Calendar

Written by 55 of the richest white men, and signed by only 39 of them, the US constitution is the sacred text of American nationalism. Popular perceptions of it are mired in idolatry, myth and misinformation – many Americans have opinions on the constitution but have little idea what it says.

Our speaker’s new book examines the constitution for what it is – a rulebook for elites to protect capitalism from democracy. Social movements have misplaced faith in the constitution as a tool for achieving justice when it actually impedes social change through the many roadblocks and obstructions we call ‘checks and balances’. This stymies urgent progress on issues like labour rights, poverty, public health and climate change, propelling the American people and rest of the world towards destruction.

Robert Ovetz’s reading of the constitution shows that the system isn’t broken. Far from it. It works as it was designed.

Our speaker, Robert Ovetz, is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at San José State University, California, USA. He is the author of the new book We the Elites: Why the US Constitution Serves the Few (Pluto, 2022).  His previous publications include When Workers Shot Back: Class Conflict from 1877 to 1921, and he was the editor of Workers’ Inquiry and Global Class Struggle. He is the book review editor of the Journal of Labor and Society and writes about labor for Dollars & Sense magazine.

ZOOM LINK

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81133350622?pwd=dUUyUWppbWt6djVTaElISUhocXpSUT09

Meeting ID: 811 3335 0622
Passcode: ICSS2717rs

Dial by your location
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+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
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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

Green Sunday:  How can we support our local Green Party candidates?

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89559844652

Being a Green Party candidate can often be an uphill battle, but this year 3 Alameda County Greens have risen to the challenge.  In this year’s June primary, Laura Wells ran for State Controller, and for the current November election, Aidan Hill is running for Berkeley City Council, District 7, and Brian Donahue is running for the Emery School Board.  Aidan was not able to commit for tonight, but Brian and Laura will join us this evening to discuss their campaigns and how we can help Green Party candidates, both before and after their elections.

What does it mean to run as a “third-party” candidate, and as a Green?  Is there more to helping candidates than making donations and helping them pass out literature?  How important are the final 3 weeks before the election compared to before and after that time window?  What should we be doing now, and what might we do in the near and not-so-near future?  Join Brian and Laura tonight to discuss these questions and much more.

Brian Donahue is running for the Emery School Board in the current November election.  He notes that in 2017, the Emery School Distict dropped from the 4th worst academically in Alameda county to “the bottom that year and it has remained on the bottom.”  To turn this around, he advocates empowering teachers and changing the “culture so that the administration morphs into a teacher helping culture.”  He also wants to get “major corporations in Emeryville to commit to supporting the schools with a special emphasis on Disney/Pixar.”  Brian has been an activist on school and other issues for many years and publishes the Emeryville Tattler blog.  He also was a co-founder of Residents United for a Livable Emeryville (RULE), which was able to elect every City Council member during their 14-year existence, but which came to a close earlier this year after having been sidelined by the pandemic..

Laura Wells ran for State Controller in the June, 2022 election as a member of the Left Unity Slate. She lives in Oakland and is a political activist in California and in solidarity with Latin America. She has been a Green Party organizer and also ran for Congress in 2018, and for Governor after the global financial meltdown in 2010. A former financial systems analyst, Laura focuses her platform on public banking, taxing the rich, and saving money and lives by shifting California’s financial priorities away from destructive uses like the prison and war industries, and toward meaningful work including an improved Medicare for All healthcare system, tuition-free high-quality schools and universities, and restoration of our environment. Her webpage for this past June’s campaign is here:  https://laurawells.org/controller-2022/

Green Sundays are a series of free public programs & discussions on topics “du jour” sponsored by the Green Party of Alameda County and held on the 2nd Sunday of each month. The monthly business meeting of the County Council of the Green Party follows at 7:00 pm, after a 30-minute break. Council meetings are open to anyone who is interested.

Join Zoom Meeting

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+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbmHLDhwS9

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.

