Calendar
As part of BCLT’s newly launched project on biometrics, we will be hosting a virtual symposium on February 22 and 23, 2023 titled ‘Biometrics Regulation: Global State-of-Play’. Join us to hear leading global experts in the fields of law, public policy, social science, and computer science discuss existing data protection regulations for biometrics and future pathways for ethical innovation. We will discuss real-world innovations in Digital ID, facial recognition technology, and commercial digital wellness. Registration is now open!(opens in a new tab)
The aim of the virtual symposium is to discuss the global state-of-play for biometric data protection. We want to think more critically about biometric technologies as well as biometric regulation. As a result, we want to merge conversations on data protection compliance with broader technological, social and policy issues in different biometric technologies.
Neither biometrics technology itself nor legal frameworks for data protection are new concepts in today’s age of Big Data. But the past decade has witnessed an increasing diffusion of innovation across the globe with global technology supply chains, a reconfiguration in geopolitical alliances, and experimental domestic regulation by different jurisdictions for data and emerging technologies. The data economy is both premised on and sustained by the generation, use and transfer of large amounts of data (quantity) as well as different types of data (quality). This symposium therefore, is one of the first events organized by BCLT that seeks to explore global legal perspectives on data protection.
Specifically, this symposium is focused on biometric data and its role in three different socio-technical innovations – digital ID and service delivery, facial recognition and AI, and commercial digital wellness. We are seeing more investment in and uptake of these innovations across the world as well as by different actors (governmental, private, and humanitarian). Further, these three innovations indicate a gradient in regulation – with more regulations focused on digital ID, and fewer regulations directly focused on commercial digital wellness. Within these regulations however, there are differing degrees of data protection-related rights and obligations.
The symposium has two elements – a descriptive element and a future-facing element.
- The descriptive element brings together interdisciplinary panels from the fields of law, computer science, social science, and public policy. These panels will outline innovations in the selected biometric technology, the privacy harms or security risks that these innovations entail, the existing legal regulations and compliances for biometric data, and the impact of these regulations (or the lack thereof) on the identified harms and risks.
- The future-facing panel will bring together legal practitioners, human rights researchers, public policy practitioners and social science researchers to outline global policies, strategies and alliances that can encourage the development of ethical and responsible biometric technologies.
The symposium will comprise of 4-panel discussions, each for a duration of 60 mins. In each panel, speakers will present for 45-50 minutes, and the remaining time will be reserved for Q&A.
CANCELLED
We have a rare opportunity to work together to make national headlines for our sites. The Palestine, OH scandal has been flooding the news and it’s about to die out. We need to catch that wave before it’s gone. Let’s work together to bring attention to the fact that this isn’t just happening in E. Palestine. California is its own environmental trainwreck.
We’re working with a media consultant and will get national news coverage if we get enough participation from all EJ groups in CA. We’ll have a press conference in Los Angeles while groups across CA are live streaming their solidarity gatherings to us in LA.
#JCRCBayArea stands with the people of Ukraine. Join our friend @IgorTregub for upcoming events in the #BayArea commemorating one year since the invasion of #Ukraine began:#Berkeley (Thursday, 2/23): Civic Center Park by the flagpole at Martin Luther https://t.co/TtKFvWvPce… https://t.co/xyCN7K550b pic.twitter.com/XWIn3glPfJ
— JCRC Bay Area (@SFJCRC) February 22, 2023
A timely discussion: “Police Reform in Oakland and Berkeley, Is it Working?” The event is hosted by the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club.
The discussion of Oakland will start with Darwin BondGraham, co-author of the acclaimed new book The Riders Come Out at Night, an explosive history of the Oakland Police Department. An award-winning investigative journalist, he serves as News Editor of The Oaklandside. The second Oakland speaker, Millie Cleveland, directed the Violence Prevention Project for West Oakland and is active with the Coalition for Police Accountability.
For Berkeley, we will hear from Kate Harrison, the author of Measure II, which created the independent Police Accountability Board (PAB), and of restrictions on Berkeley’s use of force, militarized equipment, and automatic license plate readers. Then John “Chip” Moore, current Chair of the Berkeley PAB, will update us on the Board’s efforts and challenges. �
Jim Chanin, a nationally prominent attorney in civil rights and police accountability, has been deeply involved in these issues in both Oakland and Berkeley for many years. He will conclude the panel with “A Tale of Two Cities.”
