Calendar
Oakland author Michael Goldstein will be reading from his Return of the Light at the Montclair
Branch of the Oakland Public Library Tuesday night, November 4. The book, subtitled “A
Political Fable in Which the American People Retake Their Country,” has been endorsed by
political commentators Michael Parenti and Don Hazen, Executive Editor of Alternet, spiritual
teachers Michael Lerner and Wes (“Scoop”) Nisker, and Wavy Gravy, among others.
Goldstein finds the library’s scheduling him for election night to be fortuitous. “The book is
really for those with doubts that the two-party system can give us the ‘change we can believe in’
that we are perennially promised.”
Return of the Light is set on the night of the Winter Solstice in 2120. At one of thousands of
community gatherings across the United States, a storyteller does the annual retelling of how,
back in 2023, a decade-long movement culminated in the people taking over their own
government, making it a means for mobilizing their collective power to promote peace, social
justice, environmental sustainability, and a society hospitable to the needs of the human spirit.
Goldstein says it is intended to be a vision of the road forward for today’s concerned citizens.
According to Parenti, it is “clearly written, hopeful and useful for those interested in building a
real democracy,” and Hazen describes it as “a very encouraging read, in a time of little
optimism.”
For more information or a review copy, contact:
Leslie Keenan 415 897-0413
leslie@printedvoice.com
Michael Goldstein blogs on the Huffington Post and OpenSalon.com, focusing on the need to move beyond the teeter-totter of the two-party system and the means to do so. Goldstein works as a mediator and death-penalty appeals lawyer in Northern California.
Our Comrade Ali was arrested at a Ferguson/ Mike Brown Solidarity Action in Vallejo. Please come out and support him at his court date .
March to Chelsea Manning Plaza.
This 5th of November, we call on those of you that see the wrongs of society, those that can see we are on a collision course with oblivion. This 5th of November, we ask those of you that can see the fabric of our civilization unraveling before our very eyes to take a stand against the corruption, lies, deceit and greed threatening our very existence. This 5th of November, we ask that you look through the veil of obscurity the shady and corrupt individuals in leadership are desperately trying to perpetuate in order to continue with their obscenities. This 5th of November, we ask that you dawn your mask, take a stand and refuse to live a lie any longer. Let us stand united against the wrongs of this world on Anonymous’ Million Mask March and let us give them a 5th of November they will never, ever forget!
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— Starting Position: Civic Center Plaza (near the center of the plaza) —
10:00AM-10:30AM: Gathering the Armada – This is the time we have for the majority of the attendees to arrive and get together; mingle, discuss the upcoming march, advertise to passers-by about our cause and get ready to march. We are not going to be doing too much in the way of preparation here, mostly just waiting for people to arrive.
10:30AM-11:00AM: Time for a little Chat – At this time, we will be mostly assembled and will listen intently as Alfred gives us the “pre-flight safety guidelines” for our march and following rally. Please pay attention as we do want you guys to be safe through-out the duration of the event. In addition to the safety briefing, we will also be reciting the cadences that will be used during the march.
11:00AM-~12:00PM: We will begin our progression to the set destination: Justin Herman Plaza. Our route will be as follows:
Civic Center Plaza –> Larkin St.
Larkin Street –> Golden Gate Avenue
Golden Gate Avenue –> Market Street
Market Street –> Justin Herman Plaza
—- End Position: Justin Herman Plaza —-
12:00PM-~3:00PM: May the Speakers Stand Up – We will have our confirmed speakers give their stance on the issues facing our country and world. This will also be a time for those in the audience to give their points of view as well. Please keep in mind though, that we will be on a time limit permit-wise, so if you do have something you would like to say, be sure to have a general idea what you are saying before you step up.
3:00PM-???: Time for dispersal of our fine march. Great work to all and pats on the back all around!
SWOP Bay
Protest the Nuisance Eviction Ordinance in Oakland
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The Oakland City Council recently passed amendments to the Nuisance Eviction Ordinance (NEO) mandating landlords to evict sex workers.
Join Red Light Legal at the Oakland City Council meeting this Wednesday November 5th to voice your opposition to NEO and participate in a breakout strategy discussion as we build a coalition to see the NEO repealed.
To be clear, the NEO isn’t on the agenda and has already passed. If we want to see this ordinance reversed we’re going to have to force the issue. By showing up at the meeting we’re hoping to call the council’s attention to our opposition during public comment. We’re also trying to meet those who oppose the NEO in person. We can have a conversation in Oscar Grant Plaza, get to know one another and begin to form a plan to see this law torn down.
Bring a coat in case it’s cold outside!
For more info go to https://
Bring your cell phone, flashlight, or candle!
