Calendar
What really happened at Tiananmen Square on June 3-4, 1989? What’s happening in Hong Kong right now? We have invited the following speakers to address these questions: Richard Becker, Party for Socialism and Liberation; David Ewing, U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association; Gerald Smith, Liberated Lens; Eugene Ruyle, ICSS member. Questions and comments will follow the presentations with time limits as needed to ensure that as many people as possible can express their views or ask their questions
Suggested Reading: “Tiananmen: The Massacre that Wasn’t.” By Brian Becker. https://liberationschool.org/tiananmen-the-massacre-that-wasnt/
Her Legacy, Anarchy, and Complexities, and Occupy
By Candace Falk, Founding Editor/Director,The Emma Goldman Papers, UC, Berkeley
Please spread the word to your friends and social media contacts!
Candace will speak about Emma Goldman, her legacy, her complexities, and the often misunderstood range of her definition of anarchism, and the spontaneity and collaborative nature of Occupy that resonates with her imagined vision of the future. Candace is founding editor of the Emma Goldman Papers at UC Berkeley, which has collected, identified, and published 22,000 documents by and about Emma Goldman, and which is now available on open access through archive.org. She is also editor of three of a four-volume fully annotated selected book edition of Emma Goldman’s American years, from 1890, when she entered the political stage, to her deportation in 1919; as well as various school curricula and traveling exhibitions. Candace will read some choice excerpts from her papers, and discuss why Emma Goldman lives on.
Candace’s work began when she was in her 20s and serendipitously discovered Emma’s love letters in a guitar shop in Chicago’s Hyde Park. The treasure trove became the basis of her book, Love, Anarchy, and Emma Goldman, (about to be re-issued this month on June 27th, Emma Goldman’s 150th birthday)– a respectful, and steamy story of the complexity of matching one’s vision and reality– in love and in politics.
Candace Falk:
* Founding Editor/Director,The Emma Goldman Papers, University of California, Berkeley (as of July 1st: The Emma Goldman Papers Public History Project).
* Author: Love, Anarchy, and Emma Goldman
* Collaborative author, Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years 1890-1919, a four volume series.
* Guggenheim Fellowship recipient
* Hamer Award from the Society of American Archivists.
* Frequent speaker – radio interviewee -and contributor to various books, including an essay “Nearer My Subject to Thee: Over 30 years of documentary engagement with Emma Goldman”
This engagement brought to you by the participants in the Occupy Oakland General Assembly.
The talk will be followed by the General Assembly, possibly abbreviated, wherein we will discuss the area’s activist events that have happened over the last week and the upcoming week’s events. And other political/activist/social justice topics that anyone wishes to bring up.
PUBLIC COMMENT – HEAL NOT HARM
Show up for the Life Enrichment Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 25th, 4 PM, Sgt. Mark Dunakin Room – 1st Floor at Oakland City Hall.
Councilmember Nikki Fortunado Bas and Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan are championing “Item 9. Supplemental Report for Encampment Management Policy And Program.”
If you can’t make the hearing but would like to leave an electronic comment that will become a part of the official record the link is here – https://bit.ly/2RlfYoy
Here are some general talking points:
- Housing is a human right. A key function of our city government is to make sure that everyone has shelter. We must bring together residents, developers, and housing advocates — and collaborate with the county and state — to co-construct win-win solutions to improve and increase affordable housing, and provide options for our unsheltered neighbors.
- Public lands must be used for public good. We must ensure our public lands are used for public good by supporting a public lands policy that prioritizes affordable housing and permanent supportive housing projects, and designates city-owned parcels for sanctioned camps that provide sanitation and services and move homeless neighbors off dangerous streets.
- Providing wrap around services. We must increase resources to provide essential services to our homeless neighbors, with rapid measures that move people into stable temporary housing while we work toward permanent housing solutions, as well as provide increased wraparound health services and sanitation to our homeless community. We must treat each person with compassion, keeping families and communities together.
- Shelter options for the unhoused. We must approach our homelessness crisis in as humane and compassionate ways as possible. Our commitment needs to be on solutions that create long-term stability for unhoused neighbors and focus on permanent shelter. We cannot displace unhoused residents from one part of the city to another. We need to upgrade their conditions — otherwise we’re not solving the issue, we’re just forcing people to move around. Each person that the City evicts today and tomorrow needs the opportunity to speak with a service provider about their situation and have adequate shelter to move to, which does not force them to lose all of their belongings or put them in an unsafe situation.
