Calendar
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 3 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph. 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. (Note: we meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months, once Daylight Savings Time springs forward we tend to assemble at 4 PM).
On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 2 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over 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. 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)
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
This feature-length documentary is about police brutality, anti-black racism, and the power of grassroots activism in Cincinnati, Ohio. From 1995-2001 there were fifteen black men killed by the Cincinnati police. The film focuses on two of those murders, Roger Owensby, Jr and Timothy Thomas. Martin Luther King said that “A riot is the cry of the unheard.” Thomas’s death sparked three days of civil unrest and protests. This poignant and powerful story of injustice is told through news reports, first-person accounts and cinema verité footage of the surviving families’ long-suffering battle for justice.
“Cincinnati Goddamn” creates a platform to discuss the state executions of Black men by police and gives voice to the families who have suffered in silence and have been let down by the judicial system. In addition to laying bare the emotional toll that the deaths of Roger Owensby, Jr. and Timothy Thomas took on their families, “Cincinnati Goddamn” details the tactics used by Cincinnati’s grassroots activists groups to reform the police department. The Cincinnati Black United Front, a coalition of activists and clergy, was able to work with the ACLU, the city of Cincinnati and the Department of Justice to craft and implement new policies and procedures that drastically reformed the police department. This historic model of reform known as the “Collaborative Agreement” is now being widely used in police departments throughout the United States in cities such as New Orleans and Oakland.
In light of recent organizing around police brutality in Ferguson, Missouri and dozens of other cities, this film is a perfect tool for education and organizing in communities that have been over-policed and victimized by the justice system.
Filmmaker April Martin will be in attendance.
OccupyForum presents…
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
OccupyForum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
Occupation as a Tactic:
Lakeview Elementary School and OccupyOakland
With Gerald Smith
As an act of protest, occupation is a strategy often used by social movements and other forms of collective social action in order to take and hold public and symbolic spaces, buildings, critical infrastructure such as entrances to train stations, shopping centers, university buildings, squares, and parks. Opposed to a military occupation, which attempts to subdue a conquered country, a protest occupation is a means to resist the status quo and advocate a change in public policy. Occupation uses space as an instrument to achieve political and economic change, and to construct counter-spaces in which protesters participate in the production and re-imagination of urban space. Often, this is connected the right to inhabit and be in the city as well as to redefine the city in ways that challenge the demands of capitalist accumulation. In many cases local governments declare occupations illegal because protesters seek to control space over a prolonged time. Thus occupations are often in conflict with political authorities and forces of established order, especially the police.
Occupy Oakland was one of the local manifestations of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, a national phenomenon. The occupation of Frank Ogawa Plaza officially began at 4 p.m. on October 10, 2011, with a rally attended by hundreds of supporters. The first general assembly, based on Occupy Wall Street’s New York general assembly, was held in the plaza amphitheater at 6 p.m. and several dozen protesters set up tents that evening. Oakland police estimated that as of April 2012 they had interacted with over 60,000 protesters since the movement began.
The rest is history. Come hear a participant, Gerald Smith, talk about his experiences building and struggling within Occupy Oakland. Special attention will be given to the occupation of Lakeview Elementary School, which was inspired by Occupy Oakland.
Gerald Smith has a long history in the Black Liberation and Workers’ movements. He is currently involved with the Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia, Liberated Lens, and the Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality.
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Time will be allotted for discussion and announcements.
Donations to Occupy Forum to cover costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
This week’s OccupyForum is affiliated with Laborfest.
Progress on Public Bank Feasibility Study
First, the good news: the City Council has budgeted $75,0000 for a feasibility study regarding establishment of the Public Bank of Oakland! This study will include the possibility of a multi-jurisdictional public bank and the possibility of accepting deposits from cannabis businesses. However, the Council still needs to vote to authorize the study. This vote will come at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 18th.
Item # 18.
Subject: Feasibility And Economic Impact Of Establishing A Public Bank From: Finance Department
Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution
(1) Amending The City Of Oakland’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2016-17 Midcycle Budget (Which Was Adopted Pursuant To Resolution No. 86250 C.M.S. On June 21,2016) To Appropriate One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000), From The Fiscal Year 2016-17 General Purpose Fund (1010) Balance For A Contract To Complete A Feasibility Study On Public Banking In Oakland, And
(2) Authorizing The City Administrator Or Her Designee To Negotiate A Scope Of Work, Terms And Execute A Contract With Global Investment Company In An Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000)
URGENT: Call City Council
Your support is needed now to make sure we get the five votes needed. First, Oakland residents, please call the councilmembers listed below. Say you live in Oakland and you want City Council to authorize the feasibility study for the Public Bank of Oakland. When you call your own councilmember, be sure to say you live in their district.
