The Moms who occupied a vacant house in West Oakland on Nov 18th, owned by a development corporation, lost their court case Friday, the judge ordering the Sheriff to evict them “within five days.”

At their press conference at the house after the decision, the Moms called for people to stand with them beginning at 6:30 AM at 2928 Magnolia (one block off Adeline), Oakland.  Should you be willing to risk arrest in non-violent civil disobedience the Moms and their allies have lawyers available and ready to help.  Otherwise, there are plenty of roles for those not willing or unable to risk arrest, and the more bodies there are the less likely Sheriff’s deputies are to attempt an eviction.

Depending on what happens, they will need people continually throughout the day and evening and into Tuesday.  Coming at any time (and perhaps bringing food or coffee…) will help.

TEXT 510-800-7810 TO SIGN UP FOR TEXT UPDATES.

Follow their twitter feed: https://twitter.com/moms4housing

Spread this ask as you think appropriate!

Their website: https://moms4housing.org/

Their statement:

No one should be homeless when homes are sitting empty. Housing is a human right. The Moms for Housing are uniting mothers, neighbors and friends to reclaim housing for the Oakland community from the big banks and real estate speculators.

Moms for Housing is a collective of homeless and marginally housed mothers. Before we found each other, we felt alone in this struggle. But there are thousands of others like us here in Oakland and all across the Bay Area. We are coming together with the ultimate goal of reclaiming housing for the community from speculators and profiteers.

We are mothers, we are workers, we are human beings, and we deserve housing. Our children deserve housing. Housing is a human right.

A statement as of 1/12/20, from https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Update-Moms-Call-Offer-For-Temporary-Housing-An-14968732.php

One of the homeless mothers who has been living in a vacant West Oakland house since Nov. 18 scoffed Saturday night at an offer by the house’s owner to pay to move them out and shelter them for the next two months, calling the offer “an insult.”

“It is deeply disingenuous for this multi-million-dollar corporation, through their multi-million-dollar public relations firm, to pretend to be concerned about the well being of black families,” said Dominique Walker, one of the mothers who has been staying at this Magnolia Street house, owned by the real estate investment firm Wedgewood Properties. “Wedgewood CEO Greg Geiser is desperate to avoid taking responsibility for how this company has contributed to the housing crisis that is causing families like mine to be homeless and for participating in an industry that has robbed Black and marginalized communities of land and wealth for generations.”

“We want to buy this home through the Oakland Community Land Trust, but Wedgewood would rather see our kids be in shelters or worse,” Walker said in her statement Saturday night. “We have seen corporations with blood on their hands try to buy public favor and this is an example. Their ‘offer’ is an insult.”

Earlier Saturday, Wedgewood said it’s offering to pay for the women’s move to a shelter run by a nonprofit and pay for them to stay there for two months.

Join SURJ’s Mobilization Committee for our annual “Wake-Up Call” during the 6th Annual Reclaim Martin Luther King Jr.’s Radical Legacy Weekend. We’ll be calling commuters in with broadcasts of inspiring MLK speeches, passing out information on alternatives to calling the police, and inviting people to come out to Monday’s big MLK Day rally and march (see https://www.facebook.com/events/747077179148170/ for more info).

Join us to build “The Right to Exist” Village no experience necessary! (But if you’re a builder, give us a call.)

For the past three years, The Village in Oakland #feedthepeople has participated in Reclaiming Dr. Martin Luther King’s Radical Legacy by reclaiming unused and/or neglected public landed owned by the City of Oakland to build temporary emergency shelter for our brothers and sisters living on the streets.

The goals are simple:
1. Let people get off the ground, out of tents and into something safe until permanent deeply affordable housing is accessible to our people.
2. Show how illegitimate, ineffective, cruel and inhumane the mayor and her Encampment Management Team are in approaching the homeless crisis that her decisions helped create.
3. Connect the dots between gentrification, the housing affordability crisis and the homeless state of emergency.
4. Inspire regular people like us – both housed and unhoused – to take matters in our own hands and provide community driven solutions since city hall refuses to.

This past year, we focussed on upgrading existing curbside communities by building homes and communal kitchens, upgrading self made homes,, defending self built homes from demolition, and improving conditions at curbside communities that are neglected or brutalized by the mayor’s encampment management team.

