Calendar
We are fundraising for an incredible local resource, the Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area. The Step Up for Down Syndrome walk is a 1/8th mile lap around a flat track in a wheelchair accessible location. Folks can donate online or collect pledges in real life and bring them to the event.
Please donate, share the link, join the team as a virtual Walker, solicit donations offline, and/or come to the event as a refistered participant on October 9th, and generally support this fundraiser!
https://
WHAT: A community quilt making event in honor of Luis Góngora Pat. The family of Luis in San Francisco and our coalition in collaboration with our community allies at Praxis, Paseo Artístico and Alley Cat Bookstore invite you to help make a quilt in honor of Luis.
The finished quilt will be taken to his hometown of Teabo, Yucatán and delivered on November 2nd Day of the Dead to his wife, parents, and children.
This is a family friendly and community event!
HOW: Just show up and if you want to make donations contact Praxis (415-800-6601)
On Sunday, October 9th, join us at Mosswood Park near the ampitheater for a benefit BBQ and open discussion and update on the unfolding prison strike and how to support prison rebels in California. Organizers will discuss the September 9th strike, what has happened in the US and across the country, and talk about the situation in Merced county jails which joined the prison strike on the 9th giving a list of demands to the guards who proceeded to put the facilities on lock down. In response, the inmates went on hunger strike in protest of horrible conditions, brutal guards, and lack of access to basic food, programs, and legal services.
Bring drinks and/or a dish to share and come hungry. Donations will be collected that will go towards the Merced hunger strikers which will help them stay in contact with their loved ones and outside organizers.
Lastly, this BBQ is being organized to build support for a caravan to Merced happening the following week that will work to build bridges between the bay area and the central valley and hold a solidarity demonstration.
Organized by Oakland IWOC: https://
More info:
Merced Hunger Strike Interview:
https://itsgoingdown.org/
and
https://itsgoingdown.org/
Indepth Look at Reasons and Conditions Causing Hunger Strike:
http://
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
Many have been alarmed by the recent spectacle of law enforcement in full riot gear and armored vehicles moving through peaceful demonstrations. At first glance, it’s easy to suspect our police forces are preparing for war or terrorism instead of protecting and serving citizens exercising their civil rights. In Craig Atkinson’s disquieting documentary, such suspicions are reinforced as we learn that since 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security has given police departments $34 billion in grants to purchase equipment, while the Department of Defense has contributed additional billions in free military equipment. What changed and where are we heading? Have the War on Drugs and the War on Terror formed an alliance that apparently justifies the use of military technology, including preemptive surveillance systems on civilians? Sure to spark debate, Do Not Resist thrusts the viewer into the action on the streets and seeks to examine the growing culture of militarized policing.
A multi-faceted documentary filmmaker, Craig Atkinson is a notable producer, editor and cinematographer. Most recently, Craig was an additional cinematographer on documentaryNorman Lear: Just Another Version of You. Craig also produced, and was the co-cinematographer on feature length documentary Detropia, a lyrical exploration about the city of Detroit trying to re-invent itself in a post-manufacturing United States. The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won the Editing Award for U.S. Documentary. Detropia went on to win ten additional awards worldwide and was short-listed for an Academy Award. While in Detroit, Craig was also a cinematographer on The Education of Muhammed Hussein, a 40-minute short documentary exploring the Muslim population in the Detroit area. The film, made for HBO, was short-listed for an Academy Award in 2012. Earlier is his career; he was Enat Sidi’s (The Wolfpack, Jesus Camp) assistant editor during 12th and Delaware, an HBO film that takes a compelling look at the ongoing abortion debate in America. The film was an official selection at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Craig holds a MA in Visual Media Arts from Emerson College.
————————————–
PRECEDED BY
THE DEAN SCREAM
US 2016, 10 min
Director Bryan Storkel
A case study of how the media can take a simple, innocent moment in time and spin it into something completely different.
————————————-
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!
A message from Kevin Pina:
Many of you are aware of my work in Haiti and the documentaries I produced about the struggle for justice by the Haitian people. While reviewing footage from the spectacle of violence created by the Oakland Police Department against Occupy Oakland protesters, I was often reminded of experiences in Haiti where I saw US Marines, and later UN military forces, draw their guns on those protesting against the 2004 coup.
