Calendar
Donations desperately needed as well. Send to
Prison Literature Project
P.O Box 1253
Berkeley, CA 94701
Defenders of the forests of the East Bay Hills will be meeting to discuss and organize this weekend. Please spread the word and come join us!
If you’ve not signed up on the East Bay Hills Forest Defense discussion and organizing list, please do so here (or get in touch if you need help signing up): https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/eastbayhills
Come learn about continuing developments in the battle save the Berkeley Post Office and the Postal Service from privatization, support our Occupiers and help us plan our next steps in opposition to the theft of our public commons.
The postal service wanted to sell the post office to Hudson-Mcdonald, a local developer. The City of Berkeley sued the post office to stop the sale. Hudson-Mcdonald backed out of the deal in early December.
There was a hearing in Federal Court on December 11th. There was another hearing in March 26th. Federal Judge William Alsup decided to dismiss the lawsuit in April because the Postal Service says it is not currently selling the building. But we’re not fooled. The Postal Service could “find” a buyer at any moment. Fortunately, the Judge ordered the Postal Service to provide 42 days notice before any sale, so that the lawsuit could be refiled.
Check out our response to the Judge’s order.
Check out the Community Garden at the Post Office.
In the latest developments, Berkeley has Declared War on Its Homeless, and an ordinance criminalizing the homeless wil come before the City Council on June 30th. (See here and here.)
Also check out our website and the Save the Berkeley Post Office website, and First they Came for the Homeless Facebook for updates.
BPOD is an offshoot of Strike Debt Bay Area, which itself is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and a chapter of the national Strike Debt movement, which is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
Confrontation with Fascism:
The Spanish Civil War
In this presentation and discussion, facilitated by Ryan Smith, we will unravel the tangled mess that is the Spanish Civil War. Everything from one of the most celebrated examples of anarchism in action to the international politics that doomed the revolution’s potential will be on the table for analysis and understanding. By studying this vital moment in history we can better learn how modern movements for social change can go forward.
Ryan Smith is a longtime Occupy activist and a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Q&A and Announcements will follow. Donations to OccupyForum
to cover our costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
TWO SQUARE FEET!
That’s the amount of bedding you’d be allowed if you had to sleep on a sidewalk in Berkeley under new anti-homeless laws the City Council will consider on June 30th. Also, you’d have to move it every hour. And it would only be permitted if you were “in transit.”
Shelters are always full. The parks are closed at night. How well would you sleep if you were homeless in Berkeley?
JOIN THE EMERGENCY PROTEST!
Called by SAFE (Streets Are For Everyone)
After the protest and before the item comes up on the agenda, join fellow activists:
June 30 is the big day. And we need everyone we can get there. We’ve tried a lot in advance we’ve sent postcards, we’ve had a couple of good actions, we’ve met with (or are about to meet with) the Councilmembers but it may come down to what happens in City Council chambers Tuesday evening.
Tuesday’s agenda is a heavy one: We’re item #14. Before us come the entirety of the City budget, and the Campanile view vote. Both of these will draw crowds. We can expect our item to start late, and to keep us there late.
Fortunately, Councilmember Worthington has reserved a respite room at the top of New City Hall (the one on Milvia). We’ll be sharing it with the Adeline Corridor and Campanile folks. In the hours leading up to our item, we’ll have movies, maybe music, perhaps a teach-in or two, and food. If you want to enjoy yourself while waiting for our item, you can do that. If you want to nap until our item’s up, you can do that, too. Additionally, there are other ways you can support our item throughout the budget and Campanile portions of the meeting. It’s going to be a long night, but we really need everyone we can get there.
As part of the budget, the City Council may be voting to fund “PredPol,” a predictive policing software system. Come speak in opposition to this idea as part of the budget items on the agenda (Items #7 and #9), and read the Oakland Privacy Working Group’s Open Letter to the City Council as to why this system is a bad idea.
The Berkeley City Council is Considering an Ordinance to Criminalize the Homeless!
It would make it a crime to
- Place personal property on the sidewalk for more than one hour
- Place political or other free speech materials on almost any sidewalk without a permit
- Lie on or in a public planter
- Attempt to communicate with someone at or near a parking meter
- Go to the bathroom in public, without providing open public restrooms!
Tell the City Council:
“House keys not handcuffs! The solution to homelessness is housing.”
Every recent study about helping the homeless has concluded such!
Berkeley City Council Meeting, Old City Hall, June 30th beginning at 7:00 PM, Item #30.
