As head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Janet Napolitano implemented programs such as Secure communities and 287g which have deported almost 2 million undocumented immigrants. Her only background on education is getting rid of in-state tuition for undocumented youth in Arizona.

We’ll be having a rally on Tuesday at 11:00AM on Upper Sproul to protest Napolitano’s nomination. At 12:00PM students from the Multicultural coalition are going to meet with Napolitano and present their demands.

It’s important that we show that we are one! Napolitano thinks this will be a quick and easy meeting. However, we will make it clear that she is not welcome in our UC System!
Therefore, around 11:20 We’ll head out from Upper Sproul to Oakland. Where her office is located.

Facebook event & RSVP.

Strike Debt’s “Politics of Debt” study group will be discussing the video “Money Masters” We’ll be meeting at Au Coquelet cafe and restaurant in Berkeley, 2 blocks northwest of the downtown Berkeley BART station. The link to the “Money Masters” video (which is 3 1/2 hours long) is here.

In addition to discussing this video, we’ll also discuss which books (or articles) we’d like to read for the next several sessions, so bring your ideas.

this coming Wednesday, October 2nd, at 7:00 pm.

Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the weeks tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.

Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland

Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the week’s tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.

Rain location: It doesn’t rain in Oakland in August or September.

OOFDG Website

If you would like to help us monetarily with our work. We don’t need much, but we do keep a phone hotline active and do flyers and posters. Any little bit helps.

Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the week’s tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.

Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland

The Post Office could announce the sale of the Historic Downtown Berkeley Post Office any time now. Come and help plan our next actions in defense of our post office and against privatization.

Check out the video of Peter Byrne’s talk last week at our Save the Post Office Rally!

Party/Street Party

The City of Albany plans on evicting the residents of the Albany Bulb sometime this month. The Albany Bulb is home to over sixty residents who have made the Bulb a home and a community like nothing else in the Bay Area. If evicted, the residents of the Bulb will have no where to go but the streets of Albany, a city with next to no support for its homeless.

Rally at the Albany City Council this Monday at 6:00pm! At 6:30 we will participate in the public comments meeting and make sure everyone in Albany knows about the Bulb and what’s at stake.

Afterwards there will be a march down Solano Ave. for an overnight camp out and demonstration.

Show your solidarity, lets save the Bulb!
Bring camping gear and tents!

Learn more at:

Share the Bulb.
Facebook event & RSVP.
Notice on IndyBay.

Lynne Stewart’s burthday is October 8th and rallies, vigils and speak outs will be held throughout the country. In the Bay Area, we will gather at 5 p.m. and speak out from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. outside the offices of Senator Dianne Feinstein, Market and Montgomery in San Francisco. Our goal continues to be to win compassionate release for our fellow Guild member, who is suffering from cancer and turning 74 years old. Senator Feinstein has a unique role to play as a member of the Judiciary Committee.

There are two things you can do. (1) Join us on October 8th to call on Feinstein to exert pressure over the Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons to release Lynne Stewart and accelerate compassionate release for all people in federal prisons. And (2) click here to add your name to the new petition to free Lynne Stewart.

Sponsored by the National Lawyer’s Guild.

Support Richmond eminent domain Wednesday October 9

Join the demonstration in Oakland to support the Richmond local principal reduction program, called by ACCE/Home Defenders League with the endorsement of Strike Debt Bay Area.  Richmond has offered to restore financial stability to hundreds of homeowners by buying their distressed mortgages and negotiating new loans at fair market value–or seizing the mortgages by eminent domain if necessary.  The banks holding these mortgages ignored the offers, Wells Fargo and other banks filed a law suit (dismissed for the time being) and Wall Street withheld purchasing a city bond.  Wall Street is fighting back–and so are we!  Show your opposition to the 1% and your support for Richmond’s creative campaign to protect homeowners.  The demonstration will also push the Oakland City Council to make a strong statement to the banks that will express Oakland’s support for Richmond.

For more background information on the Richmond campaign see http://strikedebt.org/em-dom-richmond/

BART workers could go out on strike at 12:01 AM Friday, October 11th. BART management may attempt to run BART trains between West Oakland and Embarcadero.

Sponsored by the Transit Workers Support Committee.

On Friday at 6:30 pm we will be screening “Bum’s Paradise”, a documentary about the Albany Bulb, outside the Sierra Club’s bi-monthly “Green Friday” event. The Sierra Club is pushing a project on the land that would result in the eviction of the Bulb’s 60+ residents. Our screening will demonstrate to the Sierra Club that there is public support for the continued existence of the Bulb.

Food will be provided but bring blankets, folding chairs, mats, and warm clothing to stay warm!

“Bums’ Paradise is a 53-minute documentary that depicts the lives of the men and women who lived in the ten-year-old Albany Landfill community prior to their eviction. It follows them through the eviction and documents them one month after the eviction. The film emphasizes their concepts of community as well as the amazing art that they created. Instead of being a documentary about homelessness, Bums’ Paradise considers the question: What if the homeless — the indigent, the bums — told their own stories?”

http://www.bumsparadise.com/synopsis_new.html
http://sharethebulb.org/

Come help us prepare for the next year in the struggle to get Justice for Alan!
Help us with our new campaign to pressure California’s Attorney General to prosecute Miguel Masso for the murder of Alan Blueford. Join us in demanding that Oakland not implement a proposed youth curfew aimed directly at young men of color. Report on First Friday Outreach,
labor support, more.

