Calendar

In this third in our series of workshops to create alternatives to relying on policing, we’ll work together to identify elements of white supremacy culture, police and law enforcement culture. Then we’ll engage with just transition culture.

We’ll examine the cultures of our own organizations and map them toward a just transition. We’ll imagine together some steps in that journey.

ABOUT THE TRAINER

We are thrilled to welcome Patricia St. Onge (Haudenosaunee and Quebecois, adopted Lakota) to lead us in this work. Patricia is the founder of Seven Generations Consulting and brings over thirty five years of experience leading and working with nonprofit and public sector agencies. In all of her work, she provides training, consulting and technical assistance in the areas of community organizing, social justice advocacy, organizational development, cross-cultural effectiveness, consensus building, as well being as spiritual & executive/personal coach.

Patricia serves on the board of directors for Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee. Prior to launching Seven Generations Consulting, Patricia was Executive Director of several nonprofit organizations. She writes and speaks on an array of issues and is the lead author for Embracing Cultural Competency: A Roadmap for Nonprofit Capacity Builders published by the Fieldstone Alliance; she has also written chapters in books written by Joanna Macy, Marie Weil and Donald Gerard, as well as numerous articles.

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, like this one, will provide deepening analysis and a grounding in alternative ways of thinking about safety. Others will provide practical skills. All of them will lift up a transformative justice framework and emphasize the importance of self care.

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

ACCESSIBILITY:

The space is wheelchair accessible, and there are ADA restrooms on site. Please come scent-free; for information on how to do that, see this FAQ: https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/. Scented cleaning products are sometimes used in the space but will not have been used in the space for 24 hours. No incense or sage will be burned. If you have other questions about accessibility, please contact us at alternatives-to-policing@googlegroups.com.

Liberated Lens invites you to a screening of short films across the Black Diaspora with a post-screening discussion with Aldane Walters & Marna Paintsil Anning. This event is free and food will be provided! Doors open at 4:30 pm on Sunday, May 19th at Omni Commons. This event is wheel chair accessible. For more information go to LiberatedLens.org or contact (510) 863-4331.

Monday, May 20, 2019
6:30 pm SHARP Rally
7:00pm Speakout
During Public Comment Period
at the City Council Meeting

Pittsburg City Council
65 Civic Ave
Pittsburg, CA 94565
(One block North on Railroad Ave Exit off HWY 4)
(Railroad Drive Stop at End of Line BART Extension Trolley)

Contact Info: 510-674-8181 or 925-565-8393 or email: oscargrantcomittee.ogc@gmail.com

Demand Number One: FIRE KILLER COP DILLON TINDALL
The people of Pittsburg are NOT safe with trigger happy cop Dillon Tindall on the police force. He has shown bad judgement in killing Terry Amons without just cause. At the very least, he must be fired to prevent further tragedy.

Demand Number Two: PASS THE RICHMOND ORDINANCE
District Attorneys work closely every day with the police and rely on them to get convictions. More often than not they turn a blind eye to police misconduct. We need laws and policies that hold trigger happy cops accountable. The Richmond City Council, responding to public pressure, passed. an ordinance to have an INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION of all police killings, to avoid this conflict of interest. Pittsburg and other cities must pass similar laws as a first step to justice.

Terry Amons, Jr., a 43 year old Black man, was. shot and killed by Pittsburgh police late Friday night on January 12, 2018, while eating dinner inside his car outside of Nations Burgers in Pittsburgh, as was his habit before going to work on his night shift job as a delivery driver for Presidential Propane Company. The police claim that Terry was reaching for a gun, but body cam video, which clearly shows Amons attempting to comply with shouted contradictory orders from two cops with guns drawn and aimed at him. At no time did Amons make any move toward the holstered pistol that was in plain sight in the central storage area between the front seats.

The video shows Amons complying with orders to place his hands on the steering wheel, then attempting to comply with frantic commands to “get out of the car” before being senselessly gunned down while attempting to comply.

We hold the Pittsburgh PD responsible for murdering an innocent Black man. Terry’s mother, Sandra, said: “They executed my son. The Pittsburgh Police Department (PPD) illegally, without a warrant, searched Terry’s home after they killed him.”. The PPD did not provide Terry’s family with the names of the officers involved. The Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights is the legal justification for withholding this information. Only months later did the Oscar Grant, Committee learn the names of the Police Officers involved: Dillon Tindall, who fired, the shots, and Jesus Arellano. According to the East Bay Times, the body cam video, shows Terry being shot by Tindall after. shouting “Do not reach for that fucking gun.” As Terry falls out of the car he continues fo say, “I wasn’t reaching for nothing, swear to God.” Then the officers handcuffed him. Terry died at John Muir Medical Center in Martinez.