Warning: The ordinance(s) are the last item on the agenda- it might go late into the night.
OptikAllusions is a digital filmmaking collective dedicated to social change, based in Oakland, California. We share resources, skills and knowledge to help each other tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. We make films in a spirit of collaboration and solidarity, share a lending library of film equipment for creative projects, organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops.
If you’d like to make videos or want to become a member, join us for our weekly meeting and a workshop!
We usually, meet briefly and then work on projects. It’s open to all!
https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Optik_Allusions
After such a beautiful and historic Pride weekend, it was heartbreaking to wake up to the news that a mural that celebrates Latino/Chicano LGBT culture in the Mission was destroyed yet again, this time by arson.
The Mission is a neighborhood that has a long history of tolerance and acceptance of all people. The actions of the individual or individuals who perpetrated this hate crime do not reflect the values of the Mission or San Francisco. Homophobia or hate of any kind has no place in our neighborhood.
In this critical time, it is important that we as a Mission community come together and show that we respect and appreciate the value of every individual. Through our peaceful assembly let’s send a loud and clear message of unity and acceptance.
We discuss various monetary and debt-related topics. For our next meeting we will be reading an essay by one of our own, Spencer Veale, on reforming the monetary system.
Here is the essay:
The Politics of Debt Reading Group is affiliated with the Bay Area Public School and Strike Debt Bay Area.
This opening event of the 21st annual Laborfest is produced by another San Francisco treasure, the 56 year old San Francisco Mime Troupe. The 4th of July weekend shows will take place July 3, 4 and 5, 2015 with live music at 1:30 p.m. and the 1.5 hour or so show at 2 p.m. The biggest crowd is of course on the 4th of July. Bring a picnic lunch, water, your suntan/sunscreen lotion as needed (and it is always sunny in the Mission District), sign the petitions that you like, and enjoy some of the best traditions of San Francisco with the SF Mime Troupe and Laborfest.
LaborFest was established in 1994 to institutionalize the history and culture of working people in an annual labor cultural, film and arts festival. It consists of a month of movies, music, bike rides, boat rides, bus rides, and walking tours so you learn labor history while you enjoy your rich labor cultural heritage. It begins every July 5th, which is the anniversary of the 1934 “Bloody Thursday” event. On that day, two workers Howard Sperry and Nick Bordoise were shot and killed in San Francisco. They were supporting the longshoremen and maritime workers strike. This incident brought about the San Francisco General Strike which shut down the entire city and led to hundreds of thousands of workers joining the trade union movement.
It is as a direct result of the 1934 general strikes of San Francisco, Minneapolis and Toledo that in 1935, we won Social Security, unemployment insurance and the right to organize labor unions. One of the tasks that remains is to win socialized medicine, guaranteeing free medical care to all from cradle to grave, paid for with our tax dollars, instead of paying for war.
This year’s free original show by the SF Mime Troupe, performed by professional actors, is Freedomland. The synopsis is:
A door is blown off its hinges! Into a blasted room of scarred walls and shattered windows, armed with M-16’s, America’s bravest duck and dodge for cover, finally training their deadly gun sights on… an old black man watching TV on his couch? This isn’t Baghdad or Kandahar – its home, and for ex- Black Panther Malcolm Haywood, it’s just another wrong door police raid in the War on Drugs. So of course Malcolm is horrified when the grandson he’s tried to protect, Nathaniel, returns from serving in Afghanistan only to find another war zone at home – and one where young Black men like Nathaniel are in the crosshairs! Meanwhile the Mayor and the Police Chief – one desperate for votes, the other desperate to fund his militarized police force – ramp up the fear (and their shiny new tank) to fight the newest, drug threat to America. Worse than weed, meth, coke, crack, or crank, it’s… SNORF!!
See also http://www.laborfest.net/2015/2015schedule.htm
http://sfmt.org/schedule/ More Northern California shows
Songwriting duo Craig Casey (guitar, vox) & Pratibha Gautam (keys, vox) are the backbone of this sprawling musical, artistic and political juggernaut. FJP is NOT yo’ momma’s protest music! Defying easy categorization, their infuriatingly catchy songs range from pop, reggae, acoustic, gospel, and hard rock. FJP plays a large collection of wildly danceable original tunes full of punch…er, we mean: juice!
Their debut full-length album, “Where’s Our Change?” is available on iTunes, Amazon, Reverb Nation and through the official website: www.FreshJuiceParty.com. FJP’s second release is an EP of digital downloads coming in 2015. All of FJP’s music is recorded by Craig Casey.
