Calendar
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
Ken Hammond is professor of East Asian and global history at New Mexico State Unive rsity. He holds a PhD in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University. He lived in Beijing from 1982-1987, and has taught and travelled in China many times over the ensuing years. From 2007 until 2017 he was co-director of the Confucius Institute at New Mexico State. He has written numerous books and articles on early modern Chinese intellectual and cultural history, and is most recently the author of China’s Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future.
The talk will explore China’s efforts to achieve the stated objective of building an “ecological civilization” as part of the global struggle with climate change and planetary warming. I will discuss China’s achievements in alternative energy development and carbon emissions and the country’s commitments to meaningful environmental goals. I will also consider the problems facing the leaders and the people of China as they pursue these goals, including the efforts of the U.S. government to slow or stall China’s economic development, the questions surrounding population trends, and the balancing of raising material living standards while striving to reduce fossil fuel use, especially coal.
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Join Zoom Meeting:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88083342274
Meeting ID: 880 8334 2274
+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/k39IUnw59
Ken Hammond is professor of East Asian and global history at New Mexico State University. He holds a PhD in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University. He lived in Beijing from 1982-1987, and has taught and travelled in China many times over the ensuing years. From 2007 until 2017 he was co-director of the Confucius Institute at New Mexico State. He has written numerous books and articles on early modern Chinese intellectual and cultural history, and is most recently the author of China’s Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future.
The talk will explore China’s efforts to achieve the stated objective of building an “ecological civilization” as part of the global struggle with climate change and planetary warming. I will discuss China’s achievements in alternative energy development and carbon emissions and the country’s commitments to meaningful environmental goals. I will also consider the problems facing the leaders and the people of China as they pursue these goals, including the efforts of the U.S. government to slow or stall China’s economic development, the questions surrounding population trends, and the balancing of raising material living standards while striving to reduce fossil fuel use, especially coal
Green Sundays are a series of free public programs & discussions on topics “du jour” sponsored by the Green Party of Alameda County and held on the 2nd Sunday of each month. The monthly business meeting of the County Council of the Green Party follows at 7:00 pm, after a 30-minute break. Council meetings are open to anyone who is interested.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88083342274
Meeting ID: 880 8334 2274
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OTU’s Mission
The Oakland Tenants Union is an organization of housing activists dedicated to protecting tenant rights and interests. OTU does this by working directly with tenants in their struggle with landlords, impacting legislation and public policy about housing, community education, and working with other organizations committed to furthering renters’ rights. The Oakland Tenants Union is open to anyone who shares our core values and who believes that tenants themselves have the primary responsibility to work on their own behalf.
Monthly Meetings
The Oakland Tenants Union meets regularly at 7:00 pm on the second Monday evening of each month. Our monthly meetings are held in the Community Room of the Madison Park Apartments, 100 – 9th Street (at Oak Street, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station). To enter, gently knock on the window of the room to the right of the main entrance to the building. At the meetings, first we focus on general issues affecting renters city-wide and then second we offer advice to renters regarding their individual concerns.
If you have an issue, a question, or need advice about a tenant/landlord issue, please call us at (510) 704-5276. Leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will get back to you.
STUDENT & COMMUNITY PANEL
Presented by: Hong Seng Campaign, Grad Students for Justice in
Palestine, People’s Park Berkeley, & Blackstone Divestment Campaign
Where is our tuition money going?
Learn about the UC’s unethical investments
and what WE can do about it.
Please email contact@oaklandprivacy.org a few days before the meeting to get up-to-date location information or obtain Zoom meeting access info.
(THE JANUARY 17TH MEETING, 2024 WAS MOVED TO JANUARY 24TH)
Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, police militarization and ICE, and to advocate for privacy, surveillance regulation of both corporations and the state, and government transparency, 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 in 2018 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 street surveillance, and fighting to ensure local governments adhere to State privacy and transparency regulations.
