Join us tomorrow. March for Bernie and Robin Hood tax around Lake Merritt #independenceday #RobinHoodTax #WeAreBern… pic.twitter.com/68accee0E4

— Bay Area for Bernie (@BayArea4Bernie) July 4, 2016

March with us July 4th! Lake Merritt Oakland, CA #MarchForBernie #OurRevolution #RobinHoodTax #Bayareaforbernie #Am… pic.twitter.com/KGjPLBC4T7

— Bay Area for Bernie (@BayArea4Bernie) June 20, 2016

A memorial vigil will be held on Sproul Plaza on Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. to honor UC Berkeley student Tarishi Jain and the others who lost their lives alongside her in the terrorist attacks in Bangladesh. All members of the community, both on campus and off, are invited to this vigil, which will be a safe space for reflection and mourning.

#Oakland city council wants to sneak thru a controversial land sale the day after a holiday weekend. Turn out to #SaveE12th 7/5/16 7pm

— E12 Peoples Proposal (@PeoplesProposal) July 3, 2016

The E12 Coalition is calling all supporters to join us at City Hall TODAY at 7pm to oppose the sale of the E12th Street parcel! #SaveE12th

— E12 Peoples Proposal (@PeoplesProposal) July 5, 2016

Agenda Item:

Subject: 12th Street Remainder Parcel Disposition And Development Agreement With Urbancore And EBALDC
From: Economic And Workforce Development
Recommendation: An Ordinance: (1) Authorizing The City Administrator, Without Returning To The City Council, To Negotiate And Execute A Disposition And Development Agreement And Related Documents Between The City Of Oakland And Urbancore Development, LLC Or Its Related Entities Or Affiliates (“Urbancore”), And East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation Or Its Related Entities Or Affiliates (“EBALDC”), For
(A) Sale Of The 12th Street Remainder Parcel Located At E12th Street And 2nd Avenue (“Property”) For No Less Than $8.0 Million,
(B) A Seller Carryback Loan From The City To EBALDC In The Amount Of $3.3 Million Plus The Cost Of Loan Origination, And
(C) Development Of The Property As A Residential Mixed-Use Project, All Of The Foregoing Documents To Be In A Form And Content Substantially In Conformance With The Term Sheet Attached As Exhibit …

The Renter Protection Ordinance Ballot Initiative is now scheduled for the July 19th City Council Meeting.

The Committee to Protect Oakland Renters urges the Community and Economic Development Committee to reject the Council Member Kalb’s Ordinance Amending Chapter 8.22, Article I (Rent Adjustment).

Renters in Oakland are being squeezed now, and they cannot wait years for renter protections to be implemented. This ordinance just “kicks the can down the road”, protections for a huge number of renters would not even start until 2018. That means 24,000 additional tenants could be forced out of Oakland before these protections become effective.

The moratorium on rent increases ends on July 5th. But no steps have been taken to address the housing crisis. It is time to act on real reforms. Not halfway measures that won’t be implemented for years.

This is not an organizing effort, this is about passing the strongest protections possible for Oakland renters. While we believe the current council has the best interests of tenants in mind, this might not always be the case. This is why the Committee To Protect Oakland Renters strongly believes new regulations protecting renters must go to the voters.

We are asking the Oakland City Council to support the Protect Oakland Renters Act, introduced by Council Member Kaplan that will be on the City Council Agenda on July 5th.

Come out and let your voice be heard by your elected representatives on July 5^th. Join us in the fight to protect the soul of Oakland.

Committee to Protect Oakland Renters

This article in the East Bay Express by Darwin BondGraham highlights some of the challenges we’ve faced in this process.Don’t forget to like us on Facebook!

San Leandro’s minimum wage will be an action item on the Tuesday, July 5th at 7 PM Council meeting calendar. If it gets four votes it will go on the Council consent calendar on Monday July 18th. We need large turnouts at both Council meetings. We need to get as many people as we can to speak in favor of San Leandro increasing our minimum wage, before the State’s increase.   Vice Mayor Jim Prola’s proposal are $12 by July 2017, and then a dollar a year until it reaches $15 July 2020 for both large and small businesses, which are two to three years sooner than the State’s 2022/23. Under the State’s minimum wage the Governor could delay it till 2024/25.

Large turnouts are critical to get passage at both meetings with at least four votes. 

Over the last few weeks we’ve learned that SFPD:
* Failed to notify the DA of Amilcar’s killing so his team could independently investigate the crime scene.
* Had already removed Amilcar’s body before the DA’s investigative team learned of the killing and arrived to investigate.

As a result, no full independent investigation of the crime scene was possible. According to DA Gascón, this has made his investigation both more difficult and lengthy.

WE SUSPECT A COVER-UP, especially given all the lies we’ve heard from SFPD ever since they killed Amilcar. So: At our last vigil at Mission Police Station, we decided to bring this to the Police Commission and demand action.

