Join SURJ Bay Area’s Policy Committee for a legislative strategy session and workshop that will demystify the legislative process, build our collective legislative capacity, and highlight the legislative priorities and strategies of SURJ’s people of color (POC) led partners!

This workshop is the first of a two-part series for anyone who is passionate, curious, or wants to learn more about the ways that policy combined with grassroots organizing can be used as a tool in the movement for racial justice and collective liberation.

This workshop will provide opportunities for participants to:

– Hear from Kristine Boyd, Community Organizer at Initiate Justice, on their 2020 legislative campaign
– Learn how the Movement 4 Black Lives Policy Platform (M4BL) fits into SURJ Bay Area’s organizing framework
– Leverage our grassroots power in the state Capitol
– Plug into statewide policy work and action
– Practice bringing your voice and positionality to the political process

Guest Speaker:

Kristine Boyd is a community organizer with Initiate Justice. She is a woman who is directly impacted by mass incarceration, finding self-motivation through Zora Neale Hurtson’s quote, “Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding spot.” She is committed to being vocal about how incarceration has impacted her life and is inspired to advocate for political change and more programs available for those who want to better themselves. Kristine is also an Essie Justice Group sister and a student at Skyline College in San Bruno.

Event tickets are sliding scale – $0-10. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
This workshop is also a fundraiser for Initiate Justice. Please bring an additional cash donation that is meaningful for you.

We are eager to hear all of your voices and to help develop progressive grassroots’ power in the California policy landscape. All levels of experience are welcome!

Hold the date for the second workshop in this two-part series: February 22, 2020!
ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION

In December 2019 Zapatista Women organized the Second International Gathering of Women in Struggle in Chiapas Mexico. At least 4,000 women attended from all over the world. The gathering was dedicated to struggle to end gender based violence. Women who attended the gathering will share their experience, feelings, thoughts, and analysis. Participants include the Chiapas Support Committee, Sogorea Te Land Trust, the Sexta National and International, etc.

Hosted by Chiapas Support Committee Oakland

The precarity of Black girls’ lives in school have been made visible by Dr. Monique Morris. Through her writing, advocacy, and now film, PUSHOUT, we now have the language to describe and understand what we see happening to Black girls in schools. Morris’ work has inspired debate and legislation with the recent sponsoring of the Ending Punitive, Unfair, School-based Harm that is Overt and Unresponsive to Trauma (P.U.S.H.O.U.T) Act,” by representatives Ayanna Pressley (D- MA), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.). The law identifies the many students made vulnerable by race, gender, and disability positionality and outlines resources and policy recommendations to secure educational spaces for children.

Join Mills College, School of Education for its culminating Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action event: a screening of PUSHOUT and townhall panel discussion moderated by Dr. Margo Okazawa-Rey. Dr. Monique Morris will provide opening remarks. In collaboration with the Mills College Black History Month programming and Ethnic Studies Department, we are proud to host this screening of PUSHOUT.

Monthly interfaith prayer meeting, held on second Sundays, dedicated to healing.

The Bahá’í community of Oakland is organizing this gathering for the community to connect, share prayers, writings and poems from all spiritual traditions, reflect and recharge and build coalitions interested in healing.

Come share prayers, quotes, poems, and favorite passages from your scriptures with us. Refreshments will be served.

Doors open: 10:00 AM
Prayers: 10:30-11:30 AM
Refreshments and socializing: 11:30 AM – 12:00 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.

St Peter Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and Health Care for All – Contra Costa County will show The Power to Heal Medicare And The Civil rights Revolution, a 56-minutes long public television documentary that tells a poignant chapter in the historic struggle to secure equal and adequate access to healthcare for all.

This talk will deal with the campaign launched by the Ella Baker Center, and also involving a variety of organizations, to audit the sheriff’s budget and hold him (in this case Sheriff Ahern) accountable for using taxpayer dollars for long-term public safety solutions that can improve the health and well-being of all people. Demanding transparency with this budget can uncover potential savings to be reinvested directly into our communities.

Jose Bernal is the Organizing Manager at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Jose comes from a family of first generation immigrants. He grew up in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. In late 2016, Jose was  unanimously appointed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to serve on the San Francisco Reentry Council. While on the council, Jose has been a very active force in advocating for local restorative justice policies. Currently, he serves as Co-chair of the Reentry Council’s Policy & Operational Practices Subcommittee. Through grass-roots community work, Jose has previously spearheaded initiatives and campaigns to de-privatize reentry services, and to call for an end to gang injunctions. Prior to joining Ella Baker Center, Jose was charged with overseeing a shelter program for men of various diverse backgrounds who were experiencing homelessness. Jose is the lead organizer for the Audit Ahern campaign. The campaign is comprised of a broad coalition of various groups and organizations demanding an independent financial and performance audit of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Jose is a graduate of Stanford University’s Project ReMade program, an extensive business and entrepreneurship course aimed at empowering formerly incarcerated men and women.