The OKC/CA/NYC band has a refreshing blend of message & medium. FJP’s lyrics harken revolution and change, and interplay with your mind and heart; meanwhile, their deeply satisfying grooves meld with your soul, and keep your feet happy and tapping. Their genre-hopping, varied sound has been compared to Bowie, Dylan, Santana, Bob Marley, Elvis Costello, The Beatles & XTC.
Known as much for making the news as making music and art, FJP has been the subject of a commentary on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, featured in the NY Times Magazine inside cover, mentioned in a TIMES NOW interview by Julian Assange, as well as many other prominent national and international news outlets.
First Friday FTP!
HASHTAGS: #JUSTICEFORDEMOURIA #BREAKTHECURFEW #BLACKANDBROWNLIBERATION #NOJUSTICENOPEACE #FIRSTFRIDAYFTP #FFFTP
Big Changes for Cuba
What is the meaning of the partial normalization of relations with the U.S.? Does the updating of the Cuban economic model herald the restoration of capitalism? Zenobia Thompson will answer these and other questions from American supporters of Cuba. She was a member of a delegation from the Communist Party, USA that met in February with leaders of the Cuban Communist Party and Government and toured important institutions.
In Solidarity with Disarm NYPD, and in Conspiracy with the Black, Brown and Red Rebellion, We Call on all those who Support the Self Determination of the Oppressed to a Flag Burning Gathering at Oakland Police Headquarters on the 4th of July.
[We will convene at Oscar Grant Plaza if we are blocked from the Oakland Police Department]
Sponsored by Bay Area Intifada
Fredrick Douglass once asked “to what to the slave is the 4th of July?” This question is more relevant now than ever. With the rise of white supremacist terrorist attacks on New Afrikan people it is clear that the u.s. government is unwilling to defend the most basic Human Rights of it’s so called “citizens”. Black and Brown people’s can no longer be governed by a system designed to exploit and exterminate us, it’s time we governed our selves.
This will be a discussion about the importance of Independence and Self-Determination for colonized peoples and the contradiction of the so called Independence of the united snakkkes on the 4th of july aka “the 4th of the lie.”
Guest Speakers:
–Russell Shoatz III, son of Black Liberation Army Political Prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz.
–Shaka At-thinnin, Founder of Black August Organizing Commitee B.A.O.C.
The discussion will be followed by dinner and a political Hip Hop performance by local artists.
With a lot of people out of town, the OO GA is cancelled this week. Please ignore the subsequent listing.
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets Sundays at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheatre at 14th Street & Broadway, often on the steps of City Hall. 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
OO General A
ssembly has met on a continuous basis for more than three years! 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)
Occupy Oakland Kitchen Committee: (kitchen@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
“I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night”
Join LaborFest on The 100th Anniversary Concert on Death of Joe Hill with David Rovics
In 1915 in Salt Lake City, Utah, IWW union organizer and labor troubadour Joe Hill was murdered by a firing squad. The effort to silence him failed and he has become one of the most famous labor organizers and musicians in the world.
It is a sick irony that Utah this year has reinstituted the firing squad for executions! Over 2 million mostly Black and Latino workers are in prison today in the United States and in California, more money is spent on the prison industry than on education.
Joe’s struggle for union and labor rights is as relevant today as it was in 1915. Millions of workers would like to have unions but are intimidated and bullied by companies like Walmart and Macdonald’s to fire workers who speak up. Walmart this year closed five stores including one in Pico Rivera, California for supposed “plumbing problems” which were really threats of union organizing.
Although this Walmart’s act is illegal, the corporations who run America and the world flagrantly ignore the laws and protections workers are supposed to have in this country.
Over 10,000 workers are fired every year in this country for union organizing and these are only the workers that have pursued NLRB lawsuits. Joe Hill saw the struggle of workers and union rights as the most important struggle in his life, and he paid for it with his life.
LaborFest will honor the 100th anniversary of his death with a concert with labor troubadour David Rovics. Throughout the year, Rovics has been traveling in Europe in a series of concerts to commemorate the life and struggles of Joe Hill. Rovics has performed throughout the world. His hard hitting songs for workers and human rights are powerful and moving. Also performing at the commemoration will be Carol Denney and Marcus Duskin.
http://joehill100.com
Parking space available at the union hall parking lot. The entrance is at the corner of King St. and 2nd, right next to the AT&T Ball Park.