Calendar

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 3 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall.  If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph.  If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 3:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland.  (Note: we meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months,  once Daylight Savings Time springs forward we tend to assemble at 4 PM).

On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 2 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over five years! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally. Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.

At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.

General Assembly Standard Agenda

1. Welcome & Introductions
2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
3. Announcements
4. (Optional) Discussion Topic

Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.

Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area

San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv

Special guest speaker at our next meeting

On Monday, November 27th, at 5:30pm, FPBO will host a special guest speaker. Longtime Native/Chicano activist Roberto Mendoza will compare and contrast capitalist values and indigenous values. His one-hour talk will be followed by a short business meeting.

Roberto’s career as an activist began with the occupation of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay in 1969. He has been involved in the Pit River struggle and in Los Siete de la Raza; he was co-chair of the San Francisco chapter of the American Indian Movement and a leader in the bioregional movement, Green Party USA, Detroit Summer, the Center for Vision and Policy in Maine, Idle No More Central Oklahoma and the Green Corn Movement of Oklahoma. He is the author of Look! A Nation is Coming: Native Americans and the Second American Revolution.

Roberto is also a muralist and filmmaker whose latest film project is Out of the Shadows, a film about how homeless people and undocumented people live in the shadows. He is currently developing a seminar on the differences between indigenous and capitalist values and how the revolution will be indigenized.

Folks are asking what they can do with other parents, teachers and students at their schools to stop the District from cutting $5.6 million from school site budgets. Here are the THREE things we ALL need to do:

• 1) Email the Board members and tell them to #ChopFromTheTop & #NoCutsToSchools: http://bit.ly/EmailOUSDBoard;
• 2) Come to the Board meeting on November 27 at 5:30pm at KDOL Studios/Met West 314 East 10th St;
• 3) Keep reporting the cuts and their impacts to us using this form: http://bit.ly/OUSDCuts2017. #J4OS #JusticeForOaklandStudents

“Three Strikes and You’re Out” that’s the no-nonsense message California voters sent to repeat felons when the nation’s toughest sentencing law passed by a landslide in 1994. Designed to keep repeat offenders off the streets, “Three Strikes” won largely because of a frenzied media campaign led by two fathers of murdered children, Mike Reynolds and Marc Klaas. What began as an alliance forged by grief became a bitter rivalry as Klaas and Reynolds found themselves on opposite sides of a controversial battle.

The film tells the story behind the passage of “Three Strikes” and poses profoundly important questions about our political process, the role of the media, and our reliance on prisons to address problems of crime in our society. Written, produced, and directed by Michael J. Moore, the documentary follows an extraordinary sequence of events – from murders to manhunts to win-at-all-cost political campaigns  focusing on two ffathers united by tragedy but driven apart by conflicting ideas of social justice.

Through revealing archival news footage and candid interviews with Reynolds, Klaas, and other key players in the battle over “Three Strikes,” including judges, legal analysts, and state officials, The Legacy illuminates both sides of this issue and reveals how criminal justice policy is debated and promoted in today’s media-saturated political climate. Despite the predictions of prison alternative advocates, (who pointed to the state’s already overcrowded prisons, and argued that creating new facilities would plunge California taxpayers deeply into debt for decades to come), politicians on all sides scrambled to climb on board the tough-on-crime bandwagon. The “Three Strikes” victory put California at the forefront of a national trend of prison growth. By June 1998, one in five California inmates were sentenced under Three Strikes. Ninety percent of those sentenced actually had only one prior “strike” and were sentenced for nonviolent crimes in 81% of those cases.

Growing awareness of America’s failed experiment with mass incarceration has prompted changes at the state and federal level; but America maintains its distinction as the world leader in its use of incarceration, including more than 1.3 million people held in state prisons around the country.  Since the majority of people in prison are sentenced at the state level rather than the federal level, we must understand the policies and the day-to-day practices that contribute to this statistic.

Two years after it was signed into law, California’s controversial “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law has resulted in an imprisonment rate for African Americans that is more than 13 times that of whites. The underlying motive for this law, with its primary target being black men from 18-24 years old, brings our focus to the systemic racism, and devastation of black communities, practiced in the United States.

“If one were writing a law to deliberately target blacks, one could scarcely have done it more effectively than ‘Three Strikes,’ ” said Vincent Schiraldi, executive director of the Center On Juvenile and Criminal Justice in SF. “It can truly be said that ‘Three Strikes’ is California’s apartheid.”

http://articles.latimes.com/1996-03-05/news/mn-43270_1_african-american-men

http://www.lao.ca.gov/2005/3_strikes/3_strikes_102005.htm

http://www.pbs.org/pov/thelegacy/

http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons/

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2017.html

East Bay DSA’s bimonthly informational meeting will be held at the California Nurses’ Association space in downtown Oakland. Following a one-hour orientation for new members, we will host an informational meeting on the topic of SB 562 and Medicare-for-All, featuring Michael Lighty, director of public policy for the California Nurses’ Association. Stay tuned for more information.

