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BART OFFICERS & SANTA RITA SHERIFFS TAG-TEAM BATTERY OF NUBIA BOWE, A 19-YEAR OLD AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN
One might think that based on the sordid history and negative press surrounding Oakland’s law enforcement activity, officers would think twice before using excessive force on unarmed citizens.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for many black and brown youth who are overly scrutinized and policed simply for existing in the skin in which they were born, nor was it the case for Nubia Bowe on Friday, March 21, 2014. On this evening, officers responded to a complaint of two young performers soliciting for money on the train. Two male passengers, and friends of Bowe, were approached by officers at the Lake Merritt station, with a witness who identified the two young men as the guilty suspects. The men were instructed by the officers to get off the train for questioning. Some of the train’s passengers stood up for the youth, telling the officers that young people they were looking for had already gotten off the train at the West Oakland station and that these three riders had not been engaged in the solicitation of passengers.
Bowe, a 19-year-old African American female and full-time student of a local security-training program, repeatedly iterated the group’s innocence, telling the officers that they were in violation of the young men’s rights. This “challenge”, as well as mounting vocal pressure from other BART riders, agitated the officers who forcibly removed Bowe from the train. One officer threw the 5’0” tall, 105 pound teen into the platform and repeatedly “roughed her up” according to one passenger. “They kept slamming her around..her mouth was full of blood” as she was ushered by her attackers to the Lake Merritt station holding cell in preparation for transport to Santa Rita County Jail on one felony and three misdemeanor charges.
Bowe’s first experience with the law quickly intensified at Santa Rita where she was taunted, battered, and denied serious medical care, as well as the usage of phone privileges by deputies at the County Jail; a jail whose condition is reported to be torturous in-and-of itself. “Three male guards and one female guard came in my cell and beat me up. They hit me then said that I assaulted one of them..they chained my wrists to my ankles and tipped me over onto the urine-soaked ground so I couldn’t get up. I could tell they were trying to break my spirit” says Bowe about the four-night stay that resulted in two additional arrest charges being tacked to her quickly growing rap sheet.
Though the felony charge has been dropped to a misdemeanor, Nubia is not yet out of the woods. As a result of the felony arrest, she was kicked out of her training program at the Treasure Island Job Corp where she was only 2 months away from graduation; she is facing criminal charges that can potentially impact the rest of her life, and she will forever have to deal with the trauma of her experiences.
Nubia’s upcoming court dates are: Mon., April 21 at 9 a.m. at the Gale-Schenone Hall of Justice, Dept. 701 located at 5672 Stoneridge Drive in Pleasanton & Wed., April 23 at 9 a.m. at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse, Dept. 104 at 661 Washington Street in Oakland. Come to the courthouse to support Nubia in her uncompromising fight for justice and her future.
Fundraiser for currently striking miners!
In August 2012, mineworkers in one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days later the police used live ammunition to brutally suppress the strike, killing 34 and injuring many more. Using the point of view of the Marikana miners, Miners Shot Down follows the strike from dayone, showing the courageous but isolated fi ght waged by a group of low-paid workers against the combined forces of the mining company Lonmin, the ANC government and their allies in the National Union of Mineworkers.
This is a rare opportunity to see a courageous
documentary in a class of its own — the only
feature-length documentary on the Marikana
massacre. Never before screened in the United
States, the director Rehad Desai has generously
agreed to let us screen this fi lm.
With the impending Bay
Area visit of Mphumzi
Maqungo from the National
Union of Metalworkers
of South Africa (NUMSA), this screening will
provide ample background on the rise of rankand-
fi le militancy in South Africa and the
completion of the African National Congress’ lo
The movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against the State of Israel has taken major strides recently in the United States. With divestment votes moving forward on campuses across the country, and votes to boycott Israeli institutions passed by the American Studies Association and other organizations, discussions of the movement and its objectives have entered the mainstream.
At the same time, others have redoubled their efforts to suppress discussion of Israel’s escalating war against Palestinians, promoting legislation to defund institutions that participate in boycotts, and pressuring university administrations to punish students and faculty who support BDS.
ALI ABUNIMAH is the author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine. MAX BLUMENTHAL is the author of Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel.
They will discuss their acclaimed new books, recent developments in the Middle East and United States, and the prospects for justice in Palestine.
Sponsored by Haymarket Books and Lannan Foundation.
Local actions:
SAN FRANCISCO
Time: 10:00 AM
Address: 1700 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94109
SAN LEANDRO
Time: 1:00 PM
Address: 15555 East 14th Street #200, San Leandro, CA 94578
Berkeley Post Office Defenders and Save the Berkeley Post Office will be supporting these actions.
Staples attacks good jobs and public post offices.
Staples and the U.S. Postal Service have cut a deal that jeopardizes your mail service and your local post office. In fact, post offices across the country are at risk – along with thousands of good jobs.
