Calendar
Do you ever miss the delightful aroma of decomposing compost? Do you ever wonder what happened to that fragile vegetable start that you planted? Or that kindred spirit you met pulling bind weed?
Then come to reconnect, schmooze, eat and drink with old and new faces, past and current volunteers at the UC Gill Tract Community Farm Volunteer Appreciation Party!!!
This is our small token of appreciation to thank you for all your hard work in helping to grow and sustain this ground-breaking, amazing, and fruitful farm and community space!
- student debt resistance
- organizing for public banking.
- advocating for Postal banking.
- ongoing study group
- helping out America’s only non-profit check-cashing organization and fighting against usurious for-profit pay-day lenders and their ilk
- our famous Strike Debt radio program
- staging Debtors’ Assemblies
- Fighting for amnesty for and reduced in cost police tickets for the impoverished, who effectively go into debt to pay these off.
- Working on debarring US Banks that have been convicted of felonies from municipal contracts
- saving the Berkeley Post Office and stopping the Staples non-union takeover of good Post Office jobs
- and much more!
Strike Debt – Principles of Solidarity
Strike Debt is building a debt resistance movement. We believe that most individual debt is illegitimate and unjust. Most of us fall into debt because we are increasingly deprived of the means to acquire the basic necessities of life: health care, education, and housing. Because we are forced to go into debt simply in order to live, we think it is right and moral to resist it.
We also oppose debt because it is an instrument of exploitation and political domination. Debt is used to discipline us, deepen existing inequalities, and reinforce racial, gendered, and other social hierarchies. Every Strike Debt action is designed to weaken the institutions that seek to divide us and benefit from our division. As an alternative to this predatory system, Strike Debt advocates a just and sustainable economy, based on mutual aid, common goods, and public affluence.
Strike Debt is committed to the principles and tactics of political autonomy, direct democracy, direct action, creative openness, a culture of solidarity, and commitment to anti-oppressive language and conduct. We struggle for a world without racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of oppression.
Strike Debt holds that we are all debtors, whether or not we have personal loan agreements. Through the manipulation of sovereign and municipal debt, the costs of speculator-driven crises are passed on to all of us. Though different kinds of debt can affect the same household, they are all interconnected, and so all household debtors have a common interest in resisting.
Strike Debt engages in public education about the debt-system to counteract the self-serving myth that finance is too complicated for laypersons to understand. In particular, it urges direct action as a way of stopping the damage caused by the creditor class and their enablers among elected government officials. Direct action empowers those who participate in challenging the debt-system.
Strike Debt holds that we owe the financial institutions nothing, whereas, to our friends, families and communities, we owe everything. In pursuing a long-term strategy for national organizing around this principle, we pledge international solidarity with the growing global movement against debt and austerity.
Travel with members of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and the NLG through Oakland, visiting key sites of struggle for the Black Panther Party and other Black radical movements in the historic Town. From the site of Huey P. Newton’s trial and Bobby Hutton’s murder to the location of major demonstrations against the Vietnam War and the killing of Oscar Grant, you’ll see the history of Black radical movements in Oakland from the 1960s to the present. The tour is wheelchair and stroller accessible.
Meet: Lobby of Oakland Marriott City Center to walk to Alameda County Courthouse.
Part of #Law4thePeople2015 http://www.nlg.org/
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
Occupy Forum presents
Strike Debt Bay Area:
How The Other Half Isn’t Allowed to Bank
Strike Debt Bay Area (SDBA) is dedicated to fighting unjust debt.
Our latest project: Human Interest Lending
Right now there are more predatory payday lenders in the US than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined. And new ones keep popping up! In fact, payday lenders are often owned by the same banks that won’t provide accounts or loans to poor customers. Most progressives are so opposed to predatory lending that they want to shut payday lending down altogether … without providing an alternative for people who are cash-strapped and in need. Strike Debt Bay Area, an offshoot of Occupy Oakland, has found an answer in our hometown of Oakland.
Community Check Cashing (CCC) is a non-profit, providing the same services that for-profit payday lenders do — at a third to a half of what they charge. CCC estimates that it has saved its customer base over $1,200,000 in the six years it has been open.
As activists, we’ve been exploring ways CCC can be strengthened and its model can be expanded — with the ultimate goal of taking out the for-profit payday lenders. We call this project Human Interest Lending. We’ll provide some history of the banks and the social contract, and talk about where we want to go. We’ll also update attendees on some of Strike Debt Bay Area’s other projects, including ending Student Debt and saving the Berkeley Post Office.