Eviction support needed this week! Tuesday and Wednesday 8:30a-4:30p @ 26th and wood street — be prepared to take the lead from residents, recommend bringing a charged phone to document, protective shoes, gloves if able to lift items, & mask for dust/covid https://t.co/hYmNtNgTa3

— APTP First Response (@aptpresponse) October 11, 2022

Join rooftop solar defenders to tell the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)  to reject the plans of corporate utilities like PG&E to impose high costs on households with rooftop solar panels:  large monthly fees to connect to the grid and much lower payment for electricity they sell back to the grid.

Soon the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is expected to release a new proposal that will determine the fate of rooftop solar from now on. There will then be a 30-day public comment period, followed by a final vote of the five-person commission.

The Solar Rights Alliance, an organization of solar panel installers, says, “We don’t know what the CPUC will propose. We do know that utility lobbyists are still pushing a Solar Tax and deep cuts to the credit for sharing surplus energy with the grid.”

The Solar Rights Alliance is hosting “the biggest pro-solar event yet,” Everyone Under the Sun Rally & Festival at the State Capitol, to remind the CPUC, Governor Newsom, and the media:

• No Solar Tax or other changes that make rooftop solar unaffordable for everyday people.
• Keep rooftop solar growing so that more Californians can get it, not fewer.

RSVP

If you can’t make it to the rally, you can sign up here to be alerted when the CPUC releases its next solar rooftop proposal

October 4: Our Beautiful Planet Home Living in, coping with, and learning from our changing environment: coyotes in San Francisco, cattle ranching in Silicon Valley, vertical cave diving in China.

October 5: Ai Wei Wei: Yours Truly Bay Area directors Cheryl Haines and Gina Leibrecht tell the powerful story of the outspoken artist and activist Ai Wei Wei’s Yours Truly exhibition at the former island penitentiary of Alcatraz.

October 6: On the Edge People following their own unique paths: America’s desert “hairstorian,” a boy’s quest to become a butler, a young woman’s quest to be more animated, genderqueer partners in love, an animated East Bay punk band chases fame during a pandemic.

October 11:  Somewhere Else Instead Understanding where we are and might be: a wandering puzzle piece, a drag artist and an unusual request, a man who lives with Parkinson’s, dancing on the Albany bulb, a strange night in LA.

October 12: Transformations Exploring people and ideas in the midst of change: an LGBTQ+ generation gap, reclaiming the swastika as a message of peace, a circus seeking to do what others cannot do, two counties approach criminal justice differently.

October 13: Engaging with Life Living an authentic life: An artist of many “firsts,” a nonbinary social worker/activist, brave students resisting Nazis, and an aging magician looking for connection.

At Landmark’s Albany Twin Theatre October 4, 5, 6 & 11, 12, 13 / Doors open 7pm / All shows start 7:30pm / Tickets available online or at the box office.  Full program and details www.albanyfilmfest.org.

Eviction support needed this week! Tuesday and Wednesday 8:30a-4:30p @ 26th and wood street — be prepared to take the lead from residents, recommend bringing a charged phone to document, protective shoes, gloves if able to lift items, & mask for dust/covid https://t.co/hYmNtNgTa3

— APTP First Response (@aptpresponse) October 11, 2022

October 4: Our Beautiful Planet Home Living in, coping with, and learning from our changing environment: coyotes in San Francisco, cattle ranching in Silicon Valley, vertical cave diving in China.

October 5: Ai Wei Wei: Yours Truly Bay Area directors Cheryl Haines and Gina Leibrecht tell the powerful story of the outspoken artist and activist Ai Wei Wei’s Yours Truly exhibition at the former island penitentiary of Alcatraz.

October 6: On the Edge People following their own unique paths: America’s desert “hairstorian,” a boy’s quest to become a butler, a young woman’s quest to be more animated, genderqueer partners in love, an animated East Bay punk band chases fame during a pandemic.

