Calendar
Our communities are under attack from Trump administration policies ushering in a new era of mass incarceration and an unprecedented increase in the criminalization, detention and deportation of our immigrant families and neighbors.
Join us for a conversation about the intersection of the criminal justice system and immigration and how we can stand together to protect our communities and our deeply held values of justice, inclusion and equity for all. Part of the #LeadingEdgeIdeas series, this event is co-hosted by the Rosenberg Foundation and Heising-Simons Foundation.
The conversation will be moderated by Marisa Lagos, Reporter on state politics for KQED’s California Politics and Government Desk, with a light reception to follow. Panelists include:
- Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland)
- Raha Jorjani: Director, Immigration Representation Project, Alameda County Public Defender’s Office
- Raj Jayadev: Founder and Director, Silicon Valley De-Bug
- Abdi Soltani: Executive Director, ACLU Northern California
- Yadira Sanchez: Northern California Organizer, California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance
Limited seating, please RSVP.
| WALLS asks the question: How can a nation of immigrants declare war on immigration? The answer: FEAR! L. Mary Jones (Velina Brown) knows all about fear. As a top agent for I.C.E. – Immigration and Customs Enforcement – she knows how to stoke fear to keep her country safe. Fear of people like Bahdoon Samakab (Rotimi Agbabiaka), a Somali refugee escaping oppression, fear of Cliodhna Aghabullogue (Lizzie Calogero), an Irish woman yearning to be American, and fear of Zaniyah Nahuatl (Marilet Martinez), whose family comes from… here. As a foreigner in a land her people have worked for thousands of years suddenly Zaniyah is a criminal, an illegal, a “bad hombre.” What part of herself will this American give up to pass as “American?” Will she? Can she? Should she? Can someone leave part of themselves behind without losing their mind? And is it better or worse that she crossed the border to find Agent L. Mary Jones – the woman she loves? |
 Poster Design: R. Black |
WALLS written by Michael Gene Sullivan.
Music by Michael Bello. Lyrics by Piero Amadeo Infante .
Directed by Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe. Ass’t. Director Rotimi Agbabiaka.
Music Director Michael Bello.
Mime Troupe performers Rotimi Agbabiaka, Velina Brown, Lizzie Calogero and Marilet Martinez.
Musicians: Patrick Byers, Andrew Niven, and Daniel Savio.
| Song Clip: On My Watch 2:22 Velina Brown |
Song Clip: Land of Milk and Honey 1:55 Rotimi Agbabiaka |
Trailer recorded by Angelica Ekeke / Check out our full schedule!
Share with lots of love 🙂
Join us as the internationally renowned Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in downtown San Francisco will be opening its doors for our community so that we can generate funds for our “International Amor for Alex Memorial Monument” on top of Bernal Heights! Come support and be part of history; with your solid contributions, we are hoping to break ground by the end of this summer and to have the monument erected by the end of October or the end of this year! We are almost there, gente 🙂
This fundraiser will feature music, poetry, refreshments, and amor. Suggested donation is $50.00; however, spirit and energy matter most, so roll through and gift us an embrace and you are more than welcome to enjoy this fabulous evening that will be full of empowerment and amor.
ALL PROCEEDS FOR THE ALEX NIETO MEMORIAL!
For Alex Nieto, for our community, we fought this fight, and we won the first memorial ever in California dedicated to a victim of an unlawful police killing. We held our dignity and proved to the world how the gente argue better and action more creatively and courageously than anyone ever could imagine.
Once the memorial is established, community members will hike up to that mountain and pray like Alex did and look out over the beautiful view of San Francisco and be inspired by our community resilience. Students will travel up to that hill for field trips and to learn about the history and creativity of our community; they will write thousands of educational essays. Families will pilgrimage hands together and love each other at the place where Alex breathed his last breath. This will be a place of peace, of inspiration and amor.
ALL PROCEEDS FOR THE ALEX NIETO MEMORIAL!
Donate to the gofundme page here: https://www.gofundme.com/
WPA Berkeley Walk With Harvey Smith.
This walk will explore the “New Deal nexus” in Berkeley that includes Berkeley High School, the Community Theater, Civic Center Park, Post Office art, the old UC Press Building (now being repurposed as the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive), and the old Farm Credit Building. The tour will also include the incredible mosaic mural on the UC Berkeley campus and photographs of the California Folk Music Project, Western Museum Laboratory, WPA prints at the Berkeley Public Library, and WPA projects on the UC Berkeley campus.
See also: http://www.laborfest.net/2017/2017schedule.htm
Hello, Justice Community –
First a congratulations to members of our outreach team – Marty, Muhammad, Darrell, Joanne, Lisa, Phelicia and Lynn – for working with Parks and Rec this week and standing strong and overcoming obstacles to secure the park and stage at the same location as last year for Mario Woods Remembrance Day. Thank you – this is a Victory!
