Calendar

The It Takes Roots-hosted Solidarity to Solutions Summit is a popular assembly for all progressive social movements to gather, discuss and debate the critical strategies, solutions and proposals for collective action that will tackle the root, systemic causes of capitalism and climate change.

The gathering aims to critically examine the neo-liberal, corporate agenda of the Global Climate Action Summit and highlight the democratic, grassroots solutions being cultivated by Indigenous communities, communities of color and working class peoples around the world.

This assembly is built on the shared belief that to successfully tackle these intertwined crises, we need to take action in solidarity with the self-determination of communities on the frontlines of ecological and economic collapse.  This means following their leadership in replacing the dig, burn, drive, dump systems that are destroying the planet with localized systems of caring and sharing being cultivated by those same communities.

It Takes Roots is a multiracial, multicultural, multi-generational alliance of networks and alliances representing over 200 organizations and affiliates in over 50 states, provinces, territories and Native lands in the U.S. and Canada, and is led by women, gender nonconforming people, people of color, and Indigenous Peoples.  It is an outcome of years of organizing and relationship building across the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA), Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ), Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), and Right to the City Alliance (RTC) alongside Center for Story-based Strategy and The Ruckus Society.

Sol2Sol Schedule of Events

• Saturday, September 8, 10am: Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice March, Embarcadero, San Francisco
• Sunday, September 9: 8am Traditional Ohlone Ceremony and Welcome at the Shellmounds. Community Solutions Tours, Art Builds & Action training, Bay Area
• September 10, 8am: Mass action Against Climate Change Profiteers at Parc 55 Hotel, 55 Cyril Magnin St, San Francisco
• Tuesday, September 11: It Takes Roots Solidarity to Solutions Summit at La Raza Park, San Francisco
• Thursday, September 13, 7am: Mass Action at the Global Climate Action Summit at 736 Mission St, San Francisco

On August 9, BART dropped a multi-million new security dragnet proposal with only three days notice. The Bay Area responded with 2 full hours of passionate public testimony leading to the tabling of 5 components of the plan, including the PSIM information platform and rumors of the possible adoption of facial recognition technology, as mentioned to the press by one BART director.

On September 13, part 2 gets underway.

After an unannounced and controversial installation of automated license plate readers at Macarthur BART in 2016, BART agreed to adopt a surveillance transparency ordinance, but after nearly two years of meetings, they had not done so and took advantage by trying to rush through a huge upgrade with little transparency, and no use policies or civil rights assessments.

At the August 9 meeting, the tabled items were postponed to a meeting in the suburbs to be scheduled at a later date. That meeting never happened, so they remain on the table. But the Board has committed to voting on the transparency ordinance on the 13th.

The ordinance will make sure there can be no mass surveillance upgrades on 3 days notice ever again, and that the community will get a say on what security measure we want – and which we don’t want.

But we need you there to make sure it is passed and make sure it is strong and doesn’t get watered down. Passing these ordinances is how we keep from having to mobilize on 3 days notice over and over and over again.

BART is currently planning to use the same platform that was proposed as the “brains” of the Domain Awareness Center (PSIM). The plan calls for 2000 CCTV cameras to be converted to IP-based for geospatial tagging and advanced real-time video analytics.

There are plenty of common sense things BART could do with $15-25 million dollars to improve security on the transit system without treating every passenger like a criminal suspect.

BART is a subway, not a perpetual lineup.

Please come and help us create community control over transit surveillance.

Tweet at hashtag #NODACFORBART

the Alameda County Probation Department, Public Defenders Office, and the Sheriff’s Office will testify in front of the Public Protection Committee to urge the adoption of legislation that will eliminate criminal justice administration fees in Alameda County. The East Bay Community Law Center, a legal services provider serving low-income residents in Alameda County, along with the Policy Advocacy Clinic of U.C. Berkeley Law School, Justice Reinvestment Coalition of Alameda County, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the Urban Strategies Council, have been actively advocating for the elimination of these fees.

The Probation Department, Public Defenders Office, and the Sheriff’s Office assess insurmountable fees on people convicted of criminal offenses. For example, today, in Alameda County, defendants are charged monthly probation supervision fees of up to $90 per month and pre-charge investigation report costs of $710. Considering the context of other economic wealth-stripping mechanisms embedded in the criminal justice system, criminal justice fees in Alameda County are causing high pain for families and low gain for local county government.

