Calendar
Tickets are still available for Medea’s KPFA event at the Hillside Club Thursday evening. KPFA just added a number of “student/financially challenged” tickets, available at this Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/medea-benjamin-war-in-ukraine-making-sense-of-a-senseless-conflict-tickets-462001277257
I cannot recommend strongly enough attending the event. As you likely know, Medea is an expert– knowledgeable, straightforward, correct and convincing about the war in Ukraine and what we in the U.S. need to do to end it. If you’re concerned about the conflict, and fearful as many are about the consequences of it continuing and escalating, please consider coming on Thursday night both to hear Medea and ask questions. Mickey Huff, the terrific host of Project Censored on KPFA and professor at Diablo Valley College is hosting the discussion with Medea. We love Mickey.
Eleanor and I went out to Rossmoor in Walnut Creek today for Medea’s book event, sponsored by the Friends of the Diablo Valley Peace and Justice Center. They expected maybe 20 people; instead there were at least 90 people and more chairs had to be brought in. So many people bought books and contributed for Medea’s travel expenses. The presentation was riveting, followed by a great discussion. Very worthwhile for thinking about and hearing about the path to peace in Ukraine.
FOR ANTI-FASCIST FUTURES
CONTRIBUTORS
“Every Liberal is a Socialist. Every Socialist is a Communist. Every Communist is Moscow’s Spy.” So went a poster used in an anti-May Day “Loyalty Day” march in the high cold war period after WWII.
But anti-Communism went far beyond traditional conservative and reactionary groups and became the foundation of a “cold war consensus” for U.S. domestic and foreign policy in the post WWII period. In my presentation I will examine the relationship between color racism as the model for anti-radicalism at home and in U.S. imperialism abroad, and the role of the Communist Party USA in its struggle against both.
Our speker, Norman Markowitz, was born in 1943 and grew up in the South Bronx in a poor predominantly Jewish neighborhood that became a poorer predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood. He developed an interest in socialism as a teenager, given the conditions in which he and his friends and neighbors lived.
He attended the then free tuition City College of New York (1962-1966) and the University of Michigan on a “National Defense Act” Fellowship and received his PhD in 1970. He taught history at Northern Illinois University (1969-1971) and at Rutgers University/New Brunswick (1971-present).
His doctoral dissertation, The Rise and Fall of the Peoples Century: Henry A. Wallace and American Liberalism, 1941-1948 was published as a book in 1973. He has written numerous articles for various print and internet publications, scholarly journals, encyclopedia, and Marxist and Communist publications and websites on topics which include the history of the Communist movement in the U.S. and its activists, and the role of anti-Communism in U.S. history.
He served on the editorial board of Political Affairs, the theoretical journal of the CPUSA for many years and is currently a member of the International Department of the CPUSA.
ZOOM LINK
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81133350622?pwd=dUUyUWppbWt6djVTaElISUhocXpSUT09
Meeting ID: 811 3335 0622
Passcode: ICSS2717rs
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Bay Area! Come out for FUN and learn how we can end HIV in our community. Bring your friends and family. Day party, spades tournament, food, & prizes. https://t.co/Ba1TYl8xao #OEBAC #power2endthis #DST1913 @AIDSHealthcare @rsscllc @GileadSciences @ViiVHC @BBAACDST pic.twitter.com/dKps3foHeY
— Natalie Wilson (@NatalieWilsonNP) November 27, 2022
NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:
occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 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 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)
On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over six years, since October 2011! 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
In a surreal meeting last Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved on first reading a military equipment use policy that explicitly allows the use of robots outfitted with bombs to blow people up. The policy allows 3 high-level command officers to employ robot bombs based on their “evaluation” that other things wouldn’t work. The Robocop policy passed on an 8-3 vote.
This isn’t the world we want to live in. The “evaluations” of a police department which received 272 recommendations to improve its racist policing practices just six years ago, aren’t adequate. The supervisors admit that virtually everyone who has written to them says no to the killer robots.
The second vote is on Tuesday afternoon. It needs to come out differently. Here is what you can do to make this happen.
1) Come to a rally and press conference at SF City Hall
2) Email the Board at Board.of.Supervisors@sfgov.org. (Several members of the board have taken umbrage at the term “killer robots” as hyperbole. Therefore, when you write to the Board, we suggest you use the term “robots that kill” instead).