We are gearing up to a beautiful event commemorating Mario Woods’ life, and reaffirming our stance for Justice for Mario Woods and Justice for all victims of police violence. We invite everyone to join us there (Martin Luther King Park on July 22 at 11am – 6pm), and to join us at our ongoing weekly strategy meetings as we move forward in planning the event!
And please sign and share our online petition demanding a pattern and practice investigation of the San Francisco Police Department: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/demand-civil-rights-investigation-of-the-sfpd
And please Share our fundraiser for Mario Woods Remembrance Day! It is so important that we honor Mario’s life, his mother, his family, and the community. Please donate and please SHARRE this far and wide: https://www.gofundme.com/MarioWoodsRemembranceDay
#marioremembranceday
Come watch a screening of The Bail Trap and learn what you can to do reform the money bail system in California.
California’s money bail system hurts families. One of the Ella Baker Center’s members, Tracey Bell-Borden, knows that firsthand.
When Tracey’s daughter Tai was arrested, her bail was set at $100,000. Tracey faced an impossible choice: let her daughter stay in jail or pay $10,000 to a bail bondsman so that her daughter could come home before her trial.
On Sunday, July 23rd Tracey and the Ella Baker Center are hosting a free screening of The Bail Trap, a short film featuring Tracey and Tai’s story. Come to the screening to learn what you can do to end the injustice of money bail.
The event is free and open to the public, and the theater is wheelchair accessible. RSVP on Facebook.
The Ella Baker Center is working with organizations across the state to reform California’s money bail system so that less families have to face the injustice that Tracey’s did.
Following the film screening, we will have a panel discussion about bail, including an overview of the California Money Bail Reform Act (Senate Bil 10) and what you can do to help us pass this legislation.
We hope to see you there.
P.S. Want to help us plan our Night Out for Safety and Liberation event on August 1? Come to our next member meeting on Monday, July 24 from 6-8 p.m. at CompassPoint in Oakland. RSVP on Facebook.
Hey folks, because some of us will be indisposed on the last Sunday of July we are holding our monthly feed a week early on Sunday, July 23rd, at 3 PM.
Hasta la pasta,
Ed Not Bombs
Feed The People!
The last Sunday of every month attendees of the OO GA get together a little earlier than usual, at 3 PM (2 PM in the winter) to share some food with each other and the community. There should be a table, utensils/plates, meat and veggie entrees and whatnot, courtesy of the Kitchen Committee (such at he is), so just bring yourself, or something to share as well if you’d like.
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at the Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway in the amphitheater. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 3:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. During the colder months we meet at 3 PM.
The OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for more than five 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. 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
Special Assembly (with dinner!)
To advance the progressive agenda, we HAVE to win elections. Join our Special Assembly at BFUU with focus on how we can harness our progressive energy to help turn districts outside the Bay Area from red to blue! Led by the Indivisible Berkeley Elections team.
Bring snacks to share! Bring friends!
Questions? Email elections+owner@indivisibleberkeley.org.
We document current events, make films together, steward an editing suite and share a film equipment library. We also host film screenings, often with local directors, and put on an annual short film festival for independent Bay Area filmmakers. Our goal is to make the digital filmmaking accessible – no overpriced college degree or certificate program required!
We are also a good group to reach out to if you’d like to screen a film at the Omni. We can be reached at [ liberatedlens@lists.riseup.net ].
We usually meet in the basement, unless otherwise noted.
It’s time for us to demand healthcare for the people!
We are calling on all community members, healthcare providers, formerly incarcerated folks and their families to make your voices heard.
After two years of fighting the jail expansion in Alameda County, we have finally won our hearing on alternatives to incarceration for those who suffer from mental illness.
However, the county is doing everything in their power to fast track the jail expansion without community input. There is no such thing as mental health in a jail. The first step the county needs to take in implementing alternatives is to stop expansion.
Let’s show them that we are watching and paying attention. That’s why we need everyone to come out on July 24th and have all eyes on the Board of Supervisors.
Please join us for a meeting with the public health and public safety committees.
Why: To urge the Board of Supervisors to invest in alternatives to incarceration for those who need mental health support.
Are you in? Feel free to email decarceratealamedacounty@gmail.com to RSVP or ask us any questions about the hearing.
