Calendar
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
This will be the Court’s first serious return to the issue of abortion since overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. If successful, this case can impact healthcare access for millions of women across the US —INCLUDING IN STATES WHERE ABORTION IS LEGAL.
People with disabilities and people of color are disproportionally underserved with reproductive care. Speakers will address this as well as the legal and political problem of the Supreme Court having agreed to hear this case. The abortion pill mifepristone has been proven effective and FDA approved for almost 25 years. It is safer than either viagra or tylenol.
Join us for a rousing rally that will include speakers, open mic and music to get us revved up by the Raging Grannies with Brass Liberation Orchestra (together again!)
Sponsored by a coalition of organizations and spearheaded by National Mobilization for Reproductive Justice San Francisco Chapter.
If your group would like to table at and/or endorse this action please email us. There is power in numbers. Join us everyone!
Photo by: Leon Kunstenaar, ProBonoPhoto
Ryan Gainer was a 15-year-old child with autism who was senselessly murdered by San Bernardino Sheriffs after his family called 911.
Murdering a 15-year-old Black boy experiencing a crisis is enraging and another example why the carceral system must be dismantled. Black people with disabilities face compounded risks when interacting with police.
Black neurodivergent children who are having an episode deserve to live. Black children deserve to live. PERIOD. We shouldn’t have to say anymore names. No one should have to bury their child. Ryan Gainer should still be here.
Join the Anti Police-Terror Project, Disability Justice Culture Club, Disability Justice League Bay Area, and the Center for Independent Living this Sunday
Accessibility: The amphitheater is a wheelchair accessible space, we will have ASL available and will be livestreaming the event. Bathrooms are available at the public library across the street which will be open till 5:30pm. Mask up!
We will have a brief program of speakers who will connect the dots between our interconnected struggles, there will be space for young people and healers, and we will close with a short de-escalation training and seed planting.
Abolition is a disability justice issue. The solutions we need require centering the needs, ideas and testimonies of neurodivergent and/or disabled people. Abolition cannot wait. Justice for Ryan Gainer!
In service and solidarity,
APTP
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 partnership with the Wellstone Club: a viewing of Abortion and Women’s Rights 1970. This film serves as a powerful reminder of the conditionsand demands that inspired the movement for abortion rights fifty years ago, and speaks to the need for safe, legal abortion and the broader fight for reproductive justice today.
- Abortion and Women’s Rights 1970
- Directed by Catha Maslow, Jane Pincus, Mary Summers, and Karen Weinstein
- Sunday, March 24 at 7:00 PM
- On Zoom
- Introductions by Kate Harrison and Karen Weinstein
Karen Weinstein made this film with three other activists over 50 years ago and would have hoped that it would be irrelevant today. But it isn’t. They made this film when most of the legislators were male, and there were few women’s voices being heard. They wanted those voices to be heard.
ACLU NorCal is pleased to partner with Colmena Consulting to offer From Awareness to Action, a three-hour workshop designed especially for you, our donor community.
You’re aware of racial inequity. You know what inclusion is. You consider yourself anti-racist. But you’re wondering: Now what? What else can I actually do, day-to-day and over the long-term, to make a concrete change?
From Awareness to Action is an interactive, virtual workshop that takes you through a unique process to arrive upon tangible steps – designed for you by you – to make the most of everything you can give to this work.
Zoom (log-in details provided upon registration)
RSVP NOW
Colmena Consulting is a radical consulting cooperative of change-makers with systematically marginalized identities and social justice values, seeking to create change through new models of work.
Awareness to Action is a workshop they’ve fine-tuned, especially for ACLU NorCal supporters. It helps translate political beliefs into personal actions. The focus of this workshop is not ACLU NorCal’s racial justice program or work. It’s about you.
Accessibility is important to us. Live captioning will be provided, and we welcome other accommodation requests. Please use the RSVP form to share any accommodation requests or email us at events@aclunc.org.
Space in this workshop is limited and will likely fill up. To learn more and claim your spot, register today. RSVPs will be accepted until the workshop is full or 3/21.
