Calendar
We will have our first vote on candidate endorsements and on our final document outlining our expectations for our endorsed candidates.
We’ll also do a training on how to gather signatures for our three endorsed ballot measures and connect with our neighbors district by district to create canvassing teams.
Please remember that if you would like to vote at this and future Oakland Justice Coalition membership meetings, you must join as a voting member. Contact info@oaklandjustice.org to join.
Check out the new OJC information flyer.
The Oakland Justice Coalition is a coalition of organizations and individuals that came together around common goals for the 2016 Oakland elections. Our aim is to build people power and advance radical change through the arena of electoral politics. It is time for us to unite around the causes we all believe in stronger protections for workers and renters, an end to displacement and police violence, a public education system that serves all its students well and act in solidarity together to advance a political agenda that serves the people of Oakland.
We’re building a people’s movement driven by the power of organizations with different goals coming together as one to support each other and build collective strength. We have anchored our 2016 work in three demands, all captured in ballot initiatives proposed by community-led grassroots organizations.
IF YOU CAN’T FIND US IN MUDRAKER’S, LOOK FOR US AT WILLARD PARK, ONE BLOCK EAST ON STUART AND A HALF BLOCK NORTH ON REGENT. WE WILL GO THERE IF MUDRAKER’S IS TOO CROWDED OR TOO NOISY. BRING A BLANKET OR SOMESUCH TO SIT ON THE GRASS.
- student debt resistance
- organizing for public banking
- advocating for Postal banking
- fighting modern day debtors’ prisons and exploitive ticketing and fining schemes
- 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
- Working on debarring US Banks that have been convicted of felonies from municipal contracts
- Working on ways to kickstart the drive for basic income
- Presenting debt-related topics at forums and workshops
- and much more! Bring your own debt-related project!
If you are new to Strike Debt and want to come early and meet one or two of us before the formal meeting starts, email us at strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com .
Strike Debt – Principles of Solidarity
Strike Debt is building a debt resistance movement. We believe that most individual debt is illegitimate and unjust. Most of us fall into debt because we are increasingly deprived of the means to acquire the basic necessities of life: health care, education, and housing. Because we are forced to go into debt simply in order to live, we think it is right and moral to resist it.
We also oppose debt because it is an instrument of exploitation and political domination. Debt is used to discipline us, deepen existing inequalities, and reinforce racial, gendered, and other social hierarchies. Every Strike Debt action is designed to weaken the institutions that seek to divide us and benefit from our division. As an alternative to this predatory system, Strike Debt advocates a just and sustainable economy, based on mutual aid, common goods, and public affluence.
Strike Debt is committed to the principles and tactics of political autonomy, direct democracy, direct action, creative openness, a culture of solidarity, and commitment to anti-oppressive language and conduct. We struggle for a world without racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of oppression.
Strike Debt holds that we are all debtors, whether or not we have personal loan agreements. Through the manipulation of sovereign and municipal debt, the costs of speculator-driven crises are passed on to all of us. Though different kinds of debt can affect the same household, they are all interconnected, and so all household debtors have a common interest in resisting.
Strike Debt engages in public education about the debt-system to counteract the self-serving myth that finance is too complicated for laypersons to understand. In particular, it urges direct action as a way of stopping the damage caused by the creditor class and their enablers among elected government officials. Direct action empowers those who participate in challenging the debt-system.
Strike Debt holds that we owe the financial institutions nothing, whereas, to our friends, families and communities, we owe everything. In pursuing a long-term strategy for national organizing around this principle, we pledge international solidarity with the growing global movement against debt and austerity.
When heavily militarized police in Ferguson, Missouri, confronted African American protesters angry at the police murder of Mike Brown in 2014, Palestinians watching events unfold from Gaza began sending tweets about how to cope with the teargas filling the streets.
Such an act of solidarity was more than a mere expression of support from people who, though half a world away, know firsthand about state repression. Police in cities across the U.S. – including police in Ferguson and Baltimore – have turned to Israel for training in how to deploy tactics honed in suppressing the Palestinian struggle for justice. The U.S. directly supports Israel’s dispossession of the Palestinians – to the tune of some $3 billion per year.
Many of the issues facing the Black community in the U.S. – police violence, job discrimination, poverty, and environmental racism – are the same problems that Palestinians face.
A new generation of activists is forging ties of solidarity between the struggles of Palestinians and African Americans – struggles for equal rights, for dignity, for freedom. This tour hopes to make a modest contribution to this project – by unearthing the inspiring history of Black/Palestinian solidarity and by making these lessons relevant for present-day efforts seeking to transform the future.
