Calendar

Homeless in Berkland will air on Berkeley’s Comcast Channel 28 this Sunday. It will air again on Tuesday December 26 @ 5:00 p.m. (PST) Just after Democracy Now!

It can be watched on local TV or live from anywhere in the world here: https://www.bcmtv.org/article/watch_channel_28

Homeless in Berkland will air on Berkeley’s Comcast Channel 28 this Sunday, December 24, and again on Tuesday December 26  Just after Democracy Now!

It can be watched on local TV or live from anywhere in the world here: https://www.bcmtv.org/article/watch_channel_28

Join your comrades for a fun night of pizza and gaming! This is an alcohol-free event, but your favorite 2-liters of soda are definitely allowed.

Bring your favorite board game or your favorite console & games and get ready to have some wholesome fun. Don’t forget the extra controllers!

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 3 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 3:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland.  (Note: we meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months,  once Daylight Savings Time springs forward we tend to assemble at 4 PM).

On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 2 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over five 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

1. Welcome & Introductions
2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
3. Announcements
4. (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 Oscar Grant Foundation is hosting the 9th Annual Oscar Grant Vigil “Speak Up and Judge Fairly”

The Oscar Grant Foundation (OGF) was established on August 13, 2010, as a Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation.  It was organized after the criminal trial and subsequent conviction of former B.A.R.T. Police Officer Johannes Mehserle for the January 1, 2009 unlawful killing of Oscar Julius Grant III.  Oscar’s mother, Rev. Wanda R. Johnson, now heads the Foundation, and its mission is to help bridge the gap of distrust between individuals in at-risk communities and law enforcement.

At Here at Heart and Soul Center of Light , we recognize society has systems in place that train, condition, and socialize us to sever connections to people who are perceived as “different” or less than. That’s why on Wednesday evenings we set an intention of debunking those lies, envisioning a more inclusive and free world.

Please join Valerie Joi Fiddmont, Rev. C. Michael Woodstock and myself as we co- lead a discussion on the infinite potential of direct right action. On that evening, I will discuss my work in public worship and ritual protest as a means of revealing God in impossible situations/ people and supporting a movement to ending social injustices.

Meditation begins 6:15p – 6:30p with discussion following.

Please come out to join the first in our series of spokescouncils to help plan the #96Hours of #NonCompliance to Reclaim King’s Radical Legacy.

Note that in contemplating what is happening in the world right now, and the critical importance of solidarity with indigenous peoples and peoples engages in liberation struggles around the world – the third day of #96Hours will be Indigenous/International Solidarity Day!

Here is our revised Call and please don’t forget to join our Facebook spokescouncil event series by clicking “interested” on the series, then “going” on the dates you are able to attend.

Help plan 96 Hours by attending the spokescouncils

WE.WILL.NOT.COMPLY.

96 Hours of Non-Compliance Over King Day Weekend

It’s that time again, Bay Area! For the fourth year in a row, for #96hours over the King Day Weekend, the Anti Police-Terror Project calls our comrades into the streets to stand in solidarity and say no to white supremacy, say no to state sponsored terror, say no to development over people, say no to misogyny, say no to homophobia and transphobia, say no to the targeting of immigrants, say no to the targeting of Muslims. We call on you to join us and show the Trump-Schaff Regimes that WE WILL NOT COMPLY with their corporate agenda.

We call upon groups large and small, well-established or brand new, to plan your own action(s) within a common framework:

Our #96hours culminates with a mass mobilization, and we ask everyone to come together for the Reclaiming King’s Radical Legacy March through the streets of Oakland.

Furthermore, we call upon both individuals and groups in our community (whether you’re planning an action or not) to come together in a series of spokescouncil meetings in order to coordinate and support the many actions that will be planned:

Even before Trump took office and the KKK took off their hoods, we saw open displays of white supremacy and state-sponsored violence in the Bay Area. We saw police agents murder our Black and Brown community members in broad daylight with no repercussions. We saw local city governments embolden law enforcement departments with unlimited overtime, paid leave after murdering residents, militarized equipment, and a blank check to use dangerous and “non”-lethal devices to crack down on our culture and political dissent.