Zoom information:
Join Zoom Meeting on Feb. 23
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San Francisco’s 3Girls Theatre Company returns to a full schedule of live performances for the first time since March of 2020, when their New Works Festival-literally only days away from taking the stage-was shut down by the pandemic.
First out the gate will be the organization’s long brewing production of ‘Tasha, written by Black playwright, activist and former Oakland Mayoral candidate Cat Brooks. Brooks, who looks to the late Ntozake Shange and her play For Colored Girls … as an inspiration both in general and especially for ‘Tasha, began writing the play in 2015. ‘Tasha finally debuts it its entirety when it opens on February 24 only weeks after the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.
‘Tasha
The story of Natasha Mckenna who at the age of 37 died while in custody at a jail in Fairfax Virginia is the basis for ‘Tasha. The play is based on years of research and rewrites by playwright Cat Brooks who says, “Natasha started talking so loudly I had to get up and write what she was saying.”
This one-woman play explores Natasha’s life and murder at the hands of law enforcement using a taser from the point of view of several characters both real (Natasha’s mother, Sheriff Stacey Kincaid, Fairfax’ Sherriff now and then, and Natasha herself), as well as imagined (the nurse who declared Natasha dead, and an activist fighting against police brutality in Fairfax County.) Mckenna who was in a mental health crisis at the time is quoted in the play saying “You promised you wouldn’t kill me” only 30 minutes before her death by stun gun.
Begun in 2015 (the same year Natasha died), Brooks brought the work into several of 3GT’s development programs who ended up sending both Brooks and her creative partner, ‘Tasha dramaturg and director Dr. Ayodele Nzinga to speak with of those close to Natasha and inquire further about the circumstances surrounding her death. The results of those interviews were incorporated into the final script.
“I deeply believe in spirit and ancestors, says Brooks. I feel like Natasha chose me. And this was a story that for whatever reason, I was the vessel to tell it.”
Counting Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka, but especially Ntozake Shange who also called Oakland home and wrote the seminal and groundbreaking, For Colored Girls among her influences she notes, “The influence of poets who help us see the world and what is worth fighting for is in all my work.”
Brooks not only ran for Mayor of Oakland in 2018, but also co-founded the Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP) to rapidly respond to state violence in communities of color. She is also the Executive Director of The Justice Teams Network (JTN), a project in partnership with Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors.
Brooks’s partner in the creation of the ‘Tasha as director and dramaturg is Oakland’s first Poet Laureate, Dr. Ayodele Nzinga – also known as WordSlanger. Among her many other accomplishments, Nzinga is recognized by the August Wilson House as the only director in the world to complete the August Wilson Century Cycle in chronological order.
More information on Cat Brooks can be found HERE
More information on Ayodele Nzinga can be found HERE
‘Tasha Schedule
Friday, 2/24 @ 7:30pm (Opening Night)
Saturday, 2/25 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, 2/26 @ 2pm
Thursday, 3/2 @ 7:30pm
Friday, 3/3 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, 3/4 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, 3/5 @ 2pm
Thursday, 3/9 @ 7:30pm
Friday, 3/10 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, 3/11 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, 3/12 @ 2pm
Thursday, 3/16 @ 7:30pm
Friday, 3/17 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, 3/18 @ 7:30pm (Closing Night)
The Wilmington Ten, State Repression, and African American Politics in the 1970s – Kenneth Janken
In February 1971, racial tension surrounding school desegregation in Wilmington, North Carolina, culminated in four days of violence and skirmishes between white vigilantes and black residents. The turmoil resulted in two deaths, six injuries, more than $500,000 in property damage, and the firebombing of a white-owned corner grocery store, before the National Guard restored an uneasy peace. Despite glaring irregularities in the subsequent trial, ten young persons were convicted of arson and conspiracy and then sentenced to a total of 282 years in prison. They became known internationally as the Wilmington Ten.
