Calendar
JOIN US FOR A SHIFT: LATE NIGHT MASS COPWATCHING
· February 12, 10 PM – 1 AM
· February 27, 8 PM – 11 PM
Since October 2015, Berkeley Copwatch has been holding “mass copwatch” events that invite folks to join us for a shift. It’s been fun and very empowering to have up to five cars full of copwatchers patrolling our city and on the scene when police stop people.
This month we have two shifts scheduled. Please join us; we will train you in the essentials of copwatching, how to document and how to stay safe!
Contact us at (510) 548-0425 or berkeleycopwatch@yahoo.com to learn where we will be meeting.
We’ll teach you how to use common encryption technologies like Signal, Tor, and password managers. We’d also like to have speakers, email jehan.tremback@gmail.com if you’d like to present.
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STEALING DEMOCRACY – HAITI FIGHTS BACK FEB 28th 3-5PM at EASTSIDE ARTS ALLIANCE, OAKLAND |
| Join Haiti Action Committee to mark the 12th anniversary of the February 29, 2004 U.S.-backed coup d’état that overthrew the progressive, democratically-elected Lavalas government headed by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and to stand with Haiti’s popular movement at a critical moment in its longstanding struggle for democracy.Eastside Arts Alliance Sunday, Feb 28th, 3-5PM2277 International Avenue, Oakland See the statement issued by 68 grassroots organizations in Haiti calling for solidarity with their struggle for free and fair elections, dignity and justice. The statement was written as tens of thousands of Haitians have taken to the streets – braving assassination, tear gas, beatings, and police torture – demanding the annulment of the fraudulent elections that gave the lead positions in the legislative and presidential races to the hand-picked candidates of President Michel Martelly, the corrupt “Haiti is Open for Business” government head imposed on Haiti. by Hilary Clinton.
The postponement of Haiti’s rigged January 24th presidential run-off election is a dramatic and hard-won victory for the people’s movement, which has insisted that no election take place until it could be free and fair and democratic. The response of the Obama administration? Blame the protesters. The struggle for the right to vote and for all Haitians to participate in the political process continues.
See this August 2003 publication Hidden From The Headlines: The U.S.War Against Haiti. to understand the relentless U.S. campaign to sabotage and destroy Haiti’s democratic government that led to the 2004 coup d’etat and military occupation. Hidden from the Headlines exposed a highly organized U.S. propaganda offensive against the Aristide government aimed at progressive activists who might otherwise have defended a democratically elected government committed to social change. We invite you to attend this challenging and informative event and come out ready to support Haitians’ struggle for democracy.  |
As a direct result of incredible community organizing over the past year, Oakland City Council is holding a special hearing of the Community Economic Development Committee, where the three proposals for development on E 12th – including A People’s Proposal – will be presented publicly. A People’s Proposal is available online here.
We need to show the depth of community support for 100% affordable housing on public land. Please join us on Monday 2/29:
- 4:00 Community gathering on steps of Oakland City Hall
- 4:30 Special CED Committee Meeting on E 12th Proposals
The fight for the E 12th A People’s Proposal is not just about one piece of public land. We need to lift up the voices of the people who are being impacted by our housing crisis and push back against development-as-usual in Oakland. Join us to demand real solutions to the housing crisis and public land for public good, not luxury towers and segregated housing.
Please sign up here to speak on Monday 2/29 at 5:30 and share your support for A People’s Proposal for E 12th. We are the only agenda item, so enter “1” where it asks for the agenda number. You can also cede your time to another speaker. (Remember to print out your confirmation page and bring it with you.)
Help us keep the public pressure up by calling or emailing Council Members, or contacting them on Twitter or Facebook!
Sample Tweet: Dear @Abel_Guillen @DanKalb @annieforoakland @LynetteGM @desleyb, please support @peoplesproposal for 100% affordable housing! #SaveE12th
www.facebook.com/AbelGuillen;
www.facebook.com/DanKalb;
www.facebook.com/anniewashington;
www.facebook.com/desleyb;
www.facebook.com/lynettemcelhaney
Sample call-in script or email:
“My name is ____ and I am calling to ask City Council Member ____ to support A People’s Proposal for 100% affordable housing on E 12th St. We need to maximize affordable housing for working families on public land, not a luxury tower. Please support A People’s Proposal when it comes before you.”
