Calendar
Join us for an amazing panel discussion with four women activists with Black Lives Matter and associated organizations. Plus a documentary screening of “We Have Nothing to Lose But Our Chains!”
The future is up to us.
Join with activists, community, labor, students and faith-based groups to begin to formulate a vision, priorities and a plan of action for A BERKELEY FOR WORKING FAMILIES.
Berkeley can lead the way on expanding affordable housing, strengthening rent control, and creating livable wages, a healthy environment and expanded city services.
Sponsored by the Berkeley Minimum Wage Coalition.
Join us to fight for a livable wage for all Bay Area workers! We collaborate in principled reflection and action on what the Bay Area livable wage would be and where we are at on the right to a livable wage.
The Oakland Livable Wage Assembly builds Community and Power among those who seek higher wages and better work life conditions for area workers.
Our work together encompasses:
(1) The concerns of precarious, care and contingent workers,
(2) Campaigns to improve wages for low wage workers, and
(3) Efforts by unionized workers and unions to improve wages and quality of work life.
We share stories and information in an egalitarian and participatory way to build relationships and build the movement.
Oakland Livable Wage Assembly meets every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, 6:30-8:00 pm at the SEIU Local 1000 Union Hall, 436 14th Street #200, Oakland, CA
Please love and support one another ~ We have a duty to fight ~ We have a duty to win!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1568668586707336/
Department 110 on the 5th Floor.
This is the last day of court for the incident with the CHP from last September.
URGENT: Court support is needed TOMORROW (Thursday March 10th) for comrade being charged in the incident where undercover CHP officer drew a gun on protesters in December 2014. His trial resumes tomorrow morning at 9:30 at Wiley courthouse, department 110. It’s expected to be the last day of the trial, so let’s flood the courtroom in solidarity…
The District Attorney is currently prosecuting via a jury trial someone who was arrested by undercovers on December 10, 2014 after a protest. They are charging him with, among other things, resisting arrest. These undercovers pulled a gun on the crowd as they made the arrest. If anyone witnessed the arrest, please contact his attorney Kate Raven at 510-268-7405 or kate.raven@acgov.org to see if you can help in his defense.
“Good, stable jobs protecting the climate can help challenge the growing inequality and injustice of our society, but only if policy is designed to do so.”
Join us for a conversation with Jeremy Brecher, cofounder of the Labor Network for Sustainability and author, most recently, of the just-published Climate Insurgency: A Strategy for Survival. He has received five regional Emmy Awards for his documentary film work and holds a PhD from the Union Graduate School.
“Good, stable jobs protecting the climate can help challenge the growing inequality and injustice of our society, but only if policy is designed to do so. Climate policy needs to include strong racial, gender, age, and locational hiring requirements to counter our current employment inequality and provide a jobs pipeline for those individuals and groups who have been denied equal access to good jobs. It needs to help remedy the concentration of pollution in low-income communities, the lack of transportation, education, health, and other facilities in poor neighborhoods, and other manifestations of discrimination.”
— Jeremy Brecher, Making the Promises Real: Labor and the Paris Climate Agreement
This event is free and open to the public.
We encourage all Oakland residents to attend the weekly No Coal in Oakland meeting.
Up until its February 16th meeting, the position of a majority of Oakland City Council members on permitting coal shipment from the city’s port may have been in doubt. Even now the proposal remains on the table. But at that meeting, council members took concrete steps toward banning coal exports once and for all. Thanks to the efforts of Mayor Libby Schaff, local clergy, State Senator Loni Hancock, and community activists, the Council has signaled its intention to enact an outright ban on coal exports. In fact, it passed a moratorium on the issuance of any permits for the terminal until the question has been resolved. Read details on the latest developmemts here.
(And for more background, see A Coaltastrophe Threatens Oakland on this website.)
The US DoJ wants to hear your perspectives, concerns and suggestions concerning the San Francisco Police Department.
Pizza is being served for free provided by SEIU (Union).
