Calendar
California Common Cause is committed to reforming our democracy. We believe that democracy should work for all of us and it does that better when the voices of everyday Americans are being heard by our government.
The documentary Dream On puts a spotlight on those voices – from fast-food workers to single mothers, from undocumented immigrants to community organizers, and from inmates to retirees. Their dreams, their hopes, and their struggles.
Join us on Thursday, January 21, for a free screening of the documentary!
This poignant new documentary features political comedian John Fugelsang as he retraces the journey of Alexis de Tocqueville, whose study of our young country in 1831 came to define America as a place where anyone could climb the ladder of opportunity.
You can watch the trailer to the film here.
Kurdish Film Series in #Oakland coming up in solidarity w #Rojava first one Dec 20th 5:30pm @ 1501 Harrison St pic.twitter.com/u2CnfVpbFC
— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) December 17, 2015
The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, in collaboration with Tenants Together, is engaging in a year-long project in Oakland, Fremont, and Alameda to center the stories of collectives facing rapid displacement in the Bay Area. Through oral history, data analysis, and data visualization, this project supports artists, activists, and community members organizing to survive and thrive in the East Bay. Join us to learn more and get involved!
Our kickoff event is this Thursday the 21st from 7-9pm at the The Octopus Literary Salon in downtown Oakland. From 7-8, we will be talking about what our work entails and hearing from community-based groups that are involved in all three cities. From 8-9, there will be live music by Banda Sin Nombre and opportunities to plug into different components of the project, from data viz to storytelling work. This project is receiving support from the Creative Work Fund, who will be attending the event as well. There will be food and drink available! We’ll also have some of our zines for sale!
For far too long, our political leaders have failed to represent Oakland’s true values. It is time for the Oakland Left to unite, recruit our own candidates and build political power to achieve meaningful change.
At our last meeting we discussed:
1) A possible ballot initiative as an organizing strategy,
2) The process for selecting candidates,
3) Developing a progressive campaign platform
4) Which races to focus on.
Oakland Alliance seeks to unite the progressive movement in Oakland behind a slate of candidates who will challenge the institutional power structure that has failed to represent the interests of the people over the powerful. Come and connect with dozens of organizations interested in building long-term political power and holding our elected officials accountable to the needs of their constituents.
There will be coffee and snacks provided.
Can we end police terror under capitalism? Can police structure be dismantled? What about community defense guards? How can we organize in the movement against police terror to be more effective, and to involve more people? Looking to history: Robert F. Williams, Deacons for Defense, and the Black Panther Party.
Meet John Parker, West Coast leader of Workers World Party, member of the National Committee of Workers World and its presidential candidate in 2004. He organizes in Los Angeles to build a unified movement against police terror, war, against racism and homophobia, for worker and immigrant rights. He witnessed and investigated U.S. war crimes against the people of Iraq, Syria, Haiti and Sudan, and in the U.S. against the people of Ferguson, Baltimore and Los Angeles.
wheelchair accesible * light refreshments provided
Spaghetti Dinner & Program for Social Justice Action!
You are invited to attend this year’s annual Spaghetti Dinner and Program at the Unitarian Universalist Center in San Francisco. This year’s event will focus on environmental justice and feature climate activist Tim DeChristopher, founder of the Climate Disobedience Center, who will speak on “Where We Stand on Climate Justice.” Three outstanding local activists will be honored and the event will include poetry, music and inspiring presentations.
6:00 pm: No-host bar, Delicious Spaghetti Dinner, Caesar Salad, Dessert, Poetry and Music
7:00 pm: Keynote Speaker: TIM DeCHRISTOPHER, climate activist, founder of the Climate Disobedience Center (AKA “Bidder 70” of the acclaimed documentary, who outbid oil and gas companies for drilling rights on public lands in Utah)
JANET WEIL, CodePink, Mistress of Ceremonies
SHAHID BUTTAR, EFF, MC and DJ
LOCAL ACTIVISTS to be honored who work for economic justice, the rights of the people and the rights of the earthWheelchair accessible
Fundraiser benefits educational projects of the UUSJC
Report Back From the Rojava Revolution
Paul Simons, writing under the pen name, El Errante, is the author of a series of recent dispatches from the liberated territories of Kurdistan in Syria. Currently on a tour across the Bay Area, Simons has just returned from a region besieged by war yet is also in the middle of one of the most far reaching social experiments of the 21st Century: the ‘Rojava Revolution.’ The liberated territories of Kurdistan are a thriving example of stateless democracy and of a people who are overturning traditional institutions such as patriarchy and social hierarchies.