- Independent Audit and Workgroup. We support a full, independent performance audit of the Encampment Management Team (EMT) to ensure that unhoused residents are being treated fairly and with dignity. In addition, we support the creation of a collaborative workgroup that includes Councilmembers, City Staff, and representatives of the homeless and advocacy community to advance new strategies addressing the homelessness crisis, for instance, developing self-governed encampments or implementing the city’s public lands policy. Finally, we support proposals to create a Homeless Commission to address the broad issues of homelessness and policies impacting the unsheltered population across the city.
Also, please share your personal stories or experiences.
This proposal changes every aspect of how Oakland Engages the Unsheltered:
- Encampment Management and Closures
- Providing Services to the Unsheltered
- Self-Governance and Sanctioned Encampments
- Community Cabins and Other Shelter Options.
- Safety at Encampments and Community Policing Alternatives
- Employment Opportunities for the Unsheltered.
- Transparency and Accountability
- Ongoing Evaluation and Audit
Read Councilmember Bas’ updated report – http://bit.ly/2YTkMEv
Oakland , CA
Agenda Item 4:
Subject: Face Recognition Technology
From: Council President Kaplan
Recommendation: Adopt Ordinance Amending Oakland Municipal Code Chapter 9.64 To Prohibit The City Of Oakland From Acquiring And/Or Using Face Recognition Technology
The Oakland Public Safety Committee will be considering a Facial Recognition ban on Tuesday evening. Please show up to the meeting and urge the Committee to support a complete ban on Facial Recognition Technology.
Face recognition technology runs the risk of making Oakland residents less safe as the misidentification of individuals could lead to the misuse of force, false incarceration, and minority-based persecution.
The City of Oakland should reject the use of this flawed
technology that infringes on our right to privacy.
If unable to attend, please write to the Public Safety Committee to urge them to vote in favor of a complete Facial Recognition Ban without an exigent use loophole.
ngallo@oaklandca.gov (Chair) – Councilmember Noel Gallo
rkaplan@oaklandca.gov – (Council President) Rebecca Kaplan
ltaylor@oaklandca.gov – Councilmember Loren Taylor
district2@oaklandca.gov – Councilmember Nikki Fortunato-Bas
Hosted by CAIR – San Francisco Bay Area and Secure Justice
KPFA Radio 94.1 FM & St. John’s Presbyterian Church present:
JOHN CARLOS FREY
“Sand and Blood: America’s Stealth War on the Mexico Border”
Hosted by Miguel Guerrero
Advance tickets: $12: brownpapertickets.com :: T: 800-838-3006 or
Pegasus Books (3 sites):
Books Inc (Berkeley),
Moe’s,
Walden Pond Bookstore,
East Bay Books, Mrs. Dalloway’s
Benefits KPFA Radio 94.1FM
“Sand and Blood: America’s Stealth War on the Mexico Border” is a damning portrait of the southern border, where militaristic fantasies are being unleashed and violent technologies are being tested, always targetting impoverished immigrants.
The groundwork for our current situation began in the 1980s and 1990s. But after 9/11, while Americans’ attention was trained on the Middle East, a War on Terror was ramping up on our own soil—aimed not at terrorists but at economic migrants, refugees, and families from South and Central America seeking jobs, safety, and freedom in the US. The Border Patrol grew exponentially, ICE detention centers cropped up across the country, and the southern border has become more militarized than ever before. But we are no safer. Instead, families are being ripped apart, undocumented people are living in fear, and thousands of migrants have died in detention or crossing the border.
“John Carlos Frey is one of the finest examples I know of a journalist who cares. His tireless efforts for years to expose injustices along America’s southern border are particularly impressive when gathered together in one book. We need more … journalists like this.” —Fred Peabody, director, All Governments Lie and The Corporate Coup d’État
John Carlos Frey is an investigative reporter and documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles. A five-time Emmy Award winner, he is a special correspondent for PBS NewsHour, a former correspondent for The Marshall Project, and a longtime Type Investigations journalist at the Type Media Center. His investigative work has been featured on 60 Minutes, PBS, and Dan Rather Reports, and in the Los Angeles Times, the Huffington Post, Salon, Need to Know online, the Washington Monthly, and El Diario. His documentary films include “The Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon”, “The Invisible Chapel”, “The 800 Mile Wall”, and “The Real Death Valley.” He is the 2012 recipient of the Scripps Howard Award, the Sigma Delta Chi award, the IRE Medal, and the Polk Award, among others, for his investigative work.