Many times a brutal Haitian police blatantly gunned people down in broad daylight in their neighborhoods in joint operations with US Marines and UN forces. This was almost always followed by mass arrests in those same neighborhoods and a campaign to demonize the victims in order to justify state violence against those who would dare to resist and continue to fight. For me the parallels with Occupy Oakland are undeniable and as such, I would also like to share proceeds from this screening of #OO (Occupy Oakland) to support the work of the Haiti Action Committee as they continue to work in solidarity with the historic movement of the Haitian people for real democracy and change.
As fate would have it, October 9, the date of this screening, is also the day of presidential elections in Haiti where the possibility for real change exists in the spirit of the Lavalas movement and the candidacy of Dr. Maryse Narcisse. She carries a heavy burden of history upon her shoulders especially as the elections are being threatened with violence by those who oppose real change in Haiti as well as those would buy votes and use corruption to forestall change. This event offers an opportunity to also support her and the Fanmi Lavalas movement against the forces of violence and repression.
So please join us for this benefit screening which I hope brings together a community of activists and supporters of Occupy Oakland, the Oscar Grant movement and those fighting alongside our Haitian sisters and brothers. Please consider forwarding this invitation to your personal and organizational e-mail lists along with the attached event flyer.
Join us to share and work together to support these causes we hold dear as only our communities can.
Alone we are weak, together we are strong!
Sincerely,
Kevin Pina
Producer/Director
#OO (Occupy Oakland)
Liberated Lens Collective is a community media project based in Oakland, California. We share resources, skills and knowledge to tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. We believe that story telling belongs to everyone. We do not depend on mainstream media or an expensive film school: we empower ourselves to make our own images!
We learn by doing. We teach eachother. We work horizontally, and operate by consensus. We make films in a spirit of collaboration, inclusivity and solidarity, maintain a film equipment library for creative projects, organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops, and host film screenings. In May 2015 we organized the Films 2 The People Short Film Festival.
To be updated about what we do, join our announce mailing list: Liberated_Lens.announce@lists.riseup.net
To get involved, come to our meetings! We’re open and happy to welcome you, no matter your experience level. Sometimes, the meetings turn into creative workshops!
OccupyForum presents…
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
Making a Killing: Guns, Greed and the NRA
The Impact of Guns on America
Since 2004, when he made Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, Robert Greenwald has become a vital and dogged investigator whose no-nonsense approach with its accent on digging up the profit motive is reflected in his titles: Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers, Koch Brothers Exposed, and the eye-opening and influential Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price.
Greenwald’s new film, Making a Killing: Guns, Greed, and the NRA, is a look at how money is the secret motivator behind American gun culture. It is a crucially underreported story — at least, if you compare it to the media’s focus on the gun-control debate, or to the drumbeat of nightly news tragedy that can be linked to the American obsession with firearms. Overall, gun companies from Smith & Wesson to Glock have given $20 million to the NRA, essentially funding the organization, which is why the NRA, before it’s anything else, is a corporate lobbying group.
Making a Killing: Guns, Greed, and The NRA tells the stories of how guns, and the billions made off of them, affect the lives of everyday Americans. It features personal stories from people across the country who have been affected by gun violence, including survivors and victims’ families. The film exposes how the powerful gun companies and the NRA resist responsible legislation for the sake of profit – and thereby put people in danger.
The film looks into what we can do to put an end to this profit-driven crisis. Through this film and campaign, Brave New Films will work with partners to fight for a country where public safety is more valued than profit.
www.bravenewfilms.org/makingakilling
Announcements will follow. Donations to OccupyForum to cover our costs are encouraged;
no one turned away!
An invitation to a class on the
Structures of Racialization
At the Bay Area Public School
A free university in the Omni Commons
When the English first got to Virginia, in the early 1600s, they didn’t see themselves as “white.” It took a century for their colonialism to produce the concepts of race and white supremacy.
We’ve been fighting racism, white privilege, white supremacy, and institutional racism since then. And still, a Trump can come along with his “dogwhistle” politics, and get an instant white following at varying degrees of frenzy. Today even the most liberal cities cannot stop police racial profiling – while thee illiberal ones officiate over “stop and frisk.”
Ø What are we missing?