San Francisco residents don’t miss our next community mtgs 3/8 & 3/10! We want to hear from you regarding the #SFPD. pic.twitter.com/A5dUpv4MD9
— COPS Office (@COPSOffice) March 2, 2016
THEY RELEASED THE CORONER’S REPORT. PRESS CONFERENCE ON TUESDAY.
Previous event notice:
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Richard Perkins’ family needs our support!
Richard Perkins’ family has asked for APTP’s help in obtaining the coroner’s report of his death. Perkins was killed by the Oakland Police Department on November 15, 2015, and the report still hasn’t been released – 3 and a half months later.
The Alameda County Sherriff’s office refused our demand letter on March 1st, 2016 asking the Sheriff’s office/Coroner to release the report to Perkins’ family or attorney.
Law enforcement are notorious for delaying the release of coroner’s reports as well as video surveillance in order to have as much time as possible to get their stories straight. We have no confidence in the Oakland Police Department nor the Alameda County Sheriff’s office and DEMAND the RELEASE of the CORONER’S REPORT now.
We will meet at the Coroner’s office out near the zoo @ 2901 Peralta Oaks Court. It is difficult to get there by public trans. Car pooling is encouraged.
In December, we celebrated an enormous victory when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected plans for a new jail.
But last week, on the deadline for officially returning state financing for the jail, we were shocked to learn that San Francisco city officials had covertly requested a 180-day extension for their decision, arguing that they may still build the new jail “as proposed”.
The jail pushers — the City’s conservative governmental block and their wealthy base — are doing everything they can to cirvumvent the will of San Francisco, and to build a jail that we have demonstrated that we do not want or need.
Members of the No New SF Jail Coalition are participating in the City’s Workgroup to Re-envision the Jail Replacement Project — and we will not be deceived by sneaky backroom attempts to push forward on cage construction! We will not contribute to plans to build any sort of jailing facility, but will develop plans for the City to permanently close 850 Bryant and to meet the needs of communities most impacted by incarceration.
The first open meeting of this workgroup is on March 11 from 2:00-5:00pm at 25 Van Ness, Room 610.
We need a strong community presence at these monthly meetings (through October), to hold SF accountable and ensure the focus is jail closure, not rebuild.
We know it is possible to say no to funding for jail construction, expansion, and renovation. More importantly, San Francisco has shown that it is possible to say yes to community investments, such as supportive housing, community-based mental health care, and treatment on-demand. These services and programs will ultimately keep more San Francisco residents out of jails and prisons and in our communities where we can heal and transform our lives.
March 11, 2016 is the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe that is still reverberating in Japan and around the world. The nuclear plants are still releasing thousands of tons of radioactive water and over 1000 tanks filled with contaminated radioactive water surround the broken nuclear plants.
The children and families continue to have a rising level of thyroid cancers and this uptick is taking place in other places in Japan. Despite these dangers the Japanese Abe government has said that the problem has been solved. They are demanding the the families and children return to Fukushima or lose subsidies for housing. The government is also claiming that they have “decontaminated” Fukushima and told the Olympic Committee that the problem had been solved.
The government has also raised the limits of allowable radiation to those of nuclear research facilities in Japan. The Japanese government has also passed secrecy laws threatening the journalists and investigators getting information out about the disaster and also seeks to militarize Japan by eliminating Article 9 of the constitution that limits wars and intervention. The government is seeking for the full militarization Japan including nuclear weapons despite mass opposition among the majority of the population. Hundreds of thousands of citizens have gone to the streets to demand an end to the restarting of Japan’s remaining more than 40 nuclear plants.
On March 11, 2016 people throughout the world including in San Francisco will be speaking out and calling for an end to the restarting of it’s nuclear plants, for the evacuation of the children and families in Fukushima and for the government to take responsibility for subsidizing housing outside the area.
We call for an end to the censorship laws and also against the elimination of Article 9 which will lead to further militarization and war.
We call for the closure of all nuclear plants around the world including Diablo Canyon in California which is also running on an earthquake fault like many nuclear plants in Japan.
