Our common value of defending all people’s dignity guides our call to action this week. We ask our community to join us in standing in solidarity with DACA recipients who need our public witness. We affirm and uphold that they are Americans and full members of our families and communities.

Omni-wide Building Work Party tomorrow, Sep 2nd, from 10am-5pm. Free lunch for all volunteers! Come by and lend a hand if you can! <3 pic.twitter.com/EesvDZy7CI

— Omni Commons (@omnicommons) September 2, 2017

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”
-Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Thanks to the Lakeshore Baptist Church for hosting the prayer this Saturday.

Always the 1st Saturdays of the month….

You can also join on the 2nd Sundays of the month, the Let Our People Go, Vigils.

On October 23, Kayla Moore’s family will go to court to hold Berkeley and the BPD accountable for Kayla’s death in 2013. There is a pre-trial conference on October 17, and the trial lasts through the week of October 23.

Want to lend a hand in advance of this important fight? Come to our art-making party on Saturday, September 2 to create art that honors Kayla’s memory.

We’ll be making posters and other outreach materials. There will be a variety of ways to lend a hand; no need to have so-called creative talent. We’ll also have food to share.

Drop by between 11:30am and 4pm – and invite your friends!

             Recommended preparation:
               *      The Meaning of Work: A Marxist Perspective | Harry Magdoff 
https://monthlyreview.org/2006/10/01/the-meaning-of-work-a-marxist-perspective/
*   View:   The Man Who Planted Trees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTvYh8ar3tc
*   View: Bioneers, on Biomimicry https://www.linktv.org/shows/bioneers/episodes/janine-benyus-biomimicry-as-a-cooperative-inquiry

The Peace and Freedom Party presents
The Fight Against Fascism: From Charlottesville to Berkeley

Following their defeat in Charlottesville, the Fascists are coming to Berkeley
on August 27 to peddle their White Supremacist views. They will be met with
resistance. We are inviting speakers to discuss this vital struggle.

FREE!

This is part of our on-going Socialist Forum Series on the first Saturday of every
month. Doors open at 2 pm and the program will start promptly at 2:30 pm. The
forum will end by 4:30 pm, but folks can stay and talk as long as you like. Speaker’s
affiliations are listed for identification only. The opinions expressed do not reflect
the official views of the Peace and Freedom Party.

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The Peace and Freedom Party, born from the civil rights and
anti-war movements of the 1960s, is committed to socialism,
democracy, ecology, feminism, racial equality, and internationalism.

Join Our Annual Potluck Workparty!

Join our celebration of joyful resistance! Bouce-house, kale smoothies and delicious food for all! Bring a friend, bring your family… Join PJ as you learn to plant fruit trees, contribute to the potluck feast, build community in your local green space, and support land acquisition as summer comes to a close.

Every Sunday, the Community Democracy Project hosts workshops, panel discussions, and presentations about issues that affect our Town.

On September 3rd, we’re hosting the Anti Police Terror Project, Copwatch, and 2018 gubernatorial candidate Michael Bracamontes for a panel discussion envisioning pathways to end the police state.

Join us! Light snacks will be provided.
Immediately after the panel discussion, you are also invited to attend our weekly strategy circle, which starts at 7:30pm.

BACK OFF OUR DREAMERS AND MORE!

Trump will decide whether to end DACA this Tuesday. DACA protects over 800,000 undocumented youth from deportation and was won through visionary organizing by immigrant youth themselves.

**IF TRUMP ENDS DACA** join us this Tuesday at the SF Federal Building to continue our fight against xenophobia and white supremacy.

We stand in solidarity with all 11 million undocumented people. Join us to fight deportations and honor the resilience of our immigrant communities.

More on DACA (Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals) here:
https://www.facebook.com/UnitedWeDream/videos/10154685524415493/

And Then They Came for Us…

This moment belongs to us. Help us build economic democracy in Berkeley!

Last year, you answered the call to support a resolution for the promotion of worker cooperatives at Berkeley City Council. Because of your support, we are working with the City of Berkeley to write an ordinance that will prioritize worker cooperatives! We want the ordinance to be as responsive as possible to the needs of the Berkeley worker coop community. We also want the worker coop community to help energize this campaign! That’s why we’re holding an open forum to discuss and address your needs and concerns about the ordinance.

We need your wisdom and feedback!

We’re excited to be co-hosting this event with the Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives, a grassroots organization of democratic workplaces dedicated to building workplace democracy in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond!