District 2: Abel Guillen 510-238-7002
District 3: Lynette Gibson McElhaney 510-238-7003
District 4: Annie Campbell Washington 510-238-7004
District 5: Noel Gallo 510-238-7005
District 6: Desley Brooks 510-238-7006
District 7: Larry Reid 510-238-7007
Find your district: http://mapgis.oaklandnet.com/councildistricts/
DONATE to show community support
Second, we need your help to raise the additional $25,000 needed to fully fund the study. At Tuesday’s council meeting, the more funds we can say we’ve already raised, the better our chances of getting a green light. Please use the JustGive button on our website’s homepage to make a tax-deductible donation.
If you prefer, you can pledge an amount to be donated when the feasibility study is authorized. To pledge, send an email to contact@friendsofpublicbankofoakland.org before 3pm on Tuesday, July 18th, and tell us the amount of the pledge and the name of the person or organization making the pledge. In the subject line, please put ‘Pledge for PBO study.’
Thanks!
Watch our new video
Videographer and Friend of the Public Bank Maren Poitras has made an informative ten-minute video to help everyone understand the advantages of public banking. Watch it here.
Spread the word!
Finally, please tell everyone you know about the Public Bank of Oakland! And THANK YOU for your support!
Join us for a evening of fun, friends, and fund-rasing benefitting the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights!
If you unable to join us, show your support through a donation.
For 20 years, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights has fought tirelessly to build the power of black, brown, and poor people to break the cycles of incarceration and poverty and to make our communities safe, healthy, and strong.
The Ella Baker Center’s work includes:
- The Ella Baker Membership: Anyone, anywhere can join our movement to create a safe and just nation
- Restore Oakland: A community hub opening in June 2018 with restorative justice programming, a restaurant, worker training programs, a cooperative food-enterprise incubator, and other services supporting families
- Advocacy: Winning policies that reduce sentences, remove barriers, and restore opportunities by re/investing in jobs, education, healthcare, and housing
- Ella’s Squad: A group of grassroots organizations across the country campaigning to end criminalization and mass incarceration, and re/invest the resources wasted on punishment into building safe and strong communities
We look forward to seeing you.
*Snack and refreshments will be provided
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability.
Want to get involved with SURJ Bay Area? Come learn about our current work and activities. You’ll also hear about SURJ’s new pathways for entering the work, including study and action groups as well as committee work, upcoming workshops, and events. We’ll answer your questions and share how you can get involved in the movement for racial justice.
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Address info:
The Sierra Club is located at 2101 Webster Street between 21st and 22nd Street in Oakland. The Sierra Club Offices are on the 13th floor. There is a bank of elevators that go to the 12th floor and above.
Getting Into the Lobby:
The doors for the Sierra Club building lock right at 7pm, so please do your best to arrive prior to 7pm. We will have someone stationed at the Webster entrance to the building until 7:15 for late arrivals. If you arrive after 7pm, please use the Webster entrance.
Accessibility:
Building Accessibility: There are two entrances to Sierra Club Office building on Webster and 21st both of which are accessible for mobility devices. The building has an elevator, and the kitchen space, conference room, and restrooms can also all accommodate mobility devices.
Scents: The Sierra Club’s space endeavors to offer a scent free environment; however as the Club is currently transitioning towards the use of only scent free products, we cannot guarantee an entirely scent free space. We ask everyone to please arrive at meetings fragrance free to support access for folks who experience multiple chemical sensitivities and allergies. This means using only body products and laundry detergent that say “fragrance free” or “unscented” on the label and do not have scented ingredients.
Restrooms: Restrooms are currently labeled in a gender-binary way. The Sierra Club is working on changing this and has an office policy that all restrooms are available to anyone, regardless of lived or perceived gender identity. We ask that folks choose the restroom that is right for them, and that no one question a person’s chosen restroom.
| 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!