Please Join Us and Speak Out
Initiated by No Nukes Action Committee
Endorsed by
Tri Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment), Livermore, Codepink Golden Gate Chapter, Occupy SF Action Council, Fukushima Response, Veterans for Piece- Chater #69,SF, Veterans for Peace East Bay Chapter #162, Asian Americans for Peace and Justice, EON (Ecological Options Network), BARK ( Barkers Agitating for Reactor Closure), PG&E Ratepayer Revolt, Mt.Diablo Peace and Justice Center, Walnut Creek, Sloths Against Nuclear State(反核ナマケモノの会), New York, Solar Justice, San Louis Obispo Mothers for peace, United Public Workers For Actionhttp://www.upwa.info, and more groups and much more individuals.
http://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/
Additional links:
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160216/p2a/00m/0na/010000c
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/24/the-great-fukushima-cover-up/
https://jfissures.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/on-fukushima-prefecture-and-hiroshi-kainuma/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/five-years-after-nuclear-meltdown-no-one-knows-what-to-do-with-fukushima/2016/02/10/a9682194-c9dc-11e5-b9ab-26591104bb19_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-world%3Ahomepage%2Fcard
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34565-radioactive-water-from-fukushima-is-leaking-into-the-pacific
Please join Friends of the Earth & Common Cause for a discussion about the growing national movement to reclaim a people centered democracy.
From Presidential candidates to Oscar winners, everybody is talking about the negative impact unlimited campaign money is having on our democracy. Sometimes it feels like there’s nothing we can do about it. But the truth is, we can reclaim our political system so that it represents our concerns for the environment, and not just those of corporations and the super-rich. Now is the time to take action. It has been six years since Citizens United opened the floodgates for anti-environmental mega-donors like Monsanto use their deep pockets to poison our planet. It’s clear that to make progress on the issues we care most about, we need to stand up and fundamentally change the way we do politics – locally and nationally.
What: Panel discussion and presentation on the state of our Democracy
I’ll be joined by Berkeley Council Member Kriss Worthington, who will talk about the city’s plans to address money in politics; UC Berkeley Common Cause member Celeste Alexandra Pylko, who will share about student’s work to get money out of politics on UC campus; and Helen Grieco from Common Cause who will talk about the upcoming Democracy Awakening mass mobilization on Washington DC.
Sign up HERE or via Face Book to reserve your space! Find out more about how the current state of our democracy blocks progress on the issues you care about, and how you can take part in the largest pro-democracy mobilizations our nation has seen in decades!
JOIN US FOR A SHIFT: MASS COPWATCHING
· Friday March 11, 8 PM – 11 PM
· Thursday March 17, 5 PM – 7 PM
· Saturday March 26, 8 PM – 11 PM
Since October 2015, Berkeley Copwatch has been holding “mass copwatch” events that invite folks to join us for a shift. It’s been fun and very empowering to have a group of copwatchers patrolling our city and on the scene when police stop people.
This month we have three shifts scheduled. The Thursday shift will likely be a walking shift. Please join us; we will train you in the essentials of copwatching, how to document and how to stay safe!
Contact us at (510) 548-0425 or berkeleycopwatch@yahoo.com to learn where we will be meeting.
Speak Out Now 2016 Revolutionary University
Tools for Changing Society
Join us for two days of presentations and discussion on some of the major questions of our time.
Come to all sessions or choose the ones that interest you.
(Note: Sunday is the first day of Daylight Savings time)
Saturday 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Syria and the Conflict in the Middle East
Prof. As’ad AbuKhalil,
Professor of political science at CSU Stanislaus and author of Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
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3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
The Life of Victor Serge: Learning from the Past – Looking to Our Future
Susan Weissman,
Professor of Politics at St. Mary’s College and author of Victor Serge: The Course Is Set on Hope
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7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Capitalism –a System in Crisis
Robert Brenner,
Economist and Professor of history at UCLA and an editor of the socialist journal Against the Current, and New Left Review
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Sunday
10:00 am –11:30 am
France, the Worker’s Movement Faced with the Growth of the Far Right Toni Rouvel,
an activist in the French Trotskyist group Fraction L’Etincelle
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12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Mexico: Drug Wars and State Terror
John Gibler,
Mexico – based journalist and author of Tzompaxtle and To Die in Mexico
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2:30 pm – 4:30 pm
The Environmental Crisis and the Working Class
Speak Out Now,
a Bay Area revolutionary organization.