The police claim they were responding to a drug dealing complaint that provoked the initial contact. No drugs were found on Amons or in his car.

The family is considering filing a lawsuit.‘ Family and friends of Terry Amons have launched an on-going struggle for. . Justice4Terry, along with the OGC, SURJ (Stand Up for Racial Justice), and others. So far, three monthly protest actions have been held with up to 60 energetic people involved. Monthly meetings to plan ongoing events are open to the public.

Join the struggle, for more info contact: 510-674-8181 or 925-565-8392
Or email: oscargrantcommittee.ogc@gmail.com

Click on Image to download PDF flyer

The Oscar Grant Committee . Justice4Terry Amons Committee

You can help! Join the Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality and State Repression
Born from the struggle for justice for Oscar Grant, murdered by BART police on Jan 1, 2009. We organize working class resistance in support of families whose loved ones were murdered by police.
JOIN US, our meetings are normally on the First Monday of every month at 7:00 PM at the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Avenue in North Oakland
Confirm time at: www.oscargrantcommittee.org . oscargrantcommittee.ogc@gmail.com

A 6-week series to help us develop a deeper analysis and to call attention to the kinds of changes needed in the City’s budget and policies.

4/15 – Housing
4/22 – Economy
4/29 – Education
5/6 – Public Health
5/13 – Neighborhood Life
5/20 – Public Safety

The first week’s workshop on the Housing Indicators is the first of a 6-week series to help us develop a deeper analysis and to call attention to the kinds of changes needed in the City’s budget and policies.

Join us for this deeper dive into the Equity Indicators Report for the City of Oakland. Released last year, it clearly shows the effects of white supremacy on our community. Oakland posted a failing score of 33.5 out of a possible 100 across all indicators. This was the lowest score of all cities that participated in this national study.

Carroll Fife, the founder of Black Women & Elected Leadership, the Executive Director of Oakland ACCE, and one of the founding members of Community READY Corps, will join us as a guest speaker to provide some deeper analysis of the report’s findings and point us to actual solutions that will advance racial justice and equity in our housing market.

Tuesday May 21: Turn out for a rally and press conference followed by public comment. We need you to help us push #AuditAhern forward. The abuses committed by ACSO are unacceptable. We will not be silent. We will not be complacent. pic.twitter.com/WpsviplSC6

— Ella Baker Center (@ellabakercenter) May 16, 2019

We don’t have to wait to repeal Costa Hawkins to fight displacement and stabilize the homes of thousands of tenants in Oakland NOW.

Oakland City Council has the power to remove rent-control exemptions on thousands of currently owner-occupied duplex and triplex units in Oakland and protect the futures of families in thousands more. It’s time we demand they take action to stop displacement and rent gouging.

Closing the rent stabilization loophole for owner-occupied 2-3 unit buildings would immediately:
• Protect an estimated 5,100 tenants already living owner-occupied duplexes or triplex units by allowing them to re/gain rent stabilization;
• Qualify these tenants for protections under Oakland’s Tenant Protection Ordinance, which protects tenants from harassment and “bad acting“ landlords who are refusing to make necessary repairs;
• Make these tenants eligible for relocation payments for no-fault evictions
• Preserve the affordability of approximately 11,000 additional units vulnerable to losing rent stabilization and coverage under the Tenant Protection Ordinance and Uniform Relocation Ordinance.

Learn more about the fight here https://cjjc.org/mediapress/closetheloopholes-to-defend-and-expand-oaklands-rent-stabilized-housing/

And join us

Tuesday 5/21 @ 5:30pm First full City Council Vote – 3rd Floor Oakland City Hall

and

Tuesday 6/4 @ 5:30pm Final vote 3rd Floor Oakland City Hall

Also up for a vote on 5/21 – demand transparency and accountability from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department https://www.facebook.com/events/395420811306185/

Socialist Night School takes a post-convention breather on May 21 for our first film night, the second session in our three-part series on imperialism and internationalism. We’ll be holding a special screening of Part I of Patricio Guzman’s The Battle of Chile, the legendary documentary about the social revolution that brought Salvador Allende to power in Chile in the 1970s and its violent repression. Here’s your chance to see what the Village Voice called “the major political film of our times.” We will also have LaCroix and snacks!

See the readings

A trial will be held to determine whether the City of Berkeley persecuted First They Came for the Homeless, aka The Poor Tour, a group of politicized homeless individuals, for their political activities.

