Calendar

9896
Oct
18
Sat
Movie Night at the Omni Collective @ OMNI Collective
Oct 18 @ 2:00 am – 4:30 am
This Week's Titles:
 Nothing
   Directed by Vincenzo Natali, 2003
   90 min, (Comedy, Fantasy)
 MirrorMask
   Directed by Dave McKean, 2005
   101 min, (Adventure, Drama, Family)

 

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.

Suggested Donation for popcorn and tea: $2

 

More Information:

You can submit your screening requests to the lottery fish bowl at any time during a Film Night.

All genres and eras are welcome; as are shows, shorts and documentaries!

Once there is a formidable collection of titles (compiled from various sources), that list will replace the lottery, and you’ll be able to see the line-up ahead of time! (Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to request films).

 

  • First Fridays of the month: Light-Hearted Titles – e.g. Comedy, Drama, Family
  • Second Fridays: Dark, Intense Titles – e.g. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Action, Thriller
  • Third Fridays: Educational & Historical Titles – e.g. Documentary, Period, Biographical
  • Fourth Fridays: Indie Week – Festival Favorites, Shorts, Independent Project Screenings (Screen your video projects here!)

 

On FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/697965096966064

57012
2nd Annual Gaza Solidarity 5K Walk/Run (San Francisco) @ Lake Merced Park (by SFSU)
Oct 18 @ 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm

2nd Annual Gaza Solidarity 5K Walk/Run (San Francisco)

Proceeds from the Gaza 5K Walk/Run will benefit UNRWA’s psycho-social support program for children in Gaza suffering from psychological trauma and PTSD due to the devastating crisis of July-August 2014 and the prolonged blockade. Many of these already vulnerable children have now lived through three traumatic rounds of violence, witnessing death, destruction, and displacement. It’s estimated that 375,000 children in Gaza now require immediate counseling.

These children need our support now, and that’s why your participation is so critical. Whether you participate as a sponsor, runner, walker, or cheerleader, we want to see you there!

By participating, you will directly support UNRWA’s psycho-social support program to provide these children with critically needed counseling services, offering them a safe space to express their emotions and fears, and the opportunity to work with trained counselors to learn valuable coping skills.

Lace up your running or walking shoes, bring your friends, your family, and even your pets and we’ll see you October 18th!

GET SOCIAL

Join the conversation on social media by using #Gaza5K in your posts and tweets! Read our tips: https://unrwausa.org/gaza5K-spread-the-word

 

UNRWA, the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees, is the primary provider of healthcare, education, and other basic social services to 5.3 million Palestine refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. UNRWA has been the largest humanitarian operation in the region since its inception in 1950, and continues to help Palestine refugees achieve their full potential in human development. In Gaza, UNRWA provides assistance and protection for over 1.2 million registered refugees. This includes mental health counseling for 50,000 refugees every year, and in 2014, individual counseling for an additional 12,600 refugee children to help them cope with the trauma of bombings and blockade in 2014. American Friends of UNRWA (UNRWA USA) is the US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports the work of UNRWA in the United States with fundraising, education, and advocacy work. All donations to UNRWA USA are tax-deductible.

 

56546
The Fight Against Privatization Of Education & Public Services Conference @ City College of San Francisco, Science Building Hall Room 100, Ocean Campus
Oct 18 @ 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm

The Fight Against Privatization Of Education & Public Services Conference:
Stop Union Busting, Outsourcing, Workplace Bullying
For A National Campaign To Defend Public Services and Public Education



A massive coordinated attacks is taking place through privatization and deregulation to destroy public services and public education throughout the country and internationally. This conference will look at the history of this attack, who is doing it including through the use of technology, how they are doing it and how we can organize, educate and uniting all public workers and the communities to fight back and win.
Conference Issues
> Overview and history deregulation, charters, Ideology of privatization of public services and civil society, racism, Post Office, Education, Transit Workers, City Workers, State Workers, Federal privatization military, attack pensions, concession bargaining, non-profits NGOs
> Role of Governor Brown and politicians In California along with Obama and Education Secretary Arnie Duncan
> Role of unions in education, transit, public services
> International role of privatization Greece, Ukraine, Argentina, Korea, Japan, South Africa, Russia, El Salvador
> Strategy and Agenda For National Campaign Against Privatization, Education workers strike statewide, Campaign against Vergara decision and more segregation of education.
> The Struggle In Ferguson, Racism and Lessons of the struggle to protect education and public services
> Media Channel, Program for the fight back and regional and national rallies against privatization and privatizers

