The Poor People’s Campaign, A National Call for Moral Revival (PPC) focuses on fighting the four pillars of evil: poverty, systemic racism, the war economy and environmental devastation, and on shifting the moral narrative. PPC supporters in the Bay Area have come together to form the Bay Area PPC Steering Committee and hope you can join this effort and share this information with others who may be interested.

In the PPC, people directly impacted by the 4 pillars of evil are central in our work.

We look forward to your participation as we move forward to build the PPC campaign here in the Bay Area and help grow this exciting new movement.

Let us break bread together! Bring a snack to share if you can!

Join us to talk about this important topic. We will have a couple of short presentations, and then open the floor for discussion.

Among the readings we will refer to are:
– Leon Trotsky’s “FASCISM: What It Is and How To Fight It”
https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1944/1944-fas.htm

– Sweezy on the Rise of Fascism – A synopsis by Fabian Van Onzen, including Paul Sweezy, Georgi Dimitrov, and Samir Amin
https://portside.org/2019-02-23/sweezy-rise-fascism
– George Jackson

Readings not required to attend.
Refreshments will be served.
The space is wheelchair accessible.
No cost, but donations are always welcome.
To get in the building, dial 411, or scroll for Solidarity Center on the intercom at the outside entrance.

This training is in preparation for a nonviolent direct action March 18 in San Francisco but everyone is welcome, even if you can’t participate that day. With wildfires and weather disasters all around us, and just 12 years left to address the climate crisis (per IPCC report), we’ll have many opportunities to stand up for future generations and a sustainable world. We especially encourage anyone willing to serve in support roles (not risking arrest) to join us.

The action will occur during our March for Fossil Fuel Freedom culminating rally, noontime Monday Mar 18 at “Oily Wells” Fargo headquarters, to spotlight the bank’s role as a leading funder of climate chaos. Participants need to attend one of two mandatory training sessions. Click link to RSVP and learn more:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexjCjWP46xrrXUuDqKj5Dn3OaQRhHDprcp8UbvMmF3WJxAuQ/viewform

March for Fossil Fuel Freedom details and registration: https://oilywells.com/

EBDSA’s General Meetings are at 1:00 p.m. on the second Sunday of each month – the next is on Sunday, March 10th at the Omni Commons. These meetings are the highest governing body of our organization, and include deliberation and voting on member-submitted resolutions, member announcements, reports from our committees, and more.

Volunteering at the GM is lively, easy, and low-commitment, and volunteers participate fully in meeting business. The contribution is huge, though – meetings require a lot of hands, and our volunteers keep them lively, inspiring, and productive. Join up here. Use this form, too, if you have child supervision or accessibility needs, including the need for an ASL interpreter.

With our new regular schedule, member-submitted resolutions will be accepted on a rolling basis – please email them to resolutions@eastbaydsa.org. The submissions deadline for each meeting is two days after the previous one.

General Meetings are run by the EBDSA Meetings Committee – for questions or comments, or if you are interested in joining the committee, write us at meetings@eastbaydsa.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

Shelter Now! Alternatives to the Housing Crisis

The Green Party of Alameda County welcomes Clark Sullivan and Mary Behm-Steinberg to discuss alternative solutions to the housing crisis in the Bay Area. As rental costs increase across the city and climate change devastates Northern California regions, and as the Berkeley City Council recently passed overnight bans against RV dwellers, particularly at the Berkeley Marina — our panelists offer their unique experiences fighting for the rights of unhoused residents and low-income homeowners facing eviction and displacement, and offer next-step solutions on building solidarity against developers and their political interests.

Clark Sullivan is a revolutionary anarchist who has been organizing many successful social movements for nearly a half-century ranging from homelessness, the environment and AIDS to worker’s rights, anti-apartheid and peace. A Renaissance man, who is skilled in many disciplines such as: pharmacology, journalism, information technology and political science, Clark currently mentors young people seeking to radically change the status quo.

Mary Behm-Steinberg is an activist and former candidate for Berkeley City Council (District 1). Her experience ranges from running a small business and tenant as well as worker-oriented housing solutions. As indicated in a Berkeleyside article, Mary argues, “the biggest challenges that Berkeley faces now and in the foreseeable future” is “preserving diversity” while ending “homelessness in the city.”

No additional information yet.

Doors open at 7. We start promptly at 7:30.

Join us for this interactive Bystander Intervention Training! This training will be led by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. During the training, participants will learn about the history and principles of nonviolence, and will practice specific de-escalation techniques as a bystander in a variety of scenarios.

“They cut my breasts in torture, I didn’t even say “ah”,
The prevalent mindset is that if a woman knows justice, to cut her breasts
I am embarrassed to even say “ah” as a militant of a justified cause. ”

Sakine Cansız (Sara)

Sara was born in Dersim in 1958 as the daughter of an Alevi family. She was one of the founding members of the PKK, a political activist and feminist known by the codename “Sara” in the organization. She was among the founders of the PKK and was one of the five people who lived and worked in the organization until 2013, and she was the only woman among the founders of the PKK who continued her activities in the organization. She was imprisoned for twenty years in Diyarbakır No 5 Prison. She was one of the PKK’s representatives for Europe. On January 9, 2013, while with Fidan Dogan (code name Rojbin) and Leyla Şaylemez (codenamed Ronahi), the representatives of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), she was shot in the head by a silenced weapon at the Kurdistan Information Bureau near the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, France.

Cansız, who described her life in her book “My Life Was Always A Struggle”, did not stop at the prisons where she stayed. All her life she has resisted and struggled.

