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‘Tasha is a one woman show exploring the in-custody murder of Natasha McKenna at the hands of law enforcement in Farifax, Virginia in 2015. The play, written by artist and activist Cat Brooks, directed by Oakland’s Poet Laureate Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, and performed by acclaimed actor Jeunée Simon, explores her life and murder from the point of view of several characters, including Natasha herself. “Natasha started talking so loudly I had to get up and write what she was saying,” Brooks said of the script’s genesis in 2015.

Trigger warning: This show contains graphic images and language depicting the murder of a young Black woman at the hands of police. A non-shooting, replica firearm will be used onstage and will be pointed at the audience. It is a non-working, prop gun. It will be accompanied by the sounds of gunshots and screaming.

Thanks to the support of Anti Police-Terror Project and Mental Health First Oakland, Healing Services by Nekia Wright and Hadiza Mohammed are available for select performances. Healers will be in the lobby during the performance and in the theatre after the show to support anyone who feels the need for healing after experiencing the images and themes explored in this show.

The healers are available to talk to anyone about feelings that come up and help manage emotions to help you process this experience so you can go back out into the world.

Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library

The Part played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man, by Frederick Engels

In 1876, Engels complained about “that idealistic world outlook which, especially since the fall of the world of antiquity, has dominated men’s minds. It still rules them to such a degree that even the most materialistic natural scientists of the Darwinian school are still unable to form any clear idea of the origin of man, because under this ideological influence they do not recognise the part that has been played therein by labour.” This situation remains true today, nearly a century and a half later, as prominent bourgeois institutions entertain us with vivid videos of the latest fossil finds in Africa and elsewhere without ever mentioning the role of labor in the lives of the people who left these remains.

This talk, by Professor Eugene E Ruyle, will discuss Engels contribution noting that the spectacular fossil finds since Engels’ death of the twentieth century have confirmed Engels brilliant insight that: “First comes labour, after it, and then side by side with it, articulate speech – these were the two most essential stimuli under the influence of which the brain of the ape gradually changed into that of man, which for all its similarity to the former is far larger and more perfect.” Ruyle will also discuss why bourgeois anthropology has neglected the work of Marx and Engels, in spite of their obvious importance.

Our speaker, Eugene E Ruyle, is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Cal State Long Beach, a working class university. He earned his PhD in 1971 and has published numerous articles, including “Labor, People, Culture: A Labor Theory of Human Origins” Yearbook of Physical Anthropology Vol 20, 1976. <https://home.csulb.edu/~eruyle/published/ruyle_labor_29_.pdf> The article by Engels is available on the Marx-Engels Internet archive <https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1876/part-played-labour/index.htm>

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What Can we Learn from Nicaragua?  Eyewitness Report!
Panel Discussion with delegates on the Alliance for Global Justice trip to Nicaragua in January titled “Women in Nicaragua – Power & Protagonism.”  Did you know that Nicaragua is a world leader in gender equality?  In a historically macho culture, find out how this, and so much more, was achieved by Sandinistas since 2006.

Erica Caines is a co-coordinator of The Black Alliance For Peace – Haití/Americas Team. Caines, a member of the Black working-class centered Ujima People’s Progress Party in Maryland, founded the African children’s book gifting initiative, Liberation Through Reading, in 2017. She is also co-editor of the African revolutionary blog, Hood Communist. For Green Sunday, she particularly looks forward to speaking about the connections between imperialism in the US and in Nicaragua. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Jennifer Sullivan is a lifelong feminist activist and currently serves as an International Committee and National Committee delegate for the Green Party of Florida.  She served four years as the FL state co-chair and is treasurer for the GP-US National Women’s Caucus.  Born in the Chicago area, her political life began at age 15 reading/studying Ramparts magazine.  She Dem-Exited after the 1972 presidential campaign. Independent until 1996, she joined the Green Party and helped found the Hernando County Green Party.  She hosted a broadcast TV show in Tampa called On the Table With the Green Party and has produced several radio programs including hosting a debate show called The Fairness Doctrine on Tampa’s WMNF.  Sullivan has traveled deep into many countries, not tourist areas, on four continents.

