Calendar
A diverse group of changemakers, knowledge-holders, and innovators, hosted by the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, will explore how we can “disrupt the corporation-enriching global extractive system that results in widespread injustice, poverty, hunger, climate change, and irreversible environmental destruction.”
Forty years ago, Bhopal, India, experienced the world’s worst-ever corporation-caused disaster, resulting in the deaths and disabling of hundreds of thousands of marginalized people over multiple generations. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, corporations have been exploiting, polluting, and appropriating land and people for over a century.
In this event, survivor-activists of the 1984 chemical disaster will join in solidarity and conversation with Bay Area environmental justice activists. Participants—including environmentalists, labor organizers, community/indigenous leaders, housing experts, artists, lawyers, activists, agroecologists, scientists, and other knowledge-holders from a diverse range of ethnicities and perspectives—will discuss how frontline/indigenous communities and activists are taking on what continues to be the greatest challenge of our time.
Seats are limited. Please reserve yours with QR code in the graphic or here.
Tickets: Sliding scale donation $5 and up.
RSVP
|
||
|
After Zionist interference got the last Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission cancelled earlier this month, the commission is again set to vote on a resolution calling for an End of Military Aid, an End to the Occupation, and Support for Palestinian Self-Determination on Monday, September 30th.
They need the community to show up and say, unequivocally, that Berkeley wants not only a permanent ceasefire, but an end to Israeli aggression in Occupied Palestine.
Within 24 hours of the resolution’s publication, three zionists were quickly appointed to the commission and one 15-year veteran of the commission was surreptitiously removed without warning. The conservative, pro-Israel members of the Berkeley community don’t want the topic of Palestine even DISCUSSED in public.
We need to show our elected officials that Berkeley says NO to mass death, NO to occupation, and NO settler colonialism!
Please come out and bring your comrades!
A decade ago. Berkeley made history as the first U.S. city to take on Big Soda and pass a sugary drinks tax, significantly benefiting our community’s health equity. Now, it’s crucial to protect this progress.
On October 1st at the Rialto Cinemas Elmwood, join community educators, teachers, faith leaders, and more to celebrate our historic victory, raise awareness about the tax extension on this year’s ballot, and get inspired by the screening of Between the Sun and the Sidewalk, a powerful documentary on one community’s fight against Big Soda.
Afterward, join us for a VIP reception at Vintage Berkeley. Enjoy sustainable wine, craft beer, non-alcoholic drinks, and a farm-fresh food buffet. Meet filmmaker Helen De Michiel and key Measure Z advocates. This is a great opportunity to network with local leaders passionate about health equity.
Community Reception & Fundraiser: Renew Berkeley’s Soda Tax-Yes on Z!
8pm to 9pm 8pm-10pm or 5pm to 7pm
2949 College Avenue, Berkeley
With your help, we can continue driving meaningful change in our community, delivering crucial resources and innovative solutions that empower individuals to make sustainable choices.
Members of the public can view the meeting live on KTOP or on the City’s website at
https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/ktop-tv-10.
Agenda Items of Import:
4. Surveillance Technology Ordinance – OPD – Hostage Throw Phone Proposed Use Policy and Impact
Statement
a. Review and take possible action
Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite.
For our August, 31st meeting we will be reading the first five chapters of
Solidarity is often invoked, but it is rarely analyzed and poorly understood. Here, two leading activists and thinkers survey the past, present, and future of the concept across borders of nation, identity, and class to ask: how can we build solidarity in an era of staggering inequality, polarization, violence, and ecological catastrophe? Offering a lively and lucid history of the idea—from Ancient Rome through the first European and American socialists and labor organizers, to twenty-first century social movements like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter—Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor trace the philosophical debates and political struggles that have shaped the modern world.
Looking forward, they argue that a clear understanding of how solidarity is built and sustained, and an awareness of how it has been suppressed, is essential to warding off the many crises of our present: right-wing backlash, irreversible climate damage, widespread alienation, loneliness, and despair. Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor insist that solidarity is both a principle and a practice, one that must be cultivated and institutionalized, so that care for the common good becomes the central aim of politics and social life.
Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included (in chronological order) Doughnut Economics, Limits, Banking on the People, Capital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, The Deficit Myth, Revenge Capitalism, the Edge of Chaos blog symposium , Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons, The Optimist’s Telescope, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, Exploring Degrowth, The Origin of Wealth, Mine!, The Dawn of Everything A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Beyond Money, Less is More, Cannibal Capitalism, Debt, the First 5000 Years , Poverty, By America, End Times, Jackson Rising Redux , The Feminist Subversion of the Economy, How Infrastructure Works, Inside the Systems that Shape our World, Wealth Supremacy, The Persuaders, and The Path to a Livable Future.
Join us to explore radical books, zines, and other literature! We seek to create an inclusive space to introduce new folks to anarchism, foster a productive dialogue between various political traditions as well as anarchists from different milieus, and create an opportunity to dissect our movements’ strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and tactics.
10-11:30 a.m.: KN95 or N95 masks are required indoors and out. After 11:30am: Continued mask wearing encouraged. Some free masks available onsite. Mask donations are encouraged
Iranian writer-director Mohammad Rasoulof won the FIPRESCI prize and a special jury award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for this gripping drama about the paranoia that slowly eats away at one Tehran family. Misagh Zareh stars as Iman, a seemingly honorable man recently promoted to investigating judge, which brings with it a hefty raise and a bigger apartment for him, his wife, and daughters. But he soon realizes he’s made a Faustian bargain—his new job requires him to sign the death warrants of protesters—which angers the women in his family. Meticulously building in tension until it becomes a harrowing thriller, the film is the latest act of defiance from Rasoulof (There Is No Evil), jailed several times by Iranian authorities for his politically outspoken films. (In fact, he fled the country to avoid imprisonment prior to _Sacred Fi_g’s premiere.) The filmmaker’s fury and sorrow suffuse his latest stunner, which brilliantly details how an oppressive regime obliterates the souls of its citizens. —Tim Grierson
In the heady days of the 1968 Prague Spring, a group of Czechoslovak Radio journalists risk not just their careers but their lives to distribute independent news amidst national and regional tumult in this thrilling historical drama. Central to the story are two orphaned brothers caught in the struggle for freedom. The elder, Tomáš (Vojtěch Vodochodský), is a radio technician working at the station that is committed to defying the Communist Party’s censorship, overwhelming propaganda, and police harassment. When security forces pressure him to spy for them, Tomáš finds himself in a bind where he has to choose between betraying his colleagues or protecting his teenage sibling. This Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Právo Audience Award winner depicts the heroism of ordinary Czechs against the Soviet puppet regime, intertwining personal stories with well-known historical events. Waves is a gripping ode to press freedom and a timely reminder of the dangers of censorship. —Wilfred Okiche
“Si Pudiera Quedarme / If I Could Stay” is a heart-wrenching and inspiring story of two undocumented Latinx mothers, Jeanette and Ingrid, who courageously enter local churches to evade deportation and protect their families. Over five years, they must face the constant threat of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids while fighting for their legal status and inspiring allies in the predominantly white faith communities. Through an intimate and raw lens, the film showcases the unwavering strength, love, and sacrifice of these mothers, who risk everything to keep their families together in the country they call home. “Si Pudiera Quedarme / If I Could Stay” is a call to action and a powerful reminder that providing Sanctuary is not just an act of charity, but a crucial act of social justice.
“jardines”
Set in a one of the few LGBTQ+ shelters in Tijuana, jardines is an intimate portrait of the life experiences and trajectories unique to displaced queer folks as they flee violence and persecution in their home countries. Crafted with a lush, poetic and joyous eye the film introduces us to people from allover the world as they contemplate the uncertainty of a future in the United States at a time when asylum legislation and LGBTQ+ rights are under legal duress. It is in this limbo, amid the shelter’s walls, that we share a moment in time
with its residents. Strangers become friends and family, as they begin to share deep moments of joy and grief, sorrow and hope.