 Initial Speakers:

Brenda Barros SEIU 1021, George Wright AFT 1493 retired, Rick Baum AFT 2121 Lecturer, Bob Price AFT 2121 CCSF, Dorian Maxwell TWU 250 Former Member, Anand Vaidya, Associate Professor CSUSJ, Sean Gillis IFPTE Local 21 Political Director Oakland Unit M
Agenda
> 10:00AM Areas of privatization and the affect on labor and the communities
> 12: 30 Lunch & Video “Crenshaw” About The Reconstitution Of LAUSD Crenshaw High School
> 1:15 PM Ferguson, Militarization, Role of Democrats and Unions/Non Profits
> 200 PM International Role of Privatization-Lessons From Around The US & The World
> 3:00 PM Strategies and Action Program To Fight Privatization locally, regionally & internationally
> 4:00 PM Conference Closes

57014
CANCELLED: BLOCK CA Hwy 1 for YANIRA
Oct 18 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED OR POSTPONED. STAY TUNED.

On Behalf of the Serrano Family, we are asking our beloved Community, to join in solidarity, to demand justice for Yanira Serrano, who was mercilessly gunned down , June 3, 2014, in front her family, by San Mateo County Sheriff.

Please come and support our effort to STOP BUSINESS AS USUAL, during the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival. Let’s remind the city, county, state and the nation, that while this is a time when most families are enjoying the happy joy and harvest of the season; the Serrano family will not be celebrating this love & bounty because of senseless police brutality.

TRANSPORTATION:

FOR THOSE OF YOU, WHO HAVE ACCESS TO CARS AND VANS, OR HAVE THE RESOURCES TO RENT VEHICLES, LET’S ORGANIZE CARPOOLING OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOLKS IN SF BAY AREA, EAST BAY, NORTH BAY, SOUTH BAY, STOCKTON, SANTA ROSA, AUBURN, ETC. ♥

Please check out Yanira’s story on the Facebook page… And LIKE Justice 4 Yanira Serrano:

56617
Oct
21
Tue
Jasper Bernes’ seminar “Value, Capitalism, Communism”‘ @ OMNI Collective in the basement - buzz to get in (near Lanesplitter Pizza on Telegraph)
Oct 21 @ 2:00 am – 4:00 am

 Pt. 2 (of 3) of Jasper Bernes’ seminar “Value, Capitalism, Communism”‘ will investigate the question of what value is in capitalism, and what types of non-capitalist societies would either preserve or abolish it. We will engage with the most speculative of communist and anarchist writings — those that begin to imagine modes and mediums of social coordination and reproduction beyond capitalism.

Some texts we might read:

Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program Grundrisse, selections on critique of Proudhonian labor money Dauve, Eclipse and Re-emergence (new introduction addresses this directly) Spufford, Red Plenty GIK, Fundamental Principles of Communist Production and Distribution (council communist program, critiqued by Dauve) Kropotkin, Conquest of Bread

Sponsored by the Bay Area Public School

57028
Occupy Forum: The Rights of Mother Earth. @ First Congregational Church of Berkeley
Oct 21 @ 2:30 am – 4:30 am

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/

57015
Oct
22
Wed
Tenants’ Rights Rally @ Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater, right next to City Hall
Oct 22 @ 12:00 am – 1:00 am

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!

57042
The Gritty, Moral Solution to the Housing Crisis @ Alchemy Collective Cafe
Oct 22 @ 1:00 am – 2:30 am

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?”

 

57041
National Day to Stop Police Brutality. Oakland Rally & March. @ Oscar Grant Plaza
Oct 22 @ 8:00 pm – 11:30 pm

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.


Facebook event & RSVP.

– 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)

56438
Oct
23
Thu
Living the New Economy Convergence @ Thursday and Friday will be at the California Endowment Conference Center (1111 Broadway, Oakland). Saturday and Sunday will be at Impact HUB Oakland (2323 Broadway, Oakland)
Oct 23 @ 4:00 pm – Oct 27 @ 12:00 am

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.

