Calendar

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:

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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

Supreme Court
Feb 28th
8AM

JOIN 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/

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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

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.

REGISTER HERE!

📚📚 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.

‘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.

Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library

The Part played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man, by Frederick Engels

In 1876, Engels complained about “that idealistic world outlook which, especially since the fall of the world of antiquity, has dominated men’s minds. It still rules them to such a degree that even the most materialistic natural scientists of the Darwinian school are still unable to form any clear idea of the origin of man, because under this ideological influence they do not recognise the part that has been played therein by labour.” This situation remains true today, nearly a century and a half later, as prominent bourgeois institutions entertain us with vivid videos of the latest fossil finds in Africa and elsewhere without ever mentioning the role of labor in the lives of the people who left these remains.

This talk, by Professor Eugene E Ruyle, will discuss Engels contribution noting that the spectacular fossil finds since Engels’ death of the twentieth century have confirmed Engels brilliant insight that: “First comes labour, after it, and then side by side with it, articulate speech – these were the two most essential stimuli under the influence of which the brain of the ape gradually changed into that of man, which for all its similarity to the former is far larger and more perfect.” Ruyle will also discuss why bourgeois anthropology has neglected the work of Marx and Engels, in spite of their obvious importance.

Our speaker, Eugene E Ruyle, is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Cal State Long Beach, a working class university. He earned his PhD in 1971 and has published numerous articles, including “Labor, People, Culture: A Labor Theory of Human Origins” Yearbook of Physical Anthropology Vol 20, 1976. <https://home.csulb.edu/~eruyle/published/ruyle_labor_29_.pdf> The article by Engels is available on the Marx-Engels Internet archive <https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1876/part-played-labour/index.htm>

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What Can we Learn from Nicaragua?  Eyewitness Report!
Panel Discussion with delegates on the Alliance for Global Justice trip to Nicaragua in January titled “Women in Nicaragua – Power & Protagonism.”  Did you know that Nicaragua is a world leader in gender equality?  In a historically macho culture, find out how this, and so much more, was achieved by Sandinistas since 2006.

Erica Caines is a co-coordinator of The Black Alliance For Peace – Haití/Americas Team. Caines, a member of the Black working-class centered Ujima People’s Progress Party in Maryland, founded the African children’s book gifting initiative, Liberation Through Reading, in 2017. She is also co-editor of the African revolutionary blog, Hood Communist. For Green Sunday, she particularly looks forward to speaking about the connections between imperialism in the US and in Nicaragua. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Jennifer Sullivan is a lifelong feminist activist and currently serves as an International Committee and National Committee delegate for the Green Party of Florida.  She served four years as the FL state co-chair and is treasurer for the GP-US National Women’s Caucus.  Born in the Chicago area, her political life began at age 15 reading/studying Ramparts magazine.  She Dem-Exited after the 1972 presidential campaign. Independent until 1996, she joined the Green Party and helped found the Hernando County Green Party.  She hosted a broadcast TV show in Tampa called On the Table With the Green Party and has produced several radio programs including hosting a debate show called The Fairness Doctrine on Tampa’s WMNF.  Sullivan has traveled deep into many countries, not tourist areas, on four continents.

Phoebe Thomas Sorgen is a Green Party of Alameda County Councilor, California Co-ordinating Committee member, CA representative to the GP National and International Committees, and GP-US representative to the Global Green Network. She will attend the Global Greens Congress in Korea in June. (If you want to attend, at your own expense, contact her.)  She was Outstanding Woman of Berkeley 2005 for work as a Peace and Justice Commissioner including writing Resolutions adopted by the city to end corporate personhood, stop CAFTA, and support Haiti, Burma, Iraq, Iran, and democracy in the US.  She was a 2015 Tom Paine Courageous Spirit awardee and chairs the Berkeley Fellowship of UU’s Social Justice Committee. She traveled extensively while at the Université de Paris for six years, and since. Because she speaks Italian, she manages to communicate with Spanish speakers.

Delegation written report: https://afgj.salsalabs.org/reportjan23?wvpId=3b43e68b-92fb-431b-b75f-6268ae8dcb1f

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