An invitation to a class on the

When the English first got to Virginia, in the early 1600s, they didn’t see themselves as “white.” It took a century for their colonialism to produce the concepts of race and white supremacy.

We’ve been fighting racism, white privilege, white supremacy, and institutional racism since then. And still, a Trump can come along with his “dogwhistle” politics, and get an instant white following at varying degrees of frenzy. Today even the most liberal cities cannot stop police racial profiling  – while thee illiberal ones officiate over “stop and frisk.”

Ø                 What are we missing?

Ø                 If racism is just a “divide and rule” strategy, why has it always worked so well? Why does it still work so well?

Ø                 How is it that new groups, like immigrants and Muslims, can be continually targetted for racial assault (victim de jour)?

Ø                 If race is a social construct, what is the structure that has been constructed?

Ø                 Is it an economic structure? A cultural structure? What?

Ø                 How deep culturally does it reside in this country?

Ø                 Is “race” a noun or a verb?

This class will look at the the structures of policing today, of segregation yesterday, and of colonization and slavery the day before that. If the “modern concept of race” was constructed socially at a particular moment, does that imply an ending we can programmatize?

This class will be mostly discussion and dialogue. We will have to address our prejudices about prejudice in order to get to the issues of structure. There will be non-mandatory readings on line for the class. It will also be open to other texts that class members wish to propose.

Facilitator:         Steve Martinot

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near 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.  On every last Sunday we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over four 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

1. Welcome & Introductions
2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
3. Announcements
4. (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)
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

An invitation to a class on the

When the English first got to Virginia, in the early 1600s, they didn’t see themselves as “white.” It took a century for their colonialism to produce the concepts of race and white supremacy.

We’ve been fighting racism, white privilege, white supremacy, and institutional racism since then. And still, a Trump can come along with his “dogwhistle” politics, and get an instant white following at varying degrees of frenzy. Today even the most liberal cities cannot stop police racial profiling  – while thee illiberal ones officiate over “stop and frisk.”

Ø                 What are we missing?

Ø                 If racism is just a “divide and rule” strategy, why has it always worked so well? Why does it still work so well?

Ø                 How is it that new groups, like immigrants and Muslims, can be continually targetted for racial assault (victim de jour)?

Ø                 If race is a social construct, what is the structure that has been constructed?

Ø                 Is it an economic structure? A cultural structure? What?

Ø                 How deep culturally does it reside in this country?

Ø                 Is “race” a noun or a verb?

This class will look at the the structures of policing today, of segregation yesterday, and of colonization and slavery the day before that. If the “modern concept of race” was constructed socially at a particular moment, does that imply an ending we can programmatize?

This class will be mostly discussion and dialogue. We will have to address our prejudices about prejudice in order to get to the issues of structure. There will be non-mandatory readings on line for the class. It will also be open to other texts that class members wish to propose.

Facilitator:         Steve Martinot

Jail The Bankers At Wells Fargo

Fellow Occupiers: Does the absence of real consequences for Wells Fargo – when caught in the act make you feel “tents”??

Wells Fargo, one of OccupySF’s favorite Bankster targets, is just waiting for our response to its massive criminal enterprise.

They Are Not Too Big To Nail!
Expropriate the Bank and Make It A Public Bank
For working people
and the public, and not the profiteers

The massive criminal enterprise of Wells Fargo Executives and owners to bully workers to illegally open up accounts  for  their customers, and then bilk them of fees, has been exposed in hearings,
yet the US Justice Department refuses to file criminal charges. Coercing workers to commit criminal fraud is a crime that could not only be prosecuted by the US Justice Department but Attorney General Kamala Harris and District Attorney Gascon, yet all these enforcement officials are conspicuously MIA.

At the same time US Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Federal OSHA chief David
Michaels refused to investigate complaints about retaliation against Wells Fargo workers who refused to violate the banking laws and illegally open accounts. They went to OSHA and the
Department of Labor and the managers refused to allow investigation and prosecutions, and/or referrals to other agencies for prosecution. This was a further example that these government agencies, which are supposed to protect workers and the public, have been captured by the companies like Wells Fargo which they are supposed to regulate.

