BART to hold Twitter town hall on FY18 budget May 23

At the Finance Committee meeting on June 13th, fund allocation and approval of the feasibility study contract will be discussed. Because the funding for the study will impact the city budget, we are asking supporters to not just contact Finance Committee members directly, but to attend all budget meetings hosted by councilpersons and voice your support for funding the study as soon as possible. Upcoming meetings are:

Wednesday, May 17: 6:30-8:30 pm, District 7 and at-large, Councilpersons Larry Reid and Rebecca Kaplan, Oakland Zoo, Snow Building, 9777 Golf Links Road

Thursday, May 18: 6:00-8:00 pm, District 6, Councilperson Desley Brooks, Eastmont Police Department Substation, 2651 73rd Avenue, Oakland

Monday, May 22, 6:00-8:30 pm, District 3, Councilperson Lynette McElhaney, West Oakland Senior Center, 1724 Adeline Street, Oakland

Thursday, May 25, 6:30-8:30 pm, District 2, Councilperson Abel Guillen (member of the Finance Committee) [Cantonese interpretation available], Lincoln Recreation Center, 261 11th Street, Oakland

Have you ever wondered:

• What do police really spend their time doing?
• How much do they make, and why do they get paid so much?
• Could we shrink OPD and make Oakland an even safer, better place to live?

The process of allocating Oakland’s 2.6 billion dollar budget for 2017-2019 has begun.  We believe that the scandal-ridden and dysfunctional Oakland Police Department consumes far too many of our city’s resources.  It’s time to audit police spending and performance, and redirect wasted funds to community-building, constructive strategies for making Oakland a safer and better place to live.

Our Demands:

• INDEPENDENT AND THOROUGH COST SAVINGS AND PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
• DEFUND OPD BY 50%

PLEASE COME OUT TO YOUR LOCAL BUDGET FORUM:

Monday May 8, 6:30-8:30 pm, Councilmember Abel Guillen
St Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave

Wednesday May 10, 6:30-8:30 pm, Councilmember Annie Campbell
Bret Harte Middle School, 3700 Coolidge Ave

Saturday May 13, 10am-12pm, Councilmembers Lynette McElhaney & Dan Kalb
Beebe Memorial Church, 3900 Telegraph Ave

Wednesday May 17, 6:30-8:30 pm, Councilmembers Larry Reid & Rebecca Kaplan
Oakland Zoo- Snow Building, 9777 Golf Links Road

Thursday May 18, 6-8pm, Councilmember Desley Brooks
Eastmont Police Dept. Substation, 2651 73rd Ave

Monday May 22, 6-8pm, Councilmember Lynette McElhaney
West Oakland Senior Center, 1724 Adeline St

Thursday May 25, 6:30-8:30 pm, Councilmember Abel Guillen
Lincoln Rec Center, 261 11th St. (cantonese interpretation)

Defund OPD will be at each of these budget meetings with information about the police budget, questions to ask, and our demands!  Please show up 15 minutes early if possible.  More information is available at defundopd.org.

#DefundOPD
In the last few weeks we’ve built a ton of momentum and had some significant successes:

-With incredible and wide-ranging community support, we’ve succeeded in making sure that the city’s outrageous and unaccountable spending on police is the #1 topic of discussion at every single city council member budget forum.
-We’ve already gotten the mayor to stand down from her effort to increase the police force to 800 officers, and now the discussion is turning to maintaining the current staffing levels (near 750) instead of the fully budgeted levels (792).
-We’ve gotten almost every council member to commit, on the record, to supporting an independent, thorough audit of police spending, and the city auditor’s office is on board.
-We’ve built a huge amount of synergy and mutual support with dozens of organizations who are calling for various budget priorities that will ACTUALLY make Oakland a safer and more just city — and many of them are now making explicit connections between the bloated police budget and the lack of funding for these crucial measures to support housing affordability, education, homeless services, youth programs and employment, and cultural initiatives.

CHRIS HEDGES: Overcoming Fascism
Hosted by Greg Bridges
Tickets and more information: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2910431

Ruthie’s email is: ruthiesakheim@gmail.com. Put “CHRIS HEDGES TICKET” in subject window!

FEMICOIN

an experimental design workshop for women, men and gender fluid people

From slavery and segregation to redlining and ‘the new Jim Crow,’ the American legal system has been rigged against people of color.

We will gather as communities of faith and action to ask: can we imagine a society without jails and prisons? How can we seek to practice abolition now?

The Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy (FAME) is delighted to welcome the panel for our fourth FAME forum:

Marie Levin, activist with the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition and cofounder of Freedom Outreach Ministries;

Joshua Dubler, professor and author of “Break Every Yoke: Religion, Justice & the Abolition of Prisons”; and

Chance Grable, member of Critical Resistance.

Please join us for this final installment of our FAME Forums!

The forum will look at the growing confrontation between the US and Russia and what is behind this growing threat of world war. Speakers include George Wright, Retired Professor Chico State University; Tony D’Agostino, Professor SFSCU, Russian History; and Steve Zeltzer, KPFA WorkWeek Radio.

