Calendar

The time is right for rooftop solar!  At our Solar for All Convening learn about opportunities for renters and time-limited discounts for homeowners through the Bay Area SunShares bulk purchasing program. Hear about financing options and tax credits from local solar advocate Doug McKenzie of SunWork Renewable Energy Project, and GRID Alternatives’ low-to-no-cost solar for qualified low-income homeowners. Solar vendors and zero-emission vehicle dealers participating in SunShares will be on hand to discuss their products and answer questions.  Light refreshments served.

Co-presented by the Berkeley Climate Action Coalition and the City of Berkeley’s Office of Energy and Sustainable Development.

All residents of the nine Bay Area counties are encouraged to learn more about SunShares! SunShares is a limited time program; enrollment ends November 4th. Attending this event is not required to participate in SunShares.

RSVP: Registration Required
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bay-area-sunshares-solar-for-all-workshop-berkeley-tickets-27077410263

Bresha Meadows of Ohio was just 14 years old when she was incarcerated and charged with aggravated murder for defending herself and family against the unrelenting terror and abuse of her father. On October 6, Bresha has an important court hearing in which the prosecutor will determine if she will be prosecuted for a crime (possibly charged as an adult) instead of given the support & safety that she needs.

We take action in solidarity with Bresha and demand that she is returned home to her family and that all charges against her are dropped. For this year’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we are coming together in solidarity nationwide with Bresha and all survivors of domestic & sexual violence who are criminalized for surviving.

Join us in sending our love and support to Bresha, and learn more about the larger historical context that Bresha’s story is a part of. We will read and discuss No Selves to Defend, an anthology that situates Bresha’s case in a centuries-long history of women (particularly Black women and women of color) being criminalized for self defense.

https://noselves2defend.wordpress.com/

No Selves to Defend was created during the #FreeMarissaNow mobilization campaign for Marissa Alexander, and its themes and lessons continue to be relevant today.

This event is sponsored by Survived and Punished, and Asians for Black Lives.

Accessibility information: ALC office is located on 55 Columbus Ave in San Francisco. 12 minute walk from Montgomery BART station, limited street parking. Wheelchair accessible and low-fragrance but not fragrance free. Please refrain from wearing perfumes and scents.

Stop the Political Witch-Hunt Against Ms. Yvette Felarca
Protest and Speak Out at the Berkeley School Board Meeting
7pm Rally outside
7:30 pm Speak Out inside

 

Community members, parents, teachers and students plan to rally and speak at the  the Berkeley School Board Meeting  to defend Yvette Felarca, an anti-fascist middle school teacher in Berkeley under attack by the school district.

After Ms. Felarca helped prevent the neo-Nazi/KKK rally on the steps of the capitol in Sacramento last June where she and 8 other anti-fascists were stabbed by the Nazis, racist threats were made against the school if she was not fired. Instead of defending the entire school, including Yvette, the Berkeley Unified School District turned on her, docked 17 days of her pay, and on Wed. Sept. 21, abruptly suspended her. Yvette is now the target of a witch-hunt. She has been disciplined on unfounded accusations of “unsatisfactory performance” and “unprofessional conduct” and was given no reason for her suspension.

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!

Sudo room, located in the southwast corner of the ground floor, is a creative community and hackerspace. We offer tools and project space for a wide range of activities: electronics, sewing/crafting, 3D and 2D manufacturing, coding, and good old-fashioned co-learning!

Hours: The space is open whenever a member is present. Come visit! Best times to drop in are evenings between 7 and 9pm. See the calendar for recurring meetups and upcoming events: https://sudoroom.org/calendar

For over 4 years, we have been fighting to hold McDonalds accountable for driving wages and working standards down.  They pay poverty wages, often are perpetrators of wage theft and turn a blind eye to the needs of their workers.

Sexual harassment is widespread at fast-food companies like McDonald’s, which, too often, turn a blind eye to their workers’ complaints. Forty-percent of women working in the fast-food industry have been sexually harassed on the job – that’s 60% higher than other industries on average.

Women who speak out about the problem often face negative consequences from their employers, so many women try to confront the harassment on their own, or, even worse, feel that they have to put up with harassment to keep their jobs.

Workers and allies will be silent no more.

On Thursday we will be joining workers nationwide for a press conference about this serious issue.  We will be meeting at 11:30 and beginning the press conference at 12.

Press conference on the 6 Month Anniversary of Luis’s Murder by SFPD

WHAT: Family of Luis Demetrio Góngora Pat —a Mayan indigenous father, husband,brother, son, uncle—, refute the biased autopsy report released by the San Francisco Medical Examiner on the six month anniversary of his murder by SFPD officers. They also plan a march to celebrate his life.

