Calendar

ROAR is a free conference, focused on Revolutionary anti-racism, solidarity, and strategy, rooted in the legacy of anti-colonial, anti-fascist, anti-imperialist, feminist and queer movements and fighters who have come before us.

MISSION STATEMENT
Punks With Lunch is a non-profit organization run by volunteers dedicated to building community by providing life-saving services, along with harm reduction resources to underserved and marginalized individuals.

VISION STATEMENT
Our vision is to promote consistent access to basic living necessities and harm reduction services for those in need – with non-judgmental unconditional compassion. Our volunteers engage in direct community outreach while encouraging destigmatization of drug use and poverty. By connecting with our program participants, we empower and provide a safe space for individuals to make informed decisions regarding their own lives.

CALL TO ACTION
Contact us if you would like to be part of our ever-expanding team of volunteers. We fully endorse efforts to start your very own chapter in support of your surrounding community.

No outside beverages.

Sun, May 12
Turkey at the cross roads of imperialism
Turkey is struggling to find a new and better position in the world while fascism erodes the economy, human rights, freedom of press and all opposition.  New “elections” on March 31 is only a sham as mounting evidence of corruption piles.  Turkey has lost on Syria, a quagmire it planned on winning big with the bog guys.  As Turkey oscillates between European Union, the USA and Russia, it finds itself more and more irrelevant.  Contrary to the big plans of becoming a leader in the Middle East, Turkey has been relegated to a position where it is only trying to find who to follow.  Such is the position of those who accept imperialism instead of standing up to it. ICSS member Mehmet Bayram will present and lead our discussion. TENTATIVE

Sun, May 19
¡VIVA MEXICO!
Mexican President Díaz (1876-1880 and 1884-1911) famously commented: “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States.”
Diaz got it at least half right. Mexico has suffered in the shadow of the Colossus of the North, but Mexico is not poor. Mexico is rich in many ways, yet it also has been impoverished. And Mexico has been greatly underappreciated by North Americans. This presentation will emphasize the many poorly known accomplishments of Mexico, while uncovering the role of US imperialism.
Mexico is bucking an international right-wing tide, shifting its government from right to left-of-center with the presidential inauguration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) on December 1. Speaking for international capital, The Economist is worried. The other 99% of humanity is hopeful.
Roger Harris will present a PowerPoint-illustrated cautionary history of this trice conquered land. A longtime activist with the Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, Roger is on the board of the Task Force on the Americas (http://taskforceamericas.org/), a 33-year-old human rights organization, and is active with the Campaign to End US-Canadian Sanctions Against Venezuela (https://tinyurl.com/yd4ptxkx). He last visited Mexico in March.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
Sun, May 26, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Report from Venezuela Delegation
Venezuela is in the cross hairs of imperialism.  It has the largest oil reserves in the world, but more than that, Venezuela is determined to use its resources for the benefit of its own people instead of handing them over to transnational corporations or imperialist rulers.  In the age of imperialism, these trends are enough to make any country the target of imperialist plunderers.  We are under a media barrage of lies, misinformation, and open US propaganda about Venezuela. With this intense muddying of waters it becomes very hard to know and understand the events happening around this Latin American, Bolivarian, country.
In order to observe what is really going on there, recently Bay Area residents Mehmet Bayram, ICSS member and journalist, and Laura Wells, Green Party Congressional Candidate, visited Venezuela with the “End Venezuela Sanctions” delegation.  They will present their experience and lead the discussion afterwards.

Sun, June 9, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee
After 24 years in the USA, 38 years in the (East) German Democratic Republic as a McCarthy-era exile, then nearly 30 years in unified Germany, Victor Grossman, the ex-pat journalist and author examines the rise and fall of a socialist experiment as he observed and participated in it. He tries to clear through a fog of misinformation and distortion regarding it, describing its achievements, its successes as well as its blunders and negative aspects. Its position regarding Nazis and fascism is compared with that in West Germany. Its school system, women’s rights, both models in many ways, cultural questions and other matters are examined from a personal, anecdotal and sometimes humorous perspective. 
The book then turns to a broader examination of possible lessons to be learned when searching for solutions to present-day problems: the growing gap between rich and poor, alarmingly malevolent dangers for a crippled environment, the menace of racism and new fascist movements, the almost ignored danger of atomic annihilation – and who is to blame for them. But the book also looks at newly invigorated hopes for a better, a socialist future despite the many barriers to its realization – seen through the prism of a veteran of the “old Left” in the USA, Communist rule and the Cold War in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, and expresses his views on current fears and hopes on both sides of the Atlantic – and the Pacific. 
(Copies of Victor’s book will be available for purchase, cash or checks only, NO CREDIT CARDS.