WE’RE GOING TO THE POLICE COMMISSION!
We want them to investigate, and, if necessary, discipline and fire the officers who ordered the removal of Amilcar’s body.

To get the facts out and to explain our demands more fully, we’ll hold a press conference at 5pm, just prior to the 5:30pm Police Commission meeting.

Our demands are now two!
* The District Attorney must file murder charges against the officers who killed Amilcar. (Despite this possible cover-up, the DA has more than enough evidence to file murder charges!)
* The Police Commission must investigate SFPD for possible cover-up of Amilcar’s killing and take the necessary disciplinary action against the responsible officers.

Join us for free weekly meditation happy hour on Wednesdays, co-hosted by the Art of Living Eastbay Berkeley/Oakland.

We will teach simple and easy guided meditation and breathing techniques to let go of stress and trauma, let your hair down, and celebrate!

We believe that love is the universal language. We also believe that love is the universal cure to heal what ails societies worldwide. These meditation happy hours are our love offering to the community and are the result of a beautiful new & evolving partnership w/The Art of Living facilitated by Neelam Patil…& the universe ♥

The Hand That Feeds (88 min.) (2014) Directed by: Rachel Lears & Robin Blotnick

At a popular bakery café, residents of New York’s Upper East Side get bagels and coffee served with a smile 24 hours a day. But behind the scenes, undocumented immigrant workers face sub-legal wages, dangerous machinery, and abusive managers who will fire them for calling in sick. Mild-mannered sandwich maker Mahoma López has never been interested in politics, but in January 2012, he convinces a small group of his co-workers to fight back.

Risking deportation and the loss of their livelihood, the workers team up with a diverse crew of innovative young organizers and take the unusual step of forming their own independent union, launching themselves on a journey that will test the limits of their resolve. Discussion to follow. Sponsored by Global Studies Program.
AWARDS
Won: Best Documentary at Birmingham Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival 2014
Nominated: Grey Gund Memorial Standing Up Award 2015
Won: Audience Award at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2014
Won: Audience Award at DOC NYC 2014
Nominated: Metropolis Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC 2014

See also
http://www.laborfest.net/2016/2016schedule.htm

Did I mention that my play about solitary confinement is coming out in July in SF? Tickets are live: https://t.co/gwU0wq4hW7. #insidethebox

— Sarah Shourd (@SShourd) May 7, 2016

Directed by Michael John Garcés
Written by Sarah Shourd

In 2009, journalist and playwright Sarah Shourd was living in the Middle East when she went on a hike with her fiancée and a friend. Little did she know it, but her life would never be the same. While pursuing what they were told were fantastic views over a nearby ridge, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by Iranian soldiers. After being accused of spying for the U.S., she would spend the next 410 days in solitary confinement as a political prisoner.

The Box is Shourd’s new play ignited by that experience. Based on a deeply researched journalistic investigation, it is a piece of transformational theater that asks us to re-examine long-held notions of punishment as it reveals the tragic—and sometimes painfully comic and absurd—realities that dictate life “inside the box.” With a plot that illuminates the innate resilience of the human spirit, The Box tracks its characters as they make their journeys against all odds: from racist to revolutionary, from tough-guy to suicide victim, from guru/teacher to frightened, lost soul, and from father to friend.

By turns entertaining and unsettling, The Box is a rare glimpse into the deep end of our prison system, the intimate bonds forged between modern-day heroes the ripple effects of systematic torture, and what it means to be human.

It is a play that asks: What happens when you have nothing left to lose?

Previews 7/6 and 7/7
Opening Night 7/8
All Wednesday Night Shows are followed by a panel discussion

Led by plastic-free activist and author Beth Terry, Ecology Center, Transition Berkeley, and the BFUU Social Justice Committee present an evening of short films and plastic-free ideas to inspire your zero waste efforts!
Join us to view an assortment of short films about plastic pollution and consumption, share our triumphs and challenges around reducing plastic waste, and explore some fun, DIY solutions to replace common plastic household goods. Copies of Beth Terry’s book Plastic Free will be available for purchase and signing. Come at 6:30 for conversation and snacks!

For more info: info [at] transitionberkeley.com
website: http://www.transitionberkeley.com

This event is co-sponsored by Transition Berkeley, the Ecology Center, and BFUU’s Social Justice Ctee.

Oakland sex workers are facing a policing crisis.