Phoebe Thomas Sorgen is a Green Party of Alameda County Councilor, California Co-ordinating Committee member, CA representative to the GP National and International Committees, and GP-US representative to the Global Green Network. She will attend the Global Greens Congress in Korea in June. (If you want to attend, at your own expense, contact her.)  She was Outstanding Woman of Berkeley 2005 for work as a Peace and Justice Commissioner including writing Resolutions adopted by the city to end corporate personhood, stop CAFTA, and support Haiti, Burma, Iraq, Iran, and democracy in the US.  She was a 2015 Tom Paine Courageous Spirit awardee and chairs the Berkeley Fellowship of UU’s Social Justice Committee. She traveled extensively while at the Université de Paris for six years, and since. Because she speaks Italian, she manages to communicate with Spanish speakers.

Delegation written report: https://afgj.salsalabs.org/reportjan23?wvpId=3b43e68b-92fb-431b-b75f-6268ae8dcb1f

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For years, anti-surveillance, civil rights, and racial justice groups have been sounding the alarm about the dangers posed by Amazon Ring-police partnerships. Collectively, we’ve successfully petitioned members of Congress to investigate these surveillance partnerships, garnered widespread media attention, and published studies exposing the harms. Despite all the negative attention and backlash, over 2,000 police departments continue to partner with Amazon Ring to surveil communities.

In an effort to end these partnerships for good, the Athena Surveillance Table is launching a campaign to pass local ordinances to effectively ban these partnerships (even in cities without partnerships).

The Surveillance Table is holding its first Ban Ring Coalition Campaign meeting on Thursday, March 23rd from 1-3pm EST. We’re hoping you can attend.

At the meeting, we’ll talk about the ordinance, the recent changes to how these partnerships work, share the ordinance campaign toolkit, and discuss ways we can work together to lead campaigns and/or support local efforts to ban Ring-police partnerships.

A little background on Amazon Ring-police partnerships: Ring cameras surveil millions, from children playing in the park to people visiting health clinics to protesters exercising their First Amendment rights. Alongside the massive growth of this private network of cameras, the tech giant is aggressively expanding their police partnerships. Amazon’s doorbell, floodlight, mailbox, and dash cameras record and collect data on our whereabouts, our homes, and our communities. This massive surveillance dragnet poses an existential Orwellian threat to the daily lives of the public at large and to our democracy�but for Black and brown communities Amazon Ring technology puts their lives in immediate danger.

Join us on March 23rd to take part in developing a shared plan to ban these dangerous partnerships. Click here to register.

Should you need any additional information or have any questions please email me.

In solidarity,

Ayele B. Hunt
Campaigns Director
Fight for the Future

We had a STRONG weekend kicking fash out of spaces they don’t belong

They got their shit rocked at the Capitol

They never got near or did anything during drag queen story time

And now it’s time to show them hate deserves no platform in Davis!! (Tmmr March 14th) @UCDavis_COC pic.twitter.com/9TK8nHl1EP

— Rage and Compassion (@NoMercyForPigs) March 13, 2023

Rally in advance of hearing:  8:30 AM.  Wear Blue! RSVP here.

BAAQMD Board of Directors Hearing:  9 AM – 5 PM

 And online—see this page for link

The danger of burning fossil fuels in our own homes is no joke.  Our everyday, domestic gas-powered building appliances actually cause hundreds of deaths each year in the Bay Area, with total health impacts of $890 million.  They also account for a quarter of our regional carbon emissions.  By exercising its legal authority to regulate NOx—the collective emission of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides—which these appliances produce, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) wants to further its mission to save lives and clean Bay Area air.

Please join us on March 15 in advocating for a zero-NOx appliance standard!

Following the many Bay Area cities that have voted to ban gas in new buildings, along with recent revelations about how fossil gas harms the climate and human health, BAAQMD is proposing new, trailblazing rulemaking that would ban the sale of new gas furnaces and water heaters within about eight years.  Read the laudatory LA Times editorial about this—”Bay Area making climate change history by phasing out sales of gas furnaces and water heaters”—here.

While this rule would have great benefits for the climate and health, it’s also controversial.  Large numbers of opponents are expected to be bused in to the all-day hearing on March 15.

For this reason, supporters are strongly urged to give in-person commentary at the hearing, if possible.  You can also send in comments in advance to your Air District representative.  (Find your rep on the Board of Directors here.  Look for your city and county.)

The hazards of fossil gas have been getting a lot of publicity after the December 2022 release of a study reporting that almost 13 percent of childhood asthma is attributable to gas stoves.  Burning natural gas causes the release of health-harming nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.  And fossil gas equipment—from the well to where it’s burned—inevitably leaks methane, a greenhouse gas with 80 times the climate impact of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it’s released.