This is a great chance to hear from local activists and advocates fighting for environmental justice at the frontlines, sharing powerful stories of struggle and change. And to hear their ideas about what you can do to support the movement for a clean and healthy environment for all.
Speakers:
Mari Rose Taruc, California Environmental Justice Alliance
Jessica Tovar, Local Clean Energy Alliance
Esperanza Vielma, Coalition of Environmental Equity and Economics
Allie Detrio, Reimagine Power
Hosted by Young Professionals in Energy (YPE) SF Bay Area, co-sponsored by Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Area Chapter and Northern Alameda County Group, and the United Nations East Bay Chapter.
Register here.
This event is open to everyone, and no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Fossil Free California has been leading a growing coalition building support to get California state pension funds — California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS) and California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) — to divest from fossil fuels.
Help them continue this invaluable leadership and show your appreciation by attending one of their 10th Anniversary parties.
Info/tickets here.
A political thriller, character drama, and a clarion call to action, this riveting documentary portraying resistance to Hungary’s authoritarian leader Viktor Orban is perfectly relevant to this political moment.
In the September 10 2024 presidential debate, Donald Trump said “Viktor Orban, one of the most respected men, they call him a strong man, he is a tough person, smart, Prime Minister of Hungary, said why is he world blowing up, three years ago it wasn’t, because you need Trump back as President.” Orban also enjoys a very close relationship to the Heritage Foundations, and his ideas are reflected in Project 2025.
Few politicians have proven as adept at undermining democracy as Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban. A hero to his country’s Christian conservative population as well as an acolyte to Donald Trump and the republican party, Orban fastens methodical steps to successfully chip away at Hungarian democratic institutions.
With unparalleled access, “Democracy Noir” follows three courageous activists – Timea, Babett, and Niko – as they reveal the layers of deception embedded within Orban’s government. Wielding expertise in law, journalism and healthcare, these women organize innovative ways to take on one of the West’s most powerful demagogues. But they face an increasingly well-financed and sophisticated opposition in Orban’s Fidesz party, who control the media.
“Democracy Noir” paints a damning portrait of how Orban, over the years, systematically destabilized the country’s democratic institutions for financial gain while enjoying widespread approval from Hungarian nationalists. The film reveals an urgent cautionary tale for all democracies through the story of Orban’s relentless work to build an autocratic white Christian state. But amidst this dark, new brand of authoritarianism, vital resistance remains. Through the testimony and actions of Timea, Babett and Niko, we not only witness the terror of a democracy in free fall, we see first-hand what it takes to try and claw precious freedoms back from the abyss. “Democracy Noir” serves as a warning and a ray of hope: it reveals the undemocratic nature of Orban’s regime and the courage of three women, representing many, who will not acquiesce.
Sunday Morning Marxist Forum
Speaker: Christopher Helali
To Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89531900427?pwd=mXg1rSZe3ONl4pfWlALW4ornc32Eez.1
Imperialism and the Split in 20th Century Socialism
Christopher’s talk will focus on the current situation in the international communist movement and the various emerging contradictions and issues. It will address ongoing issues within Solidnet, the various positions of communist parties on Russia’s ongoing Special Military Operation, and how communists should approach multipolarity.
Christopher Helali is the International Secretary of the American Communist Party (ACP) and North American chair of the DPRK International Solidarity Group. He is an educator, independent investigative journalist, researcher, and geopolitical analyst. Chris has studied at Cornell Law School, Dartmouth College, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and the University of San Diego.
Across the country, reporters, pundits, and others have referred to the current election as “The Most Important Election of Our Lifetime”. Yet here in northern Alameda County, an unprecedented election is already certain as numerous incumbents are vacating their seats, guaranteeing that newcomers will be taking office for US Congress, State Senate, County Supervisor, Berkeley Mayor, half of the Berkeley City Council and Oakland School Board seats up for election, 3 out of the 5 Oakland City Council seats on the ballot, Oakland City Attorney, and all 4 of the EBMUD and EBRPD seats we’ll be voting on in our county. Plus there will be unprecedented recall election votes on District Attorney Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, as well as a significant opportunity for Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein, who is polling at 29% among Muslim voters and leading the field in several key states — ahead of both Harris and Trump.
