OCCUPELLA will be singing at the TAX THE RICH RALLY EVERY MONDAY from 5-6 on upper Solano Ave. in front of the (closed) Oaks Theater. Songbooks are provided.

(We’ll also be LEADING SONGS ON JULY 13 at NOON in Civic Center Park (across from Berkeley High and old City Hall). The City of Berkeley will officially recognize the human rights abuses at the border.)

Downtown Oakland TANC Poster Distro! TANC’s prolific Ministry of Propaganda has turned out several amazing poster designs by now, and we’ll be asking downtown businesses, schools and organizations to put them in their windows!

Two starting times:

4:00PM for Cafe Distribution
6:00PM for Bar Distribution

Meet at Tamarack to split up and head out! All are welcome — please message us if you’d like more info/to coordinate!

Item 7.7 on the Agenda [consent]

Adopt An Ordinance (1st Reading) Amending Oakland Municipal Code Chapter 9.64 To Prohibit The City Of Oakland From Acquiring And/Or Using Face Recognition Technology.

Report.

A trailblazing ordinance requiring climate-friendly, all-electric new construction in Berkeley is going before the City Council for its first public reading.  The ordinance, introduced by Councilmember Kate Harrison, would phase out installation of polluting gas infrastructure when issuing permits for new buildings—an important step toward clean, healthy, and affordable homes for Berkeley, and potentially other communities that follow Berkeley’s example.

This first council hearing is critical and will set the stage for a final vote later this summer.  Come show Berkeley’s elected representatives that the community supports climate-friendly, gas-free construction.

Some background from our friends at the Sierra Club:

In Berkeley, 27% of city-wide greenhouse gas emissions come from the use of gas in the residential and commercial building sectors. Berkeley has set ambitious emission reduction goals, but the city is 18 percent behind its 2020 target.  Building electrification is an essential strategy to curb climate and air pollution and will play an important role in helping the city meet these goals.

Electric infrastructure is powered by increasingly clean sources.  Berkeley’s municipal buildings are powered by 100% carbon free electricity, and electricity for privately-owned buildings is 85% carbon free at a minimum.  Shifting to electric power in the city’s buildings dramatically lowers greenhouse gas emissions by cleaning up emissions at the source of generation.

All-electric buildings can save homeowners money by lowering utility bills.  Modern, high-efficiency electric heating technologies like heat pumps can cost less up-front than their gas counterparts—especially when installed during new construction—because there’s no need to extend costly gas pipelines and infrastructure.

Powering local homes and buildings with cleaner energy will improve public health by eliminating a substantial source of indoor air pollution.  Gas appliances release dangerous toxins like carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde, leading to air pollution levels in some homes that would be illegal if measured outside.

Join your comrades of East Bay DSA for a showing of Raoul Peck’s 2017 film, “The Young Karl Marx”. Due to time constraints, we’ll be starting sharply at 7PM, so arrive on time!

Agenda

Adopt an Ordinance Amending Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 2.99 to Prohibit City Use of Face Recognition Technology (Item Contains Revised
Material)

From: Councilmember Harrison

Recommendation: Adopt an ordinance amending Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter
2.99 to prohibit the City from acquiring, retaining, requesting, accessing, or using: (1)
any face recognition technology, or (2) any information obtained from face
recognition technology.

Rally and Press Conference: 5:30 PM
Planning Commission meeting: 6:30 PM

Come support Richmond residents suffering from health problems aggravated by coal and petroleum coke dust! Turn out for a key rally before the Planning Commission meets to consider the Richmond Coal Ordinance, which prohibits new coal operations on private land in the city, prevents existing facilities from expanding, and provides for a graduated phase-out of coal operations.

We are urging the Planning Commission to recommend approval of this ordinance with a phase-out period of three years. A three-year phase-out will safeguard terminal workers’ jobs and allow the terminal enough time to convert their operations to safer bulk commodities. The commission’s recommendation will then go before the City Council in September.

This ordinance is designed with a rock-solid legal basis for getting rid of coal. It relies on the city’s police powers to regulate businesses in the interest of residents’ health and safety.