After the strong showing in Oakland on November 14, Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf and OPD chief Anne Kirkpatrick got nervous and pulled a fast one, scheduling a special council agenda item on November 28 to discuss the ICE Raid and consider an OPD request for total impunity to work with HSI/ICE going forward – before the public hearing on December 5th – and before CM Kaplan and Brook’s resolution for non-cooperation with ICE can be heard. The Bay Area needs to respond. So come out on the 28th.

On August 16, HSI/ICE conducted an AM raid on the 700th block of 27th Street in West Oakland with OPD assistance. The raid was advertised (erroneously) as a search warrant for the sexual trafficking of juveniles, biut there were no actual allegations of sexual abuse, no juveniles were removed from the home and the solitary arrest was for being undocumented. The 25 year old arrestee is now in the deportation process. At an October 5th investigation and hearing that the OPD Chief did not attend, Oakland’s Privacy Commission concluded that the raid violated Oakland’s sanctuary city policy and several statements made by OPD chief Anne Kirkpatrick about the raid were false.

Video of the hearing is here. https://oaklandprivacy.org/2017/10/06/privacy-advisory-commission-investigation-of-oakland-ice-raid-concludes-violation-of-sanctuary-city-policy/

East Bay Express coverage is here:
https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/oakland-police-chief-made-false-statements-about-ice-raid/Content?oid=9793923

City Council members Desley Brooks and Rebecca Kaplan have now set this item for a committee hearing with the OPD Chief in attendance only to have the Mayor and City Council President do an endaround and try to rush authorize ongoing OPD cooperation with HSI/ICE.

Oaklanders and other Bay Area residents who want sanctuary legislation taken seriously around the Bay should attend. We need to put a stop to this. #DeportICE.

#DeportICE  #DeportICE  #DeportICE  #DeportICE

Fight like your world depends on it.

Al Gore’s sequel to ‘An Inconvenient Truth.’

Free popcorn!

Last Tuesdays of the month are general orientation meetings for new volunteers. (The first three Tuesdays of the month are open hacknights – we stay focused! )

Our goal is to create a wireless mesh network that is owned and operated by the community.

Want to help create an alternate means of digital communication that isn’t governed by for-profit internet service providers? We need people with both technical and non-technical backgrounds to help with everything from local community involvement and crowdfunding to mounting wifi routers on buildings and developing software!

Learn more at: http://sudomesh.org/

On Nov 29th, we join together with graduate students nationwide to oppose the GOP tax plan. The tax plan targets higher education by taxing tuition waivers as income, drastically increasing the amount we pay in taxes and locking out continuing and future grads who can’t afford the cost.

At 12pm on Wednesday 11/29, join together with grads, undergrads, faculty, staff, and community members at Sproul Steps. Bring a sign, bring a friend, and come ready to make some noise!

Starting at 10 am gather at Anthony Hall to make signs, have breakfast, and perform outreach about the bill. Walkout at 12 pm to gather at Sproul Plaza for a rally and speak out against the bill.

This action is co-sponsored by: The UC Student-Workers Union (UAW 2865), The UC Postdoctoral Researchers Union (UAW 5810), the Graduate Assembly (GA), International Socialist Organization (ISO), UC AFT, Electrical Engineering Graduate Student Association (EEGSA), BERC Action, and the Berkeley Faculty Association (BFA).

A recent study found that, in the U.S., the median white households net wealth was 13 times greater than the median Black households and 10 times greater than the median Latinx households. Differences in level of education, marital status, full- or part-time employment or consumption habits did not come close to explaining this shocking difference, commonly termed the racial wealth gap.[1]

Where did the racial wealth gap come from, and what can we do about it? In the absence of a government-level program of reparations, how can we participate in the economy in ways that fight racial inequity instead of reinforcing it?
This workshop, facilitated by members of the SURJ-Oakland/Bay Area Fundraising Committee, aims to share information about the origins of the racial wealth gap and create space for thinking through how individuals can leverage wealth to undermine, rather than support, the structures of white supremacy. We emphasize the development of a reparations mindset, a broadly applicable approach to our personal and financial lives that centers our relationships to racial privilege and the racial wealth gap. Finally, facilitators will discuss how they bring this mindset to their SURJ fundraising work and how organization-level work around money can serve the cause of racial justice.

SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice), Bay Area chapter, is part of a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice through community organizing, mobilizing, and education. However, all are welcome at this workshop regardless of identity. We are asking for $5-$20 donation, sliding scale, which will go to support one or more of our partner organizations led by people of color. However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Building Accessibility: There are two entrances to Sierra Club Office building on Webster and 21st, both of which are accessible for mobility devices. The building has an elevator, and the kitchen space, conference room, and restrooms can also all accommodate mobility devices.

Scents: The Sierra Clubs space endeavors to offer a scent free environment; however as the Club is currently transitioning towards the use of only scent free products, we cannot guarantee an entirely scent free space. We ask everyone to please arrive at meetings fragrance free to support access for folks who experience multiple chemical sensitivities and allergies. This means using only body products and laundry detergent that say fragrance free or unscented on the label and do not have scented ingredients.

Restrooms: Restrooms are currently labeled in a gender-binary way. The Sierra Club is working on changing this and has an office policy that all restrooms are available to anyone, regardless of lived or perceived gender identity. We ask that folks choose the restroom that is right for them, and that no one question a persons chosen restroom.

Our weekly PARTY to get this hackerspace together, to provide a venue for those things that otherwise cannot be worked out through day-to-day practice.

Potluck! – bring your own tasty dish!

As the anniversary of the fire fast approaches, Safer DIY Spaces and Oakland Warehouse Coalition would very much like to check in with you, our community, to summarize what we’ve witnessed over the last year during our efforts to halt displacement, improve building safety, shore up DIY tenants’ rights, and fix a broken event permitting process.

Most importantly, we want to hear back from you – your questions, your experiences over the last year, and where you think our collective priorities should be moving forward into 2018, when new resources are slated to become available to aid struggling spaces. There is more at stake now than ever before, and a community meeting is long overdue.

Unlike the large public meetings of last year, there will be no breakout groups for this event, which will start promptly at 7pm. We will be providing loads of yummy pizza and beverages, so come early to grub and chat with your comrades! After the event, members of Safer DIY Spaces and Oakland Warehouse Coalition will be available for consultations with anyone needing assistance.

Agenda (subject to change):

6:00pm: Ballroom Doors open, come get some grub!

7:00pm: DIY & OWC 2017 Status Report Presentation

7:30pm: *Special Guests* TBA
• Claudia Cappio, Assistant City Administrator, City of Oakland
• Leah Simon-Weisberg, Attorney, Centro Legal de la Raza / Berkeley Rent Board Member
• Braz Shabrell, Attorney, East Bay Community Law Center
• Sadaf Zahoor of Burnt Ramen

8:00pm: Q&A with our panel. Question cards available if you prefer anonymity. Please do not disclose addresses.

8:30pm: Community reportbacks and announcements – please sign up onsite

8:45pm on: One-on-one consultation, legal referral, feedback

Suggestion book & mailing list signup will be available.

*** This is not a media event. Please respect everyone’s privacy. No broadcast, social media video, or audio recording please. ***

There is one very considerate documentary filmmaker (www.jasoncohenproductions.com/) who has been embedded with OWC since early 2017, and may be filming the presentations only. Please send any thoughts on this to info@oaklandwarehousecoalition.org.

Community Rally and Press Conference + SF Board of Supervisors Committee Hearing

Wednesday, December 13th – Save the Date!
Community Teach-In about Urban Shield

Interested in learning about what Urban Shield is, the work of the coalition, and how to get involved? On Wednesday, December 13, SURJ San Francisco will be hosting a public Community Meeting on Policing and Urban Shield. There will be time to hear about what organizing against Urban Shield has looked like, next steps, and how you can support us in achieving a people’s victory over Urban Shield. We encourage organizations and community members in SF to attend this gathering so that we can all be well informed and best positioned to organize and win.
When: Wednesday, December 13th, 7-9pm
Where: ACLU Northern California Office
39 Drumm St, San Francisco, CA 94111
Facebook page
 

Our mailing address is:
Stop Urban Shield Coalition
www.stopurbanshield.org
Alameda County, CA 94606

our first-ever Family Law Clinic for people with criminal records is this Saturday!

We still have openings available for one-on-one appointments with our reentry attorneys, so sign up to reserve your spot at the clinic by clicking on the sign-up link below or by calling Root & Rebound at 510-279-4662!
Sign up for an appointment here!
If you are supporting or working with someone in reentry that you would like to refer to this clinic, please feel free to share this email with them or encourage them to call us at 510-279-4662 with any questions.

We look forward to seeing you there!

At this clinic, get help with family law issues like:

• Understanding your rights in family court, probate court, or dependency court as a person with a criminal record.
• Filling out court forms or writing declarations.
• Understanding your rights as a parent, caregiver, or someone interested in fostering or adopting.
• Reviewing parole conditions or stay-away orders that relate to family members
• Other family law issues.

