Calendar
Update: live-from- #Ferguson tribunal moved to 2537 Haste St. to accommodate larger crowd 4pm; then march from Telegraph and Bancroft 7pm
— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) December 10, 2014
Tribunal 4PM @ Room 174 Barrows Hall, UCB (near Bancroft + Telegraph); afterward MARCH gathers @ Bancroft + Telegraph
#berkeleyprotests
— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) December 10, 2014
The night of December 6, over 500 UC-Berkeley students and community members marched to demand justice for Mike Brown and Eric Garner. Police from across the East Bay rioted against the peaceful crowd, with batons, tear gas, and rubber bullets. They broke one person’s leg, inflicted other injuries, and indiscriminately arrested members of the crowd.
But UC-Berkeley students and community members poured into the streets to protest this violent onslaught and STAYED STRONG FOR NINE HOURS. Inspired by the heroic example of Ferguson, we showed that WE WON’T BACK DOWN!
Protesters voted to MARCH AGAIN this MONDAY, DEC. 8 at 5:00pm at the intersection of Bancroft and Telegraph, for THESE DEMANDS:
* Jail Darren Wilson, Daniel Pantaleo, and All Killer Cops
* End the Racist Coverups by the District Attorneys and Grand Juries
* Down with the New Jim Crow! Down with the Police From Ferguson to Ayotzinapa to Staten Island: March Against State Repression
* Release the Berkeley protesters arrested and drop all charges.
*** BERKELEY ASKS OTHER CAMPUSES AND COMMUNITIES TO JOIN US IN SOLIDARITY ***
*** SHARE PHOTOS + VIDEO FROM THAT DAY TO GET OUT THE TRUTH ***
This will be the second session of a class on Prisons, Prison Abolition, and the new Jim Crow.
This second session of this class will address issues concerning how to approach the question and the practice of abolishing the prison system.
— what aspects of the prison system can be eliminated right now, in the interest of taking steps toward instituting justice in this country?
— what are the weak points in the structure of imprisonment and mass incarceration that we face, so that we can attack it there?
— should we look at the police today as an extension of the prison system, or the prison system as an extension of the police, or both, and what does it mean that this question makes sense in this country today?
— what relation does this police-prison nexus have toward the continual unfolding of structures of racialization today.
2014 Worst Boss of the Year: Hs. Lordships, Don’t Steal Our Healthcare!
Workers at H’s Lordships restaurant have been bargaining a contract for four years. These longtime workers are asking for a fair contract, however management continues to propose drastic takeaways. Workers have offered to give up sick days and vacation time and participate in a new plan with a high deductible and reduced benefits. But the restaurant is proposing to increase healthcare eligibility so that as many workers would lose their health insurance all together. For those who still qualify, they are also proposing shifting another $290 per month of the cost of family medical from the Employer to the worker.
To make matters worse, they are now threatening to unilaterally implement these takeaways effective January 1. UNITE HERE Local 2850 is declaring H’s Lordships the “Worst Boss of the Year.”
Join us for Christmas carols and cookies at our holiday action, where we will ask for worker justice this holiday season. Let’s tell management to stop being a Grinch!
Questions or need a ride? Contact Nicole Zapata at nzapata@unitehere.org or 925-639-7588.
Join black students from Cal at a rally THIS SATURDAY at noon at Telegraph & Bancroft #ferguson2cal #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/lZaPNgWatK
— CalProgressives (@CalProgressives) December 11, 2014
In solidarity with Ferguson and NYC, we will be hosting a #BlackLivesMatter rally and march starting 12:00 PM on Bancroft and Telegraph. Following our action we plan to travel together to the Millions March in Oakland at Oscar Grant Plaza, 14th & Broadway.
Millions March Oakland: https://www.facebook.com/events/858052834217501/
Ferguson National Demands
De-Militarization of National Law Enforcement
Comprehensively review systemic abuses by police
Repurpose military funds to support restorative justice
Investigate Criminalization of communities of color
Support passage of End Racial Profiling Act
Obama administration enact national plan for racial justice
#Ferguson2Cal
http://fergusonaction.com/demands/
NJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS INJUSTICE EVERYWHERE. WE MUST DEMAND JUSTICE FOR MIKE BROWN! JUSTICE FOR ERIC GARNER! JUSTICE FOR ALL THOSE WE HAVE LOST AT THE HANDS OF THE RACIST KILLER COPS!
