Calendar
The Zim cargo ship left Berth 57 this afternoon, sailed out the Golden Gate apparently on its way south, then did a U-Turn
and is now heading back into San Francisco Bay, probably to Berth 22 (map below), which people reported Zim had reserved for this evening.
Berth 22 now! #BlockTheBoat!!! #Oakland, 1599 Maritime St @BlockTheBoat
— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) August 20, 2014
Need to have crowd at "Ports America" gates well before 7 to block shift that would otherwise unload Israeli cargo ship #BlockTheBoat
— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) August 20, 2014
The boat made a u-turn. Heading back to the bay! https://t.co/edVV8KOHh7 @hyphy_republic @thehoopoe @OccupyOakland #BlockTheBoat
— mary mad (@marymad) August 20, 2014
RT @OccupyOakland: Where to go to block the sneak attack of the Israeli ship, returning to port #BlockTheBoat HURRY! pic.twitter.com/1J5GUdZpMJ
— Anarcho Anon (@AnarchoAnon) August 20, 2014
The cargo ship targeted by anti-Israel protesters now headed back to @PortofOakland, not LA. Activists mobilizing pic.twitter.com/wtXS3mHF4q
— Henry K. Lee (@henryklee) August 20, 2014
walking and driving directions & times from West Oakland BART to berth 22 (1500-1599 Maritime) #BlockTheBoat pic.twitter.com/nuBPBqtoyt
— shitty podcast (@uItradian) August 20, 2014
CALL OUT for continued blockade TONIGHT to keep 12am lunch break from re-entering the port. Arrive 10:30-11pm to #BlockTheBoat, #Oakland
— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) August 20, 2014
Zim ship reportedly has days of unloading. This ain't over, not by a longshore. Support needed Midnight & 6:30AM #BlockTheBoat
— OccupySF (@sf99er) August 20, 2014
Over the last few weeks, police have murdered five Black men & women across the country:
Mike Brown: Ferguson, MO
Ezell Ford: South Los Angeles
Eric Garner: New York
Jacorey Calhoun: Oakland
Unidentified woman in San Jose who had a power drill
And of course, there have been thousands and thousands more murdered Black, Brown & poor people throughout the years.
Oscar Grant
Alan Blueford
Alex Nieto
Andy Lopez
Kimani Gray
Kendrec McDade
Amadou Diallo
Sean Bell
Ramarley Graham
We will take to the streets and tell the police: IT ENDS TODAY
We will gather at 5:00 pm in FOUR locations:
– Oscar Grant OG Plaza
– Oakland Main Library (659 14th Street, Oakland Ca 94612)
– African American History Museum (125 14th Street, Oakland CA 94612)
– Jack London Square (near Waterfont Hotel)
5:00 – 5:15: banner making, public education, speakers
5:15 – 5:30: music & chants
5:30: MARCH to 7th & Broadway
6:00 – 6:30: music, speakers, chants
6:30: MARCH to Oscar Grant Plaza
6:30 – 7:00: Community Speak Out and Action Planning for a Sustained Campaign Against Police Terrorism
Simultaneous Actions in Los Angeles & Mississippi
PLEASE choose a different location for you and your comrades to begin the action! It is important that we show the power of the people to a larger share of our city than just OG plaza.
Again the action will begin in FOUR locations at 5:00 pm:
– Oscar Grant Plaza
– Oakland Main Library (659 14th Street, Oakland Ca 94612)
– African American History Museum (125 14th Street, Oakland CA 94612)
– Jack London Square (near Waterfont Hotel)
Endorsing Organizations: ONYX, MXGM, Healthy Hoodz, Young Oakland, Inner Council of Murdered Children, Alan Blueford Center for Justice, Hip Hop Congress, Workers World
Here is the reading for the next Politics of Debt meeting – OMNI basement.
We will continue on with Ellen brown’s Public Banking solution on the topic foreign policy and other countries’ use of Public Banks.
