Calendar
Please join us at our
HCA – Contra Costa County Chapter Zoom Meeting Supporters in Alameda County are welcome to join us
If you are interested in joining us, please email Yi Shepard.
Links to the draft agenda and April meeting notes
Message from Chapter Co-Chairs
Dear HCA-CCC and HCA-Alameda members/supporters,
As you probably know, despite robust support among California citizens and many legislators, AB1400, the single payer bill introduced by Ash Kalra, has been tabled for this session so that financing issues could be further discussed. In the meantime, The Healthy California for All Commission, set up by Governor Newsom in 2019, has reconvened. Their first meeting was May 21, 2021. Discussion was focused on the effects on costs, coverage and equity of a unified financing system. There are three committee members who are very knowledgeable and supportive of changing to a single payer system and they spoke clearly and strongly about the merits of such a transition. Further support was vocalized by a number of articulate community members during the public comment session. You can view the meeting at www.chhs.ca.gov/healthycaforall. The next commission meeting will be June 25, 2021. The agenda will include design options and a Community engagement update.
AB1400 HCN (Healthy California Now) a statewide network of pro-single payer organizations which includes HCA, PNHP (Physicians for a National Health Program) and CARA is appealing to Governor Newsom�s leadership and campaign promise for single-payer, while addressing the urgency and devastation of the COVID pandemic, and seizing upon the unique opportunities within the new presidential administration. The need has never been more clear and more achievable for a comprehensive and guaranteed healthcare system that puts an end to increasing costs, limited provider choices, soaring drug prices, surprise bills, and health plans that charge more and cover less.
Janet Thomas and Susan Buckland, Co-Chairs HCA-CCC
Dan Hodges, Chair HCA-Alameda
NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:
occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)
On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over six years, since October 2011! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally. Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.
At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.
General Assembly Standard Agenda
Welcome & Introductions
Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
Announcements
(Optional) Discussion Topic
Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.
Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area
San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv
Want to know your rights & stand up for others in your community? Want to document the police & organize for change? Every 1st & 3rd Monday from 6:30-7p we're hosting New Member Mondays. Hop on zoom so we can answer yr questions & get you plugged in
Zoom: https://t.co/Henl2S4Pc9 pic.twitter.com/UHiSti3Slv— Berkeley Copwatch (@Copwatch411) May 7, 2021
Because of the COVID pandemic we will be meeting virtually via Zoom on the first Monday of the month.
Meeting ID: 828 0976 4186
The Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality & State Repression (OGC) is a
grassroots democratic organization that was formed as a conscious united front for justice against police brutality. The OGC is involved in the struggle for police accountability and is committed to stopping police brutality.
In alliance with the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) we organized the October 23, 2010 labor and community rally for Justice for Oscar Grant. On that day the ILWU shut down the Bay Area ports in solidarity. Our mission is to educate, organize and mobilize people against police and state repression. Sisters and brothers! The Oscar Grant Committee invites you to join us in this vital struggle.
We meet on the 1st Monday of each month
You can join our discussion list by sending a blank (doesn’t even need a subject) email to
oscargrantcommittee-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
The Oakland City Council Public Safety Committee hearing is tomorrow at 1:30 pm; public comment will be at the beginning. We hope for a unanimous vote of support, which could mean the ordinance goes on the full City Council’s consent calendar, as early as next week. This may be the principal time for telling City Council why we have worked for this measure.
We have two asks of you to put this over the finish line:
1. Join us tomorrow Tuesday at 11:30 am for a brief Facebook Live event with Vice-Mayor Rebecca Kaplan and community sponsors of the military equipment ordinance. We will voice the broad community support for this ordinance
2. Show up on zoom on Tuesday at 1:30 pm to make a public comment in support of the military equipment ordinance. This is our chance to make ourselves heard. If the ordinance passes unanimously in Public Safety with no harmful amendments, it could go onto the full City Council’s consent calendar. See talking points on the ordinance here. The zoom link is here. A graphic for social media is attached also.