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, and/or on Mastodon at https://mastodon.social/@oaklandprivacy
Join our march against UC Berkeley’s proposed development of People’s Park, a cornerstone of Berkeley’s countercultural legacy and values. This protest unifies us in our plea against the commercialization of our park and demands that UC Berkeley consider alternate locations for development, such as the vacant chancellor’s mansion. People’s Park stands as a beacon of community empowerment, environmental stewardship, and social justice.
Event Title: March for People’s Park: A Stand for Green Space and Justice on Regent St.
Date & Time: March 15, 2024, from 5 PM to 8 PM
Location: The march begins at Willard Park and progresses along Telegraph Avenue to Sproul Plaza, ending at the People’s Park Mural/Chess Club at Haste and Telegraph.
The march is a declaration against the militarization of our shared spaces, supporting peace and the rematriation of Ohlone land. We denounce UC’s financial motives and call for investments that truly enrich our community. We urge the Regents to acknowledge the cultural and environmental importance of the park, returning it to the community that maintains it.
Route Map:
Beginning at Willard Park, the march continues down Telegraph Avenue, incorporates a rally at Sproul Plaza, and culminates at People’s Park (Haste/Telegraph).
Key Activities:
- 5 PM: Gathering at Willard Park
- 5:15 PM: March starts, led by prominent community figures
- 5:45 PM: Rally at Sproul Plaza featuring speakers and artists
- 6:30 PM: Cultural engagement at People’s Park
Safety Measures:
Ensuring safety is paramount. Community medics, volunteers, and traffic coordinators will be present. Masks and hand sanitizers will be distributed, and social distancing is encouraged.
Support and Contributions:
Participate as a volunteer, spread our message, or join the march. For remote supporters, a live stream will be available. Use our hashtags to engage online. Financial contributions should go to the Long Haul Info shop and the People’s Park Council.
Contact Information:
Stand with us on March 15 to express our resolute desire to protect People’s Park. Our unity can ensure this vital green area remains a symbol of communal strength and ecological preservation.
The University of California, Berkeley is admired worldwide as a bastion of innovatiion and a hub for progressive thought. Far less known are the university’s roots in plunder, warfare, and the promotion of white supremacy. As Tony Platt shows in his latest book, The Scandal of Cal, these original sins sit at the center of UC Berkeley’s history.
Tony Platt is the author of thirteen books dealing with issues of inequality, power, and justice in American history. Platt, a longtime activist, is currently a Distinguished Affiliated Scholar at Cal Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Law & Society.
LOGIN INFORMATION
Our Zoom room will be opened up as usual at 10:15 am for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc.. The program (and recording) will begin at 10:30 am and will end at 12:30pm.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89531900427?pwd=mXg1rSZe3ONl4pfWlALW4ornc32Eez.1
NOTE: Our programs are all recorded and a link will be placed on our website soon after they are finished.
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
Join the Zoom
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8759275991
Have you ever wondered how socialists should engage with elections? With the threat of Trump back in office in 2024 and a Democratic Party insistent on sacrificing Palestinian lives even if it means losing the presidency, the question has never been more urgent.
This Night School is a 101- and 201-level dive into the way socialists approach running for office and governing, which we call class-struggle elections. It’s geared toward new members and old heads alike. Bring a coworker, a mentee, or a friend! We’ll be joined by NYC DSA’s Zohran Mamdani from the New York State Assembly, plus EBDSA-endorsed Oakland School Board member Valarie Bachelor, who will talk about how they use their offices to build movements.
We encourage everyone to do the readings, but everyone is welcome regardless of whether they’ve done the readings.