UPDATE: DACA DECISION – hundreds of thousands of neighbors, friends, and family at risk of deportation. Bring a sign – DEFEND DACA

Please join us again on Wednesday September 6t from 6 to 7 pm at the west entrance to El Cerrito Plaza, intersection San Pablo & Carlson Avenues, on the side nearest to Daiso. When there are enough of us some can stand on other corners!

Our goals are to create a significant community presence to speak out in favor of equality, justice, inclusiveness and more. We say NO to hatred, racism, white supremacy and nationalism, bigotry, and anti-Semitism.

We’ll have two large poster-board signs, one that says “YES” and one “NO.” You can bring your own sign with your own words expressing what you stand for and against. Use BIG lettering so people in cars can see! We’ll also have sign-making materials.

We’re from the El Cerrito area, and our Show Up location is at the borders of El Cerrito, Richmond and Albany — all are welcome!

We’ll assemble lawfully, and won’t block the sidewalk. All locations we select will be wheelchair-accessible. To participate you must commit to non-violent and respectful conduct. We are family-friendly!

50% of those murdered by police are people with disabilities and we can reasonable guess that those who survive police terror and brutality are likely to live with some kind of impairment. Join us on Friday, September 8 as we protest police militarization of our communities by saying NO to Urban Shield, a regional effort that further weaponizes police departments to repress and criminalize our communities under the banner of “fighting terrorism” and “expanding emergency services.”

We will be joining hundreds of others at the Stop Urban Shield mobilization at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. The event will be ASL interpreted, have chairs available, and have access volunteers on-site. We would like to have a large disability contingency (50+ people).

Are you available to join us? We will use this facebook event for planning a crip and elder contingent… maybe large posters, maybe a vigil, maybe our own another way of raising visibility of violence against folks with disabilities? After the event, the Stop Urban Shield coalition is hosting a community resource fair at the ampitheater near Lake Merritt one block away. There will be stations that introduce alternatives to calling the police, safety training, emergency response, herbal medicine and more. The stations will also be ASL interpreted and designed to include people with disabilities. There will be (free) food at the fair.

Please join us and invite your folks. We want disabled folks and elders in the streets saying no to police militarization and violence!!

If you can make it, we also suggest you RSVP to the general facebook event so you can follow event updates there as well: https://www.facebook.com/events/115728319054837/

Hope to see you there.

Rally will be at the Alameda County Admin Building
Resource Fair will be held at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater

In just the past week, Trump has furthered police militarization with the greenlighting of the 1033 program and expanded his attack on immigrants by announcing an end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
On the heels of these devastating policies coming from the federal government, Urban Shield will descend on the Bay Area this week, bringing police units from all over the country and world to conducted highly militarized trainings bent on further criminalizing and repressing our communities. But communities everywhere have sprung into action to declare that we will not sit quietly as militarization, racism, and xenophobia continue.

It’s time for us to stand strong against state violence and demand and end to Urban Shield! Will you join us?
As a SWAT training program that promotes militarization, Islamophobia, and repression, Urban Shield affects all of us. Black and Native communities are the most disproportionately impacted by the violence of policing and militarization. Immigrants end up in detention and deportation proceedings as a result of sweeps and SWAT raids. Arab and Muslim communities are portrayed as “terrorists” and face increased criminalization and surveillance. Working class people and all who resist this state violence are met with police repression. In order to defend ourselves from these attacks and ultimately win, we must band together and fight back in unity.

Come out to the Stop Urban Shield rally and community fair this Friday to say NO to Urban Shield! Let’s demonstrate what broad based resistance to militarization, policing, and state violence looks like!

Take Action

1) Come out this Friday for our Rally and Resource Fair
Are you with an organization, community association, religious institution, labor union, or any other group? Invite your members to come out!

2) Donate to our Wishlist
Support us in getting emergency preparedness supplies. We know the best response during emergencies is a community response – not policing and militarization. Let’s work towards relying on each other!

3) Spread the word!
We’re on facebook, twitter, and instagram, so please help us get the word out far and wide.

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The weekend of September 8th, Alameda County will host the controversial SWAT training, war games and weapons expo, Urban Shield. We will gather on September 8th, across communities, to end it & resist police militarization around the world!

With the current manifestations of violence under the Trump administration, it is more important than ever to urge the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to end this racist and Islamaphobic event and invest in emergency preparedness that benefits the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Join the Stop Urban Shield Coalition to say NO to policing, militarization and state violence! Join us in resisting violence against our communities and in fighting for genuine visions of justice, safety, and self-determination including trainings and resources on: People’s Fire Safety, Earthquake Kits, and How to Be Cop-Free

4PM // Rally at Alameda County Board of Supervisor’s Office, 1221 Oak St., Oakland CA
5PM // Community Fair at South Amphitheater Lake Merritt