The long-awaited Contra Costa Climate Emergency Resolution will be heard by the County Board of Supervisors on September 22nd.   With its passage, which could happen with strong public support, Contra Costa will join five counties and 25 cities in the Bay Area (70% of its total population) that have formally recognized the climate crisis in order to promote resilience and sustainable local economies no longer reliant on fossil fuels.

The Climate Emergency Resolution is here.  It’s not long—please take a careful look at it in advance of the meeting.

There are many bright moments in the draft resolution.  One is the proposed establishment of an interdepartmental task force to coordinate implementation of the Climate Action Plan, a long overdue practical measure, and to emphasize equity and social justice issues in its implementation.   Another is a commitment to developing County reach codes in order to electrify all new construction.  Yet another—a huge aspirational step forward for Contra Costa—is acknowledgement of the urgent need to “anticipate” and “plan” for a Just Transition away from a fossil fuel-dependent economy.  There is heavy emphasis throughout on promoting equity and rectifying environmental injustice in Contra Costa’s pollution-clobbered frontline communities.

If there are areas you think need improvement, by all means make your voice heard.  You can send in comments ahead of time to Board members.  Their addresses can be found here.  Or you can make comments at the meeting.

Above all, speak from your heart.

Watch the meeting here.  T0 address the Board during Public Comment on a non-agenda item, or on the Climate Emergency Resolution—Agenda Item #D2—call in by dialing 888-251-2949 followed by the access code 1672589#.  Push “#2” on your phone to indicate you wish to speak on an agenda item.

All telephone callers will be limited to two (2) minutes apiece.  The Board Chair may reduce the amount of time allotted per telephone caller at the beginning of each item or public comment period depending on the number of calls.

WHERE

From your computer:  click this link.

Learn about East Bay Community Energy’s new program to help homeowners install a solar + battery system. Their new Resilient Home program pools the power of individual participants to get more competitive pricing, with an additional incentive that offers even better savings.

EBCE has done the upfront legwork and selected an experienced industry partner, Sunrun, to make installing a new solar + battery backup system on your home simple and more affordable than ever.

Learn more about how the Resilient Home program works, the basics of solar + battery backup systems, and incentive details. Sunrun will be on hand to discuss their product and financing options, warranties, what to expect during your initial consultation, and their safe installation processes.

WHEN

Thursday, September 24, 6 – 7 PM

sign-on info here

Tuesday, September 29, 12 – 1 PM

sign-on info here

Wednesday, September 30, 6 – 7 PM

sign-on info here

Join SURJ Bay Area’s Policy Committee for a legislative strategy session and workshop that will demystify the legislative process, build our collective legislative capacity, and highlight the legislative priorities and strategies of SURJ’s people of color (POC) led partners.

This workshop is for anyone who is passionate, curious, or wants to learn more about the ways that policy combined with grassroots organizing can be used as a tool in the movement for racial justice and collective liberation.

This workshop will provide opportunities for participants to:

• Learn how the Movement 4 Black Lives Policy Platform (M4BL) fits into SURJ Bay Area’s organizing framework
• Leverage our grassroots power in the state Capitol
• Plug into statewide policy work and action
• Practice bringing your voice and positionality to the political process

Event tickets are sliding scale – $0-10. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
This workshop is also a fundraiser for a SURJ Policy Partner.

We are eager to hear all of your voices and to help develop progressive grassroots’ power in the California policy landscape. All levels of experience are welcome!

Red-skies and smoke are hard on everyone, but as with most of the impacts of capitalism, create additional burdens on our poor and unhoused neighbors.

Join us for a mutual aid mask build at Empowerment park in Oakland, across from 465 Bellevue Ave.
No experience necessary. Please bring PPE!

We will be close to the nearby road and can accommodate any accessibility needs. Please email the committee Co-Chairs at green-new-deal@eastbaydsa.org with any accessibility questions or concerns.

You’re a socialist, and you have to work for a living in order to survive. How can you combine those things and organize for socialism while on the job? Rank and file workers have played a crucial role in fighting for larger social demands that we benefit from to this day (The weekend! The 8-hour day! Much more!). Come hear labor sociologist Barry Eidlin discuss what the rank and file strategy is, why it’s important, and how YOU can do it!
Join the Labor Committee for the first in a series about socialists at work, where you’ll learn more about how to build power for the working class!