Ø If racism is just a “divide and rule” strategy, why has it always worked so well? Why does it still work so well?
Ø How is it that new groups, like immigrants and Muslims, can be continually targetted for racial assault (victim de jour)?
Ø If race is a social construct, what is the structure that has been constructed?
Ø Is it an economic structure? A cultural structure? What?
Ø How deep culturally does it reside in this country?
Ø Is “race” a noun or a verb?
This class will look at the the structures of policing today, of segregation yesterday, and of colonization and slavery the day before that. If the “modern concept of race” was constructed socially at a particular moment, does that imply an ending we can programmatize?
This class will be mostly discussion and dialogue. We will have to address our prejudices about prejudice in order to get to the issues of structure. There will be non-mandatory readings on line for the class. It will also be open to other texts that class members wish to propose.
Facilitator: Steve Martinot
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.
Join us at the Oakland Public Library to march over to the Board of Supervisor’s chambers to support the implementation of the reentry hiring program which allots 1400 quality, fulltime county jobs for formerly incarcerated people in Alameda County.
Join us for Press Conference and to pack the Board Meeting
10am-11am Press Conference
11am-4pm Pack the Board Meeting
We want to show our power and presence at the beginning of the meeting and encourage people to show up at any point and to stay as long as they can. Coalition members will be there until the very end with signage and ready to speak about the Coalition’s report on the impact and the alternatives to Urban Shield Urban Shield: Abandoning Hope not Building Hope .
The S.F. Bay Area Stop Urban Shield Coalition has been working hard to end the militarization of Police Forces along with other organizations and individuals considered to be first responders. Yes, we need to be prepared for emergencies/disasters, but we do not need our responses to be militarized. In the face of disaster, we need our first responders to act humanely and to put the needs of ordinary people first. Hence, we are asking you help us convince the Alameda County Board of Supervisors (BOS) to refuse funding for Urban Shield 2017.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors will hold its regular public meetings on at October 4th and Oct 11th. In a closed meeting, on October 14th, the BOS will vote on funding Urban Shield for 2017. Please help us convince the BOS to refuse funding for Urban Shield 2017. Help us convince the BOS to use available funds for building healthy communities.
Attend the next two BOS public meetings and speak out against renewing funding for Urban Shield. While the BOS does not control Urban Shield, it has the power to cut its funding. The next two BOS meetings are scheduled for: 9:30 AM on Oct. 4th and Oct 11th.
Join or stay in contact with the Stop Urban Shield Coalition at:
We can win but to do so, we need your help. We know time is short, but please take the time to do as much as you can either as a group or as individuals to Stop Urban Shield. And … please share this information with others.
WANTED FOR HIT AND RUN!
On October 10, 2005 in Oakland, Diallo Neal was murdered when a CHP motorcycle officer struck the rear end of Diallo’s motorcycle, launching Diallo into a bus stop, pole, and concrete bench. The CHP fled the scene.
OPD began an investigation, but CHP took it over and closed it saying there was no case because they were never there.
Diallo would have turned 34 the next day, October 11th.
Work is underway to revive the truth of this tragedy, regardless of legal statutes of limitations, and bring it to the public eye.
Stand with GILDA BAKER, mother of Diallo Neal, as she demands:
– CHP accept responsibility for the cover up
– Release the name of the officer
– And hold the murderer accountable for his crime.
#Justice4DialloNeal
#NoJusticeNoPeace
#IfWeDontGetItShutItDown
This training will put gentrification and displacement in an historical context so we understand the racialized political and economic drivers. We will use this historical analysis to discuss the ways we can challenge gentrification today.
The analysis that we are presenting is based on the work of Causa Justa :: Just Cause and we are asking for $5-$20 donation, sliding scale, which will go to support CJJC’s work challegning gentrification and fighting displacement. However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Our workshop has space for 66 people. To reserve your spot in advance, please purchase tickets at http://
ACCESS NEEDS: This event is wheelchair accessible. If you have specific access needs, please email surjbasebuilding@gmail.com
SCENT FREE: We ask that guests do their best to be as scent free as possible. Please refer to this resource from the EastBay Meditation Center for more information on what that means. There will be a scent free section of seating offered. http://
SPREAD THE WORD, INVITE YOUR FRIENDS!