WHERE: The Luis Góngora Pat Community Altar on Shotwell Street (east side), near 19th Street in the Mission District

IMPORTANT NOTE: Afterwards, we will join the Justice 4 Mario Woods Coalition @ NOON at 850 Bryant Street in a clamor to D.A. Gascón to press charges against killer cops. More information here: https://www.facebook.com/events/153890998400464/

ArtCar Fest celebrates their 20th year exhibiting around the San Francisco Bay Area! They will be displaying their elaborately decorated vehicles on 23rd between Valley and Telegraph.

You can view the entertainment line-up for Friday here. And check out what artisan and food vendors we’ll be featuring here.

As always, the First Friday street festival is free, but we appreciate your help to keep our community-art event affordable for vendors and accessible to our community.

Please donate to Oakland First Fridays today to help us thrive and don’t forget to bring cash ($5-$10) to the event.

All donations to Oakland First Friday are tax-deductible as we are fiscally sponsored by KONO.

Thanks for helping us thrive, and see you on Friday!

This year, the Arab Film Festival is going bigger and bolder than ever: we are honored to host the US premiere of Clash, the Egyptian entry to the 2017 Oscars. Tickets are on sale, and bound to sell out, so snatch yours right away. And we will be making a special announcement on Opening Night, you won’t want to miss it!

Described as “bravura filmmaking with a kick-in-the-gut message” by the Hollywood Reporter, Clash was widely praised after opening Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival just a few months ago. Mohamed Diab’s film is set entirely within a padded wagon, traveling through the streets of Cairo in 2013, as supporters of Morsi’s toppled government and pro-military supporters fight each other inside and out. It is a hard hitting, intense action movie that will leave you at the edge of your seat, while challenging you.

Synopsis: Cairo, summer of 2013 – two years after the Egyptian revolution. In the wake of the ouster of Islamist president Morsi, a police truck full of detained demonstrators of divergent political and religious backgrounds roams through violent protests. Can the detainees overcome their differences to stand a chance of survival?

Note: Clash is an intense movie, not for young children

Renewed Hope Housing is putting on a forum on affordable housing. October 8, 10 to noon, at the United Methodist Church. 2311 Buena Vista.

They have lined two speakers who have real knowlege of the problem and the power to do something about it- Victoria Johnson, Director for Housing and Community Development, and Debbie Potter, Community Development Director for the City of Alameda. The Alameda Renters’ Coalition will be there too!

THE 9TH ANNUAL LIFE IS LIVING FESTIVAL

LEGACY: A TRIBUTE TO THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY

The Coup will rock the Life Is Living festival.

October 8th. Oakland. Defremery Park.
It’s free. pic.twitter.com/96n5eOZpa6

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) September 16, 2016

This year marks the 9th Annual Life Is Living Festival in Oakland. Over the past 10 years, we have transformed deFremery Park (Little Bobby Hutton Park) from vacant to vibrant. We are indebted to the local West Oakland heroes and sheroes of The Black Panther Party for inspiring us to use culture as a vehicle for social change. That said, we are honored to pay tribute to the enduring legacy of The Black Panther Party at this year’s Festival.

Through efforts such as The Free Breakfast Program, we re-dedicate ourselves to sustaining the Panther’s revolutionary commitment to community generated solutions. From babies to grandparents, Life Is Living believes in intergenerational dialogue that honors the wisdom of children and elders. Our partners have been engaged in a year long process to envision, strategize and create a Festival that is inclusive, dynamic and democratic.

We hope you will join us for what is to be a beautiful day as we honor the 50 year legacy of the Black Panther Party.

Payday Loans, Panama Papers and Poverty

Why the fight to end extreme poverty is global, local and winnable

Keynote Speaker: Andrew Hanauer,

Campaigns Director at Jubilee USA in Washington, D.C.

We can heal our broken economy and build strong, safe and prosperous communities. Learn how predatory financial behavior from the East Bay to East Africa harms people and communities and what we can do about it.

Workshops will discuss predatory payday loans, anonymous shell companies, and how East Bay organizations, congregations and individuals can help stop the damage they do in our local communities.

To RSVP, email: Meg Bowerman  megbowerman@gmail.com

FAME is a network of clergy, spiritual leaders, and people of faith who work to educate and mobilize communities to stand with low-wage and immigrant workers.

 Jubilee USA is a coalition of 550 US faith communities working to address the structures and systems that perpetuate poverty and inequality here and around the world. Jubilee seeks to build an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable.

 Jubilee East Bay, a coalition of 20 congregations and individuals based in the Bay Area, works with Jubilee USA through education and local organizing.

Panelists: Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Steven Pits, Austin Long-Scott

RSVP – seats are limited. Call 877-687-1021.

Sponsored by SEIU 1021’s SEJ and Afram Solidarity Committees.