Miguel Guerrero was born in Michoacán, Mexico, and has been working for KPFA since 2004. He Is a graduate of the KPFA Apprenticeship Program and is currently the Technical Producer for the Music Department. Miguel hosts the weekly Latin alternative music show Rock en Rebelión, which includes commentaries on social and political issues. He also contributes to the programs La Raza Chroniclesand Ritmo.
Please join us for an office warming as we celebrate our new home with food, drink, and community!
Parking: Parking near the office is limited.
ublic Transporation: The Ella Baker Center’s new space is at the intersection of International Blvd and 34th Ave, just two blocks north of the Fruitvale BART station. Multiple AC transit lines also stop nearby.
Join us for a cocktail hour conversation with Harold Feld, Senior Vice President of Public Knowledge, and Mike Swift, Chief Global Digital Risk Correspondent of mLex. They’ll have a one-on-one interview about Harold’s new book, The Case for the Digital Platform Act. Then, a panel of experts from the tech industry and public interest sector will offer their responses. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served for what we expect will be a lively discussion on the “Big Tech” regulation debate.
Sponsored by Mozilla and Postmates
For years, the Anti Police-Terror Project (and Critical Resistance) has been the leading voice demanding that Oakland be the vanguard in creating a model for mental health responders to be the first responders for mental health issues – and this was a central component of the Cat Brooks For Oakland campaign platform. The idea seems to be resonating and Councilmember Kaplan ForOakland has called for a meeting to review a model that exists in Eugene, Oregon.
We firmly believe that Oakland is a unique city and we need a unique model. And In fact, we are already in the process of working with mental health experts and security professionals to create one, but we are encouraging all of you to attend this meeting and express your support for further investigation into the creation of a model that works for Oakland.
The meeting features a presentation from CAHOOTS, a mobile crisis intervention team integrated into the public safety system in Eugene and Springfield, Oregon. Representatives will describe how the model has succeeded in reducing bad outcomes, saved money, and helped connect residents with services.
Agenda: 6pm Check-in & light refreshments
6:30 Presentation begins promptly
8pm Reception
KPFA Radio 94.1 FM & Democracy at Work present:
RICHARD WOLFF
“Save Capitalism? Why? We Can Do Better”
Hosted by Sabrina Jacobs
Advance tickets: $15: brownpapertickets.com :: T: 800-838-3006 or
Pegasus Books (3 sites): Books Inc (Berkeley), Moe’s, Walden Pond Bookstore, East Bay Books, Mrs. Dalloway’s
Benefits KPFA Radio 94.1FM & Democracy at Work
Still reeling from the 2008 crash, capitalism’s next recession looms large. Inequality deepens. Politics spins out of control. The system’s leaders worry about “saving” it. A better idea: system change. Let’s focus on that.
Richard David Wolff (born April 1, 1942) is an American Marxian economist, known for his work on economic methodology, and class analysis. He is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University in New York. Wolff has also taught economics at Yale University, City University of New York, University of Utah, University of Paris I (Sorbonne), and The Brecht Forum in New York City.
In 1988 he co-founded the journal Rethinking Marxism. In 2010, Wolff published Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It, also released as a DVD. He released three new books in 2012: Occupy the Economy: Challenging Capitalism, with David Barsamian (San Francisco: City Lights Books), Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian, with Stephen Resnick (Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London: MIT University Press), and Democracy at Work (Chicago: Haymarket Books).
Wolff hosts the weekly hour-long radio program Economic Update on WBAI, 99.5 FM, New York City (Pacifica Radio) and is featured regularly in television, print, and internet media.
The New York Times Magazine has named him “America’s most prominent Marxist economist”.[8] Wolff lives in Manhattan with his wife and frequent collaborator, Dr. Harriet Fraad, a practicing psychotherapist.
Sabrina Jacobs is host and producer of the popular A Rude Awakening, aired on KPFA, Mondays 3:30 -4 PM. She covers local breaking news as well as global events, informing listeners about the latest social injustices. Ms. Jacobs is also currently serving as staff representative/vice chair of Pacifica Radio’s National Board.
