Calendar
Grandmothers for a Green New Deal, a small group of elder women (members of 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations), invite you to a 90-minute, interactive zoom workshop to examine the Green New Deal as a blueprint toward a sustainable future.
Sign up for one of these workshops by clicking on the registration links below
Register for Thursday, March 18, 4-5:30 PM
Register for Friday, March 26; 4-5:30 PM
Register for Thursday, April 1, 4 – 5:30 PM
PLEASE NOTE:
Each presentation is limited to 12 participants so everyone has a chance to share their ideas. Please register early!
The workshop is centered around a 17 minute video,
http://www.vimeo.com/grandmothers4aGND/APathForward
Please watch the video before the workshop.
The video addresses the question: What is the Green New Deal and why does it matter? It reviews the basics of the threat of climate catastrophe, the need for a radical restructuring of society for racial, gender, and economic justice, and why these things are inseparably connected. All in the voices of grandmothers talking about why this matters to them.
Register here.
Join Communities for a Better Environment, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, and the Richmond Our Power Coalition (ROPC) at the first of a series of ROPC Just Transition town halls. At Decommissioning Refineries in the Bay Area, imagine the progressive closure of Bay Area refineries where the host communities and workers are protected economically and socially! For the City of Richmond, this means imagining a future Beyond Chevron.
Richmond is trapped in a toxic relationship with Chevron. For over a century:
- Chevron has polluted Richmond’s air, water, land, and politics,
- Chevron has pitted community groups against one another through its philanthropy,
- Chevron has gaslit and lied to Richmond, claiming that its toxic flaring and daily emissions are safe.
It’s time to envision a future Beyond Chevron. Working together we can make sure that the inevitable transition from Chevron and the extractive economy supports communities and workers, centers justice and healing, and builds a regenerative, feminist economy.
Come join this community town hall hosted by Communities for a Better Environment to hear stories from community members and to vision together what can come next.
** Priority attendance for Richmond / San Pablo residents and those directly impacted by Chevron. **
Have any access needs, questions, or concerns? Feel free to reach out to zolboo@cbecal.org.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers and farm-workers in India have been protesting for over 111 days seeking repeal of the three new farm laws. What started in the Indian state of Punjab as a protest against the deregulation of the agrarian economy and doing away with the limited protections the farmers have had, quickly evolved into the largest mass mobilization in post-colonial India. Despite efforts from the hyper-nationalist ruling party to derail and delegitimize the movement, it continues to grow having cut across class, caste, and gender, and threatens to challenge the prevailing alliance between the state and capital.
Join us as we discuss the development of one of the largest agrarian struggles in the world in recent history!
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 821 5880 0683
Passcode: 340756
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Part II: Non Violent Direct Action (NVDA) Training
Discussion facilitated by Marian Doub and Nikki Sachs
We are deeply grateful to The Society of Fearless Grandmothers for offering this training in August 2020 during the cocooning enforced by the global pandemic crisis. The Society of Fearless Grandmothers trains older women in NVDA, how to organize, how to become a police liaison, and how to nonviolently stand between law enforcement and those behind us conducting nonviolent direct actions. The Society of Fearless Grandmothers is a wholly volunteer community service organization.
This is a wonderful pre-recorded training about how to show up well as a guest and ally in solidarity and be prepared for justice and clean water, air and soil action, led by experienced Society of Fearless Grandmothers NVDA Trainers Pennie Opal Plant and Alison Ehara Brown, founders of the Society of Fearless Grandmothers, Idle No More San Francisco Bay, and signers of the Indigenous Women of Americas Defending Mother Earth Treaty. Facilitators will include information on “Getting Organized”, which will continue into the April training.
This training covers topics to orient and prepare for a wide range of creative, nonviolent actions. Topics will cover the ABCs of creating or joining actions with a variety of roles and tactics that match your passions and abilities: strategic use of nonviolence in social movements, affinity groups, liaison with police and media, how to create beautiful direct actions, how to provide jail support, and other topics. The training will break out into smaller group sessions to reflect more deeply on our personal understandings as elder women committed to speaking out and acting in support of a healthy, clean, safe and restored planet for all beings. We’ll practice nonviolent techniques for preventing or de-escalating potentially violent situations and how to understand and work with the emotions that can be triggered or evoked.