LEARN MORE

56384
Oct
25
Sat
Strike Debt At “Living the New Economy” Impact Hub Social / Party. @ Impact Hub
Oct 25 @ 1:30 am – 4:30 am

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.

57031
Ferguson Reportback. @ La Pena Cultural Center
Oct 25 @ 2:00 am – 4:00 am

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

57056
Film Nite at the Omni: The Internet’s Own Boy & Hackers @ OMNI Collective in the basement
Oct 25 @ 2:00 am – 5:00 am
 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.

 

 

57029
Helping Hearts to Heal. @ Center of Hope Community Church
Oct 25 @ 4:00 pm – 10:00 pm

56829
Impromptu Noon Meeting to Coordinate Mobilization Against Sale of Post Office @ Downtown Berkeley Post Office
Oct 25 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Oct
26
Sun
The Cost of Injustice: From Ferguson to Oakland @ Eastside Arts Alliance
Oct 26 @ 1:30 am – 4:30 am

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

Link to Facebook event

57072
Block The Boat! @ Meet at West Oakland BART
Oct 26 @ 10:00 pm – Oct 27 @ 3:00 am

UPDATE 10/25/14 10:00 PM. Press release:

 

All Out for Palestine on Sunday!
Our community power is disrupting Israeli business as usual. Our strength is challenging US-Israeli repression

The Israeli Zim ship is on the run, but we are closely tracking the ship. And based on our calculations, the Zim Beijing cannot make it this weekend,  but it could change course and arrive this week. Let’s show Zim what they can expect if they try to come back. Let’s show the world that the Bay Area says no to Zionism. 

SUNDAY, October 26th
3pm
Meet at West Oakland Bart and march to Port of Oakland

@blocktheboat | #blocktheboat |info@araborganizing.org

We are calling on all to join us on Sunday and take a stand to stop the US and Israeli relationship, their wars, militarization and repression by disrupting international commerce. Lets make sure Zim knows it will be met with the strength of our sustained movement should it attempt to come this week. As we mobilize at the Port, Block the Boat protests are being planned all over North America with solidarity actions taking place in New York, Long Beach, Tacoma and Vancouver. ALL OUT on Sunday to show our strength and to remind Zim that Israeli business is not welcome on the West coast! Please spread the word.

 

UPDATE 10/24/14 9:30 PM:
Zim is on the run, but we are tracking the ship closely!
Based on our calculations, the Zim Beijing cannot make it this weekend, but it could change course and arrive this week. Let’s show Zim what they can expect if they try to come back. Meet at West Oakland BART at 3pm SUNDAY to march and rally at the Port of Oakland. It is important we are ALL OUT on Sunday to show our strength and to remind Zim that Israeli cargo is not welcome on the West coast!

———————————-

The Block the Boat Coalition calls on the SF Bay Area to join us as we stop ZIM at the Port of Oakland once again.
Stay tuned for updates!

Subscribe to text-alerts by texting “join” to (510) 346-5951
Follow us on twitter @BlockTheBoat
To get involved, contact info@araborganizing.org
Facebook event & RSVP.

================
August 2014
Longest Blockade of Israeli Ship in History
ZIM ship turned away from SSA in Oakland!

For four days straight the San Francisco Bay Area community blocked the Israeli ZIM ship from unloading at the SSA. And today, we salute the rank and file workers of ILWU local 10 for standing with us against Israeli Apartheid by honoring our pickets and letting the ship go from the SSA terminal yesterday afternoon!

Saturday we mobilized thousands of our community to show the world that Oakland does not welcome racism, apartheid or Zionism, from Ferguson to Palestine. We flooded the streets and marched towards the Port only to discover that the ZIM ship decided to stay at Sea rather than dock and be confronted by the power of our numbers. The ship attempted to dock and unload on Sunday, but within a half hour’s time hundreds of us organized community pickets requesting that workers to stand with us on the side of justice and not unload the Apartheid ship. And as ILWU rank and file always have, and as they did during South African Apartheid, they demonstrated their solidarity with the global fight against oppression and honored our picket. The following Monday and Tuesday saw both an organized call to action as well as autonomous protests determined to keep the ship from being unloaded. These efforts coupled with worker solidarity continued the success of the weekend’s total blockade of the ZIM ship.

