Hey folks! time to roll deep to the Life Enrichment Committee (LEC) at Oakland City Hall.

on the agenda is a crucial report and recommendation that if passed and implemented as policy will upgrade the quality of life in every encampment across Oakland while we wait for permanent deeply affordable housing to be built, and will protect informal settlements with tiny homes like the village from being sabatouged and destroyed.

The Coalition for Police Accountability filed a motion to be Intervenors in the 16 year-long Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA). Our motion was opposed by the City, by Plaintiffs’ Attorneys and, of course, the OPOA.   Here’s an excerpt of the City of Oakland’s response to our motion:

“Today is a much different day than when the NSA began.   For one thing, the City is in compliance with all but four tasks.   Dkt. No. 1238.   The City is faithful to the idea that with strong  medicine like the new policies the Department has put into place and a bench of strong, committed  leaders, the Department can be the trustworthy guardian the community deserves.    Today is a much different day than when the NSA began.”

REALLY??????*

We need to have a strong representation of supporters at the hearing a week from today*!

*(It’s possible that the Judge will notify us of his determination and cancel the hearing  –  if so, we’ll cerrtainly let everyone know well ahead of time,)

Can we count on you?

Please help to spread the word and come to the hearing (you must have a valid, non-expired ID to get into the building). We ask:

We need to be visible to Judge Orrick to advance our argument that the community cannot continue to be a silent partner or a hostage in this ongoing, expensive enterprise.

Basta!

In a continued effort for community building, they're showing @BootsRiley's film, Sorry to Bother You, tonight at People's Park. pic.twitter.com/gZxXszABzx

— Alastair Boone (@alastairboone) May 30, 2019

It’s almost time for May’s monthly potluck and free movie at the Bobby Bowens Progressive Center!

This month we will be screening The One Percent (1h 16m)

Schedule: 6:30pm Potluck / 7pm Screening

Join us on May 30 for the documentary The One Percent, created by Jamie Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune. The film examines the system that allows a growing divide between the wealthy and the poor in America. Johnson interviews a number of America’s richest people and asks them about the inherent dangers of having the majority of America’s money in the hands of less than one percent of its citizens. Also interviewed are Chuck Collins and Bill Gates Sr., estate tax proponents and Johnson’s own father, James Johnson who earlier in his life was interested too in the subject of inequality.

Johnson also discusses the economic and societal pitfalls of our current economic imbalance with Milton Friedman, Robert Reich and Ralph Nader. Using real-world examples of the wealth gap, Johnson takes a tour of a dilapidated housing project in Chicago, rides around with an enlightened taxi driver, and sees the human toll of the unfair economics of the Florida sugar industry.

The money that flows into the system shapes who gets what in the economy. At the end people who give the money have the greatest benefits. Yet not all rich people see the wealth gap a good sign and think the problem should be reversed. Is there truly equality in life? Are there solutions to the problem?

This is a free monthly event at BBPC that falls on the last Thursday each month. Mark your calendar for upcoming films:

June 27 – Flow: for Love of Water
July 25 – Tapped

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

Suds, Snacks, and Socialism at the Starry Plough Pub

U.S. Imperialism  and the Struggle for Venezuela’s Future

Roger Harris and Mehmet Bayram, both recently returned from Venezuela, will discuss this key battleground in the U.S. ruling class’s ongoing war to overthrow independent and left-wing governments world wide. The will be joined by the National President of Veterans for Peace, Gerry Condon, who was beaten by police when he was delivering food to the activists defending the Venezuelan Embassy in Washinton, DC. All speakers have recently visited Venezuela.

Questions and comments will follow the presentations. Doors open at 2:00.  All ages welcome.

This forum is co-sponsored by the Oakland Greens,
the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party and
Bay Area System Change Not Climate Change

🗣️ Spread the word
~SIT WITH US~
Inviting Bay Area community to our table for a Sex Worker celebration! 6/2
• Tabling by community health, wellness & social justice orgs
• Performers, Pole, & Speakers TBA
• Allies are wanted & welcome
• Wear red
• Bring flowers to share pic.twitter.com/nz57lql8oD

— Bay Area Workers Support (@BAWSupport) May 15, 2019

Noted social justice activist Bill Fletcher has written his first novel, The Man Who Fell From The Sky. In it, Fletcher looks at the issues of race, ethnicity, power, history and politics through the eyes of a young reporter in Cape Cod investigating a murder in 1970. In the course of the novel, he weaves together portraits of Cape Verde, Portuguese, African American and white communities. (Books will be available for purchase.)

Please register at the Eventbrite page so we can get a good headcount: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bill-fletcher-book-talk-tickets-62069395232?fbclid=IwAR0-MHqTF9K9B_sbv8L5XemusaK-3NJ2-b078GR9kwvy2-sMEg9zmXpYO_k

How can we show up in solidarity with migrants at the southern border who have fled gang violence and government brutality to endure traveling on foot for months, family separation, and further persecution?

Please join us on June 2 to hear how you can volunteer with Al Otro Lado, (AOL), a wonderful organization known as the “most loving place in Tijuana.” Al Otro Lado, is mostly volunteer-run and provides asylum seekers with know-your-rights training, legal consultation, document support, meals and medical care.Bay Area SURJ members who spent several days at the border will share their experiences working with asylum seekers. Volunteering is a great way for you to work against white supremacy and for human rights, and Spanish is not required.

RSVP via Facebook

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/

What is the connection between the socialist project and anti-imperialism? What can socialists in the US do to fight imperialism? And what might an international struggle against imperialism and capitalism look like?

Join us on Tuesday, June 4 for the third part of our three-part Socialist Night School series on imperialism to discuss these questions and others.

Accessibility: The venue is wheelchair-accessible.

Required Readings

See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.

Housing Struggle & International Solidarity: Eastern Europe and Beyond

The housing crisis is a global issue. Across the world, struggles for housing justice are on the rise, as are fights against evictions, gentrification, and houselessness.

A transnational analysis and international solidarity strategy based on anti-capitalist, antiracist, and communitarian ideals has become increasingly necessary. Join us for an evening presentation and discussion around organizing and building regional and global solidarities!

Drawing upon their own contexts in Romania, Czech Republic, and the US (Bay Area), housing activists Eliska Černá (Wake up houses), Jakub Černý (Wake up houses, Squat Klinika), Erin McElroy (Anti-Eviction Mapping Project), Veda Popovici (Common Front for Housing Rights) will explore local tactics, regional radical visions, and the necessity for international housing movement solidarity.

‘Making Political Art: Expression of a Movement’ invites you to a lively conversation as Oakland art critic Jeff Kelley facilitates a discussion with Bay Area artists Leslie Dreyer, Mark Harris & Sawyer Rose.