Berkeley passed a similar ordinance in April, and California is considering another, but neither is as encompassing as the Oakland ordinance, which explicitly applies to mutual aid deployments from other city’s police in Oakland, has a private a right of action, and stronger reporting requirements. Let’s make this ordinance a reality.
American Friends Service Committee
California Healing Justice Program
Tel: 510-282-8983
With Juneteenth quickly approaching, we dive into WEB DuBois’ classic book Black Reconstruction in America, specifically looking at the chapter “The General Strike”.
Join us as we discuss this important part of American history and how we can apply these lessons today.
Readings:
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About the Speakers
Keisha Blain, Ph.D.
Jeff Chang
Jeff Chang, Bay Area native and UC Berkeley alumnus, has written extensively on culture, politics, the arts, and music. Jeff serves as the Vice President of Narrative, Arts, and Culture at Race Forward. He was formerly the Executive Director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University.Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i, he is a graduate of ‘Iolani School, the University of California at Berkeley, and the
University of California at Los Angeles. Jeff co-founded CultureStr/ke — now known as the Center for Cultural Power — and ColorLines. He has written for a number of publications, including The Guardian, Slate, The Nation, the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Believer, Foreign Policy, N+1, Mother Jones, Salon, and Buzzfeed.
Rosa Clemente
Tim Wise
Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States. He has spent the past 25 years speaking to audiences in all 50 states, on over 1500 college and high school campuses, at hundreds of professional and academic conferences, and to community groups across the country.
Wise has also trained corporate, government, entertainment, media, law enforcement, military, and medical industry professionals on methods for dismantling racial inequity in their institutions, and has provided anti-racism training to educators and administrators nationwide and internationally, in Canada and Bermuda.
JOIN US! Wednesday, June 16 at 12pm
Rally @ 12pm, Car Caravan @ 1pm, come with your car already decorated or use our supplies to decorate during the Noise Demo!SPEAK UP! TODAY at City Council at 6pm (Item #37)
Agenda/zoom link: https://t.co/83qEceVlmZ pic.twitter.com/eO612B5PYv— Berkeley Copwatch (@Copwatch411) June 15, 2021
We are gathering every Wednesday at noon on the steps of City Hall to demand a community budget that prioritizes CARE Not Cops!
The City Manager is proposing a budget that INCREASES funding for the Berkeley Police from last year! This is despite the city’s supposed commitment to “reimagine public safety” and decrease funding to the police.
In advance of the final budget vote on June 29, we are gathering EVERY WEDNESDAY AT NOON on the steps of City Hall to make them hear us and demand a community budget that prioritizes CARE NOT COPS!
We cannot continue with business as usual. According to the City Audit, BPD stopped Black people at a significantly higher rate than their representation in the Berkeley population (34 percent compared to 8 percent). The data also shows that less than 1% of all calls for service were for violent crimes and that 55% of calls to Berkeley Police came in on their “non-emergency” line. BPD failed to even capture data on how many calls involved unhoused people or those with mental health issues.
We need to hold the City Council to their promise to reimagine public safety. We must divert our city funds to alternatives that: (1) are completely independent from the police, (2) are accountable to our most impacted community members, (3) don’t respond only during crises and then leave, and (4) are transparent to the public.
Join us and make noise on the steps of City Hall! Bring your pots, pans, noisemakers. We’ll have speakers and open mic. Tell Berkeley why this is important for everyone’s safety.
This event is wheelchair accessible.
For more info on the Care Not Cops campaign and our Five Demands for the Specialized Care Unit (SCU), go to: berkeleycopwatch.org/care-not-cops
Share the flyer! Share on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter!
Featured panelists: Dr. Nikki Jones, professor of African American Studies at University of California, Berkeley and Dr. Aisha Mays, the director of Adolescent and School Based Programs at Roots Community Health Center.
Facebook Event: https://bit.ly/3w3zkSG
We meet virtually on zoom on the second Wednesday of every month from 6-7:30pm. These meetings are open to the public. The content of our meetings span from trainings, campaign updates, teach-ins, debates, roundtable discussions, etc. Click below to join the meeting or use this link: https://zoom.us/j/96555663590
2021 General Meeting Dates: February 10, March 10, April 14, May 12, June 9, July 14, August 11, September 8, October 13, November 10, December 8
Email contact@oaklandprivacy.org a few days before the meeting to obtain Zoom meeting access info.
Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, police militarization and ICE, and to advocate for surveillance regulation around the Bay and nationwide.
We fight against spy drones, facial recognition, police body camera secrecy, anti-transparency laws and requirements for “backdoors” to cellphones; we oppose “pre-crime” and “thought-crime,” — to list just a few invasions of our privacy by all levels of Government, and attempts to hide what government officials, employees and agencies are doing.
We draft and push for privacy legislation for City Councils, at the County level, and in Sacramento. We advocate in op-eds and in the streets. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and believe no one is illegal.
Check out some of what we worked on in 2020 and 2019.
Oakland Privacy originally came together in 2013 to fight against the Domain Awareness Center, Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub. OP was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network. We helped fight and helped win the fight against Urban Shield.
Our major projects currently include local legislation to regulate state surveillance (we got the strongest surveillance regulation ordinance in the country passed in Oakland!), supporting and opposing state legislation as appropriate, battling mass surveillance in the form of facial recognition, mass aerial surveillance, and other analytics, and pushing back against ICE.
On September 12th, 2019 we were presented with a Barlow Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for our work, and on March 16th, 2021 s James Madison Freedom of Information Award by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists.
If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy email listserv, coming to a meeting, or have questions, send an email to:
Check out our website: http://oaklandprivacy.org/
Follow us on twitter: @oaklandprivacy
“WATCHING YOU WATCHING US”
Oakland Privacy works regionally to defend the right to privacy and enhance public transparency and oversight regarding the use of surveillance techniques and equipment. Oakland Privacy drove the passage of surveillance regulation and transparency ordinances in Oakland and Berkeley and is kicking off new processes in various municipalities around the Bay. To help slow down the encroaching police and surveillance state all over the Bay Area, join us at the Omni.
Our Green New Deal Committee meets on the second Wednesday each month. We will discuss eco-socialist issues, upcoming events and actions, committee priorities, and campaigns. All are welcome! Please RSVP to receive the URL to the meeting or email green-new-deal@eastbaydsa.org.
In honor of World Refugee & Immigrant Day, a weekend of free streaming access to the documentary “A Place to Breathe” is available from June 18 to 20th.
The film explores the universality of trauma and resilience through the eyes of immigrant and refugee healthcare practitioners and patients as well as highlights the strategies by which immigrant communities in the U.S. survive and thrive.
Visit https://screening.gooddocs.net/a-place-to-breathe-wrid and see the Facebook event at https://fb.me/e/2fBp9es6q
Visit https://underexposedfilms.com/a-place-to-breathe to watch a trailer and read more about the film and its accomplishments to date.
For years, Amazon has used its technological power to supercharge the criminalization of immigrants by providing cloud services to ICE and its partners. Now, the tech giant is an integral part of a $4.3 billion dollar biometrics database that would track and identify millions of immigrants and US citizens in real time. If we dont stop it, the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) project would expand policing of immigrants and their families by connecting biometrics databases across federal agencies and granting access to police departments.
Join panelists from Mijente, Immigrant Defense Project, Just Future Law.
Oakland Jericho’s monthly online events focus on Political Prisoners, their cases, dedication to the community, and guidelines for writing to them. This month we will discuss and write to: Ed Poindexter and Keith LaMar (Bomani Shakur).
You must register for your free ticket on Oakland Jericho‘s Eventbrite page to receive the zoom link.
Please register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oakland-jerichos-political-prisoner-writing-sessions-tickets-154792064231
You will receive an email from Eventbrite confirming your ticket and then you will receive an email from Oakland Jericho within 2 days with the Zoom link. You will also receive a reminder email 1 day prior to the event. All ticket sales end the day before the event (June 9th) at 10pm PST for processing.
We look forward to seeing you!
Free em All!