Barry Eidlin is an assistant professor of sociology studying class, politics, social movements, and social change at McGill University in Montreal. He’s a member of DSA and the author of “Labor and the Class Idea in the United States and Canada”.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83284288301?pwd=bjRlT1I2bjlsZVpUWllFb1I3bTg2dz09

password: labor

Our Sunday morning programs are scheduled pretty much on a “first come, first served” basis and confirmed at our planning sessions. The opinions expressed are those of the speakers only and do not represent a group consensus on the issues by the members of ICSS. Our general practice is to allot at least half of the time to comradely discussion of the issues so that we include as many voices as practical .

Check here close to the date each week for subject matter and Zoom info if not below:

https://icssmarx.org/icss-sched-latest.html

Sun, Sep 20, 2020:
Socialism and ‘Movement for a People’s Party’
In the US, a movement is afoot for a new party and over 100,000 people have responded to the call to form a new ‘People’s Party’, which is presently a pre-party formation.  In this Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library session, we will be showing some videos of the speeches by notable speakers and analyze the platform for this new political formation from a Marxist perspective, followed by a lively discussion

LOG-IN INFO 
The meeting will be opened up, as usual, at 10:15 for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc. We Intend to start the presentation as close to 10:30 am as possible

Raj Sahai is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2591082607?pwd=TTdlcFlnZEVCdWt2VlRHeWZLeHNKQT09

Meeting ID: 259 108 2607
Passcode: 6MwQP7

Sun, Sep 27, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: Labor and Immigration
David will talk about the struggles of farmworkers on the West Coast to organize, and the way it’s affected by their work lives and status as immigrants.  He’ll include photographs and a description of his documentary work in process.

Sun, Oct 4, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: The Crisis in Education:
Capitalist Mess and Socialist Solutions
The NY Times recently ran two articles on its front page: U.S. Campuses See Explosions Of Virus Cases,“ and “How Beijing got 295 Million Back to School.” This illustrates how socialism attempts to solve the mess in education created by capitalism. Similar forces can be seen in Oakland, CA, where billionaire-funded charter school organizations are buying our school board members, implementing school closures, and turning students and parents into vectors for billionaire profit. Meanwhile, socialists and union activists fighting to keep Oakland schools public, and to keep charter schools and their billionaire supporters out of our communities. We have invited Gerald Smith, an activist with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and former candidate for the Oakland School Board, to lead a discussion with members of the Oakland Education Association (OEA) the teacher’s union. Discussants will include Mike Hutchinson, a candidate  for the Oakland School Board in District 5, endorse by both DSA and OEA.
The session will be moderated by ICSS Members Eugene Ruyle and Raj Sahai.

Sun, Oct 11, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: Dealing with Covid 19:
A Comparison Between Cuba and the United States
   Cuba, a socialist nation with a population of about 11 million, has suffered (as of mid-September, 2020) about 100 fatalities from the Covid 19 virus pandemic. The USA, a capitalist nation with a population about 30 times as great as Cuba, has suffered (as of mid-September), almost 200,000 deaths from this virus. The U.S., with about 30 times the population of Cuba has lost about 2000 times as many lives! What are the social, political, economic, ideological, cultural, strategic and other factors relevant to each nation that explain this profound difference
Dr. Laurence H. Shoup has taught history at a number of universities and is the author of five books, his most recent one being Wall Street’s Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire Neoliberal Geopolitics 1976-2019 (Monthly Review Press). He has been in active solidarity with the Cuban Revolution for many decades and has visited the country over a dozen times on a variety of solidarity excursions, including two Pastors for Peace caravans, several Labor Exchange trips, as well as with the Venceremos Brigade and Global Exchange.

Sun, Oct 18, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: What Should Working People in the U.S.
do about Elections 2020?
Should we: 1. Vote Third Party? 2. Vote Democratic to oppose the Fascist tendency represented by Trump? Trump? 3. Adopt the Safe State Strategy?, 4. Sit out of the bourgeois election? 4. Vote for Trump to deny support to the real danger, Biden? 5. suport only those down-ballot candidates from any group that pushes for reform of the capitalist system, e.g Greens, Berners and “The Squad”?
We have three confirmed speakers,
* Tom Gallagher, former Massachusetts State Representative and author of The Primary Route.
* Roger Harris, among his many activities, Roger is on the Central Committee of the Peace and Freedom Party and a board member of the Task Force on the Americas
* Laura Wells, former Green Party candidate for Governor, writer (laurawells.org)
ICSS member Sharon Rose will facilitate the session..
RECOMMENDED READINGS:
* The Specter of a Fascist Coup by Trump Haunts the US, But There’s Worse to Worry About https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/21/the-specter-of-a-fascist-coup-by-trump-haunts-the-us-but-theres-worse-to-worry-About/
* Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World By Rutger Bregman, recommended by https://laurawells.org
* Joe Biden, Don’t Let Donald Trump Run as the Antiwar Candidate! https://tomgallagherwrites.com
LOG-IN INFO 
The meeting will be opened up, as usual, at 10:15 for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc. We Intend to start the presentation as close to 10:30 am as possible
BLURB AND LOG-IN INFO WILL BE PROVIDED ON
FRIDAY, OCT 16, 2020