The protests at Standing Rock are still going strong and Indigenous People’s day is on October 10th! What a perfect time to screen this film:
Directed by Suree Towfighnia (2015)
When Debra White Plume’s drinking water tests high for radiation, she sets out to determine the cause. What she finds alarms her.
A nearby uranium mining operation is extracting ore from deep in the ground by tapping the High Plains/Ogllala Aquifer, a huge underground cache of water covering 174,000 square miles from Texas to South Dakota which supplies drinking water to 82 percent of the people who live within the aquifer boundary. The mine’s planned expansion further threatens the aquifer.
At a public hearing in Hot Springs, SD, Lakota tribal members and white ranchers sound off about pending permits that would expand the uranium mining industry in the area. The question on the table among those assembled boils down to this: Can we afford the depletion and possible contamination of our water supply?
Crying Earth Rise Up is an intimate portrait of the human cost of uranium mining and its impact on sacred water. It tells a timely story of protecting land, water and a way of life.
Director Suree Towfighnia may teleconference in for Q&A after the film.
Doors open at 7pm, film starts at 7:30. $5 donation appreciated! Free snacks and popcorn!
Two native women on Pine Ridge reservation expose the human cost of u
ranium mining and its impact on the water, land and people of the Great Plains.
When Debra White Plume’s drinking water tests high for radiation, she sets out to determine the cause. What she finds alarms her.
A nearby uranium mining operation is extracting ore from deep in the ground by tapping the High Plains/Ogllala Aquifer, a huge underground cache of water covering 174,000 square miles from Texas to South Dakota which supplies drinking water to 82 percent of the people who live within the aquifer boundary. The mine’s planned expansion further threatens the aquifer.
Elisha Yellow Thunder intimately understands the dangers of contaminated water. A young mother and a geology student, she unknowingly drank water with high levels of radiation while pregnant with her first daughter, whose severe medical anomalies are life-threatening.
Directed by Suree Towfighnia, 2015
Vigil to End Deportations & Crimilization
Join us in solidarity on indiginous resistance day. We will have activities for families who have been victims of deportation/crimilization.
Vigilia para No Mas Deportaciones y Crimilizacion!
Acompañe nos para un dia de solaridad en el dia de resistencia indigena. Tendremos actividades para las familias que han tenido un familiar que ha sido victim@ de la deportacion/crimilizacion.
Many have been alarmed by the recent spectacle of law enforcement in full riot gear and armored vehicles moving through peaceful demonstrations. At first glance, it’s easy to suspect our police forces are preparing for war or terrorism instead of protecting and serving citizens exercising their civil rights. In Craig Atkinson’s disquieting documentary, such suspicions are reinforced as we learn that since 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security has given police departments $34 billion in grants to purchase equipment, while the Department of Defense has contributed additional billions in free military equipment. What changed and where are we heading? Have the War on Drugs and the War on Terror formed an alliance that apparently justifies the use of military technology, including preemptive surveillance systems on civilians? Sure to spark debate, Do Not Resist thrusts the viewer into the action on the streets and seeks to examine the growing culture of militarized policing.
A multi-faceted documentary filmmaker, Craig Atkinson is a notable producer, editor and cinematographer. Most recently, Craig was an additional cinematographer on documentaryNorman Lear: Just Another Version of You. Craig also produced, and was the co-cinematographer on feature length documentary Detropia, a lyrical exploration about the city of Detroit trying to re-invent itself in a post-manufacturing United States. The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won the Editing Award for U.S. Documentary. Detropia went on to win ten additional awards worldwide and was short-listed for an Academy Award. While in Detroit, Craig was also a cinematographer on The Education of Muhammed Hussein, a 40-minute short documentary exploring the Muslim population in the Detroit area. The film, made for HBO, was short-listed for an Academy Award in 2012. Earlier is his career; he was Enat Sidi’s (The Wolfpack, Jesus Camp) assistant editor during 12th and Delaware, an HBO film that takes a compelling look at the ongoing abortion debate in America. The film was an official selection at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Craig holds a MA in Visual Media Arts from Emerson College.
————————————–
PRECEDED BY
THE DEAN SCREAM
US 2016, 10 min
Director Bryan Storkel
A case study of how the media can take a simple, innocent moment in time and spin it into something completely different.
————————————-