Calendar
A rally to support the Salinas Police Department has been organized for Sat. from 11am-2pm. This is a response to that rally. The Direct Action Monterey Network and our comrades in Salinas are mobilizing for a counter demonstration because a pro-cop rally in response to what’s been going on is a pro-murder-of-Latino-farmworkers rally and can not be left unanswered.
This is not about specific cops or their personal attitudes and beliefs. This is about exposing the Salinas PD for being the violent, oppressive institution that it is. Their daily intimidation and harassment, as well as these recent murders, reinforces a racist, exploitative system. We are standing up to them, as well as to those members of the community who are voicing their support for such an institution.
http://www.facebook.com/events/824296990931334/
OAKLAND: BUS FROM OAKLAND, MEET AT OGP 11:00AM
For all those who have suffered police brutality
please join us, and speak out about the corruption in San Joaquin county that affects us all.
When?
Saturday May 31st 2014 for the 3rd annual Speak out for victims of police violence/brutality. Bring your friends, invite your friends. In 2010 16 year old James Rivera Jr, was driving a mini van that was violently forced off of the road by multiple Police units. The vehicle was forced to crash, going through two residential garages, rendering the vehicle immobile. Stockton Police officers Gregory Dunn and Eric Azarvand, with deputy Sheriff John Nesbit, got out of their patrol cars and within seconds opened fire on James. A total of forty eight rounds entered the childs body from the sides and behind, killing him at the scene. Eric Azarvand, is said to have been firing with an AR-15 assault rifle. James’ family still has not received the police reports, video or picture evidence, or James’ personal property. Join his family and other members of the community who support the family or have been victims themselves.
Speakers for other families who have been victimized by the Police are expected to be attending, as well as our brothers and sisters from the East Bay area who will be coming out to support these families, and give some educational speeches about the commonalities of police violence taking place almost daily, and all around us.
If you are against Police Violence, if you or a loved one has ever been subject to non warranted police attacks, you need to be here on the 31st of May, and have your voice heard.
JUSTICE FOR JAMES RIVERA JR
JUSTICE FOR DONALD RAY HAYNES
JUSTICE FOR ANGEL SAUCEDA.
END POLICE TERRORISM.
If the Government Won’t, the People Will…..
STOP CRUDE OIL BY RAIL SHIPMENTS TO RICHMOND!
Stop pollution of our communities and our climate!
PROTEST AT KINDER MORGAN’S RAIL YARD
SHUTTLES WILL PROVIDE RIDES FROM RICHMOND BART — 12:15-12:30 pm
Meet at Castro St. entrance to Kinder Morgan train yard between entrance to Chevron Refinery/Hwy 580 &
Hensley Street, close to Hensley across Castro Street from General Chemical’s entrance at525 Castro Street.
(Closet parking is up Hensley Street)
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a permit to Kinder Morgan to operate its crude-by-rail project to import highly explosive and toxic crude oil into Richmond, a low income community of color already burdened by pollution caused by the fossil fuel industry. BAAQMD issued the permit without public notice or opportunities for public comment. The number of trains carrying crude oil has risen dramatically due to increased drilling in both the Alberta tar sands in Canada and the Bakken shale oil area of North Dakota, and the number of serious accidents has also increased.
We the people must raise our voices and send a loud and clear message that more pollution from dirty crude oil and tar sands is not acceptable in the bay area or anywhere else.
KEEP THE OIL IN THE GROUND!!
Sponsors: West County Toxics Coalition, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, Sunflower Alliance, 350 Bay Area, Idle No More/SF Bay, ANSWER/SF, Communities for a Better Environment, Environmental Justice Air Quality Coalition, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Global Community Monitor, Forest Ethics
F
The Postal Service has put the Berkeley Post Office up for sale!!
The Postal Service has started to outsource Post Office services to Staples, replacing union jobs with low-paying, low benefit work.
And we’re fighting against both!
Come help us plan our next steps.
We’ve started a “Don’t Shop at Staples” campaign with some awesome… what else? … postcards to send to Staples management! Here’s the front of the postcard.
All four Postal Unions have joined together to support maintaining full service, public Post Offices in every community, with expansion to include postal banking, and to oppose subcontracting and privatization of services. The California Federation of Teachers passed a resolution in support of opposition to Staples. We need to continue the pressure on Staples and encourage other unions to pass resolutions denouncing the Post Office’s agreement with Staples.
