Calendar
How police are targeting political enemies with attempts to restrict free speech. Everyone, from black and Latino youth, anti-war activists, labor militants and rap artists are in their cross-hairs. We can fight back against police attack on speech and school curricula!
Speakers: Keith Cook, Mumia’s brother.
Cephus ‘Uncle Bobby’ Johnson.
Speakers and Film: “Manufacturing Guilt”
7 pm Friday December 5th 2014
Theater at La Pena Cultural Center
(just below Ashby Avenue)
$5 – $10 sliding scale at the door (no one turned away)
Join the Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Prison Radio and Oakland Teachers For Mumia to hear how police are targeting political enemies with attempts to restrict free speech.• Keith Cook, brother of Mumia Abu-Jamal,
• Cephus “Uncle Bobby” Johnson, uncle of Oscar Grant,
• Eliot Grossman, former lawyer for Mumia, and
• Spokespersons for Prison Radio, Oakland Teachers for Mumia, and the Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal.
• Film: “Manufacturing Guilt” — This riveting documentary makes it clear how cops and prosecutors framed Mumia Abu-Jamal for a murder he didn’t commit.
Join us! We will discuss:
• The New “gag” law in Pennsylvania that seeks to silence prisoners. This law, cobbled together in days following Mumia’s recorded presentation to a commencement ceremony at Goddard College, was explicitly designed to “shut him up.” The targets of this blatantly unconstitutional law, however, include all prisoners convicted of violent crimes!
• A Law Suit has been filed to stop the “gag” law from being implemented! Support for this effort is critical. Donations will go toward the fight against the “gag” law.
• The suppression of the “Urban Dreams” web site by the Oakland School Board. This teacher-created site of voluntary curriculum ideas included one comparing the suppression of Mumia’s commentaries with censorship of Martin Luther King’s later writings. While the Superintendent of Schools has now promised to restore the site, we must remain vigilant!
• Both of these measures—the “gag” law in Pennsylvania, and the suppression of the Urban Dreams website—were taken at the behest of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)! The FOP is a highly politicized organization which seeks to silence social critics such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, and dictate the curricula in schools! The FOP and Democrat/Republican politicians will continue their attempts at intimidation and suppression, unless we act!
• Ferguson shows that black and Latino youth particularly are threatened by militarized and politicized police who shoot first and ask questions later, and frame their targets for crimes they didn’t commit. Chief targets have included Native American Activists like Leonard Peltier, militant working-class activists, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Black Panthers and Martin Luther King. Mumia is currently a top target to silence. But anyone and everyone can be on their enemies list, and in their cross-hairs! Fight back now!
Donate Now to fight the “gag” law! go to:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/protect-freedom-of-speech-keep-mumia-on-the-air
See you on December 5th!
The Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
PO Box 16222 • Oakland CA • 510.763.2347
Sponsored by Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu Jamal, Prison Radio and Teachers for Mumia.
COME TO a brief rally at the Berkeley Main Post Office, 2000 Allston at Milvia, IT WILL BE followed by a video shoot with all who attend, singing “Our Post Office, It Shall Not Be Moved” (to the tune of We Shall Not Be Moved). Please feel free to wear costumes, your chorus attire if you are in one, or anything you’d like. This will take place rain or shine – if it’s raining we will sing under the sheltered area.
Anyone who wants to stay after the sing-a-long is done circa 12:45 PM, Berkeley Post Office Defenders and First They Came for the Homeless will answer questions as best we can about the lawsuit, the sale, the encampment, and anything else related for people who want to get up to date.
WE HOPE to get people across the country to do the same at their post offices and post their videos. If we get a few groups to participate, we can post the videos together. If we get enough, we can turn it into a video montage. We will encourage each group to add verses that reflect their struggle, and use one pertinent verse per group. With your HELP we can make this go viral!
Please be AT THE RALLY on December 6th by 12:20 at the latest, as we will have to organize into a visually effective group and do a couple of practice runs. We will sing in the key of D and ask other groups to do the same so we will be able to combine the videos successfully. The words will go as follows (of course if someone comes up with a terrific line we can add it or substitute):
Our Post Office, it shall not be moved
Our Post Office, it shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s planted by the water
It shall not be moved
Built in 1914
The artwork is amazing
No to union busting
No privatization
Our post office
You do not have to be a strong singer – your enthusiasm is the most important thing. Please join us and feel free to pass this on to friends and other organizations whose members might want to join in.
This has already done this effectively on the 100th Anniversary of Woody Guthrie’s birthday in 2012, when 33 groups around the country (and in several other countries) participated on Earth Day. You can go to the following You Tube link where you can see the video montage and see what we have in mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hGGf7G9W_s
and here is the video of the San Francisco shoot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-icfD6cgKko
In unity there is strength! In music there is collective power! Come and sing!!!