One such community is in East Oakland behind the Burger King on East 12th and 14th Ave. We built three emergency homes, are providing regular trash service, and supported the residents in their political empowerment – in particular learning about their rights and developing self government.

This Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, instead of moving on to an empty piece of public land, we call all housed and unhoused volunteers to concentrate our energies on this East Oakland encampment and finish building “The Right To Exist” Curbside Community – that the longterm residents have designed and named.

On January 18 & 19th from 10am to 5pm, we will build 5 tiny homes, a communal kitchen, a solar shower, a bike operated washer, raised garden beds, and paint murals on the three finished homes. We will serve food all day, do a huge trash pick up along East 12th from 14th to 22nd Ave, and offer workshops and services for our unhoused brothers and sisters: Know Your Rights, Adverse Possession and Squatters Rights, Health and Wellness for Curbside Living.

If you want to help us prepare, you can join a committee by contacting Needa Bee at 510-355-7010 :
– building (for skilled builders, carpenters and handy people)
– gardening
– trash pick up
– murals
– outreach to surrounding neighborhood
– food services
– donation solicitation
– portapotty outreach – finding a neighboring business or community to sponsor portapotty services

But, most importantly, please come on MLK weekend – even if you can only be there for a couple of hours! Bring your friends and neighbors (housed and unhoused), too!

If you cannot contribute in person, please contribute resources: We need $16,000 to complete this work. We currently have $8,000 raised. To fill the gap, you can

– donate at https://www.paypal.me/thevillageinoakland
– send a gift card to TheVillage (maowunyo@gmail.com) at https://homedepot.cashstar.com/
– donate building materials, food, etc, by contacting mlkdonations2020@gmail.com

If you have other questions or media requests, please contact Needa Bee at 510-355-7010.

CRC Allies & Accomplices (CRCAA) is calling on white folks to join us to talk about how to effectively fight against the persistent re-establishment of white supremacy by incorporating the 5 methods in your life, work, and organizing. This event is part of APTP’s #96Hours of action to #ReclaimMLKOak.

We know that white supremacy is the status quo, and that if we do not actively combat it, white supremacy will persistently re-establish itself – no matter where we are. We believe that to effectively combat white supremacy, white people must divest of our power and weaponize our privilege. We have identified 5 methods by which to do just this, and we want to share them with you!

WHO IS CRCAA?
CRCAA is the white solidarity arm of Community Ready Corps, a Black grassroots organization that combats white supremacy and actively builds and supports self determination. CRCAA organizes white people to effectively contribute to anti-racist struggles, and we do so in direct & disciplined relationship with Black leadership.

This month we will learn from a community of people who have practiced not calling the police for more than 20 years while living through their own collective traumas, colonization, gentrification, family violence, eviction, incarceration, displacement, betrayal and attempted takedown.

Here is a description from POOR Magazine/Homefulness:

“This workshop will include teaching on poor and traumatized peoples accountability, how to REdefine a western wite supremacist notion of security, and how to hold each other through trauma and into a true definition of interdependent safety.

Walking this walk among a poor and indigneous peoples-led movement means facing our demons ALL THE TIME because we all come out of collective trauma experiences of racism, wite supremacy, ablism, family violence, false borders, eviction, houselessness, criminalization, elder/child abuse, sexual violence, rape, incarceration, poLICE violence genderism, hate crimes and so much more.”

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

POOR Magazine is a poor people led/indigenous people led, grassroots non-profit,arts organization dedicated to providing revolutionary media access, art, education and advocacy to silenced youth, adults and elders in poverty across the globe.

HOMEFULNESS is a poor people led/indigenous people led revolution: a sweat equity, permanent co-housing, education, arts and social change project for houseless and formerly houseless families and individuals in deep East Oakland/Huichin

ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP SERIES

A growing coalition of organizations in the Bay Area is coming together to explore alternatives to calling the police to our campuses and into our neighborhoods. Over the coming year, we will be offering a series of workshops to explore alternatives to calling the police. Some of these workshops will provide deepening analysis and a grounding in alternative ways of thinking about community safety. Others will provide practical skills. All of them will lift up a transformative justice framework and emphasize the importance of self and community care.

