Turn out for a rally and march calling for FULL sheriff accountability and transparency! In the span of just 6 days, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department has been exposed for:
Join us to demand that the Board of Supervisors authorize an independent audit and full transparency and accountability of the Alameda Sheriff’s Department. #AuditAhern NOW!! For more information visit our Facebook event page.
Oakland City Council will discuss creating our local public bank. To review: On September 11, the four-member finance committee looked at the feasibility study, heard from the community, and decided to send the whole matter to the full Council. Now, to make sure the Council keeps moving forward, we need to show up once more. Please attend if you can; we’ll be there with t-shirts and signs for you.
The financial crisis that erupted a decade ago in the U.S. subprime mortgage market has had immense political and economic ramifications. Ten years after the bail out, the austerity imposed by capitalists and their politicians has made increasing inequality and hardship the norm. The classical meaning of crisis is turning point. Did the crisis mark the decline of the established political consensus? Did it contribute to the rise of Trump one hand and the DSA on the other? How should democratic socialists organize knowing there’s always a next crisis with capitalism? Find out the answers to these questions and many more at the next installment of Night School.
See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.
National Call to Action
Stay Mobilized Until Kavanaugh is Defeated: No “Business As Usual”
Everyone Who Can Possibly Go to Washington, DC Between Now and When Kavanaugh is Defeated—Get There NOW
No Reliance on the Politicians
The Hands of the FBI Must Not Be Tied, the FBI Must Be Free to Conduct a Full Investigation of All the Charges Against Kavanaugh
Mass Direct Action Now to Defend Democracy and Defend Women’s Rights
Confirming Kavanaugh sends a message to women across the country that victims of sexual assault should stay silent. Defeating Kavanaugh sends a message that victims should speak out, stand up, and fight.
Resist. Confront. Disrupt. Fight to win (AND WE CAN WIN)!
Over the past week, the protests and confrontations in Washington, DC, by the Resistance, the mass movement against Trump, have been pivotal in reversing the impending catastrophe of Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination. Above all, the courageous determination and action of women who are survivors of sexual assault and abuse have been decisive in making it possible to defeat Trump and the Republicans’ rush to put a sexual abuser on the US Supreme Court. The indelible courage of Christine Blasey Ford’s disclosure of Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual assault and her testimony last Thursday showed the nation a real hero. Other women have answered her call, and have since come forward with their own searing accounts of Kavanaugh’s sexual assaults: Deborah Ramirez, Julie Swetnick, and Elizabeth Rasor. Our support for Dr. Ford and all these women is unequivocal and categorical. The stand they have taken has dragged this nation from the precipice of a national and international disgrace to the genuine possibility of saving American democracy.
Despite Professor Blasey Ford’s courageous and obviously true testimony Thursday, afterwards, on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, the Republican politicians were still attempting to jam Kavanaugh’s nomination through the US Senate Judiciary Committee, filling the Senate hearing room with the gross male rage of a bunch of crude sexist bullies, repeating one after the other the long-discredited arguments misogynists have used to silence women trying to fight against sexual assault. The Democratic politicians on the other side who supposedly opposed Kavanaugh and rightly claimed to support Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony, behaved far too much as if they had been abused into passivity themselves by the Republicans’ abusive ranting and raving, rather than finding the courage to really defend Blasey Ford’s heroic stand and actually fight to win.
Under these circumstances, two young women, Ana Maria Archila and Maria Gallagher had to join Blasey Ford and the other Kavanaugh accusers as the real heroes of this struggle. On Friday morning, after the supposed open-minded Republican Senator Jeff Flake announced that he would actually vote with the other Republicans to send the Kavanaugh nomination to the full Senate for a vote for confirmation, these two women caught the cowardly Senator Flake in an elevator. They genuinely and passionately spoke truth to power. They expressed the indignation and determination of millions of women across the nation and the Resistance fighting for the future of democracy in America to break the suffocating silence imposed on the victims of sexual assault and abuse by American society for far too long. Their confrontation with the timid Senator Flake communicated the reality that for the rest of his life, wherever he goes, he will be held accountable for his role in accepting or rejecting sexual predator Brett Kavanaugh on the US Supreme Court. They demanded, “Look at me when I’m talking to you,” when Flake tried to avoid hearing their own declarations of their histories of sexual assault. Their bold and decisive action, not the passive, boring, and half-stepping speeches of politicians inside the committee, forced Flake, after the elevator confrontation, to change his position and demand an independent FBI investigation of the sexual abuse charges against Kavanaugh before a vote could take place in the full Senate. The audacity of Archila and Gallagher is a model for how our movement can and must carry through on the fight we need to make now.
