Calendar

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Jan
30
Thu
Sneak Preview: ‘We Cried Power’ documentary @ SEIU Local 1000
Jan 30 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

About the film: “The documentary We Cried Power is an intimate account of a “season of resistance,” told through his eyes and the mothers, veterans, preachers, and students who are the voices and founding members of this new “fusion” movement. The film bears witness to the profound process by which those without power decide not to accept their powerlessness. Instead, they claim – through protest, dance, song, and poems, through testimony and tears – their birthright: to live decent lives in the United States of America.”

Dara Kell, dir. (USA, 45 mins.)
A link to the trailer: https://vimeo.com/383590763/b39d6b011f

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Why the rich are different to you and me: they pay fewer taxes. @ David Brower Center
Jan 30 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination with a key policy plank: a new federal wealth tax. The details of the two plans differ, but they share an intellectual heritage: both campaigns consulted with and based their plans largely on the work of two UC Berkeley economics professors, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.

At our next Uncharted Evening Ideas Fest on Jan. 30, we have Saez (left) in conversation with Tasneem Raja, Editor-in-Chief of our new Oakland newsroom, on “Why the rich are different to you and me: they pay fewer taxes.” It’s a chance for you to hear directly from Saez on the history of rising inequality in the United States, why a wealth tax will make a difference, and his answers to the criticisms the idea has received from centrist and right-wing economists.

On the same evening, I’ll be in conversation with Allison Arieff, editorial director at SPUR, on “Why cars continue to make our cities hellscapes.” Think that problem will be solved by self-driving vehicles? Arieff will make you think again.

Oh, and don’t miss enjoying a glass of wine with everyone before we kick off the program. We’ll have some convivial time from 6 p.m. in the gallery space at the Brower Center before we dive into the evening conversations.

Get tickets for Jan. 30
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Radical Reading Group @ Omni Commons
Jan 30 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm

An informal discussion of Nick Estes’ book Our History is the Future about the history of indigenous resistance to capitalism and colonialism leading up to and including the Standing Rock #NoDAPL movement. This will be an ongoing reading series.

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Feb
1
Sat
The Haitian Revolution @ The Starry Plough
Feb 1 @ 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm

The Haitian Revolution of 1804.
The imp-act of the Haitian revolution was immeasurable – to the slave system, anti-imperial struggles, France and the US. To other slave societies it became an example of what could be accomplished and a source of hope.

Speakers will be Pierre Labossiere and Gerald Smith.

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Climate Disruption, Migration, and the Rise of Walls @ South Berkeley Senior Center
Feb 1 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Climate disruption is driving tens of millions of people from their homes every year. In response to this massive forced migration, governments all over the world have intensified their construction and expansion of border walls along with their criminalization of immigrants. And the U.S. only leads the charge in these dehumanizing policies.

Join us to discuss these important issues with Todd Miller, journalist and author of Empire of Borders: The Expansion of the US Border Around the World (2019) and Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration, and Homeland Security (2017).

Hosted by Revolutionary Workers Group and Sunflower Alliance.

Info/RSVP

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Feb
2
Sun
Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library: Talk and Discussion Series @ Niebyl Proctor Library
Feb 2 @ 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Sun, Jan 19, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Group Reading: Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. 
In honor of Dr. King’s birthday, we will discuss what many believe is the greatest speech by America’s greatest spiritual leader, a speech that cost him his life. It is not widely recognized that Dr. King was an open socialist who stated that: “There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.” Reading the speech will take about an hour, leaving time for open discussion.

 

Sun, Jan 26, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
India:  Modi in his Second Term takes a Hard Right Turn
Modi’s BJP won 303 seats in the Parliament of 545 seats in the 2019 General Elections, after completing his first term of 5 years, in which BJP did not have majority, so it was more dependent on its allied regional parties. Modi has undertaken bold move within the first year of his Second term: Removal of Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted Jammu & Kashmir state substantial autonomy; Outlawing of the Triple Talaq practice (thrice repeated word divorce by which men could divorce their wives) among Muslims; Threatened to carry out National Registration of Citizens (NRC); and enactment of Citizens Amendment Act (CAA), which permits granting of citizenship to refugees of Hindu, Christian & Sikh faiths from three countries, but not Muslims: Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Each of these moves go against the spirit of the staunchly secular Indian Constitution. Students and Muslims, joined by secular persons of Hindu, Christian and Sikh faiths, have begun strong opposition to these moves of the government, and now the Left Parties are organizing workers to oppose government’s Neo-Liberal policies. The latest incident of goons attacking and injuring Left Students and Faculty members at the prestigious Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU) has added to the tension in society already tense. What is in store for India the years ahead with Modi at the helm? Raj Sahai who closely monitors the political and economic affairs in India will present his views. Q/A will follow his 50 minute talk.