WE MUST COME TOGETHER IN UNITY AND SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE BRUTALITY AND MURDER OF BLACK AND BROWN BODIES! THERE IS POWER IN NUMBERS. SO WE ARE GOING TO GO ALL OUT ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 13th @ 2pm. MEET AT OSCAR GRANT PLAZA.
#BLACKLIVESMATTER.
WE MUST NOT ONLY SHOW OUR POWER, BUT SHOW THAT THERE IS STILL HOPE FOR HUMANITY, WE MUST SHOW THE WORLD THESE DEATHS ARE NOT IN VAIN.
THIS MUST HAPPEN IN EVERY MAJOR CITY, SO SPREAD THE WORD. FROM EAST TO WEST. INVITE AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE.
THIS IS NOT TOO AMBITIOUS. THIS IS POSSIBLE.
WE MARCH.
TOGETHER.
AS ONE.
BECAUSE #WECANTBREATHE
OUR CALL TO ACTION: DEMAND THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PURSUE FEDERAL CHARGES AGAINST ALL KILLER COPS.
OAKLAND IS FERGUSON. FERGUSON IS OAKLAND.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO VIOLENT UNDERCOVER COPS!!
On Wednesday night, in the middle of a protest in Oakland, an undercover cop pulled out a gun and pointed it indiscriminately at protestors in the crowd. OPD was later quick to absolve themselves of blame and assert the aggressor was a CHP cop. ACAB.
Come express your rage at the racist police state in all its acronyms – rally, speakout, and march against CHP and all pigs.
THE POSTAL SERVICE HAD THE BERKELEY POST OFFICE “UNDER CONTRACT.” !!!!!!!!!!!
THE POSTAL SERVICE WANTED TO SELL THE POST OFFICE TO HUDSON-MCDONALD DEVELOPMENT GROUP. HUDSON-MCDONALD BACKED OUT OF THE DEAL LAST WEEK.
THE CITY OF BERKELEY SUED THE POST OFFICE TO STOP THE SALE. A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER WAS IN PLACE UNTIL DECEMBER 17th, BUT WAS LIFTED BY THE JUDGE WHEN HUDSON WITHDREW.
There was a hearing in Federal Court on December 11th.
Come learn about continuing developments and help us plan our next steps in opposition to this theft of our public commons.
Get an overview of the sale announcement here.
Here’s a good more general overview piece.
Davic Rovics gave a concert on the Post Office steps recently. Check out pictures and video of him playing.
Also CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE. and the Save the Berkeley Post Office website, and First they Came for the Homeless Facebook for updates.
BPOD is an offshoot of Strike Debt Bay Area, which itself is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and a chapter of the national Strike Debt movement, which is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.
This week we’re peeling back the mysteries of how banks work – or don’t – in the real world.
Chapter 3 of Tom Sgouros’ Checking the Banks.
RALLY AND MARCH TO THE BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING
TUESDAY, DEC. 16, 5:00PM
GATHER AT BANCROFT + TELEGRAPH
Berkeley City Council Meeting 7:00PM @ Longfellow Middle School (1500 Derby St. in Berkeley)
We condemn the police riot last Saturday, December 6 on protesters and students fighting for justice for Michael Brown. We hold the Mayor, the Berkeley Police Department, and the City Council responsible for the brutal policy of attacking civil rights protesters. We demand dropping all of the charges against protesters and reject the Ferguson Grand Jury’s racist decision of “no indictment” against Officer Darren Wilson for the murder of Michael Brown. Jail and indict Darren Wilson and all killer cops now!
View the “Public Tribunal for Truth & Action: Justice for Michael Brown” that BAMN held Dec. 10 in St. Louis, MO with Michael Brown’s friends, family, and local Ferguson activists and organizers:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLXtsxFx6QY
DEMANDS:
• Jail Darren Wilson NOW!