POSTPONED. NOT HAPPENING ON THIS DATE.

San Francisco is supposed to be a sanctuary city for immigrants; but it also gives sanctuary to corporations that have contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Corporations like Salesforce, Amazon and Google profit from deportation and detention; yet City Hall continues to give them contracts while mouthing support for immigrants. Fortunately, the Immigrants’ Rights Commission is taking the first step to ending these contracts and has asked the City Controller to issue a report highlighting which companies that have City contracts continue to profit off detention and deportation.

Come join us as we highlight this Corporate Hall of Shame and demand that the City stop doing business with deportation and detention profiteers!

Every Tuesday at 5pm from February 11th to March 3rd, we have an opportunity to learn from impacted communities all along the Trans Mountain pipeline route.  Click here to RSVP for the free webinar series, “From Wellhead to Tidewater.”

On March 3rd, Isabella Zizi of Idle No More SF,  Stand.Earth, and the Protect the Bay Coalition will speaking about the impacts of the Trans Mountain pipeline and tankers in California: the plan to dredge San Francisco Bay to make room for more fully loaded tankers, the impacts of the refinery expansion, and what resistance looks like where she lives.

“The Alameda County Sheriffs have not taken responsibility for their grossly exaggerated use of force in the pre-dawn eviction of Black women and children in Oakland. They are still holding arrest charges over the heads of 2 mothers and 2 supporters.

Join us all to stand with the moms and demand transparency, accountability and that all pending charges be dropped immediately.”

Also, if you haven’t signed this petition (and for more background info), go to: https://www.change.org/p/alameda-county-sheriff-gregory-ahern-hold-the-sheriff-accountable-protect-moms-babies-from-tanks?signed=true
Petition � Hold Them Accountable – Protect Moms & Babies from Tanks, AR-15s, and Tactical Troops � Change.org

NO TANKS, AR15s or TACTICAL TROOPS TO EVICT MOMS & BABIES! For years, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) has been the source of questionable, if not criminal behavior.

Agenda.

Items of particular interest:

• Election of Char
• Use of Force Ad Hoc Cmte
• Draft Ordinance on Militarized Police Equipment
• Process for Drafting Policy

Many of you witnessed or saw images of the Moms4Housing visionary action for the right to housing and the Alameda County Sheriff Office’s warrior deployment of assault weapons, a tank and battering ram in response to peaceful protest in Oakland. The event demonstrated more clearly than ever the need to push back on police use of military equipment in our communities.

The Oakland Police Commission will be considering the proposed ordinance for civilian control over the acquisition and use of militarized equipment by OPD. A key point on the agenda is how this ordinance can impact agencies like the Alameda County sheriff that deploy in Oakland. The Moms will be making comments, and we invite you to come and also make a public comment.

When sheriff deputies deploy to evict someone, they do so as an officer of the court, and are not required to consult with OPD. Our proposed ordinance applies to military equipment deployed by outside agencies in Oakland that are called in through “mutual aid” agreements. We are proposing additional language to the ordinance to ensure OPD doesn’t cooperate with the sheriff’s unfettered use of military equipment and require OPD to notify the police commission and city council if they know of such deployments. (see attached)

The Police Commission likely won’t vote on a recommendation next Thursday, but we want them to know clearly how the community feels about ANY deployment of war-like gear and weaponry in Oakland.

Please be there, Thur. Feb. 13, at 6:30 pm, Oakland City Hall, City Council chambers. Sign up to make a comment at the beginning of the meeting in “Open Forum”, when the agenda comes up, or both. 

Bay Area Skeptics Talk
This critical thinking-focused organization meets Every Second Thursday of the month with a different topic and guest speaker for every conversational meeting. This month’s topic: Big Data: What it is, how its used, where it’s headed by Mike Olson
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Register here to work either in East Oakland or El Sobrante:

https://plantingjustice.org/work-with-us/individuals

Nothing could be more ignorant and hypocritical than criminalizing the human body in a city that is named after a preacher who preached in the nude.

In early 2013 a law was passed in San Francisco that is commonly called “the nudity ban”. According to this law you can go to jail for a year for merely taking off your clothes on a warm summer day. (That’s if you do it 3 times in a year. If it is your first or second time you get a $100 fine.)

Nothing could be more hypocritical than criminalizing God’s creation – the human body.

Criminalizing genitals is no different from criminalizing flowers – they are plant’s genitals. Imagine if flowers had to be covered. Imagine if plants got thrown in jail for blooming and showing their flowers.

And what about animals? Imagine having to put underwear on your dog and worrying that if your dog rips it off it will be thrown in jail.

How come we have less rights than dogs and flowers?

It’s time to legalize humans!

NUDE LOVE PARADE will start on Saturday, February 15th at 11 am in Jane Warner Plaza. We start marching at noon (hopefully). We will loop around a bunch and end up at Haight and Stanyan.

The parade is fully permitted by the SFPD, no one will get arrested nor cited.

Come join us! We want to see you naked.