Call for Volunteers: Lincoln Theatre Park and Community Garden

We are looking for neighbors near and far — anyone who wants to support the cultural memory and self-determination of West Oakland’s black community is welcome! No gardening experience or minimum time commitment necessary!

West Oakland’s Revolution Cafe is about to start a new community garden. Located on the historic 7th street jazz and blues corridor, Revolution Cafe works with non-profit One Fam to host music and provide space for grassroots organizers to meet. In an effort to increase local produce access and assert collective sovereignty in the face of corporate land grabbing, 1700 sqft of the Cafe’s outdoor space will be turned into a community garden in honor of the famous Lincoln Theatre that once stood there.

This Memorial Day Weekend we will remediate lead contamination in the soil to make it safe for gardening. Drop by, till some soil, and soak in the history of West Oakland.

OccupyForum presents

Left of the Left: My Memories of Sam Dolgoff

With Anatole Dolgoff

Sam Dolgoff was a prominent anarchist from New York City, raised among the Wobblies and Anarchists of the latter two thirds of the 20th century. Sam’s activist life included encounters with Emma Goldman, Vladimir Lenin, Eugene Debs, MLK Jr., and many others.

A house painter by trade, Sam Dolgoff was at the center of American anarchism for seventy years. His political voyage began in the 1920s when he joined the Industrial Workers of the World. He rode the rails as an itinerant laborer, bedding down in hobo camps and mounting soapboxes in cities across the United States. Self-educated, he translated, edited, and wrote some of the most important books and journals of twentieth-century anti-authoritarian politics, including the most widely read collection of Mikhail Bakunin’s writings in English.

His story, told with passion and humor by his son, conjures images of a lost New York City – the Lower East Side, the strong immigrant and working-claass neighborhoods, the blurred lines dividing proletarian and intellectual culture, the union halls and social clubs, the brutal cops and bosses, and the solidarity that kept them at bay.

His son, Anatole, a man now in his seventies who, as a child and young man, had a front-row seat to the world of proletarian politics and the colorful characters who brought it to life, will speak to us at OccupyForum and read from his book on his father.

“The American left in its classical age used to celebrate an ideal, which was the worker-intellectual – someone who toils with his hands all his life aand meanwhile develops his mind and deepens his knowledge and contributes mightily to progress and decency in the society around him. Sam Dolgoff was a mythic figure in a certain corner of the radical left … and his son, Anatole, has written a wise and beautiful book about him.” Paul Berman, author of A Tale of Two Utopias and Power and the Idealists

“If you want to read the god-honest and god-awful truth about being a radical in twentieth-century America, drop whatever you’re doing, pick up this book, and read it. Pronto! If you’re not crying within five pages, you might want to check whether you’ve got a heart and a pulse.” Peter Cole, author of Wobblies on the Watterfront

Anatole Dolgoff is the son of Esther and Sam Dolgoff, two of the most important anarchists in the United States in the twentieth century. He has lived in New York City his entire life and teaches geology at the Pratt Institute.

If you were to attend one book talk this year this is the one.

Time will be allotted for announcements.

Donations to Occupy Forum to cover costs are encouraged; no one turned away!

We are going to be making sure that the people’s budget gets the support it needs, and making sure that the City Council knows where to get the funding we need for our communities – TAKE IT OUT OF THE POLICE BUDGET!

Rally at 4:30 PM. Get to city hall as early as you can! If you can’t get there till 6 or 7, it’s still worth it to come! Touch base with the action coordinators when you arrive and they’ll plug you in!

Contact defundopd@gmail.com if you would like to come to a meeting in preparation for this action, on Monday 5/29 at 6:30pm!

Defund OPD!

Important Meeting Tuesday May 30th City Hall Meeting and Petition Deadline 5:30pm

May 30th, we are looking to hand over our petition forms to the city council to put pressure on them to vote on adding the money needed for the feasibility and implementation study in this budget cycle. This will require the attendance of everyone that supports the Public Bank of Oakland. Ideally we will all be wearing our green t-shirts. We’re trying to get over 100 people to come out in support with signs and in our shirts.

Press Conference re: #Berkeley DIVESTS from #WellsFargo. Tuesday 5/30 at 6:30 pm. Front Steps of Old City Hall. See you there!

— Indivisible Berkeley (@IndivisibleBerk) May 26, 2017

After nearly 36 years in prison for struggling for the independence of Puerto Rico, Oscar Lopez Rivera will be free as of May 17th and he’s coming to the Bay Area on May 31st! It’s a real honor that he’s coming here, and I hope you can come to celebrate him, and help us raise money for him as he begins his life back in the community that fought for so long for his release.

If you aren’t able to attend but would like to donate to the fund for Oscar, you can do that here: gofundme.com/welcomeoscar

Buy tickets on-line!
Limited tickets at the door.
welcomeoscar.brownpapertickets.com
Tickets are sliding scale as shown below.
All proceeds go directly to Oscar.