Recent events in Ferguson have exposed shared struggles around the world, particularly in Haiti: struggles against militarization and a system of injustice.
Join us as we make connections, and discuss the work we can do right here!
SHUT IT DOWN FOR MIKE BROWN
GO HARDER FOR ERIC GARNER
This protest is in solidarity with the people of Ferguson, Staten Island NY, and all across the country demanding justice for Mike Brown and Eric Garner and an end to police violence.
The City of Alameda is an island city running parallel to Oakland. Alameda Police is widely known for racial profiling. The city is also notorious for housing discrimination and racial inequality in education.
Join us for a nonviolent action to declare Black Lives Matter. This peaceful, disruption at the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will shut it down for Mike Brown and remember all the stolen lives lost to police terrorism.
In 2007 Antoine Thomas was arrested in Fairfield with a friend. They were subject to a public cavity search in which they were brutalized and humiliated by Solano County Police. Antoine later filed a complaint against the Solano County police
In 2009 he was framed for an alleged robbery in 2010 he was sentenced to 65 years in Vacaville. His sister says she has significant evidence that would exonerate him.
Concert features Dominico Bangaluchi, Richelle Scales, Fly Benzo and more!
The East Bay Anarchist Bookfair will be held on December 7th from 10AM to 8PM. It will include conversations and books during the day.
Update, Dec. 7, 2:43 a.m. According to reports from the scene, many of the protesters have dispersed. Some have called for supporters to meet Sunday at 1 p.m. at Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus to continue their efforts. Stay tuned to #BerkeleyProtest for live updates.
Meeting tomorrow at 1 o clock on Sproul. #berkeleyprotest
— Sahil Chinoy (@sahilchinoy_dc) December 7, 2014
So far we’re hearing march is called for Sunday (technically today) 5pm at Bancroft And Telegraph in #Berkeley #EricGarner #Ferguson
— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) December 7, 2014
I’ll be gearing up & attending protest Sunday 5pm @ Telegraph & Bancroft in #Berkeley. Please attend. See you there. Will be Live Tweeting.
— Domain Awareness (@domainawareness) December 7, 2014
Sunday 1pm 14th&Broadway, 5pm Bancroft &Telegraph. Bring milk as well and trade contacts for glasses if poss #FTP pic.twitter.com/DymVS0ZfUd
— LaCrise (@lacrise_ucd) December 7, 2014
#Berkeley — Call has gone out. Protest: Telegraph & Bancroft Sunday @ 5pm #EricGarner #ShutItDown #Ferguson #Oakland #PoliceState ALL OUT!!!
— Domain Awareness (@domainawareness) December 7, 2014
#Berkeley #Oakland This is definitely a gas mask night ahead of us. Show up prepared – bring water & snacks. Police are out for blood. #FTP
— Domain Awareness (@domainawareness) December 7, 2014
John P. Clark’s new book, The Impossible Community, comes out of the anarchist Social Ecology tendency of Murray Bookchin. Bookchin’s ideas have been cited lately as one of the influences among Kurds of Turkey and northern Syria. The latter have inspired the world with their defense of an egalitarian, gender-equal community against the superior weapons of the Islamic State butchers.
For Clark, Hegel’s dialectic addresses the problem of free and full development after a revolution when new forms like popular assemblies appear. For Bookchin these popular assemblies are purely “unmediated social relations.” That, says Clark, can never be. Freedom means confronting anew the necessarily mediated character of social relations.
An Anarchist / Marxist-Humanist dialog will engage this issue from the perspective of Hegel’s concept of dialectical mediation. Hegel saw the need for his dialectic to be projected directly into the fray as the prevailing discourse late in his life had retrogressed into two opposite forms of “immediate truth:” either a fundamentalist attitude toward scripture or an “enlightened” pure intuitionism.
come up the back stairs
Sponsored by Bay Area News and Letters Committees
The Progressive Victory party celebrating the Progressive candidates who won Richmond’s last election. Live muisc by Grupo Puyakan playing traditional Afro Colombian music.
The man who was being arrested in THE Vine video needs your help.
Livestreamer @codeframesf was violently arrested in San Francisco while streaming the Ferguson solidarity protest on Friday, November 28, 2014. He is now facing trumped up charges of obstructing an officer, a felony, and misdemeanor battery on a police officer.
He is still in custody, held on $75K bail.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
1) Donate here to the Bay Area Anti Repression Committee Bail Fund.
2) Show up to @codeframesf’s hearing:
Watch the infamous Vine: https://vine.co/v/On1x6iUuwxK
5 arraignments at 2pm at Wiley Manuel for people who were arrested last in Berkeley this weekeend. The anti-rep website does not list the Department (for the 9:00 AM hearings it is Department 112).