“This is not only a fiscal and good governance issue but also a racial justice issue. Black folks, particularly Oakland residents suffer from disproportionate police contact, traffic stops, incarceration and all of the life altering collateral consequences that follow. In addition, Black folks are overburdened by housing costs, lower than average wages and the disastrous impacts of gentrification. This confluence of issues results in the most marginalized communities being the ones most impacted by court ordered debt that they cannot afford to pay. We urge the Board of Supervisors to take the first step in rectifying this situation by eliminating these fines and fees,” remarked Brandon Greene, staff attorney and clinical supervisor at the East Bay Community Law Center.

“It is time for Alameda County to end the unscrupulous wealth-stripping of low-income individuals and families. EBCLC has represented countless individuals who want a clean start but are unable to get out from underneath the pile of debt imposed by criminal justice administration fees. A repeal of fees and discharge of outstanding debt would be an important step towards true debt free justice in Alameda County,” commented Theresa Zhen, staff attorney and clinical supervisor at the East Bay Community Law Center.

In 2016, Alameda County eliminated juvenile fees and fines, which led to the passage of a bill that made California the first state in the country to eliminate court fees and fines for juveniles. Hoping for a repeat of this trailblazing action, this current campaign would eliminate adult fines and fees in Alameda County. The East Bay Community Law Center plans to publish a white paper that digs deeper into how the current system exacts high pain for little gain, disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities. Additionally, the Law Center has convened a state-wide coalition to end adult criminal justice fees throughout California.

The Public Protection hearing will take place at the County Administration Building, 1221 Oak Street, Room 255, 2nd Floor, Oakland, CA 94612 from 10:00AM – 12:00PM.

The agenda can be found here.

New Tuff Shed camp planned for parking lot at Kaiser Convention Center near Lake Merritt. Once open, no camping rule to be enforced by the lake. Community meeting Sept. 13 pic.twitter.com/nCZP3sIebI

— Scott Morris (@OakMorr) September 8, 2018

SPEAKERS
ANGELA DAVIS & NADINE NABER
STRENGTH & RESILIENCE: AROC 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF COMMUNITY DEFENSE, MOVEMENT BUILDING & RESISTANCE

SPEAKERS

Angela Davis
Nadine Naber

FEATURING
DJ Emancipacion
Al Juthour Dabke Troupe

HONOREES
ILWU Local 10
Nancy Hormachea
Stop Urban Shield Coalition
Teachers 4 Social Justice

TICKETS
Purchase early bird tickets here!

HOST COMMITTEE
Alia Ghabra
Eyad Kishawi
Hassan Fouda
Hatem Bazian
Johnnie Batarseh
Layla Feghali
Lily Haskell
Liz Derias-Tyehimba
Monadel Herzallah
Naima Shalhoub
Noura Erakat
Ramiz Rafeedie
Renda Dabit
Samer Elbandek
Senan Elkhairi
Yousef Abudayyeh
Ziad Abbas

The Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair is an annual community event bringing together publishers, book sellers, artists and community groups. It is free an open to the public.

Gentrification, displacement and sky-rocketing rents. We’ve all been talking about it and now its time to DO SOMETHING about it. Proposition 10 is a historic opportunity to take on the biggest barrier to winning for real housing justice with the repeal of the Republican backed 1995 bill the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act. Backed by corporate landlords and real estate billionaires, the opposition to Prop 10 is raising BIG money to fight us – but WE ARE IN THE MAJORITY and with all of your help we can win!

Join us for a press conference, door knocking training and mass canvassing to launch weekly mobilizations to pass Prop 10 and build the tenant movement for rent control!!!

It’s 2018 and socialism is ascendant. More and more people are standing up to say that they’ve had enough with a system that puts profit over people, that puts the wealth of the few over the dignity and flourishing of the many.

Democratic socialists all over the country are fighting for an improved and expanded Medicare-for-All healthcare system, a federal jobs guarantee, universal rent control, tuition-free public education pre-K through college or trade school, a powerful, militant labor movement, and the abolishment of ICE.

We’re winning elections, we’re building explicitly socialist institutions, we’re training effective socialist organizers, and we’re introducing millions of people to real-world anti-capitalist politics.

Come on out to a picnic in the park to learn more about democratic socialism and get involved in our local activities here in the East Bay. New members and not-yet-members are welcome!