The video does not need to be watched prior to the training, however you are encouraged to do so if you can. Our experience is that we get something new or deeper out of each fresh viewing, and you may get more from the training if you do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0uJ6yYbECE
We are inspired by the work of the Society of Fearless Grandmothers and recognize that their work is done on a wholly voluntary basis. As guests on stolen land, we are humble and embrace the gift of their wisdom in this training with our deep gratitude. You can make a contribution today to their sister organization, Movement Rights, to help their work with tribal communities to stop fracking and pipelines and protect the Rights of Nature.
https://www.movementrights.org/donation-page/
https://www.facebook.com/fearlessgrandmothers
Follow this link to register: https://www.surjbayarea.org/events/spill-the-disabili-tea-a-disability-justice-workshop_2021_03_20
What is Disability Justice? People often express feeling intimidated and ill-equipped to unpack what we’ve been taught about disability, and how to support and advocate for disabled people in our everyday lives. This workshop is a fabulous opportunity for you to dive into the magic of disability justice with SURJ and Alex Locust at the helm.
With “Spill the Disabili-Tea™”, Alex will be facilitating an interactive discussion of disability justice for those committed to elevating their support for disabled folks in their community. Using his lived experience, education, and advocacy know-how, he’ll lead a candid conversation exploring the following questions (and more):
Who is “disabled” and what creates that experience?
What is “disability justice?”
What’s the “right way” to interact with people with disabilities?
How can I do better about those tricky “microaggressions?”
What’s the difference between “access” and “inclusion?”
Is disability a cultural experience and how can that intersect with other cultural identities?
How can I integrate these skills in the community (e.g. Pride celebrations, workplace culture, community gatherings)?
Come join us for an afternoon of real talk, experiential exercises, group work, and lots of laughs as we all Spill the Disabili-Tea™.
Accessibility Information
Spill the Disabili-Tea™ will be held virtually over Zoom and will start promptly at 1pm. We encourage you to join a few minutes before 1 to situate yourself.
Participants will receive an email after RSVP’ing and instructions for joining the meeting in an email sent out the morning before the event.
You may want to check your SPAM/ promotions folder for these emails. If you do not find the email, please email us at accessibility@surjbayarea.org, by the day before the meeting at the latest, so we can provide you the zoom link.
Closed Captioning will be provided. If possible, please let us know you plan to access Closed Captioning by emailing accessibility@surjbayarea.org.
We hope to provide translation into Spanish at this meeting but are still working on it. If you or someone else you know would want translation into Spanish, please reach out to us as soon as possible by emailing: accessibility@surjbayarea.org. We have not yet built capacity for translation to other languages.
ASL INTERPRETATION
ASL interpretation will be provided if requested by 11:00 AM on Thursday March 18th by emailing: accessibility@surjbayarea.org. Please RSVP for the workshop as well.
COST ACCESSIBILITY
This event is sliding scale, meaning pay what you can afford or are comfortable with. The sliding scale is from $20-$80. No one will be turned away for lack of funds, if you are unable to pay please RSVP by emailing accessibility@surjbayarea.org and we will send you the link the day before the event.
Kiss the Ground is a full-length documentary narrated by Woody Harrelson that sheds light on a new, old approach to farming called “regenerative agriculture” that has the potential to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world.
Kiss the Ground reveals that, by regenerating the world’s soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is the missing piece of the climate puzzle.
This movie is positioned to catalyze a movement to accomplish the impossible – to solve humanity’s greatest challenge, to balance the climate and secure our species future.
This film will be open to watch from home from the 21st-23rd of March.
Free and open to all. Donations are welcome and go to support our local arts community. Make donations at https://pentanglearts.org/get-involved/donations/
Hosted by Sustainable Woodstock and Pentangle Arts. Made possible by our underwriters VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION and MASCOMA BANK and sponsors Ellaway Group, The Unicorn, and Mark Knott DDS.
Please Join The Palestinian Youth Movement, Addameer, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Freedom Archives, The Arab Resource and Organizing Center and US Palestinian Community Network for Art Against Imprisonment, a Virtual Art Exhibit, that features art from incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people
in Palestine and in the US. As a small testament to their creativity, imagination, and expressions of solidarity!
Join us in launching this exhibit with former political
prisoners: Hafez Omar, Linda Evans, and Oscar Lopez Rivera. Also, we will have and Anmar Rafeedie, cultural worker and long time member of El-Fanoun Palestinian Dance Troupe; and a message from Kevin Cooper
currently on California’s death row.
with musical artist:
Naima Shaloub; and with more to come.
Register here: tinyurl.com/artagainstprisons
The topic will be the history of the 1930s. Not the Great Depression but the *responses* to it. Firstly the Great Labor Rebellion: the CP-led California farmworkers strike, the three left-led general strikes of 1934, the sitdown strikes, and the rise of the CIO. And secondly the capitalist response, the New Deal and FDR, how the capitalist class coopted Labor’s Giant Step, and how black people, Chicanos and women were mistreated under New Deal legislation.