The Coalition includes First Congregational Church of Oakland, Kehilla Community Synagogue, Qal’bu Maryam, Jewish Voice for Peace, Skyline Community Church, Oakland Peace Center, Oakland LBGTQ Community Center, SURJ-Bay Area, and the Omni Collective. We are eager to partner with additional organizations so please contact us if you are interested!

* If you have other questions or access needs, please contact us at alternatives-to-policing@googlegroups.com.

Homes Not Jails is hosting a Locksmithing Lab. Learn how to pick. Learn about locks.

Every 1st and 3rd Monday
Omni commons Basement

RALLY AND UNDISCLOSED ACTION!

The time it long over due for those in poverty to be heard. Unhoused,advocates, and allies will be coming in from across CA. we will have a rally and an undisclosed action.

On Nov 4 2019 we had to disrupt a meeting with 350 statewide representatives. Our main demand was that we be at the table in these forums panels and homeless policy workshops. We have been approached by less then a handful of reps. We wrote a statement with 21 demands. We also mentioned we would be heard or we would start shutting it down. Martin Luther King Day is the day before this event. This is the same fight 50 years later. Everyone come and be loud and help remind this government they work for all of we the people. NO MORE ABOUT US WITHOUT US, NO MORE DEATH ON THE STREETS AND HOUSING NOW! CA has 189,000+ unhoused. There is a war on the poor.

The National law Center on Homelessness and poverty just released its 2019 report. In the 120+ report is the HALL OF SHAME 7 total made the list. Sacramento made the list due to the stockton blvd sweep and the city trying to sue the unhoused, also redding CA made the list regard mayor trying to gain conservatorship of the unhoused. UNITED WE MUST RISE AGAINST THE INJUSTICES. SACRAMENTO IS THE PLACE TO SHUT IT DOWN! SILENCE IS COMPLICITY AND COMPLICITY IS CREATING POLICIES THAT ARE KILLING PEOPLE!

Lets be loud! BE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY SEE YOU THERE

Adapted from Marshall Ganz’s “Public Narrative,” this training will challenge you to put aside the logical reasons why we need to win a better world and rather consider the emotional & personal reasons. We’ll talk about what makes a story compelling and how stories can be important organizing tools that bring others into our movement. Then, we’ll each develop and practice our own political speeches together.

Note: While all are welcome, this event is geared towards individuals who are already actively organizing with the Democratic Socialists of America or allied groups.

Suggested reading (it’s quick!): Public Narrative Participant Guide

Do you have a goal to clear debt, start a business, and/or enhance your quality of life? Do you face barriers to loans from traditional financial institutions? Want to improve your credit score? Ever heard of a lending circle? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the East Oakland SuSu Lending Circle Program is just for you!

Join us for an orientation to learn exactly how East Oakland SuSu Lending Circle Program works.

*Light refreshments provided.
*Ages 18+ welcome.
*Facilities are wheelchair accessible.

RSVP>>.

ABOUT

The East Oakland SuSu Lending Circle Program is a self-help tool connecting East Oakland residents of color, particularly Black low and middle income individuals who fall between 30-80% of the area AMI and small business owners to collectively pool monetary resources for personal and group economic advancement. The program offers individuals a 0% interest savings loan combined with free monthly financial empowerment workshops and resources to expand participant financial awareness in personal budgeting, debt management, first time home ownership, and small business incubation. Typical monthly payments range between $50-$200 over 6-12 months. We encourage participants to save within our three savings tracks: business development, debt management, and a better quality of life. Using culturally relevant and traditional practices stemming from West Africa and the Caribbean, the SuSu program is also designed to establish a culturally safe and fun way to build trust in group economics.

WHAT IS SUSU?

Su – Su /‘soōsoō/ – is an informal means of collecting and saving money through a savings club or partnership. This means of saving money is a cultural tradition that is widely used in the Caribbeans, West and East African territories, to name a few.

Join Catalyst for a day-long workshop on understanding race and the 2020 elections – what’s at stake and what we can do about it.

* Are you struggling to figure out how to engage in the 2020 elections?
* Are you wanting to understand the importance of the 2020 election, rooted in longer-term racial justice movements?
* Are you looking to connect with local organizations and other people doing electoral work with a long-term vision?
* Do you want to feel inspired to go out and beat white supremacy at the ballot box and beyond?