District 2 Council Member Abel Guillen (510) 238-7002, aguillen@oaklandnet.com
District 1 Council Member Dan Kalb (510) 238-7001, dkalb@oaklandnet.com
District 3 Council Member Lynette Gibson McElhaney (510) 238-7003, lmcelhaney@oaklandnet.com
District 4 Council Member Annie Campbell Washington (510) 238-7004, acampbell-washington@oaklandnet.com
District 6 Council Member Desley Brooks (510) 238-7006, dbrooks@oaklandnet.com
We are inspired by how many people and organizations have helped A People’s Proposal over the past year, and deeply grateful for every single call, email, and public support for this effort. Thank you & together we can make community-led housing development a reality in Oakland! #SaveE12th #PublicLand4PublicGood
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!OccupyForum presents
“Heist: Who Stole the American Dream” a Documentary,
and discussion with director Donald Goldmacher
Today, politics is the playground of the rich and powerful with no thought given to the hopes and dreams of ordinary Americans. HEIST goes deep in explaining the greatest wealth transfer of our time. Moving beyond the white noise of today’s polarizing media, HEIST provides us with an explanation of the crisis in which we find ourselves, and the steps we must take to restore representative democracy.”
Donald Goldmacher will lead discussion on the system as it is intentionally pushed toward oligarchy, and the problematic nature of this system in any case.
Time will be allotted for announcements.
Come fill the court to show love for Jean and Jean, who put their bodies on the line for the land at the #GillTract! Let’s show the judge it’d be best to dismiss all charges!
- $15 by October, 2017.
- Sick leave standards equivalent to Oakland and Emeryille.
- Prevent tip theft.
Learn about the initiative and how you can help. Brief training for signature gathering. Join a team to go out and gather signatures. Get additional petitions.
On Wednesday, February 24th, 2016, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, three young men, Adam Mekki, Muhannad Tairab, and Mohamed Taha Omar, were killed in a horrific act of violence.
Please join us on Wednesday to remember them and recognize the injustice that was committed against them.
Please note that this event is meant to be a healing space for Black Muslims and their communities.
In addition to attending, please sign this petition to bring justice to our three brothers: http://
Sponsored by:
Mills College Muslim Student Alliance
UC Berkeley Muslim Student Association
UC Berkeley Black Student Union
Time to stop the large increases in rents and out of control evictions. In 2015 rent for a two bedroom in Oakland increased 40% to an average of $2950/month.
Join us to present a resolution to the Oakland City Council demanding a moratorium on Evictions and Rent Increases.
n March, EBC will begin hosting mail nights at our office to respond to the increase amount of correspondence we’ve been receiving from people in prison across the Country. We are getting lots of questions about upcoming ballot initiatives, Prop 47, requests for pen pals and EBC’s work at large.
Please RSVP to emily@ellabakercenter.org
Join us for a film and discussion about the tiny home movement. A screening of “Tiny: A Story About Living Small” will be followed by a panel discussion led by members of Tiny House In My BackYard (THIMBY), an interdisciplinary collaboration of UC Berkeley students designing and building a zero-net-energy tiny house on the Berkeley Global Campus.
About the film: “The film follows one couple’s attempt to build a “tiny house” from scratch, and profiles other families who have downsized their lives into homes smaller than the average parking space. TINY is a story for a society redefining its priorities in the face of a changing financial and environmental climate. More than anything, TINY invites its viewers to dream big and imagine living small.”
Potluck snacks and meet and greet at 6:30pm; film at 7pm, followed by discussion. Purchase tickets ahead of time, or just drop in!
Event Website: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/250094
Event Phone: (510) 548-2220 x239
Event Email: carrie [at] ecologycenter.org
This event is co-sponsored by Transition Berkeley, the Ecology Centerand BFUU’s Social Justice Ctee.
Suggested donation $5-$20. No one turned away.
Wheelchair accessible.
For occasional email notices of peace/eco/social justice alerts and related events at BFUU, send any email to:
bfuusjev-subscribe [at] lists.riseup.net
For weekly notices of BFUU services etc. go to:
http://www.bfuu.org/signup.html
The time that we need you is now. Please join us in solidarity every day of the trial at the federal court building on 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco.
BREAKING BREAKING NEWS! Witness Justin Fritz apologizes to the Nietos for calling the police on Alex Nieto! Fritz claims Alex Nieto had done nothing wrong that day. Witness Antonio Theodor testifies that police officers killed Alex Nieto in cold blood! Full news tomorrow morning. Amor for Alex!
http://missionlocal.org/2016/03/witness-testified-alex-nieto-never-drew-weapon/
The federal civil action filed by Refugio and Elvira Nieto v. SFPD and the City and County of San Francisco for the wrongful death and civil rights violations of their son, Alejandro “Alex” Nieto goes to trial on March 1.
Four San Francisco Police Department officersLt. (then Sgt.)) Jason Sawyer and officers Nathan Chew, Roger Morse, and Richard Schiff fired 48 bullets at Alex Nieto, killing him on Bernal Heights Park on March 21, 2014.
For more information about evidence in the trial check Case Status and Alex’s Story.
Amor por Alex Nieto and our community of justice and peace!
Watch our trial rally song here on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShxnYj6t-Sk
The trial will last approximately ten days.
March 1st Report filed by A. Camarena � New information learned:
59 bullets were fired. 20 and 23 by Sgt. Sawyer and Ofc. Schiff who were first to arrive on scene. Both reloaded their .40 caliber guns once and kept shooting at Alex because they claim that he took a prone tactical position and kept pointing the taser at them. Ofcs. Morse and Chew arrived and make the incredible claim that Alex was still alive and threatening them with taser in a prone tactical position on the ground and fired 11 and 5 more shots until Alex dropped his head and taser. A crime scene photo of Alex turned over on his back, riddled, and bleeding out was shown.
Day 2 WED March 2 Testimony of Officer Schiff (the he Rookie) and partial testimony of Lt. Sawyer (the Vet)
Mini update by Adriana Camarena
Summary of testimony of rookie Ofcs. Schiff and partial testimony of Lt. Sawyer Schiff shot 23 rounnds, Sawyer 20. We learned today that the guns used by the officers who killed Alex are semi-automatic. It means that the officers had to squeeze the trigger on their .40 caliber gun each time to fire each shot. It means that each of those 59 shots fired were actually 59 individual decisions. Officers testified that it is their duty to continuously assess the situation for every shot fired.
They can only draw or fire their weapons if they have reasonable cause to believe that they themselves or someone else are at risk of death or serious bodily injury. This is why today we heard sworn testimony that Alex was still standing in a punched out tactical position pointing his taser the laser light visible after these two officers unloaded each a clip (13 bullets each, 26 total) and reloaded and kept firing (another 10 and 7 respectively). At some point Alex jumps down into a prone (belly on floor) punched out tactical position with his taser laser light pointed at them. Schiff and Sawyer both unloaded each almost another clip.
The testimony is that Alex kept threatening them as if he were a supernatural being, immune to bullets. There was sworn testimony that Alex was agonizing, breathing in gurgling distressed sounds, when they approached and decided to handcuff him because they assessed he could still be a threat. There were contradictions between the two officers we heard today as to what they said they saw Alex do. More on that tomorrow I suppose.
Free with RSVP.
Spotlight California follows comedian and filmmaker Kiran Deol as she travels across the state investigating environmental, social and economic issues. She meets people taking on the drought, water contamination in farm country, air pollution and potential gas price manipulation. Finding refuge in moments of levity along the way, Kiran takes us on a California road trip unlike any we’ve experienced.
Program:
6:30 – Doors Open
6:45 – 7:30: Screening
7:30 – 8:00: Discussion
8:00 – 8:30: Reception
Following the screening, we’ll have a 25-minute panel conversation featuring:
Tom Steyer (moderator), NextGen Climate
Vien Truong, Green For All
Seth Shonkoff, PSE Healthy Energy
Byron Ramos Gudiel, Communities for a Better Environment
Come to see communities in action, stay for the free pizza and drinks.
The first thing you need to know is that Qilombo is having its FIRST of MANY Art Showcase and Gallery Nights. Our first event is March 4th at 7pm, right around the time when you are winding down (or up) from First Fridays. There will be hella dope art and music, food and beverages, as well as performances. The main goal is to have artists submit their work to get more recognition and the chance to win large cash prizes. Submission fee is $15-25 sliding scale (you can submit more than one piece, but please pay more on the sliding scale entry fee if you do so). The money we raise will go to the winning artists!