Our speaker is John Holmes who teaches history at Merritt College in California, and is currently on the executive council of the Peralta Federation of Teachers, representing part timers. He was previously an activist in the typographical union.
LOGIN INFORMATION
The meeting will be opened up, as usual, at 10:15 for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc. We Intend to start the presentation as close to 10:30 am as possible. The program (and recording) will end at 12:30, but the Waiting Room will remain open for informal discussion.
Login info will be posted by here by Friday, Mar 19, 2021
Right now the most vulnerable individuals are being exploited on a massive scale and it will only get worse if we don’t take action now. But can we as average citizens really make a difference to help them? The answer is YES. In Direct Action Everywhere’s workshop, you will learn the history of social movements, the groundbreaking new research that shows the power of ordinary people, and the bold plan to nonviolently abolish the most harmful industry on earth that kills billions of animals every year.
Join this Zoom link Sunday at 11am PST: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84012361059
Meeting ID: 840 1236 1059
Please sign up to our email list before you attend this event:
dxe.io/signup
– – –
This interactive workshop was created by DxE co-founder and former Northwestern law professor Wayne Hsiung. After this workshop, you will have the tools to begin taking high impact action with thousands around the world to create historic change by saving billions of lives.
If you’re interested in joining our community for change by becoming a chapter member, this workshop is required. Sign-up to be a chapter member at dxe.io/apply.
Our Spring Equinox meeting will feature in-depth presentations on biofuels and renewable diesel refining. Our speakers are:
- Jackie Garcia Mann, of 350 Contra Costa
- Gary Graham Hughes, California Policy Monitor, Biofuelwatch
- Maureen Brennan, Rodeo resident and activist
Steve Nadel will round out the program with a report on the Air District Rule 6-5, the particulate matter regulation coming up soon for a final vote by the Board of Directors.
Feel free to email us in advance with any questions you’d like our speakers to discuss. Reach out to action@sunflower-alliance.org.
This very important conversation needs your participation and your voice. Come join us!
Co-sponsored by 350 Contra Costa.
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
March 7th Event
There are many discussions today about the nature of the working class and their capacity to fight for their own interests. Usually, we look at history to learn about the workers’ movement, but what potential exists in the modern international working class? What does a modern workers’ struggle really look like? What recent examples are there of workers organizing against the conditions they face and exerting their power? Join us in this movie series as we explore these questions by looking at workers’ struggles that happened in our lifetime.
Worker’s Republic
For six days in December of 2008 during the financial collapse, laid-off Chicago factory workers took over their closing workplace, declaring they would not leave until the owners and creditors agreed to pay them the severance they were promised. Republic’s credit line had been cut off by Bank of America, despite receiving billions of dollars in federal bank bailout money.
Succeed or fail, these 260 workers decided, “If I don’t fight, I know I’ll lose. If I do fight, at least I stand a chance of winning.”
Workers Republic shows how everyday people may be the most qualified to forge a better world. And in the struggle to save their jobs they were a beacon of hope and optimism for others to look to.
Friendly reminder this is a series occurring every two weeks
Where: Please join us at 6pm for a brief presentation and to watch via shared screen, and look for zoom and movie link upon RSVP if you prefer to watch on your own. Discussion will start at 7pm
March 21st event:
There are many discussions today about the nature of the working class and their capacity to fight for their own interests. Usually, we look at history to learn about the workers’ movement, but what potential exists in the modern international working class? What does a modern workers’ struggle really look like? What recent examples are there of workers organizing against the conditions they face and exerting their power? Join us in this movie series as we explore these questions by looking at workers’ struggles that happened in our lifetime.
Coming for A Visit
Undocumented migrants win the battle to get their papers. A historic strike filmed from within.Paris, 2009. More than 6000 undocumented migrants (sans-papiers) go on strike to demand their legalization. These are restaurant, construction, and janitorial workers who pay taxes and are all exploited by staffing companies who refuse to help them get their papers!
Coming for a Visit, shows the hard day-to-day work of organizing, the challenges of dealing with unions, and the key role that revolutionaries can play. Oh, and did we say these workers won?! This is an inspiring movie with lessons to learn.
Kiss the Ground is a full-length documentary narrated by Woody Harrelson that sheds light on a new, old approach to farming called “regenerative agriculture” that has the potential to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world.
Kiss the Ground reveals that, by regenerating the world’s soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is the missing piece of the climate puzzle.
This movie is positioned to catalyze a movement to accomplish the impossible – to solve humanity’s greatest challenge, to balance the climate and secure our species future.
This film will be open to watch from home from the 21st-23rd of March.