The Staples deal will replace full-service U.S. Post Offices with knock-off post offices in Staples stores that are not staffed with U.S. Postal Service employees.
A bad deal for workers and consumers.
You have a right to post offices staffed by workers who are accountable to you and the American people. You have a right to postal services provided by highly trained, uniformed Postal Service employees, who are sworn to safeguard your mail – whether it’s at the Post Office or Staples.
The Staples deal is bad for consumers like you who will pay the same for less service. And if Staples and the USPS move forward with this deal, it could lead to the end of the Postal Service as we know it.
Undermining good jobs.
In the meantime, the Staples deal is replacing good-paying jobs that our community depends on with low-wage jobs that hurt our economy.
Free Dental and Medical Care at the Bridges to Health medical and dental clinic.
First come – first serve
100% FREE FOR EVERYONE!
Complete Dental (Surgery & Cleaning)
Eye Exam & Glasses
STD/HIV screening
Medical Care
Women’s Health
Meal & Childcare Provided
Come hear
Ian Angus, Canadian EcoSocialist Activist, founder and editor of Climate and Capitalism, an ecosocialist journal. He is the author of The Global Fight for Climate Justice, Anticapitalist Responses to Global Wasrming and Ecological Destruction (2010).
New Deal Film Festival presented by the Save the Berkeley Post Office Committee. Films from the 30’s. Two evenings of double features: April 18th & April 25th.
Gentrification is HERE! Organizations and neighbors in Oakland are fighting to stop it. Let’s join forces to make an even bigger impact.
Our vision is for self-determined communities where residents will thrive and make collective decisions about the resources in their neighborhoods. We want to start this journey by building a citywide movement against gentrification and displacement.
� Learn what people are doing to fight gentrification
� Hear and share what is working and what is not.
� Plug in with other people who want to get involved in the fight
� Learn about opportunities for collaboration and citywide efforts.
� Find out about the “dirty dozen” — the top evictors in our city
Food, childcare and Spanish translation provided.
RSVP and more info HERE.
Organizers of the event, which includes different Bay Area social justice organizations, community groups and coalitions, seek to build a city-wide movement against gentrification and displacement. Our community meeting will focus on pulling together all of the folks that we know of that are doing good work to fight gentrification to learn about what folks are doing, share what’s working, plug in folks that want to get involved in the fight, and identify opportunities for collaboration and city-wide efforts.
A unique partnership between community members, UC Berkeley students, academics and staff has been preparing a 1.5 acre urban farm and research center on the Gill Tract. Come join us as we celebrate this new joint venture by planting, learning, playing, and eating together!
Schedule:
11:00 AM-2:30 PM: Planting, kid friendly activities, and educational workshops presented by UC Berkeley and community organizations
12:30 PM: Lunch provided by the Berkeley Student Food Collective
2:30-3:00 PM: Open community discussion about visions for the future of this space
Sponsored by The Gill Tract Farm Coalition, Student Organic Garden Association, UC College of Natural Resources, and UC Cooperative Extension
Friends and Comrades! Hunter-Gatherers, Anti-Capitalists and Others Fighting the Powers-That-Be to Create a Sane & Sustainable Earth… Come visit my studio and take home some art… FREE! …
Saturday April 26, 2014
Noon to Midnight
2200 Adeline St., #250A (Adeline St. & Grand Ave.)
http://www.bluejayway.net/sandys_art_not_bombs/sandys%20art%20not%20bombs.html
Sandy
- Readings and collecting testimony from lovers of the Albany Bulb.
- Acoustic Music!
- Food (Pot Luck – bring something!).
- Bring your dog and enjoy the beach because you might not be able to soon.
2014/03/16 Share The Bulb – Light Brigade Action in Support of the Homeless in Albany, California from user15944994 on Vimeo.
Gray Panthers fundraiser for Lynne Stewart, defender and fighter to free political prisoners and fight racist mass incarceration
Includes singer Red Welch (of Save the Berkeley Post Office fame)
“This is Lynne’s first trip to the Bay Area since her release from Federal prison. We’ll celebrate her life and struggle and focus on the work ahead to free all political prisoners and fight racist mass incarceration. Because of a determined people’s movement, Lynne is finally home with her family. But she has urgent medical needs and costs to fight cancer and this event is to help raise the needed money. Lynne gave a lifetime of courageous legal help to those of us who needed it the most. Now it’s our turn to help her. Please come”
New to Strike Debt?? Don’t walk cold turkey into a bunch of radicals talking about debt! Show up a half hour early—at 2:30 PM—for an informal pre-meeting intro session. If you’d like to attend this pre-together please email strike.debt.bay.area@
Join Strike Debt Bay Area in working on some exciting projects locally and nationally to fight unjust debt.
– The latest on our coalition efforts to Save the Berkeley Post Office and fight the privatization of our commons.
– The latest on our efforts to help Richmond and NGO allies push for principal reduction for Richmond’s homeowners. Read two articles here and here, written by two Strike Debt Bay Area members on the Richmond principal reduction / eminent domain case.