Even before the Oakland Police Department received national news coverage for the rape of a young teen sex worker by tens of law enforcement agents across the Bay Area, we saw the open sexual harassment and exploitation of our Black and Brown community members in broad daylight with no repercussions.

Even before the GOP-controlled U.S. Congress began its warpath to destroy healthcare and public education and exacerbate poverty, we saw our local city governments do NOTHING to aid long-time residents at risk FOR YEARS as the housing crisis continues to grow worse and worse.

That’s why we are telling all agents of our oppression, from 45 to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf that WE WILL NOT COMPLY with their corporate agenda.

Federal Suit Charges Pregnant Female Prisoners at Alameda County Santa Rita Jail Inhumanely Treated – Coerced to Abort by Authorities

OAKLAND  –  Pregnant female prisoners are inhumanely treated and coerced to have abortions at the Alameda County Jail (Santa Rita) – women have had recent miscarriages and one gave birth alone in solitary confinement –  according to a new federal lawssuit naming Alameda County, the Alameda County Jail, the Alameda County Sheriff and dozens of individual officers as defendants.

Details available at the news conference.

At least three pregnant female prisoners are asking the court for “emergency relief” because they’ve repeatedly been denied medical attention, warm clothing, blankets, nutritious food and fresh air.

The lawsuit charges they’ve been told to agree to an abortion by defendants  – other pregnant women, including those who have miscarried, were similarly “scorned, branded and mistreated” by the jail. The women seek injunctive relief under the U.S. and state constitutions, and are asking the court to require a total cessation of inhumane and sexually biased treatment at Santa Rita, according to Bay Area civil rights lawyers Yolanda Huang and Dennis Cunningham.

The head of Northern California’s Federal spy data center, the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC), will testify and answer questions from the Commission.

Agenda:

1. NCRIC Q&A with Mike Sena, Executive Director, also taking questions from the public.

2. Surveillance Ordinance

Come by our open Orientations every First and Third Thursday of the month at 6pm! We’ll introduce you to the variety of ways you can get involved at the Omni, whether through joining a working group or a collective—or starting one of your one. Write our Communications Working Group with questions: comms@omnicommons.org

Rally to Save Temporary Protected Status for Immigrants

The Trump administration is threatening to remove Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from Salvadorans, Hondurans, Nicaraguans, Syrians, and Haitians and send them back to situations of life-threatening violence. Many came to the United States because of wars and natural disasters and have been here for years, and for some, even decades. Removing Temporary Protected Status will put hundreds of thousands of people at risk of deportation. Sending them back to countries where there are ongoing conflicts or economic instability is a human rights disaster.

Please join us for a meeting on Saturday, January 6, 10 am, at the ACCE Office, 2501 International Boulevard, to plan our strategy to begin turning Oakland around in 2018.

Oakland needs new leadership, and that will not come from the group that has dominated Oakland politics for decades. Now is the right time for new leadership. 2018 can begin a new era for Oakland, or it will end with more of the same.

Many key positions will be open, including the Mayor, City Council members for Districts 2, 4, 6, and School Board members for the same districts. Our elected officials do not deserve a free ride in 2018. Who is ready to step up?

Oakland’s Future is at Stake

By Carroll Fife and Dan Siegel

Everyone agrees – Oakland is poppin’. The Town is the place to be. Telegraph, Old Oakland, Grand Avenue- Downtown is no longer the ghost town of 15 years ago, there are crowds of young people drinking, eating and cruising Broadway every night. Piedmont and College Avenues are also bustling. Farmer’s markets have popped up everywhere, competing with Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.

     Not only restaurants and bars, but the real estate developers and landlords are really making it big. Can you purchase  a home for less than a million? Let us know. Can you rent a decent studio for less than a grand? There’s a line waiting outside.

     But there are also 2500 of our former neighbors living in their cars or in tents and tarps under freeway overpasses. The streets are filthy and deteriorating, especially in the flatlands of the city.