Former US attorney general Eric Holder said that some companies are too big to nail and apparently that applies to Wells Fargo which is the 4th largest bank in the United States. At the same time the State of California, as well as other governments around the state, has broken financial ties to Wells Fargo, yet Mayor Ed Lee, the SF Supervisors and the San Francisco Pension Board continue to do business with Wells Fargo bank despite it’s criminal activity.

The people of San Francisco and California deserve a public bank run by working people and the community. The bank should be seized, the executives jailed and it should be made a public bank that will work for the people and not profits for the billionaires.

BRING SIGNS!

Initial Sponsor
United Public Workers For Action
www.upwa.info
For more information (415)282-1908

To:
OccupySF

Because policing fails to meet people’s needs, and puts people in danger of arrest, imprisonment, and/or even death, we must eliminate connections between policing and healthcare.

Critical Resistance Oakland and The Oakland Power Projects present: The “Know Your Options: Chronic illness” workshop

This workshop is designed to increase people’s understanding of mental health-related experiences, events, trauma, and conditions so that we don’t default to 911 or the cops when a baseline or escalated mental health-related event or experience happens.

The “Know Your Options” workshop series aims to increase people’s access to the healthcare they need and to decrease people’s contact with law enforcement. Workshops are facilitated by healthcare workers and community organizers.

It’s Time to Escalate!
For folks who can make a lunchtime demonstration in SF:
Noon rally in SF, please share widely.
#NoDAPL #MniWiconi #StandingRock

Join AIM-WEST and others in an urgent call for a NOON RALLY IN SAN FRANCISCO

When rubber bullets, tasers, bean bags and pepper spray fired, (dogs unleashed in the recent past), continued violation of treaties and human rights, protectors being jailed, media communications being jammed, it is time we stand together in the BAY AREA in solidarity with the Peoples of Standing Rock Reservation
in North Dakota, and against the Dakota Access Pipeline project.

Today, a large militarized police force raided the Treaty Camp on the banks of the Missouri River in North Dakota which has held a strong line against the Dakota Access Pipeline threatening the water of the Standing Rock Sioux and millions of other people downstream. Hundreds of police using armored personnel carriers, LRAD sound weapons, automatic weapons have begun to break up the camp that lay directly in the route of construction.

The message is clear and urgent. Oil companies, politicians and the police state have no regard for the health and safety of peaceful people standing in the route of power and profit. We urgently need you to join this struggle and organize bold and effective actions in solidarity with Indigenous people and allies on the ground in North Dakota.

We must continue to support those at Standing Rock who fight back every day. Thank you to those that have already hosted rallies, vigils and protests. We have raised the profile of the fight on Standing Rock across the world. But now we need friends and allies across the world to step up and continue to fight with Standing Rock.

The Red Warrior Camp has called for more action in solidarity with water protectors in North Dakota.

The asks are simple:

1. Go to North Dakota as resistance will continue through the winter. Email Organizer@nodaplsolidarity.org for more information.
2. Organize a solidarity action against a bank, oil company or politician profiting from this horrid pipeline. Sign up here.
3. Donate to the legal fund. Details here.
Please join the fight to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Thanks for all you do.
In solidarity, Rising Tide North America

. On Sunday, October 30th at 8pm EST/7pm CST/6pm MST/5pm PST, we’ll have a briefing and coordinating conference call to discuss our response to the police raids in North Dakota. Click here to register

People are also calling the White House to protest the illegal draconian crackdown on the peaceful protesters. White House: The public comment line (202-456-1111) is manned by volunteers recruited by the current administration. The White House switchboard (202-456-1414) is manned by professional White House operators.

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near 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.  On every last Sunday we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over four 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

1. Welcome & Introductions
2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
3. Announcements
4. (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)
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

For all people heading to Standing Rock, come get trained and prepared to be an effective water protector and stand in solidarity with indigenous people defending their land. This training will also be useful for folks organizing local direct actions in the Bay Area in solidarity with Standing Rock, and otherwise. All are invited to attend. While folks are invited to come for any part of the training or for the entire thing, we ask everyone coming to please make it a point to be there if at all possible for the 10am-12pm piece on walking with humility and respect when working with indigenous communities.