We are holding a press conference outside the 9th Circuit Court to denounce the Trump Administration denying migrant children soap and sleep in U.S. detainment centers including concentration camps.
The names of the children who died in American custody will be read aloud and written in chalk on the sidewalk. This is the court determining if the cruel and inhumane Trump policies are constitutional.
We will assemble two wire cages to symbolize the plight of infants and children separated from their families. Inside the cage will be dolls representing the detained toddlers and aluminum foil serving as blankets.
The courthouse is located at 95 – 7th Street at Mission Street.
Our message is #NoKidsInCages.
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“I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody’s right to beautiful, radiant things.”
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On Thursday June 27th, we will gather and honor Emma Goldman, our ancestor and sister-mother in the lineage of worker struggle, anarchism and the fight for freedom of self-expression.
Her first job was sewing in a factory. She was influenced by Kropotkin and first radicalized by the state’s execution of four of the Haymarket Square activists in 1887 Chicago. She was a birth control pioneer and advocate of free love. She was imprisoned for two years for fighting war and the draft. She started her own free-spirited journal, Mother Earth. In San Francisco she lived at 569 Dolores Street with Alexander Berkman after coming to support Tom Mooney after he was framed for the Preparedness Day bombing.
“In her writing and public speaking Goldman was a gadfly. She championed free speech, birth control, women’s equality and labor unions. She said: “The history of progress is written in the blood of men and women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause, as, for instance, the black man’s right to his body, or the woman’s right to her soul.… If the production of any commodity necessitates the sacrifice of human life, society should do without that commodity, but it cannot do without that life.”
Why do people say this sex-positive anarchist proletariat remains one of the most influential people in modern American history?
Come and find out. Dramaturge Jessica Litwak will channel and embody Emma as she reacts moments of her life in a one woman play: Love, Anarchy and Other Affairs.
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Love, Anarchy and Other Affairs
performed by Jessica Litwak
7:00 Snacks + drinks
7:15 The play
8:15 Discussion
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Help us make a donation to our wonderful performer and cover the costs of food and refreshments by making a donation via http://bit.ly/loveanarchy150
Jessica Litwak is a theatre artist focused specifically on theatre for social change and community engagement. She is an award-winning playwright and actress, as well as an educator, drama therapist and puppet builder. Her plays have been produced in articles and plays have been published by HowlRound, Theatre Communications Group, Applause Books, Smith and Krause, No Passport Press, and The New York Times. She is a core member of Theatre Without Borders, the founder of Artists Rise Up New York, a Fulbright Scholar and the Artistic Director of The H.E.A.T. Collective, (www.theheatcollective.org)
Oakland Sings! will bring together numerous Oakland-based vocal groups in a night of singing for social change! All proceeds benefit POOR Magazine and Youth Spirit Artworks, two arts and media based non-profit organizations who are intentionally and meaningfully serving low-income, homeless, and otherwise silenced and underserved communities. Featuring WeSing Choir, RISE, Thrive Choir, MoonCandy Live House Community Choir and the Jazz Mafia Choral Syndicate! Produced by Lisa Forkish and the WeSing Choir and sponsored by First Congregational Church of Oakland.
Silicon Valley De-Bug’s Class Conscious Photographers presents images that shine a light on the impact on our communities of the incarceration of
people, whether in prisons or in immigrant detention centers, and the deportation of migrants and the border itself.
Advocating for social change is part of a long tradition of social documentary photography in the United States and Mexico, and the work of the photographers in this show contributes to this tradition today. We are activist photographers, participants in the movements for social justice.
These movements are the subject of our photographs, which have a role in helping our movements grow.
Photographers:
Brooke Anderson, David Bacon, Richard Bermack, Charisse Domingo,
Najib Joe Hakim, Stacy Johnson, RJ Lozada, Jean Melesaine, Abraham
Menor, Ronald Orlando and Leopoldo Peña
This exhibition is a project of Class Conscious Photographers/Silicon Valley De-Bug, curated by Greg Morozumi and East Side Arts. It is supported by the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, and cosponsored by Guild Freelancers, a unit of Pacific Media Workers Guild – CWA Local 39521, the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee
Rights, and the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity.
Show Runs: June 5 – August 31, 2019
Artist reception: Friday, June 28, 6-8PM
Stop close proximity antennas’ radiation on every block!