And we need to be prepared if the Post Office announces a sale! The Advisory Commission on Historical Preservation came out with its report, recommending that sales of Historic Post offices be halted until the USPS conforms with historical preservation law. Here is our response. Also the Office of Inspector General’s report on the sale of Historic Post Offices came out recently – anything could happen now since Congress’ “request” that no historic Post Offices be sold until it had come out has been honored and no further Congressional request or mandate has come down. Come help us plan our response.
We have joined with other activists in Berkeley to put a ballot initiative on the ballot to rezone the Berkeley Post Office and other areas in the Historic District to prevent privatization, and also to insure a better Downtown Berkeley. We succeeded in getting the necessary signatures; it may be voted on in November.
Encouraging articles have come out recently about using Post Offices as banking facilities for the unbanked. We held a forum on postal and public banking on March 29th on the Post Office steps.
THINGS ARE HAPPENING!
Walmart Associates will be on strike to protest Walmart’s illegal retaliation against Associates who have spoken up about inequality and have gone on strike.
We’ll be talking to customers and asking them to support Walmart Associates who continue to highlight the issue of Walmart’s poverty wages deepening income inequality and the impact it has on its workers, customers, and communities as a whole and call on Walmart to raise workers’ wages to $25,000 per year.
Andy Lopez will be honored by family, friends and supporters on the occasion of his 14th birthday. Andy will be celebrated by both those who knew him personally and by those who have been seeking a just response to his death. Speakers at the opening and concluding gatherings will share what Andy’s life and memory mean to them and what they expect to be his lasting legacy.
The noon march will lead by Danza Azteca Coyolxauqui and by youth contingents from Andy’s Youth and the Windsor Bloco Youth Ensemble. Participating group members of the Justice Coalition for Andy Lopez (JCAL), and Mothers in White, as well as other local and state-wide supporters and groups.
The event, entitled, “Not Forgotten – Andy Lopez Presente!,” will begin at 11:00. At noon, participants will march to central Santa Rosa for a culminating birthday rally at Old Courthouse Square.
Time: 11-12Noon – Gather and Speakers
12-1:30pm – March To Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa, CA
1:30-3pm – Rally and Speakers
What does activism look like in Haiti & how can you be apart of it? How can it shape your work here?
Join HAC as we explore Haiti’s history, current political situation, and the connections to parallel struggles throughout the U.S. and around the world.
Come to our first meeting!
Resistance & the Lavalas Movement:
What is Lavalas? Do people in Haiti support the current government? Who is involved in Haiti’s fight for democracy? Why do the world’s superpowers fear the people’s movement? Who is really in power in Haiti? What does activism look like in Haiti?
New to Strike Debt?? Don’t walk cold turkey into a bunch of radicals talking about debt! Show up a half hour early — at 2:30 PM — for an informal pre-meeting intro session. If you’d like to attend this pre-get-together please email strike.debt.bay.area@
Join Strike Debt Bay Area in working on some exciting projects locally and nationally to fight unjust debt.
– The latest on our coalition efforts to Save the Berkeley Post Office and fight the privatization of our commons.
– The latest on our efforts to help Richmond and NGO allies push for principal reduction for Richmond’s homeowners. Read two articles here and here, written by two Strike Debt Bay Area members on the Richmond principal reduction / eminent domain case.
In addition, we are exploring the use of a public bank to help Richmond, CA and other communities escape the thrall of Wall Street.
– Work on our radio segment broadcast periodically on KPFA.
– A project to bring non-profit, non-usurious payday loan services to Vallejo and Oakland.
– Other projects include efforts to fight against student debt in conjunction with peeps at UC Cal via a Strike Debt UC Berkeley chapter of Strike Debt, a book group with semi-weekly discussions, investigations into the legitimacy of mortgage ownership and therefore the right to foreclose, and more.
– Get your very own cop of The Debt Resisters’ Operations Manual!
“Just as bosses are dependent on workers, so are lenders dependent on borrowers. If workers walk out, the enterprise stops. If borrowers refuse to pay their debts, the lenders could be in real trouble. Each side depends on the other. The millions of underwater mortgage holders, of student debtors and credit card holders, need the bank loans – but so do the banks need those borrowers, and they especially need them to cooperate by paying their monthly charges. Otherwise, the capital that the banks list on their books begins to drain away.” ~Francis Fox Piven
Check out our website, our Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.