THE POSTAL SERVICE HAS THE BERKELEY POST OFFICE “UNDER CONTRACT.” !!!!!!!!!!!
THE POSTAL SERVICE WANTS TO SELL THE POST OFFICE TO HUDSON-MCDONALD DEVELOPMENT GROUP.
THE CITY OF BERKELEY HAS SUED THE POST OFFICE TO STOP THE SALE. A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER IS IN PLACE UNTIL DECEMBER 17th.
A hearing will take place in Federal Court on December 11th.
Come learn about continuing developments and help us plan our next steps in opposition to this theft of our public commons.
Get an overview of the sale announcement here.
Here’s a good more general overview piece.
Davic Rovics gave a concert on the Post Office steps recently. Check out pictures and video of him playing.
Also CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE. and the Save the Berkeley Post Office website, and First they Came for the Homeless Facebook for updates.
BPOD is an offshoot of Strike Debt Bay Area, which itself is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and a chapter of the national Strike Debt movement, which is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.
Please join us at a Teach-In & Fundraiser for the Caravana Climatica and the People’s Climate Summit in Lima, Peru (This is also an OccupyForum Field Trip)
In Dec 2015, the United Nations will convene again in Paris, France to make decisions about our climate future. Between now and then, frontline communities and movements for climate justice and action will be mobilizing for the fight against climate change. It’s time to mobilize locally against fossil fuel infrastructure and Bay Area based corporations profiting from climate change. Join us as we discuss mobilizing events in Lima, in Paris, and in the Bay Area.
This event will include:
– A panel of speakers on climate and anti-extraction campaigns in Northern California
– A video call-in with Caravana Climatica organizers in Lima
– Snacks, drinks
All donations will support the Caravana Climatica currently in Lima, Peru [http://caravanaclimatica.org/].
COME TO CLOSING ARGUMENTS FOR TRIAL
For the entire week of Oct 27th, Superior Court Judge Karnow heard testimony from both the City Attorney’s Office and the ACCJC in the matter of the People of California vs. the ACCJC.
The Judge will hear oral closing arguments on Dec. 9th. After that he will issue a tentative ruling and send to the attorneys who will then get a chance to submit written objections within 15 days. After the judge considers these he will issue his final ruling. So this all sounds like not until at least January. Probably after the ACCJC meeting where they will decide whether or not to put us on Restoration.
.
Here are some links to good coverage of it:
Tim Redmond (48 Hills)
AFT 2121
SF Examiner
Save CCSF website’s Latest News
Related reading:
FCMAT critique
OPEB Made Simple
.
CANCELLED: HE IS OUT!
Dante/Veggiebone was arrested at the noise demo last night. He is currently in Santa Rita county jail, and his bail is set at $50,000.
He is being charged with felony battery of a “peace officer” of the law.
His arraignment is Tuesday, December 9th at 2pm at Wiley Manuel Courthouse, 661 Washington St, Oakland, CA.
Please support him and his family in any way that you are able.
Read more about the incident: http://www.youcaring.com/
Of the five people arrested in Berkeley over he weekend, three people’s charges were not filed. (These were the three people facing felony charges.) Two people’s arraignments got pushed to tomorrow (TUESDAY). One is at 9am in 107, and one is at 2pm in 112. Please come out tomorrow and support!!!
Check updates here before going.
Tuesday city council meeting must be shut down. City government needs to be brought to a halt. In response to the tear-gassing of Telegraph Ave and the People’s Park area, Mayor Bates must resign. Bates resignation must be requested during the city council meeting of Dec 9th. It needs to be made clear that Bates political career is over; he does not represent Berkeley.
Shut down Berkeley city government. The police are waging war on the populous.
If Bates won’t protect citizens from the police, then there needs to be mayor who will.
Furthermore, the police chief Michael Meehan must be terminated. The dissolution of trust has been too great.
The system is corrupt. Shut it down.
Converge at Berkeley City Hall tomorrow at 7pm and demand an end to police terrorism and repression. #Berkeley #BerkeleyProtests #Oakland
— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) December 9, 2014
#Berkeley Any group converging 5pm Telegraph&Bancroft march/regroup @ MLK Jr. / Civic Center Park for 7pm convergence. 2options. #ShutItDown
— Domain Awareness (@domainawareness) December 9, 2014
Postal Police have raided/harassed the Occupation/Vigil at the Post Office opposing its sale and the privatization of the Postal Service for four mornings: Thursday, 12/4, Friday, Sunday and Monday.
They did not show up again Tuesday morning, fortunately. Let’s make sure they don’t again, or if they do, have a crowd waiting for them, as we did Monday morning and again on Tuesday.
Berkeley Post Office Defenders welcomes your support!