Calendar

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May
1
Sat
North Oakland Mutual Aid at the OMNI Commons @ Omni Commons
May 1 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

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SF Bay Area May Day Parade & Rally for Workers’ Rights & Racial Justice @ Embarcadero & Market St.
May 1 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

SF Bay Area May Day Parade & Rally for Workers’ Rights & Racial Justice

Join Bay Area Labor on May 1st as we recreate the famous 1934 May Day march up Market Street from the Embarcadero to Civic Center for a rally. Wear your union shirts and jackets! Organizations should sign up HERE. You can also download the FLIER.

Celebrations of International Workers’ Day, also called May Day, date back over 100 years to the fight for an eight hour work day. In San Francisco, May 1 has also played host to a rich history of collective action by workers—and this year will be no different.

The triple-threat of rising income inequality, racial injustice, and COVID-19 has hit working families hard. In order for our communities to emerge from this crisis healthy and prosperous, we need a just and equitable recovery for all.

That means building support for key legislation like the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which will empower workers to exercise our freedom to organize and negotiate for better wages and working conditions. It also means uniting together—no matter who we are or where we come from—to #StopAsianHate, proclaim that #BlackLivesMatter, ensure immigrants are safe and welcome in our communities, and fight to ensure that workers everywhere can live and work with the dignity and respect we all deserve.

Saturday, May 1 @ 10 am

Meet at the Embarcadero

Organizations should RSVP at http://www.bit.ly/mayday2021

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Celebrate May Day! A salute to the rebels who sparked this international working-class holiday @ Online
May 1 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Register

Salute the working-class rebels who sparked this international holiday

A story in song, dramatic readings and images Explore May Day’s origins in the world struggle for an eight-hour day and honor the heroes who put their lives on the line for the rights of every worker.

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May Day Oakland – Car Caravan and Rally @ Lake Merritt BART Parking Lot
May 1 @ 2:30 pm – 6:00 pm

From copy violence to military violence to workers’ rights, SOLIDARITY is our strength!

People Over Profit!  Educate! Agitate! Organize!

5pm Rally in West Oakland at a to-be-disclosed location.

Image

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Strike Debt Bay Area Book Group: The Optimist’s Telescope – Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age @ Online
May 1 @ 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

We still meet via Zoom.
Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com for the invite.

For our April meeting we’ll be reading the first five chapters of
The Optimist’s Telescope – Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age  by Bina Venkataraman.

“Instant gratification is the norm today—in our lives, our culture, our economy, and our politics. Many of us have forgotten (if we ever learned) how to make smart decisions for the long run. Whether it comes to our finances, our health, our communities, or our planet, it’s easy to avoid thinking ahead.

The consequences of this immediacy are stark: Superbugs spawned by the overuse of antibiotics endanger our health. Companies that fail to invest stagnate and fall behind. Hurricanes and wildfires turn deadly for communities that could have taken more precaution. Today more than ever, all of us need to know how we can make better long-term decisions in our lives, businesses, and society.

Bina Venkataraman sees the way forward. A former journalist and adviser in the Obama administration, she helped communities and businesses prepare for climate change, and she learned firsthand why people don’t think aheadand what can be done to change that. In The Optimist’s Telescope, she draws from stories she has reported around the world and new research in biology, psychology, and economics to explain how we can make decisions that benefit us over time. With examples from ancient Pompeii to modern-day Fukushima, she dispels the myth that human nature is impossibly reckless and highlights the surprising practices each of us can adopt in our own livesand the ones we must fight for as a society. The result is a book brimming with the ideas and insights all of us need in order to forge a better future.”

————————————————————————

Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included Doughnut EconomicsLimitsBanking on the PeopleCapital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, The Deficit Myth,  Revenge Capitalism, the Edge of Chaos blog symposium 
and Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons.

 

Join us – all are welcome!

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May
2
Sun
First Annual Social and Economic Justice Film Festival
May 2 all-day

All featured movies

Global Women’s Strike/Bay Area, part of the Alliance for Social and
Economic Justice, invites you to take part in the film festival (info
below) to help raise funds to launch a Center for Social and Economic
Justice in the Redstone Labor Temple in SF.

The mission of the San Francisco Social and Economic Justice Film Festival is to provide a platform for films made by independent filmmakers who are exploring and advocating for social and economic justice. The Social and Economic Justice Film Festival highlights films and videos to encourage change around the world and to promote a global culture of equality. The festival will showcase works that challenge exploitative and oppressive social and economic systems and structures on a global and local level.