Featuring
Aaron Dixon is one of the co-founders of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party, chronicled in his 2012 book http://www.haymarketbooks.org/pb/My-People-Are-Rising. Dixon has since founded Central House, a nonprofit that provides transitional housing for youth, and was one of the co founders of the Cannon House, a senior assisted-living facility. Aaron ran for US Senate on the Green Party ticket in 2006.
Boots Riley is the lead vocalist for The Coup, a hip hop group from Oakland. He is a lifelong revolutionary, and he played an important role in Occupy Oakland and other Bay Area political struggles. Boots recently released a book about the lyrics and backstories of his music: Tell Homeland Security – We Are The Bomb.
Khury Petersen-Smith co-authored, with Stanford alum Kristian Davis Bailey, the influential 2015 Black Solidarity Statement with Palestine, covered by Ebony and other outlets. Khury is a member of the International Socialist Organization and is active in Palestine solidarity and anti-racist organizing. He has written about the politics of Black liberation for Jacobin Magazine and the International Socialist Review.
Wael Elasady* is a Palestinian-Syrian activist living in Portland. He is a co-founder of Students United For Palestinian Equal Rights at Portland State University and a member of the International Socialist Organization. He was co-host of One Land, Many Voices a community radio show bringing the question of Palestine to the Portland area.
Majd Quran* is a member of Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine. She grew up in Ramallah, a city in the West Bank of Palestine. Majd worked with Area C students in the Jordan Valley as part of her school’s Right to Education club. She also worked with internally displaced refugees and victims of home demolitions
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Oakland
Saturday April 9th – 5:30 PM, Oakland Peace Center, Shelton Hall, 111 Fairmont Ave. Sliding scale: $5 – $20 / no one turned away for lack of funds *Wael and Aaron will be speaking on Sat. April 9th *Boots will not be speaking on Sat. April 9th
Stanford University
Tuesday April 12th at 7 PM, Black Community Services Center. *Majd will be speaking on Tue. April 12th. Cosponsors for Stanford event: NAACP, Black Student Union, Students for Justice in Palestine, Muslim Student Union, MEChA, Asian American Student Association, Students for Alternatives to Militarism, Stanford Asian American Activism Committee, Student and Labor Alliance, National Lawyers Guild
UC Berkeley
Wednesday April 13th at 7:30 PM, Valley Life Sciences Building room 2040
Presented by
Haymarket Books
Cosponsors
International Socialist Organization
Arab Resource and Organizing Center
Middle East Children’s Alliance
When heavily militarized police in Ferguson, Missouri, confronted African American protesters angry at the police murder of Mike Brown in 2014, Palestinians watching events unfold from Gaza began sending tweets about how to cope with the teargas filling the streets.
Such an act of solidarity was more than a mere expression of support from people who, though half a world away, know firsthand about state repression. Police in cities across the U.S. – including police in Ferguson and Baltimore – have turned to Israel for training in how to deploy tactics honed in suppressing the Palestinian struggle for justice. The U.S. directly supports Israel’s dispossession of the Palestinians – to the tune of some $3 billion per year.
Many of the issues facing the Black community in the U.S. – police violence, job discrimination, poverty, and environmental racism – are the same problems that Palestinians face.
A new generation of activists is forging ties of solidarity between the struggles of Palestinians and African Americans – struggles for equal rights, for dignity, for freedom. This tour hopes to make a modest contribution to this project – by unearthing the inspiring history of Black/Palestinian solidarity and by making these lessons relevant for present-day efforts seeking to transform the future.
Featuring
Boots Riley is the lead vocalist for The Coup, a hip hop group from Oakland. He is a lifelong revolutionary, and he played an important role in Occupy Oakland and other Bay Area political struggles. Boots recently released a book about the lyrics and backstories of his music: Tell Homeland Security – We Are The Bomb.
Khury Petersen-Smith co-authored, with Stanford alum Kristian Davis Bailey, the influential 2015 Black Solidarity Statement with Palestine, covered by Ebony and other outlets. Khury is a member of the International Socialist Organization and is active in Palestine solidarity and anti-racist organizing. He has written about the politics of Black liberation for Jacobin Magazine and the International Socialist Review.
