Calendar
Is Police Accountability Possible in Oakland?
A national conversation is taking place about reforming, defunding, and re-imagining policing. Please join in the dialog!
The Oakland Police Department has caused untold suffering to families of mostly black and brown residents and has cost taxpayers $74 million dollars in legal settlements over the last 10 years. Being under a consent decree has failed to resolve problems in spite of 17 years of court oversight.
How could this happen? What can we do about it? Representatives from The Coalition for Police Accountability will share recent history of the Oakland Police Department and update us on Measure LL – the upcoming ballot initiative that hopes to strengthen police oversight and accountability.
It’s time for Oakland residents to make our police department accountable to the people of Oakland that they are sworn to serve.
The Zoom meeting is hosted by Reverend Theresa Soto, the Journey Towards Wholeness Transformation Team, and the Justice Team of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland.
Please RSVP for this free event:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/is-police-accountability-possible-in-oakland-tickets-112869447556
NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:
occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 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 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)
On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over six years, since October 2011! 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
Welcome & Introductions
Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
Announcements
(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
Because of the COVID pandemic we will be meeting virtually via Zoom on the first Monday of the month.
Meeting ID: 828 0976 4186
The Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality & State Repression (OGC) is a
grassroots democratic organization that was formed as a conscious united front for justice against police brutality. The OGC is involved in the struggle for police accountability and is committed to stopping police brutality.
In alliance with the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) we organized the October 23, 2010 labor and community rally for Justice for Oscar Grant. On that day the ILWU shut down the Bay Area ports in solidarity. Our mission is to educate, organize and mobilize people against police and state repression. Sisters and brothers! The Oscar Grant Committee invites you to join us in this vital struggle.
We meet on the 1st Monday of each month
You can join our discussion list by sending a blank (doesn’t even need a subject) email to
oscargrantcommittee-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
Find out more about all the exciting new developments. Be part of the change to a people’s bank and people’s institutions. Email us for the Zoom link.
THIS IS THE TIME TO SUPPORT AN EAST BAY PUBLIC BANK!
The State Bank is a great start, but it’s one pillar of the new structure. In the East Bay, we’re moving forward with innovative funding sources and we hope to have a MAJOR announcement soon. While talking heads dither, we, the people, must create a new institution to address the systemic problems the pandemic has starkly revealed.
2019 saw the historic passage of state Assembly Bill 857, the Public Banking Act – tthanks to activists all over our state. Together we established the pathway for public banks to be created in California!
AUGUST MEETING
Join us for our monthly member meeting as we come together to build community and practice truth telling. Learn more about our work and get plugged into our campaigns. We will be meeting virtually this month and you must register to attend. This meeting is open to non-members so we encourage you to join and get to know us.
We are named after Ella Baker, a brilliant, black hero of the civil rights movement. Following in her footsteps, we organize with Black, Brown, and low-income people to shift resources away from prisons and punishment, and towards opportunities that make our communities safe, healthy, and strong.
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84693488061?pwd=M2t3S0dzdkhwN01oZm1hcFpHZS91UT09
In 2018 the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released an alarming report, stating that the world needed to steeply cut its carbon emissions and make radical changes in order to limit the planet’s temperature from rising to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. If that goal wasn’t met, the report predicted a horrifying increase in suffering for almost all life and ecological collapses.
In America, this report was met on the political Left by sustained calls for the abolition of capitalist exploitation of people and the planet. The rationale was that capitalism’s imperative for endless economic growth required massive amounts of energy, the vast majority of which is still produced through fossil fuels. Some of the specific responses were reinvigorated support for anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist struggles by Indigenous peoples, surges in attendance at climate strikes, and great support for proposals like the Green New Deal by elected officials.
East Bay DSA will explore this theme in a Socialist Night School mini-series, co-organized with our Green New Deal Committee. These 3 events will explore what it means to be an ecosocialist, the Red Deal and Indigenous struggle, and how to fight for a Green New Deal after Bernie.