FILM TOPICS

  • Organizing for justice in the time of COVID-19
  • Hunger, poverty, homelessness
  • Worker justice
  • Racism and oppression
  • Women’s rights and gender equality
  • LGBTQ rights
  • Prisoner justice and mass incarceration
  • Disability rights
  • Environmental justice and sustainability
  • Water and food insecurity
  • Privatization and corporate control
  • Alternative economies
  • Arts and rights of expression and speech
  • Immigrant Rights and Migrant Justice
  • Access to public education, including higher education
  • Living wage jobs
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North Oakland Mutual Aid at the OMNI Commons @ Omni Commons
May 2 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

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Socialism: Scientific and Utopian @ Online
May 2 @ 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Connection information here close to the event date

Just as Darwin discovered the law of motion of biological evolution, so Marx and Engels discovered the law of motion of human history and with it, placed the science of human society on a firm, working class basis. In 1880, Engels published Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, explaining how socialism had been transformed from a utopia into a science. This science was further developed by Lenin who led the world historic October Revolution and is continuing to develop in other world historic revolutions in China, Vietnam, and Cuba, and well as revolutionary movements throughout Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Unfortunately, some comrades have chosen to reject science and revert to utopianism. We will examine this question in Group Discussion in which everyone may participate fully.

Organizer: Eugene E Ruyle is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at CSU, Long Beach; President  of Veterans For Peace, East Bay Chapter 162 (Berkeley/Oakland); and active in a variety of working class organizations, including the ICSS.

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he True Cost of Chevron: Here, There and Everywhere – Sunflower Alliance Mtg
May 2 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

At its May meeting, Sunflower Alliance is proud to present three warriors in the struggle against the international fossil fuel giant headquartered in our own backyard—Chevron, or as it’s pronounced in Ecuador, Chev-wrōng.

Please RSVP at action@sunflower-alliance.org.  You’ll receive a Zoom link along with the meeting agenda and campaign updates on Friday, April 30.

From its environmental crimes in Nigeria to the Ecuadorian Amazon, and its support for a fascist military dictatorship in Myanmar, Chevron has established an egregious record of human rights abuse, environmental degradation, and the deliberate poisoning of global communities. The toxic plume of particulate matter emissions from its Richmond refinery affects half a million people in the Bay Area, especially Black and Brown residents of San Pablo, North Richmond, and Richmond. Come hear about why it’s so important to show up for Anti-Chevron Day on May 21st.

 

Speakers:

Paul Paz y Miño, Associate Director at Amazon Watch.

Andrés Soto, Northern California Organizer for Communities for a Better Environment.

Jed Holtzman, Policy Analyst for 350 Bay Area.

 

Paul Paz y Miño will address Chevron’s international record: its persecution of lawyer Steven Donziger, who has spent two years under house arrest for representing a group of Indigenous peoples and rural farmers in Ecuador in a lawsuit against Texaco, which was accused of dumping some 16 billion gallons of toxic waste in what would become known as the “Amazon Chernobyl.” That lawsuit began in 1993, ricocheted between US and Ecuadorian courts, and continued after Texaco was acquired by its now-parent company of Chevron. The plaintiffs represented by Donziger won the case, forcing Chevron to pay a $9.8 billion dollar settlement. Chevron retaliated, and Donziger ended up under house arrest. His trial for criminal contempt is scheduled to begin on May 10th.

Andrés Soto will bring the focus back to Richmond: the scope of community resistance to Chevron’s Refinery Modernization Project, its catastrophic refinery explosion and fire in 2012, and February’s oil spill in San Francisco Bay.

Jed Holtzman will discuss current efforts to reduce harmful particulate matter emissions emitted by the refinery (and the PBF refinery in Martinez) and explain how you can support that crucial effort at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

 

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Occupy Oakland General Assembly @ Oscar Grant Plaza
May 2 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

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

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Vigil to Honor Stolen Lives @ Lake Merritt Columns
May 2 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

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‘United Shades’ – Vallejo Police Dept. @ Television / Online
May 2 @ 10:00 pm – 11:00 pm
‘United Shades’ examines the data on the Vallejo Police Department.
W. Kamau Bell speaks with Open Vallejo founder Geoffrey King. For more on the history and current state of policing in America, watch “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell” on Sunday, May 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
CNN.

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May
3
Mon
Cops Off Campus!
May 3 all-day

Expectations: Each participating campus is asked to participate in a collective kickoff action on 5/3 and to participate in community-led actions on the anniversary of George Floyd’s death on 5/25. Beyond that, each campus is asked to coordinate their own action(s) on one or more of the 15 weekdays between these two events. See below for inspiration.