Sun, Oct 25, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED: Attack on Anti-racist Organizers
On Sept. 17, 2020, several protest leaders, including four members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), were arrested in Denver, Colorado in a coordinated police attack. The organizers now face over 30 bogus charges including “kidnapping” and “inciting a riot,” and potentially years in prison. They were targeted because of their dedicated organizing efforts in recent months to denouncing the police murder of Elijah McClain in Aurora, Colorado.
This attack is part of a larger assault on the anti-racist movement directed from the White House, Governor’s mansions, and local governments and police agencies around the country. This can happen to any protester who has used their voice to mobilize in the mass movement against racism in every single corner of the United States.
   We will be joined by Lillian House, one of the protest organizers  facing 12 bogus facing charges including “kidnapping” and “inciting a riot,” and potentially years in prison and well as Richard Becker of the PSL.
For more info and to donate, see https://www.liberationnews.org/thousands-declare-their-solidarity-with-framed-denver-anti-racist-organizers-add-your-name-here/
The demands are: 1. Drop all the charges! 2. Stop the assault on the movement and on free speech!

Sun, Nov 1, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm DST FALL BACK
CONFIRMED -The fall of the Soviet Union: New insights into the sequence of events, starting with the victory of the Russian Revolution on November 7, 1917, and implications for Marxists today.”
Wadi’h Halabi, with the Center for Marxist Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will discuss this topic. His analysis extends to differences between the Chinese and Russian Revolutions. For example, civil war and land reform followed revolution in Russia but preceded it in China. Halabi’s discussion will touch on the ‘new Cold War’. The global class struggle hardly ended with the fall of the Soviet Union, and this is the framework of the presentation.

Sun, Nov 8, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
CONFIRMED – WHAT NOW?
This will be our first meeting after the November 3, 2020 election, and we know they will not turn out well. Do we Dump Trump or Battle Biden? What will groups like ANSWER, the Poor People’s Campaign, and DSA  be doing? We have invited  Gloria La Riva, the only socialist Presidential Candidate on the ballot in 23 states, or her representative, to lead our discussion, possibly  she will be  joined by another speaker.
Gene is organizing.

Good morning everyone! Please join us in Vallejo this Sunday, September 27, at Wilson Park for a demonstration to commemorate the #Justice4Sean billbord YOU all helped us put up right across from VPD headquarters.

Never let them forget what they did. pic.twitter.com/MIezReMBBG

— Vessels of Vallejo (@VallejoVessels) September 24, 2020

THE OCCUPY OAKLAND POTLUCK BEFORE THE GA ON THE LAST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH HAS BEEN INOPERATIVE SINCE THE PANDEMIC STARTED AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE INOPERATIVE FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE.

(Due to technical problems with the calendar events are nearly impossible to remove, hence this notice)

Anyone wishing to get notices about the GA, which is currently being held online every other Sunday, can email

occupyoakland@lists.riseup.net

and request to be put on the list.

All day you can bring signs, toys, stuffed animals, or ribbons to leave at or tie to the gazebo in Civic Park.

From 6:00 to 7:30 (around sunset) there will be a candlelight vigil in Civic Park. Bring candles, electric candles, flashlights, or any other source of light. Please be careful if you do bring a real candle.

This administration’s attacks on migrant families is an affront to our values and political system. We believe in supporting families and keeping them together, not tearing them apart and caging them. Most recently, whistleblower Dawn Wooten, a former nurse at ICE’s Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, stated that ICE surgically sterilized women detainees without their consent.

The bottom line: there is a clear pattern of abuse at the hands of ICE. They can’t be trusted to care for anyone.

#FreeTheFamilies Now!
__________________________________________________________

SAFETY: Event will follow all social distancing & safety measures. Please wear a mask.