5G is slower than cheaper alternatives that don’t squander energy, privacy, security, property values.
Power point presentation and panel discussion featuring health educator Sarah Aminoff, scientist Lloyd Morgan, and former attorney Kelley Hart, followed by audience discussion.
Come learn why there’s a movement to ban 5th Generation close proximity “small” cell wireless antennas near schools, residences, etc. Oppose 5G to protect our local bird, pollinator, wildlife, and human populations. Stopping 5G wireless will NOT prevent the availability of wireless services, but will:
• Protect privacy and security,
• Reduce unsightly and hazardous industrial clutter in our neighborhoods,
• Prevent 5G’s exorbitant energy use,
• Minimize harmful health and environmental impacts from radiation,
• Make cities more resilient when disaster strikes by preserving our reliable communication network, and
• Defend local sovereignty and the public interest from Big Telecom greed. Do not fall for industry hype!
Over twenty California cities have passed measures to restrict the 5G rollout. If Big Telecom plans proceed, 5G will adversely affect privacy, safety, property values, weather prediction, etc. There are far superior alternatives, cable and fiber optic, which are more reliable, more secure, faster, and more affordable.
Don’t miss the audience discussion that follows the presentation! Bring friends to this important forum and share/forward this notice to people who need info.
About the speakers:
Lloyd Morgan is Senior Research Fellow, Environmental Health Trust, and Director, Central Brain Tumor Registry of the US. He is a retired electronic engineer who has been working on the risks of radio frequency radiation since 1991 and has published peer-reviewed studies on that topic. After helping the city of Berkeley adopt its Cell Phone Right to Know ordinance, he founded Wireless Radiation Education & Defense (WiRED) which is on the cusp of getting the city of Berkeley to adopt an ordinance restricting 5G. He is a Board Member of the International EMF (Electromagnetic Frequencies) Alliance and is also a member of the international science organizations, the Bioelectromagnetics Society, the European Bioelectromagnetics Association, and the Brain Tumor Epidemiology Consortium.
Sarah Aminoff taught freshman first year experience at Sonoma State University and health education at City College of SF, College for Teens, as well as being a K-12 educator. With United Educators of SF, she worked on a safer technology campaign for SF schools in collaboration with Environmental Health Trust’s educational campaigns on children’s health. She is the EMF Project Coordinator for FACTS (Families Advocating for Chemical & Toxics Safety) and is a member of the California Alliance for Safer Technology, a consortium of health and environmental advocates, physicians, nonprofit leaders, attorneys and government officials, as well as Americans for Responsible Technology. Successful campaigns include Sierra Club CA Conservation Committee voting to oppose 5G without environmental review or local control. Ms. Aminoff will add a dynamic power point presentation to the 5G discussion.
Kelley Hart is an independent consultant in the parks and recreation field, primarily helping non-profits and local governments plan transformative projects for their park systems or expand land conservation holdings. She worked for thirteen years for The Trust for Public Land, most recently as the head of its national planning team. Prior to that, she worked at UCLA School of Law as a staff attorney. Though she is not currently practicing law, she has been researching local ordinances and other solutions to stop 5G until proven safe because she is extremely concerned about the health impacts of millimeter wave radiation. She lives in Berkeley with her husband and son.
Ellen Marks (tentative), founder of the California Brain Tumor Association, helped achieve Berkeley’s ground-breaking and life-saving Cell Phone Right to Know ordinance.
Phoebe Sorgen, former Berkeley Commissioner and cofounder of WiRED, will facilitate the discussion.
FREE! Wheelchair accessible.
(Inaccessible to EMF sensitive people, regrettably. Attendees will be admonished to put cell phones on airplane mode, but there is wifi throughout the building, needed by employees.)
Event endorsed by Wireless Radiation Education & Defense (WiRED), Berkeley Citizens Action (BCA), Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee.
Love jigsaw puzzles?
Hate white supremacy?
Join us at the ACCE office in Oakland for three hours of solving puzzles.
We’ve gotten a bunch of new puzzles donated since the last event, so we’ll be breaking some of those out for this one.
Puzzles for Justice is both a fundraiser for the Black Solidarity Fund*, and a time to relax, chat, be social with fellow racial-justice-minded folks!
For participants, we’ll have tea and snacks and a chance to have fun and put your puzzle-solving skills to work for a great cause! This is a multi-racial, anti-racist, sober, and kid-friendly space.