Followed by time to discuss and socialize – refreshments provided.
Monthly interfaith prayer meeting, held on second Sundays, dedicated to survivors and victims of violence and police terror in Oakland.
The Baha’i community of Oakland is organizing this gathering for the community to connect, share prayers, writings and poems from all spiritual traditions, reflect and recharge and build coalitions interested in healing.
Come share prayers, quotes, poems, and favorite passages from your scriptures with us.
Join us for the Bay Area premier of
Growing Resistance
and panel discussion
Growing Resistance, takes you to ground zero of extraction in California and shows first-hand how the drought, fracking, and climate change are impacting communities and exacerbating existing health issues, water scarcity, and poor air and water quality.
As the film shows, the Central Valley’s history of resistance hasn’t faded. Communities are rising up against the direct impacts they face and a hypocritical Governor who claims to be a “climate leader.”
Don’t miss the premier of Growing Resistance followed by a Q&A with the film’s director and four other panelist who are helping lead this movement. You’ll hear from experts in the field of law, community organizing, and public health.
RSVP: Click here to purchase your ticket! (Tickets are $5 plus a small processing fee)
All proceeds will go directly to The Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment (CRPE) who are working in the Central Valley to ensure that all people have the right to live, work, play and pray in a healthy environment, regardless of their race, place or income.
The film interviews residents, activists, nurses, and lawyers to tell the story of extraction happening on farmland, near homes, and next to schools.
Get your ticket now for the premier of Growing Resistance in Oakland on March 13.
This is a crucial year to break California’s dependence on fossil fuels. Momentum is on our side and the time is now to double down on our efforts to keep fossil fuels in the ground.
Together we’ve built a strong movement and celebrated some crucial victories, but we still have to keep pushing. In May, we’ll be taking bold action against fossil fuels around the world and here in California.
Join us on March 13 to hear more and watch the film that tells the story of fracking in California.
Organize for a moratorium on no fault evictions and rent increases in Oakland! We have a housing state of emergency here.
Residents from a number of community groups attended the City Council’s Rules and Legislation Committee, calling on the committee to support a temporary “moratorium on evictions and on rent increases until the City has developed and implemented strategies that protect and expand access for Oakland residents to affordable housing.”
After listening to community speakers, the committee agreed to put the “state of emergency” on the agenda for the April 5 City Council meeting.
Backers of the resolution include a coalition of organizations and residents that came together as a result of a resolution first passed by the John George Democratic Club last Saturday and unanimously endorsed by participants at last Sunday’s Post Salon at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle.
Qilombo Community Center of the McClymonds neighborhood is supporting the resolution, along with the Oakland Alliance, the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club and the Block By Block Organizing Network.
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 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. 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 four years! 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
In Rojava, Kurds brought a new life to an archaic communal form. Equality for women became a crucial aspect of a social revolution. See “Witnessing Revolution in Rojava” by Paul Z. Simons in current issue of News & Letters (newsandletters.org).
It is a contrast to the crucible of death that Syria has become at the hands of old counter-revolutionary nationalisms and imperialisms, the most vile of which is the Islamic State. All state players are united in trying to erase the revolutionary humanist challenge to Assad awoken by Arab Spring.
Can Rojava’s revolution afford to stop at Bookchin’s democratic confederalism, adapted by Ocalan as the opposite to the vanguardism of Marxist-Leninism? What about the revolutiona’s internal contradictions, for example, Kurd’s participation in Putin’s blitzkrieg against human forces fighting Assad in Syria? What do we need to finally break the cycle of revolutions that transfrom into their opposite?