Wael Elasady is a Palestinian-Syrian activist living in Portland. He is a co-founder of Students United For Palestinian Equal Rights at Portland State University and a member of the International Socialist Organization. He was co-host of One Land, Many Voices a community radio show bringing the question of Palestine to the Portland area.
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Oakland
Saturday April 9th – 5:30 PM, Oakland Peace Center, Shelton Hall, 111 Fairmont Ave. Sliding scale: $5 – $20 / no one turned away for lack of funds * Wael will be speaking o Sat. April 9th
Stanford University
Tuesday April 12th at 7 PM, Black Community Services Center
UC Berkeley
Wednesday April 13th at 7:30 PM, Valley Life Sciences Building room 2040
Presented by Haymarket Books http://
Cosponsors International Socialist Organization http://
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.
Thank you to everyone who came out to our hugely successful canvassing kickoff last Saturday! We had nearly fifty people and gathered hundreds of signatures. Come out this Sunday for our next canvass to collect signatures for our three ballot initiatives.
We will be gathering signatures for our three endorsed ballot measures for 2016: the Protect Oakland Tenants Initiative, sponsored by Oakland Tenants Union and the Citywide Development Network, the charter amendment to create a police commission sponsored by the Coalition for Police Accountability, and the measure to establish a $20 minimum wage by 2020 and enforce fair scheduling regulations from the Oakland Livable Wage Assembly.
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
The Community Democracy Project is your connection to direct democracy in Oakland! Convened out of Occupy Oakland in Fall 2011, we’re gathering steam on a campaign to bring the people back in touch with the city’s resources through participatory budgeting.
Picture this: Across Oakland, Neighborhood Assemblies are regularly
held in every community. People come together to tackle the important issues of their neighborhoods and of the city. At these assemblies, people don’t just have discussions–they learn from one another, from city staff, and they make fundamental decisions about how the city should run. They decide the city budget.
Democratic, community budgeting is a powerful step toward building strong communities, real democracy, and economic justice–and it’s being done all over the world.
The budget of the City Oakland totals more than $1 billion per year. Although part of the budget must be used for specific purposes, still over half of the budget–over $500 billion per year–consists of general purpose funds paid by the taxes, fees, and fines of the people of Oakland. The Mayor and the City Council decide the city budget, with minimal input from the community.
Working together, we will not only get a seat at the table–we will REBUILD the table itself. Participatory democracy is real democracy–join us to say: Local People, Local Resources, Local Power!
Liberated Lens is a digital filmmaking collective dedicated to social change, based in Oakland, California. We share resources, skills and knowledge to help each other tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. We make films in a spirit of collaboration and solidarity, share a lending library of film equipment for creative projects, and organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops.
Join us for our weekly meeting and a workshop!
We usually meet in our editing suite (2nd floor in the ballroom, to the left of the stage) and then work on projects. It’s open to all!
The Rev. Ken Chambers, pastor of West Side Missionary Baptist Church, will host a Community Meeting on Coal at the church one half block from Main Post Office off of 7th Street near the West Oakland BART station.
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
OccupyForum presents
“From The Heart of the World:
The Elder Brothers’ Warning”
A documentary about a South American Indian tribe and their plea for ecological sanity in a time when the earth is being ravaged by so-called civilized people.
Seeing themselves as guardians of life on earth, the Kogi have a spiritual understanding of the bond between humankind and the natural world. This bond, they insist, must be honored. The Kogi are governed by priests called “mamas.” As children, the mamas were educated in the dark and this early sensory deprivation has made them finely attuned to the mysteries and pleasures of their mountain environment. The Elder Brothers, as they call themselves, are convinced that we, the Younger Brothers, have wounded the earth through industrial exploitation, mining, and clearing of forests. They have seen signs of an ecological crisis in changing bird migrations and the lack of snow in the highest regions of the Sierra Nevada. The Kogis warn that unless we change our ways, the world will end:
“If we act well, the world can go on.”
There have been many articulate calls for citizens of this planet to live in harmony with the natural world. But this video stands out as an especially cogent and moving plea for ecological wisdom.
Time will be allotted for announcements.
OTU’s Mission
The Oakland Tenants Union is an organization of housing activists dedicated to protecting tenant rights and interests. OTU does this by working directly with tenants in their struggle with landlords, impacting legislation and public policy about housing, community education, and working with other organizations committed to furthering renters’ rights. The Oakland Tenants Union is open to anyone who shares our core values and who believes that tenants themselves have the primary responsibility to work on their own behalf.