Free and open to all. Donations are welcome and go to support our local arts community. Make donations at https://pentanglearts.org/get-involved/donations/
Hosted by Sustainable Woodstock and Pentangle Arts. Made possible by our underwriters VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION and MASCOMA BANK and sponsors Ellaway Group, The Unicorn, and Mark Knott DDS.
Learn about the brave and brilliant data scientists and activists fighting the threat artificial intelligence poses to civil rights. Watch #CodedBias through @IndependentLens on @PBS in March 2021. pic.twitter.com/flpEdLLFFl
— Coded Bias Documentary (@CodedBias) February 25, 2021
Kiss the Ground is a full-length documentary narrated by Woody Harrelson that sheds light on a new, old approach to farming called “regenerative agriculture” that has the potential to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world.
Kiss the Ground reveals that, by regenerating the world’s soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is the missing piece of the climate puzzle.
This movie is positioned to catalyze a movement to accomplish the impossible – to solve humanity’s greatest challenge, to balance the climate and secure our species future.
This film will be open to watch from home from the 21st-23rd of March.
Free and open to all. Donations are welcome and go to support our local arts community. Make donations at https://pentanglearts.org/get-involved/donations/
Hosted by Sustainable Woodstock and Pentangle Arts. Made possible by our underwriters VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION and MASCOMA BANK and sponsors Ellaway Group, The Unicorn, and Mark Knott DDS.
As socialists, we believe workers play a particular role under capitalism that makes them central in the fight for socialism. But in recent history in the US, labor and the left have been separated, leaving us vulnerable to capitalism attacks. How do we rebuild a fighting labor movement that can meaningfully challenge capital? Enter the Rank & File Strategy.
What is the Rank & File Strategy? How should socialists engage with it? How is it different from just “socialists taking rank & file jobs”? Join the East Bay DSA Political Education Committee for a discussion of these questions and more.
We are thrilled to feature two vital contributors to the labor movement, Jane Slaughter and John Pearson! Jane Slaughter is a journalist with a storied history in the US labor movement. She is a co-founder of Labor Notes, a media and organizing project that has been the voice of union activists who want to put the movement back in the labor movement since 1979. She authored Concessions and How To Beat Them and co-authored the indispensable workplace organizing handbook Secrets of a Successful Organizer. John Pearson, RN, is a rank-and-file ER nurse at Highland Hospital and Alameda Health System Chapter President for SEIU Local 1021. He was instrumental in the East Bay’s historic, and victorious, healthcare worker strike in 2020.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84395261436?pwd=emI1K0h6VC9UUk9ObWZiMzhrM0FmQT09
Meeting ID: 843 9526 1436
Passcode: school
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Brockhurst St. and nearby neighbors are walking for community safety. Join us in the parking lot at St. Mary’s Center and we’ll pick the route for the day!
We are looking for “hosts” for Wednesdays in April to bring friends & neighbors, and organize the walk. Interested?
Join a virtual training to learn about what’s currently happening with DAPL and how you can take action. Very soon the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will head to court and share their findings from the environmental impact review of the Dakota Access pipeline and the danger it poses to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. This April 9th hearing is critical because the court could order the Army Corps of Engineers to shut it down. We need to stand in solidarity with Indigenous water protectors and allies! Every single day that passes, the health and safety of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe are threatened.
To help people join the fight, 350.org is hosting a special training led by on-the-ground activists and Indigenous leaders. Attendees will learn how to take actions to stop DAPL, Line 3, and all other fossil fuel projects.
Can’t make it? RSVP and you’ll be sent a recording.
Special guests will provide the latest updates on the fight to stop the Dakota Access pipeline. These will include a representative from the Tasina Sapa Win Makwa Initiative who is running from the DAPL construction site in Standing Rock to the Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota to Washington, D.C. Runners will arrive in D.C. on April 1 to deliver a clear message to President Biden: Stop the Dakota Access pipeline and all fossil fuel projects. Other speakers include Dawn Goodwin of the Rise Coalition and Nancy Beaulieu of MN350.
Experienced trainers will also lead sessions where you’ll learn about easy actions you can take to stand in solidarity with the Indigenous runners. You’ll have the option of choosing one of two training sessions:
- For those with a local Army Corps of Engineers office: “How to host an action at your local Army Corps of Engineers” led by our friends at Food and Water Watch, Shutdown DC, and the Indigenous Environmental Network.
- For everyone else: “How to host an action at the office of your local member of Congress” led by the 350 team.
Together, we can hold the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers accountable and push President Biden to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline and all fossil fuel projects, but it’s going to take all of us getting involved.