With MORE of this kind of bold and determined direct action in DC between now and the final vote on Kavanaugh, our movement can win. We must make the most of this opportunity. With the Senate confirmation vote officially postponed only by a week, we must act and we must act fast. Hundreds of people have been protesting inside and outside of the Capitol. Throughout the course of this entire process, fresh Resistance forces need to flood the capital. We need a mass confrontation of the movement with the politicians, especially the ever-so-timid waverers Jeff Flake (R), Susan Collins (R), Lisa Murkowski (R), Paul Manchin (D), and Heidi Heitkamp (D), and demand that they oppose Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation. This entire fight over Kavanaugh’s nomination makes clear Rule #1 of the movement: do NOT rely on the politicians to fight; rely on ourselves and each other to win.
“Never again” begins now. It is obvious the confirmation of Kavanaugh will send a message that in America, people who are sexually assaulted or abused should keep silent. That message must be defeated, and the message sent by Christine Blasey Ford and the other heroic survivors who have been speaking out must prevail. Kavanaugh has also clearly, throughout his career, been an enemy of the legal and political gains of the women’s movement, in particular an enemy of the right of women to control over their own bodies secured in 1973 in the Roe v Wade decision. Despite the statements to the contrary of certain cowardly waverers, it is obvious that Kavanaugh will take advantage of the first opportunity he could get to overturn Roe all together, and until he can accomplish that, vote to render Roe v Wade a dead letter in practice as much as possible. Trump would not have nominated him if that were not the case.
In addition to the message aimed at silencing the struggle against sexual abuse and the attack on the fundamental rights of women, the threat of Kavanaugh’s confirmation places democracy at stake in yet another way, which is completely bound up with Donald Trump’s aspiration to create an authoritarian presidency. Even among Trump’s short list of reactionary candidates to nominate to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh stood out as holding absolutely extreme positions in favor of presidential power and against presidential accountability. In particular, Kavanaugh has publicly argued repeatedly that presidents should not be subject at all to investigations like the Mueller investigation. For the past year, the Mueller investigation has been the only governmental process aimed at determining the role the Trump campaign may have played in conspiring with Putin’s attempt to distort and determine the results of the 2016 presidential elections. Only the Mueller investigation can make possible holding Trump accountable for his numerous efforts to obstruct justice and turn the FBI, the Justice Dept. as a whole, and the nation’s intelligence agencies into his own personal state police. Given that there are already four judges on the Court ready to uphold a very expansive view of presidential power, Kavanaugh’s confirmation would create a long-term majority prepared to uphold the emergence of a reactionary, authoritarian presidential dictatorship over the next period of American history, beginning with an imminent set of decisions pertaining to the Mueller investigation.
The future of democracy is at stake. We are being called by history to meet the challenge of this extraordinary moment.
To all supporters of the movement to defeat Kavanaugh and Trump: get to DC this week, however you can. Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the US Supreme Court must be defeated. While Dr. Ford’s forthright courage was celebrated across the nation, anyone watching last Thursday’s performance by Brett Kavanaugh shuddered in disgust at his debauched rage. His performance was, from the beginning to end, the behavior of a guilty man. His testimony left no doubt that he is a dangerous misogynist and sexual predator. He presented an appalling display of exactly the kind of judge who should never receive a lifetime appointment to the most powerful court in the world. His testimony made utterly clear that Kavanaugh on the Court would be the closest equivalent to giving Donald Trump a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.
Until Dr. Ford came forward, Kavanaugh’s nomination seemed all but secured. Today, the opposite is true. Today, Kavanaugh’s nomination presents a test of the #Metoo movement that has come forward against Trump’s misogyny, his promotion and defense of sexual assault that has been central to his political platform. As long as Donald Trump, as Abuser-in-Chief, remains in office, misogynist men like Kavanaugh will feel they have a greenlight to attack, harass, objectify and abuse women. By defeating the nomination of Kavanaugh we will be dealing a blow to Trump’s attacks on democracy and his movement of reactionary supporters who have been emboldened to carry out misogynist, immigrant-bashing, and racist attacks.
