Calendar
Occupy Forum F I E L D T R I P
VANDANA SHIVA
The Rights of Mother Earth
Vandana Shiva is an internationally esteemed Indian environmental and anti-globalization activist. Trained as a physicist, she received an Integrated M.Sc.Honours Degree in Particle Physics from the University of Punjab prior to earning a PhD in the Philosophy of Science at the University of Western Ontario. In 1987 she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, which led to the creation of Navdanya, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seed, and the promotion of organic farming and fair trade. For the past two decades Navdanya has worked with local communities and organizations.
Vandana Shiva has steadily fought for change in the practice and paradigms of agriculture and food, intellectual property rights, biodiversity, biotechnology, bioethics, genetic engineering, all fields in which she has contributed both intellectually and through grassroots campaigns.
Join KPFA and Global Exchange for an evening with renowned environmental activist and anti-globalization author, Dr. Vandana Shiva.
Shiva will speak on the Rights of Nature – a global movement working to establish legal standing for the environment in law. From promoting food sovereignty in India, to challenging global corporations destroying local economies, to authoring more than 20 advocacy books, Dr. Shiva consistently speaks on the critical issues of our time, with a vision for a better future.
OccupyForum has tickets for Occupy @ $12.00 each:
contact andy g.:� candymansf@yahoo.com
Hosted by Carleen Pickard of Global Exchange
$15 advance tickets
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/864925
brownpapertickets.com :: 800-838-3006
or Pegasus (3 sites) Moe’s, Walden Pond, Diesel a Bookstore, Mrs. Dalloway’s Books
SF: Modern Times, $20 door Benefits KPFA, GX & Navdanya
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON RIGHTS OF NATURE:
http://therightsofnature.org/rights-of-nature-tribunal/
http://therightsofnature.org/rights-of-nature-tribunal/
http://therightsofnature.org/2014-ron-conference/
Tenants Rights Tuesday is here again in Oakland. Come to City Hall at 5:00pm, Tuesday, 10/21, for a rally and to help push through the Tenant Protection Ordinance at its first hearing in front of the full council!
The Gritty, Moral Solution to the Housing Crisis with David Giesen
Part of Sustainable Economies Legal Center’s “Rethinking Home” Teach-in Series
Fixing the housing crunch isn’t easy, but there is a permaculture solution. Dave Giesen, economist and playwright, makes the case for socializing the rent of land in a hands-on, interactive seminar that identifies the value of what real estate agents mean by “location, location, location” as the lynch-pin in a holistic, sustainable economy.
We’ll also welcome Ben Grieff, Campaign Director for Evolve Prop 13, to discuss the California Prop 13 reform campaign as an example of Geogist social philosophy in practice.
Join us for this lively, provocative, and practical conversation, asking: “Is there one good reason one human being should pay another for merely occupying land itself?”
19th Annual Nation Day to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation.
Press Conference & Rally 1:00 PM.
March beginning 2:00 – 2:30 PM.
A video from the Alan Blueford Center for Justice regarding October 22nd.
– Consistently use our hashtags #Oct22 and #o22 in all tweets
-Trending hashtags, that are also important to add to our tweets as much as possible are: #Ferguson #FergusonOctober #BlackLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter
-Follow, tweet at, and retweet things from Carl Dix (@Carl_Dix), SMIN (@StopMassIncNet), and NYCRevClub (@NYCRevClub)
More than a conference
LNE Oakland is designed to be different from any event you’ve attended before. Drawing inspiration from hackathons, conferences, networking events, festivals, and jams, the result is a unique event that has components of each. More than a conference, this is a convergence.
We have an exciting lineup of speakers, but you’ll do more than listen to talks. You’ll meet and collaborate with other participants and launch project ideas. You’ll learn about New Economy initiatives here in the Bay Area, and draw connections between them while connecting with each other.
Be part of the first of an annual event that will introduce you to new ideas and new people, and leave you inspired to co-create a new economic reality in the Bay Area and beyond.
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.
Join Strike Debt Bay Area at the Living the New Economy Conference’s social / party, where we’ll have a table, discuss debt and the new economy, and our radio team, Mike and Cassie, will be live on-stage performing one of the Strike Debt Radio segments.
An organizer of the Ferguson project: a Canfield Watchmen named David Whitt will be here and able to report from ground zero. Jacob Crawford from WeCopwatch went out and helped train and raise funds to help them buy over 100 video cameras already.