Solve puzzles! Get to know your fellow activists better! Invite your friends!
*The Black Solidarity Fund
Black communities have been continually dispossessed and Black organizations routinely pitted against each other in competing for limited resources. Community READY Corps has created an alternative funding mechanism, the Black Solidarity Fund, to unify and distribute micro-grants to Black organizations doing work on the ground in the Bay Area. This is the first Black-owned fund of its kind in the country!
Accessibility: This venue is fully wheelchair accessible. We ask that folks arrive sober and as reduced-scent as possible to make sure the space is safe and accessible for everyone! There are no steps to enter the building. The nearest 62 bus stop is 0.3 miles away and the nearest 1 stop is 0.2 miles away. Fruitvale Bart station is 0.8 miles away.
Join PLACE for Sustainable Living, Oakland Climate Action Coalition (OCAC), and Environmental Justice Solutions (E / J Solutions) for a Climate Equity Work Day at the PLACE Hearth Volunteers will seed and pot plants and other fun gardening activities.
OCAC and E / J Solutions are working with the City of Oakland to develop its2030 Equitable Climate Action Plan (ECAP). The ECAP is our roadmap to a Just Transition and Green New Deal for Oakland, climate actions that create good green jobs, reduce pollution, and help Oaklanders thrive.
Climate Equity Work Days, best summarized by the maxim, “what the hands do, the heart learns,” are opportunities for residents to participate in hands-on resilience skills building and learn more about how to engage in planning for the future of climate action in Oakland.
Bring sturdy shoes, gloves for gardening and plenty of water. Food will be provided.
See you then!
*PLACE Action Days occur the last Saturday of every month*
You’re invited to the Reel Stories June Film Festival!
July 27th location is the California Theater, 2113 Kittredge, Berkeley, CA.
Reel Stories teaches young women and non-binary youth ages 12-18 how to create a film in only 10 days. Institute and Beginner 1 filmmakers are debuting their films June 29th. Join us for the Reel Stories Film Festival and support the next generation of filmmakers!
Reel Stories believes that when women and non-binary people are better represented behind the scenes in the media, they will be better reflected on the screen. Reel Stories is a non-profit Oakland-based organization that empowers young women and non-binary people with the skills to create their own media, to view current media critically and thoughtfully, and to aspire to leadership in their field.
More info and tickets here.
Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library
Sun, Jun 30, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Fascism: What It Is and How To Fight It.
“Fascism: What It Is and How To Fight It” – a two part talk including a historical overview of the events leading up to the rise of fascism in Europe leading up to WWII, and a political analysis of the failures of the communist movement at the time in preventing it. This all in light of the current rise of white supremacy and fascist movements in the U.S., Europe and Latin America and the lack of a united left movement to fight it. Supplemental handouts will be available, including a timeline. Presented by Peoples Alliance members Bill Bowers and Tova Fry (both former WWP): Bill leading with the historical overview and TovaFry following with the political analysis, largely based on Trotsky’s work of the same name. Questions and comments will follow the presentations with time limits as needed to ensure that as many people as possible can express their views or ask their questions.
Sun, Jul 14, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
General Elections in India:
Modi’s Fascism vs. Social Democrats and the Left
Modi has completed 5 years in power, with his BJP having a majority in the Indian Parliament. In 2014, Modi won on the slogan of “Be with everyone, development for everyone” in the background of major corruption scandals in the last 5 years of the 10 years that Congress Party ruled (2004 thru 2014), with Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi as the Congress Party President.
Modi moved rapidly to consolidate power in his hands, ousting or sidelining veteran leaders in his own Party. Under his 5 years of rule, “cow protectors” have become emboldened. Several incidents of lynching of Muslims have taken place, religious bigotry is openly practiced, and assassinations of several public intellectuals, all secularists, have taken place while he mostly sat silently over such egregious violations of civil rights. Further he has tried to create a militarist posture and sought to portray himself as a strong PM, who is willing to take on the terrorists based in Pakistan aggressively. His policies of “demonetization” of 1916 created a great deal of small business distress. Unemployment is at 45 year high and farm distress and farmer suicides continue. But the mass media, now privately owned, and funded by big capital has helped create him as a “the man of the people”.
Raj Sahai will present his views on what is beginning to boil under the surface of a seeming “all is well” scenario presented in India in the mass media and projected and globally.