Debbie Notkin is on the board of the James Tiptree J. Literary Award, and blogs at Body Impolitic www.laurietobyedison.com/body-impolitic-blog). She is an active member of Strike Debt Bay Area. She is contracts manager for a large nonfiction publishing company.
JP Massar is an activist with Strike Debt Bay Area, the Oakland Privacy Working Group, the Oakland Livable Wage Assembly and Occupy Oakland, a writer on the national progressive blog Daily Kos, the former policy chair for the Siegel for Oakland Mayoral campaign, and occasionally he can be seen marching against police violence or testifying against police militarization at the Berkeley and Oakland City Council.
Time will be allotted for discussion and announcements.
There is a good chance that the only reason this is even appearing on a committee meeting agenda is because the sum is more than $100,000 otherwise the citizens would not have known of this. One might wonder if this purchase came out of the recent Urban Shield vendor weapons display. The Oakland Police Dept will say the shotguns they already have are old and overused – which is a tired argument. Municipal police departments are not supposed to be firing weapons aside from on the firing range and these weapons – if maintained – will last for a very long time.
From the resolution … “WHEREAS, funds are available in the General Purpose Fund (1010), District Command Administration Organization (108010), Supplies Technical and Scientific Account (52913), Undetermined Project (0000000), Community Oriented Policing Services Program (COPS) …” COPS?! Is that what residents considered community-oriented policing? Or would they consider proper rubber-soled walking shoes to be community-oriented policing?
This is about priorities and stockpiling weapons for the upcoming repression. When combined with the OPD request of $279,000 for 8 “paddy wagons” to be heard later in the day, OPD will be consuming over $400,000. Funds that this supposed cash-strapped city could easily direct elsewhere.
Either appear in person or contact the four council members who warm the chairs on this committee to say NO to these purchases: DKalb [at] oaklandnet.com; AGuillen [at] oaklandnet.com; LMcelhaney [at] oaklandnet.com; ACampbell-Washington [at] oaklandnet.com
Join us to fight for a livable wage for all Bay Area workers! We collaborate in principled reflection and action on what the Bay Area livable wage would be and where we are at on the right to a livable wage.
The Oakland Livable Wage Assembly builds Community and Power among those who seek higher wages and better work life conditions for area workers.
Our work together encompasses:
(1) The concerns of precarious, care and contingent workers,
(2) Campaigns to improve wages for low wage workers, and
(3) Efforts by unionized workers and unions to improve wages and quality of work life.
We share stories and information in an egalitarian and participatory way to build relationships and build the movement.
Oakland Livable Wage Assembly meets every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8:00 PM at the SEIU Local 1000 Union Hall, 436 14th Street #200, Oakland, CA
Please love and support one another ~ We have a duty to fight ~ We have a duty to win!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1568668586707336/
Item 23 on the Berkeley City Council Agenda. (2nd on the Action agenda)
Do you want a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) on you to be lodged in the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC) because you chalked a political message on the sidewalk, or put a poster or two on a building’s wall? In BPD’s General Order N-17, for NCRIC, VANDALISM is defined as a criminal activity with a potential terrorism nexus, to be reported.
Do you want a SAR sent on you to NCRIC because you took a picture of a bridge, building or of the cops in action?PHOTOGRAPHY, in such cases, is a potential criminal or non-criminal activity to be reported if done “in a manner that would arouse suspicion in a reasonable person”. Could the “manner” be wearing a hoodie or scarf and/or being tan?
The Police Review Commission (PRC) has recommended supposed changes to BPD’s General Order N-17, on SARs to NCRIC. Actually they are not changes, but rather spell out Federal Regulations and California Constitution privacy requirements already to in G.O. N-17.
Spelling out these regs in no way changes the Definition of Criminal Activities and Potential Criminal and Non-Criminal Activities to be sent as SARs to NCRIC.
How can we expect the City Council to control on whom and what SARs are sent to NCRIC when this is decided by BPD’s two or three FBI Terrorism Liaison Officers who cannot discuss their actions with a BPD supervisor without the permission of the U.S. Department of Justice, their FBI supervisor at the FBI’s Bay Area Joint Terrorism Task Force that runs NCRIC?✳ï¸
Please attend this Tuesday’s, 10/27/15, City Council and tell them to NOT APPROVE NCRIC in its entirety! PRC’s “changes” make no difference.