It is gonna be powerful footage and conversation.
Join Ferguson MO Copwatcher David Whitt, Berkeley Copwatch, and Jacob Crawford of WeCopwatch for a report back on the recent Police attacks in Ferguson, as well as the formation of The Canfield Watchmen, a newly formed Copwatch group in the neighborhood where Mike Brown was killed.
Event includes video presentations of The State of Emergency, as well as Canfield Copwatch efforts.
This presentation is for the people so no on turned away, but consider donating to help build and sustain our stipend for Copwatch efforts in Ferguson.
WeCopwatch T-shirts are also available for donations
These Streets Are Watching (Copwatch DVD)
Speakers include
David Whitt – The Canfield Watcmen
Jacob Crawford – WeCopwatch
Andrea Pritchett – Berkeley Copwatch (two people)
Alex Salazar – Former LAPD Cop turned whistleblower
Members of SF Mission Copwatch and people doing Copwatch projects in Oakland
The Internets Own Boy Written and Directed by Brian Knappenberger, 2014 105 min, (Documentary, Biography, Crime ) Hackers Directed by Iain Softley, 1995 107 min, (Action, Comedy, Crime)
Film Nights are held in the basement of Omni and start at 7pm; the theater dims no later than 7:15, so don’t be late!
BYO; Drinks, snacks, pillows, cushions, beanbags, etc.
Come help us mobilize!
See this article for detailed information and background links on the sale.
The event will coincide with the earlier Helping Hearts 2 Heal event sponsored by the Alan Blueford Foundation Participants will proceed to ESAA for our From Ferguson, Florida, Georgia, Chicago to Oakland event. There they will be joined by other mothers and family members of slain youth, including the family Kendrick Johnson-Georgia, the family of Joseph Andrews-Tampa Florida, the family of Emmett Till-Chicago, the family of Marlon Brown-Deland Florida, the family of Jordan Davis-Jacksonville Florida, and families from California – Alan Blueford, Kenneth Harding, Ernest Duenez, James Rivera, Dinyl New, Mario Romero, and many others.
The program:
1. Introduction and Libation
2. Performance and presentation (Prosperity Movement)
3. ABPsi presentation
4. Report back from Ferguson (Ferguson youth)
5. Recognition of families from out of state
6. Families speak
Joining Us Elaine Brown, Only female chairman of BBP
Ferguson Youth from the front line
Also joining us Tef Poe of Ferguson
Hip Hop artist and activist from an area just outside of Ferguson, Missouri. Tef Poe has been organizing in Ferguson since the beginning of protests and is partly responsible for bringing the incidents to national attention via social media. Tef Poe has written for Time Magazine and was recently honored by The National Association of Black Journalists for his work in documenting the events in Ferguson.
This is a Love Not Blood Campaign sponsored Event
DEMONSTRATE ON MORNING OF TRIAL
THE STAKES?
OPEN ACCESS FOR ALL vs SUCCESS FOR A FEW!
Join us At the long awaited trial in the lawsuit of SF City Atty Dennis Herrera vs the ACCJC.
Join us On the street to demonstrate against the ACCJC and its corporate allies who are trying to downsize and change the mission of California Community Colleges.
Join us In the courtroom to let Judge Curtis Karnow know that San Francisco supports CCSF!
Please sign up for shifts at AFT 2121 website: www.aft2121.org/justice
Demonstration on Monday, Oct 27th, 7:30 am – 9:00 am
Court sessions start at 9:00 am daily
Read highlights of the long legal fight
.
THE POSTAL SERVICE HAS
THE BERKELEY POST OFFICE
“UNDER CONTRACT.” !!!!!!!!!!!
Come help us plan our next steps in opposition to their proposed theft of our public commons.
Obtain more information of the status of the sale here.
Also CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE. and the Save the Berkeley Post Office website 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.
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
Occupy Forum presents
CRISIS HEAD-ON:
Prop G and CARES Campaigns
Attack Roots of San Francisco’s Housing Woes
Most of us have heard the grim statistics: Ellis Act evictions up 170% in the last three years; 10,000 San Francisco tenants have been displaced by the Ellis Act since 1997, and most of us know many people who’ve been evicted, often long time residents, and with low incomes so they can’t afford to stay in SF and must leave their community behind. And we also know how the tech boom has brought a wave of young, single people with high salaries to the city which has resulted in huge hikes in rents and house prices making housing unaffordable to people with low or even average incomes.