In addition to Jill Stein and the two recall elections, we’ll also be discussing the campaigns of Jovanka Beckles for State Senate, Kate Harrison for Berkeley Mayor, Jenny Guarino for Berkeley City Council, and more. Please join us this Sunday at 5:00 pm for “The Most Important Election of Our Lifetime”.
Elana Auerbach is an activist and writer who ran in a special election for Berkeley City Council earlier this year. She has served on the Berkeley Tenants Union steering committee and was also a member of Berkeley Copwatch for many years. She wrote a Reimagining Berkeley column for the “Berkeley Times” and organized for a Berkeley Ceasefire Resolution in Gaza, as well as with the Berkeley Unified School District Jewish parents for Collective Liberation.
Sean Dougherty was the March 2024 Green Party candidate for California’s 19 Congressional District (from southern Santa Clara county to San Luis Obispo county). He has worked as an engineer for consumer products like smartphones and laptops since the late 90’s and previously was an advisory group member for Santa Cruz for Bernie. He is now a co-chair of the Membership and Outreach Committee of the California Green Party.
Negeene Mosaed is Chair of the Berkeley Tenants Union, a member of Friends of Adeline, and in 2022 was a candidate for Berkeley’s Rent Board. She also is the owner of Berkeley Community Physical Therapy, the only clinic serving Medi-Cal and Medicare, and most types of insurance, and having the lowest cash pay rate in the greater Bay Area, as a commitment to serve and provide the highest quality of care to all community members. Negeene was involved in organizing for a ceasefire resolution in Palestine, at the Berkeley city Council, and was one of the lead organizers of that movement in Berkeley.
BK Woodson, Sr. is a Steering Committee member of the “Respect Our Vote” (No Recalls) coalition. He is a director of “Faith in Action, East Bay” and pastor of the Bay Area Christian Connection. October 13th, 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm Via Zoom: please see the access info below
Topic: Green Party of Alameda County
Description: Green Sunday presentation at 5 PM
(Followed by County Council business meeting at 7:00. All are welcome to attend)
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.
The resolution to fund and expand ShotSpotter will come before the full Oakland City Council Tuesday, October 15th at 3:30pm. That means there is still time to urge your city council member to vote against the resolution.
The Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission recommended to the Council that the Shotspotter contract not be renewed, because of lack of evidence that it is effective, noting that the monies could be used for things that are known to be effective in reducing crime. The Council, however, is leaning towards ignoring that recommendation, a recommendation made by the Commission the Council, well, commissioned, to make such technical evaluations.
ShotSpotter, produced by SoundThinking, is an acoustic gunshot detection system (AGDS). Its many sensors and microphones constitute a mass surveillance network that does more harm than good to residents of cities across the U.S., including Oakland.
Write to Council members before Tuesday and urge them to say NO to ShotSpotter.
Why ShotSpotter Does Not Belong in Oakland’s Communities
Other U.S. cities, including Chicago and New York, are questioning or outright discontinuing their contracts with SoundThinking because the technology does not live up to its claims of improved public safety or police effectiveness. Houston’s mayor plans to end the city’s contract with SoundThinking, calling their technology a “gimmick” that did not improve the city’s public safety. After a one-year pilot program, Durham, North Carolina’s city council voted against continuing their contract after an audit showed abysmal results. Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Committee (PAC) voted against funding ShotSpotter on April 4th, 2024.
The technology attempts to triangulate the location of gunshots and decrease officer response time to shooting incidents. The Oakland Police Department (OPD) touts ShotSpotter as a crime deterrent that reduces gun violence and keeps communities safer. A growing body of evidence indicates that ShotSpotter fails to achieve any of its supposed benefits.
