Throughout the history of capitalism, capitalists in a handful of countries have managed to impose their dominance across the world, subjecting people, land, and resources in the Global South to intense forms of exploitation. Socialists call this system imperialism.
What is the connection between the socialist project and anti-imperialism? What can socialists in the US do to fight imperialism? And what might an international struggle against imperialism and capitalism look like?
Join us on Tuesday, June 4 for the third part of our three-part Socialist Night School series on imperialism to discuss these questions and others.
Accessibility: The venue is wheelchair-accessible.
See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.
Housing Struggle & International Solidarity: Eastern Europe and Beyond
The housing crisis is a global issue. Across the world, struggles for housing justice are on the rise, as are fights against evictions, gentrification, and houselessness.
A transnational analysis and international solidarity strategy based on anti-capitalist, antiracist, and communitarian ideals has become increasingly necessary. Join us for an evening presentation and discussion around organizing and building regional and global solidarities!
Drawing upon their own contexts in Romania, Czech Republic, and the US (Bay Area), housing activists Eliska Černá (Wake up houses), Jakub Černý (Wake up houses, Squat Klinika), Erin McElroy (Anti-Eviction Mapping Project), Veda Popovici (Common Front for Housing Rights) will explore local tactics, regional radical visions, and the necessity for international housing movement solidarity.
Join us for this month’s member meeting! We will be debriefing the legislative session, updating members on the status of our priority bills, starting the planning for our August Lobby Day and training folks on how to get our bills signed into law. Dinner will be provided and all are welcome.
‘Making Political Art: Expression of a Movement’ invites you to a lively conversation as Oakland art critic Jeff Kelley facilitates a discussion with Bay Area artists Leslie Dreyer, Mark Harris & Sawyer Rose.
Relevant Agenda Items:
5. 5:45pm: Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OPD – ShotSpotter technology Impact Report and proposed Use Policy – review and formation of ad hoc work group. No action on the use policy will be taken at this meeting.
6. 6:00pm: Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – DOT – Mobility Data Sharing Impact Report and proposed Use Policy – review and take possible action.
7. 6:30pm: Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OPD – Remote Camera Impact Report and proposed Use Policy – review and formation of ad hoc work group. No action on the use policy will be taken at this meeting.
Launched in 1986, the Cacophony Society was a highly-influential, “randomly gathered network of free spirits united in the pursuit of experiences beyond the pale of mainstream society.” This underground collective of pranksters, culture jammers, and thrill-seekers birthed Burning Man, inspired Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, and freaked out the squares with their proto-flash mobs of SantaCon. Please join us at E. M. Wolfman for the premier signing and reading of the recently issued paperback edition of this crucial counter-culture document first published in hardback by Last Gasp Publishers of San Francisco in 2013. Co-authors, John Law and Kevin Evans will sign and there will be short readings from the book Including a memorial for book co-author and cacophony society stalwart Carrie Galbraith RIP.
And if you’ve never heard of the Cacophony Society before, don’t fret. You may already be a member.
“Before the Internet vomited headlines by the millisecond and turned the minutia of a million boring Facebook lives into news, we were left the privilege of mystery. This was something The San Francisco Cacophony Society gave me in spades. Over the years, I would catch glimpses, collect pieces of a puzzle I was slowly assembling—a car crushed flat by an earthquake miraculously tooling down Golden Gate, toasters glued to buildings, news-clips of mock protests and costumed impostors, flyers for strange art spectacles. Now the puzzle is assembled in this gorgeous graphic collection, a book every lover of eccentricity and enemy of the status quo should enjoy.” – Margaret Cho
Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century-and she continues the fight to this day, at age 88.
With intimate and unprecedented access, Peter Bratt’s film chronicles Huerta’s life from her childhood in Stockton, California to her early years with the United Farm Workers, from her work with the headline-making grape boycott launched in 1965 to her role in the feminist movement of the 1970s, to her continued work as a fearless activist. Featuring interviews with Gloria Steinem, Luis Valdez, Angela Davis, Dolores’ children and more, Dolores is an intimate and inspiring portrait of a passionate champion of the oppressed, and an indomitable woman willing to accept the personal sacrifices involved in committing one’s life to social change.