In this first Night School, we’ll get an introduction to ecosocialism, its history, and how we can organize as ecosocialists today from the local to the national and international levels. Our readings will cover a broad swath of socialist history, and we’ll get started with 2 speakers:
Becca Miller has been a member of Boston DSA for two years and is a core member of the Take Back the Grid energy democracy campaign. She recently started her second term on DSA’s nationwide ecosocialism working group steering committee, where she’s been working on a new member onboarding process. Becca works as a campaign manager to increase state funding for a program that helps SNAP recipients afford more fruits and vegetables from local farmers.
Benny Zank is a member of the East Bay DSA Steering Committee and has previously served as co-chair of the chapter’s Green New Deal committee. He has organized as an ecosocialist for several years building strong coalitions with other organizations in the Bay Area and works professionally on addressing environmental issues, like supporting the California Energy Code. Follow him @bread_by_benny.
Priority Readings:
DSA Ecosocialist Working Group Principles
Care and Repair: Left Politics in the Age of Climate Change
Recommended Readings:
Karl Marx on the materials of production
– SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 and
– SUNDAY AUGUST 9, 10a-1pm
MAIN Distribution day: Sunday August 16.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpEKYFMn_elFBrtglSiPSSHg4cRK3lrVCuqd6aTZI1p7SbRg/viewform
**fill out this form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpEKYFMn_elFBrtglSiPSSHg4cRK3lrVCuqd6aTZI1p7SbRg/viewform or email Diana at diwu118@gmail.com / text +1 510 898 6992 and volunteers will pick up from your porch (also email if you have a car and can pick up or redistribute)
Items we need:
– canned food: tuna, beans, jams, peanut butter, meats, soups, etc.
– Bagged rice, beans/pulses
– ramen, mac & cheese (easy to heat)
– Frozen Meats/Tofu (for future meals)
– bottled water
– juice packs
– Vitamin C tablets/EmergenC
– New tooth brush, toothpaste, deodorant
– soap (bar and liquid)
– pads and tampons
– hand sanitizer
– New wrapped toilet paper/paper towels
– Disinfectant Wipes
– Rubbing Alcohol/Bleach
– Unopened masks/gloves
– New in Package: socks and underwear
-Homemade masks
– rain gear
– tents
– tarp
– Garbage bags
– 2-5 gallon water containers with spigots
– Dog Food
– $$$ Donate
– Ziplock Bags
– batteries
****
We will be organizing on an ongoing basis so funds or supplies not distributed will go out the following weeks.
Sign up to volunteer for a shift for the main day. Some roles include people to help assemble bags, folks with cars to help caravan the supplies to the unhoused, etc. Please email Diana at diwu118@gmail.com / text +1 510 898 6992 to do so.
Watch on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/haitiemergencyrelieffund/live
Click here to make a donation to Haiti’s Campaign For Dignity
About Haiti Emergency Relief Fund
Since its inception in March 2004, the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund has given concrete aid to Haiti’s democratic movement as they attempted to survive the brutal coup against their democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and to rebuild shattered development projects. We urge you to contribute generously, not only for this immediate crisis, but in order to support the long-run development of human rights, sustainable agriculture and economic justice in Haiti.
Learn more at www.haitiemergencyrelief.org
– SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 and
– SUNDAY AUGUST 9, 10a-1pm
MAIN Distribution day: Sunday August 16.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpEKYFMn_elFBrtglSiPSSHg4cRK3lrVCuqd6aTZI1p7SbRg/viewform
**fill out this form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpEKYFMn_elFBrtglSiPSSHg4cRK3lrVCuqd6aTZI1p7SbRg/viewform or email Diana at diwu118@gmail.com / text +1 510 898 6992 and volunteers will pick up from your porch (also email if you have a car and can pick up or redistribute)
Items we need:
– canned food: tuna, beans, jams, peanut butter, meats, soups, etc.
– Bagged rice, beans/pulses
– ramen, mac & cheese (easy to heat)
– Frozen Meats/Tofu (for future meals)
– bottled water
– juice packs
– Vitamin C tablets/EmergenC
– New tooth brush, toothpaste, deodorant
– soap (bar and liquid)
– pads and tampons
– hand sanitizer
– New wrapped toilet paper/paper towels
– Disinfectant Wipes
– Rubbing Alcohol/Bleach
– Unopened masks/gloves
– New in Package: socks and underwear
-Homemade masks
– rain gear
– tents
– tarp
– Garbage bags
– 2-5 gallon water containers with spigots
– Dog Food
– $$$ Donate
– Ziplock Bags
– batteries
****
We will be organizing on an ongoing basis so funds or supplies not distributed will go out the following weeks.
