• There will presentations about the history of dangerous Crude By Rail, the threat from the Kinder Morgan operation in Richmond and strategies to fight for our rights to safety.

For more information contact: Andrés Soto, CBE Richmond Organizer at 510.282.5363 or at andres@cbecal.org

@crustyrustyMAD 2:00 YukonHannibal 2:15 Hali Hammer&Friends 2:45 The Harbingers 3:15Carol Denney 3:45Clyde Leland 4:15 Cracker Family Circus

— Russell Bates (@crustyrustyMAD) April 13, 2015

We have invited Richard Becker from the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) to discuss their new book: Imperialism in the 21st Century: Updating Lenin’s Theory a Century Later. The book includes chapters from the PSL on imperialism as well as Lenin’s original pamphlet, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism. PSL’s new publication is intended to make a significant contribution to the ideological development of revolutionaries today and to the Marxist movement and struggle. Copies of the 210 page book will be available for purchase ($14.95)

For our full schedule, go to:

http://icssmarx.org
 

URGENT – Come to Court on Monday in San Francisco- outside 8am, inside 8:45 support #ShutDownA14 arrestees! https://t.co/EjI78UZHQA

— ★ Revolution Books ★ (@RevolutionBksB) April 19, 2015

#ShutDownA14 -pack court MON 8AM 850 Bryant – demand charges dropped! Real criminals r ones in blue #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/HW1tYSyt99

— Revolution Club (@RevClub_bay) April 18, 2015

Apr20, 4pm Oakland- Black 2 the Land! a Black Farm Day community celebratn (Hip Hop/Reggae/Funk Benefit #AfrikaTown) https://t.co/uBJC0FWzBH

— Alyssa (@alyssa011968) April 17, 2015

Hey Everyone! Sorry, but tonight’s OCCUPYFORUM is cancelled. I have to go to the Goldman Awards, and will give a report back soon; also we’ll show this film again very soon. So sorry for the inconvenience.
xx Ruthie

OccupyForum presents
Information, discussion & community!
Monday Night Forum!!

Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Rebels With a Cause:
A Film by Helen Garvy

Descended from the Intercollegiate Socialist Society started in 1905, SDS held its first meeting in 1960. Its political manifesto, the Port Huron Statement drafted by Tom Hayden, criticized the political system of the United States for failing to achieve international peace. It critiqued Cold War foreign policy, the threat of nuclear war, and the arms race. In domestic matters, it criticized racial discrimination, economic inequality, big businesses, trade unions and political parties. In addition to its critique and analysis of the American system, the manifesto also suggested reforms: a need to reshape into two genuine political parties, for stronger power for individuals through citizen’s lobbies, for more substantial involvement by workers in business management, and for an enlarged public sector with increased government welfare, including a “program against poverty.” The manifesto provided ideas of what and how to work for and to improve, and also advocated nonviolent civil disobedience as the means by which student youth could bring forth a “participatory democracy.”

Sound familiar?

But When, in 1965, United States President Johnson dramatically escalated the war in Vietnam, SDS held the first teach-in against the war, and then hundreds more, all over the country. SDS worked to organize the march against the war in Washington that attracted 25,000 anti-war protesters, and SDS became the leading student group against the war on most U.S. campuses.

SDS pursued civil-rights and anti-war activities, was in 1967 the scene of an SDS-generated free speech movement (the University Freedom Movement) that mobilized thousands of students in massive demonstrations and other activities and coordinated series of demonstrations against the draft.

In the spring of 1968, National SDS activists led an effort on the campuses called “Ten Days of Resistance” and local chapters cooperated with the Student Mobilization Committee in rallies, marches, sit-ins and teach-ins, which culminated in a one-day strike on April 26. About a million students stayed away from classes that day, the largest student strike in the history of the United States.

The student shutdown of Columbia University in New York, led by an inter-racial alliance of Columbia SDS chapter activists and Student Afro Society activists. As a result of the mass media publicity given to Columbia, SDS activists such as Columbia SDS chairperson Mark Rudd during the Columbia Student Revolt, the organization was put on the map politically and “SDS” became a household name.

SDS in San Francisco played a major role in the Third World Student Strike at San Francisco State College. This strike, the longest student strike in U.S. history, led to the creation of Black and other ethnic studies programs on campuses across the country.

A new incarnation of SDS was founded on January 16, 2006, and by 2010 had grown to over 150 chapters around the United States. It has held five national conventions to date, including the fifth in 2010.

Come watch Rebels with a Cause and find out how they did it!

Q&A and Announcements to follow.

Donations to OccupyForum gladly accepted; no one turned away!

Friends of Postal Banking Conference Call Series w/ Guest Speakers, 1st&3rd Tuesdays each month

This free conference call is intended for anyone who wishes to learn more about postal banking and to discuss its possibilities. The first 5 minutes of each call is a straightforward review of the basics of existing USPS money services and how they can be extended to include functions such as bill pay, payroll advances, and short-term, small dollar credit. The next 10-15 minutes is time for the guest speaker to speak on any postal banking topic s/he may wish. This is followed by a 30-40 minute open discussion among invited participants. Screenshare capability, if needed, will be provided.

