Investing in Sanctuary:
Freedom to Stay, Freedom to Move, Freedom to Return

In a post-9/11 world, more than 70 border walls have been erected across the globe. The rights of migration, mobility, and movement are under attack and we must defend the freedom to stay, freedom to move, and freedom to return. Come learn about border walls, those who are profiting from them, and celebrate international resistance taking place around the world to defend human dignity and resistance to walls in their many forms. The event will include speakers live music and photo exhibitions..

Speakers:
Nellie Jo David organizes for indigenous human rights and autonomy on the imposed U.S./Mexico borderlands intersecting the Tohono O’odham Nation. Nellie is from Ajo, Arizona, traditionally Hia-Ced O’odham territory. Nellie was inspired to raise awareness on border issues upon witnessing the increased militarization of her community. She dedicates her work to migrant justice issues and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and wildlife along the border. Nellie obtained her J.D. with a certificate in indigenous law and policy from Michigan State University in 2014.

Lara Kiswani is the executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), a grassroots organization working to address economic, social, and political impacts of anti-Arab racism by organizing Arab and Muslim communities around principles of justice and self-determination for all. A Palestinian born in the Bay Area, Lara completed her undergraduate studies at UC Davis, where she helped establish the Middle East/South Asia minor. She earned an MA in Education at San Francisco State University where she is a lecturer in the department of Ethnic Studies.

And more…

Moderator:
Rev. Deborah Lee: Deborah Lee serves as the Executive Director of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, an organization that connects people of faith to the work of social justice. IM4Human Integrity builds faith-rooted solidarity, direct actions and advocacy in partnership with frontline communities dedicated to immigrant justice and ending the criminalization of people of color. They currently support and foster a Northern California Sanctuary Network of over 50 congregations who are responding to the wave of migrant youth and families and the detention and deportation crisis.

This event is one of several hundred international events promoting a World Without Walls this November. Co-sponsors include:
Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
Oakland Community Organizations
Bay Area Sanctuary Network
East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy
Skyline Community Church – United Church of Christ
Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church
Ecumenical Peace Institute
First Congregational Church of Oakland Prophetic Public Witness Team
O’odham Anti-Border Collective
Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
NorCal Friends of Sabeel
American Friends Service Committee
CAIR – San Francisco Bay Area,
Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM),
AROC: Arab Resource & Organizing Center
Jewish Voice for Peace – Bay Area
Middle East Children’s Alliance

You can also support this event and donate at:
www.im4humanintegrity.org/worldwithoutwalls-donations

About the Town Hall

Alameda County’s Town Hall on Public Charge will bring together more than 125 local service providers and community members from across Alameda County. The Town Hall, which will be held in Oakland’s Preservation Park, will provide participants with the opportunity to:

• Learn about a proposed rule change to the federal “public charge” definition and how this change undermines efforts to economically empower families and promote public health.
• Ask questions about how the rule change would apply to families; how the rule change would impact the flow of federal funds for programs like Medi-Cal (Medicaid & CHIP), CalFresh (SNAP), Medicare Part D, and Section 8 Housing Vouchers to Alameda County and California; and what Alameda County and its partners are doing to respond to the proposed rule.
• Take action by submitting public comment and connecting with local, state, and national efforts to weigh in on the proposed rule.

Translation and light refreshments will be provided. During registration, please be sure to complete the SurveyMonkey link to let us know if you have a specific language and/or childcare need.

RSVP: Click on Image!

Mark your calendars! We're hosting TWO Public Banking 101 sessions in November–one at Alley Cat Books, and one @DSA_SF. We hope to see you there 🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/8Sg3u7g293

— SF Public Bank (@sfpublicbank) October 25, 2018

On September 8th, over 250,000 people on all (!) 7 continents stepped up to demand tangible action on climate change from their elected officials. Hundreds of frontline communities led the way, building momentum and urgency for this fight. So we’re asking: What do we do now? Where do we direct this precious and palpable strength and energy?

After RISE, the Global Climate Action Summit, Sol2Sol Summit, and the hundreds of other events, we’ve taken a beat and are ready to pick up the reins again. On November 8th, join the Berkeley Climate Action Coalition’s Fall Convening to find out how to best use your limited time and energy. We will also share an array tangible projects that your talents could boost. Join us as we vision and move towards a new world, starting right here in our own communities!

Register here.