Co-hosted by Bay Resistance, San Francisco Rising Action Fund, and The Center for Political Education

Do you have a goal to clear debt, start a business, and/or enhance your quality of life? Do you face barriers to loans from traditional financial institutions? Want to improve your credit score? Ever heard of a lending circle? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the East Oakland SuSu Lending Circle Program is just for you!

Join us for an orientation to learn exactly how East Oakland SuSu Lending Circle Program works.

*Light refreshments provided.
*Ages 18+ welcome.
*Facilities are wheelchair accessible.

RSVP>>.

ABOUT

The East Oakland SuSu Lending Circle Program is a self-help tool connecting East Oakland residents of color, particularly Black low and middle income individuals who fall between 30-80% of the area AMI and small business owners to collectively pool monetary resources for personal and group economic advancement. The program offers individuals a 0% interest savings loan combined with free monthly financial empowerment workshops and resources to expand participant financial awareness in personal budgeting, debt management, first time home ownership, and small business incubation. Typical monthly payments range between $50-$200 over 6-12 months. We encourage participants to save within our three savings tracks: business development, debt management, and a better quality of life. Using culturally relevant and traditional practices stemming from West Africa and the Caribbean, the SuSu program is also designed to establish a culturally safe and fun way to build trust in group economics.

WHAT IS SUSU?

Su – Su /‘soōsoō/ – is an informal means of collecting and saving money through a savings club or partnership. This means of saving money is a cultural tradition that is widely used in the Caribbeans, West and East African territories, to name a few.

This workshop is part of a series of workshops in which we are developing the skills to reduce reliance on policing that is often harmful to our community members.

In this workshop, we’ll work together to identify elements of white supremacy culture and police and law enforcement culture. Then we’ll engage with just transition culture. Finally, we’ll examine the cultures of our own organizations and map them toward a just transition, imagining together some steps in that journey.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Patricia St. Onge is the founder and a Partner at Seven Generations Consulting and Coaching, where all of the work is culturally based. Deeply rooted in the concept of Seven Generations, we honor the generations who have come before us, are mindful of those yet to come, and recognize that the impact of the decisions we’re making now will last for seven generations.

Patricia has worked to support progressive social justice movements for all of her adult life. She’s worked as Executive and Interim Director of more than a dozen non-profits and a contributor to many publications on cultural competence and social change. She is a Board member at the Highlander Research and Education Center.

Of Haudenosaunee (Mohawk) and Quebecoise descent, Patricia is a member of Idle No More and The Peoples’ Nonviolent Response Coalition. Between them, she and her life partner Wilson Riles, have nine grown children and six grandchildren. She is part of a growing community called Nafsi ya Jamii (The Soul Community), an urban farm and retreat center in East Oakland, CA.

ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP SERIES

A growing coalition of organizations in the Bay Area is coming together to explore alternatives to calling the police to our campuses and into our neighborhoods. Over the coming year, we will be offering a series of workshops to explore alternatives to calling the police. Some of these workshops will provide deepening analysis and a grounding in alternative ways of thinking about community safety. Others will provide practical skills. All of them will lift up a transformative justice framework and emphasize the importance of self and community care.

The Coalition includes First Congregational Church of Oakland, Kehilla Community Synagogue, Qal’bu Maryam, Jewish Voice for Peace, Skyline Community Church, Oakland Peace Center, Oakland LBGTQ Community Center, SURJ-Bay Area, the Omni Collective, Berkeley Free Clinic, and PLACE (People Linking Art, Community, and Ecology). We are eager to partner with additional organizations so please contact us if you are interested!

This training will take participants through many of the strategies, tools and considerations of non-violent direct action, including power and privilege, de-escalation, blockades, legal, direct action organizing models, and the opportunity to form affinity groups. This training will be an important place to get plugged into for upcoming actions in late April and beyond.

WHO: Diablo Rising Tide. diablorisingtide@riseup.net
RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/rsvp-non-violent-direct-action-training-on-april-18/

This training will take participants through many of the strategies, tools and considerations of non-violent direct action, including power and privilege, de-escalation, blockades, legal, direct action organizing models, and the opportunity to form affinity groups. This training will be an important place to get plugged into for upcoming actions in late April and beyond.

WHO: Diablo Rising Tide. diablorisingtide@riseup.net
RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/rsvp-non-violent-direct-action-training-on-april-18/