Hands up! Don't shoot! Oscar Grant's Uncle Bobby – is here- came back from #Ferguson he's sending solidarity video pic.twitter.com/ALCeRSwCDW
— Alyssa (@alyssa011968) August 21, 2014
Stand off pigs won't let pass on sudewalk #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/Js3vRjffY8
— Alyssa (@alyssa011968) August 21, 2014
We marching to OGP – whose streets? Put streets! #Ferguson more ppl pic.twitter.com/7DgBliHVWz
— Alyssa (@alyssa011968) August 21, 2014
Woman, in tears, over megaphone: "These police kill our black children!"
#Oakland #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/WT5kPh5LqR
— Not Frantz Fanon (@violentfanon) August 21, 2014
"My son was murdered by police. He was 16. He was shot at 48 times…he was unarmed." #Oakland #Ferguson #FTP #ACAB pic.twitter.com/yDCChpxcuj
How do u sleep at night with blood on ur uniforms [hate to say but they don't give a fuck] #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/O0OeHJfbKE
— Alyssa (@alyssa011968) August 21, 2014
The number of family members of police killings at this protest is horrifying. #endpoliceterror #Oakland #Ferguson
— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) August 21, 2014
It's sad this many mothers in the bay could speak on losing their kid to the police today. #Oakland #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/CBfQZhN6WV
— Jimi Devine (@JimiDevine) August 21, 2014
He's awesome !! #Ferguson http://t.co/VY4ra45vpf
— Alyssa (@alyssa011968) August 21, 2014
At the Oakland It Ends Now march. pic.twitter.com/LTPX0CP0MX
— H. Poteat (@NSQE) August 20, 2014
Hands up. Don't Shoot! Marching on Broadway turn right i onto 20th #Ferguson @KevChoice #Oakland join us! Fist Up! pic.twitter.com/6uwujMNjSt
— Alyssa (@alyssa011968) August 21, 2014
Very few folks left when we passed BART, crowd strong and exceptionally peaceful. #Oakland #Ferguson #MikeBrown pic.twitter.com/Z3aRSB8kKE
— Jimi Devine (@JimiDevine) August 21, 2014
Please Don't Let Me Die! Kimani Gray #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/wptbE9E1eT
— Alyssa (@alyssa011968) August 21, 2014
Hundreds flooding back into OGP. "Hey hey ho ho, killer cops have got to go"
— Dave Id (@DaveId) August 21, 2014
Justice for #MikeBrown march back in Oscar Grant Plaza. pic.twitter.com/VsYjW9NbFv
— Kate Conger (@kateconger) August 21, 2014
Finding Fearless! We r having workshop at OGP #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/8icIM58iem
— Alyssa (@alyssa011968) August 21, 2014
Cops run from me, fuck with or just show name tag- used to piss me off now i like that they run from #FTP pic.twitter.com/ShcUXSNaUg
— Alyssa (@alyssa011968) August 21, 2014
"My son was murdered by police. He was 16. He was shot at 48 times…he was unarmed." #Oakland #Ferguson #FTP #ACAB pic.twitter.com/yDCChpxcuj
— Not Frantz Fanon (@violentfanon) August 21, 2014
"This is Occupy without the bullshit." Actually feels very reminiscent of early days of #oo #justiceformikebrown pic.twitter.com/uG9CeqCgD8
— Vivian Ho (@VivianHo) August 21, 2014
Copwatchcop RT @joenewsman: Oakland demonstrators are holding mirrors up to the faces of police officers. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/tqBCDoX5aQ
— Copwatch (@Copwatch) August 21, 2014
Massive marches in Oakland to support #Ferguson, people hold up mirrors to cops: http://t.co/KGIsEFEKqH pic.twitter.com/V79zrqFQec
— SFGate.com (@SFGate) August 21, 2014
And a night of #Ferguson solidarity marches ends with free tamales at Oscar Grant Plaza. Sustain the movement. Tomorrow's in SF. #Oakland
— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) August 21, 2014
Maybe 25 people at the plaza & 50 OPD. Man yells at them: "there are like 3 motherfuckers here, what are you doing?"