Tuesday we declared a historic victory for Palestine as Oakland held down the longest blockade of an Israeli ship. Not only did we block the boat, but we also showed the world that racist exclusionary state of Apartheid Israel has no place on our port, and will soon find that it has no place on any port on the West Coast. After being blocked from unloading at the SSA Terminal, the ZIM ship was forced to leave and unload at another Terminal where it was met with protests by autonomous activists. This even further delayed the unloading of the ship.

From the use of tear gas to the training of police by Israeli military, Oakland feels firsthand the brutality of Israeli war-making. And Palestine knows too well the role the US plays in facilitating the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian people. From the policing and militarization of our local communities perfected with Israeli tactics of repression to the billions that the US provides Apartheid Israel, the connections are clear and are made for us. And over the last four days we showed the world that we stand shoulder to shoulder from Palestine to Oakland to Ferguson as we struggle bring down every wall, every Apartheid system and every racist state.

Palestine will be free.

Block the Boat was organized by a coalition of autonomous activists and the following organizations:

AF3IRM
Al-Awda New York
All African People’s Revolutionary Party (AAPRP)
American Friends Service Committee
American Muslims for Palestine
ANSWER Coalition
APEN: Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Arab Youth Organizing (AYO)
AROC: Arab Resource & Organizing Center
ASATA: Alliance of South Asians Taking Action
Bay Area Women in Black
BAYAN-USA
Bay Area CodePink
Bay Area Latin America Solidarity Coalition
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee
Black Organizing Project (BOP)
Black Organizing Leadership and Dignity (BOLD)
Black Workers For Justice
Catalyst Project
CodePink Washington
Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism (CODZ)
Communist Party of San Francisco
Critical Resistance – LA
Critical Resistance – Oakland
Critical Resistance – Portland
Descoloniza a Oakland/Decolonize Oakland
Free Palestine Movement
Freedom Archives
Friends of Deir Ibzi’a
Fuerza Mundial/Pueblos en Movimiento
General Union of Palestine Students – SFSU
Global Women’s Strike
Gray Panthers of San Francisco
Green Party of Alameda County
Haiti Action Committee
International Action Center
International Jewish Anti Zionist Network
International Solidarity Movement – West Bank/Gaza
International Socialist Organization
International Tribunal of Conscience for Camilo
ISM-Nor Cal
IWW Bay Area Branch
Jewish Against Genocide
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Justice for Palestinians
La Voz de l@s trabajadores/Worker’s Voice
Labor for Palestine
Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
Marcha Patriotica (Colombia) – California chapter
Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)
Movement Generation
National Lawyers Guild SFBA Chapter
Noam Chomsky
NorCal Friends of Sabeel
Occupy SF Action Council
ONYX Organizing Committee
The Palestine-Israel Action Committee
Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions
Palestinian Youth Movement
Queers Undermining Israeli Terror
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
San Francisco Green Party
School of the Americas Watch East Bay
Socialist Alternative – Bay Area Branch
Socialist Organizer
SOUL: School of Unity and Liberation
Southern Anti-Racism Network
Stanford Students for Justice
Stop the War Machine
Students for Justice in Palestine – Cal
Totally Radical Muslims
UAW Local 2865 (Academic Student Workers at the University of California)
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott
US Palestinian Community Network
Veterans For Peace Chapter 69
World Can’t Wait Bay Area
Workers World Party
Xicana Moratorium

 

56823
Oct
27
Mon
The Trial to Save CCSF, and Demonstration. @ .California State Superior Court
Oct 27 @ 2:30 pm – 7:00 pm

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

.

57034
Oct
28
Tue
Occupy Forum: ADDRESSING THE HOUSING CRISIS HEAD-ON @ Global Exchange, 2nd floor, near 16th St. BART
Oct 28 @ 1:00 am – 4:00 am

 


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

ADDRESSING THE HOUSING
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.”

Q & A and Announcements will follow.
Donations to OccupyForum to cover our costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
57091
Opposing the Militarization of Police. What’s Next? How Do We Proceed? @ Niebyl-Proctor Library
Oct 28 @ 2:00 am – 4:00 am

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.
56875