And while the tech companies take in astronomical profits every month, they aren’t the only ones raking in the dough. Real Estate companies and speculators have been making a killing with their investments in housing, often seeing at least a 25% return on their investment in a year. Much of the current crisis has been fueled by these large speculators who don’t live in the city, don’t intend to live in the buildings they buy and don’t even want to be landlords – their interest is purely profit. When their financial speculation includes our homes, we say “Enough is enough.”
While there have been several attempts to address this crisis, they have mostly dealt with small symptoms of the overall problem such as making in-law units rent-controlled. And neo-liberal politicians have approved every development in hopes that more expensive condos would somehow dilute the market — (this has been a complete failure). Efforts to reform the Ellis Act by State Sen. Mark Leno were defeated by Real Estate-funded Republicans. However, this coming election on Nov. 4, Prop G is on target to become the first significant legislation to address real estate speculation head-on.
Proposition G would levy a hefty tax on real estate speculators in San Francisco if they buy and then flip a mutli-unit building in less than 5 years. So Prop G would act as a significant disincentive for speculators to buy buildings, evict tenants and then resell them for huge profits. It’s supported by most progressive and moderate politicians such as Mark Leno, Tom Ammiano, David Campos, John Avalos, Jane Kim and by groups like the SF Democratic Party, the SF Tenants Union, the Harvey Milk Democratic Club and many more.
Of course the real estate agents who profit so handsomely by selling our homes from under us aren’t going to let this huge source of wealth generation be slowed in any way and so the national, state and local realtors associations have put well over $1.5 million into the NO ON G campaign, providing them with ten times the budget of YES ON G which is mostly grass roots. They also know that this prop could be a trend-setter for other parts of the country which are also experiencing speculation-fueled increases in housing costs. We need all hands on deck to get this legislation passed and to cool the artificial boom in SF real estate.
Fred Sherburn-Zimmer is an organizer with Housing Rights Committee and a founder of Eviction Free SF. Benito Santiago is also an Eviction Free SF member who has successfully fought the eviction of he and his neighbours from their Mission area homes. Both are active workers for the YES ON G campaign and they will explain in more detail what the Proposition is and how it will significantly help reduce evictions and slow increases in rents and house prices.
Then Julien Ball of ACCE will discuss the current state of the housing crisis in SF and what other measures are being proposed such at ACCE’s CARES program. This is based on the City of Richmond’s bold plan to use eminent domain to take over foreclosed upon homes from banks when they won’t re-negotiate loans to keep people in their homes. ACCE is hoping to get San Francisco to join Richmond and adopt CARES to help the thousands of people whose homes are currently or may enter foreclosure here.
ACCE Action is part of Families for an Affordable San Francisco, a community labor coalition that’s been campaigning for YES ON J (increase in the minimum wage to $15 per hour); YES ON G; and David Campos for State Assembly.
James Tracy, a long-time Bay Area activist and author will discuss the crisis and his new book on the topic Dispatches Against Displacement in which he promotes the vision of cities constructed, not just for profit, but “developed by and for the people who bring them to life and keep them running.”
Donations to OccupyForum to cover our costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
We are holding a followup to “Inside Urban Shield” based on the ideas that were thrown out and briefly discussed at that Community Forum. Please come to get involved: organizing and acting to most effectively influence things locally, nationally and at the state level.
Just a few of the many ideas that were proposed:
- Opposing the acquisition of the San Leandro tank with a demonstration.
- Attending Bay Area UASI meetings.
- Pushing for privacy legislation in Oakland.
- Cutting off funding to police organizations that violate human rights.
- Opposing California’s Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights.
- Looking at Richmond and Salt Lake City models of policing
- Using the series ‘Overcriminalized.” and the action kits that go with it.
- Opposing pre-trial detention.
On February 13, 2014, members of the Justice 4 Alan Blueford Coalition were protesting at the State Building in Oakland. Anne Weills was there as a legal observer from the National Lawyers’ Guild. The protesters and Attorney Weills were arrested, driven to Santa Rita and placed in the custody of the Sheriff.
The sheriffs’ deputies demanded that the women take off their shirts in front of male deputies and other male prisoners. When Attorney Weills refused, considering the request to be sexual harassment, she was thrown into a solitary closet, denied access to a toilet. Then she and the other plaintiffs were then placed in severely overcrowded cells, which were filthy with feces, blood, urine, garbage and rotting food on the floors and walls. Women who were bleeding were denied feminine hygiene supplies.