— (@thehoopoe) August 21, 2014
"You darn piggies!" Yells 8-year old Brock as the police leaves the plaza
— (@thehoopoe) August 21, 2014
From #Oakland to #Ferguson, it's RIGHT TO REBEL! #nomore pic.twitter.com/dAJk8vaFhP
— Nova K. Tiller (@novaaat) August 21, 2014
#DangerPoliceInArea by @DreadScottArt. #AmadouDiallo to #MichaelBrown pic.twitter.com/0fbcAcpkT6" #NewJimCrow #GenocidalRealities
— Ray Geming (@RayGeming) August 21, 2014
Ferguson Cop Who Killed Mike Brown Shot More Bullets Than The Entire British Police Force Did Last Year http://t.co/tHPUuU6C5F
— Heather (@VideoCafeCnL) August 21, 2014
Stand in solidarity with the people of ferguson. March starts at un plaza.
The next Taser-free Berkeley organizing meeting.
Also see
PUBLIC FORUM: SHOULD BERKELEY POLICE USE TASERS ON THE PEOPLE OF BERKELEY?
We are proud to host Dennis Banks, Native American leader and co-founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to speak and present the documentary “A Good Day To Die.”
The folks who serve you your hot dogs and nachos at the Oakland Coliseum deserve respect! Many of them are longtime Oakland residents who’ve worked at the ballpark for 10, 20 or 30 years and count on their jobs for a stable income and health care.
But this year, a new company, Ovations, took over the food service operation. Instead of sitting down to negotiate a fair contract, Ovations is stalling, asking for take-aways, and offering unfair proposals.
*Seven months into bargaining, Ovations hasn’t even given us a proposal on health care.
*Ovations’ proposal on wages is a 25-cent raise over 3 years. That’s 8.3 cents a year.
*Ovations is also proposing to subcontract as many stands as they want, let managers do union workers’ jobs, and institute drug testing.
JOIN COLISEUM WORKERS for a march across the Coliseum parking lot to reach out to fans as they tailgate before a big game! Let Ovations know that they can’t come in from out of town and disrespect Oakland workers who’ve been on the job for years!
For questions or rides, contact Jessica Medina (jmedina@unitehere.org, 510-219-6358).
In solidarity,
UNITE HERE Local 2850
PEACE AND FREEDOM PARTY YEARLY POTLUCK PICNIC .
Last week’s event was a big success, so we’re doing it again. Come hang out with the people Occupying outside of Staples, advocating the Staples boycott. Expect great music and great conversation, and postcards to US mail to Staples telling them why you are boycotting. Maybe food too!
The US Postal Service has contracted out Post Offices to Staples stores, replacing living wage Postal Union jobs with min wage non-union Staples employees.
Let’s keep the pressure on and make sure students back at UC Berkeley and buying supplies know why they shouldn’t be purchasing stuff at Staples.
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
A film by Stephen Vittoria
Mumia Long Distance Revolutionary
A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal
Through prison interviews, archival footage, dramatic readings, as well as a potent chorus of voices, this riveting film explores Mumia’s life
before, during and after Death Row.
Mumia Abu-Jamal is an internationally celebrated writer and radio journalist who has devoted his life both inside and outside prison to resistance media.
He is the author of eight books and hundreds of columns, articles, and radio broadcasts; an organizer and inspiration for the prison lawyers movement where prisoners dedicate time to helping fellow prisoners; former member of the Black Panther Party, and supporter of Philadelphia’s MOVE organization of the 1970s which advocated green politics, expressed its opposition to technology and zoos, and supported animal rights. Mumia was framed for the death in 1981 of Philadelphia policeman, Daniel Faulkner, and has spent more than 30 years in prison, almost all of it in solitary confinement on Pennsylvania’s Death Row.
Mumia Long Distance Revolutionary is a powerful documentary that includes the story of the Philadelphia police crackdown of the MOVE organization in the late 70s. You can make your own connections between that event and more recent events in Ferguson, MO and elsewhere.
Frank Rizzo, Chief of Police, in Philadelphia at the time of the confrontations was quoted as saying, “The police department in Philadelphia could invade Cuba and win” and “What I’m saying is that we are now trained and equipped to fight wars.”
“He is Mumia Abu-Jamal on Death Row. No parole. Speaking from the depths of his soul, depths of his heart, depths of his mind of the sufferings of others, not even his own suffering, the sufferings of others.” –Cornel West
Discussion and Announcements will follow.