Mark your calendars, we hope to see you there!
ACLU of Northern California
To prepare:
Reading: Elementary Concepts of Historical Materialism by Marta Harnecker, Chapter 5 “Base and Superstructure”, Chapter 6 “The ideological structure”, Chapter 7 “Juridico-Political Structure”, Intro, Chapter 4 “Economic Structure of Society”.
- Supplemental reading for context: The Philosophy of Marxism, the section titled “Materialism”.
This will be the second installment of the chapter’s new Socialist Fundamentals series, which was approved at our November 2023 chapter general meeting!The purpose of the Socialist Fundamentals series is to build a common language for socialists in our chapter – through the shared experience of reading and discussing the same texts as a group. The series is 11 self-contained parts and includes writing from famous socialists like Karl Marx and Ruth Wilson Gilmore, as well as less well-known but rigorous and important writers like Chilean Marxist Marta Harnecker, and East Bay DSA member Mike Parker.
The emphasis is on material that is either relevant for organizers in DSA today, presents or grapples with ideas that are historically significant for the socialist movement, or both.
Bioneers, “Revolution from the Heart of Nature,” will hold its 35th annual conference in Berkeley this year. Leaders, activists, and healers will give talks and lead discussions and workshops on a wide range of topics including: indigenous rights and wisdom, climate issues, digital rights and democracy, many approaches to personal healing, effective persuasion, reproductive justice, dealing with conflict, debtors’ rights, just transition, fossil fuels in the Amazon, the danger of rising fascism — and many more.
The conference will also include films, social gatherings, and more.
The introduction to this year’s conference says:
“We’re already in overtime. The driving question is whether we have sufficient time to make the transformational change necessary to begin to heal and regenerate people and planet.
“We need to connect and scale the constellation of brilliant social movements to reach critical mass and enact . . . breakthrough systemic solutions.”
Members of the Sunflower Alliance community can get a 20% discount using the code: Sunflower20
WHERE
UC Berkeley Zellerbach Hall and locations in downtown Berkeley
REGISTER EARLY FOR LOWER COST!
Rates go up February 21 and again March 13
Register here
Bioneers, “Revolution from the Heart of Nature,” will hold its 35th annual conference in Berkeley this year. Leaders, activists, and healers will give talks and lead discussions and workshops on a wide range of topics including: indigenous rights and wisdom, climate issues, digital rights and democracy, many approaches to personal healing, effective persuasion, reproductive justice, dealing with conflict, debtors’ rights, just transition, fossil fuels in the Amazon, the danger of rising fascism — and many more.
The conference will also include films, social gatherings, and more.
The introduction to this year’s conference says:
“We’re already in overtime. The driving question is whether we have sufficient time to make the transformational change necessary to begin to heal and regenerate people and planet.
“We need to connect and scale the constellation of brilliant social movements to reach critical mass and enact . . . breakthrough systemic solutions.”
Members of the Sunflower Alliance community can get a 20% discount using the code: Sunflower20
WHERE
UC Berkeley Zellerbach Hall and locations in downtown Berkeley
REGISTER EARLY FOR LOWER COST!
Rates go up February 21 and again March 13
Register here
Bioneers, “Revolution from the Heart of Nature,” will hold its 35th annual conference in Berkeley this year. Leaders, activists, and healers will give talks and lead discussions and workshops on a wide range of topics including: indigenous rights and wisdom, climate issues, digital rights and democracy, many approaches to personal healing, effective persuasion, reproductive justice, dealing with conflict, debtors’ rights, just transition, fossil fuels in the Amazon, the danger of rising fascism — and many more.
The conference will also include films, social gatherings, and more.
The introduction to this year’s conference says:
“We’re already in overtime. The driving question is whether we have sufficient time to make the transformational change necessary to begin to heal and regenerate people and planet.
“We need to connect and scale the constellation of brilliant social movements to reach critical mass and enact . . . breakthrough systemic solutions.”
Members of the Sunflower Alliance community can get a 20% discount using the code: Sunflower20
WHERE
UC Berkeley Zellerbach Hall and locations in downtown Berkeley
REGISTER EARLY FOR LOWER COST!