But to add a bit of context…
The question right now should be: “What is a Black Arts District without Black people?”
Last November, Qilombo Community Center of the Afrikatown and McClymonds district hosted it’s first Anti-Gentrification Block Party. The event celebrated the importance of communities standing together in solidarity against gentrification and announced that Qilombo won their fight against their own eviction. Qilombo received a lot of attention for being able to successfully fight to stay in their location— from their neighbors, from the larger Afrikan/Black communities, from dedicated local radicals…and also from the City of Oakland.
Qilombo was paid a visit from a representative from the Planning and Building Department of Oakland. She laid out their thick pamphlet of what Oakland will look like over the course of five to ten years— the much needed bike paths, turning a highway into a lane to increase business, the investors who will build high-rises of new businesses. There was even a Black Arts District. Our volunteers agreed that Oakland needed development, but the kind of economic development that would not displace low-income residents in the process.
And what of this Black Arts District the city is designating if it would be more of a museum to the past? AGAIN THE QUESTION SHOULD BE: “How can you have a Black Arts District without Black people?” These plans are designed around investors and developers and are trying to plug in social justice out of the concerns of Oakland residents rather being designed around human lives. The representative didn’t have any answers to Qilombo’s questions. Rather, she told them to take a seat at upcoming meetings “without any promises” that any of the suggestions from Qilombo and it’s community can be considered due to the City of Oakland’s current development plans.
Instead of attending those meetings, Qilombo decided it’s time to have another war-cry against gentrification. It’s time to make our own Black Renaissance and Black Arts District, one that Afrikans can be able to fight to stay in Oakland to enjoy what we have created.
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Submit your art of any expression (from paintings and sculpture to spoken word and performances). We do not want to put restrictions on your creativity. First place winners will win cash prizes! Afrikatown is dedicated towards making spaces that can economically sustain the most vibrant parts of our community— like the arts! So here’s to making our new Black Renaissance and POC arts thriving.
Guidelines: See the flyer for more information!
1. Artists should submit a high quality image or video of their artwork to info@qilombo.org and include the artists’ name, an art title, and the name of the contest theme they are submitting for. Submission deadline is February 3rd at midnight!
2. One must pay a $15 entry fee by the deadline via the Qilombo Paypal (finance@qilombo.org) which can also be found at our Qilombo Donate Page (qilombo.org/donate). Entry money will be used for the monetary contest prizes! Waivers may be given to those in true need.
3. Use the contest themes below!! :
• “Colonialism” or “Gentrification”
• “Ceremony” or “Generational Knowledge”
• “Liberate the Land” or “Black & Indigenous solidarity”
• “Resiliency” or “Community Power”
• “Decolonization” or “Resistance”
• “Afrofuturism” or “Indigenizing”
While 1st Fri out on the street may be getting more & more co-opted by blah from Mayor Libby Schaaf,
it’s still #bythepeopleforthepeople up in Alan’s house at 2434 Telegraph Ave #Oakland.
We plan to turn up more and more every month!
So, in March, we on a whole nother level.
Surprise Line Up Coming Soon!
Your voice is needed!
Breakfast will be provided! You will be reimbursed for transit (keep your receipt).
What if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we’ll ever get to build a better world?
Inspired by Naomi Klein’s international non-fiction bestseller, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change.
After the film, join us for light refreshments at nearby Nong Thon Restaurant and mingle with representatives from local environmental and social justice organizations. Learn how to get involved and take action now.
Take low-carbon transport (bike, transit or walk) and enter a drawing for green giveaways!
Film Screening: 10:30am – 12:30pm
Mingle: 12:30pm – 2pm @ Nong Thon Restaurant
Event hosted by the City of El Cerrito Environmental Quality Committee and the Ecology Center.
Co-sponsored by Breakthrough Communities, League of Women Voters, Transition Albany and Transition Berkeley.
For more information contact the Ecology Center at rebecca [at] ecologycenter.org, or the City of El Cerrito at green [at] ci.el-cerrito.ca.us or (510) 215-4350