Sun, Feb 2, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
The Haitian Revolution of 1804.
The imp-act of the Haitian revolution was immeasurable – to the slave system, anti-imperial struggles, France and the US. To other slave societies it became an example of what could be accomplished and a source of hope.

Speakers will be Pierre Labossiere and Gerald Smith.

Sun, Feb 9, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Revolt of the Dispossessed against Neoliberalism in Latin America and the Caribbean
With the Trump administration’s renewed emphasis on imposing the Monroe Doctrine to the Empire’s so-called “backyard,” the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean resist in a revolt of the dispossessed against neoliberalism. In this year in review, hear about the struggles in Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Bolivia, Haiti, and elsewhere along with the solidarity actions by North Americans in support of the social justice movements. The presenters are activists with the 34-year old human rights organization, Task Force on the Americas (https://taskforceamericas.org/).  The presenters are Alice Loaiza, Alicia Jrapko, David Paul, Marilyn Langlois, Bill Hackwell, Roger Harris.

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How We Win Workshop @ Fellowship Hall
Feb 2 @ 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm

How We Win
Workshop Facilitated by George Lakey and Kazu Haga

“It’s a good time to take a fresh look at what has worked in times of trouble, and share what we have learned about successful campaigning that gives hope for the future.” George Lakey.

George Lakey, a campaigner and activist-sociologist, has led workshops on five continents. His first arrest was in the civil rights ovement, and most recetly in March 2018. His tenth book is How We Win.

Kazu Haga is the founder and coordinator of East Point Peace Academy, a core member of the Ahimsa Collective, ad is a trainer in Kingian Nonviolence, a philosophy developed out of teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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How We Win: Workshop by George Lakey & Kazu Haga @ BFUU
Feb 2 @ 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm

It’s a good time to take a fresh look at what has worked in times of trouble, and share what we have learned about successful campaigning that gives hope for the future.” – George Lakey.

These times call for new and creative tactics in order to make changes to the status quo.

Explore: What makes nonviolent direct action campaigns relevant now? What about polarization? How do we build stronger campaigns? Can campaigns build a movement of movements that can deliver really big changes?

Expect: experiential activities, small group work, a big picture, affirmation of your own power.

Activist, sociologist and author George Lakey has been on the forefront of social change for five decades, leading social change workshops on five continents and heading projects on local, national and international levels. His latest book, How We Win, details how we can achieve needed social change.

Kazu Haga is the founder of the East Point Peace Academy, as well as a core member of the Ahimsa Collective and a trainer in Kingian Nonviolence, a philosophy developed out of teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His book, Healing Resistance, will be released January 14th.

Sponsored by the Social Justice Committee of BFUU, and the Social and Environmental Action Committee of the Berkeley Society of Friends.

Register at eastpointpeace.org/howwewin or call.

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Feb
4
Tue
Transit Equity Day Rallies @ Macarthur BART
Feb 4 @ 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Join the 350 East Bay Transportation Campaign, East Bay Democratic Socialists of America Climate and Environmental Justice Caucus,  Labor Rise for Climate, Sunflower Alliance and more to rally on national Transit Equity Day.

Public transit is a civil right!

Public transit combats climate change!

Support AC Transit drivers and their union as they fight for a better contract!

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Renewable and Resilient: Community Microgrids @ Community Center
Feb 4 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Learn about how community microgrids can increase renewable energy and make our communities more resilient for dealing with power shutoffs like those that stranded many Bay Area communities last fall.

Climate change and the increased danger of fire make it necessary for us to build our own local electric grids, powered by renewable energy, not subject to whatever happens to long-distance power lines.

Hear a panel describe the importance of distributed energy, how it works,  and current microgrid projects in California and Marin.

SPEAKERS;

Peter Asmus, Guidehouse
Ellie Cohen, The Climate Center

(doors open at 6 with light refreshments)

Environmental Forum of Marin members $10
Benefactors, lifetime members, and MC46 students free

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WE KEEP US SAFE: OFFICIAL BOOK LAUNCH @ Restore Oakland
Feb 4 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Come hear from Zach and learn about how we can come together to build secure, just, and inclusive communities. Books will be available for sale and the author will be signing copies.

Building Secure, Just, and Inclusive Communities

Despite the United States’ long-standing tradition of aggressive policing and imprisonment, we still don’t feel safe. It’s clear that our current approaches to justice aren’t working. They blame our problems on a subset of scapegoats and marginalized Others we’ve been indoctrinated to perceive as criminals, decreasing our societal capacity to hold powerful institutions and individuals accountable. Community leader and lawyer Zach Norris lays out a radical way to shift the conversation about public safety away from fear and punishment toward growth and support systems for our families and communities.