The Postal Service has put the Berkeley Post Office up for sale!!
The Postal Service outsourced Post Office services to Staples, replacing union jobs with low-paying, low benefit work.
And we’re fighting against both!
Come help us plan our next steps.
On July 29th, at our invite, Ralph Nader spoke on the steps of the Berkeley Post Office against privatization and corporatism. Watch and listen to his talk here.
We’ve began the “Don’t Shop at Staples” campaign with some awesome… what else? … postcards to send to Staples management! Here’s the front of the postcard. The campaign has been adopted by Postal Unions, the San Francisco Labor Council and has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, and has gone national!
All four Postal Unions have joined together to support maintaining full service, public Post Offices in every community, with expansion to include postal banking, and to oppose subcontracting and privatization of services. The California Federation of Teachers passed a resolution in support of opposition to Staples. Just recently the American Federation of Teachers, AFCSME and UNITE HERE did too.
Check out our correspondence with the President of the American Postal Workers Union, Mark Dimondstein. The APWU has been leading the charge against Staples.
For most of July the sidewalk in front of Staples was ‘occupied’ 24/7 by an intrepid band of San Francisco occupiers with solidarity and support from BPOD members distributing literature and convincing people not to shop at Staples. They’re back! Come hang out with them outside Staples at Durant & Shattuck.
And we need to be prepared if the Post Office announces a sale! The Advisory Commission on Historical Preservation came out with its report, recommending that sales of Historic Post offices be halted until the USPS conforms with historical preservation law. Here is our response. Also the Office of Inspector General’s report on the sale of Historic Post Offices came out recently – anything could happen now since Congress’ “request” that no historic Post Offices be sold until it had come out has been honored and no further Congressional request or mandate has come down. Come help us plan our response.
We have joined with other activists in Berkeley to put a ballot initiative on the ballot to rezone the Berkeley Post Office and other areas in the Historic District to prevent privatization, and also to insure a better Downtown Berkeley. We succeeded in getting the necessary signatures; it will be voted on in November, but Tom Bates and the City Council have nefarious plans to undermine our coalition.
Encouraging articles are still coming out about using Post Offices as banking facilities for the unbanked. The National Conference of Mayors recently endorsed Postal Banking. Pew Research held a day-long seminar on Postal Banking. The Postal unions and other groups have announced plans for a conference on postal banking in November.
We are planning our next event, ‘Jam the Sale.’ Spread the work and come help us out!
The Zoning Overlay Ordinance on Berkeley’s existing Historic Civic Center District, including our historic Post Office, has gained national attention. On August 27, 2014, the Planning Commission will vote on whether to forward the Ordinance to the City Council for consideration at the September 9, 2014 council meeting. The Zoning Overlay will save the Post Office, Old City Hall, and our historic Civic Center from commercial development.
The Mayor and Council have stated that they are ready to make the Zoning Overlay submitted by citizen initiative the law in Berkeley. The Commission must approve an Environmental statement and new use definitions before the Overlay can return to Council.
Show the Planning Commissioners That We Care.
Bring a Friend. Let’s Fill the Room!
Berkeley’s Historic Civic Center District is our Public Commons. Let’s protect it with appropriate zoning.
Planning Commission agenda for the 8/27 meeting.
pdf of entire Planning Commission 8/27 packet (103 pages)
Green Downtown & Public Commons Initiative
Designated as “Measure R”
Measure R on the November ballot will guarantee that our historic Civic Center – including the Main Post Office and Old City Hall – are reserved for public-serving uses, and that our Downtown is developed in concert with Berkeley’s values of equity, access and support for the environment.
Under Measure R, new developments
- meet high green building standards
- include affordable housing on site
- offer generous bike parking
- include parking for the disabled, car-sharing and electric vehicle charging
- guarantee jobs for Berkeley residents and fair wages for construction, maintenance, security and hotel workers.
- provide funding for public transportation, improvements to streets, sidewalks, parks and open spaces and for loans to small businesses
Measure R protects Our Civic Center as a public commons � in perpeetuity � preserving traditional uses that serve the common good succh as museums, libraries, government, non-profits, arts, live performance venues and farmer’s markets. No future Council can vote to allow exclusively private uses – ever.