This lecture addresses three general questions: What occurred in Wilmington in 1971 that climaxed in civil unrest and acts of violence? Why were ten individuals, most of them high school students, framed for crimes emanating from those disturbances? And how did a movement develop to deliver them justice, what was the significance of that movement for our understanding of the African American freedom struggle, and how might such an understanding inform thought and actions today to build an equal society?
Speaker: Kenneth Janken – Kenny to his friends – is an American historian and professor of African American studiees at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he has taught since 1991. His research focuses on 20th-century African American history, and his most recent book is The Wilmington Ten: Violence, Injustice, and the Rise of Black Politics in the 1970s (2015), which won the Clarendon Award from the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society for outstanding book on that region.
In addition to the history of the Wilmington Ten, he is the author of two biographies: Rayford W. Logan and the Dilemma of the African-American Intellectual (1993); and White: The Biography of Walter White, Mr. NAACP (2003), which won honorable mention in the Outstanding Book Awards from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America. He has also published academic articles on topics such as the Harlem Renaissance, the civil rights movement in the 1940s, African Americans and world affairs, school desegregation in North Carolina, and a forthcoming history of the post-war Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. South. He is currently researching a biography of anti-fascist-cum-socialist writer Cedric Belfrage, who in 1948 co-founded and edited the National Guardian.
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https://t.co/FQYTHaNbc5 things are getting fun during our Monday night women coding nights at the SudoRoom – new flyer and a cool learning mapping project of all the languages spoken in Oakland using Jupiter pic.twitter.com/pUvHtP1sRa
— Sudo Room (@sudoroom) February 12, 2023
The CA Assembly Public Safety Committee will be voting on a bill that would codify and normalize racist facial recognition technology. Log on to https://t.co/OaXL9IFNmJ to email assembly members and demand that they reject AB 642. pic.twitter.com/F1B7suz4Cw
— Stop LAPD Spying Coalition (@stoplapdspying) March 26, 2023
Supreme Court
Feb 28th
8AMJOIN US: https://t.co/HF4gPx4ai2 pic.twitter.com/PXRsxUxXXv
— The Debt Collective 🟥 (@StrikeDebt) February 16, 2023
Agenda Information:
4. Federal Task Force Ordinance – OPD – NESS ATF MOU
a. Review and take possible action on the proposed Resolution and MOU between the Oakland Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms & Explosives for enhanced data access to the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network through use of NIBIN Enforcement Support System (NESS)
5. Chair Status Update – Old Business – informational discussion only – no action will be taken
a. Cash Payment Ordinance
b. Rent Registry
c. Illegal Dumping Cameras (ad hoc status)
d. Retreat
We are continuing the fight to limit allowable rent increases and prevent unfair evictions. “We are excited to share information about three state bills we’re working on that will limit rent increases, prevent some of the unreasonable evictions by landlords, and create more housing that working families can afford.”
Join our monthly Housing Justice League meeting over Zoom and phone
If you’re unable to join by video, you can call in by dialing +16699006833 and then putting in this code: 81529360568#
At this meeting we will talk about our fight for Rent Control and “Just Cause” Eviction protections for ALL RENTERS in the state. We’ve been winning city by city, but we need these protections for all Californians.
Please register in advance at
https://bit.ly/SS_S_Womens_Rights-2023-03-04
to receive your personal link to participate in this event online
The recent Rage Against the War Machine demonstration in Washington DC exposed deep divisions within our movement. Open Mic! Bring your thoughts about this. We encourage and will allow five to ten minutes for you to present your ideas for discussion. Some questions to consider:
(1) What are the political, economic, and military factors that led to this war?
(2) Who are the main forces in the antiwar movement – what is their class character and what are their political demands?
(3) How to build the antiwar movement? Why is there so much support in the US and so little opposition to the war? What happened to the antiwar movement – why did it split over the Rage Against the War demonstration, and how can we revive and build it? Who should socialists unite with to do so, and how?
Note: the moderator may ask questions of participants, make or ask for clarifications, or interrupt the discussion if speakers wonder off topic or become disruptive.