Readings:
Class-Struggle Politicians Are Organizers First, Legislators Second, by Jack McShane, 2019 – https://socialistcall.com/2019/08/01/class-struggle-politicians-dsa-elections/
How a Grassroots Movement is Building Political Power: Notes From Richmond, California, by Mike Parker, 2020 – https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/11/26/how-a-grassroots-movement-is-building-political-power-notes-from-richmond-california/
Mike Parker on Political Action, 2021 – https://socialistcall.com/2022/01/20/mike-parker-electoral-strategy/
Palestine, labour activism and the US presidential elections, by Neal Meyer, 2024 – https://links.org.au/palestine-labour-activism-and-us-presidential-elections-interview-neal-meyer-bread-roses-dsa
Here’s an opportunity to join climate activists converging on the state legislature to promote bills to tackle the climate crisis.
Following the California Climate Policy Summit March 19, Environment California will lead a day when people can meet directly with legislators and their staff to show them that climate is a top priority for voters in the state and push them to do everything they can to get climate bills passed.
After a brief “Lobbying 101” training, the group will walk from the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel over to the state capitol to begin meetings with legislators and their staff. Lunch will be provided at noon.
Our monthly general meeting is coming up
We’re excited to be kicking off the return to in-person general meetings this month with our first hybrid general meeting!
Our monthly meetings are opportunities for our broader community to be briefed on our work, learn more about how to support the work of APTP committees and participate in calls to action! This and next month we’ll be opening up The People’s House, prioritizing our West Oakland neighbors, and we look forward to inviting folks more broadly from there.
We will end the meeting with committee breakouts to offer you more pathways to plug in and get involved during this critical time. Register to join us for our monthly general meeting in person or on Zoom.
When: Wednesday, March 20 at 7pm *arrive in person at 6:30pm for covid testing*
Where: Hybrid � online on Zoom or in person at The People’s House
Accessibility: Neighbors joining in person will have light refreshments and childcare provided. Masks and covid tests will be required and also provided. The meeting space and bathroom are wheelchair accessible. ASL and CC will be offered. Please let us know if you have any other access needs when you register.
During committee breakouts you will have the opportunity to engage with other meeting participants and meet some of our committee leads as well. Committee leads will give you a rundown of what their committee does and invite you to join on an ongoing basis.
Please note: some committee breakouts will be in person only, others will be virtual only. Let us know if you plan to join in person or on zoom.
Also, we are excited to invite community in Oakland to join our next New Volunteer Orientation!
If you have been looking for ways to get more involved with APTP beyond just showing up to our events and general meetings, our virtual volunteer orientation is the perfect opportunity for you.
What: New Volunteer Orientation
When: Thursday, March 28 at 6pm
Where: Online � Register to join us
The mission of APTP is to eradicate state terror in communities of color. We do this work through organizing, policy, family support and developing small replicable models of community response to community crisis. We thank you for your interest in volunteering with us and look forward to you joining one of our committees after completing our APTP New Volunteer Orientation!
Join us for a lively and informative discussion at the ROE V WADE: PROTECTING ABORTION RIGHTS PANEL event.
Our panelists, Liberty Crochet Mural Artists, TEACH (Training in Early Abortion for Comprehensive Healthcare) and other activists/practitioners will delve into the history, current status, and future of abortion rights in the US. Get ready to hear diverse perspectives and engage in thought-provoking conversations.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn and connect with others who are passionate about this important issue.
PANELISTS:
Flor Hunt (TEACH)
Kathryn Vercillo (Liberty Crochet Mural)
Ujjayini Sikha (WOMEN RISING Artist)
Tisha Kenny (Artist, activist and health care practitioner)
Dr. Cynthia Farner (OB/GYN)
More info: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/roe-v-wade-protecting-abortion-rights-panel-tickets-859205295167
THIS FRIDAY – PACK THE COURT! 🖤🔥
Please join us this Friday, March 22 at 2pm to show solidarity in the fight for #Justice4StevenTaylor ! We will be in Department 8, at 1225 Fallon St.
(1/2) pic.twitter.com/ZRzt04XizG
— Anti Police-Terror Project (@APTPaction) March 21, 2024
This Friday, March 22nd from 3-7pm we are excited to do a soft launch of The People’s Clinic!
The People’s Clinic is an abolitionist wellness and recovery center for people impacted by state/police violence and frontline organizers taking action against genocide.