In November vote “YES” on R for a Green, Equitable and Civic Downtown.
Don’t Buy School Supplies at Staples!
Meeting of the City of Oakland’s “Privacy and Data Retention Ad Hoc Advisory Committee” – open to the public.
When:
2nd & 4th Thursdays
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Where:
Council Chambers
Oakland City Hall
14th & Broadway
Read the announcement from the City of Oakland City Administrator’s Weekly Report (April 25, 2014):
This committee was created by City Council action during the discussions earlier in the year about the Port Domain Awareness Center (DAC). The goal of the DAC is to improve readiness to prevent, respond to and recover from major emergencies in the Oakland region and ensure better multi-agency coordination across the larger San Francisco Bay Area. The goal of the Privacy and Data Retention Policy is to ensure there are safeguards to protect against potential misuse of the data or violations of individuals’ privacy rights and civil liberties. The meeting is open to the public. For questions about the Ad Hoc Committee, please contact Joe DeVries, Assistant to the City
We need to show up to these meetings and pressure the City to adopt a privacy policy that makes privacy a priority, not only “security” or administrative convenience.
Bay Area Planning and Strategy Meeting
October Month Of Resistance to
Mass Incarceration, Police Terror,
Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation!
YOU ARE INVITED TO THE NEXT BAY AREA STRATEGY MEETING for the October Month of Resistance to Mass Incarceration, Police Terror, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation.
People in Ferguson have repeatedly stood up in righteous rebellion to stop police terror! They have refused to back down in the face of dogs, tear gas, guns, and tanks. They are fighting back and simply demanding justice for Michael Brown — demanding these cops stop murdering young Black men. Here in the Bay Area, people have taken to the streets day after day to demand justice for Michael Brown and the many other victims of police murder, locally and nationally. The determined struggle of people is what’s changed the terrain throughout the U.S. This struggle has reverberated internationally. And, right now is time to step up the struggle; to take it to a HIGHER level; to involve a greater breadth of society. These very serious demands�to namme, indict and jail the cops who killed these people — have to be met now, not next week or next year.
Look at the reality of America: 1 in 3 Black male children born after 2001 will spend some time in prison in his lifetime. The US has 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world’s prison population and 35% of the world’s female prisoners! 2 million immigrants have been deported in the last 6 years, with 400,000 in detention each year. The U.S. is the only country in the world that sentences adolescents, children, to spend the rest of their lives in prison. These and many other horrors make clear the level of resistance to mass incarceration, police terror, repression and the criminalization of a generation needs to be taken to a much higher level. THIS MUST STOP… AND THAT IS UP TO US. All that’s happened these last couple of weeks make urgently clear the need to seriously step up resistance and that mounting resistance is the only way things will change.
Who needs to be at this meeting?
IF you are treated like a suspect, a gang banger or drug dealer, just because of the color of your skin,
IF you, or a loved one, is one of the 2.4 million locked up, or in the clutches of criminal “Injustice”,
IF you or your family are targeted, or detained, or deported cuz you came from “Somewhere Else”,
OR, IF you just HATE how other people are treated, and want to END IT
Then�
You need to be at this meeting!
At this meeting we will plan out many events, including (but not limited to) Faith Community Weekend against Mass Incarceration on Oct 3,4 and 5th, the protests for “Not One More Deportation!” on October 13th, the stops in the Bay Area of Dr. Cornel West and the big demonstration in Oakland on October 22, along with cities all across the country – as one part of a making October 2014 as powerful as possible. The college campuses, faith community, neighborhoods, and the culture and art scene all need to be holding events and taking action in October… we will further strategize and plan this out, with the objective of October 2014 making clear tens of thousands are willing to stand up and speak out today to awaken and rally forth millions. We should invite one and all via email, Twitter, phone calls, Internet postings, ads and PSA’S. While there are different understandings of why this is happening and what should be done about it, we need to unite all those who agree this must end to act together in October 2014. October will give all those who want to stop these horrors a vehicle to be part of doing just that and the actions of tens of thousands of us in October will challenge millions more people to stop closing their eyes to these horrors and join the resistance to them.