October 11:  Somewhere Else Instead Understanding where we are and might be: a wandering puzzle piece, a drag artist and an unusual request, a man who lives with Parkinson’s, dancing on the Albany bulb, a strange night in LA.

October 12: Transformations Exploring people and ideas in the midst of change: an LGBTQ+ generation gap, reclaiming the swastika as a message of peace, a circus seeking to do what others cannot do, two counties approach criminal justice differently.

October 13: Engaging with Life Living an authentic life: An artist of many “firsts,” a nonbinary social worker/activist, brave students resisting Nazis, and an aging magician looking for connection.

At Landmark’s Albany Twin Theatre October 4, 5, 6 & 11, 12, 13 / Doors open 7pm / All shows start 7:30pm / Tickets available online or at the box office.  Full program and details www.albanyfilmfest.org.

October 4: Our Beautiful Planet Home Living in, coping with, and learning from our changing environment: coyotes in San Francisco, cattle ranching in Silicon Valley, vertical cave diving in China.

October 5: Ai Wei Wei: Yours Truly Bay Area directors Cheryl Haines and Gina Leibrecht tell the powerful story of the outspoken artist and activist Ai Wei Wei’s Yours Truly exhibition at the former island penitentiary of Alcatraz.

October 6: On the Edge People following their own unique paths: America’s desert “hairstorian,” a boy’s quest to become a butler, a young woman’s quest to be more animated, genderqueer partners in love, an animated East Bay punk band chases fame during a pandemic.

October 11:  Somewhere Else Instead Understanding where we are and might be: a wandering puzzle piece, a drag artist and an unusual request, a man who lives with Parkinson’s, dancing on the Albany bulb, a strange night in LA.

October 12: Transformations Exploring people and ideas in the midst of change: an LGBTQ+ generation gap, reclaiming the swastika as a message of peace, a circus seeking to do what others cannot do, two counties approach criminal justice differently.

October 13: Engaging with Life Living an authentic life: An artist of many “firsts,” a nonbinary social worker/activist, brave students resisting Nazis, and an aging magician looking for connection.

At Landmark’s Albany Twin Theatre October 4, 5, 6 & 11, 12, 13 / Doors open 7pm / All shows start 7:30pm / Tickets available online or at the box office.  Full program and details www.albanyfilmfest.org.

Encouraging public acceptance of deeply rooted commercial surveillance within U.S. society has become a cross-generational project. Professor Joseph Turow’s industry research and survey work over the past three decades has convinced him that academics, activists, and government policymakers have been ignoring a critical development: The convergence of key practices in the family, education, the law and other institutions with widespread strategies among marketers suggest that deeply personalized data use will be an even more taken-for granted part of future generations than it is today. Prescribing realistic solutions to this discriminatory dynamic that can fracture society is a key challenge of our age.

Joseph Turow is Robert Lewis Shayon Professor of Media Systems & Industries, at the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communications. Turow is an elected Fellow of the International Communication Association and was presented with a Distinguished Scholar Award by the National Communication Association. In 2012, the TRUSTe internet privacy-management organization designated him a “privacy pioneer” for his research and writing on marketing and digital privacy. He has authored twelve books, edited five, and written more than 160 articles on mass media industries.

Respondents:

Kirsten Martin, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame

Fred Turner, Norman Chandler Professor of Communication, Stanford University

John Willich was a Prussian army career officer who quit after 25 years to become a carpenter. He was a German 48er who formed the proletarian army in the German Revolution with Friedrich Engels as second-in-command. He was exiled to England, where he joined Marx and Engels. Polemics between Willich and Marx-Engels led to his joining an opposing communist faction. In the 1850s he emigrated to the US where he become involved in communist clubs. He was an abolitionist who worked with free African Americans. In the Civil War, he started an innovative and highly praised German regiment. Conclusion: along with other Germans, he brought communism to the US�way before the Russian revolution.