OPD reports there were 8,318 unique gunshot incidents detected by ShotSpotter in 2023. Of these incidents, only four lead to an arrest. According to OPD’s incident reports, 73% of gun violations were for negligent discharge of a firearm, not a violent crime. OPD Captain Lewis has confirmed “many of the ShotSpotter firearm recoveries are from gun owners doing ‘target practice in their backyard.'” ShotSpotter artificially bloats OPD’s workload, diverting them away from actual community needs.
OPD’s average time to respond to the most serious 911 calls for help has increased. The same increase has occurred in Chicago, Cleveland, and St. Louis. This trend can be partly explained by the artificial workload ShotSpotter creates for officers. For example, in St. Louis, AGDS added 3,400 new calls per average year in addition to 2,800 citizen-initiated calls – a 67% increase in service calls. OPD categorizes ShotSpotter alerts as a Priority I call (immediate dispatch). Therefore, officers are being diverted from urgent and potentially life threatening emergencies to address ShotSpotter alerts that have a decent chance of being nothing more than a loud noise.
ShotSpotter often sends police officers to chase false positive alerts. The technology is notorious for reporting fireworks, automobile backfires, and construction noises as gunshots. False reportage is not only a waste of time. It leads directly to civil liberties abuses and false arrests, as was the case for 65-year old Michael Williams. In his case and others, court documents reveal that law enforcement frequently requests that ShotSpotter’s analysts modify alerts to support their narrative of events.
U.S. Senators have urged the Department of Homeland Security to investigate funding of ShotSpotter for civil rights violations and discriminatory policing. In Chicago, the 12 districts with ShotSpotter installations are those with the highest populations of Black and Latinx residents. In NYC, 70% of acoustic sensors were placed in precincts with majority Black or Latinx residents. The same racist pattern holds for Kansas City, MO; Cleveland, OH; Atlanta, GA; and Boston, MA.
In Oakland, ShotSpotter has been deployed in four geographic phases. The first two phases of deployment were in predominantly Black, Latinx, and Asian communities, which is easily observed by comparing OPD’s map of ShotSpotter deployment (see page 6) with a race, ethnicity, and diversity map of Oakland. A Stanford University study found that OPD officers display a stark racial disparity in who they search, detain, and arrest. Placement of ShotSpotter sensors consistently follows patterns of historical over-policing, and Oakland is no exception.
The money wasted on ShotSpotter would best serve Oakland residents if redirected toward other community needs. Please write to your city council members to tell them that ShotSpotter is a wasteful and dangerous surveillance technology.
EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kit Walsh will join us this month to discuss the potential risks of AI being used to automate discrimination. AI might seem like a helpful tool for processing applications, or informing people about opportunities, but the black box nature of these algorithms can result in systems with difficult to detect bias among protected classes. Kit will review EFF’s analysis of this problem and discuss our approach to policy remedies, before opening up to a discussion for EFA members.
RSVP: https://eff.org/EFA-AI-Discrimination
Notes: https://cryptpad.fr/pad/#/2/pad/edit/NsYN+fj3nIYarA23B-isSdwZ/
Take a deep dive into protecting your privacy while advocating for a better world. Meet our panel featuring EFF Security and Privacy Activist Thorin Klosowski, The Civil Liberties Defense Center Executive Director Lauren Regan, Greenpeace International Information Security Capacity Manager Gillo Cutrupi, and EFF Senior Staff Technologist Cooper Quintin. Learn what’s happening around the world, how you can fortify your devices, and be prepared for the next assembly.
Following the discussion, our panelists will be answering your questions. Participate in the live Q&A or reply to this message now with a question for the panelists.
We hope you and your friends can join us live! If you can’t make it, we’ll post the recording afterward on YouTube and the Internet Archive!
Exploring Regeneration in the Bay Area: A Day with Jem Bendell
Join us for an thought-provoking unconference on Saturday, October 19th, as we delve into the crucial topics surrounding relocalization and regeneration in the face of global challenges. We welcome the author of the Deep Adaptation paper and collaborator on the Breaking Together book, Jem Bendell, to kick off this transformative event.