In community,
Decarcerate Alameda County
Member of Californians United for a Responsible Budget
- Follow us on social media @curbprisons FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM // TWITTER
- Oakland Office: 1322 Webster St #210, Oakland CA 94612
- LA Office: Chuco’s Justice Center, 1137 E. Redondo Blvd,. Inglewood CA 90302
- Please click here to support our work with a donation
Harry Brill said at our last gathering that Tax the Rich is now the longest running rally in the history of Berkeley. September 12, 2017 will be the 6th anniversary
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
OccupyForum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
Film: Our National Bird
Directed by Sonia Kennebeck
Directed by Sonia Kennebeck and executive-produced by Wim Wenders, National Bird takes us to Afghanistan, where the maimed survivors of a mistaken drone strike on unarmed civilians in February 2010, which killed 23 people, describe what happened when they were attacked. The gung-ho attitude of the drone operatives is juxtaposed with raw footage of the dead bodies (some children) returning to their anguished friends and family. Kennebeck also juxtaposes Obama’s speeches about drones in which he claims that they are able to “take out” insurgents without harming those around them with the testimonies of those who know that this is false.
In her book, “Drone Warfare”, CODEPINK’S Medea Benjamin documents the growing menace of drone warfare, with an extensive analysis of who is producing the drones, where they are being used, who are “piloting” these unmanned planes, who are the victims and what are the legal and moral implications. Benjamin documents how the U.S. government’s use of drones to murder hundreds of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen has increased the danger to our national security, and reveals the vocal international citizen opposition that challenges the legality and morality of America’s extrajudicial execution drones before they kill here at home.
National Bird reminds us that we’re living in an electronic haze, where life and death are decided on the basis of, as often as not, caprice. Detachment and a lack of accountability are rewarded where responsibility and compassion are shunned. For many servicemen and women, time in service may be little different than a video game gone mad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8hPK7G-5bw trailer
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/10/case-against-drones-201310267541941623.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/the-case-against-drone-strikes-on-people-who-only-act-like-terrorists/278744/
https://codepink.myshopify.com/products/drone-warfare-killing-by-remote-control
Time will be allotted for discussion and announcements.
Donations to Occupy Forum to cover costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
THIS WILL BE OUR LAST FORUM UNTIL LATE AUGUST! STAY TUNED…
It’s all hands on deck at the Ella Baker Center this month and we need your help to make Oakland’s Night Out for Safety & Liberation (NOSL) Block Party the best one yet!
Come to this member meeting to learn how you can thrown down for Oakland’s 5th annual NOSL Block Party on August 1st at Defremery Park, the historic West Oakland Black Panther Party community space. You will have a chance to put finishing touches to the program, sign up for volunteer and outreach roles, and build with fierce community leaders.
Click here for more information on Night Out for Safety & Liberation (NOSL): http://
Vegetarian dinner will be provided. The meeting space is wheelchair accesible. Please contact Tash at tash@ellabakercenter.org or 510-428-3939 x2435 if you have accesibility needs and/or questions.
Featuring Joanna Macy, Starhawk, and Ahmed Salah.
Active Hope events aim to lift us out of inaction and despair and into a beautiful, caring world of peace, love, and concern for all beings. This program will include inspiration from those working to save the world; bringing us together and unifying us in this work. It will include voices from the First Nations people, social and environmental justice activists, music, delicious organic vegetarian food, a book signing, heart connections, and inspiration to action.
Book signing, information tables, opportunities for action and networking. Wheelchair accessible.
6 pm potluck dinner; 6:30 pm Program.
Sponsored by Codepink Golden Gate:
Join us Tuesday, July 25th to learn about a California Climate Dividend Fund.
Though we’re likely at least a decade away from a federal basic income, people often debate whether there are policies that states can enact as “stepping stones” to help pave the way.
California State Senator Bob Wieckowski introduced a bill (SB 775) that would create a Climate Dividend Fund a fund to return carbon auctionn revenue to Californians in the form of regular, unconditional payments. Carbon dividends are one popularly discussed stepping stone policy to a universal basic income.
Join us as we hear from Senator Wieckowski on his bill and the Climate Dividend Fund. We’ll discuss his views on universal basic income and the legislation.
The event will be hosted at Covo, a coworking space just off of 6th and Mission. Snacks and drinks will be available.
To attend, please RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/277990942608844/
Program:
– 6:30 Doors open
– 7:00 Program starts
– 8:00 Program concludes, stay for networking and community
See you on the 25th!
The Universal Income Project Team
Mai Masri’s award-winning film, 3000 NIGHTS!
Accused of helping a teenaged boy on the run, a newly-wed Palestinian schoolteacher gives birth to her child, in chains, in an Israeli high-security prison — where she fights to protect him and to survive herself. Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri’s film 3000 NIGHTS explores the meaning of motherhood, love, betrayal, and the solidarity of women prisoners. Masri says it is about “resilience, resistance, and above all, a film about hope.”
Selected as the Jordanian entry for Best Foreign Language Film for 2017 Oscars.