 

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Socialist Night School: Bernie 2020 and Class Struggle @ East Bay Community Space
Feb 4 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

“Not me, us” is the slogan of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential run. On the campaign trail, Bernie has consistently emphasized that he alone can’t transform society — that in order to end the stranglehold of the billionaire class over society, millions of working-class Americans must get involved in the political process.

Why does Bernie insist on the need for a mass movement to change society? What is Bernie’s campaign doing to build that movement? What would a working-class movement need to be like in order to enact fundamental change, and what should socialists do to grow that movement? What should we do if and when Bernie wins — or loses?

Join East Bay DSA’s Socialist Night School on Tuesday, February 4 to discuss these questions and others, in the third of a special four-part series on Bernie Sanders, capitalism, and democratic socialism.

See the assigned readings here.

 

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A Place Outside the Law: Forgotten Voices From Guantanamo @ Hillside Club
Feb 4 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

PETER JAN HONIGSBERG with Steve Wasserman

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Advance tickets: $12: brownpapertickets.com ::T: 800-838-3006  or Pegasus Books (3 sites), Books Inc (Berkeley), Moe’s, Walden Pond Bookstore, East Bay Books, Mrs.Dalloway’s Books $15 door, benefits KPFA Radio 94.1FM  info: kpfa.org/events  

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You’re doing God’s work with this book…”  —Robert Scheer

“Honigsberg combines his impressive research with his persistent advocacy for detainees who clearly played no role in the 9/11 attacks and who almost certainly never posed any threat to American citizens. . . . A well-documented, hard-hitting, necessary exposé.”    —Kirkus Reviews 

“What sets Honigsberg’s portrait apart is his focus on the lasting effects of isolation and controversial legal process on all involved. The author concludes that the United States broke the rule of law, and is the worse for it. VERDICT A sobering book for audiences interested in law and current affairs.    —Library Journal

On January 11th, 2002, the first planeload of twenty detainees from Afghanistan arrived at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Eventually 780 Muslim men were held at Guantanamo, many for ten years or longer, and nearly all were never charged with a crime—a violation of America’s foundational belief in due process and the rule of law. Forty men are still imprisoned at Guantanamo today; twenty-six of them are considered “forever prisoners” who will likely die at Guantanamo, having never been charged, tried, or convicted of any wrongdoing.

Now, in A Place Outside the Law, Peter Jan Honigsberg, a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law and the founder and director of the Witness to Guantanamo Project, offers the most comprehensive picture to date of the lives that were deeply and often traumatically transformed by Guantanamo.  From how alleged terrorists were captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan and sold to the US to the Bush administration’s use of the term “enemy combatant” to bypass the Geneva Conventions, Honigsberg details how the law was broken in the name of protecting Americans—and how that lawlessness was experienced by everyone who came into contact with Guantanamo.

The stories in the book—and the full-length filmed interviews held in perpetuity at the Duke University Human Rights Archive—are the only record of many of the people who were at Guantanamo. “Their witness,” cautions Honigsberg, “will remind future generations not to repeat what has happened there.”

Peter Jan Honigsberg is a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law and the founder and director of Witness to Guantánamo. His research and teaching focus on the rule of law and human rights violations that occurred in the detention center in Guantánamo, as well as on the study of terrorism and post-9/11 issues. His books include Our Nation Unhinged: The Human Consequences of the War on Terror and Crossing Border Street: A Civil Rights Memoir. Honigsberg lives in Berkeley, California.

 

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Feb
5
Wed
Building a Movement to Stop the War @ Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC)
Feb 5 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm


Join the Center for Political Education for an emergency teach-in.

As the Trump regime unveils its shameful “Middle East Peace Plan”, tensions with the people of Iran remain high, millions are in the streets of Iraq demanding immediate US withdrawal, and the situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate. Globally, US militarism continues to destabilize life from Bolivia, to Venezuela, to Haiti, Sudan and the Philippines. Across the planet and here in the Bay Area, movements are taking up the vital task of building unity against these threats to life, along with building a vision for a society built on peace, solidarity, and democracy.

Learn about:
-The global context for the current escalation with Iran
-Key insights from anti-war organizing 2001-2008
-How US intervention and militarism affects movements for social justice
-What you can do to take action against US war-making

Featured speakers include**:
Yousef Baker (Iraqi Transnational Collective)
Clare Bayard (Catalyst Project)
Lara Kiswani (Arab Resource and Organizing Center)
Chris Lymbertos (Arab Resource and Organizing Center)
Rhonda Ramiro (BAYAN USA)

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Justice Jam @ Lakeshore Ave. Baptist Church
Feb 5 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

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Multifaith Response to Climate Crisis @ St. Johns Presbyterian Church
Feb 5 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

 Rev.Ambrose Carroll (Green the Church), Starhawk (Earth Activist Training), and Rabbi Arthur Waskow (The Shalom Center) will lead an evening of song, ceremony, preaching, prayer, and community at the intersection of climate activism and spirituality.