Please note: Our assistance at this clinic will be limited to day-of support. We will not be taking on representation of clients in court.

A Celebration of Abundance & Community During Challenging Times. This year’s FAIR combines a wide variety of activities provided by a wide variety of groups that were SMOKED OUT by the North Bay fires in October. The FAIR will be opened by a blessing offered by the Indigenous Peoples Day Powwow Committee.

Here’s a partial list of the activities that will follow:
FOOD CONTEST, hosted by the BYA Youth Gardeners
SEED SWAP, hosted by Transition Berkeley
SWAP with CROPS, COTHING, BOOKS hosted by Transition Berkeley at NOON
DIY Garden Exhibition, hosted by Spiral Gardens
HEALTH FAIR (Spanish/English), hosted by Multicultural Institute
EMERGENCY Evacuation Prep, hosted by BFD and Berkeley Disaster Prep Neighborhood Network
TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS, by SlingFin Expedition Gear
COOK BOOKS (see sample) will be distributed by the Berkeley Community Gardening Collective
KIDS FUN ZONE, hosted by the Rec Divison
ADULT FUN ZONE, hosted by a variety of groups
FOLK DANCING, hosted by Melvin Mann
SOUND HEALING Instrument Petting Zoo, hosted by Emile Janse & Jordan Blake
POETRY NOOK, hosted by many
CARTOONS for our Times, hosted by Damon Guthrie
FRESH TACOS by familia Chavez
In addition, there will be a speech by Mayor Jesse Arreguin and poetry reading by City of Berkeley Poet Laureate Rafael Jesus Gonzalez.

COURSES (15 minutes each)
To encourage exploration of the community, there will be a morning and afternoon session of 15-minute courses, demarked with the sounding of a GONG. The course list keeps growing, but so far, here’s the preliminary list: Pimp My Bug Out Bag, Intro to Tai Chi, Intro to Mindfulness Meditation, Intro to Cyber Security, Intro to IRA Accounts, Intro to Acupressure, Sound Healings. Intro to Moving Qi, Intro to Feldenkrais, Intro to Exercising Your Memory, Intro to Portuguese, Duct Tape First Aide

Transition Berkeley’s First Saturday North Berkeley Crop, Book and Clothing Swap will be held at the RESILIENCY FAIR, Please bring crops, plants, seeds to share and clothing and books in good condition to Transition Berkeley’s table at the Resiliency Fair. Meet old friends and new, help create a strong sustainable community.

Answering the Call of Love: Immigration Policy and our Response

Dear Beloved Community,
Because of the interest shown by our loving congregation in the current immigration policy,  we want to share some good news with you:

On the first Saturday of each month the
Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity and the East Bay Interfaith Immigration Coalition
sponsor a Vigil at the West County Detention Center in Richmond, CA.

On Saturday, Dec.2, UU Oakland will be leading this Vigil and YOU are warmly invited to
join with us to answer this call of love and  stand in solidarity with our immigrant friends and neighbors.

Join Pastor Jacqueline and Lay Members as we lead this monthly VIGIL.
These vigils have been ongoing for over 4 years.  It is our honor to lead in December.

–        For the immigrants held in detention in our backyard (Richmond), many pre-trial who cannot afford bail.

–        For the millions of other people disproportionately black and brown  incarcerated by our racially biased, unjust criminal justice system.

–        In solidarity with those impacted by detention, incarceration and deportation  – and with other people of faith.

If you or someone you know, are directly impacted by our current immigration laws, detention or deportation policies and you would be willing to share your story at the vigil, please contact Lauren Poole (lpoole53@gmail.com).

We need more hands organizing the vigil.  Please contact Lauren if you are interested in helping.

Looking for new ways to show up for racial justice? Interested in how we can build our capacity and leverage our grassroots power to support the Movement for Black Lives Policy platform and the legislative priorities of our POC partners?

Please join the SURJ Policy Working Group on Saturday December 2nd from 1:30pm to 4:30pm for an interactive legislative advocacy workshop. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how the legislative process works in California, including how to track bills, lobby your legislator and bring your voice to the political process. All levels of experience are welcome!

In addition to practicing new skills and learning how lobby visits fit into the legislative process, we will hear from special guests Justin Rausa, Senior Field Representative for Assemblymember Rob Bonta, on the power of constituent office visits and Zoe Wilmott, the Manager of Advocacy and Programs from Essie Justice Group, on the journey of SB10, California Money Bail Reform Act of 2017 and the role lobby visits play in campaign strategy.

Please RSVP as space is limited.