Oakland DA Nancy O’Malley is calling for an increase in the criminalization of sex workers under the guise of ending “human trafficking.” This call for criminalization is couched as needed to give an entry point for services for people in need. http://www.alcoda.org/about_us/meet_the_da

The Alameda County Sheriff’s department is calling for a $54 million expansion of Santa Rita jail under the guise of being able to give better services to people in jail, an argument that mirrors that of the anti-sex work policymakers. medacountyjailfight.wordpress.com

These calls for the increase of arrests and jailing of sex workers comes at a time when the Oakland Police Department has fired 3 police chiefs over sexual misconduct of a local sex worker by 23+ cops. While Oakland is getting national attention for this right now, the practice of cops inducing favors from sex workers is nothing new.
http://titsandsass.com/the-oakland-police-department-isnt-an-anomaly/

Join local sex workers in a community forum and discussion of the current state of sex work policing in Oakland.

*This space is for sex workers and accomplices only*

#Oakland callout for #AltonSterling #PhilandoCastile #CelesteGuap rally/action tonight 7pm at Oscar Grant Plaza #OGP. #FTP #BlackLivesMatter

— Bri. (@zuchinno) July 7, 2016

This training will put gentrification and displacement in an historical context so we understand the racialized political and economic drivers. We will use this historical analysis to discuss the ways we can challenge gentrification today.

The analysis that we are presenting is based on the work of Causa Justa :: Just Cause and we are asking for $5-$20 donation, sliding scale, which will go to support CJJC’s work challegning gentrification and fighting displacement. However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Our workshop has space for 66 people. To reserve your spot in advance, please purchase tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2568861.

Ticket sales at the door will be first come, first served.

ACCESS NEEDS: This event is wheelchair accessible. If you have specific access needs, please email surjbasebuilding@gmail.com, and we’ll be happy to work with you to accommodate them.

SCENT FREE: We ask that guests do their best to be as scent free as possible. Please refer to this resource from the EastBay Meditation Center for more information on what that means. There will be a scent free section of seating offered. http://eastbaymeditation.org/accessibility/PDF/How-to-Be-Fragrance-Free-.pdf

http://www.cjjc.org/

SPREAD THE WORD, INVITE YOUR FRIENDS!

For #AltonSterling and #PhilandoCastile, and for all the women trafficked and exploited by the rapists and murderers in Oakland Police Department and across the Bay Area. For all who are displaced from their neighborhoods and robbed of opportunity. We march. We act. We Shut It Down.

Rally & March Against Racist Police Terror
Tomorrow July 8 at 6pm
Justin Herman Plaza
1 Market St.
Hosted by ANSWER Coalition

— LolaLolaLola (@Lola_Casanova) July 7, 2016

Justice for Alton Sterling!
Justice for Philando Castile!
End Racist Police Terror!
———-
ANSWER Coalition
San Francisco Black Lives Matter
West County Toxics Coalition
———-
Police in Minnesota and Louisiana just killed two more Black men. The cops have murdered 562 people of color and poor people this year alone. The majority are Black men and women. These killer cops know that they will never face jail time. This is state-sanctioned terror directed against Black, Brown and poor people. Join us in the streets Friday July 8 in San Francisco to demand justice for all the victims of police brutality and end to racist police terror.

Our movement faces a burning question: Do we fall in line behind Clinton’s corporate campaign, or do we continue the political revolution and build a new party for the 99%?

Tens of millions are standing against the tide, resisting a Democratic Party establishment hell-bent on forcing Sandernistas behind Wall Street’s “lesser evil” candidate. But, how can we build a political alternative to continue the struggle against the billionaire class?

Movement4Bernie and Socialist Alternative are organizing a series of forums across the country to debate these questions facing our movement. These meetings will feature a video address from Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and Seattle’s socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, laying out the case against backing Clinton, a strategy to stop Trump’s right-wing agenda, and how we can build a left political alternative to continue the political revolution.

Join us to discuss how you can help Jill Stein’s campaign make the biggest possible impact in 2016, how you can help mobilize for the protests at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, July 23-28, and how we can build toward a socialist alternative to this crisis-ridden capitalist system.

Share this Event on Facebook and Invite Your Friends!

http://movement4bernie.org/
https://www.facebook.com/Movement4Bernie/
https://www.facebook.com/SABayArea/
http://www.socialistalternative.org/

Read and Subscribe to Socialist Alternative’s Newspaper!

RPA Membership Meeting, Warming Up the House!

The Bobby Bowens Progressive Center has a new home in Civic Center! Come see the new digs and think about how to use our space for social justice and community enrichment. Get in sync with the campaign agenda as the efforts for Ben Choi and rent control lift off for November. Meet friends, share food as part of the potluck. We will treat this quarterly meeting as a more casual time to dialogue as members and prepare for the fall.

As always, members can join or renew at the meeting, and all RPA supporters are welcomed, too.

Those interested and able to stay after 5 are invited to continue conversation with food, beverages –and perhaps music– in celebration of our interdependence and our new home.

Monthly interfaith prayer meeting, held on second Sundays, dedicated to survivors and victims of violence and police terror in Oakland.

The Baha’i community of Oakland is 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.

Come share prayers, quotes, poems, and favorite passages from your scriptures with us. Simple breakfast will be served.