Rates go up February 21 and again March 13
Register here
On March 8, community members served a subpoena to Eric Swalwell for his support for the ongoing illegal genocide in Gaza. Two weeks later, Swalwell doubled down and voted to defund UNRWA, which provides vital aid to Palestinian refugees
ATTEND THE TRIAL: https://t.co/L2asDl7mDL pic.twitter.com/0mZu5uHpfx
— East Bay DSA 🌹 (@DSAEastBay) March 27, 2024
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
The Oakland Greens Free Dinner & a Movie Discussion Series is a hybrid community discussion event.
The Whale is a 2022 American drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Samuel D. Hunter, based on his 2012 play of the same name. The film stars Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, and Samantha Morton. The plot follows a reclusive English teacher with morbid obesity who tries to restore his relationship with his teenage daughter.
The Whale premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2022. It had a limited theatrical release in the US on December 9, before a wide release on December 21 by A24, grossing $54.9 million against a budget of $3 million. The film received a polarized response; though critics lauded the acting, particularly Fraser, Chau and Sink, the film’s portrayal of obesity-related struggles drew criticism. For his performance, Fraser won the Academy Award, Critics’ Choice Award and SAG Award for Best Actor, while the film also won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Chau was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Join the Oakland Greens for this free community event — dinner starts at 6:30 PM and movie promptly at 7 PM.
The Oakland Greens Free Dinner & a Movie Discussion Series is a hybrid community discussion event. Get in persxn & virtual tickets and information thru http://www.oaklandgreens.org/events These community engagement hybrid events are held the last Sunday of the month January thru October. All Oakland Greens events are held in community partnership with It’s Your Move Games & Hobbies 4920 Telegraph Ave., Suite B, Oakland, CA.
Please register before 6:00 pm today (Saturday) at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-dinner-a-movie-discussion-series-presented-by-oakland-greens-tickets-786786007127?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
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
I’m writing on behalf of the California Poor People’s Campaign and
Western States Legal Foundation to invite and encourage you to join this
year’s public participatory reading of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s
prophetic speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence [2].”
Please let me know if you plan to join us Tuesday, April 4, if you’d
like to read a section of the speech, and if your organization would
like to endorse the event by completing this form [4].
This year’s readings are again part of the Poor People’s Campaign
initiative to build support for the Third Reconstruction Agenda to Heal
the Nation: End Poverty and Low Wages From the Bottom Up [5].
An updated “tool kit” for the 2024 readings has been posted by PPC
National Mobilizing Partner, United for Peace & Justice, at Organize a
Public Reading of Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” Speech in your
Community – United For Peace and Justice [6]. In the tool kit, you’ll
find the text of the speech, divided into 16 sections, in English.
You’ll also find an updated introduction for 2024 that connects the
speech to the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war.
If you can’t make it in-person on April 4, there will be a statewide
online reading at 6:30 pm. Register here.
Background:
On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his tragic assassination, in
his prophetic speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence [2],”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. declared: “I am convinced that if we are
to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must
undergo a radical revolution of values…. we must rapidly begin the
shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When
machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are
considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism,
extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival [7] has
picked up Dr. King’s unfinished work weaving the interlocking
injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, environmental
devastation, militarism and the war economy and a distorted moral
narrative of Christian nationalism that blames poor people for their own
poverty, into one “moral fusion” campaign.
Please join us on April 4! Let me know if you have any questions or can
volunteer to help.
Links:
——
[1] http://www.wslfweb.org
[2] https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
[3] https://www.bart.gov/stations/12th
[4] https://forms.gle/mzub2CYautNwNPmi6
[5]
https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/join-us-as-we-build-the-third-reconstruction/
[6]
https://www.unitedforpeace.org/organize-a-public-reading-of-dr-kings-beyond-vietnam-speech-in-your-community/
[7] http://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org
[8]
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ba-ppc-sg/0dd5c271-c229-46fd-bda5-645e7cf0cf10%40earthlink.net?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer