Calendar
San Francisco’s police union has called on its members to show up at Wednesday’s police commission in force to support the officers who were involved in the December shooting death of Mario Woods.
A letter was sent to all active Police Officers Association members Jan. 16 asking for a strong showing Wednesday night to ensure the commission remains impartial despite attacks on law enforcement from some politicians and others.
“I am writing to all active POA members to request a show of support by officers at the next police commission meeting. We are asking our members to show support for our brothers and sisters involved in the recent officer involved shootings in the Bayview district,” wrote union President Martin Halloran in his plea. “Our profession is under attack nationally, and especially here in San Francisco”
The union’s request comes as protesters and activists have been calling for Mayor Ed Lee to fire Police Chief Greg Suhr and for the prosecution of the five officers who were involved in the killing of Woods last month.
Suhr has specifically come under fire for his previous handling of a racist text scandal last year and more recently for comments he made after the Woods killing that some say sounded as if he thought the shooting was justified.
Meanwhile, the union’s president has taken a strong position on the Woods killing, saying in the January issue of the union’s monthly journal that preliminary information released by the department indicates that “these officers were forced into an impossible situation with an armed suspect who allegedly stabbed an innocent victim less than a half hour earlier. These officers exhausted all forms of less lethal force and were forced, by the suspect, to discharge their firearms”
We disagree.
Chicago Confessional, documentary by Bryan Gibel
Inmate Stanley Wrice was subject to a police torture squad that operated in Chicago in the 1970s and 1980s. The injustices were led by Jon Burge, Chicago Police Department detective and commander who gained notoriety for torturing more than 200 criminal suspects between 1972 and 1991 in order to force confessions. Stanley Wrice seeks to overturn his conviction for a horrible crime he insists he didn’t commit.
as always, free snacks and popcorn
Justice 4 Mario Woods
The Rules Committee — made up of Sups. Avalos, Tang, and Cohen — is having a special meeting on Thursday and the first item on the agenda is addressing alternatives to use of force in policing.
http://www.sfbos.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=54804
1. 151263 [Hearing – Alternatives to Use of Force in Policing]
Sponsors: Cohen; Yee, Avalos, Breed and Campos
Hearing on alternatives to the use of force in policing, and re-evaluating San Francisco
Police Department General Orders 2.07, 5.01, and 5.02; and requesting the Police
Department to report.
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
Black Lives Matter Sacramento joins the Occupation for the Right to Rest on Tuesday January 26th for a Die-In & Protest followed by flooding our City Council meeting for public comments.
WITHOUT SLEEP, YOU WILL DIE
Police continue to raid and harass the homeless in Sacramento:
https://
The city of Sacramento has made it a crime to sleep.
So the homeless are being arrested if they close their eyes too long, and that is disgustingly inhumane.
Reference: https://
Our city has gentrified the hell out of Oak Park and Midtown, making it hard to live and creating more homelessness in the Sacramento area. This has dramatically effected people of color.
Then once you become homeless, where can you sleep?
Where can you sit? Is this all for the new arena?
The City of Sacramento, City Council, and Mayor Johson have made it CRIMINAL to be POOR and/or HOMELESS.
There have been activists on the ground for weeks.
One evening 9 homeless activists were attacked by 53 police officers, resulting in excessive force and unnecessary arrests.
This is where are tax dollars are going.
Join Us at City Hall!