If you have the following symptoms, please DO NOT participate in person. Even if you test negative for COVID-19 but have these symptoms, please refrain from in-person events:
–Fever
–Shortness of breath
–Cough
–Headache
–Loss of smell or taste

PETITION:

For years, ICE has operated a “family jail” in Berks County, PA — a facility used to specifically incarcerate families with children. The Governor has the power to close this “family jail” and release everyone detained inside. As Trump’s top two DHS officials, Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli have committed countless atrocities. It’s time for them to go. Demand their resignation now:

Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli – Resign Now! Sign here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/wolf-and-cuccinelli-resign-from-office

Stay up to date with the latest from Families Belong Together by signing up for our mobile updates. Text “Belong” to 97779 to sign up today.

Website: https://www.familiesbelongtogether.org/

Webinar Registration

As you know, the depths of the COVID economic crisis are rapidly eclipsing what we saw in the financial crisis of 2008. One of the most devastating legacies of that crisis is that it was one of the largest transfers of wealth in this country’s history. And that wealth loss was experienced most greatly in Black and Latinx communities. As you also know, this transfer of wealth happens most prominently when people lose their businesses and when they lose their homes.

Had the CARES act relief been equity focused, we would expect for the COVID economic recovery resources to also have been available to BIPOC communities. But this has not been the case, for example, of the data that is available on PPP loans, we know that only 2% of the businesses that received a loan were black owned and only 6% were Latinx. We also know that the major banks who administered this relief earned at least $18 billion in fees.

Now imagine that we recreate systems so that the relief is dispersed first to the communities that need it the most. A State Bank of the People/ A State Public Bank would establish this much needed infrastructure in California so that recovery dollars are dispersed quickly and are available promptly to protect vulnerable communities from losing their homes, their livelihoods and their generational wealth over and over again.

In addition, a State Public Bank would also democratize finance in California by investing in people over profits. It would create access to capital for BIPOC communities that have been left out by Wall Street banks. CRC invites you to join a conversation to explore a new kind of financial institution, one that is owned by the People of California. Join us to explore this alternative to the extractive economy we contend with now.

Hear leaders on the frontlines of historic and ongoing climate disasters who are building a Just Recovery on the ground.  At  Stronger than Storms: Climate & Just Recovery Forum, hosted by 350.org, you will hear:

• Jasilyn Charger, 24-year old Indigenous Environmental Protector
• Verónica Noriega, Mentes Puertorriqueñas en Acción, a non-profit organization organizing young people into social initiatives in Puerto Rico
• Cesar Aguirre, Central California Environmental Justice Alliance
• Xiye Bastida, Re-Earth Initiative, NYC youth climate activist, raised in Mexico as part of the Otomi-Toltec Indigenous Peoples  
• Troy Robertson, Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy (GCCLP), Regional Organizer from New Orleans, Louisiana
• Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), President
• Moderator: Amira Odeh, 350.org, Carribean and Florida Organizer from Puerto Rico.

Learn about East Bay Community Energy’s new program to help homeowners install a solar + battery system. Their new Resilient Home program pools the power of individual participants to get more competitive pricing, with an additional incentive that offers even better savings.

EBCE has done the upfront legwork and selected an experienced industry partner, Sunrun, to make installing a new solar + battery backup system on your home simple and more affordable than ever.

Learn more about how the Resilient Home program works, the basics of solar + battery backup systems, and incentive details. Sunrun will be on hand to discuss their product and financing options, warranties, what to expect during your initial consultation, and their safe installation processes.

WHEN

Thursday, September 24, 6 – 7 PM

sign-on info here

Tuesday, September 29, 12 – 1 PM

sign-on info here

Wednesday, September 30, 6 – 7 PM

sign-on info here

Please join the Pulitzer Center for a Zoom performance of The Box, a play written by a survivor of solitary confinement, Sarah Shourd, in collaboration with other survivors. There is no admission cost, but registration is required to attend.

Thursday, October 1 | 4pm PST/7pm EST

Register Here

Saturday, October 3 | 11am PST/2pm EST

Register Here

Saturday, October 3 | 4pm PST/7pm EST

Register Here

Shourd’s play, based on her three-year investigation into the horrors of solitary confinement, is a piece of transformational theater that asks us to re-examine long-held notions of punishment. It reveals the tragic—and sometimes painfully comic and absurd—realities that dictate life “inside the box.”

Learn more about Shourd, the play and some of the actors.

This performance of The Box will feature actors Carlos Aguirre, Dameion Brown, Jordan Don, Dorian Lockett, Terrance Smith, and Lawrence Radecker. Produced by the Pulitzer Center. Tech manager Nikki Hyde. Written and Directed by Sarah Shourd.