If you are a Richmond resident and want to speak at the hearing, please contact action@sunflower-alliance.org and put “Planning Commission testimony” in the subject line. This is your chance to voice your experience, or that of family members, of suffering health problems such as asthma and COPD.

If you live outside Richmond, come to support Richmond residents — and to help stop one of only three coal-export terminals on the West Coast. Exporting coal enables climate catastrophe!

No Coal in Richmond has collected 1,600 signatures on a letter to the City Council urging them to act to end coal and petroleum coke handling and storage at the Levin-Richmond Terminal. We already suffer from the areas’s highest levels of asthma and other health problems caused by bad air quality.

To read the ordinance and learn more about the health effects of coal and petroleum coke dust, please visit the No Coal in Richmond website: https://ncir.weebly.com/.

The images are jarring. Immigrant kids in cages. No room to lie down. No running water. Immigrant detention centers are the concentration camps of our time. Our duty is to #Closethecamps and give respite to and welcome those who have had to endure them. Join SURJ-BA and the Asylum Seekers Sponsorship Project for an informative “webinar” t find out how you can sponsor (host) and/or accompany folks who have arrived in the current migratory wave.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Please download the free Zoom app.

WPA Berkeley Walk

This walk will explore the “New Deal nexus” in Berkeley that includes Berkeley High School, the Community Theater, Civic Center Park, Post Office art, the old UC Press Building (now being repurposed as the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive), and the old Farm Credit Building. The tour will also include the incredible mosaic mural on the UC Berkeley campus, photographs of the California Folk Music Project, Western Museum Laboratory, WPA prints at the Berkeley Public Library, and WPA projects on the UC Berkeley campus.

See also: http://www.newdeallegacy.org

The images are jarring. Immigrant kids in cages. No room to lie down. No running water. Immigrant detention centers are the concentration camps of our time. Our duty is to #Closethecamps and give respite to and welcome those who have had to endure them. Join SURJ-BA and the Asylum Seekers Sponsorship Project for an informative “webinar” t find out how you can sponsor (host) and/or accompany folks who have arrived in the current migratory wave.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Please download the free Zoom app.

Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid at OICC

El- Hajj Malik El-Shabazz / Malcolm X & our continuum of Struggle. A comprehensive examination of the global legacy of El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz / Malcolm X, within the context of the struggle for Black Liberation, Human Rights, and the establishment of Al-Islam in America.

Join us for our monthly farm party! Enjoy farm produce cooked on the grill, tend to the organic veggie beds, and take home donation-based produce.

Activities include:
• Harvesting organic produce! This helps our weekly farm stand get fresh food to the community.
• Planting! We have lots of starts to put in the ground. Starts are available to take home, as a part of our fundraiser.
• Weeding, prepping beds, and mixing compost

Connect with the Earth while helping cultivate the nourishing fruits and vegetables that help feed the Bay Area. Create new relationships with local community members, spread happiness to the neighborhood, and promote positive change for the environment. Invite your friends; all are welcome!

* This is a monthly event so if you can’t make it this month, save the date for next!

CODEPINK GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE PEACE WALK!
Our focus this month:
Immigrants rights/getting children out of cages/family separation
Some signs provided, or bring your own.
Dress warmly. It’s often chilly and windy on the bridge.
EVERYONE WELCOME. BRING YOUR FAMILY!
Suggested messages:
LEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND
FAMILIES BELONG TOGETHER
REUNITE FAMILIES
NO BORDERS ON STOLEN LAND
NO BAN, NO WALL
SANCTUARY FOR ALL
CLOSE THE CAMPS

1:45 am: Gather at the plaza at the SF end of the eastern walkway of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Arrive early for best parking. We’ll take some photos while waiting for folks to show up.

Noon: Walk on the eastern walkway, from the south end to the middle of the bridge, where we’ll stop and hold a 15 minute vigil, showing motorists our signs (Berma-shave style, at least 10 feet between each sign/person). From there, we’ll return to our starting point in the plaza at the south end of the bridge.