     Affordable housing is Oakland’s biggest problem and Mayor Libby Schaaf and the City Council majority fall all over each other to encourage the speculators and developers working to turn Oakland into Walnut Creek West. They give lip service to the image of Oakland’s diversity but are oblivious to the trends that have reduced the City’s African-American population from about 43 to 28 percent in the past 15 years. While some Bay Area cities are working to create affordable housing, discourage real estate speculators, and protect tenants from rent increases and unjust evictions, our elected representatives appear to have other priorities.

     Our school district is about to be declared bankrupt, thanks to a succession of locally and State appointed superintendents who have wasted tens of millions on administrative salaries and get-rich-quick schemes that have predictably failed to boost student achievement. The elected school board lacks even the slightest leadership ability and any idea about how to carry out its responsibilities to improve Oakland’s schools.

     Much of the current budget mess can be laid at the feet of former Superintendent Antwan Wilson, whose greatest contribution to Oakland was increasing per capita income by hiring his cronies as $200,000 per year administrators. Wilson resigned in January as the financial crisis began to unfold, but the Board must share the blame. Several board members – Jody London, James Harris, and Jumoke Hinton-Hodge – adamantly suppressed criticism of Wilson’s processes for fear that it would drive him away.   The Board has elevated being nice to its highest priority, but nice did not change the system for our children. It IS possible to analyze, critique and supervise without being disrespectful.

     Mayor Schaaf promised during her 2014 campaign to help improve student performance by helping to create pre-school programs for all three- and four-year olds. She is 3 years into a 4 year term and we are still waiting. Her upcoming childcare ballot initiative will, once again, utilize a regressive tax to put Oakland voters on the hook for education reforms. We’ve seen the bait and switch with the recent Sugar Tax initiative and cannot risk further enrichment of City coffers to mismanage tax payer dollars.

     Meanwhile, back at the Oakland Police Department, they continue to grossly overspend the OPD budget by the millions. The Department remains under federal court oversight for the 15th year. This continues because the City’s political and administrative leadership is incapable of running a police department minimally respectful of people’s rights, particarly those of African American residents. Our latest chief – the umpteenth since the Allen settlement agreement was signed in 2003 – is the first female chief of the city, but honors her predecessors by copying their dishonesty and lack of accountability. Chief Anne Kirkpatrick explained that her false statements about OPD’s cooperation with the federal immigration service in violation of Oakland’s sanctuary policy were not her fault. And no-one has explained why several high-ranking police administrators identified for covering up officers’ sexual exploitation of the teenager Jasmine Absulin, commonly known as Celeste Guap, continue in leadership positions, with some being promoted.

     Oakland needs new leadership, and that will not come from the group that has dominated Oakland politics for decades. Now is the right time for new leadership. 2018 can begin a new era for Oakland, or it will end with more of the same.

     Many key positions will be open, including the Mayor, City Council members for Districts 2, 4, 6, and School Board members for the same districts. Our elected officials do not deserve a free ride in 2018. Who is ready to step up?

This Saturday 11AM, join us at 350 Alabama St to help gather signatures for https://t.co/yWJEfrqTTM.
Let’s help ensure all tenants facing eviction have a right to counsel!
👨‍⚖️🏛🏠https://t.co/LfVCxB8WG7 pic.twitter.com/OCBkfyCjBZ

— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) January 2, 2018

Please come out to join the first in our series of spokescouncils to help plan the #96Hours of #NonCompliance to Reclaim King’s Radical Legacy.

Note that in contemplating what is happening in the world right now, and the critical importance of solidarity with indigenous peoples and peoples engages in liberation struggles around the world – the third day of #96Hours will be Indigenous/International Solidarity Day!

Here is our revised Call and please don’t forget to join our Facebook spokescouncil event series by clicking “interested” on the series, then “going” on the dates you are able to attend.

Help plan 96 Hours by attending the spokescouncils

WE.WILL.NOT.COMPLY.

96 Hours of Non-Compliance Over King Day Weekend

It’s that time again, Bay Area! For the fourth year in a row, for #96hours over the King Day Weekend, the Anti Police-Terror Project calls our comrades into the streets to stand in solidarity and say no to white supremacy, say no to state sponsored terror, say no to development over people, say no to misogyny, say no to homophobia and transphobia, say no to the targeting of immigrants, say no to the targeting of Muslims. We call on you to join us and show the Trump-Schaff Regimes that WE WILL NOT COMPLY with their corporate agenda.