They will be at the Board of Supervisors meeting to demand that the Board end sexual harassment and improve conditions at Santa Rita Jail.
At the press conference the four plaintiffs will describe their experiences.
Speak out at Berkeley City Council against renewal of Police Department Agreements with
Homeland Security/FBI programs!
The first Action Calendar item on the agenda is a Public Hearing on renewing
the Berkeley Police Department’s (BPD) agreement with Federal, local and State
law enforcement agencies.
To stop militarization of police departments we must demand that City
Councils not renew the agreement with the Homeland Security program, Urban
Areas Security Initiative (UASI), which gives grants to local police
departments for military equipment, such as tasers, drones, tanks and more.
Stopping UASI at our local City Councils would help to stop Police
Departments’ shopping spree at the annual URBAN SHIELD convention, stocked
with Homeland Security corporate merchandise.
Surveillance goes hand in hand with militarization. Ask the Council to also
vote to not renew the BPD agreement with the Northern California Regional
Intelligence Center (NCRIC), a data fusion center coordinated by the FBI’s Bay
Area Joint Terrorism Task Force, to which Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
are sent: e.g. taking a photo of a building or taking notes, especially if
you’re of a suspicious ethnic/color group.
SuperBOLD (Berkeleyans Organizing for Liberty Defense)
———————-
Berkeley Copwatch
2022 Blake St
Berkeley, CA 94704
On October 30 people across the country will be wearing orange – as a powerful visible symbol of opposition to mass incarceration.
On campuses, in the streets, in high schools, at work, on public transportation – everywhere you go that day, wear orange. Gather in public spots in your city town or campus with groups of people in orange, challenging others to join you and be part of the crew.
We will be wearing Orange because it is the color prisoners are forced to wear – from the torture chambers in Guantanamo, to the infamous SSHU units in California, to the work gangs on Texas prison farms, to teeming youth detention centers coast to coast. We’re wearing orange and turning this around – orange will become the color of resistance, and knnown for that far and wide in society. It will help galvanize and give expression to our opposition.
This country has the highest incarceration rate in world history. 2.4 million people, a huge number of them Black and Latino youth are in prison. Black men are incarcerated at a rate over 6 times that of white men, and given on average much higher sentences for the same offenses. We live in a society that offers no future to masses of Black and Latino youth except prison and punishment.
This is unacceptable! Throughout October resistance has been mobilized to the slow genocide of mass incarceration and police terror The month was opened by taking the Pledge of Resistance in cities across the country. This was followed by sermons in dozens of religious institutions; symposiums at Columbia Univ, UC Berkeley and other campuses; more than a thousand people gathering for Ferguson October and now we’re coming off a successful mobilization for October 22, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. October 30 will be a day to make our resistance resonate further thruout society and deliver a message to one and all that mass incarceration and all its consequences must be stopped; and that we are determined to STOP it!
Be creative. Be bold. Be determined. Make a lot of noise, get a lot of attention.
WEAR ORANGE OCTOBER 30! STOP MASS INCARCERATION!
Bestselling author, trial attorney, and NBC News analyst Lisa Bloom reads from and discusses her new book, “Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It”
What went wrong behind the scenes in the Trayvon Martin case? Why does America endure so many tragic shootings like this one? These are the questions at the heart of Suspicion Nation.
Bestselling author, trial attorney, and NBC News analyst Lisa Bloom covered the murder trial and was appalled by what she witnessed. Bloom now exposes the injustice, conducting new in-depth interviews with key trial participants and digging deeper into the evidence. Suspicion Nation outlines the six biggest mistakes made by the state of Florida that guaranteed it would lose this “winnable case,” and the laws and biases that created the conditions for this tragedy.
Read a transcript or Listen to an mp3 audio of Michael Slate interviewing Lisa Bloom on March 28, 2014 on the Los Angeles Pacifica affiliate KPFK. Lisa Bloom says: “I think that fifty years from now, people are going to look at this case as the Emmett Till case of the early 21st century.”
The only nonwhite juror tells her story of painful isolation in the jury room. Rachel Jeantel, the state’s star witness, reveals how poorly the state prepared her to testify and what went through her mind on the stand. The medical examiner reveals scientific evidence he wasn’t allowed to present. And a new examination of Trayvon’s school suspensions raises questions about racial profiling, all in a country divided over issues of race, gun laws, and violence. Suspicion Nation is a riveting courtroom drama that shines a bright light on a case we only thought we knew.