The proposed Air District rule would not ban gas stoves but would ban most new gas water heaters (in new construction and replacements in homes) after 2027, gas furnaces after 2029, and large gas water heaters (in apartments and commercial buildings) after 2031.

Opponents charge it would put a big financial burden on many households that could not afford it.  However, a report prepared for the Air District Board meeting on February 15 outlines the state and federal funding “available for retrofitting low-income homes with cleaner appliances,” and staff have intentionally built in a long lead time of four to eight years for each of the rule components.   Implementation will be conditional.  Two years prior to compliance dates staff will report on market readiness and equity considerations, and adjust accordingly.  And during the rulemaking process, there were be multiple opportunities for public engagement.

To learn more and for help with preparing comments:

• Watch this invaluable webinar on “Eliminating Pollution from Gas Appliances in the Bay Area.”
• See these Sierra Club tips and talking points, and these FAQs from Bay Area Clean Air.

Here’s a sample comment from 350 Bay Area:

Dear __________,

As your constituent, I urge you to support our Air District’s proposed changes to rules 9-4 and 9-6 requiring only zero NOx water heaters, furnaces, and large commercial water heaters be sold and installed by 2027, 2029, 2031 respectively, as well as the introduction of an ultra-low NOx standard to Rule 9-4 for furnaces starting in 2024.  We urgently need these rule changes to improve air quality and public health in the near term, and to mitigate the impacts of climate change over the long run.

The risk raised in the EIR regarding potentially insufficient grid capacity (to support a transition to electric water heaters and furnaces) can be mitigated by the adoption of increasingly efficient electric appliances, incentives to increase residential battery storage, and other policy measures that will be necessary, regardless of these rules changes, if we are to meet our municipal, regional and state electrification targets and reach zero net GHG emissions by 2040, if not earlier.

The risk of increased noise associated with some electric alternatives is already being addressed with the introduction of new technologies and products that generate far less noise than their older counterparts.  This transition can be accelerated via carefully crafted regulations and incentives designed to favor noise reduction in electric appliances.

These two concerns should not be allowed to outweigh the considerably greater risks to public health and the planet from natural gas-powered equipment. 

I urge the BAAQMD Board to certify the EIR and adopt these proposed rule changes as quickly as possible. 

Thank you,
[Your name, city, and zip]

Today: Tell the BOS Budget Committee to stop the utterly unnecessary $29.6 million budget supplemental for cops. Toolkit here: https://t.co/Ynd7KCeU2v pic.twitter.com/y953WfxGkh

— SRO Martha Stewart (@Wagnerian) March 15, 2023

What: Tour Cop City’s Backers in SF’s Financial District

San Francisco is home to several of Cop City’s primary funders, financial partners, and general contract managers. We know exactly who is profiting from this police playground and it’s time we paid them a visit. Join us for a gathering and tour of Cop City’s backers in the Financial District.

From the Bay Area to Atlanta, STOP COP CITY

Email dawg@xrsfbay.org for more info.

BERKELEY / BAY AREA: The second half of our @gmsberkeley-sponsored Mike Davis reading group begins this Wednesday 3/15 at Freehouse.

We'll be starting ECOLOGY OF FEAR (1998), beginning with the first two chapters. Come one, come all! pic.twitter.com/4WVCc1QrW7

— Jonathan Marty (@gradepending_) March 13, 2023

Reminder that tomorrow DSA SF's Labor Working Group is holding an interactive Labor 101 training & discussion from 7pm to 8:30 at 1916 McAllister or on Zoom. RSVP: https://t.co/biZFqXcul0 pic.twitter.com/VRTYcpEn8c

— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) March 15, 2023

‘Tasha is a one woman show exploring the in-custody murder of Natasha McKenna at the hands of law enforcement in Farifax, Virginia in 2015. The play, written by artist and activist Cat Brooks, directed by Oakland’s Poet Laureate Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, and performed by acclaimed actor Jeunée Simon, explores her life and murder from the point of view of several characters, including Natasha herself. “Natasha started talking so loudly I had to get up and write what she was saying,” Brooks said of the script’s genesis in 2015.

Trigger warning: This show contains graphic images and language depicting the murder of a young Black woman at the hands of police. A non-shooting, replica firearm will be used onstage and will be pointed at the audience. It is a non-working, prop gun. It will be accompanied by the sounds of gunshots and screaming.

Thanks to the support of Anti Police-Terror Project and Mental Health First Oakland, Healing Services by Nekia Wright and Hadiza Mohammed are available for select performances. Healers will be in the lobby during the performance and in the theatre after the show to support anyone who feels the need for healing after experiencing the images and themes explored in this show.