(1/3) pic.twitter.com/aN3uXvzkrf
— Anti Police-Terror Project (@APTPaction) March 21, 2024
Start this weekend off with a distinguished and lively group of activists for disability rights. This is the fifth in a series of special gatherings co-hosted by the One Payer States group.
The event will focus on what the disability community needs from a single-payer system and how single-payer health care can benefit an important part of our population,
Register here for the Zoom link.
The summit features:
- Keynote speaker Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI-6), co-chair of both the Medicare for All and Bipartisan Disabilities caucuses in Congress
- Facilitator Patricia Chadwick, co-founder of the Disability Social History Project
- Special guests including disability, medical, indigenous, and youth activists
Health Care for All – California
Speaker: Basudev Nag Chowdhury, People’s Brigade, India
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89531900427?pwd=mXg1rSZe3ONl4pfWlALW4ornc32Eez.1
Neoliberalism began in the last quarter of the 20th century, when the accumulated capital in the G-7 was allowed to penetrate much of the world that had closed its doors to foreign capital: Eastern Europe, Russia, China, Vietnam. India, Africa and Latin America. These are the countries which together today have the vast majority of the global low wage working class in numbers. Yet, only after a decade and a half, the economic crisis returned in 2008. It was then postponed by a huge expansion of credit. But as is evident by new wars and tensions rising between major powers of the world, the economic crisis of capitalism has not been overcome. Yet, there is no mass movement of workers as yet on the horizon against capitalism even when a majority of the world’s workers today are unable to make ends meet.
The presentation will briefly explain the definition of Neoliberalism as the current capitalist era of ‘Temporal mode of production’ (speculative futures trading of stocks); against conventional economists, Marxists, who describe Neoliberalism as a set of policies. The presentation will then focus on explaining the significant change in class-correlation (capitalists vs. petit bourgeoisie, better paid workers and proletarians) on the basis of Marx’s fundamental theory and the origin of the cyclic crises of this new-age capitalism. We will compare our analyses against two major recent theoretical contributions: one by Utsa Patnaik and Prabhat Patnaik, and the other by Yanis Varoufakis. We will further explain the origin of right-wing opportunism pervaded through the majority of the existing Communist Parties. Finally, we will briefly discuss the nature of new-age fascism and the tactics that should be adopted by the Left forces.
Our speaker, Basudev Nag Chowdhury, is a young activist, organizer and agitator and an organic intellectual. He is a physicist by education. He is a leader in a new Marxist-Leninist Communist Party based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, called ‘The Workers’ Brigade’, which he among others helped form in the past few years, after the CPI-Marxist was routed from West Bengal by Trinamool Congress, a bourgeois political party, led by a fiery orator, Mamta Banerjee. The Workers’ Brigade has organized the Bidi workers in West Bengal state in tobacco and in other industries. (NOTE: Bidi is a rolled tobacco leaf, smoked by very low wage majority women workers � i.e. proletarians)
Basudev Nag Chowdhury is writing a new book, still in progress, titled: ‘Neoliberalism, the stage of Irresolvable Contradictions of Capitalism’. He lives and works in Kolkata, India.
Ready to advance climate and health justice in Berkeley? A grassroots community and worker coalition is organizing to get two exciting ballot measures on the Berkeley ballot in 2024!
Join us for a signature gathering launch and training. We will meet in the middle of the Park across from the flag poll. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided! If you can’t make it this weekend, stay tuned for a subsequent kick-off announcement for next weekend.
RSVP Here
Berkeley Large Buildings Fossil Fuel Emissions Tax
Healthy City Buildings Ordinance
Learn More
Please let us know if you are part of an organization that would like to endorse these measures, and whether you wish to donate to the signature gathering effort. We intend to rely mostly on volunteer signature gathering, but may also need some paid signature gatherers to qualify by the May 9 deadline.
Sincerely,
Healthy Buildings Berkeley Coalition