   Al Sargis founded the Friedrich-Engels Institute of Marxist War and Military Analysis, an informational outlet at the NPML. His presentations on this and other subjects have been made at the Chinese Academy of Military Science and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, among other venues, including the ICSS.​

This will be a hybrid meeting on Zoom and at the NPML.

LOGIN INFORMATION

Our Zoom room will be opened up as usual at 10:15 am for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc.. The program (and recording) will begin as close to 10:30 am as possible and will end at 12:30, but the Waiting Room may remain open later for informal discussion.

ZOOM LINK

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81133350622?pwd=dUUyUWppbWt6djVTaElISUhocXpSUT09

Meeting ID: 811 3335 0622
Passcode: ICSS2717rs
One tap mobile
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+16699006833,,81133350622#,,,,*5892135124# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 669 444 9171 US
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

You’re invited to stop by the Gill Tract Community Farm on October 16 – from 11am to 4pm  – to celebrate the harvest and local birds.

You can explore the Albany based community farm, enjoy family activities, bird walking tours, vegan lunch, and more.

Walking shoes and a refillable water bottle are recommended.   You’re also invited to bring new or gently used items for the free store.

No animals permitted in the growing fields and parking is limited.

For more information, visit gilltractfarm.org.

If you’re looking for work, or looking for a way to put your socialism into practice at work and don’t think that’s viable at your current workplace, join us on Sunday, October 16th to learn about jobs you can get organizing a workplace or strengthening existing unions with other East Bay DSA members at a strategic employer!

RSVP here for the exact location.

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

TICKETS / MORE INFO AVAILABLE HERE

Please join KPFA Radio for a very special evening when we welcome the legendary Barbara Dane (and Friends) in celebration of the release of Barbara’s autobiography, This Bell Still Rings: My Life of Defiance and Song. This live, in-person event will be hosted by KPFA’s Kris Welch and will include special guests such as: Tammy Hall, Holly Near, Maureen Gosling, Avotcja, Mark Hummel and Pablo Menedez. Pegasus Books will be on-site selling copies of This Bell Still Rings, published by Heyday

The autobiography of a courageous singer-songwriter, activist, and American icon.

A renowned folk, blues, and jazz singer who performed with some of the twentieth century’s most celebrated musicians, from Louis Armstrong to Bob Dylan. A proud progressive who has tirelessly championed racial equality and economic justice in America, and who has traveled the world to sing out against war and tyranny. An organizer, a venue owner, a record label founder, and a woman who has charted her own creative and political path for more than ninety years. Barbara Dane has led an epic, trailblazing life in music and activism, and This Bell Still Rings tells her story in her own adventurous voice.

Just saw this on the facebook page of a Wood Street resident. Looks like residents and supporters plan to rally tomorrow in front of city hall to demand access to the nearby land on the Northgate parcel to relocate them since they're facing eviction from CalTrans… pic.twitter.com/rbXFACH7dL

— Zack Haber (@ZZZZZZZZZZZack) October 17, 2022

SPECIAL EVENT WITH WENDELL POTTER!

Have you stopped to imagine what it would mean to have businesses across the state pushing for single payer in California? How can we bring them on board?

There is no pre-registration. Click here at the start of the event. The link will be operative at that point.

It’s clearly in their interests. Expensive and inadequate employer-based insurance hurts both the bottom line and workers. Small business owners yearn for good health care for themselves and their employees.

How best to activate the business community?

There’s no better person to ask than Wendell Potter, author of Deadly Spin. Wendell was PR chief for two major healthcare insurance companies before he woke up, walked out, and became a leading advocate for Medicare for All. He has been engaging businesses in the cause ever since while fighting Medicare privatization.

Tune in on Tuesday for this exciting conversation!

This event is sponsored by Physicians for a National Health Program – CA with Health Care for All – CA and the Sonoma-based Healthcare for All Working Group.