- We cordially invite you to join us for the 35th Annual Xicana Moratorium Day: Displace Gentrification not OUR Hoods
Come and bring friends and family to enjoy a day at the park full of music, art, and community hosted by the youth of Xicana Moratorium Coaliton – CoatlNecalli. Dance and enjoy the beauty of Oakland while also finding out what is going on in our streets and how you could get involved in all the amazing movement work that is happening in our city.
5am – Sun Rise Ceremony
10-12pm – Aztect Danza Hosted by Danza Cuauhtonal
12-5pm – Festival
Ohlone Prayer, All Nation Drummers, Rey Lara, Ron San Miguel, Poor Magazine, Almas Fronterizas, 67 Suenos, Quebradita by Kreadores, Balet folklorico costa de Oro, La Ceiba Cumbia Band, Esai, Beats and Flows, Son Jarocho band – Tarimba, DJ Aztlan, and much more!
Kids Activities, Vendors, Free Food.
Why we continue holding Xicana Moratorium Day?
Displace Gentrification, Not Our Hoods
In 1970, over twenty-thousand Raza people filled the streets of LA to call for an end the War crimes in Vietnam that not only took a toll on Vietnamese lives, but also took the lives of Raza and other folks of color being disproportionately put on the front lines to die for this capitalist for profit country.� Chicana Moratorium Day called an end to the violence and crimes the U.S. government was committing abroad, but also called for an end to the violence, crime, and inhumane conditions that Raza and other communities of color were experiencing in barrios and ghettos all over the U.S. at the hands of police, the education system, the prison system and other arms of this capitalist system.� More than forty years later we gather to continue calling an end to the terrorist criminal acts of the U.S. Government over sees and here on our streets.
In 2014, U.S. military is no longer in Vietnam, but people of color continue to be heavily recruited into the military to take part in ongoing Western Expansion and its never ending greed for profit, power and land.� Today, U.S. military forcers play a lead role in the destruction of land, economy and lives of people in Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Philippines, Guam, Egypt, Syria, and the list can sadly continue for much too long.� While millions of people in the U.S. are homeless or have no access to quality affordable housing, food, health care, social services or quality education, all under the guise of lack of funding, an endless sources of wealth continues being poured on the daily into funding terrorist governments such as the Zionist killing machine of Israel, or into funding U.S. military operations to continue for profit wars around the world.�
Today, Western powers play a predominant role in carrying out the displacements of Third World people’s not only from their home countries, but also the displacement and separation of families that have taken refuge here within the U.S.� We could look at different places throughout the world and directly see the connection between displaced peoples and U.S. Involvement in this process.� We could look at the Philippines as one of those places where the U.S. government and military has had its hand in taking over land, resources and has controlled its government in the best interest of U.S. economic profit since 1898.� In 2014 the number one export from the Philippines is workers, particularly women, who often end up as low wage hotel workers, domestic workers and airport workers in the U.S. and in other nations across the globe.� Filipino people flee their homeland due to the continual violence at the hands of the U.S. trained and supported military, the U.S. funded and trained counterinsurgency to the Filipino resistance movements, and U.S. funded and controlled puppet governments that work to keep Filipinos landless and living in extreme poverty.�
When we move further west, we can see Palestine as another perfect example of displacement at the hands of this Government.� Mainstream media constantly justifies the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people at the hands of U.S. trained and funded Israeli military, but how could you justify 80% of the casualties at the hands of Israel being civilians, most of which are children and elders?� Let’s not forget the backyard of the U.S., Central America, where the U.S. has funded, trained and controlled both puppet governments and its military at many different junctures throughout the history of the United States.� The U.S. has caused so much instability and violence that today the violence in Honduras is comparable to the violence in Iraq during the peak time of the War.� This violence has caused thousands of children to flee their home countries and brave the dangerous trek up north just to have a chance at survival.