Hackers have a bad reputation, as shady deployers of bots and destroyers of infrastructure. Maureen Webb would like to offer another view. Hackers, she argues, can be vital disruptors. Hacking is becoming a practice, an ethos, and a metaphor for a new wave of activism in which ordinary citizens are inventing new forms of distributed, decentralized democracy for a digital era. Confronted with concentrations of power, mass
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Join City Lights, the Goethe-Institut San Francisco, and Gray Area for Revisions, a week-long festival exploring how technological bias shapes our cultural realities.
Our trust in mediated experiences has never been lower. Governed by algorithms that perpetuate the biases and weaknesses of their developers, our cultural consumption is increasingly shaped by undetectable forces that determine our reality. Images play an important role here: fake photos and videos created with deep neural networks threaten privacy, democracy, and national security. Vision recognition systems skew gender, race, and class differences and become vehicles of discrimination. Underdeveloped AI models misrepresent the health disparities faced by minority populations.
How can we illuminate the algorithmic bias embedded within technology and counter the perpetuation of bias? What innovative approaches can we develop to strengthen inclusion, diversity, and sustainability in technology?
This festival brings a network of luminaries together to share new perspectives and rewrite new visions advocating for justice and reclaiming power.
The festival is part of the project IMAGE + BIAS that critically engages with the cultural realities being increasingly determined by imperceptible technologies.
The plan by the International Olympics Committee IOC and Japanese government to go ahead with the Tokyo Olympics in the middle of a global Covid Pandemic is a threat to not only the people of Japan but the world. Despite the desperate pleas of doctors and many healthcare workers in Japan who are overloaded with covid patients, the government has said it doesn’t matter what they or the people of Japan think about the Olympics.
Over 80% of the people oppose having the Olympics in the midst of a full scale pandemic but the IOC and Japan government with the support of Secretary of State Blinken and the the Biden administration could care less. The profits for NBC and the media companies come first for the IOC and the Japanese government.
It is the people be damned for these politicians, governments and the IOC. Japanese medical doctors are even warning of a possible Tokyo Olympic Covid variant coming out of these events which
will bring tens of thousands of people from around the world to Japan for the Olympics.
The Suga Japanese government is also planning to restart more nuclear plants and also release over a million tons of radioactive water from Fukushima where the burned nuclear reactor plants continue to leak radioactive material more than ten years after the melt-downs.
Nuclear clean-up workers including workers from overseas and other workers continue to get contaminated with no proper health and safety education and tens of thousands of bags of radioactive waste continue to remain scattered throughout the prefecture with no place to go. The government is also seeking to spread the contaminated waste throughout Japan in road construction and other projects.
The denialism of the dangers of having the Olympics in Japan is directly connected to the denialism of the dangers of Fukushima, the denialism of the Comfort Women and the Japanese government’s denialism during the 2nd World War that they could not lose the war. This effort to deny the present reality is connected historically to the rulers of Japan and it has led to the cost of millions of lives.
No Nukes Action asks you to join us and speak out to demand the cancellation of the Olympics, the halt to re-opening Japan’s nuclear plants and defense of the Fukushima people. We oppose as well the militarization of Asia supported by the US and Biden along with Congressional leader Nancy Pelosi. Thiis includes the building of the new Haneko base in Okinawa.
The Okinawan residents continued to be terrorized by US military jets and helicopters and the US is even training with these aircraft in the center of Tokyo despite the great dangers to the people of Tokyo.
Physical distancing and masks for all participants at action
As both socialism and abolition grow in popularity and relevance, this event seeks to explore the connection between the two. Come join the EBDSA political education committee and racial solidarity committee for this event and discuss the connection between the fight for a world without police and prisons and a world without capitalism. It is suggested to do the readings beforehand, but not required.
The Abolitionist Road to Socialism
Full Abolition, the Highest Stage of Socialism
From Detroit to Minneapolis: Police Brutality is Key to Containing Revolutionary Possibilities
Trump’s Tech Opposition – Jacobin interview
The Shallowness of What Tech Calls Thinking
Tech Workers – Friends or Foes?
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