Come to the Plaza at 11 am … park below … carpool … take the bus … bike … get dropped off … whatever way you can get there come join us!

More info & RSVP.

The Police Accountability Tour, on the road from mid-August until December, will maximize police accountability by facilitating connections and collaboration among those who know that badges don’t grant extra rights, and through skill sharing and the capturing and dissemination of relevant content.
This tour will help further connect individuals involved with Cop Block, Cop Watch, and Peaceful Streets groups as well as all police-watching groups and people around the world, so we can together advance a reality free from institutionalized violence.

On Saturday, Oct. 12th we’ll have a meetup and patrol in the Mission area of San Francisco. If you’re around you should come on out! There will be a good crew present, lots of good information and ideas shared throughout the night, and almost certainly there will emerge some solid connections and working relationships.

n Saturday, Oct. 19th two short documentaries will be screened at New Parkway Theater – Manufacturing Guilt: A Short Film on the Innocence of Mumia Abu-Jamal
 and The Battle for Oscar Grant Plaza: OPD’s War Against Occupy Oakland.

Check back here for exact location of meetup.

More info.

Berkeley Cop Watch.

Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the weeks tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.

Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland

Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the week’s tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.

Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland

Come out on SUNDAY to the Gill Tract Farm

for a Community Field Day!

THIS SUNDAY:  Oct 13th, 10am-4pm.

For the first time, a community event is being planned between the College of Natural Resources and a coalition of community groups (which includes Occupy the Farm), to discuss what we’d like to see happen on the Gill Tract!  1.5 Acres has been allocated for the project, so come check it out and let’s brainstorm!

SCHEDULE 10:00 Opening Ceremony 10:10 Welcome! Glenda Humiston,USDA Rural Development California State Director Keith Gilless, Dean, UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources Daniel Cardozo, Community Farmer-Researcher & Albany Farm Alliance member Miguel Altieri, Professor, Department of Environmental, Science, Policy, and Management, UC Berkeley 10:20 Intro to Community Agroecology Research Project (Professor Miguel Altieri) 10:30-12:00 Ongoing Workshops & Activities 12:00-1:00 Lunch – With vegetables from the Gill Tract Farm! 1:00-2:00 Storytelling Circle – “Where We’ve Been” and “Visions for the Future” With storytellers from our community: Hank Herrera, Dig Deep Farms; Miguel Altieri, UC Berkeley Professor, Agroecology; Jeff Romm UC Berkeley Professor, Environmental Science, Policy & Management; Alexa Hauser, Albany Farm Alliance; Keith Gilless, Dean, UCB College of Natural Resources; Joy Moore, Garden Teacher and Community Food Activist 2:00-4:00 Community Forum & Breakout Groups Visions for the Future: Share your ideas about how the Gill Tract can serve the community as a center for education and research and connect with others who share your vision. ACTIVITIES Plot 1   Draw and color with children of all ages.  Walk through the rows and talk about the different vegetables that are planted, then draw and color what we see! Plot 2   Bob for apples and guided plot tours Plot 3   Read about the abundance of food produced on this plot sinceAugust 10th. Plot 4   Harvest squash and cucumbers for today’s salad andlearn how  to save the seeds. Plot 5   Wander and searchthrough our plot in search of answers to clues. “Nature” prizes for completing your lottery/bingo card Plot 6   Plant a patch of narrow leaf milkweed as a Monarch butterfly way station (habitat) +giveaway of seeds and information Plot 7   Dig in the soil and identify plants, both loved and misunderstood. Plot 8   Plant rainbow seedlings to take away, adorn scarecrows, and paint signs Plot 9   Scavenge & hunt for all ages Plot 10  Dye natural fabrics and yarns with flower dyes. Stamppaper with handcut vegetable stamps. Identify – unusual and useful plants Area A: 10:30-12:00 Kid’s Activity: Dig for Worms and Other Critters! UC Cooperative Extension, Alameda Kids and families CAN touch the soils and learn about worm anatomy and soils ecology together, and the role those decomposers play in healthy plant growth.   WORKSHOPS Phat Beets Table: 10:30-12:00 Kimchi making Workshop Phat Beets Produce  Make, taste and take home your own small jar of kimchi to watch ferment! Big Circle: 10:30-11:15 Encouraging Pollinator Habitat and Conservation in Home Gardens Professor Claire Kremen, Hillary Sardinas (grad student), Emily Kearney (grad student), Leithen M’gonigle (post doc), Kerry Cutler (lab manager) from the Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley.  Appreciate the importance of pollinators for food security; Discover some of the diversity of pollinators in our area; Learn how to support bee populations in your garden, through creating both nesting and floral resources for a variety of bees; Learn to make an Osmia colony in your backyard. Little Circle 2: 10:30-12:00 Native California bees are everywhere, just look around your garden! Professor Gordon Frankie, Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy and Management Little Circle 1: 11:00-12:00 Participatory Mapping Project Adam Calo, PhD Student in Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, UC Berkeley See how Local Ground—an innovative mapping technology– can be utilized as a visioning tool to capture diverse perspectives on what the Gill Tract means to them & how it could be used in the future. Welcome Table: 11:30-12:00 Codornices Creek Walk! Amy Merrill, Senior Riparian Ecologist, Stillwater Sciences Explore Codornices Creek to discover what lives in urban creeks and their potential for restoration. SOGA space: 11:00-12:00 Seed Babies Workshop The Berkeley Student Organic Gardening Association (SOGA)  Make balls of seeds, clay, and soil that you can throw into empty plots of land to encourage life. The technique originated in the 1970’s when the Guerilla Gardening Movement threw balloons filled with tomato seeds and fertilizer into empty city lots to beautify the streets. We will make clay capsules with moisture in them to encourage germination after landing. Come learn how to make your own seed baby with clay, compost, and other materials.  You can take one home for your own garden, or maybe use it as a form of protest to beautify our Bay Area landscape. Area A, 11am-12:00 Soil Sampling Professor of Agroecology, Miguel Altieri   Take soil samples of the Area A for analysis of basic nutrient levels, pH and lead levels. Help spread lime and also sow winter cover crops that will help enhance organic matter levels necessary for spring 2014 plantings. Plot 7: 11:15-12:00. Urban Ag 101 Joy Moore- Garden teacher and Community Food Activist The further back we can look the further ahead we will see! This soil, this land is sacred as is all soil, all land! The future of urban agriculture is not new – it is a reflection of the past; or at least it should be. We are gathered here today to discuss what the future might be, what we may envision and realize will happen here on this soil, on this land. We must trust that the seeds we plant today in this soil, on this land may grow to be the future! Big Circle, 11:15-12:00 Cultivating Resilience in the Law: Policy Initiatives and Innovative Strategies for Just Local Economies  Chris Tittle, Sustainable Economies Law Center Our food system is not well served by today’s predominant food business models, which incentivize growth, shareholder profit maximization, absentee ownership, and exploitation of land and people. Converse with the Sustainable Economies Law Center about creative strategies for creating local wealth and community ownership, including food policy initiatives that remove legal barriers and models for community-owned food enterprise. Master Gardener’s Booth, All Day Master Gardeners – Plant Doctor Booth Get Help from a Trained Master Gardener from the UC Cooperative Extension Alameda/Master Gardener Program! Alameda County Master Gardeners help gardeners by answering questions about plants and plant/garden problems and extending the information they have learned through community events and projects, including seminars, demonstration workshops and newspaper articles.  Volunteers answer gardening questions on a plant doctor hotline, through email, at local farmers markets, at our three demonstration gardens, and at various community events such as the Alameda County Fair. UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Booth MyPlate, Fruits & Vegetables, and Physical Activity UC CalFresh – All Day