Monthly Meetings
The Oakland Tenants Union meets regularly at 7:00 pm on the second Monday evening of each month. Our monthly meetings are held in the Community Room of the Madison Park Apartments, 100 – 9th Street (at Oak Street, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station). To enter, gently knock on the window of the room to the right of the main entrance to the building. At the meetings, first we focus on general issues affecting renters city-wide and then second we offer advice to renters regarding their individual concerns.
If you have an issue, a question, or need advice about a tenant/landlord issue, please call us at (510) 704-5276. Leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will get back to you.
The Battle Cry of the People
Enough is Enough
Enough of Racist Police
Enough of the Killing of our People
Enough Discrimination
Enough of the Injustices against Black and Brown Communities
Enough of the Powers at Be Ignoring the People’s Cry
Enough of Rogue Cops within SFPD
We the People say Enough is Enough
This is our Battle Cry!
Fire Chief Suhr
Come and Join Justice 4 Mario Woods Coalition
Alex Nieto Coalition
Amilcar Perez Coalition
Jeff Adachi…SF Public Defender
Lead Counsel of ACLU
SF BOS (some)
and You the Community
Press Conference
SF City Hall Front Steps
11AM
We Can’t Stop
We Won’t Stop
Until Justice Reigns Down on Our Community
Please share with friends and family
#SFPD: Town hall meeting on latest police shooting to be held Wednesday at noon at 3271 Mission St.
— Jonah Owen Lamb (@jonahowenlamb) April 12, 2016
From the SF Fist: According to a a press release sent by SFPD at 1:08 p.m. Tuesday, the noon town hall meeting will be held “to provide the Mission community with an update,” at Union Local Hall located at 3271 18th Street.
Calling all conscientious humans of San Francisco!
George and Amal Clooney, coupled with Hillary Clinton will be hosting a fundraising dinner in San Francisco on April 15th. “The fundraiser is for The Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee for Hillary for America, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic committees of 32 states and Puerto Rico” (http://fortune.com/2016/
Let the people of San Francisco gather and march through the main streets of Nob Hill to protest this event and to show Hillary Clinton that we don’t accept this kind of corruption. Rich people should not be allowed to buy politicians. Imagine, for example, how far $30,000 could go to help the homelessness problem in San Francisco. This corruption-fest is not just undemocratic, it is immoral and obscene!
http://www.politico.com/
The very least we can do is to remind Hillary’s rich donors of the corruption they are a part of. We will protest outside the event so that none of the attendants can chose to close their eyes to criticism and insulate themselves from the people in a fancy dinner. We are the people! We refuse to be excluded! We demand to be heard! They don’t want us there. We will be there! Bring your own posters and banners!
HELLO PEASANTS OF THE 99%
We have set a schedule for the protest, as well as a meeting location. We will meet at 5pm, hold a potluck, then march to Pishevar’s mansion with chants and cacerolazo (pots and pans to make some noise).
We are securing a safe and spacious location for the potluck. It will be within a couple blocks of 1266 Washington St., and we’ll send it out soon!
The plan is to meet at 5pm for a #dinewiththe99 potluck. If everybody brings a dish, this will be a huge success. Finger foods are preferred because they’re less messy, and we highly encourage everyone to bring their own utensil and plates to reduce waste. At the same time, we encourage everyone to bring extras for those who aren’t fortunate enough to have silverware. We’ll also need water, paper towels, and garbage bags, as well as people willing to help clean up. We have six tables, and we’ll be bringing dishes as well.
R.I.P. LUIGI GONGORA, Killed by SFPD – 4-7-16
All hands on deck
SF Police Commission Meeting
Please share.
We need to pack the room! Arrive early to get a seat. First public comment is early on agenda.
Note: this is NOT the Town Hall that Chief Suhr plans on holding next week regarding the SFPD murder of Luigi Gongora.
AGENDA:
http://sanfranciscopolice.org/meeting/police-commission-april-13-2016-agenda
We believe that love is the universal language. We also believe that love is the universal cure to heal what ails societies worldwide. These meditation happy hours are our love offering to the community and are the result of a beautiful new & evolving partnership w/The Art of Living facilitated by Neelam Patil…& the universe ♥
Homes Not Jails is a consensus-based collective of squatters and squat supporters who believe housing is a human right. Our goal is to open as much vacant housing as possible and to keep it open as long as possible. HNJ is a place to organize mutual aid among squatters and squat supporters and housing rights advocates in the bay. We actively fight to make our space inclusive and safe for everybody and combat oppression in all forms.