“See this film, see it Now!” — Ken Loach, Cannes Film Festival
Benefit for MECA’s programs for Palestinian & Syrian refugee children.
Wheelchair accessible.
Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper will offer his thoughts on “Police Accountability: Reimagining and Reengineering the Cop Culture,”followed by a Q & A faciliated by Reggie Lyles, Deacon of Allen Temple Baptist Church, former police captain for Berkeley and Novato police departments and former public safety advisor to Mayor Jean Quan.
After the discussion, Chief Stamper will be available to sign his latest book To Protect and Serve: How to Fix America’s Police which will be available for sale on site.
From to Protect and Serve: How to Fix America’s Police:
“Reflecting the reality that increased militarization does not represent progress, American law enforcement today is arguably as corrupt bigoted, brutal and trigger-happy as it was during the 1960s and 1970s, not to mention earlier eras.”
From Breaking Rank:
“One of the strengths, and drawbacks, of public employment law is that individual employees, from the cop on the beat to the police chief, are rarely held personally liable, financially.(That’s if their actions spring from the ‘course and scope’ of their duties. The provision is a strength because having the city pick up the tab for damages means beat cops and police chiefs don’t have that excuse for not taking bold action when they should. It’s a problem because it licenses some cops to drive like maniacs, shoot people for any cause, or ram a brom handle up a man’s rectum with impunity.”
Sponsored by Coalition for Police Accountability
COMMUNITY SCOPING MEETING
Phillips 66 has applied for Air District permission to launch what clearly looks like yet another tar sands project. There will be another opportunity to comment about the scope and content of the draft Environmental Impact Report in a July 27th meeting scheduled by the Air District for Vallejo, given potential impacts on that city. A September 2016 oil spill in San Pablo Bay sent 120 Vallejo residents to the hospital and caused 1500 noxious odor complaints. The BAAQMD subsequently found Phillips 66 and the operator of the leaking oil tanker equally responsible.
You can read the Notice of Preparation here in order to tell the Air District what you think should be covered in an analysis of the impacts of P66’s latest attempt to expand its tar sands refining. Please weigh in with written comments.
According to the Air District project description, this P66 wharf expansion “would increase the amount of crude and gas oil brought by ship to the Marine Terminal at the Phillips 66 San Francisco Refinery in Rodeo, California. The refinery processes crude oil delivered by ship from a variety of domestic and foreign sources to the Marine Terminal, as well as crude oil received from central California by pipeline.”
The marine terminal expansion would enable P66 to receive and process higher rates of ship-delivered crude and gas oil, replacing roughly equivalent volumes of pipeline-delivered crudes with shipborne crudes.
Two prior Air District approvals allowed P66 to increase its permitted limits from 30,682 barrels per day (bbl/day) in 2012, to 51,182 bbl/day in 2013. Now P66 seeks a permit increase of 78,818 bbl/day to 130,000 bbl/day, on an annual rolling average basis. It also wants to increase crude or gas oil deliveries from 59 ships up to a total of 135 tankers or ships in any 12 consecutive months.
The Notice of Preparation isn’t as heavy a slog as you might think. Please read it carefully and suggest areas of significant impact that the DEIR must cover.
Here are some useful comments on marine impacts of a tar sands spill:
Baykeeper Comments on Phillips 66 Marine Terminal Permit Revision Project
tar-sands-tanker-threat-ip
tar-sands-health-effects-IB
NAS 2015 Dilbit Study Final
west-coast-tar-sands-threat-report
Green et al. – 2017 – Oil sands and the marine environment current know
SEND EMAIL OR WRITTEN COMMENTS BY 5 PM, AUGUST 28, 2017 TO:
Barry Young, Senior Advanced Projects Advisor
Engineering Division
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
375 Beale St., Ste. 600
San Francisco, CA 94105
Email: P66MarineTerminalPermit Revision[at]baaqmd.gov
For more information, contact Barry Young: byoung[at]baaqmd.gov.
A lot of us get really frustrated with how things are going in the world.
But a lot of people directly impacted by issues like lack of healthcare access, criminal [in]justice system, environmental degradation, wage theft, gentrification, racial profiling, labor-displacement, and more are organizing among each other to fight for their own human rights. Western Service Workers Association has been turning the people most in need to community organizers and solve problems for their own communities in East and West Oakland. Come join me and meet these solution-oriented people in the low-income service workers community this Friday at their 42nd anniversary dinner (flier attached)!
There will be lots of dancing (i.e. cumbia, motown, and all sorts of fun stuff – some powered by bicycle) and mingling with the community. You’ll learn about the different fights we’ve won as a community. People come from all walks of life, although majority of them are low-income service workers.