The list of scheduled speakers is:

April 21st, Sheldon Garon, Professor of History, Princeton University, Author of book, Beyond Our Means: Why America Spends While the World Saves. Presentation: Postal Financial Services, A Global Perspective, Presentation: http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/Assets/2014/07/FIN_Panel-2–Postal-Financial-Services-A-GlobalHistorical-Perspective-by-Sheldon-Garon.pdf

May 5th, David C. Williams, USPS Inspector General, OIG published Providing Non-Bank Financial Services for the Underserved (see https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/document-library-files/2014/rarc-wp-14-007.pdf )in January, 2014. Follow up report to be published before this conference call.

Register here.

WE FORCED THE STATE TO CONCEDE!!!!

STOP POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN OF COLOR!

Facebook event.

Tell Oakland City Council to put pressure on OPD, the District Attorney, and Alameda Coroner!

We demand them to release the police and autopsy reports in the police killing of 27-year-old mother of four, Guadalupe (“Lupe”) Manzo Ochoa. Lupe was killed by San Leandro Police in East Oakland December 7th and now OPD is investigating the shooting and refuses to be transparent with the family!

WEAR HOT PINK (Lupe’s favorite color), bring noisemakers and signs that say @[null:#Justicia4Lupe]!

*We want to get a long line of people to sign up to speak and simply state “on behalf of Lupe Ochoa’s family, release the reports!”

*Please note that the formal meeting begins at 630pm though sign up may begin as early as 530. Some of us will be in attendance early to sign up for those who wish to speak.

We will have some chants. We want to disrupt City Council and remind them that police devastated Lupe’s family and community and we want answers!

Update: sign up to speak on item number 13. It’s for an independent review board for OPD. Utilize the time to talk about how OPD cannot be trusted to investigate themselves let alone San Leandro police and that the police and coroners reports in the killing of Lupe Ochoa needs to be released now! Sign up for a speakers card online through this link:
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/CityClerk/s/SpeakerCard/SpeakerCard/OAK032373

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE STATE OF THE PLANET

with Florence Windfall

Earth Day is Everyday

We invite you to participate in our Earth Awareness meeting at Humanist Hall. Come and share your own impressions of the current state of the Earth whether your impressions come from your own experiences and ideas or from those of someone you recommend we read. You are welcome to read from material that you bring to our group or to talk about your own experiences and/or ideas. What do you think is the current condition of planet Earth and its short term and/or long term fate? And what is your reaction to these thoughts you have?

Everyone will have at least 15 minutes to make their point or express their feelings. Discussion will follow each participant’s presentation. The time allowed for discussion will be longer or shorter depending on how many participants there are. If you are not so familiar with current developments in climate change science or politics, please see the list of articles, photos, and a radio program for your reading/viewing/listening pleasure that’s on our website, shown in the link below! For more articles and videos, check out our past Earth Awareness programs that are shown on our website.

Humanist Hall is wheelchair accessible around the corner at 411 28th Street.

$5 donations are expected.

Tomorrow, the Budget and Finance Committee will meet to discuss the proposed spending costs for public safety services for this year. This hearing is critical as San Francisco Police Department will ask for an additional $23 million from the general fund to hire and train at least 150 new police officers.

“More cops means more arrests,” said Chief Suhr.

This is the city’s justification for the SF replacement jail that will cost upwards of $280 million to build and operate. Last week, there were 293 prisoners locked up in CJ4, yet this replacement jail irresponsibly calls for 521 new cages. We know this new jail would only mean devasting consequences for poor, POC, trans, and LGBQ San Franciscans.

In San Francisco, the African American population is less than 5%, yet black people make up 56% of the imprisoned population. Two-thirds of women in jail have non-violent sentences and have trauma and/or substance abuse issues. As reported by the Controller’s Office, 50% of prisoners presently inside county jails have mental health issues. It’s time we invest in real solutions to public safety, housing, jobs, education, mental health care, not more of the same failed policies that harm our community.

When: Wednesday, April 22 at 1:00 pm
Where: City Hall, Room #250, San Francisco

Together we will demand San Francisco to make real and lasting investments in the health and sustainability of our city! 

Film screening of subMedia.tv’s “Street Politics 101” about the 2012 student strike in Montréal, Canada. Plus a screening of the latest Stimulator episode with updates from the student strike currently unfolding in Montréal.

Description of Street Politics 101 from subMedia.tv:

In the spring of 2012, a massive student strike in opposition to a tuition hike, rocked the streets of the Montréal for over six months. Protests and militant street actions became part of the daily and nightly reality of this Canadian metropolis. Several times during this tumultuous spring, the numbers in the streets would reach over one hundred thousand. Police routinely clubbed students and their allies, and arrested them by the hundreds. Some were even banned from entering the city. But every time the cops struck, the student movement got bigger and angrier.