Sun, Jun 16, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Cuba”s Democracy
Constitutional Referendum and grassroots political processes.
Cuba is always described as a “dictatorship” by the mainstream media and the U.S. government, thus providing a pretext for the economic blockade and talk about regime change. But Sharat G. Lin found a remarkable democratic process in the recent Constitutional Referendum in Cuba and months of nationwide discussions involving millions of voters. (Awaiting confirmation)

In this third in our series of workshops to create alternatives to relying on policing, we’ll work together to identify elements of white supremacy culture, police and law enforcement culture. Then we’ll engage with just transition culture.

We’ll examine the cultures of our own organizations and map them toward a just transition. We’ll imagine together some steps in that journey.

ABOUT THE TRAINER

We are thrilled to welcome Patricia St. Onge (Haudenosaunee and Quebecois, adopted Lakota) to lead us in this work. Patricia is the founder of Seven Generations Consulting and brings over thirty five years of experience leading and working with nonprofit and public sector agencies. In all of her work, she provides training, consulting and technical assistance in the areas of community organizing, social justice advocacy, organizational development, cross-cultural effectiveness, consensus building, as well being as spiritual & executive/personal coach.

Patricia serves on the board of directors for Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee. Prior to launching Seven Generations Consulting, Patricia was Executive Director of several nonprofit organizations. She writes and speaks on an array of issues and is the lead author for Embracing Cultural Competency: A Roadmap for Nonprofit Capacity Builders published by the Fieldstone Alliance; she has also written chapters in books written by Joanna Macy, Marie Weil and Donald Gerard, as well as numerous articles.

ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP SERIES

A growing coalition of organizations in the Bay Area is coming together to explore alternatives to calling the police to our campuses and into our neighborhoods. Over the coming year, we will be offering a series of workshops to explore alternatives to calling the police. Some of these workshops, like this one, will provide deepening analysis and a grounding in alternative ways of thinking about safety. Others will provide practical skills. All of them will lift up a transformative justice framework and emphasize the importance of self care.

The Coalition includes First Congregational Church of Oakland, Kehilla Community Synagogue, Agape Fellowship, Qal’bu Maryam, Jewish Voice for Peace, Skyline Community Church, Oakland Peace Center, Oakland LBGTQ Community Center, the Omni Collective, and Black Organizing Project. We are eager to partner with additional organizations so please contact us if you are interested!

ACCESSIBILITY:

The space is wheelchair accessible, and there are ADA restrooms on site. Please come scent-free; for information on how to do that, see this FAQ: https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/. Scented cleaning products are sometimes used in the space but will not have been used in the space for 24 hours. No incense or sage will be burned. If you have other questions about accessibility, please contact us at alternatives-to-policing@googlegroups.com.

Liberated Lens invites you to a screening of short films across the Black Diaspora with a post-screening discussion with Aldane Walters & Marna Paintsil Anning. This event is free and food will be provided! Doors open at 4:30 pm on Sunday, May 19th at Omni Commons. This event is wheel chair accessible. For more information go to LiberatedLens.org or contact (510) 863-4331.

A 6-week series to help us develop a deeper analysis and to call attention to the kinds of changes needed in the City’s budget and policies.

4/15 – Housing
4/22 – Economy
4/29 – Education
5/6 – Public Health
5/13 – Neighborhood Life
5/20 – Public Safety

The first week’s workshop on the Housing Indicators is the first of a 6-week series to help us develop a deeper analysis and to call attention to the kinds of changes needed in the City’s budget and policies.

Join us for this deeper dive into the Equity Indicators Report for the City of Oakland. Released last year, it clearly shows the effects of white supremacy on our community. Oakland posted a failing score of 33.5 out of a possible 100 across all indicators. This was the lowest score of all cities that participated in this national study.

Carroll Fife, the founder of Black Women & Elected Leadership, the Executive Director of Oakland ACCE, and one of the founding members of Community READY Corps, will join us as a guest speaker to provide some deeper analysis of the report’s findings and point us to actual solutions that will advance racial justice and equity in our housing market.

Tuesday May 21: Turn out for a rally and press conference followed by public comment. We need you to help us push #AuditAhern forward. The abuses committed by ACSO are unacceptable. We will not be silent. We will not be complacent. pic.twitter.com/WpsviplSC6

— Ella Baker Center (@ellabakercenter) May 16, 2019

We don’t have to wait to repeal Costa Hawkins to fight displacement and stabilize the homes of thousands of tenants in Oakland NOW.