We call upon groups large and small, well-established or brand new, to plan your own action(s) within a common framework:

Our #96hours culminates with a mass mobilization, and we ask everyone to come together for the Reclaiming King’s Radical Legacy March through the streets of Oakland.

Furthermore, we call upon both individuals and groups in our community (whether you’re planning an action or not) to come together in a series of spokescouncil meetings in order to coordinate and support the many actions that will be planned:

Even before Trump took office and the KKK took off their hoods, we saw open displays of white supremacy and state-sponsored violence in the Bay Area. We saw police agents murder our Black and Brown community members in broad daylight with no repercussions. We saw local city governments embolden law enforcement departments with unlimited overtime, paid leave after murdering residents, militarized equipment, and a blank check to use dangerous and “non”-lethal devices to crack down on our culture and political dissent.

Even before the Oakland Police Department received national news coverage for the rape of a young teen sex worker by tens of law enforcement agents across the Bay Area, we saw the open sexual harassment and exploitation of our Black and Brown community members in broad daylight with no repercussions.

Even before the GOP-controlled U.S. Congress began its warpath to destroy healthcare and public education and exacerbate poverty, we saw our local city governments do NOTHING to aid long-time residents at risk FOR YEARS as the housing crisis continues to grow worse and worse.

That’s why we are telling all agents of our oppression, from 45 to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf that WE WILL NOT COMPLY with their corporate agenda.

Please join First Congregational Church of Oakland and KCET City Rising for a screening of the new documentary special, CITY RISING, examining gentrification in California, followed by a discussion about the use of Public Land in Oakland.

The multi-platform documentary series shows how gentrification is deeply rooted in a history of discriminatory laws and practices in the United States that have disproportionately impacted and continue to impact marginalized communities. The film follows the journey of California communities that are fighting displacement and features a growing movement of advocates seeking responsible development across the state.

Following the film, a group of local advocates from the Citywide Anti-Displacement Network will speak about the work they are doing to end displacement in Oakland.

This event is free and open to the public!

Additionally, this event is a fundraiser for First Congregational Church of Oakland (FCCO). If you cannot attend the event and give there, or if you would prefer to give online, please use the following link to donate to FCCO. In the Add a a note section, please type in City Rising.
https://paypal.me/FirstOakland

#CityRising #PublicLand4PublicGood #SaveE12

Suds, Snacks, & Socialism at the Starry Plough
2 blocks from Ashby BART in Berkeley

The Peace and Freedom Party presents
YOU ARE NOT A LOAN!
Banks, Debt, and Socialism

Bertolt Brecht famously asked whether it’s worse to rob a bank or to own one. Good question. To explore this issue, we are inviting Debbie Notkin and Maren Poitras from Friends of the Public Bank of Oakland and Gloria La Riva, 2016 Presidential Candidate of the Peace and Freedom Party.

Sat, Jan 6, 2018 • 2:00 PM-4:30 PM
FREE! (Please buy food & drink at the Pub.) FREE!

This is part of our on-going Socialist Forum Series on the first Saturday of every month. Doors open at 2 pm and the program will start promptly at 2:30 pm. The forum will end by 4:30 pm, but folks can stay and talk as long as you like. Speaker’s affiliations are listed for identification only. The opinions expressed do not reflect the official views of the Peace and Freedom Party.

The Peace and Freedom Party, born from the civil rights and  anti-war movements of the 1960s, is committed to socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism, racial equality, and internationalism.
http://www.peaceandfreedom.org

We're hosting a Know Your Rights training in support of the #96Hours to help people get ready for massive police presence at actions and demos. THIS SUNDAY, January 7 @ 11am, 2022 Blake Street, Berkeley https://t.co/qIVoSLnckG

— Berkeley Copwatch (@Copwatch411) January 6, 2018

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 3 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 3:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland.  (Note: we meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months,  once Daylight Savings Time springs forward we tend to assemble at 4 PM).

On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 2 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over five 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

1. Welcome & Introductions
2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
3. Announcements
4. (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