Background: David Chiu, then a State Assembly member and now the SF City Attorney, authored AB 481 to require governmental transparency about the use and acquisition of militarized equipment by civilian police agencies. Governor Newsom signed the bill into law. The law requires policies for existing equipment stocks. SF owns 17 robots, which were purchased for bomb and suspicious package disposal. This policy would set out the rules of the road for the 17 robots. No legislative body in the Bay Area has yet explicitly permitted the use of robots outfitted with weapons (bombs or guns) against civilian populations.
Because of the COVID pandemic we will be meeting virtually via Zoom on the first Monday of the month.
Meeting ID: 828 0976 4186
The Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality & State Repression (OGC) is a
grassroots democratic organization that was formed as a conscious united front for justice against police brutality. The OGC is involved in the struggle for police accountability and is committed to stopping police brutality.
In alliance with the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) we organized the October 23, 2010 labor and community rally for Justice for Oscar Grant. On that day the ILWU shut down the Bay Area ports in solidarity. Our mission is to educate, organize and mobilize people against police and state repression. Sisters and brothers! The Oscar Grant Committee invites you to join us in this vital struggle.
We meet on the 1st Monday of each month
You can join our discussion list by sending a blank (doesn’t even need a subject) email to
oscargrantcommittee-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
COVID-19 testing is available at Allen Temple! Our drive-thru testing site is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 4pm! Testing is quick, easy & free! Results available in 3 days. Appointments recommended; make yours at https://t.co/G3MPStVccj pic.twitter.com/OwdThvrBIT
— Allen Temple Baptist Church (@allentemplebc) November 21, 2022
Labor rally at UC Berkeley tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/EfJwjDr9uj
— Only Italian Fans (@lesuperburp) December 5, 2022
Online. Register here
Retiring fossil fuels means we’ll need more and more electricity—so it’s crucial that the electric grid be not only clean, but reliable and just. Join The Climate Center for Building a Resilient and Equitable Grid for the Future, the second in their series, Envisioning a Climate-Safe California: Stories and Solutions.
The webinar will lay out a vision for the future of California’s electricity system and highlight the people and organizations working to create it. It will explore the role of local governments, Community Choice Agencies (CCAs), and others in helping to plan for the use of clean, distributed energy in a way that maximizes benefits to the community and provides reliable, affordable electricity for all.
Speakers:
Jesse Hernandez, urban sociologist
Alexandra McGee, director of strategic initiatives, MCE
Lorenzo Kristov, energy systems consultant
COVID-19 testing is available at Allen Temple! Our drive-thru testing site is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 4pm! Testing is quick, easy & free! Results available in 3 days. Appointments recommended; make yours at https://t.co/G3MPStVccj pic.twitter.com/OwdThvrBIT
— Allen Temple Baptist Church (@allentemplebc) November 21, 2022
Please email contact@oaklandprivacy.org a few days before the meeting to get up-to-date location information or obtain Zoom meeting access info.
Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, police militarization and ICE, and to advocate for surveillance regulation around the Bay and nationwide.
We fight against spy drones, facial recognition, tracking equipment, police body camera secrecy, anti-transparency laws and requirements for “backdoors” to cellphones; we oppose “pre-crime” and “thought-crime,” — to list just a few invasions of our privacy by all levels of Government, and attempts to hide what government officials, employees and agencies are doing.
We draft and push for privacy legislation for City Councils, at the County level, and in Sacramento. We advocate in op-eds and in the streets. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and believe no one is illegal.
Check out some of what we worked on in 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019.
Oakland Privacy originally came together in 2013 to fight against the Domain Awareness Center, Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub. OP was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network. We helped fight and helped win the fight against Urban Shield.
Our major projects currently include local legislation to regulate state surveillance (we got the strongest surveillance regulation ordinance in the country passed in Oakland!), supporting and opposing state legislation as appropriate, battling mass surveillance in the form of facial recognition and other analytics, mass aerial surveillance, ubiquitous license plate readers, and pushing back against ICE.
On September 12th, 2019 we were presented with a Barlow Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for our work, and on March 16th, 2021 s James Madison Freedom of Information Award by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists.
If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy email listserv, coming to a meeting, or have questions, send an email to:
Check out our website: http://oaklandprivacy.org/
Follow us on twitter: @oaklandprivacy
“WATCHING YOU WATCHING US”
Oakland Privacy works regionally to defend the right to privacy and enhance public transparency and oversight regarding the use of surveillance techniques and equipment. Oakland Privacy drove the passage of surveillance regulation and transparency ordinances in Oakland and Berkeley and is kicking off new processes in various municipalities around the Bay. To help slow down the encroaching police and surveillance state all over the Bay Area, join us at the Omni.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Friends of the Public Bank East Bay is a completely volunteer-run, nonprofit organizing to create and build community support for the first public bank in California’s history! If you’re committed to economic justice and interested in helping us build new financial systems by the people for the people, we look forward to having you join us!