Simons discusses not only the day to day life of the people living within the evolving revolution, but also the various grassroots organizations and militias that they have created while waging an exhausting fight against both ISIS and the Turkish State. Weaving together ideals of anti-authoritarianism, feminism, ecology, and a rejection of Statism, Paul Simons’ report on the the Rojava Revolution is not to be missed by anyone working for sweeping social transformation in the current age.
Seating is limited, so plan to come early. We start promptly.
FREE – but hat will be passed for donations to NPML
About Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library
A weekly discussion series inspired by our respect for the work of Karl Marx and our belief that his work will remain as important for the class struggles of the future as they have been for the past.
For our full schedule, go to icssmarx.org
Join us on the Gill Tract with music by RedStar and a walk, ceremony, and prayer on sacred land, lead by the Indigenous Land Access Committee.
The Indigenous Land Access Committee (ILAC) invites you to join Ohlone, other indigenous people and our friends gathering to honor the ancestors and walk on the sacred land now known as the Gill Tract.
Join us for Ceremony and Prayer
In Recognition of the Power
of Native Lifeways
to Heal Mother Earth
and Stop the Climate Crisis
Music by RedStar
More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/1693590484213343/
Please come out and support our comrade, Janye Waller, an outspoken young black revolutionary fighting a case of state repression in Oakland. Janye was arrested in November 2015, in an obvious case of racial profiling, the cops saying he ‘fit the description’ for a crime he had nothing to do with (which the witness immediately confirmed). While he was in custody, detectives questioned him about his involvement in the protests last year that followed the non-indictment of the murderers of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
After thousands took to the streets, Janye is the only person currently facing charges, and the charges are serious. He has been singled out, and we can’t let them divide and conquer us like that! COMMUNITY SUPPORT is what’s going to make the difference in this case! If it was you or someone you knew that was facing time off your life, you would hope people will come out to fight with you… Not because they know you personally, but because they know what is right and what is WRONG! We cannot let this corrupt system win. It’s going to take a village!!
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
OccupyForum presents
“What They Never Learned in Their History Books” —
A film on Ray Fadden and his Mohawk People
Our own Steve Jacobson will show a film he made of a man named Ray Fadden, a great teacher of the Mohawk People. Fadden taught his people “What they Never Learned in Their History Books ” about Native Americans. For forty years, he entertained and educated many people who visited his Native American Museum in Upstate New York called Six Nations Indian Museum. He was a great storyteller and was highly revered by the Mohawk People.
There are a number of other films we can watch and discuss in addition, if time permits (audience choice).
Donations to Occupy Forum to cover costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
This Tuesday the BOS will vote on the resolution introduced by Supervisors Avalos and Campos to make Mario Woods’ birthday a day of memoriam in his name. They have also introduced a resolution to apologize to Mario Woods’ . This would be an apology from the city of San Francisco . Mayor Lee said he opposes these resolutions. We need to show up as a community and show our support for these resolutions . Room 250
The long-delayed review of the BPD’s reaction to the December 6, 2014 protest asserting that Black Lives Matter will finally be be held by the Berkeley City Council this Tuesday evening.
Item 11 a&b.