Drone strikes and surveillance are a major component of modern warfare, but few people outside the military understand how these programs work. That’s why former military technician Lisa Ling became a whistleblower after 14 years in the National Guard. She wanted policymakers to know that drones are not reliable, and they can create more problems than they solve.
Lisa Ling joined the military in 1991, serving as an army medic and nurse before transferring to the Air National Guard (ANG). In the ANG, she became a communications technician working on various types of electronic equipment including DCGS. Besides her overseas deployments, Lisa was mobilized, during a partial unit mobilization of the 234th intelligence Squadron to the 48th Intelligence Squadron at Beale Air Force Base from October 2007 to September 2009. The 48th Intelligence Squadron provides in-garrison and deployed communications, as well as logistics maintenance for the DCGS (Distributed Common Ground System).
Lisa served six years on active duty and over 14 years as both active and inactive National Guard. She decided to speak out after traveling to Afghanistan and seeing for herself how what she participated in was not a war on terror, but a war of terror. She has testified about drones before the European Parliament, and she was profiled in the documentary film National Bird, directed by Sonia Kennebeck.
Join Ars Technica editors Annalee Newitz and Cyrus Farivar in conversation with Ling next week on July 19 at Ars Technica Live in Oakland, California.
She’ll discuss her experiences, as well as explain technical issues with drones that have profound implications for the current War on Terror. There will be plenty of time for audience questions, too.
Monthly APTP meeting, held on every 3rd Wednesday of the month.
– Strategize on addressing proposed changes to the BART police use of force policy.
– Find out ways you can use your talents and resources to support APTP and get involved with the work, including how to join various committees such as the Black Leadership Committee, First Responders, Action, Policy, Media, and Security committees.
– Find out more about the #DefundOPD campaign.
The Anti Police-Terror Project is a project of the ONYX ORGANIZING COMMITTEE that in coalition with other organizations, like Idriss Stelley Foundation, Community READY Corps and Workers World Party – Bay Area, is working to develop a replicable and sustainable model to end police terrorism in this country.
We are led by the most impacted communities but are a multi-racial, mutil-generational coalition.
For the July meeting:
There will be report backs on some of our recent actions including the Defund OPD campaign around the city budget process, including our shutdown of the Council budget meeting. You’ll also hear about our action to protest the promotion of rapist OPD Cops at their “secret” promotions ceremony.
We’d also love to have you get involved with APTP on a regular basis, by joining one of our committees. We will have committee breakouts as part of Wednesday’s meeting, so you can learn about what the different committees do. We know you all have lots of ideas and talent, so please contribute to further APTP’s on-going work.
Some of the committees include:
– Black Leadership
– First Responders
– Action
– Comms/Media
– Policy
– Security
– Fundraising
See you all on Wednesday!
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!
Come by our open Delegates Meetings every First and Third Thursday of the month at 7pm! We’ll give space to brief announcements, updates from working groups, proposals up for consensus, and discussion around important issues. The schedule is created weekly at the following url: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom
Come by our open Delegates Meetings every First and Third Thursday of the month at 7pm! We’ll give space to brief announcements, updates from working groups, proposals up for consensus, and discussion around important issues. The schedule is created weekly at the following url: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom
Come stand with the mothers of murdered children and family members this and every Friday to pressure District Atty George Gascon to charge killer SFPD cops with murder who executed Mario Woods, Jessica Nelson, Luis Gongora Pat, Alex Nieto, and all the rest.
Bring signs! STOP POLICE MURDER! We have signs that say “Mario Woods is our Son”, and signs for each one murdered.
Please find the box of signs and “Say Their Names” for the Media.
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/
Physical & Digital Security
Every month, we invite members, non-members, activists, organizers, lawyers and legal workers to join us for the NLGSF “Join the Conversation” Membership Meeting
Speakers: Tur-ha AK, Anti Police-Terror Project/ A.R.M.E.D. & Mark Burdett, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Please RSVP to therese (at) nlgsf.org
Refreshments Provided
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Sadly, we have also had to endure racist attacks on email, phone, Yelp, and social media. As an Arab bakery committed to social justice, we are acutely aware of the troubling path this country is on. We have seen through this presidential administration how Arab and Muslims, immigrants, Black and Brown communities, LGBTQ people, women, and poor people are increasingly subjected to threats and attacks.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