1:30 pm: Photo ops and Closing Circle/Open Mike (no megaphone) on the SF side after the bridge walk. We’ll probably be finished by 2:00.
BE GREEN AND CARPOOL

How do we respond to violence within our own communities without relying on the police, prisons or other state systems? This event will offer a basic introduction to and overview of the core concepts of transformative justice. It will be a space for participants to learn about transformative justice and how to begin thinking about community-based responses to violence. We will also cover the concept of “pods” from the BATJC. This will be an educational event with a Q&A.

We ask for a sliding scale donation of any amount to support the continued work of the Alternatives to Policing Coalition. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

The workshop will be led by Mia Mingus from the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective (BATJC), a local collective working to build and support transformative justice responses to child sexual abuse. Mia is a writer, public speaker, community educator and organizer working for disability justice and transformative justice. She is a queer physically disabled korean woman transracial and transnational adoptee from the Caribbean. She works for community, interdependency and home for all of us, not just some of us, and longs for a world where disabled children can live free of violence, with dignity and love. As her work for liberation evolves and deepens, her roots remain firmly planted in ending sexual violence.

ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP SERIES

A growing coalition of organizations in the Bay Area is coming together to explore alternatives to calling the police to our campuses and into our neighborhoods. Over the coming year, we will be offering a series of workshops to explore alternatives to calling the police. Some of these workshops, like this one, will provide deepening analysis and a grounding in alternative ways of thinking about community safety. Others will provide practical skills. All of them will lift up a transformative justice framework and emphasize the importance of self care.

The Coalition includes First Congregational Church of Oakland, Kehilla Community Synagogue, Agape Fellowship, Qal’bu Maryam, Jewish Voice for Peace, Skyline Community Church, Oakland Peace Center, Oakland LBGTQ Community Center, the Omni Collective, and Black Organizing Project. We are eager to partner with additional organizations so please contact us if you are interested!

Folks from the Bay Area Landless People’s Alliance will be convening once again for a grill on Sunday the 21st this month; we’re trying to make this a monthly event. If you’d like to join the festivities, feel free to come on down. And if you’re able to bring something to contribute to the food we’ll have there, it will be greatly appreciated, but don’t let it stop you from joining us if you don’t have something to bring.

Join us in offering hot food, drinks, snacks, and solidarity to releasees and visitors at Santa Rita Jail!

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/MD3k85stxBkWTfL4A

Prisons function to repress, warehouse and extract labor from those that our state deems “criminal”, primarily those of us who are Black, poor, or mentally ill. We believe that solidarity is a weapon of resistance, and that we must respond to the basic needs of our community while also confronting state terror.

In honor of Dujuan Armstrong Jr. who entered Santa Rita Jail for a weekend sentence and never came home, we’re providing material support and direct care to folks at Santa Rita Jail as a small but meaningful way to address the harm caused by incarceration in our community. We do not positively engage with the racist pigs who work at the jail, as they are willing agents of the state that criminalizes and incarcerates us.

We’d love to see you there! Meet us outside of the Lake Merritt BART station at 4pm – we’ll drive out to the jail together from there. All are welcome, no experience required. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/MD3k85stxBkWTfL4A

Free public cultural film series centered on the historic commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of the first Africans brought to British North America. The series will feature a monthly film screening over 7 months, from February 2019 for Black History Month, through August 2019.

Food at 4:30pm
Film at 5pm

Apocalyptic visions of the future pervade today’s political spectrum. One of the more popular comes in two recent works — Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century — by Yuval Noah Harari. For him multiple total crises demand that humanity come up with a “clear idea of what life is all about.”

The debate over “the meaning of life” has been going on “for thousands of years,” but now, says Harari, time is “running out” for Homo sapiens.

From the start Marx grounded his new humanism in a unifying principle that speaks to today’s impasse in human thought and human experience.

Today’s reality demands clarity on meaning be­cause, according to Harari, “the looming ecological crisis, the growing threat of weapons of mass destruction, and the rise of new disruptive technologies will not allow” delay.

What does Harari’s perspective on mean­ing have in common with most of the Left? How is Marx’s perspective distinctive from both?