Sign up to volunteer for a shift for the main day. Some roles include people to help assemble bags, folks with cars to help caravan the supplies to the unhoused, etc. Please email Diana at diwu118@gmail.com / text +1 510 898 6992 to do so.
Join us for a voting General Meeting of East Bay DSA! This month, we will hear from committees and hear several candidate endorsements. Virtual voting rules & procedures will be explained during the meeting. Please RSVP and invite other comrades to hear updates on our campaigns and events.
The meeting will be conducted via ZOOM. RSVP here and we will confirm your membership and you’ll receive an email with the Zoom link. If you are not a member, the meeting will be available to stream via YouTube.
The Chiapas Support Committee presents
¡Viva Zapata Film Series!
rebellious films | películas rebeldes
In partnership with PM Press and A Radical Guide.
Join us online for the second installment of the Viva Zapata Film Series.
We will be screening: The Fourth World War (A Big Noise Tactical Media production; 75 minutes)
Film screening followed by circle discussion with members of the Chiapas Support Committee
Please register here.
The Reality seen through this camera is more real – Subcomandante Marcos
Join us to view and discuss the documentary, The Fourth World War. This film gives us a snapshot of the global protest movements in the early 2000’s against global capitalism and neoliberal politics. The film features the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) and traces the common spirit of resistance, justice, and life between the Zapatistas and the peoples of Palestine, Argentina, Korea, and South Africa.
Afterwards, take part in a discussion about the EZLN, how it has unfolded over the last 26 years and how the Zapatista struggle relates and exists in solidarity with current global struggles today. We are currently living through a capitalist crisis and the people of the world have taken to the streets, from Hong Kong to Seattle, from Minneapolis to Palestine, from Oakland to DC to demand a world where many worlds fit.
Please register by clicking on the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoc-uhrjIvGNOfld2iPt8QCh0j79dDodGq
About the Film:
From the front-lines of conflicts in Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Palestine, Korea, and the North; from Seattle to Genova, and the War on Terror in New York, Afghanistan, and Iraq, The Fourth World War is the story of men and women around the world who resist being annihilated in this war.
While our airwaves are crowded with talk of a new world war, narrated by generals and filmed from the noses of bombs, the human story of this global conflict remains untold. The Fourth World War brings together the images and voices of the war on the ground. It is a story of a war without end and of those who resist.
The product of over two years of filming on the inside of movements on five continents, The Fourth World War is a film that would have been unimaginable at any other moment in history. Directed by the makers of This Is What Democracy Looks Like and Zapatista, produced through a global network of independent media and activist groups, it is a truly global film from our global movement.
Narrated by Michael Franti and Suheir Hammad
For more information, visit the Chiapas Support Committee’s blog: https://chiapas-support.org
ON BEHALF OF THE CHIAPAS SUPPORT COMMITTEE, please join me on Sunday, August 9, 2020, 2:00-4:00pm.
NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:
occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 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 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)
On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over six years, since October 2011! 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
Welcome & Introductions
Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
Announcements
(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
Can schools be reopened safely with the pandemic out of control? Why do several prestigious scientific and public health organizations push for reopening schools (the National Academy of Sciences; the American Academy of Pediatrics; the Centers for Disease Control) — do they really know, is their advice really unbiased, and anyway is this really a strictly scientific decision or is it a social decision to be based on overall well-being?
What will be necessary for schools to reopen safely? Can we learn from the experiences of other nations and communities around the world? This talk will take up these and other related questions — trying to provide answers to some, and to promote dialogue on others.
Jack Gerson is a retired Oakland teacher who thinks about issues related to education, politics, public health and the pandemic — and every once in a while still writes or speaks about them. Before retiring, he was on the executive board and bargaining team of the Oakland teachers union (OEA). Among other things, he helped organize OEA’s campaign to bail out schools not banks and end foreclosures, and the Occupy Oakland education committee’s 18 day occupation of Lakeview Elementary in 2012 to protest school closures. He also has graduate degrees in public health (MPH and PhD in biostatistics).