— Berkeleyans Organizing for Liberty Defense
In conjunction with an exhibit of industrial landscapes by acclaimed photographer Edward Burtynsky, Sunflower Alliance and the David Brower Center are co-sponsoring a forum, “A Just Transition: From Refineries to Renewables,” to highlight the human stories that drive the shifting energy paradigm.
Most Bay Area residents are unaware of the extent to which their homes, workplaces and local communities are affected by local refineries and refinery-related transport. In this interactive conversation, Bay Area refinery corridor residents and energy visionaries will offer testimony about their shared work toward a sustainable energy future. Speakers include Jack Lucero Fleck of 350 Bay Area, Jessica Hendricks of Global Community Monitor, oil and energy journalist Antonia Juhasz, Greg Karras of Communities for a Better Environment, Colin Miller of Bay Localize, Janet Pygeorge of the Rodeo Citizens Association, and Nancy Rieser of the Bay Area Refinery Corridor Coalition.
Eventbrite tickets can be purchased here.
Image credit: Drew Dellinger
November 4, 2015, marks the one-year anniversary of the passage of Proposition 47, The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. Thousands of people have been released from prison and jail. More than 150,000 have already applied to erase old felonies from their records, unlocking opportunities for jobs, education, and more. An estimated one million Californians are eligible for relief under this new law and only have two more years to apply.
But we can’t rest now. There is a growing threat that the savings from releasing people from prison might be directed back into further incarceration and programs led by law enforcement, not services that are owned by the community. The Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) has scheduled its first of seven regional meetings on the implementation of Proposition 47 right here in Oakland. It’s part of a statewide tour to gather public input on our funding priorities, and we must tell them we want care, not cages.
Will you join us for a rally and concert, and accelerate momentum for change into the future as we march over to the hearing and demand the savings be spent in the community not in jails?
4-6 pm: Concert and Rally at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater
6-8 pm: Mobilization to Public Hearing on Prop 47 at Alameda County Administration Building (1221 Oak Street, Oakland).
Sponsors: Bay Area Black Worker Center, BOCA, Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), Causa Justa – Just Cause, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ), East Bay Community Law Center, East Oakland Building Healthy Communities, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Oakland Community Organizations, Oakland Rising, People United for a Better Life in Oakland (PUEBLO), Urban Peace Movement.
We hope you will join us tomorrow evening to learn about the Berkeley Fair Elections Act, a proposal that would create a small donor public financing system in our city.
In Berkeley, we need a system where candidates can successfully run for office even if they don’t have connections to wealth. The Berkeley Fair Elections Act, which is being put to a city council vote on November 10, would allow candidates to do exactly just that!
Learn what you can do to help make sure this proposal makes it to the ballot for a vote.
In order to give Berkeley voters the opportunity to create a more equitable political system, we need you, your neighbors and your colleagues to spread the word.
Together, we can amplify the voice of Berkeley voters.
Join the Oakland Privacy Working Group to organize against Stingrays being acquired by Alameda County agencies, for various privacy ordinances to be passed by the Oakland City Council, against the Domain Awareness Center (DAC), Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub, and against other invasions of privacy by our benighted City, County, and State Governments. We are also engaged in the fight against Urban Shield, and Predictive Policing.
OPWG was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network, and its members helped draft the Privacy Policy that puts further restrictions on the now Port-restricted DAC.
Stop by and learn how you can help guard Oakland’s right not to be spied on by the government & if you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy Working Group email listserv, send an email to:
oaklandprivacyworkinggroup-subscribe AT lists.riseup.net
For more information on the DAC check out
| This award winning film documents African struggles vs colonialism. It is based on the writing of Franz Fanon and narrated by Lauryn Hill. The film: • Has documentary footage of African anti-imperialist liberation movements. • Shows rare interviews and footage from Angola to Zimbabwe, to coercive measures used to stop employees from striking in a Liberian town to women’s participation in the struggle for liberation in Mozambique. • It is timely given the questions movements for change are grappling with now. The screening is a fundraiser to help get a multi-racial delegation of grassroots women and men to the upcoming international Caring, Survival & Justice vs the Tyranny of the Market, in London, England on November 14-15. It’s rare we have the opportunity as grassroots activists from different movements around the world of coming together to share and plan. We urgently need help with airfares, which are a great financial challenge to a number of the activists who want to take part. The conference is part of the global campaign for a living wage for all workers everywhere including mothers and other caregivers. Sign Petition! Called by: Global Women’s Strike Omni Collective and Haiti Action Committee; Sponsored by: Marcus Bookstore & KPFA Radio; Endorsers to date: All of Us or None, Chiapas Support Committee, Queer Strike, US PROStitutes Collective |
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THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT
there will be no tickets available at the door.