Now more than ever, as our nation stands at a crossroads, the Resistance must rise to our historic challenge. This is no time for “business as usual” or to rely on the promises and maneuvers of cynical politicians or the FBI. BAMN calls on all anti-Trump and pro-democracy Resistance fighters to join us in action to defeat the nomination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, and to force Trump to resign or be removed. The future of freedom and democracy is in our hands.
Meeting of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors’ Ad Hoc Committee on Urban Area Security Initiative.
Agenda:
Revised Meeting Schedule and Meeting Protocols
Learning Goals and Data Needs
Urban Shield Guidelines, Adopted by Board of Supervisors and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office
UASI Overview and 2019 Plan
Alameda County Emergency Management
Discussion on Criteria to Weigh Recommendations
Public Comment
Hear from @CatherineNCrump discussing the recent SCOTUS Carpenter ruling, and from Darlene Flynn – Dept. of Race & Equity, on how to measure (and mitigate) disparate impact.
Agenda:
4. 5:15pm: Election of vice-chair
5. 5:20pm: Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – discussion with Director Darlene Flynn – Dept. of Race & Equity about measuring and mitigating disparate impact; take action on Surveillance Technology Acquisition Questionnaire (STAQ)
6. 5:50pm: Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – discussion with staff and take action to adopt sequence of impact analysis and use policy writing for existing equipment7. 6:00pm: Special presentation and Q&A with UC Berkeley Law Professor Catherine Crump: Carpenter v. United States (2018)’
Come by our open Delegates Meetings every First and Third Thursday of the month at 7pm! We’ll give space to brief announcements, updates from working groups, proposals up for consensus, and discussion around important issues. The schedule is created weekly at the following url: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom
A conference, Women and the Spirit of the New Deal, will bring authors, scholars, historians, and activists together at UC Berkeley to fill in a significant gap in our understanding of the 20th Century – the role of women in the nation’s economic recovery, social welfare, and cultural life during the crisis of the 1930s Great Depression. A limited number of seats are open to the public to attend the presentations on Friday and Saturday at Maude Fife Room. Donations to the Living New Deal would be appreciated. Registration is required. Lndconference.eventbrite.com
With pivotal national elections just weeks away and unprecedented numbers of women running for office, taking power, and leading change, the topic is especially timely. Co-hosts are The Living New Deal, Frances Perkins Center, and the National New Deal Preservation Association.
UC Berkeley Professor Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, will speak. He is author of The Work of Nations; Saving Capitalism; and the documentary, Inequality. Reich will receive the Intelligence and Courage Award at the Women’s Faculty Club on Friday, Oct 5, 6:30pm. The award ceremony and Dr. Reich’s speech are open to the public on a donation basis. Registration is required to attend. Lndconference.eventbrite.com
Dr. John Roosevelt Boettiger, grandson of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, a former professor of psychology and a founding faculty member at Hampshire College, will lead off the conference on Friday morning, Oct 5. Boettiger lived in the White House as a boy, and traveled with his grandmother during her work at United Nations while she authored the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
The program includes
Kirstin Downey, co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize while a reporter for the
Washington Post, and award-winnng author of several books including
The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins,
FDR’s Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience.
Susan Quinn, autthor of two books about women of the New Deal:
Eleanor and Hick, Furious Improvisation, about the embattled
Federal Theatre Project and its director Hallie Flanagan.
Dyanna Taylor, granddaughter of Dorothea Lange. Lange, who lived in Berkeley,
chronicled the Great Depression as a New Deal photographer. Dyanna produced the
documentary, Grab a Hunk of Lightning, about Lange’s life and work.
Robin Gerber, <author of Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way,
an attorney and former labor leader who helped found the James MacGregor Burns
Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Dr. Eileen Boriis, Professor of Feminist Studies, UC Santa Barbara, co-author of
Caring for America: Home Health Workers in the Shadow of the Welfare State.
See the full schedule and list of presenters here: : https://lndconference.eventbrite.com
The conference cosponsors include: the City of Berkeley, East Bay Regional Park District, Friends of the Berkeley Rose Garden, Frances Perkins Center, National New Deal Preservation Association and UC Berkeley Departments of Gender and Women’s Studies, Geography, History, and Sociology.