Funds raised from this event help support the work of Green the ChurchEarth Activist Training, and The Shalom Center. Co-sponsors include St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Church By the Side of the Road, Aquarian Minyan, and Keneset HaLev. Co-produced by Derech HaAreretz – Way of the Earth and JeWitch Collective.
Please help spread the word on facebook

Wheelchair accessible
Fragrance-free including laundry, hair, and body products. For more about what that means please go to: www.jewitch.org/accessibility.

More info here

To find out about the entire week of Bay Area events with Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Starhawk and Friends, go to www.derechhaaretz.org/events

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Feb
6
Thu
Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission @ Oakland City Hall
Feb 6 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Agenda items:

4. Census Team – Presentation on 2020 Census – Informational report only Richard J. Luna, Assistant to the City Administrator, will give a presentation regarding the 2020 Census. The 2020 Census will be conducted primarily online and made available in only 13 languages, which makes it a challenge in ensuring a complete count for Oakland. According to the State of California, 57% of Oakland’s population lives in hard-to-count Census tracts. Factors that lead to hard-to-count areas in Oakland include: crowded units, renters, multiple families living at a residence, people living below the poverty level, among others. The City of Oakland and County of Alameda have partnered in outreach efforts to ensure everyone is counted during the 2020 Census. Commissioners are encouraged to make a pledge to take the Census, register as a Census Ambassador, and to discuss the importance of the Census with family and friends.

5. Chair report – Informational report only
a. PAC Annual Report
b. 2020 Planning and Agenda Management
c. OPD Tech Priority List
d. Goldman School of Public Policy – Citizen Data Project

6. Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OPD – Cell Site Simulator Annual Report (2019) – review and take possible action

7. Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OPD UAS (Drone) Exigent Use Report – review and take possible action.

8. Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OPD – UAS (Drone) Impact Report and proposed Use Policy – review and take possible action

9. Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OPD – Mobile ID Impact Report and proposed Use Policy – review and take possible action

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“Kids Caught in the Crackdown,” a documentary @ Revolution Books
Feb 6 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
As the detention of migrant children has climbed to record-breaking levels under Trump, FRONTLINE and The Associated Press investigated what’s going on inside federally-funded shelters – and the lasting impact on children held in U.S. custody. The nearly 70,000 migrant children who were held in government custody this year – up 42 percent in fiscal year 2019 from 2018 – spent more time in shelters and away from their families than in prior years.

Andrés Cediel is a documentary filmmaker and Professor of Visual Journalism. He produced “Rape in the Fields” and was a writer and producer of “Rape on the Night Shift” which brought to light rampant sexual assault of immigrant women in the agricultural and janitorial industries.

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Homeless First & 24 Hours, Community Film Screening @ Longhaul
Feb 6 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Screening of two short films on homelessness:

24 HOURS by Yesica Prado
An account of eviction of an encampment in Berkeley

HOMELESS FIRST by Anka Karewicz & Travis Schirmer
A Liberated Lens production that follows the Berkley encampment known as “First They Came for the Homeless,” a group fighting for the right to live in tents within a self-sustaining community.

Wheelchair accessible

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Feb
7
Fri
Back to Court: Impact CDCR’s Resentencing Process @ Ella Baker Center, Suite 202
Feb 7 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Help us get people back to court for resentencing and get people free! Come learn about CDCR’s re-sentencing process, and prepare comments and live testimony. We have 45 days to make public comments and testify at CDCR’s hearing.

Since June 2018, CDCR’s PC § 1170(d)(1) Resentencing “pilot program” formally tracked and reviewed over 1,800 cases and referred roughly 1300 people back to court for resentencing. So far CDCR prioritized referring people with illegal or no longer mandatory enhancements, with sentencing errors, and for exceptional conduct. Now, effective January 1, 2020, CDCR has updated its Title 15 regulations that govern the process and criteria CDCR staff use for making PC § 1170(d)(1) resentencing referrals. As we’ve seen with Proposition 57 parole board hearings, exclusionary criteria are now being applied that keep people incarcerated who should have a chance to come home. And the unclear referral process is contributing to confusion, unfairness, and missed opportunities for freedom.

Join us to prevent more people being left behind by broad exclusions.

Or via video: email james@ellabakercenter.org for the link.

For more information visit: http://bit.ly/Regulations-1170d1

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