Check out the Berkeley Post Office Defenders website too.
The Postal Service has put the Berkeley Post Office up for sale!!
The Postal Service has started to outsource Post Office services to Staples, replacing union jobs with low-paying, low benefit work.
And we’re fighting against both!
Come help us plan our next steps.
We’ve started a “Don’t Shop at Staples” campaign with some awesome… what else? … postcards to send to Staples management! Here’s the front of the postcard. The campaign has been adopted by Postal Unions, has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, and has gone national!
All four Postal Unions have joined together to support maintaining full service, public Post Offices in every community, with expansion to include postal banking, and to oppose subcontracting and privatization of services. The California Federation of Teachers passed a resolution in support of opposition to Staples. We are trying to get the Alameda Labor Council to pass a similar resolution.
And we need to be prepared if the Post Office announces a sale! The Advisory Commission on Historical Preservation came out with its report, recommending that sales of Historic Post offices be halted until the USPS conforms with historical preservation law. Here is our response. Also the Office of Inspector General’s report on the sale of Historic Post Offices came out recently – anything could happen now since Congress’ “request” that no historic Post Offices be sold until it had come out has been honored and no further Congressional request or mandate has come down. Come help us plan our response.
We have joined with other activists in Berkeley to put a ballot initiative on the ballot to rezone the Berkeley Post Office and other areas in the Historic District to prevent privatization, and also to insure a better Downtown Berkeley. We succeeded in getting the necessary signatures; it may be voted on in November, but Tom Bates and the City Council have nefarious plans to undermine our coalition. More info at the meeting as available!
Encouraging articles have come out recently about using Post Offices as banking facilities for the unbanked. We held a forum on postal and public banking on March 29th on the Post Office steps.
THINGS ARE HAPPENING!
The West Oakland Specific Plan is a massive development project that will lead to gentrification and displacement across West Oakland. The Plan itself, while saying much about attracting business and investment by playing up West Oakland’s ‘uniqueness’ and ‘diversity,’ actually contains NO guarantees for protecting and providing for people who already live here.
JOIN THE MARCH: Leaving from Defremery Park at 4pm, through West Oakland to spread the word, arriving at City Hall for the 6pm Planning Commission meeting!
NO TO DISPLACEMENT!
NO TO GENTRIFICATION!
DEFEND WEST OAKLAND!
Original event notice on IndyBay.
We’re going to finish Richard Heinberg’s The End of Growth with a twist: everyone will read the last chapter (Ch.7) to get a picture of his prophesies and prescriptions while Spencer, Greg, and I will focus on a chapter each and give a short report-back. This way we can finish the book in just one more meeting.
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.
COME ONE ! COME ALL !
The Gill Tract Community Farm is having a meeting for ALL volunteers and community members. Enter through the gate at Jackson St. & Ohlone Ave.
On the Agenda:
- how do we ensure sufficient staffing on a regular basis to keep the farm operating smoothly throughout the summer(year)
- people’s input on which crops to plant for the next season (around mid August)
- how different groups can work co-operatively and collectively on the farm.
We hope to see you there!
Legal scholar Michelle Alexander’s seminal work, “The New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” outlines how the gains of the civil rights movement have been systematically turned back by the exponential rise in incarcerations of brown and black men.
“Today there are more African-Americans under correctional control — in prison or jail, on probation or parole — than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.”
The Bay Area Public School is proud to co-present this class with Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church, whose congregation will be reading Alexander’s book over a six-week period. All are welcome to join us for this engaged conversation on the meaning of “The New Jim Crow” for those of us working for social justice in Oakland and beyond.
The Postal Service has put the Berkeley Post Office up for sale!!
The Postal Service has started to outsource Post Office services to Staples, replacing union jobs with low-paying, low benefit work.
And we’re fighting against both!
Come help us plan our next steps.
We’ve started a “Don’t Shop at Staples” campaign with some awesome… what else? … postcards to send to Staples management! Here’s the front of the postcard. The campaign has been adopted by Postal Unions, has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, and has gone national!
All four Postal Unions have joined together to support maintaining full service, public Post Offices in every community, with expansion to include postal banking, and to oppose subcontracting and privatization of services. The California Federation of Teachers passed a resolution in support of opposition to Staples. We are trying to get the Alameda Labor Council to pass a similar resolution.