• Drop All Charges Against Civil Rights Protesters
• Stop the Racist Attacks Against Black and Latina/o and Other Minority Youth
• Jail the Killer Cops: A Badge is Not a License to Kill
• End the Policy of Cover-up and Blaming the Victim
• Abolish the Grand Jury System
• Create More Jobs and Educational Opportunities. Establish New School Desegregation Programs
• Down with the New Jim Crow! Down with the New Police State!
• Build the Independent, Integrated, and Youth-led New Civil Rights Movement
• No Justice in Ferguson. No Peace Anywhere!
“After hearing from people injured by police batons and projectiles, and those who suffered from tear gas during several days of protests in Berkeley, the Police Review Commission voted unanimously Wednesday night to ask the City Council to temporarily ban tear gas, the use of projectiles and over-the-shoulder baton swings as crowd-control measures, until an investigation has been completed.”
All out to the City Council meeting Tuesday the 16th at 7pm!
Two articles on the Police Review Commission action Wednesday night:
http://www.dailycal.org/2014/12/11/police-review-commission-supports-restricting-use-tear-gas-crowd-control-techniques/
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_27118581/berkeley-panel-seeking-temporary-police-ban-tear-gas
NOTE: the meeting is not at Old City Hall. It has been moved to Longfellow Middle School to accommodate expected large turnout.
I just received this message: #OUSD #WalkOut is scheduled for this Wednesday. #Oakland. pic.twitter.com/4rDq0FcEZz
— Pendarvis H. (@OGpenn) December 15, 2014
There are lots of important reasons to protest at the CPUC, not only ‘Smart’ meters, but also Diablo Canyon’s nuclear power plant, massive toxic dumping by PG&E (remember Hinkley, Hunters Point, and many more), AT&T’s push to get rid of landlines (an accessibility issue), gasline explosions due to neglect, etc etc etc.
These issues are about environmental health, community defense, disability justice, and labor. The people who are most immediately impacted by the decisions of the CPUC are the workers forced to implement them.
For example, this former PG&E meter reader was fired for refusing to be silent about the fact that ‘Smart’ meters are a fire hazard, and lays out the financial reality that these meters are actually more expensive than meter readers, who were the only people working for the utility who regularly checked for gas leaks like the one that preceded the San Bruno explosion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnxIoItNUek
One of the victims who died in a fire caused by ‘Smart’ meters was Larry Nikkel, of Vacaville, a member of Stationary Engineers Local 39: http://stopsmartmeters.org/2013/06/21/when-smart-meters-kill-the-story-of-larry-nikkel-details-emerge-of-vacaville-ca-smart-meter-fire-death/
Please mobilize your friends and comrades to come out on Thursday – Peevey’s last day – and bring your friends and your own grievances against this supposed watchdog agency that acts more like a lapdog of the corporate utilities. Tell Peevey: Good Riddance!
Details below.
PRESS CONFERENCE/ DEMONSTRATION AT CPUC IN SAN FRANCISCO OPPOSING “SMART” METER POLICIES AND GENERAL CORRUPTION
California Public Utilities Commission
Thursday, December 18 8:30 AM
Van Ness at McAllister, San Francisco
Give CPUC President Michael Peevey the send-off into retirement that he deserves after a dozen years of corruption and complicity with corporate utilities.
Protest the CPUC’s proposed decisions in the ‘smart’ meter opt out proceedings. Show strength in unity against their proposals that:
• Ignore serious public safety hazards including toxic injuries, fires, homelessness, violations of privacy, higher bills, loss of meter readers, and no promised energy savings.
• Continue to impose coercive extortion opt out fees
• Violate laws, and deny customer and disability rights
• Prohibit opt-outs for communities, apartment buildings, and businesses
• Reward utility companies with millions $$$ more for smart grid failings
Join us in demanding that the CPUC:
• Reject the proposed decisions
• Rescind and refund ‘opt out’ extortion fees
• Halt the ‘smart’ meter program
Bring any other past or present grievances against the CPUC (toxic dumping, nuclear plants, gas line explosions, accessibility, public power, etc.)