As Third World Survivors of Western capitalist expansion build roots in barrios and ghettos through out the U.S., this government continues to remind our people that our existence is a threat to the system that seeks to keep us as a disposable labor force.� When we try to build roots and create beauty in our communities, this system will always attempt to destabilize and uproot our people or dispose of them when they are in the way of economic profit. In the last decade we have seen this destabilization and uprooting come in the form of gentrification that with it brings racist laws and militarization of our communities that work to build fear amongst our people and criminalize our communities as a way to push us out.� San Francisco and Oakland are two prime examples of this gentrification.�
When you visit the San Francisco Mission today � one of San Francisco’s most highly gentrified neighborhoods � its as iif there was no semblance of a once predominantly Raza neighborhood with a rich culture.� The Mission today attempts to continue profiting off of the beautiful Raza culture, but the city has brought in gang injunctions that criminalize brown youth that once lived there, no loitering laws that specifically target homeless people, and condos that have made rents skyrocket and make housing no longer affordable for working class families.� Now white young professionals can enjoy the culture of the Mission, eat at fancy new restaurants, enjoy the fancy new clubs, and park their beamers at $5 an hour meters without having to fear that the people who once lived there will be roaming the streets.� � When you cross the bridge to Oakland, a very similar dynamic is taking place.� We have seen gang injunctions, no loitering laws, proposed youth curfews, proposed stop and frisk laws and increased budgets for the police department who we know are intended to push out people of color from the streets and neighborhoods of Oakland.� We have seen the condos and are seeing area specific plans like the West Oakland Specific Plan and the East Oakland Specific plan that attempt to “revitalize” and further develop areas to attract new residents that will bring with them more money and will attempt to displace working class communities of color from communities we have been long rooted in.
This long and ongoing history of displacement can cause anger and resistance towards this government, and for that reason, the U.S. has heavily funded their population control plan which takes the shape of prisons, detention centers, deportations, the heavy militarization of our streets, counter insurgency strategies here at home, and the heavy surveillance of its population.� In September, Oakland plans to host and support the funding of the 9th Annual Urban Shield conference, a training for SWAT and Police agencies that brings together local, national and global law enforcement agencies with defense industry contractors to provide training and introduce new weapons and suppression tactics to these agencies that will later be used to further militarize our streets.� Today prisons and detention centers have become for profit cages that force men, women and children to live in conditions that are so inhumane, that last year, 30,000 California prisoners engaged in sixty day hunger strike to demand basic human rights within these cages.� Today the U.S. Senate mocks the humanity of our people by supporting new legislation that would reverse federal law that protects Central American children from deportation if they face the threat of violence in their home country, and calling that bill the “HUMANE Act.”� This so called HUMANE Act would lead to the deportation of thousands of Central American children.
On the 35th annual Bay Area commemoration of the 1970 Chicano Moratorium Day we want to call attention to the displacement and gentrification we see in working class communities through out the country, but we also want to draw the connection of the different forms of displacement and terror that this country is causing through out the world.� We still call for a Moratorium on the war against indigenous people, third world people, against our land and against what every community should hold as their treasure � the Chhildren!� We ask that you all join us this year as we celebrate La Resistencia and we stand collectively to honor the struggle that we must continue upholding now more than ever!
“For 4 and a half minutes on Monday, at 4:30pm I want you to stop on the highway with your flashers on.” Mike Brown’s body sat. #Ferguson
— deray mckesson (@deray) August 30, 2014
“For 4 and a half minutes on Monday, at 4:30pm I want you to stop on the highway with your flashers on.” Mike Brown’s body sat. #Ferguson
— deray mckesson (@deray) August 30, 2014
Monday Nationwide the family are asking for a shut down of all freeways in USA. #Ferguson #Anonymous @YourAnonNews pic.twitter.com/SlvuVBcXEV
— occupy stockton (@greenthumb209) August 30, 2014
Edward Crawford, subject of @kodacohen‘s iconic #Ferguson photo, addresses the crowd. Same t-shirt. pic.twitter.com/K5wwBTQKQB
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 30, 2014
FERGUSON, Mo. — Activists on Saturday called for mass civil disobedience on the highways in and around this St. Louis suburb to protest the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer, with the leaders of one coalition encouraging supporters to stop their cars to tie up traffic on Labor Day.
…
Organizers at the rally called on demonstrators to drive on Interstate 70 and other area highways at 4:30 p.m. Monday, turn their hazard lights on and stop their vehicles for four and a half minutes to symbolize the four and a half hours that Mr. Brown’s body lay in the street.