HOW WE OPERATE:
We have five committees working together to create a Public Bank in the East Bay:
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Advocacy builds relationships with community groups and city governments.
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Communications assists other committees with content creation and promotion.
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Fundraising develops our organization’s budget and raises funds for our business plan.
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Membership brings on new members and volunteers and organizes educational events.
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Strategy & Planning is responsible for operations and the execution of PBEB’s business plan.
Email us with your interests and we’ll help you find a way to get plugged in!
Public Bank East Bay expects to open by 2023, and will be a transformative institution that keeps our money local, allowing local governments to divest from Wall Street and reinvest its profits back into our community. Public Bank East Bay’s initial loan policies will support affordable housing development, provide support for small businesses (especially for marginalized entrepreneurs), finance the renovation and electrification of existing buildings, and help cities and counties refinance their municipal debt.
COVID-19 testing is available at Allen Temple! Our drive-thru testing site is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 4pm! Testing is quick, easy & free! Results available in 3 days. Appointments recommended; make yours at https://t.co/G3MPStVccj pic.twitter.com/OwdThvrBIT
— Allen Temple Baptist Church (@allentemplebc) November 21, 2022
BILL OF RIGHTS DAY 2022
PEAGUSUS BOOKS
BOOKS INC.
Professor Klinenberg is a sociologist and scholar of urban studies, culture, and media. His book, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life, demonstrates that beautiful, respectful, community-supporting spaces are key to well-being.
Professor Klinenberg will discuss how cities like Berkeley can design and invest in support of social infrastructure.His special love for public libraries mirrors our community’s and the parallels he draws invite us to consider dedicating the same care to our shared outdoor and other civic spaces.
Every year on December 10th, people across all nations, from all different backgrounds, religions, creeds, and orientations, come together to celebrate, commemorate, and remember the day the United Nations General Assembly implemented the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Originally ratified on December 10th, 1948, the UDHR is the most translated document in the world. It is the first official landmark of its time documenting the inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being “regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or another status.
We at EthicsInTech.com believe that every human being is entitled to the inalienable rights described by our founding forefathers and that every human being has a voice – and a choice to stand up and speak up for what they believe in. We understand that our world does not receive redemption nor judgment for the acts of only a few people. It takes the heart, soul, and action of every individual to build and form a nation. It is only after we educate and boost the well-being of all countries that we will be able to come together to form a better world.
At EthicsinTech.com, we believe that technology has the power to do amazing things. Technology gives us more power to do, act, and promote social justice and change. We believe that with this immense power of Big Tech comes immense responsibility – to use this new instrument ethically, humanely, and responsibly to improve the lives of ALL human beings versus just an elite few.
One of the most severe, widespread human rights violations that still exist today is digital censorship, digital rights, women’s rights, and the right of the disabled. Whether we are reviewing cases of imprisonment, violence, or social inequity in the workplace, multiple studies have shown us that our society still has a long way to go to support, raise awareness and promote digital rights, women’s rights, and human rights.
On December 10th, EthicsInTech.com will host a special event to present the inhumanity faced by digital rights and civil liberty activists from around the world. We will host a panel of speakers, activists, and technology leaders to hear their journeys, perspectives, and wisdom on how to do better to promote equal digital rights with dignity and respect for all.
Host:
Vahid Razavi -A technology Veteran of Silicon Valley. Vahid has founded, advised, and worked in senior management roles in Silicon Valley. He has published two books, The Age of Nepotism and Ethics In Tech and Lack Thereof. As a lifelong activist and humanitarian, he has published hundreds of articles and videos on various social issues, including the tech industry and social injustice. He has previously worked for companies such as Amazon Web Services, Fast Search, Exodus Communications, Qwest Communications and was the founder of the Cloud Computing Company BizCloud and Ethics In Technology.
Speakers:
Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and the executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of a dozen books, including “War Made Easy.” His next book, “War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine,” will be published in Spring 2023 by The New Press.
Peter B. Kaufman is Senior Program Officer at MIT Open Learning. He is the author of The New Enlightenment and the Fight to Free Knowledge and a forthcoming book called The Fifth Estate. He also has served as president and executive producer of Intelligent Television; Associate Director of Columbia University’s Center for Teaching and Learning; a member of the Audiovisual Research Alliance at Netherlands Sound and Vision; co-chair of the JISC Film & Sound Think Tank in the United Kingdom; co-chair of the Copyright Committee of the Association of Moving Image Archivists; a member of the Scholar Advisory Committee of WGBH’s American Archive of Public Broadcasting; a member of the American Council of Learned Societies Commission on Cyberinfrastructure in the Humanities and Social Sciences; and a consultant to the Library of Congress’s National Audiovisual Conservation Center, the largest archive of moving images and recorded sound in the world. He also speaks Russian, and nobody knows why.