  • Banner painting culminating in banner drop from highly visible buildings
  • Repurpose Your School’s Cafeteria & Serve the Food to People in Need
  • Squat Your School’s Residences & House Folks in Need of Housing
  • March to Your Chancellor’s House & Let Them Know How You Feel
  • Redecorate your campus police station
  • Letter writing to send your demands to admin/alumni/donors
  • Teach-in with abolitionist speaker
  • Paint/print posters and wheat paste them across campus
  • Publish op-ed in campus/local newspaper amplifying the national group → should pair with a more visible action that operates outside of the “university’s language” 
  • Public “Town Hall” without admin
    • can even symbolically invite your target, and have an effigy of them “present”
    • bring in organizers & people from the community who have experiences with campus cops, etc. 
    • can be theatrically held outside admin buildings
  • Create memorial for victims of police violence, local and/or national
  • Zine distribution → should pair with a more visible action for political education
  • Mutual aid drive for people who need resources in the community surrounding your institution 
  • Street puppet theater performance (e.g. targeting trustees, police, key villains)
  • Walking tour of past police/university violence in the community

 

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Reimagine, Not Reform – Defund OPD @ Online
May 3 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

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Oscar Grant Committee Meeting @ Zoom Meeting
May 3 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Because of the COVID pandemic we will be meeting virtually via Zoom on the first Monday of the month.

Meeting ID: 828 0976 4186

If you wish to get the password please subscribe to the Oscar Grant Committee mailing list by sending an email to:

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

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May
4
Tue
Public Bank of the East Bay @ ONLINE, VIA 'ZOOM'
May 4 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

We meet over Zoom. If you’d like to join us, and aren’t on our organizers’ list, drop us an email and we’ll send you an invitation.

If you would like to join the meeting early and get an introduction to the concepts of public banking, or more locally to who we are and what we do, please email us and we’ll see you online at 6:30.

Donate to keep us moving forward

It is the mission of Public Bank East Bay to provide community oversight and stewardship in the formation and functioning of the Public Bank of the East Bay to base its decisions on the values of:

Equity

PBEB is committed to a public bank which acknowledges and attempts restitution of the  historical burdens carried by disenfranchised communities, including  communities of color and many other marginalized groups.

Social Responsibility

Decisions regarding who gets loans, what projects get invested in, and who benefits should take into account investing our money into the wealth and health of local communities and the environment.

Accountability

The bank is accountable to the  residents of the East Bay, who have a right to fully transparent explanations of  the Bank’s actions and choices.

Democracy

The bank will be governed using  democratic processes which consciously and intentionally adhere to the values/principles listed above.

JOIN A WORKING GROUP!

We have five committees working together to create a Public Bank in the East Bay:

  • Advocacy builds relationships with community groups and city governments.

  • Communications assists other committees with content creation and promotion.

  • Fundraising develops our organization’s budget and raises funds for our business plan.

  • Membership brings on new members and volunteers and organizes educational events.

  • Governance is responsible for operations and the execution of PBEB’s business plan.

Email us with your interests and we’ll help you find a way to get plugged in!

JOIN THE ALLIANCE

The California Public Banking Alliance (CPBA) is an organization of 12 member regions, not of individuals. You can join the CPBA mailing list (link at the Alliance website) to receive updates on state and sometimes national progress, which we will also include on this site.

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Fight to Protect Rent Control in Alameda @ Online
May 4 @ 8:00 pm – 11:30 pm
Alameda Renters Coalition needs help from social and housing justice allies to fight against this plan to change the CIP formula. It will lead to many evictions of renters who have already suffered through the Covid19 Pandemic Shelter-In-Place.

This benefits the largest corporate landlords.

City Council will consider revisions to the current rent control law that allow for a new Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). ARC has been fighting this plan since it was brought to our attention back in the summer of 2020. We have had numerous meeting with city staff, city councilmembers, and even realtor representatives, but the plan persists.

The proposed Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) plan will allow a landlord to pass-through 100% of the cost of a capital improvement (repair or replacement) that cost at least $25,000,or $2,500 for one unit, TO THE TENANT in addition to the annual allowed rent increase. The proposal would cap the pass-through at 5% per year and allow it to be amortized over at least 15 years and maybe more.

Join the Council Meeting: https://alamedaca-gov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vec0ZPDETr2HU9hSjrXo2Q
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May
5
Wed
Fireside Chat: Surveillance @ Online
May 5 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Join us for a candid live discussion with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn, EFF Director of Engineering for Certbot Alexis Hancock, and EFF Policy Analyst Matthew Guariglia as they weigh in on surveillance in our culture, activism, and the future of privacy.

Democracy, social movements, our relationships, and your own well being all require private space to thrive. But state actors and law enforcement reach for persistent mass surveillance tech with disturbing frequency. Privacy activists and ordinary people around the world stand before a growing arsenal of invasive tools in the hands of criminals and state actors alike. Our guests will discuss how mass surveillance changed us and our odds of fighting back.

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Workers & Debtors of the World Unite! @ Online
May 5 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Please join the Debt Collective @ 7 PM ET / 6 PM CT / 5 PM MT / 4 PM PT for ‘Workers & Debtors of the World Unite!’ a conversation about May Day, labor movements & how we can build our debt-free world together. The conversation will feature a presentation by Debt Collectice Organizing Director Umme Hoque!

RSVP here

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The Solidarity of Community and Organized Labor @ Online
May 5 @ 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Join us as community leaders discuss how labor and community can work in partnership together. Let’s build people power.

Register: bit.ly/EBCmeeting

 

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