In addition, we are exploring the use of a public bank to help Richmond, CA and other communities escape the thrall of Wall Street.
– Work on our radio segment on KPFA
– Other projects include efforts to fight against student debt in conjunction with peeps at UC Cal via a Strike Debt UC Berkeley chapter of Strike Debt, a book group with semi-weekly discussions, investigations into the legitimacy of mortgage ownership and therefore the right to foreclose, efforts to thwart payday loan usury and more.
“Just as bosses are dependent on workers, so are lenders dependent on borrowers. If workers walk out, the enterprise stops. If borrowers refuse to pay their debts, the lenders could be in real trouble. Each side depends on the other. The millions of underwater mortgage holders, of student debtors and credit card holders, need the bank loans – but so do the banks need those borrowers, and they especially need them to cooperate by paying their monthly charges. Otherwise, the capital that the banks list on their books begins to drain away.” ~Francis Fox Piven
Check out our website, our Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.
Check out the Berkeley Post Office Defenders website too.
Open Free Speech Mic.
Are more People’s Parks the solution? Running candidates? Is Revolution possible?
What kind of organizations do workers need? How should we deal with Climate Change? What about the tree-protest on campus? What about the homeless?
Featuring Antioquia, Hali Hammer, Carol Denny, Cool Whipe, All Nation Singers, Too Much Funky, St Steven, Five Boys, Yukon Hannibal, Jim Bow the Hobob.
Special Guest: Hateman.
The Postal Service has put the Berkeley Post Office up for sale!!
The Postal Service has started to outsource Post Office services to Staples, replacing union jobs with low-paying, low benefit work.
And we’re fighting against both!
Come help us plan our next steps.
We’ve started a “Don’t Shop at Staples” campaign with some awesome… what else? … postcards to send to Staples management! Here’s the front of the postcard.
All four Postal Unions have joined together to support maintaining full service, public Post Offices in every community, with expansion to include postal banking, and to oppose subcontracting and privaztization of services. We need to support them in these endeavors!
The Berkeley City Council is on a path to pass some sort of Zoning Overlay which may protect the Post Office against various commercial uses, or be totally ineffective. We need to stay on top of it.
And we need to be prepared if the Post Office announces a sale! The Advisory Commission on Historical Preservation came out with its report, recommending that sales of Historic Post offices be halted until the USPS conforms with historical preservation law. Here is our response.
The Office of Inspector General’s report on the sale of Historic Post Offices was also supposed to come out before the end of March – anything could happen after it comes out. Come help us plan our response.
Encouraging articles have come out recently about using Post Offices as banking facilities for the unbanked. We held a forum on postal and public banking on March 29th on the Post Office steps.
THINGS ARE HAPPENING!
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
Screening and discussion:
“How to Start a Revolution”
— a film on the work of Gene Sharp
Any power structure relies upon the People’s obedience to the orders of the ruler(s).
If the People do not obey, rulers have no power.
Gene Sharp is known for his extensive writings on nonviolent struggle, which have influenced numerous anti-government resistance movements around the world. In 1953-54, Sharp was jailed for nine months after protesting the conscription of soldiers for the Korean War, and wrote and organized throughout his entire life. In 1983 he founded the Albert Einstein Institution, devoted to studies and promotion of the use of nonviolent action in conflicts worldwide.
Feature documentary “How to Start a Revolution” (2011) about the global influence of Sharp’s work has been described as the unofficial film of the Occupy Wall Street movement, shown in Occupy camps in cities all over the world.
David Hartsough, longtime friend of OccupyForum, will lead a discussion on the film and Gene Sharp’s work. From his time with Martin Luther King in Montgomery Alabama to his life-long work in peacemaking including in the Soviet Union, Kosovo, Berlin, Cuba, Nicaragua, Palestine and Israel and Iran — Hartsough has spent his life working for peace and justice. Co-founder of the Nonviolent Peaceforce. David has helped initiate a Global Movement to End All War. He has just returned from a peacemaking trip to Korea and Vietnam. His book, Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist, comes out in September. He is the Director of PEACEWORKERS San Francisco.
https://itunes.apple.com/movie/how-to-start-a-revolution
Global Movement to End All War www.worldbeyondwar.org.
Q&A and Announcements will follow. Donations to OccupyForum
to cover our costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
The Community & Economic Development Committee of the City Council will be considered a “proposal” by Larry Reid to increase the minimum wage to $10.20 beginning January 1, 2015.
Come tell Reid and the other members of the committee that Oakland wants nothing less than a living wage – $15.00/hr, and that his proposal is an insult to the working class.
Panel Discussion featuring:
- Stephanie Kelton, Professor of Economics U Missourci,
- Debbie Cochrane, Research Director, Institute for College Access & Success
- Hannal Appel, UC Berkeley Visiting Scholar, Anthropology, and Strike Debt Bay Area member.
Followed by Q&A.