The stories of these women did not end with the massacre of the revolutionary women’s resistance leaders in Paris. Today in Rojava, in Kurdistan and in many parts of the world there are thousands of Saras, Rojbins and Ronahis.

We are not over the fight and will not end; until women and life are free …

Jin Jiyan Azadi

📢 Join us for some exciting public banking news Monday morning in LA and SF! We’re building a movement all across the state!

➡LA: 9AM @ LA City Hall
➡SF: 10AM @ Old Mint (88 Fifth St)#publicbanksnow 🙌 pic.twitter.com/j7xJrQKNbj

— California Public Banking Alliance (@calpba) March 8, 2019

The fight for socially and environmentally responsible public banking in California is about to level up!

On Monday morning, March 11, state legislators will unveil a new bill to advance public banking in California. The California Public Banking Alliance, of which we are a member, will be holding press conferences in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The call is going out to all Bay Area allies of public banking to show up in force at the San Francisco Mint at 10am Monday. Wear your public banking t-shirt if you’ve got one. We are going up against the powerful forces of Wall Street, the California Bankers Association, and their massive financial arsenal. We can win, but we need your help! Invite your friends and join us at the launch of a new campaign for public banking in California!

A Special Meeting of the PAC has been called  in Hearing Room 2 at City Hall to continue conversation and take action on the Department of Transportation’s Automated License Plate Reader Policy and the Oakland Police Department’s Automated License Plate Reader Policies.

We’re still playing every Monday that it doesn’t rain!

Occupella organizes informal public singing at Bay Area occupation sites, marches and at BART stations. We sing to promote peace, justice, and an end to corporate domination, especially in support of the Occupy movement.

Music has the power to build spirit, foster a sense of unity, convey messages and emotions, spread information, and bring joy to participants and audience alike. See spirited clip of an action at BART. Check out the actions calendar and come add your voice. There are lots of ways to participate and everyone is welcome.

Next Organizers’ Meeting: Come Get Involved in the Effort to Create a Regional Public Bank!

Working Group Meetings:

Some of our working groups meet between organizers’ meetings, and others just confer by phone and email. You can plug into any one of these:

• Outreach to Organizations
• Outreach to Individuals
• Digital Outreach
• Advocacy (working with politicians)
• Governance
• California Public Banking Alliance
• Operations

Just send us a note and we’ll help you get connected to the work you want to do.

The Advocacy Working Group meets with public officials, government staff and other stakeholders to learn what they can teach us about integrating a public bank into existing systems, and to convince them to support our bank. Drop us a note (contact@friendsofpublicbankofoakland.org) if you want to participate.  Read a report on a recent Sacramento lobbying and public testimony outing.

The Outreach Working Group needs organizers, and people to staff tables and talk to folks about public banking. Send us a note at contact@friendsofpublicbankofoakland.org if you can help.

The ad hoc Governance Working Group is working on updating our governance plan in light of new information. Drop us a note at contact@friendsofpublicbankofoakland.org if you want to be part of this effort.

All of Us or None is thrilled to welcome in conversation Danielle Sered, George Galvis, and Malachi Scott to talk about transformative responses to violence and building a movement to end mass incarceration that includes everyone—including people who commit violence. We know too well that all too often our movement draws lines between people convicted of non-violent and violent offenses that often leave people convicted of violence with little of the relief being sought administratively, legislatively or through the ballot box.

We hope that this discussion will:
1) Assist audience members to formulate better arguments when pursuing reforms that include the interests of people convicted of violence
2) Challenge the narrative that people convicted of violence pose the greatest risk to public safety
3) Challenge the notion that it is possible to end mass incarceration without addressing the issue of people incarcerated for violent offenses
4) Explore what role restorative justice can play in the work to end mass incarceration

The panelists will use themes from Danielle Sered’s new book, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair, as a launchpad for a visionary conversation about what else is possible. The panelists and the work they do will model what it looks like to steer directly and unapologetically into the question of violence, offering approaches that will help end mass incarceration, increase safety, and break down false barriers about who is deserving and capable of transformation.

This conversation will happen in All of Us or None’s new space The Freedom & Movement Center, where every day people make what is possible real.

Join us at 6:30 P.M. on March 11 at 4400 Market St. in Oakland.

RSVP:
Online: http://bit.ly/ReckoningWithViolenceRSVP
Phone: Ivana Gonzalez 415.255.7036

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.

On February 26th, as a result of years of community organizing, the Board of Supervisors accepted 60 out of 63 community-supported recommendations for changes to emergency preparedness trainings under the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) funding.

On Tuesday March 12th, Supervisors have the opportunity to take the next steps in making a community-led vision for safety and disaster response a reality. The Alameda County Sheriff is fighting tooth and nail to sabotage the path forward for community-supported emergency preparedness. Let’s continue to work with—and push!—our Supervisors to make sure we secure a future for common-sense public safety policy in our county. Let’s keep winning. Join us!

More about the upcoming Board Meeting:
On March 12th, Supervisors will be discussing the UASI Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – an agreement between other Bay Area cities and counties that informs funding and training exercises. The request put forth by the Sheriff is to renew the MOU while reversing all the decisions made by the Supervisors in the last year and to continue Urban Shield. We will be there to support and reinforce the County’s decisions to pave a new path forward for disaster preparedness without Urban Shield.

It’s time for Supervisors to make county-led community emergency preparedness a reality! This is an exciting moment where we can make community-based emergency preparedness priorities a reality! We will continue to work with Supervisors to implement their decisions and make sure they walk the talk of ending Urban Shield as we demand they amend or reject the MOU if it still includes Urban Shield.