CONTACTS:
Susan Ives,
susan@susanivescommunications.com,
415-987-6764
Harvey Smith,
harveysmithberkeley@yahoo.com
510-684-0414
Bay Area Landless Peoples Alliance:
Regional meeting of landless activists of the San Francisco Bay Area
A conference, Women and the Spirit of the New Deal, will bring authors, scholars, historians, and activists together at UC Berkeley to fill in a significant gap in our understanding of the 20th Century – the role of women in the nation’s economic recovery, social welfare, and cultural life during the crisis of the 1930s Great Depression. A limited number of seats are open to the public to attend the presentations on Friday and Saturday at Maude Fife Room. Donations to the Living New Deal would be appreciated. Registration is required. Lndconference.eventbrite.com
With pivotal national elections just weeks away and unprecedented numbers of women running for office, taking power, and leading change, the topic is especially timely. Co-hosts are The Living New Deal, Frances Perkins Center, and the National New Deal Preservation Association.
UC Berkeley Professor Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, will speak. He is author of The Work of Nations; Saving Capitalism; and the documentary, Inequality. Reich will receive the Intelligence and Courage Award at the Women’s Faculty Club on Friday, Oct 5, 6:30pm. The award ceremony and Dr. Reich’s speech are open to the public on a donation basis. Registration is required to attend. Lndconference.eventbrite.com
Dr. John Roosevelt Boettiger, grandson of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, a former professor of psychology and a founding faculty member at Hampshire College, will lead off the conference on Friday morning, Oct 5. Boettiger lived in the White House as a boy, and traveled with his grandmother during her work at United Nations while she authored the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
The program includes
Kirstin Downey, co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize while a reporter for the
Washington Post, and award-winnng author of several books including
The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins,
FDR’s Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience.
Susan Quinn, autthor of two books about women of the New Deal:
Eleanor and Hick, Furious Improvisation, about the embattled
Federal Theatre Project and its director Hallie Flanagan.
Dyanna Taylor, granddaughter of Dorothea Lange. Lange, who lived in Berkeley,
chronicled the Great Depression as a New Deal photographer. Dyanna produced the
documentary, Grab a Hunk of Lightning, about Lange’s life and work.
Robin Gerber, <author of Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way,
an attorney and former labor leader who helped found the James MacGregor Burns
Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Dr. Eileen Boriis, Professor of Feminist Studies, UC Santa Barbara, co-author of
Caring for America: Home Health Workers in the Shadow of the Welfare State.
See the full schedule and list of presenters here: : https://lndconference.eventbrite.com
The conference cosponsors include: the City of Berkeley, East Bay Regional Park District, Friends of the Berkeley Rose Garden, Frances Perkins Center, National New Deal Preservation Association and UC Berkeley Departments of Gender and Women’s Studies, Geography, History, and Sociology.
CONTACTS:
Susan Ives,
susan@susanivescommunications.com,
415-987-6764
Harvey Smith,
harveysmithberkeley@yahoo.com
510-684-0414
In the now extremely likely event that Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court, we will gather at 5pm on the day of the vote to show that #WeDoNotConsent to the appointment of yet another sexual predator into a position of power in the US govt. Join us to express our collective outrage and to continue the process of healing for survivors of the ‘justice’ system.
Bring silver duct tape and chapstick if you are able. We will continue to update on this page as details about the vote are released.
Resilience for Renters: Grow Your Own Food
WHAT: Growing your own food is a key resilience strategy lowers your grocery bills, makes healthier eating easy and fun, and helps combat climate change! No yard? No extra money? No problem! In this hands-on workshop at our lush outdoor classroom, you will learn many ways to grow food as a renter. Instructor Lori Caldwell, a long-time renter herself, will demonstrate creative solutions and cover topics such as:
WHO: Instructor Lori Caldwell – a renter herself! – is an avid edible gardener, Master Composter, and Bay-Friendly Qualified Landscape Professional. She has been teaching sustainable gardening classes all over the Bay Area since 2007.
(This workshop is part of the “Resilience for Renters” series the Ecology Center is developing for the thousands of renters in the East Bay.)
Please join us for our regular biweekly meeting of the Sunflower Alliance. We’ll discuss ongoing eco-campaigns and plans for the future. Newcomers and old friends welcome — we need your participation and your voice. Come early to hang out and share a potluck lunch.
Potluck lunch: 12:30 PM
FROM DETENTION TO FREEDOM-REUNITED FAMILIES SPEAK! Join us for a community celebration of the past 7+ years of Interfaith Prayer Vigils at WCDF with people who have been freed and come home, and the Joyful Noise! Gospel Singers, a nonprofit community choir dedicated to social justice and human rights. www.joyfulnoisegospelsingers.org
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
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.