Oakland City Council has the power to remove rent-control exemptions on thousands of currently owner-occupied duplex and triplex units in Oakland and protect the futures of families in thousands more. It’s time we demand they take action to stop displacement and rent gouging.

Closing the rent stabilization loophole for owner-occupied 2-3 unit buildings would immediately:
• Protect an estimated 5,100 tenants already living owner-occupied duplexes or triplex units by allowing them to re/gain rent stabilization;
• Qualify these tenants for protections under Oakland’s Tenant Protection Ordinance, which protects tenants from harassment and “bad acting“ landlords who are refusing to make necessary repairs;
• Make these tenants eligible for relocation payments for no-fault evictions
• Preserve the affordability of approximately 11,000 additional units vulnerable to losing rent stabilization and coverage under the Tenant Protection Ordinance and Uniform Relocation Ordinance.

Learn more about the fight here https://cjjc.org/mediapress/closetheloopholes-to-defend-and-expand-oaklands-rent-stabilized-housing/

And join us

Tuesday 5/21 @ 5:30pm First full City Council Vote – 3rd Floor Oakland City Hall

and

Tuesday 6/4 @ 5:30pm Final vote 3rd Floor Oakland City Hall

Also up for a vote on 5/21 – demand transparency and accountability from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department https://www.facebook.com/events/395420811306185/

Socialist Night School takes a post-convention breather on May 21 for our first film night, the second session in our three-part series on imperialism and internationalism. We’ll be holding a special screening of Part I of Patricio Guzman’s The Battle of Chile, the legendary documentary about the social revolution that brought Salvador Allende to power in Chile in the 1970s and its violent repression. Here’s your chance to see what the Village Voice called “the major political film of our times.” We will also have LaCroix and snacks!

See the readings

A trial will be held to determine whether the City of Berkeley persecuted First They Came for the Homeless, aka The Poor Tour, a group of politicized homeless individuals, for their political activities.

Jury selection commences on the 20th.

This police review commission meeting will feature a discussion on the Berkeley Police Department’s surveillance policies regarding the following:
+Body Worn Cameras
+Automatic License Plate Readers
+GPS Trackers
+More?

There will also be a discussion on data collection and analysis from police stops.

Public comment will be at the very start of the meeting, with additional time at the very end of the meeting.

Heads Up… local Blue Lives Matters activist Christine Schwartz will be at the meeting filming public speakers for the purposes of harassment. She has habitually been at PRC meetings with her camera to intimidate members of the public from speaking.

Movie Nights at Reem’s

The Arab Film and Media Institute and Reem’s are partnering to bring some of our favorite Arab films to Oakland. Screenings are free + the amazing team at Reem’s will be serving the full menu throughout the evening.  And that’s not all! There will be movie snacks (including za’atar popcorn!),

April 11: Refugee Stories
Far from a one-size-fits-all marking of “experience” so often depicted on Western media outlets when it comes to the plight of the refugee, this program of 5 powerful short documentaries spotlight the multitude of hues that should be considered when discussions of the refugee experience are had.

May 23: Shorts (Playful Pondering)
From dating drama in Bahrain and an abandoned Qatari cinemaplex, to wacky Lebanese nuns and land mine explosions, this eclectic mix of 6 whimsical, albeit socially-concerned short format narrative works will take viewers on a journey of humor, self-discovery, and provocation.

June 13: Seventeen
The Jordanian under-17 women’s soccer team prepares for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, hosted by Jordan in 2016. Coming from different backgrounds, each of the girls has faced a different set of challenges as a national team player. But now they come together to face their biggest challenge yet.

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Hang out with other members who are interested in the labor movement, hear about what’s happening in the East Bay DSA Labor Committee, and learn how you can get involved!

TILL SHE IS FREE OR MARYTRED YEAH IT/S VERY SERIOUS
BASTA !!! FREE CHELSEA MANNING WEEKLY VIGIL
optional after meeting/party rain cancels.

Housed folks: show up this Friday w/ POOR Magazine in solidarity with your unhoused neighbors who are getting swept & criminalized all over the Bay. This brutality won't end until housed & unhoused folks stand together.

1pm SF City Hall
4pm Oakland City Hall#StopTheSweeps pic.twitter.com/OyyWlaewQ8

— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) May 22, 2019