Tracy Rosenberg has worked as Media Alliance’s Executive Director since 2007. She has organized and advocated for a free, accountable, and accessible media system, focusing on the protection and sustainability of alternative media outlets, monitored the mainstream media for accuracy and fair representation, and facilitated the training of numerous nonprofit organizations and citizen’s groups in effective communications. She blogs on media policy and is published frequently around the country. Tracy currently sits on the board of the Alliance for Community Media Western Region, serves on the anchor committee of the MediaJusticecoalition, and co-coordinates Oakland Privacy, the Bay Area surveillance coalitionthat works regionally to defend the right to privacy and enhance public transparency and oversight regarding the use of surveillance techniques and equipment. Oakland Privacy won an EFF Pioneer Award on September 12, 2019, and two James Madison Freedom of Information Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2021 and 2022.
Brett Wilkins is a staff writer at Common Dreams and a communications coordinator for San Francisco Bernicrats. He has published articles at Salon.com, Truthout, the Asia Times, teleSur, the Jakarta Post, and Yahoo News, among other outlets. He was also a member of Collective 20, whose members included Michael Albert, Medea Benjamin, Noam Chomsky, Bill Fletcher Jr., and other leftist writers and activists.
Rev. Dr. Dorsey Odell Blake, Faculty Associate, Leadership and Social Transformation, was officially installed as Presiding Minister of The Church for The Fellowship of All Peoples in October 1994. Dr. Blake served as Dean of Faculty and Visiting Professor of Spirituality and Prophetic Justice at Starr King School for the Ministry for six years. He continued to serve on the Core Faculty until his resignation in January 2015. He currently serves as a Faculty Associate, Leadership and Social Transformation at the Pacific School of Religion.
Dr. Karen Melander-Magoon discovered Unitarian Universalism in 2004. In her studies, writings, and songs, she draws on all spiritual traditions—the multi-layered Sufi stories, the Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist traditions, and the complexity of secular and spiritual values that allow us to reach out and connect with each other. Dr. Melander-Magoon holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Indiana University, sang major roles in opera for two decades in Europe, and has composed four one-woman musical portraits of historical figures, including Clara Barton, Georgia O’Keeffe, Lillie Langtry, and the French poet, Colette. She is listed in the European Publishers VIP Who is Who. Karen has a Master in Education and Counseling from Boston University, a Master of Divinity equivalency through the G.T.U., and her Doctor of Ministry from San Francisco Theological Seminary.
Sonya Nahid, from Oklahoma City, OK. Sonya has a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Oklahoma and has recently left medical school to pursue her passion for flying. Her father was the youngest helicopter instructor pilot for the Shah of Iran. He refused to salute the new revolutionary flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran and was then offered to be court marshaled or leave the country. He left and thus endured extensive hardship, as many immigrants do. She is inspired by her country’s brave people and continues fighting for them even though she is far away.
Our program will address current events in Iran and the international reaction to them. US-led forces are exploiting events in Iran to push for violent regime change. Unilateral and illegal economic sanctions imposed by the US are killing Iranians. These sanctions are responsible for much of the Iranian people’s suffering and anger. They have served as a background for the outburst of different protests and are intentionally aimed at destabilizing the Iranian society through instigating a “velvet revolution.” Iran is targeted by the imperialists because of its key role in an emerging multipolar world through strategic alliances with countries and movements such as Syria, Russia, China, and Venezuela, and Hezbollah.
Our speaker, Bahman Azad, an Iranian-American peace activist, is the president of theUS Peace Council, a representative of the World Peace Council at the UN, and on the Administrative Committee of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC). He has also served as co-chair of Venezuelan Embassy Protectors Defense Committee, coordinator of the Coalition Against US Foreign Military Bases and the Global Campaign Against US/NATO Military Bases, and co-coordinator of the Hands Off Syria Coalition. He has a master’s degree in economics and a Ph.D. in sociology and is the author of the book: Heroic Struggle, Bitter Defeat: Factors Contributing to the Dismantling of the Socialist State in the USSR.
ZOOM LINK
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Meeting ID: 811 3335 0622
Passcode: ICSS2717rs
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