Beyond Occupy!

An art show with music and speakers, celebrating the 5th anniversary of the Occupy Movement, highlighting its achievements and the work that has continued since the heady days of October and November, 2011.

GA. Kitchen. Info. Medics.  Library. Garden. Media. Labor Solidarity. Anti-Repression. Occupy Forum. Foreclosure Defense. Occupy the Farm. Strike Debt. Anti-Surveillance. Berkeley Post Office Defense. And more!

A bit of history: The Port Shutdown Video featuring Boots Riley.

We are fundraising for an incredible local resource, the Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area. The Step Up for Down Syndrome walk is a 1/8th mile lap around a flat track in a wheelchair accessible location. Folks can donate online or collect pledges in real life and bring them to the event.

Please donate, share the link, join the team as a virtual Walker, solicit donations offline, and/or come to the event as a refistered participant on October 9th, and generally support this fundraiser!

https://www.firstgiving.com/team/332243

WHAT: A community quilt making event in honor of Luis Góngora Pat. The family of Luis in San Francisco and our coalition in collaboration with our community allies at Praxis, Paseo Artístico and Alley Cat Bookstore invite you to help make a quilt in honor of Luis.

The finished quilt will be taken to his hometown of Teabo, Yucatán and delivered on November 2nd Day of the Dead to his wife, parents, and children.

This is a family friendly and community event!

HOW: Just show up and if you want to make donations contact Praxis (415-800-6601)

On Sunday, October 9th, join us at Mosswood Park near the ampitheater for a benefit BBQ and open discussion and update on the unfolding prison strike and how to support prison rebels in California. Organizers will discuss the September 9th strike, what has happened in the US and across the country, and talk about the situation in Merced county jails which joined the prison strike on the 9th giving a list of demands to the guards who proceeded to put the facilities on lock down. In response, the inmates went on hunger strike in protest of horrible conditions, brutal guards, and lack of access to basic food, programs, and legal services.

Bring drinks and/or a dish to share and come hungry. Donations will be collected that will go towards the Merced hunger strikers which will help them stay in contact with their loved ones and outside organizers.

Lastly, this BBQ is being organized to build support for a caravan to Merced happening the following week that will work to build bridges between the bay area and the central valley and hold a solidarity demonstration.

Organized by Oakland IWOC: https://iwocoakland.wordpress.com/

More info:

Merced Hunger Strike Interview:
https://itsgoingdown.org/igdcast-prisoners-launch-hunger-strike-inside-merceds-concrete-hell/

and

https://itsgoingdown.org/igdcast-luke-odonavan-merced-hunger-strikers/

Indepth Look at Reasons and Conditions Causing Hunger Strike:
http://newamericamedia.org/2016/09/jail-conditions-in-cas-central-valley-exact-heavy-toll-on-local-families.php

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 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.  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 four 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

Many have been alarmed by the recent spectacle of law enforcement in full riot gear and armored vehicles moving through peaceful demonstrations. At first glance, it’s easy to suspect our police forces are preparing for war or terrorism instead of protecting and serving citizens exercising their civil rights. In Craig Atkinson’s disquieting documentary, such suspicions are reinforced as we learn that since 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security has given police departments $34 billion in grants to purchase equipment, while the Department of Defense has contributed additional billions in free military equipment. What changed and where are we heading? Have the War on Drugs and the War on Terror formed an alliance that apparently justifies the use of military technology, including preemptive surveillance systems on civilians? Sure to spark debate, Do Not Resist thrusts the viewer into the action on the streets and seeks to examine the growing culture of militarized policing.

A multi-faceted documentary filmmaker, Craig Atkinson is a notable producer, editor and cinematographer. Most recently, Craig was an additional cinematographer on documentaryNorman Lear: Just Another Version of You. Craig also produced, and was the co-cinematographer on feature length documentary Detropia, a lyrical exploration about the city of Detroit trying to re-invent itself in a post-manufacturing United States. The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won the Editing Award for U.S. Documentary. Detropia went on to win ten additional awards worldwide and was short-listed for an Academy Award. While in Detroit, Craig was also a cinematographer on The Education of Muhammed Hussein, a 40-minute short documentary exploring the Muslim population in the Detroit area. The film, made for HBO, was short-listed for an Academy Award in 2012. Earlier is his career; he was Enat Sidi’s (The Wolfpack, Jesus Camp) assistant editor during 12th and Delaware, an HBO film that takes a compelling look at the ongoing abortion debate in America. The film was an official selection at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Craig holds a MA in Visual Media Arts from Emerson College.

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PRECEDED BY
THE DEAN SCREAM
US 2016, 10 min
Director Bryan Storkel

A case study of how the media can take a simple, innocent moment in time and spin it into something completely different.

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