Here is a link to the speeches at the Rage Against the War Machine rally at which you can pick and choose to listen to individual speeches:
https://rageagainstwar.com/speeches/
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81133350622?pwd=dUUyUWppbWt6djVTaElISUhocXpSUT09
Meeting ID: 811 3335 0622
Passcode: ICSS2717rs
One tap mobile
+16694449171,,81133350622#,,,,*5892135124# US
+16699006833,,81133350622#,,,,*5892135124# US (San Jose)
Dial by your location
+1 669 444 9171 US
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
https://t.co/FQYTHaNbc5 things are getting fun during our Monday night women coding nights at the SudoRoom – new flyer and a cool learning mapping project of all the languages spoken in Oakland using Jupiter pic.twitter.com/pUvHtP1sRa
— Sudo Room (@sudoroom) February 12, 2023
Michael Brown, Jr. was a beloved Black teenager who was murdered by Ferguson police on August 9th, 2014. His killing ignited a global movement against police & state violence.
We’re honored to host the Brown family in Oakland on 3/7 for a screening of ‘Ferguson Rises’. pic.twitter.com/Hr8gje73BL
— Anti Police-Terror Project (@APTPaction) February 21, 2023
Free with RSVP.
📚📚 Join our #Ecosocialist Book Club for a two part discussion of The Future is Degrowth: A Guide to a World beyond Capitalism. Open to all – @demsocialists, @dsa_ecosocialists, & DSA-curious! We'll meet in March – register today! https://t.co/pHlv9iA3EM pic.twitter.com/1kw1zi23rO
— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) March 2, 2023
We're done letting the ruling class burn our towns, lives, and planet for a profit. If you are too, join us March 9th at 8PM EST to talk about how we can win the world we deserve by fighting alongside labor and Building For Power!https://t.co/zvY4yGHhKi#ABetterWorldIsPossible pic.twitter.com/3d4IdSzIhL
— DSA for a Green New Deal🌱🌹⚡️ (@DSAecosocialism) February 17, 2023
‘Tasha is a one woman show exploring the in-custody murder of Natasha McKenna at the hands of law enforcement in Farifax, Virginia in 2015. The play, written by artist and activist Cat Brooks, directed by Oakland’s Poet Laureate Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, and performed by acclaimed actor Jeunée Simon, explores her life and murder from the point of view of several characters, including Natasha herself. “Natasha started talking so loudly I had to get up and write what she was saying,” Brooks said of the script’s genesis in 2015.
Trigger warning: This show contains graphic images and language depicting the murder of a young Black woman at the hands of police. A non-shooting, replica firearm will be used onstage and will be pointed at the audience. It is a non-working, prop gun. It will be accompanied by the sounds of gunshots and screaming.
Thanks to the support of Anti Police-Terror Project and Mental Health First Oakland, Healing Services by Nekia Wright and Hadiza Mohammed are available for select performances. Healers will be in the lobby during the performance and in the theatre after the show to support anyone who feels the need for healing after experiencing the images and themes explored in this show.
The healers are available to talk to anyone about feelings that come up and help manage emotions to help you process this experience so you can go back out into the world.
‘Tasha is a one woman show exploring the in-custody murder of Natasha McKenna at the hands of law enforcement in Farifax, Virginia in 2015. The play, written by artist and activist Cat Brooks, directed by Oakland’s Poet Laureate Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, and performed by acclaimed actor Jeunée Simon, explores her life and murder from the point of view of several characters, including Natasha herself. “Natasha started talking so loudly I had to get up and write what she was saying,” Brooks said of the script’s genesis in 2015.
Trigger warning: This show contains graphic images and language depicting the murder of a young Black woman at the hands of police. A non-shooting, replica firearm will be used onstage and will be pointed at the audience. It is a non-working, prop gun. It will be accompanied by the sounds of gunshots and screaming.
Thanks to the support of Anti Police-Terror Project and Mental Health First Oakland, Healing Services by Nekia Wright and Hadiza Mohammed are available for select performances. Healers will be in the lobby during the performance and in the theatre after the show to support anyone who feels the need for healing after experiencing the images and themes explored in this show.
The healers are available to talk to anyone about feelings that come up and help manage emotions to help you process this experience so you can go back out into the world.