Please join us for a discussion on this topic with veteran socialist organizer and founding member of PSOL in Brazil, Pedro Fuentes. We’ll talk about the factors leading to Bolsonaro’s rise, the threat his movement poses, and how socialists can fight back. We’ll also discuss the connection between Bolsonaro and the resurgence of the far-right in the US and elsewhere.

About Pedro Fuentes

Pedro Fuentes was born in Pergamino, Argentina, and began his activism there as a teenager, when he and his brother joined a high-school student movement to reform the schools called Movimiento de Accion Reformista. Later, in the 1960s, he joined Palabro Obrera, led by the Argentine Trotskyist Nahuel Moreno, and organized in the factories in his city. In 1971, his older brother, Luis Enrique Pujals, was one of the first to be “disappeared” by Argentina’s dictatorship for his activity in the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores (PRT). Soon after, Pedro was forced to flee Argentina and lived in exile for the duration of the dictatorship and beyond, traveling across Latin America and Europe and embedding himself in socialist movements wherever he went.

Eventually he moved to Brazil and in 2000 began organizing with Movimento Esquerda Socialista (MES), then a tendency in the Workers Party (PT). In 2003, the PT introduced anti-worker pension reforms supported by Brazil’s right wing parties. A number of dissenting PT deputies, including MES leader Luciana Genro, voted against the reforms and were subsequently expelled from the PT. Pedro joined these expelled leaders in founding PSOL as a left alternative to the PT. For many years he served as PSOL’s secretary of international relations, though he has recently stepped back.

Recommended Readings

See the recommended readings for this special event

Films to The People (FTP) short film festival gives a platform to independent filmmakers whose work might not find a place in larger, mainstream festivals. We like to showcase filmmakers of various ages, genders, and ethnic backgrounds, and subject matter that is pertinent to our times. We prefer to work with local filmmakers, but we have made exceptions. Films are selected for quality and diversity of perspectives.

We will screen 19 politically relevant films and discuss local shorts with the directors.

Doors open at 3pm, program starts at 4pm

There will be food, raffle and awards!

To attend the festival for free, contact liberatedlens [at] omnicommons.org for volunteer opportunities.

Films 2 The People is a film festival highlighting short films of 20 minutes or less with social justice themes. We like to showcase filmmakers of various ages, genders, and ethnic backgrounds, and subject matter that is pertinent to our times. While we prefer to work with local filmmakers, submissions are opened to everyone. Films are selected for quality and diversity of perspectives.

https://filmfreeway.com/filmstothepeople

Hosted by Liberated Lens.

You’re invited to a limited theatrical screening of Say Her Name: The Life & Death of Sandra Bland. On July 10, 2015, Sandra Bland, a politically active 28-year-old African-American woman, was arrested for a traffic violation in a small Texas town. Three days later, Sandra was found hanging from a noose in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas. Described by The Hollywood Reporter as “heartbreaking..one of the most galvanizing episodes of this generation’s civil rights struggle…poignantly explored”, Say Her Name follows her family and their legal team as they try to make sense of what happened, presenting a compelling look at her life as well as her death. It’s both a vigorous, engrossing mystery and a disturbing account of systemic racism and neglect.

Following the documentary, there will be a moderated discussion with Sharon Cooper (film subject & sister of Sandra Bland).

Join us for this important discussion!

East Bay Peace Action invites you to their annual gathering featuring Eric See presenting a post-election analysis. This event takes place Sunday, November 11th at 2:00pm at the Fred Weaver Residence Center, St. Paul’s Tower, at 100 Bay Place in Oakland.

The next Green Sunday forum will come less than a week after election day in what has proven to be one of the most contentious and emotional electoral cycles (and related political turmoil) in recent memory.  Come participate in an evaluation of not only the results, but of the implications for our ongoing fight for independent politics and for a range of policies and struggles which might follow in their wake.  This discussion will examine our local electoral efforts, as well as what occurred on a regional, state and national level, “Blue Wave” or not.

Please invite friends whether Greens or not, including those who may have voted for the corporate parties. We can anticipate a lively discussion.

Ashby BART is approximately 7 blocks away.

SPONSOR: Green Sundays are a series of free programs & discussions sponsored by the Green Party of Alameda County. They are usually held on the 2nd Sunday of each month. The monthly business meeting of the County Council of the Green Party of Alameda County follows at 6:45 pm.  Council meetings are always open to anyone who is interested.