Coates is recently famous for his cover story in The Atlantic, “Between the World and Me” – now a book, hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the single best writer on the subject of race in the United States.” This KPFA benefit will be hosted by Greg Williams.
Long-time McDonald’s shift lead and fast food union organizer Sandra Roman, who has worked at the McDonald’s at 4514 Telegraph Ave. in Oakland for over 2 years, was fired yesterday, Oct. 27th. In response, fast food workers, union organizers community supporters and clergy staged a 3 hour protest to demand that Ms. Roman be reinstated immediately. Despite heavy police presence, the demonstrators forced McDonald’s to close its doors for the rest of the night.
EBOC will be holding an action tomorrow to keep the pressure on, we are winning and are pushing forward further charges. The manager admittedly fired Sandra for demanding her legal sick days on the same day The City of Oakland sent a retaliation notification to the company. WE WILL MEET AT THE STORE TOMORROW AT 11AM and will keep the pressure on throughout the day. Please come out when you can tomorrow and let your networks know. We continue to win fights like these with support from the community and Sandra’s coworkers are fully behind her.
Ms. Roman is a mother of 4 children, and struggles every day to provide a decent quality of life for her family. Without legally-guaranteed paid sick days, she would have to make the difficult choice between missing a days pay or caring for her diabetic son. She has gone on strike 7 times in the past to demand a pay raise to $15/hour and the right to form a union, and is a well-known fast food organizer.
See you out there!
Please join with us, the family of Yuvette Henderson, thier legal team and supporters as we show solidarity and make public legal steps to bring justice in the case of Yuvette Henderson who was killed by Emerville Police on the Oakland/Emeryville border in February of this year.
Media Alert: Fed Lawsuit to be filed on behalf of #YuvetteHenderson. Press conf 10/29 at noon, #Oakland Federal Bldg https://t.co/JiL94E9zlP
— APTP First Response (@aptpresponse) October 28, 2015
Ditch and Switch: How California Can End Fossil Fuel Extraction and Embrace 100% Wind and Solar is sponsored by Center for Biological Diversity and features Stanford scientist Mark Jacobson and Center for Biological Diversity climate law expert Kassie Siegel. They will discuss how and why California—the country’s third-largest oil-producing state—must halt fracking, move away from dirty fossil fuel extraction, and quickly embrace a clean-energy future.
To avoid climate change’s worst dangers, most fossil fuels must stay in the ground. Yet Californians remain dependent on an industry that is killing us.
Jacobson engages in ground-breaking research on achieving a transformation to 100 percent wind and solar. Siegel is a leader in the movement to keep California’s dirty oil in the soil.
As we approach the landmark Paris climate talks, come hear about these paradigm-shifting strategies to achieve climate justice.
Space is limited so RSVP soon!
Doors open at 6:30. Moderated discussion at 7pm.
BFUU-Escalating Inequality Forum:
Define Accountability.
Who trains the Police to serve the public (is public defined)?
Who selects the Police Academy candidates?
What is the Police Academy syllabus?
Use of Force or Use of Words?
How do we end race-based policing!
Who allocates funding for your PD?
How many Police Academy candidates are ex-military?
How many served in Iraq or Afghanistan…how many of those have PTSD?
Should a Social Worker Degree be required for all Police Officers
Is karma relevant? Every action has a consequence.
Should living in Berkeley be a requirement for all Berkeley Police Officers?
Panel:
Ms. Richie Smith
Proverbial Mayor of South Berkeley/Long time member of NAACP/Retired Teacher/Great Grandmother
Ms. Amanda Weatherspoon
3rd year MDiv student, Starr King School for the Ministry/Member Black Lives Matter
Mr. Jesse Arreguin
Member of Berkeley City Council
PTBNL
*Retired Member Berkeley Police Department