“exuberantly inspiring…makes you want to march and dance.” David Talbot, San Francisco Chronicle
Among its many awards:
Best Documentary Feature: SF International Film Festival
Best Documentary: Seattle International Film Festival
Best Documentary: New Orleans Film Festival
The Piedmont screening will feature a taco truck outside the theater before the screening, beginning at 5:30pm. Come early to avoid a long line. Film starts at 7 pm. Also:
Come by our open Delegates Meetings every Thursday evening at 7pm! We’ll give space to brief announcements, updates from working groups, proposals up for consensus, and discussion around important issues. The schedule is created weekly at the following url: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom
This meeting usually happens in the Ballroom, but the the location may change depending on the access needs of people attending and other events taking place in the building.
Come by our open Delegates Meetings every other Thursday evening at 7pm! We’ll give space to brief announcements, updates from working groups, proposals up for consensus, and discussion around important issues. The schedule is created weekly at the following url: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom
This meeting usually happens in the Ballroom, but the the location may change depending on the access needs of people attending and other events taking place in the building.
To find out, through guided discussion, come to this week’s edition of THE LAND AND LIBERTY social justice advocates’ training seminar.
It’s free, it’s 7-9 pm, it’s scintillating, and it’s in San Francisco’s Red Hill neighborhood!
http://www.thecommonssf.org/the_seminars
to RSVP: info [at] TheCommonsSF.org
PLEASE JOIN US EVERY FRIDAY
“BASTA FREE CHELSEA AND JULIEN ” VIGIL DEMO POTLUCK MUSIC (7PM AFTER PARTY/MEETING ) FRUITVALE & MACARTHUR OAKLAND
WE HOPE TO CONNECT PEOPLE TO OUR ON GOING CAMPAIGNS IN THE BAY ARE here is a link to the bay area action for julien which includes CHELSEA SUPPORT PLEASE SIGN UP
https://bayaction2freeassange.org
Ok, folks, here’s the deal: the Main stream media (MSM) is so full of lies, it’s got the masses confused!! There’s only a few places we can get the truth.
Chelsea and Julian, were two of the most important WHISTLE BLOWERS to tell the truth about USA’s illegal, immoral WARS. That’s why our “US leadership” wants them dead. USA is the largest TERRORIST country in history, killing, wounding, and forcing immigration on millions of folks all over the world!!
To us, saving Chelsea and Julian is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! They told us the truth about the wars! And all the NEW MACARTHYISM. is due to blaming Julian for being a puppet of Russia. So much of all our issues stem from the honesty of Chelsea and Julian!! That’s why our govt. wants to kill them!
Please join us Fridays at our vigil/demo/music/potluck at MacArthur and Fruitvale, and if you know other organizations around the state and the country, contact them and encourage them to organize to protect Chelsea and Julian as well!! We have some pretty good posters, but also bring your own. Thanks. gg and Orion
VIRAL CHELSEA 2 MIN VIDEO TO ABOLISH ICE
https://youtube/R7qpQGGQqa8
AFTER U WATCH THE VIRAL VIDEO PLEASE WRITE LETTERS TO CHELSEA (only hand written and no post cards no pictures do not write any thing on the outside of the letter to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning
William G. Truedale Adult Detention Center
2001 MILL ROAD
ALEXANDRIA VA 22314
Report back from Cuba and update on Venezuela.
Two local activists who participated in the May Day activities in Cuba will be sharing information with the public. Alicia Jrapko, co-chair of the National Network on Cuba and the US coordinator of the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity, and Bill Hackwell, photo journalist and co-editor for the English edition of Resumen Latinoamericano will be speaking.
Recently returned from Venezuela:
David Paul, one of the four remaining members of the Embassy Protection Collective, arrested when it was seized by the DC police and secret service. The Collective was there for more than a month defending the Embassy on behalf of the legitimate government of Venezuela.Laura Wells, 2018 Green Party candidate for California’s 13th congressional district.