Connect with other people heading to Standing Rock from the Bay Area. Keep up to date with this page for caravans to Standing Rock from the Bay Area being planned. Learn Direct Action and Civil Disobedience Basics, Medical Supporters Training and Group Health, Legal and Know Your Rights, Security Culture, Tech and Communications Security, and Best Practices for Working Alongside Indigenous People with Humility and Respect.

We will gather from 10am-6pm on Ohlone land at PLACE for Sustainable Living in Oakland located at 1121 64th Street, Oakland, CA 94608 (64th off San Pablo). See the schedule below for a breakdown of the day.

***Schedule***

10-10:15am: Welcome and Intro to Day’s Schedule and Topics w/ Permaculture Action Network

10:15-10:45am: Report Back on Standing Rock, Situation on the Ground, and Brief History of Dakota Access Pipeline and Indigenous Resistance to it w. local indigenous activists recently back from Standing Rock Hartman Deetz, Camille Seaman, and Richie Beltran

10:45-12pm: How To Work Alongside Indigenous Communities w Humility and Respect w. local indigenous activists recently back from Standing Rock Hartman Deetz, Camille Seaman, and Richie Beltran

12-12:15pm: Light Lunch and Potluck Spread

12:15-2:00pm: Direct Action and Civil Disobedience w. Krystof Lopaur

2:15pm-3:15pm: Medical Supporters Training and Group Health w. MASH Clinic, Timber, and Amani William

3:15-4:30pm: Tech and Communications Security w. Lisha Sterling (Geeks Without Bounds) remote from Standing Rock, Bill Budington (EFF), Jen Helsby (Freedom of the Press, tentative), Scott LaMorte (May First) and Jenny Ryan (Sudo Room / Peoples Open Network)

4:30pm: Legal and Know Your Rights w. John Viola, Ben Rosenfeld, and Gabriela Lopez

5:30pm: Transport Networking and Caravan Debrief w. Ryan Rising and Kammer Moss (Permaculture Action Network)

6pm: Closing

We’ll be posting an extended outline of the training curriculum soon. To get in touch, please write to us at Contact (A) PermacultureAction.org

Bay Area Stands for No Dakota Access Pipeline
Host: Idle No More SF Bay, Diablo Rising Tide, 350.org
National Day of Action called by Indigenous Environmental Network and 350.org
Sunrise Ceremony at San Francisco Civic Center Plaza followed by solidarity action and rally at the Army Corps of Engineers office, demanding they revoke the permits to bore under the Missouri River and complete a full Environmental Impact Statement.
March to 455 Market St. @ 11th St. (just south of Van Ness), San Francisco

More info

We need to keep the momentum going! We cannot normalize this! We refuse to accept a Trump presidency and the indoctrination of hate and discrimination that comes with it.

We will meet at 555 California Street (Trump owns 30% of this building) and have an hour-long sit in. We will then march through the city.

Because we want to make our presence felt and we want to address concerns of speed, we will be stopping in many intersections during the march.

At each stop we will hear from a speaker or performer or poet or singer etc. If you would like to have your voice highlighted, please message Fuck Trump SF (the org hosting this event) and let us know how you would like to contribute. We will be prioritizing marginalized voices.

Hotline Training

Hotline Training

Join AROC in Taking Action to Stop Urban Shield!

On Tuesday, January 10th, the Stop Urban Shield Coalition will be rallying to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors meeting, where the Sheriff is set to present on the militarized policing program and weapons expo Urban Shield. At the last meeting, the Sheriff’s department flat out lied to both the Supervisors and the general public, claiming that they were not applying for the federal funding that they use to hold Urban Shield. We knew otherwise, and a public records request proved us right.

With a Trump presidency right around the corner, stopping Urban Shield in Alameda County is a key local step to resisting the threats posed by him and his administration. Alameda County must stop sponsoring the racist, xenophobic, and lethal strategies, tactics, and technologies being spread by Urban Shield. We hope that you will join us in this fight, as it is now more important than ever.

• Come out on Tuesday, January 10th for our rally and press conference at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors Meeting. We want to pack the room to show that our communities reject Urban Shield and everything it represents. 10am, Alameda County Administration Building, 1221 Oak St, Oakland, CA 94612. [Facebook]

• Call the Board of Supervisors on Monday, January 9th. Click here for contact info and a script that you can use.

• Are you an Alameda County Resident? Sign our petition, and share it with your networks.