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office applied for and received a grant targeting incarcerated Black Muslims in Alameda County, according to the East Bay Express. The Homeland Security CVE, or Countering Violent Extremism program, has been criticized for solely targeting Muslims as susceptible to violence and extremism, while not addressing the rising threat of white supremacists.

The “#StopCVE: Race, Islamophobia, Policing and Mass Incarceration in Alameda County” panel will discuss the CVE grant program, how the “E Pluribus Unum” project in Alameda County came to be, history of surveillance of Muslims, and community efforts to increase transparency in the sheriff’s operation of the county’s jails and other social service facilities.

Panelists include: Imam Abu Qadir Al Amin, imam, SF Muslim Community Center; Sally Horna, legal fellow with Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Bay Area; Fatima Ladha, community advocate, Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus National Security and Civil Rights Program, and Jose Bernal, senior organizer, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Journalist Rasheed Shabazz will facilitate the conversation.

Event is free and open to the public.

SAVE THE DATE: we need court support on Tuesday, 11/13, when a federal judge will hear our case against the eviction regime of Mayor Libby Schaaf and her Homelessness Czar Joe DeVries.

This will be at 2 PM, at the Oakland Federal Courthouse, 1301 Clay St, Oakland CA 94612.

— The Village, Oakland (@VillageOakland) November 11, 2018

Thanks to community members holding it down we were able to resist our eviction this weekend, but we’re still fighting for a court order to keep #HousingandDignityVillagethriving. Pack the court TUESDAY @ 2pm (Courtroom 2 on the 4th floor at Clay Street) to show your support for autonomous community driven solutions to this crisis! #homesforall #solidarity

Please join us at Berkeley’s International Computer Science Institute (ICSI), where Serge Egelman will share his research on how game apps have been collecting kids data. Serge’s work has been covered by the New York Times and Washington Post.

Serge’s team examined more than 5000 of the most popular kids apps and more than 50% appear to be failing to protect kids privacy.

Serge Egelman is the Research Director of Usable Security and Privacy at ICSI and is a returning Privacy Lab speaker.

ICSI will host us at 1947 Center Street in Berkeley (6th floor). Doors will open by 6pm for networking and Serge’s presentation will start at 6:30pm.

If you arrive after 6pm, someone will be there to help with after hours admissions (the front doors and elevators require key cards after 6pm).

Based on frequent, first-hand reporting in Iran and the United States, The Iran Agenda Today explores the turbulent recent history between the two countries and reveals how it has led to a misguided showdown over nuclear technology. Foreign correspondent Reese Erlich notes that all the major U.S. intelligence agencies agree Iran has not had a nuclear weapons program since at least 2003. He explores why Washington nonetheless continues saber rattling, and he provides a detailed critique of mainstream media coverage of Iran. The book further details the popular protests that have rocked Tehran despite repression by the country’s own Deep State. Erlich offers insights on Iran’s domestic politics, popular culture, and diverse populations over this recent era. His analysis draws on past interviews with high-ranking Iranian officials, the former shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, and Iranian exiles in Los Angeles, as well as his trip to Tehran with actor Sean Penn.Erlich’s book Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn’t Tell You, co-authored  with Norman Solomon was a best seller in 2003. His fifth book, Inside Syria: the Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect (foreword by Noam Chomsky) was published in 2014. In a starred review of Inside Syria, Publisher’s Weekly wrote that Erlich’s “insights and conclusions are objective and valuable… essential reading for understanding the current turmoil in the Middle East.

Norman Solomon is the author of a dozen books including “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. He is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, where he coordinates the ExposeFacts.org program for whistleblowers and press freedom, and co-founder of RootsAction.org.

Sabrina Jacobs is host and producer of the popular A Rude Awakening, aired on KPFA, Mondays 3:30 -4pm. She covers local breaking news as well as global events, informing listeners about the latest social injustices. Ms. Jacobs is also currently serving as staff representative/vice chair of Pacifica Radio’s National Board.

65 million people worldwide are fleeing war, ethnic cleansing, environmental catastrophe. Filmed in 23 countries over two years, the dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei brings to life the immense human scale of the worldwide refugee crisis.

The film’s aerial photography shows the destruction of Mosul by the U.S. in Iraq, sub-Saharan Africa where 26 percent of the world’s refugees are located, the vast network of permanent camps in the Middle East, and the open-air prison of Gaza and the U.S.-Mexican border.

Ai Weiwei gives voice to the people living through this and to their hopes and their dignified determination to be treated as human beings.