Recently returned from Cuba:
Alicia Jrapko, co-chair of the National Network on Cuba and the US coordinator of the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity.
Bill Hackwell, photo journalist and co-editor of the English edition of Resumen Latinoamericano. Co-sponsored by Task Force on the Americas, BFUU Social Justice Committee and the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity.
Endorsed by Richmond, Ca./Regla, Cuba Friendship Committee, and the
Network of Intellectuals, Artists and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity.For more info: 510-219-0092 or 415- 578-7930
Sponsored by the BFUU Social Justice Committee, the International Committee for Peace Justice and Dignity, and the Task Force on the Americas.
Wheelchair accessible.
Please join the Oscar Grant Foundation & Oscar's incredible Mom, Wanda Johnson, as we celebrate her son's life and legacy this Saturday, June 8 noon-2pm @SFBART Fruitvale Station unveiling his mural and the naming of Oscar Grant Way. TY @lateefahsimon: https://t.co/tLjxQ7a7tR
— Bevan Dufty (@BevanDufty) June 4, 2019
The school year is coming to a close. Join comrades and friends to celebrate a year of struggle in the schools and in the streets. Live music from left punk band Apocalypse Eventually and more! Come hungry for pupusas, tamales, and horchata. This fundraiser is to help us raise money to send comrades to the 2019 CSP-Conlutas international labor congress in Brazil in August. The CSP-Conlutas is a unique federation of socialist parties, labor unions, and social movements (LGBT, Women, Indigenous, and Quilombo) in Brazil. By bringing activists in the struggle from the US, we’re able to connect with peoples movements all over the globe, and build the international movement for a better world in which all people are free.
Monthly interfaith prayer meeting, held on second Sundays, dedicated to healing.
The Bahá’í 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. Simple breakfast will be served.
Doors open: 10:00 AM
Refreshments served: 10:00-10:30 AM
Prayers: 10:30-11:30 AM
Discussion and socializing: 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
“Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succor in both this world and the world to come. Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” ~ Bahá’u’lláh
“Remember the saying: ‘Of all pilgrimages the greatest is to relieve the sorrow-laden heart.'” ~ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Sun, May 12
Turkey at the cross roads of imperialism
Turkey is struggling to find a new and better position in the world while fascism erodes the economy, human rights, freedom of press and all opposition. New “elections” on March 31 is only a sham as mounting evidence of corruption piles. Turkey has lost on Syria, a quagmire it planned on winning big with the bog guys. As Turkey oscillates between European Union, the USA and Russia, it finds itself more and more irrelevant. Contrary to the big plans of becoming a leader in the Middle East, Turkey has been relegated to a position where it is only trying to find who to follow. Such is the position of those who accept imperialism instead of standing up to it. ICSS member Mehmet Bayram will present and lead our discussion. TENTATIVE
Sun, May 19
¡VIVA MEXICO!
Mexican President Díaz (1876-1880 and 1884-1911) famously commented: “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States.”
Diaz got it at least half right. Mexico has suffered in the shadow of the Colossus of the North, but Mexico is not poor. Mexico is rich in many ways, yet it also has been impoverished. And Mexico has been greatly underappreciated by North Americans. This presentation will emphasize the many poorly known accomplishments of Mexico, while uncovering the role of US imperialism.
Mexico is bucking an international right-wing tide, shifting its government from right to left-of-center with the presidential inauguration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) on December 1. Speaking for international capital, The Economist is worried. The other 99% of humanity is hopeful.
Roger Harris will present a PowerPoint-illustrated cautionary history of this trice conquered land. A longtime activist with the Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, Roger is on the board of the Task Force on the Americas (http://taskforceamericas.org/), a 33-year-old human rights organization, and is active with the Campaign to End US-Canadian Sanctions Against Venezuela (https://tinyurl.com/yd4ptxkx). He last visited Mexico in March.