5:30 Reception $75-250
Sponsored by
the National Lawyers Guild  nlgsf.org
(Cost includes program ticket.)

A unique opportunity to meet and talk to Oscar!
Food and drinks will be provided.
Posters by local artist Doug Minkler and signed by Oscar will be for sale.

7:00 Program $20-50

José López
Oscar López Rivera
John Santos, Rico Pabón, Quenepas

Arrive early, limited seating available.
No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Note on Brown Paper Tickets: Reception tickets appear first. Scroll down on the “date” field to select the 7:00 Program tickets.

Make a donation to help Oscar set up his new life in Puerto Rico:  gofundme.com/welcomeoscar
LIke Oscar on Facebook!  facebook.com/WelcomeOscartotheBayArea
For more information:  freeoscarnow@gmail.com

Partial List of Endorsers:
AIM-WEST, All of Us Or None, Altruvistas, ANSWER, Arab Resource & Organizing Center, Bay Area Anti-Repression Committee, Center for Political Education, Critical Resistance of Oakland, Emory Douglas, Freedom Archives, Global Exchange, Haiti Action Committee, Int’l Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, LAGAI Queer Insurrection, La Raza Resource Center, La Tertulia Boricua, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Lynne Stewart Organization, Making Contact, Malcom X Grassroots Movement, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu Jamal, National Network on Cuba (NNOC), Prison Activist Resource Center, Prison Radio/Redwood Justice Fund, QUIT, Socialist Action, Socialist Workers Party, Task Force on the Americas, Veterans for Peace #69 (San Francisco), Workers World Party

Downtown Post Office Update: Public Hearing Announced

A public hearing regarding the proposed closure of the Downtown Post Office has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 31, 6pm, at Richmond City Council Chambers, 440 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond, CA 94804.

A notice posted at the post office announced the public hearing and information about submitting written remarks: for 30 days after the public meeting, anyone may submit written comments for the Postal Service’s consideration prior to its final decision.

Please come out to this important public hearing and submit your comments in writing to:

United States Postal Service

Attn.: Dean Cameron

1300 Evans Avenue, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94188

LEARN MORE

Oscar Lopez Rivera is coming to the Bay Area after 36 years in prison for his struggle to support  Puerto Rican Independence and sovereignity . For many of us, this is a welcome opportunity to celebrate his release and our shared victory.
He will be visiting the Bay Area for this unique one time only public appearance on May 31st.  Help us support Oscar as he continues his work while beginning his new life. Please make as generous a donation as possible. Let us show Oscar that the SF Bay Area community supports him as he continues to advocate for sovereignty and independence for Puerto Rico.

Book Talk: Sam Dolgoff, a lifetime well known anarchist from NYC, had many encounters and meetings with such notables as Emma Goldman, Lenin, Eugene Debs, MLK Jr. an many others. Anatole Dolgoff, his son, will discuss his book on his outrageous and adventurous father.

Learn the sobering facts about oil production in California and the damage it’s doing to families, agriculture, our water and environment. Explore ways we can work together to challenge our Governor to be consistent in his environmental policies. We’ll watch a short film called DEAR GOVERNOR BROWN, STOP DRILLING CALIFORNIA. The discussion afterward features representatives from Food and Water Watch, a leader in the anti-fracking movement, and several other organizations concerned about fracking in California. We’ll close out the evening with a postcard writing campaign.

Bring healthy vegetarian snacks or a refreshment to share for meet and greet at 6:30. The program begins at 7:00 pm. This event is sponsored by: Transition Berkeley, San Francisco Bay Chapter, Sierra Club and BFUU Social Justice Committee.

Please join Angel Rico Ramos’ family and Anti Police-Terror Project at a press conference demanding justice for Angel and the release of his autopsy report.

Angel was murdered on January 23, 2017, by Vallejo police, and on June 3, 2017 he would be turning 22.

Solano county sheriff failed to release the autopsy report, which we believe constitutes negligence on their part. We feel the need to point out that Solano County has the largest number of murders by law enforcement in the Bay Area, and refusing to release Angel’s autopsy report appears to be a tactic to prevent the community from knowing what happened to Angel.

All that Angel’s family is asking for at this point is to be able to receive his autopsy report for his birthday.

Multiple requests by his family, community, and his family legal representatives to release the autopsy report have been denied. In order for Angel’s family to begin a healing process they need to know what happened to their loved one. Not releasing the autopsy report is exacerbating and prolonging the family’s pain.

At this press conference, we demand that the sheriff releases the report immediately, whether or not it is a part of a VPD investigation. We would also like to use this opportunity for the family, community members and organizations to voice their concerns regarding the high number of police murders in Solano County and the negligence of the sheriff’s department. We are concerned that as gentrification spreads to Vallejo and surrounding areas, local communities are at risk of further increase of police violence and terror.

We hope that the community can turn up to support Angel’s family.

If you need a ride – or can offer a ride, please email aptp.rides@gmail.com