Jury selection commences on the 20th.

This police review commission meeting will feature a discussion on the Berkeley Police Department’s surveillance policies regarding the following:
+Body Worn Cameras
+Automatic License Plate Readers
+GPS Trackers
+More?

There will also be a discussion on data collection and analysis from police stops.

Public comment will be at the very start of the meeting, with additional time at the very end of the meeting.

Heads Up… local Blue Lives Matters activist Christine Schwartz will be at the meeting filming public speakers for the purposes of harassment. She has habitually been at PRC meetings with her camera to intimidate members of the public from speaking.

Movie Nights at Reem’s

The Arab Film and Media Institute and Reem’s are partnering to bring some of our favorite Arab films to Oakland. Screenings are free + the amazing team at Reem’s will be serving the full menu throughout the evening.  And that’s not all! There will be movie snacks (including za’atar popcorn!),

April 11: Refugee Stories
Far from a one-size-fits-all marking of “experience” so often depicted on Western media outlets when it comes to the plight of the refugee, this program of 5 powerful short documentaries spotlight the multitude of hues that should be considered when discussions of the refugee experience are had.

May 23: Shorts (Playful Pondering)
From dating drama in Bahrain and an abandoned Qatari cinemaplex, to wacky Lebanese nuns and land mine explosions, this eclectic mix of 6 whimsical, albeit socially-concerned short format narrative works will take viewers on a journey of humor, self-discovery, and provocation.

June 13: Seventeen
The Jordanian under-17 women’s soccer team prepares for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, hosted by Jordan in 2016. Coming from different backgrounds, each of the girls has faced a different set of challenges as a national team player. But now they come together to face their biggest challenge yet.

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Hang out with other members who are interested in the labor movement, hear about what’s happening in the East Bay DSA Labor Committee, and learn how you can get involved!

TILL SHE IS FREE OR MARYTRED YEAH IT/S VERY SERIOUS
BASTA !!! FREE CHELSEA MANNING WEEKLY VIGIL
optional after meeting/party rain cancels.

Housed folks: show up this Friday w/ POOR Magazine in solidarity with your unhoused neighbors who are getting swept & criminalized all over the Bay. This brutality won't end until housed & unhoused folks stand together.

1pm SF City Hall
4pm Oakland City Hall#StopTheSweeps pic.twitter.com/OyyWlaewQ8

— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) May 22, 2019

Book talk and signing with Gordon H. Chang for Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese who Built the Transcontinental Railroad.

GHOSTS OF GOLD MOUNTAIN: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, on sale May 7, 2019) by award-winning scholar Gordon H. Chang is a groundbreaking account that draws on unprecedented research to recover the Chinese railroad workers’ stories and celebrate their role in remaking America. An invaluable correction of a great historical injustice, GHOSTS OF GOLD MOUNTAIN returns these “silent spikes” to their rightful place in our national saga.

GORDON H. CHANG is the Olive H. Palmer Professor in Humanities and Professor of History at Stanford University, where he also serves as director of the Center for East Asian Studies and codirector of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project. Chang is the author of Fateful Ties and editor of four other books. He lives in Stanford, California.

Pre-Talk Reception Lecture by Chef David Soohoo
1 – 2 PM
The Diet of The Chinese Railroad Builders
Learn about the culinary findings of the early Chinese pioneers who built the Transcontinental railroad and the birth of present day Chinese American culture. Chef David SooHoo was born in San Francisco to Cantonese immigrants who owned Chinese-American restaurants in Sacramento. With more than 50 years behind the wok, SooHoo was the first chef from Sacramento invited to the Beard House, and most recent personal chef to Barron Hilton at his Venice Island Duck Club located in the reclaimed swampland of the San Joaquin Delta by the Chinese after the gold rush.

RSVP here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-ghosts-of-gold-mountain-tickets-58873119084

More Information: http://oacc.cc/event/book-talk-ghosts-of-gold-mountain/

This event is sponsored by Oakland Asian Cultural Center and Eastwind Books of Berkeley.

“When I was born here, this was Mexico, and where I die, this is still Mexico.” El Californio, from Mi Familia.

A second-generation Mexican immigrant narrates his family history, beginning with the journey of his father, Jose, across Mexico to Los Angeles where he meets Maria, and starts a family. Each subsequent generation contends with political and social hardships, ranging from illegal deportations in the 1940s to racial tensions and gang fights in the ’60s and ’70s. Yet through it all, or perhaps because of it, the family remains strong.

Join us at The New Parkway Theater as we screen Mi Familia with an after show discussion led by members of KPFA’s La Onda Bajita progr