And we need to be prepared if the Post Office announces a sale! The Advisory Commission on Historical Preservation came out with its report, recommending that sales of Historic Post offices be halted until the USPS conforms with historical preservation law. Here is our response. Also the Office of Inspector General’s report on the sale of Historic Post Offices came out recently – anything could happen now since Congress’ “request” that no historic Post Offices be sold until it had come out has been honored and no further Congressional request or mandate has come down. Come help us plan our response.
We have joined with other activists in Berkeley to put a ballot initiative on the ballot to rezone the Berkeley Post Office and other areas in the Historic District to prevent privatization, and also to insure a better Downtown Berkeley. We succeeded in getting the necessary signatures; it will be voted on in November, but Tom Bates and the City Council have nefarious plans to undermine our coalition.
Encouraging articles have come out recently about using Post Offices as banking facilities for the unbanked. We held a forum on postal and public banking on March 29th on the Post Office steps.
THINGS ARE HAPPENING!
San Francisco Living Wage Coalition Meeting
(btw. Mission and South Van Ness #12, 14, 22 buses, or 16th St BART)
San Francisco Living Wage Coalition Meeting. The Living Wage Coalition is building a grassroots movement of low-wage workers and their allies to win economic justice. Anyone who works full time should be able to survive on what they earn and support themselves and their children. Come to be a part of discussing next steps in pursuing an economic justice agenda.
More information at http://www.livingwage-sf.org/
California March for Democracy! 99Rise.
Join the Sunflower Alliance in a support rally for Democracy!99 – Rise in Sacramento
We’ll show our support for those who marched 480 miles from southern California to protest the institutionalized corruption of our government and the capture of energy policy by the fossil fuel industry.
For details visit 99rise.org or marchfordemocracy.org/
The Postal Service has put the Berkeley Post Office up for sale!!
The Postal Service has started to outsource Post Office services to Staples, replacing union jobs with low-paying, low benefit work.
And we’re fighting against both!
Come help us plan our next steps.
We’ve began the “Don’t Shop at Staples” campaign with some awesome… what else? … postcards to send to Staples management! Here’s the front of the postcard. The campaign has been adopted by Postal Unions, the San Francisco Labor Council and has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, and has gone national!
All four Postal Unions have joined together to support maintaining full service, public Post Offices in every community, with expansion to include postal banking, and to oppose subcontracting and privatization of services. The California Federation of Teachers passed a resolution in support of opposition to Staples. We are trying to get the Alameda Labor Council to pass a similar resolution.
And we need to be prepared if the Post Office announces a sale! The Advisory Commission on Historical Preservation came out with its report, recommending that sales of Historic Post offices be halted until the USPS conforms with historical preservation law. Here is our response. Also the Office of Inspector General’s report on the sale of Historic Post Offices came out recently – anything could happen now since Congress’ “request” that no historic Post Offices be sold until it had come out has been honored and no further Congressional request or mandate has come down. Come help us plan our response.
We have joined with other activists in Berkeley to put a ballot initiative on the ballot to rezone the Berkeley Post Office and other areas in the Historic District to prevent privatization, and also to insure a better Downtown Berkeley. We succeeded in getting the necessary signatures; it will be voted on in November, but Tom Bates and the City Council have nefarious plans to undermine our coalition.
Encouraging articles are still coming out about using Post Offices as banking facilities for the unbanked. We held a forum on postal and public banking on March 29th on the Post Office steps.
We are planning our next event, ‘Jam the Sale.’ Come help us out!
THINGS ARE HAPPENING!
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called a special UN Climate Summit on September 23 to “catalyze action by governments, business, finance, industry, and civil society”. It’s unlikely any more will come of this meeting than came of the gatherings in Copenhagen, Cancún, Kyoto, and elsewhere. But a large number of environmental and progressive organizations are planning actions in New York City right before and during the UN meeting to call the world’s attention to the failure of world “leaders” to deal with the crisis. One of these actions, the People’s Climate March, will take place on Sept. 20 and 21. It is spearheaded by 350.org and endorsed by about 100 other organizations.
In solidarity, a Bay Area action is being planned. If you want to help plan the fall action, please come to this meeting. And spread the word.
The Politics of Debt Reading Group, a subgroup of Strike Debt Bay Area, meets every other week to discuss readings on debt and related issues agreed to from previous meetings.
This meeting we will be discussing Chapter’s 2 & 4 of Taibbi’s Griftopia.
Here is a PDF with the reading material (large!)