Don’t miss your opportunity to see Pay 2 Play: Democracy’s High Stakes, a documentary that chronicles the corrupting influence of money in politics and what we can do to fix the system, on November 6 in Berkeley.
One solution discussed in the film is giving “we the people” the tools to combat this big money takeover of our democracy and California Common Cause is already committed to this effort in our campaign to pass H.R. 20, the Government By The People Act.
Sign up to see Pay 2 Play for FREE and to learn more about H.R. 20!
Pay 2 Play is a documentary full-feature film that unmasks the enigma that is money’s role in today’s politics and explores the need to level the playing field for individuals running for U.S. office to ensure that the BEST candidate wins; NOT necessarily the richest. The documentary features our National Board President Robert Reich, and CA Common Cause Executive Director Kathay Feng! View the trailer here.
On a recent rainy Saturday in Washington, D.C., hundreds of people took to the streets for the biggest and most successful protest in front of the World Bank annual meetings in a decade. The World Bank is currently revising its policies to protect people and the planet, and we were there to prevent the World Bank from weakening these protections.
On the heels of that mobilization, I am pleased to invite you to a special event featuring my friend and longtime World Bank advocate Bruce Rich. Bruce will be in the Bay area next week to talk about his new book, Foreclosing the Future: The World Bank and the Politics of Environmental Destruction. He will be giving talks in San Francisco and Berkeley.
What: Book talk with Bruce Rich
Click here to email me your RSVP.
Bruce’s new book shows how the World Bank’s failure to address the challenges of the 21st century has implications for everyone. He recounts a story of larger-than-life personalities, international intrigue, and human suffering brought about by a winner-take-all economic globalization — and identifies the changes necessary if the World Bank and the world’s governments are to make real progress in helping the poorest and sustaining the environmental resources on which all of us depend.Please join us for an exciting discussion and refreshments. Email me your RSVP today!
Learn about the latest developments: lawsuits, restraining orders, and Einstein’s Mayoral campaign!
Watch a movie, hang out. Bring a pillow.
Book Release Celebration with Journalist Nora Barrows-Friedman
IN OUR POWER: U.S. STUDENTS ORGANIZE FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE
(Just World Books)
The Middle East Children’s Alliance is thrilled to host this celebration of award-winning reporter Nora Barrows-Friedman’s new book which documents the emergence and success of the Students for Justice in Palestine movement, using many of Nora’s investigative interviews with activists nationwide. Her journalistic experience in Palestine and close engagement with Palestinian solidarity activism give Nora a unique ability to help these inspiring student leaders tell their stories!
Special Guest MALIHE RAZAZAN, who cohosts KPFA’s “Voices of the MIddle East” program, will interview Nora about her book. And activists from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) will participate in the Q and A with Nora.
Nora Barrows-Friedman is a staff writer/editor with The Electronic Intifada and has contributed to Al-Jazeera English, Truthout.org and more. Past Senior Producer/co-host of KPFA’s investigative news magazine “Flashpoints”, in 2009 she received the Lifetime Achievement Media Freedom Award from the Media Freedom Foundation.
On Oct 7, 2014m 26 yr O’Shaine K. Evans was shot 7 times by SFPD officer David Goff.
O’Shaine was born in Montigo Bay, Jamaica, and was living with his Mom in Oakland where he was training to become a boxer.
O’Shaine was not a threat to anyone and was described as a “humble soul” and a “quiet mama’s boy” by family and friends,
O’Shaine family, friends and supporters demand :
* Release the police report, autopsy, surveillance video/
audio of the SFPD “Town Hall” meeting !
* Explain why SFPD held a “Town Hall” WITHOUT inviting O’Shaine’s family or District Supervisor Jane Kim
* Explain why O’Shaine’s mother was NOT allowed to ID his body
* Launch an INDEPENDENT investigation of O’Shaine’s death, including events leading up to and following the shooting
* End racist police assassinations, from SF to Ferguson
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Facebook : Justice 4 O’Shaine Evans
Donate : youcaring.com/O’Shaine
200 urban farmers occupy the last piece of East Bay farmland and plant 15,000 seedlings to save it from becoming a shopping mall. This is a story about what we can accomplish through collective action, and it takes on one of the most powerful institutions in the world. Its about all of us!
We have showtimes! Occupy The Farm is playing at 12:00 pm, 2:20 pm, 4:50 pm, 7:00pm and 9:30 pm at the UA Berkeley 7 on 2274 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley starting November 7!
It’s playing several times a day for 7 days straight. Then we go to New York and Los Angeles. Please help get the word out so that theaters in more communities will take the plunge to book the film.
Later on, it will be available for community screenings and home, but right now we have the opportunity to bring wider awareness of the issues of sustainable food systems and urban farming to a whole new group of people who otherwise would not be aware.