Green Sundays are a series of free public programs & discussions on topics “du jour” sponsored by the Green Party of Alameda County and held on the 2nd Sunday of each month. The monthly business meeting of the County Council of the Green Party follows, at 6:15 pm. Council meetings are open to anyone who is interested.
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 882 4636 7071
Passcode: 2020
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Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcJoSkFC39
Told by the activists and leaders who live and breathe this movement for justice, WHOSE STREETS? is an unflinching look at the Ferguson uprising. When unarmed teenager Michael Brown is killed by police and left lying in the street for hours, it marks a breaking point for the residents of St. Louis, Missouri. Grief, long-standing racial tensions and renewed anger bring residents together to hold vigil and protest this latest tragedy. Empowered parents, artists, and teachers from around the country come together as freedom fighters. As the national guard descends on Ferguson with military grade weaponry, these young community members become the torchbearers of a new resistance.
Filmmakers Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis know this story because they have lived the story. WHOSE STREETS? is a powerful battle cry from a generation fighting, not for their civil rights, but for the right to live.
Official Selection:
Sundance Film Festival 2017 – World Premiere (U.S. Documentary Competition)
Full Frame 2017
Register: https://29050a.blackbaudhosting.com/29050a/tickets?tab=2&txobjid=0b916a66-f070-433d-81be-5b7a4687bca6
Participation instructions here
In response to Black Lives Matter, the tragic murder of
George Floyd by Minneapolis Police, Bay Area social
justice protests and public demand, the Board of
Directors requests that the General Manager work with
the Board of Directors on an immediate stakeholder
process to develop changes to the BART Police model
that de-emphasize the use of sworn personnel to
respond to homelessness, behavioral health and
substance use, among other issues that do not need an
armed police response. Recognizing that much has
been done to implement progressive and equitable
policing practices, we also need to consider a different
model of public safety that is more effective and
prevents racially biased policing. The goal is to have
recommendations for consideration in October when
the Board considers revisions to this year’s budget.
4. a. BART Police Model Enhancements. For information.
b. Overview of the BART Police Citizen Review Board Model. For information.
c. BPCRB Stakeholder Input and Recommendations. For discussion.
d. BART Board of Directors’ Comments and Feedback. For discussion.
OTU’s Mission
The Oakland Tenants Union is an organization of housing activists dedicated to protecting tenant rights and interests. OTU does this by working directly with tenants in their struggle with landlords, impacting legislation and public policy about housing, community education, and working with other organizations committed to furthering renters’ rights. The Oakland Tenants Union is open to anyone who shares our core values and who believes that tenants themselves have the primary responsibility to work on their own behalf.
Monthly Meetings
The Oakland Tenants Union meets regularly at 7:00 pm on the second Monday evening of each month. Our monthly meetings are held in the Community Room of the Madison Park Apartments, 100 – 9th Street (at Oak Street, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station). To enter, gently knock on the window of the room to the right of the main entrance to the building. At the meetings, first we focus on general issues affecting renters city-wide and then second we offer advice to renters regarding their individual concerns.
If you have an issue, a question, or need advice about a tenant/landlord issue, please call us at (510) 704-5276. Leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will get back to you.
Making sense of data has never been more important. “Big data” in healthcare, education and the economy influences policies that affect billions. The problem? Most of us are woefully unprepared to spot accurate information amid the flood of misinformation and propaganda shared on channels like social media.
University of Washington professors Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West, authors of Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World, have made it their mission to help us assess data, separate the accurate from the bogus, and fight back with effective analysis and argument
Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/calling-bs-how-to-spot-data-misinformation-with-professor-jevin-west-tickets-111174313364?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch&mc_cid=a332aaba8f
Our Green New Deal Committee meets on the second Wednesday each month. We will discuss eco-socialist issues, upcoming events and actions, committee priorities, and campaigns. All are welcome! Please RSVP to receive the URL to the meeting or email green-new-deal@eastbaydsa.org.