If you like, stick around for the canvassing event we’re kicking off right after! From 12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., we’ll be knocking on doors to campaign for Yes on Prop 10, also called the Affordable Housing Act — a ballot initiative that that will give our cities and counties the power to adopt rent control necessary to address the state’s housing affordability crisis by repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.

These back-to-back events are the perfect opportunity to jump into East Bay DSA!

Required Readings

See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.

RSVP

West Oakland Punks with Lunch is a guerilla not-for-profit Harm reduction outreach organization providing food and other necessities to people experiencing homelessness.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to volunteer with us! We just ask a few simple guidelines to keep PWL running smoothly.

Please come wearing closed toed shoes and dressed appropriately for the weather. We ask that you show up with a non-judgemental, come as you are attitude. Be ready to work hard and have fun!

Wednesday:  Mobile Outreach

Meet at: 36th and MLK                Hours: 6pm-8pm

We do mobile outreach from 56th St. and MLK all the way down to 30th and MLK.
We provide snacks, water, hygiene and harm reduction supplies.
If you are interested in volunteering Wednesdays, please email us at:
oaklandpunkswithlunch@gmail.com

Sunday: Fixed Sites

Meet at: 2630 Union St.               Hours:    Prep 1pm-3pm, Distribution: 3pm-6pm
We have two fixed sites on Sundays. One at 35th and Peralta St. from 3:30pm-4:15pm and the other at 4:30pm-5:15pm. Ideally we stay on time, but we don’t beat ourselves up if we are a little late.  You have the option of staying for only prep, only distribution, or BOTH!  Sundays are the perfect day to get to know our organization for the day, or continue working with us to grow as on organization.

Hey #Oakland SAVE THE DATE for training on rapid response to ICE and police terror #endpoliceterror #endwhitesupremacy pic.twitter.com/vuOtMJrqFc

— impostor hoopoe (@thehoopoe) September 6, 2018

Judge and author Lise Pearlman brings to AAMLO her well-researched book on prisoner rights activist and movement lawyer Fay Stender. Stender achieved amazing legal successes in criminal defense and prison reform, known for defending both Black Panther Party leader Huey Newton and revolutionary prisoner George Jackson, before she ultimately refocused with similar zeal on feminist and lesbian rights.

The housing crisis in the Bay Area and beyond is a wholly preventable disaster, created and maintained by the notion that housing is a commodity and not a human right.

On Saturday, September 23, join us in the campaign for the Yes on Prop 10, also called the Affordable Housing Act — a ballot initiative that that will give our cities and counties the power to adopt rent control necessary to address the state’s housing affordability crisis by repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.

The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act upholds landlord interests, and — in tandem with the housing crisis — has deeply exacerbated social disparities, displaced longtime communities, driven homelessness, and dealt a blow to working-class power by making housing ever more insecure and inaccessible.

Come learn more about Prop 10 and repealing Costa-Hawkins, and then we’ll hit the streets to talk with our neighbors about housing justice and the Affordable Housing Act!

We will be meeting within the park. Look for the big DSA flag!

Accessibility: McClymonds Park is ADA-accessible.

Join Oakland Privacy for two award-winning Australian films about our dystopian techno-state. Cosponsored by Liberated Lens Film Collective.

Doors open at 5:30pm
Program starts at 6pm

RSVP

iRony, directed by then 19-year old Radheya Jegatheya, is an 8 minute animated film exploring the relationship between human and technology …. told from the perspective of a phone. The hand drawn animated film is based on a poem by the director which won 2 national poetry awards in Australia and has received 14 “Best of” awards in film festivals around the globe.

Stare Into The Lights My Pretties, directed by Jordan Brown, investigates questions of how did we get here and who benefits to form a critical view of technological escalation driven by rapacious and pervasive corporate interests. Covering themes of addiction, privacy, surveillance, information manipulation, behavior modification and social control, the film lays the foundations as to why we may feel like we are sleep running into some dystopian nightmare with the machines at the helm. The film won the “Edward Snowden Award” in Argentina, “Most Challenging Film” from Indie Lincs in Lincoln United Kingdom, “Most Unforgettable Film” Silver Award from the Spotlight Film Festival, United States; and winner and semi-finalist accolades from events in Poland, Bangladesh, Russia, Ireland and Belgium.

With a brief q+a with Privacy Advisory Commission chair Brian Hofer about what we can do to slow down dystopia right here in our backyard.