Hang out with or come visit Strike Debt Bay Area at First Friday. Discuss the politics and societal impact of debt and income inequality. Learn about our myriad projects and how you can get involved!
This month we’ll be doing a few economic experiments at the table, giving people easy ways to barter and use alternative credit reports.
Look for us between 24th & 25th streets on Telegraph.
Did you occupy the farm?
Occupy the Farm Film Screening and After Party
The film has had a big break in the first three cities, but without the kind of advertising budget Hollywood films usually depend on, we need people power to let folks know it exists!
Join us for the afterparty on opening night!
RSVP here
See you at the movies!
The film tells the story of the 17-year struggle to protect 20 acres of public farmland (the “Gill Tract”, in Albany) from development into a supermarket, housing complex, and strip mall.
The filmmaker has received a big break from Regal Cinemas, the largest theater owner in the country, but on the shoestring budget of an independent film, we’re depending on people power to get the word out.
5 screenings per day
United Artists 7 Movie Theater
Second Sundays:
Interfaith prayer meeting for healing, dedicated to the survivors and victims of violence and police brutality in Oakland.
We are organizing this gathering for the community to connect, share prayers, writings and poems from all spiritual traditions, reflect and recharge and build coalitions interested in healing.
Please feel free to bring quotes or passages to share
All are welcome
We will serve simple breakfast.
Our constitutional system of checks and balances is broken. A Congress in the hands of corporations and their lobbyists can no longer protect the public from special interests and government, with its surveillance and endless wars for oil and profit. Independent media have emerged as a powerful check on government abuses. Whistleblowers play an increasing and vital role in getting information to the public.
Our five panelists will engage in a lively discussion of the public’s need for greater transparency and constitutional protection from government intrusion and abuse. How do “We the People” protect ourselves?
Our Panelists:
Daniel Ellsberg: Activist, whistleblower, co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Norman Solomon: Author, activist, co-founder of RootsAction.org; coordinator of ExposeFacts.org.
Trevor Timm: Journalist and Columnist for the UK Guardian, executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Marjorie Cohn: Law professor at Jefferson School of Law; author and human rights activist; former president of the National Lawyers Guild.
Ahmed Ghappour: Hastings College professor of law; national security and cybersecurity litigator.
This Forum is the third in a series of Civil Liberty forums presented by St. John�s Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, California.
Hearing Postponed Until December 11th.
Plaintiffs City of Berkeley and Mayor and Members of the City Council of the
City of Berkeley have filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary
injunction, to enjoin defendants United States Postal Service, Patrick R. Donahoe, Tom A.
Samra, and Diana Alvarado from completing a sale of the Berkeley Post Office. According to
that motion, “the City believes that USPS will attempt to convey the Post Office property at any
moment,” even though USPS reportedly has not performed the reviews required by the National
Historic Preservation Act or the National Environmental Policy Act.
This order hereby ENJOINS the named defendants from completing the sale of the
Berkeley Post Office until a hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction can be conducted.
Plaintiffs must post a bond in the amount of $5,000 and serve all named defendants with the
complaint, summons, and all papers (including this order) by 10:00AM ON NOVEMBER 6, 2014.
The hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction will take place at 8:00AM ON NOVEMBER 10th, 2014.
(signed)
WILLIAM ALSUP
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Billy Nessen is a long-time activist, most recently working with UC Berkeley students (Fossil Free Cal) to demand the Regents divest from big oil, coal and natural gas.Nessen, a leader of the student anti-apartheid divestment movement at Berkeley in the ‘80s, will give us a history of the movements he’s been involved in, from the protests at the Concord Naval Weapons Station against shipping weapons to El Salvador to his role as a journalist who was captured in the E. Timor Independence Struggle.
Steve Jacobson of Earth First! and Occupy will interview Billy Nessen to help bring his work to light. We may also be seeing excerpts from Nessen’s film, The Black Road.
We are very pleased to announce a tour of the United States by representatives of Colombia’s Marcha Patriótica (Patriotic March) and Lazos de Dignidad (Links of Dignity). The Patriotic March is Colombia’s largest Left movement for a just peace and popular participation in dialogue to end the country’s 50 year civil war. It has been a target of heavy repression, with 70 of its leaders assassinated in just two years time. Lazos de Dignidad provides legal representation and human rights training for Colombian political prisoners and agricultural workers unions. Lazos de Dignidad is also active in grassroots mobilizations for peace and human and labor rights.
This tour features July Henriquez Sampayo and Gustavo Gallardo Morales, speaking on two primary subjects:
- Rising Repression, International Solidarity and Colombia’s Peace Process
- Prison Imperialism and the Colombian Peace Process
SPONSORS: AFGJ, BALASC, and Task Force of the Americas
