’s been involved in, from the protests at the Concord Naval Weapons Station against shipping weapons to El Salvador to his role as a journalist who was captured in the E. Timor Independence Struggle.
Steve Jacobson of Earth First! and Occupy will interview Billy Nessen to help bring his work to light. We may also be seeing excerpts from Nessen’s film, The Black Road.
THE POSTAL SERVICE HAS THE BERKELEY POST OFFICE “UNDER CONTRACT.” !!!!!!!!!!!
THE POSTAL SERVICE WANTS TO SELL THE POST OFFICE TO HUDSON-MCDONALD DEVELOPMENT GROUP.
THE CITY OF BERKELEY HAS SUED THE POST OFFICE TO STOP THE SALE.
THE HEARING TO GRANT A RESTRAINING ORDER AGAINST THE SALE WILL HAVE BEEN MONDAY MORNING.
Come learn about what happened in court and help us plan our next steps in opposition to this theft of our public commons.
Get an overview of the sale announcement here.
Here’s a good more general overview piece.
Also CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE. and the Save the Berkeley Post Office website, and First they Came for the Homeless Facebook for updates.
BPOD is an offshoot of Strike Debt Bay Area, which itself is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and a chapter of the national Strike Debt movement, which is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.
We are very pleased to announce a tour of the United States by representatives of Colombia’s Marcha Patriótica (Patriotic March) and Lazos de Dignidad (Links of Dignity). The Patriotic March is Colombia’s largest Left movement for a just peace and popular participation in dialogue to end the country’s 50 year civil war. It has been a target of heavy repression, with 70 of its leaders assassinated in just two years time. Lazos de Dignidad provides legal representation and human rights training for Colombian political prisoners and agricultural workers unions. Lazos de Dignidad is also active in grassroots mobilizations for peace and human and labor rights.
This tour features July Henriquez Sampayo and Gustavo Gallardo Morales, speaking on two primary subjects:
- Rising Repression, International Solidarity and Colombia’s Peace Process
- Prison Imperialism and the Colombian Peace Process
SPONSORS: AFGJ, BALASC, and Task Force of the Americas
JOIN US TO CONTINUE TO EXPRESS OUR SOLIDARITY WITH RASMEA.
WHEN: Wednesday, November 12th @ 7:30, with the program starting at 8am.
WHAT: Rally, speak out, and flyering
Without a full and fair trial, Rasmea found guilty!
In a travesty of justice, Rasmea Odeh was found guilty of one count of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization. For over a year, Rasmea, her supporters, and her legal team have been battling this unjust government prosecution, saying from the start that the immigration charge was nothing but a pretext to attack this icon of the Palestine liberation movement. And although there is real anger and disappointment in the jury’s verdict, it was known as early as October 27th that she would not get a full and fair trial.
Facebook page with detailed info & RSVP
Though Rasmea has been unjustly convicted, her struggle is far from over. Read Monday’s report from court here.
In front of all her supporters Monday in the courtroom, U.S. marshals placed Rasmea in handcuffs and under arrest. She will be detained until her sentencing, which is set for March 10, 2015. Our immediate and urgent task is to fight for her release from jail.
The Rasmea Defense Committee with Students for Justice in Palestine is calling on Palestinian and Palestine solidarity organizations and others committed to opposing political repression across the United States to participate in a national week of action to win her freedom now.
Participate in the week of action:
Wednesday, November 12-18!
- Write to Judge Drain and urge him to send Rasmea home.
Click here for sample letter. - Organize a protest at your local federal building or on your campus.
• The SJP National Ad-Hoc Steering Committee calls on all SJP chapters to participate by organizing actions on your campuses on November 14, 2014.
• Please send in the details of your protest plans so we can share – justice4rasmea@uspcn.org - Write letters of support to Rasmea.
Rasmieh Odeh #144979
St. Clair County Jail
1170 Michigan
Port Huron, MI. 48060 - Organize a fundraiser to help fund Rasmea’s defense.
• We also call on all those who are able, to donate money to Rasmea’s legal defense fund, so that they can continue to zealously represent her and prepare for an appeal.
Please come to help organize for the Board of Governors meeting on November 17th to say the STWEP MUST GO!
TELL BOG TO REINSTATE CCSF BOT
The California Community College Board for Governors will be considering a plan that delays restoration of the CCSF Board of Trustees at least 18 months. We demand that they be immediately restored. Join us to let them know that the (Special Trustee With Extraordinary Powers)
STWEP MUST GO!
Everyone is Needed to Stop Police Abuse
Serve your community! Be an organizer! Join Copwatch!
Berkeley Copwatch is the original copwatch and nationally known for the past
25 years. We are an all volunteer group and we want to train new people to
challenge the growth of police power and abuse of people in our communities.
We all need to watch the cops, but that’s not all. We need people to respond
to victims, conduct “Know Your Rights” trainings, help organize our
communities, manage the footage and information that comes through our office
and create educational programs that strengthen our unity. We need volunteers
to help us:
* Stop Berkeley police from getting Tasers
* End Berkeley’s participation in Urban Shield military exercises
* Bring “Know Your Rights” trainings into our schools and communities
* Increase the number of weekly Copwatching shifts that are going out
* Challenge the systematic mistreatment of homeless youth by police
* Do office work, respond to emails, phones, etc.
* Data management of incidents and video
* Maintain online presence
* Edit and distribute monthly newsletter
On Wednesday, November 12th, Fossil Free Cal is going to be leading a nighttime march around the South Side of the UC Berkeley campus. The March will start at 9:00 PM from the corner of Telegraph and Bancroft at the edge of campus.
The march aims to send a clear message to the UC Regents that a movement against their continued investment in fossil fuel companies is coming. Climate change is taking its toll on the planet and having a disproportionate impact on those least able to protect themselves. That being said, the Regents have shown no desire to stop investing in the big oil, coal, and natural gas producing and extracting companies.
Fossil Free Cal wants students and the community to bring their whistles, pots, drums, megaphones, and signs, so that the Regents can actually HEAR our complaints instead of continuing to ignore us.
Bring your friends, family members, and significant others. Join the movement and help us change the world!
Meeting of the City of Oakland’s “Privacy and Data Retention Ad Hoc Advisory Committee” – open to the public.
When:
2nd & 4th Thursdays
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Where:
Council Chambers
Oakland City Hall
14th & Broadway
Read the announcement from the City of Oakland City Administrator’s Weekly Report (April 25, 2014):
This committee was created by City Council action during the discussions earlier in the year about the Port Domain Awareness Center (DAC). The goal of the DAC is to improve readiness to prevent, respond to and recover from major emergencies in the Oakland region and ensure better multi-agency coordination across the larger San Francisco Bay Area. The goal of the Privacy and Data Retention Policy is to ensure there are safeguards to protect against potential misuse of the data or violations of individuals’ privacy rights and civil liberties. The meeting is open to the public. For questions about the Ad Hoc Committee, please contact Joe DeVries, Assistant to the City
We need to show up to these meetings and pressure the City to adopt a privacy policy that makes privacy a priority, not only “security” or administrative convenience.