We will be raising our demands both outside before the meeting, as well as inside. Please come prepared to make some noise and be seen. Wear black if you can. Rain or shine.
For more information about the proposed decisions, go to these links:
The proposed decisions would (as summarized by the EMF Safety Network):
- Give 37 million dollars to the Investor Owned Utilities (PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, and So Cal Gas) for providing the opt-out program.
- Adopt permanent fees for residential customers who “do not wish to have a wireless smart meter.”
- Continue the same interim fees of $75 initial fee plus $10/month, and $10 initial fee plus $5/month for low income.
- Local governments and multi-unit dwellings may not collectively opt out of smart meter installations.
- Charging an opt-out fee does not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- They will not address health and safety impacts in this decision.
- Assess fees on a per location basis, for example if you have two or more meters on your property, that will be one fee, per utility company.
- If you have two utilities, they can both charge you fees.
- President Peevey proposes putting a cap on the opt-out fees at 3 years.
- Neither proposal considers a no-fee option.
Ecological Options Network
EMF Analysis
EMF Safety Coalition
EMF Safety Network
No Nukes Action
Smart Meter Health Alert
Stop OC Smart Meters
Smart Meter Harm
Stop Smart Grid
Stop Smart Meters!
Stop Smart Meters Irvine
United Public Workers for Action
Wireless Radiation Alert Network
Too many times movements dies and voices aren’t heard because the weather isn’t as pretty. Well, it’s an ugly world we live in and we have to be willing to sometimes do things that are hard and face ugly things.
When the rain comes, people go in their houses, let us not forget about those who cannot go home because their lives have been stolen in this violent police state.
Come rain. sleet, hail or snow; #BlackLivesMatter and we must not let that be forgotten just because of some much needed rain. Bring your umbrellas out, network with one another, build up the community we want to save and march side by side in solidarity with one another & in solidarity with those around the world fighting for a better world.
Wear all Black because #BlackLivesMatter.
A new formation has started in the bay area….a multi racial, multi generational group of organizations, individuals and families coming together to dismantle police terror. No longer on just the defense reacting to every atrocity by the pigs. We also going on the offensive. Come to the General meetings every third Thursday at Eastside Arts Alliance to find out what we talking about and how to get down.
With the imminent threat of a sale, First They Came for the Homeless has moved from Staples to the downtown Post Office, with support from Berkeley Post Office Defenders. The new Occupation began in early November and continues on into December. Come hang out with them and show solidarity as we all take a stand against the privatization of our commons.
Check out the Christmas event this Saturday.
Check out the stories on the raids by the Postal Police.
Do you have three weeks of your life to commit to working to get Marissa Alexander, so unjustly, cruelly, egregiously imprisoned, out of jail???
We are ramping up our energy & commitment to FREE MARISSA NOW! as she has a Jan 27th hearing date, that could end up with her spending another 5 years in jail, or house arrest – for daring to stand up to a batterer, firing a warning shot into the ceiling, injuring no one.
We need to make her name known in every household across the u.s.ofa., and her freedom a STAND UP, FIGHT BACK cause too.
Which is why in January we are going to caravan from Oakland to Jacksonville, spreading the word from city to city, town to town, as we banner, hand out flyers, engage in direct actions, teach-ins, whatever we can do as we travel across the country spreading the word of her freedom!
PLEASE come to this meeting Saturday, whether you intend to go on the caravan or not. We need plenty of on-the-ground support if you opt not to go.
But please seriously consider spending three weeks of your life working to get Marissa out from behind bars! TOGETHER we WILL free Marissa and obtain a pardon for her!
See you Saturday!
- organizing for public banking in Oakland and elsewhere.
- advocating for Postal banking.
- saving the Berkeley Post Office and stopping the Staples non-union takeover of good Post Office jobs
- working with the City of Richmond and other municipalities for eminent domain seizure of underwater mortgages from the banksters
- ongoing study group
- distribution of Debt Resisters’ Operations Manual
- student debt resistance
- helping out America’s only non-profit check-cashing organization and fighting against usurious for-profit pay-day lenders and their ilk
- our famous Strike Debt radio program
- and much more!