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
Sun, May 26, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Report from Venezuela Delegation
Venezuela is in the cross hairs of imperialism. It has the largest oil reserves in the world, but more than that, Venezuela is determined to use its resources for the benefit of its own people instead of handing them over to transnational corporations or imperialist rulers. In the age of imperialism, these trends are enough to make any country the target of imperialist plunderers. We are under a media barrage of lies, misinformation, and open US propaganda about Venezuela. With this intense muddying of waters it becomes very hard to know and understand the events happening around this Latin American, Bolivarian, country.
In order to observe what is really going on there, recently Bay Area residents Mehmet Bayram, ICSS member and journalist, and Laura Wells, Green Party Congressional Candidate, visited Venezuela with the “End Venezuela Sanctions” delegation. They will present their experience and lead the discussion afterwards.
Sun, June 9, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee
After 24 years in the USA, 38 years in the (East) German Democratic Republic as a McCarthy-era exile, then nearly 30 years in unified Germany, Victor Grossman, the ex-pat journalist and author examines the rise and fall of a socialist experiment as he observed and participated in it. He tries to clear through a fog of misinformation and distortion regarding it, describing its achievements, its successes as well as its blunders and negative aspects. Its position regarding Nazis and fascism is compared with that in West Germany. Its school system, women’s rights, both models in many ways, cultural questions and other matters are examined from a personal, anecdotal and sometimes humorous perspective.
The book then turns to a broader examination of possible lessons to be learned when searching for solutions to present-day problems: the growing gap between rich and poor, alarmingly malevolent dangers for a crippled environment, the menace of racism and new fascist movements, the almost ignored danger of atomic annihilation – and who is to blame for them. But the book also looks at newly invigorated hopes for a better, a socialist future despite the many barriers to its realization – seen through the prism of a veteran of the “old Left” in the USA, Communist rule and the Cold War in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, and expresses his views on current fears and hopes on both sides of the Atlantic – and the Pacific.
(Copies of Victor’s book will be available for purchase, cash or checks only, NO CREDIT CARDS.
Sun, Jun 16, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Cuba”s Democracy
Constitutional Referendum and grassroots political processes.
Cuba is always described as a “dictatorship” by the mainstream media and the U.S. government, thus providing a pretext for the economic blockade and talk about regime change. But Sharat G. Lin found a remarkable democratic process in the recent Constitutional Referendum in Cuba and months of nationwide discussions involving millions of voters. (Awaiting confirmation)
Please join us for our regular biweekly meeting of the Sunflower Alliance. We’ll discuss ongoing campaigns and future plans and identify upcoming actions we can take to fight fossil fuels and work for a just and sustainable world. Old friends and newcomers are equally welcome. We need your participation and your voice! Come early to hang out and share a potluck lunch.
Potluck lunch 12:30 PM
Meeting 1 – 3 PM
Medicare for All is gaining momentum — today, 70% of Americans support the single-payer policy. But in order to win it, we’re going to have to overcome the powerful private interests that want to defeat it. Already, establishment Democrats are cowing to private insurers and pharmaceutical manufacturers by attempting to replace Medicare for All with lookalike legislation. As the new Democratic House majority begins to hold hearings and cohere around a healthcare policy, we need an uncompromising mass movement that demands nothing less than a universal, comprehensive, free-at-use Medicare for All.
Join Michael Lighty, long-time single-payer champion and Sanders Institute Fellow, as he tours the East Coast to discuss the urgency of the moment. This event will give you the tools you need to be a strong advocate for single-payer healthcare in your workplace and your community.
Accessibility: The Women’s Building entrance, auditorium and restrooms are ADA accessible
Calling all volunteers! The People’s Budget Initiative needs YOU to help make it a reality by gathering signatures in your neighborhood.
We’ll make sure you have everything you need to get started as early as next week: meet other volunteers and build teams around your schedule, put together shift equipment, and run through one last training session.
This is the perfect place for new volunteers to connect with experienced signature gatherers who can share their skills & knowledge and organize shifts together.
NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:
occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
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 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 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)
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 six years, since October 2011! 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