This is a story about how the arrogance of a government, underestimated a dedicated group of students, who through long term organizing laid the foundation for some of the largest mass demonstrations in Canada’s history. But it is also a story of how a crews of determined anarchists, educated a new generation of students, in the importance of owning the streets.

In Street Politics 101, subMedia.tv features some of the best footage from what some called “the maple spring.” It also features interviews with students, teachers and anarchists involved in one of the most militant rebellions in Quebec.

Compensation for rape or other violent crimes is crucial to recovery, yet many victims are denied it. Find out
what can be done!

Build on a victory: In 2013 a campaign spearheaded by US PROStitutes Collective, with key support from other sex worker organizations and women’s and prisoners rights campaigners, pushed the California Victim Compensation Program (CalVCP) to drop a discriminatory regulation that denied compensation to sex workers for involvement in the crime of prostitution. Sex workers who are victims of rape, sexual assault or had suffered domestic violence can now get compensation.

• Compensation is still denied to victims who have suffered other violence, or who are prisoners or formerly incarcerated people (FIPs).
• A “cooperation with police” requirement is a further obstacle to compensation, particularly for immigrants and people of color, and any who fear retaliation, deportation, and/or police racism or other bias.
• Similar criminalization and discrimination exists in other countries, and we are campaigning together internationally against this.

Speakers:
Linda Evans, All of Us or None – the impact of compensation programs on prisoners and FIPs.

Nina Lopez, English Collective of Prostitutes and Legal Action for Women, UK – opposing criminalization based on the ‘Swedish model’; the use of anti-trafficking laws to target sex workers & immigrants.

Margaret Prescod, Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders – fighting for justice over the murders of 100 Black women in South Central LA, dismissed by law enforcement as “no humans involved.”

Rachel West, US PROStitutes Collective – what’s next in the struggle for compensation.

From Ferguson and NYC to Los Angeles and Oakland sexism and racism ensure criminalization and even murder. In campaigning for justice we draw on our experiences to demand what we are entitled to.

Event called by: US PROStitutes Collective. Planning Group: All of Us or None, Erotic Service Providers Union: Global Women’s Strike; In Defense of Prostitute Women’s Safety Project; Queer Strike; Sin Barras; Kate Grünke-Horton, UCSF PhD Student; Meleiza Figueroa, and other individuals.

http://www.facebook.com/events/890003634396292/

The San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance and the Roxie present “Occupy The Farm”  on Earth Day! This is a very special screening since Earth Day is the anniversary of the original action by Occupy the Farm . Occupy the Farm, a film by Todd Darling, tells the story of 200 urban farmers who walk onto a publicly owned research farm and plant it with two acres of crops in order to save the land from becoming a real-estate development.

The film captures an intense conflict over one piece of land. Compelling characters on both sides of the battle create a remarkable narrative in which community members employ an ingenious strategy to confront a powerful institution in the effort to preserve public land for urban farming.

From preparing the soil to police raids, from lawsuits to overflowing harvests, Occupy the Farm reveals a determined community responding with a direct action to address a major social need: healthy food and access to public land.

Join us on April 21st & 22nd to celebrate Earth Day at the Roxie in San Francisco. Screening will be followed by Q&A with the filmmaker Todd Darling and with Ashoka Finley, one of the organizers of Occupy The Farm. Be sure to get your tickets now: http://www.roxie.com/

Critics Say:

“Riveting from the start”, says the Village Voice’s film critic Ernest Handy about OCCUPY THE FARM. “It illustrates the staggering extent to which corporate interests dictate policy and shape scientific research.”

“Sweeps up the viewer in a fast-paced, character-driven narrative,” says Sarah Burke in her film review of OCCUPY THE FARM in East Bay Express.

“Empowering food for thought,” says Los Angeles Times film critic Michael Rechtsaffen.

Informational Demonstration: PLEASE come help share information and hold a huge banner.  There will be thousands of passers-by that day at Laney College!
 

Solidarity w/ The Prisoner Hunger Strikers Study Session:

Every week The Bay Area Solidarity Committee for Jalil Muntaqim hosts a Political Education Class “New Afrikan Prisoner Writings Study Sessions”from 5:30-7:30PM.  We will dedicate the April 23rd session in solidarity with the prisoner hunger strikers.  We will be reading and discussing “the five core demands” as well as the “Agreement to End Hostilities“.  We will also be dissecting different writings by Abdul Olugbala Shakur, Chairman & founder of George Jackson University. The event, hosted by The Bay Area Solidarity Committee For Jalil Muntaqim and George Jackson University, will end in an open mic and political hip hop Show.

Political Education 5:30pm – 7:30pm,
Show/Open Mic 8:00 – 10:00pm

Group Website: https://www.facebook.com/committee.jalil