The healers are available to talk to anyone about feelings that come up and help manage emotions to help you process this experience so you can go back out into the world.

Join the Bay Area Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force for the last in their third series of summit meetings, Climate, Equity, and Race, UNITED ACTIONS for an Environmentally Just and Regenerative Future.

Online. Register here

‘Tasha is a one woman show exploring the in-custody murder of Natasha McKenna at the hands of law enforcement in Farifax, Virginia in 2015. The play, written by artist and activist Cat Brooks, directed by Oakland’s Poet Laureate Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, and performed by acclaimed actor Jeunée Simon, explores her life and murder from the point of view of several characters, including Natasha herself. “Natasha started talking so loudly I had to get up and write what she was saying,” Brooks said of the script’s genesis in 2015.

Trigger warning: This show contains graphic images and language depicting the murder of a young Black woman at the hands of police. A non-shooting, replica firearm will be used onstage and will be pointed at the audience. It is a non-working, prop gun. It will be accompanied by the sounds of gunshots and screaming.

Thanks to the support of Anti Police-Terror Project and Mental Health First Oakland, Healing Services by Nekia Wright and Hadiza Mohammed are available for select performances. Healers will be in the lobby during the performance and in the theatre after the show to support anyone who feels the need for healing after experiencing the images and themes explored in this show.

The healers are available to talk to anyone about feelings that come up and help manage emotions to help you process this experience so you can go back out into the world.

Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite.

For our March, April and May meetings we are reading Debt: The First 5000 Years  by David Graeber (Warwick, Amazon).

For  our March meeting we’ll be reading the first five chapters.
For  the  April  meeting  we  are  reading  chapters  6 through  9.
For our May meeting will are reading the remainder of the book.

Before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods—that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors—which lives on in full force to this day.

So says anthropologist David Graeber in a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Renaissance Italy to Imperial China, as well as sparking innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the language of the ancient works of law and religion (words like “guilt,” “sin,” and “redemption”) derive in large part from ancient debates about debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong.

We are still fighting these battles today.

Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included Doughnut Economics, Limits, Banking on the People, Capital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, The Deficit Myth,  Revenge Capitalism, the Edge of Chaos blog symposium , Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons, The Optimist’s Telescope, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, Exploring Degrowth, The Origin of Wealth, Mine!, The Dawn of Everything  A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Beyond Money, Less is More, and Cannibal Capitalism.

Which labels are really necessary? — For this installment of the Linguistic Town Hall, your regular cast, special guests, and I ask: “Which identifiers are really necessary?” From gender identifiers on clothing and color, all the way down the rabbit hole to labeling pigment over ancestry – we want to hear your thoughts and ideas

virtual doors open at 6 PM (with the best pre-show music diversity). The discussion begins at 6:30 PM PST on ZOOM:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oakland-greens-march-2023-4th-annual-linguistics-townhall-tickets-491376559517?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

‘Tasha is a one woman show exploring the in-custody murder of Natasha McKenna at the hands of law enforcement in Farifax, Virginia in 2015. The play, written by artist and activist Cat Brooks, directed by Oakland’s Poet Laureate Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, and performed by acclaimed actor Jeunée Simon, explores her life and murder from the point of view of several characters, including Natasha herself. “Natasha started talking so loudly I had to get up and write what she was saying,” Brooks said of the script’s genesis in 2015.

Trigger warning: This show contains graphic images and language depicting the murder of a young Black woman at the hands of police. A non-shooting, replica firearm will be used onstage and will be pointed at the audience. It is a non-working, prop gun. It will be accompanied by the sounds of gunshots and screaming.

Thanks to the support of Anti Police-Terror Project and Mental Health First Oakland, Healing Services by Nekia Wright and Hadiza Mohammed are available for select performances. Healers will be in the lobby during the performance and in the theatre after the show to support anyone who feels the need for healing after experiencing the images and themes explored in this show.

The healers are available to talk to anyone about feelings that come up and help manage emotions to help you process this experience so you can go back out into the world.

One year into the War in Ukraine, the world has been redivided into two progressively decoupling camps, threatening a New Cold War. Meanwhile each camp is being drawn more tightly together. While the war began suddenly on February 24, 2022, its preconditions were a long time in the making. Was it really unprovoked as is relentlessly claimed? While this is one of a number of globally-televised wars, how is the Ukraine War different from the others? Whose interests does it serve? Dr. Sharat G. Lin examines the root causes of conflict, how peace can be brought about, and how the war is forging a new world order.

Our speaker, Dr. Sharat G. Lin, is with Human Agenda, the San José Peace & Justice Center, and the Initiative for Equality. He writes and lectures on global political economy, labor migration, and public health.

Join Zoom Meeting

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Presented by the ACBA Racial Justice Taskforce 

Part of the ACBA Racial Equity Series

Register here

As the Alameda County Eviction Moratorium comes to end, let’s come together to learn about the tenant protections that remain and how to exercise them, how COVID has affected marginalized communities, and how better housing policies can help mitigate the harm that marginalized folks experience, particularly Black and Brown communities hit hardest by the pandemic. Our panelists will also discuss local, state, and federal level policy priorities and how you can get involved in the call for equitable housing for all.

Gregory Ching is Senior Staff Attorney at Centro Legal de la Raza. Mr. Ching received his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. While in law school, Mr. Ching served as a law clerk in the Office of Mayor Edwin M. Lee. He earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Southern California. Prior to joining Centro Legal, Mr. Ching worked as a litigation associate, where he focused on intellectual property litigation and complex commercial disputes. He has also provided legal services in the areas of estate planning, and federal and state taxation. Before beginning his legal career, Mr. Ching worked in music supervision and as an audio engineer, performing technical work for major motion pictures and television shows. Mr. Ching enjoys golfing, craft beer, and playing with his dog. Jasmine Rangel, Senior Housing Associate at PolicyLink, works closely with other members of the housing team to advance housing justice across the nation for the 100 million people struggling to make ends meet. Specifically, she conducts research, builds resources, and supports community leaders, organizers, and policymakers to advance their movement building efforts towards a more just housing system. From supporting the existing housing advocacy culture in Charlottesville, VA to conducting housing research with the Eviction Lab, Jasmine hopes to continue to build her passion and training in public policy to support communities achieve equitable and thriving communities. Jasmine holds a master of public policy from the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia and a B.S. from Berry College in political science, with a minor in women and gender studies. In her free time, Jasmine enjoys reading, printmaking, and playing a myriad of fantasy table-top games with her partner and friends. Desirée Nguyen Orth is Director of the Consumer Justice Clinic at East Bay Community Law Center. Desiree joined EBCLC’s Consumer Justice team as the Director in 2021. Prior to joining EBCLC, Desiree was the supervising attorney for the Consumer Advocacy Project at the Justice & Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco. Desiree is passionate about this work because financial equity is a large part of social justice and race disparity. To many, money is also a source of freedom. Financial education, advocacy, and policy are ways to make significant strides towards equity and freedom from both an individual and systemic level. Alexis Payne is Senior Staff Attorney at Centro Legal de la Raza in the Tenants’ Rights Legal Practice. Alexis holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall). Alexis is a first-generation college graduate, attended community college before completing her undergraduate degree in Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Alejandra Ramirez is Senior Paralegal at the Tenant Rights Group at Centro Legal de le Raza. Alejandra joins Centro Legal as a Staff Paralegal on the Tenants’ Rights team, where she assists low-income tenants facing eviction, unlawful rent increases, uninhabitable conditions, and harassment. Alejandra has been at Centro for 5 years and is currently focusing on settling eviction cases. Alejandra graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. Moderator: Henrissa Bassey is Co-directing attorney of Centro Legal de la Raza’s Tenants’ Rights practice. Ms. Bassey has represented historically marginalized and racialized clients in civil court, administrative hearings, HUD conciliations, and appeals. She has also litigated unlawful detainer actions for tenants facing eviction, illegal rent increases, retaliation, discrimination, harassment, and habitability violations. Prior to joining Centro Legal, Henrissa worked as a staff attorney at Bay Area Legal Aid and a policy research associate at PolicyLink. She has had the opportunity to work alongside systems-involved people from underserved communities in California, Washington, DC, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria to advance racial, social, and gender equity. Henrissa is passionate about using multi-faceted approaches to help tenants enforce their housing rights and remove barriers to the quality of life they’ve envisioned.

REGISTER HERE!

📚📚 Join our #Ecosocialist Book Club for a two part discussion of The Future is Degrowth: A Guide to a World beyond Capitalism. Open to all – @demsocialists, @dsa_ecosocialists, & DSA-curious! We'll meet in March – register today! https://t.co/pHlv9iA3EM pic.twitter.com/1kw1zi23rO

— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) March 2, 2023