“The Education of Kevin Powell”
A Boy’s Journey into Manhood
Hosted by Davey D
“This dynamic memoir takes us through a personal journey of pain, growth, triumph, defeat, and finally reclamations of his gifts and importance in U.S. letters. Using his journalist’s keen eye, he also recalls key events and people over the past 40 years in American culture, music, and politics; the birth of Hip Hop, poetry slams, the life and death of Tupac Shakur, Los Angeles’ rebellion after the acquital of police in Rodney
King’s beating, the rise of Barack Obama, and more… ”
– Luis Rodriguez, Los Angeles Poet Laureate
Kevin Powell is the author or editor of eleven previous books. He has written for The Huffington Post, Esquire, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post and others. He is president and co-founder of BK Nation, an American organization focused on civil rights, human rights, education, ending violence against women and girls, health and wellness, and equal opportunities for all people.
Davey D is the Host of Hard Knock Radio (airing on KPFA 94.1fm weekdays at 4pm) and Adjunct Professor, Afrostudies Dept, S.F.State University.
advance tickets: $12 : brownpapertickets.com :: T: 800-838-3006 or Books, Inc, Marcus Books, Pegasus (3 sites), Moe’s, Walden Pond Bookstore, Diesel a Bookstore, Mrs. Dalloway’s S.F. – Modern Times. $15 door, KPFA benefit www.kpfa.org/events
In October 2015, Rasmea’s legal team delivered oral arguments in anappeal of her unjust conviction for Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization. The decision is expected any day now, and we have to be prepared!
Participate on Twitter and Facebook on Wednesday, January 27th, using sample tweets, hashtags, articles, memes, and other resources that we will be sending to everyone on Monday. Rasmea has dedicated her life to the cause of a #FreePalestine and to Arab communities across the world, including the past 12 years in Chicago, so we must continue to organize to win #Justice4Rasmea.
In addition, although we are confident that we will win the appeal and have the conviction overturned, there is a chance—as we reported right before the end of 2015—that the appellate court will uphold the conviction, ruling in favor of the government. If that happens, it is very likely that Rasmea will be ordered to turn herself in to federal prison authorities, as we petition to keep her out on bail.
We have developed an Emergency Response Plan for this contingency!
If this worst-case scenario decision comes down BEFORE 12 NOON, and Rasmea is ordered to prison, we are calling for protests the VERY SAME DAY at 5 PM at federal buildings across the country.
If the decision comes down AFTER 12 NOON, we are calling for protests the NEXT DAY at 5 PM. Allies and supporters across the world will also be participating in the emergency response by protesting at U.S. consulates and embassies everywhere.
Please forward widely and look out for our follow up announcement early next week. Tell all your family, friends, and colleagues to be ready to join us on social media Wednesday, January 27th, to demand #Justice4Rasmea!
Rasmea Defense Committee January 22nd, 2016
Call to Action: The Economic Development Without Displacement Coalition (EDWD) invites you to stand against displacement and the destruction of a historic public space in West Oakland. Do Not Displace our Public Space!
Who (is being displaced): Black and Brown Elders of West Oakland
What: Call to Action to stop the closure and demolition of St. Andrew’s Plaza (a public micro-park in West Oakland) @ the City of Oakland’s “Community Kick-OUT Meeting”
Why: The City of Oakland is planning to displace neighbors at St. Andrew’s Plaza with their plan to demolish, fence off, and reconstruct the park beginning in January 2016. This effort will launch with a Community Kick-Out Meeting The meeting will be hosted by Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney, with the city’s design team, to share key dates on this initiative moving forward.
About St. Andrew’s Plaza: St. Andrew’s Plaza is a mini park located on San Pablo Corridor, across the street from St. Mary’s Center in West Oakland,. The Plaza is a public gathering space for marginalized seniors, and has long been a social space for community members and houseless folks to come together, and often to receive food. The neighborhood borders Emeryville and is considered an ‘up and coming’ area given its proximity to North Oakland and South Emeryville. With the West Oakland Specific Plan and the San Pablo Corridor Coalition
About the Local Resistance: The City has in the past tried to alienate people’s rights to the park and increase policing by raiding the park, fencing of the space, and relocating the bus stop to outside of the Plaza (also see this article on St. Andrews Plaza on fireworks bay area). Last year neighbors in the area mobilized to tear down the fence surrounding St. Andrews Plaza and assert people’s rights to this space.