The Post Office has put the Berkeley Post Office up for sale!! Come and help plan our next actions in defense of our post office and against privatization.

Last week we learned that perfidious Post Office Executives, who only the week before had sent a letter to the Berkeley City Council offering to negotiate until at least November 12th, had had CBRE (Richard Blum’s company) list the downtown Berkeley Post Office for sale.

Check out the video of Peter Byrne’s talk last week at our Save the Post Office Rally!

Rally with Fast Food Workers as we hold Fast Food companies accountable!

While the fast food industry makes billions in profits, hard-working fast food workers are struggling to afford their basic needs like food, clothing and rent, and often rely on public assistance. Fast food companies rely on the fact that taxpayers will pick up the slack for their low wages. This is outrageous. Let’s hold fast food companies accountable.

End all U.S. military aid to Colombia, and close the U.S. military bases

Repeal the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade agreement

End the Repression of the Agrarian, Labor and Popular Movements!

Free Hubert Ballesteros; unionist, peasant rights and peace activist!

Support negotiations with Colombian popular movements

Stop the exploitation of Colombian human and natural resources by U.S. corporations, including Chiquita, Drummond, and Monsanto

Colombia has suffered from mass repression, poverty, and displacement, among other things, for many years but the resistance has grown and unified. After a long peasant movement in Catatumbo this year, popular sectors of the country called for a general strike on August 19. The movement grew nationwide and many organizations participated, making it the largest mass movement in the country in many years. It is still in process and some of the demands are being negotiated with the government at this moment.

It is important to support the Colombian mass movement here in the U.S. The US has had an infamous role in supporting repressive forces in Colombia in order to make way for the large US corporations, the maquiladoras, mining, banking, etc. They want Colombia to be the right wing trampoline for control and intervention in the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean by building a strong right wing government.

We need to become informed of the role of the US in Colombia and Latin America, support resistance movements and show the world that the resistance to US imperialism is everywhere. Join our demonstration in San Francisco.The movement in Colombia has issued a worldwide call to progressives, unionists and justice loving people everywhere to support the peace process in Colombia.

Facebook event & RSVP.