Jem is in the Bay Area to co-lead a 4 day course Leading Through Collapse (a few places are still available).
Event Highlights:
- Welcome and Presenting (9:40 AM)
- Keynote Address by Jem Bendell (10:00 AM): From Acting Up to Digging Down: one path for change in an era of degeneration.
- Collaborative Agenda Creation (10:45 AM): Facilitated by Kaliya Young, a long-time friend of Jem’s, and internationally respected facilitator. We’ll use Open Space Technology to support those gathered to co-create the rest of the day’s agenda.
- Interactive Sessions (11:30-4:30): Engage in dynamic discussions on a range of topics you bring to discuss including:
- Local food systems and food security
- Ecovillages and sustainable community models
- Small-scale economies and alternative currencies
- Personal and community resilience strategies
- Ecological restoration and regenerative practices
- Closing (4:30-5:30): Reflection all together as a group about all the sessions.
- Networking Opportunities: Connect with like-minded individuals, activists, and professionals passionate about creating positive change in the Bay Area and beyond.
Why Attend?
This event offers a unique opportunity to:
- Learn from Jem Bendell’s extensive experience and insights on adapting to our changing world.
- Contribute your own knowledge and ideas in a collaborative, participant-driven format.
- Explore practical solutions for building resilient, regenerative communities in the Bay Area.
- Network with a diverse group of change-makers, from grassroots activists to sustainability professionals.
- Be part of a growing movement towards a more sustainable and equitable future.
Event Details:
- Date: Saturday, October 19th
- Time: 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM
- Location: Nile Hall, Preservation Park 13th St and MLK in Downtown Oakland, CA
- Lunch: Included in ticket price
- Doors Open at 9am
- Keynote by Jem at 10-10:45 am
- Agenda Co-Creation at 10:45-11:30 am
- Session 1 11:30 – 12:30
- Lunch 12:30 – 1:30
- Session 2 1:30 – 2:30
- Session 3 2:30 – 3:30
- Session 4 3:30 – 4:30
- Closing 4:30 – 5:30
Attendees have shared these potential topics for the unconference so far:
- More humans gardening equates to more humans connecting to their biology which includes honoring the entire life cycle, including death.
- Bioregional Belonging Programming
- Regenerative financial system & economics
- Solar punk
- systems change
- bright mirror
- Integral Bioregions
- “Bioregional governance and coordination in the Bay Delta, watershed by watershed” (baydelta.org) a conversation about
- operationalizing bioregionalism in our home.
- collective vision building and sensing, how can we sense and see our community and participants (dreams, their projects, etc),
- ‘energy democracy
- Once you become collapse aware, what are the channels available to adapt, to change your way of life to respond?
- advancing storytelling
- Technology- what can we do with it, systems of power/ how do we stop weapons industry, fungi and fermentation
- What are the challenges in the ways in which we collaborate with others in the field of permaculture?
- cooperatives networks identity
- Bioregionalism
- Coordination Tools
- Participatory Governance
Don’t miss this chance to be part of a transformative day of learning, sharing, and action. Together, we can explore new pathways for regeneration and resilience in our local communities and beyond. Secure your spot now and join us in shaping a more sustainable future for the Bay Area!
Jem Bendell is a prescient leader who 5 years ago posted the Deep Adaptation paper and catalyzed a community to offer mutual support and community for people in a range of professions. To deeply adapt he chose to move to Indonesia and be part of founding, Bekandze Farm School. He also worked with a group of collaborators to research Breaking Together published in 2023.
Presented in partnership by Bay Area Permaculture Guild, Global Regeneration CoLab, and Identity Works, LLC.
FYI: This event is NOTAFLOF (no one turned away for lack of funds), please reach out if you want to attend but are limited monetarily. OTOH if you are well off please register at a higher price to help others attend. All money raised is going to be going to pay for the venue, food, donations to the farm and if there’s anything leftover, it’ll be a stipend for the organizers.