Calendar

9896
Sep
15
Sat
Benefit for Decarcerate Alameda County – Top / Rave @ Elbo Room
Sep 15 @ 9:30 pm – 11:45 pm
65074
Sep
17
Mon
Occupy Silicon Valley @ The Internet
Sep 17 all-day

AN ONLINE OCCUPATION
[OR A DIGITAL VACANCY]

WE
SHUT DOWN
BIG TECH
FOR A
DAY

Big Tech competes for one thing: our attention. They exploit our basic human instincts in the pursuit of unprecedented financial and cultural control.

Facebook claims to connect us, but promotes individualism to its most divisive extreme.

Amazon endorses endless consumption, prodding people to milk mother earth for all she’s worth.

Apple infiltrates every strata of our lives, with the HomePod to the Apple Watch, ensuring its role in everything we do.

Google outsources our desires, fears, and thoughts, narrowing the great mystery of life into a manipulating machine.

We are tethered, mind and body, to these technologies and the companies behind them.

What do we give up when we allow four corporations to define our human existence—our socialization, our storytelling, our sharing? How deep will they go when so far, we’ve been complicit in letting them dig?

Enough is enough.

What to do (scroll down)

64948
Sep
18
Tue
Socialist Night School: What Exactly Is Neoliberalism? @ East Bay Community Space
Sep 18 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Over the past few years the term “neoliberalism” has become ubiquitous. But what is it exactly? Is it an ideology that espouses “free markets,” a political project to crush the labor movement, or an economic era of globalization and financialization? What is the relationship of neoliberalism to capitalism itself? How can democratic socialists best fight back against neoliberalism? Please join us as we grapple with these questions and many others!

Required Readings

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

RSVP

 

 

65080
Sep
19
Wed
Punks With Lunch
Sep 19 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

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.

65005
Sep
20
Thu
Oil Pipelines Connecting Resistance: Panel Discussion
Sep 20 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Info/RSVP

Join Idle No More SF Bay, with the support of Stand, for Oil Pipelines Connecting Resistance: Extraction, Pipelines, and Refineries. This will be a powerful discussion about how resistance to oil pipelines, oil tankers, and refinery expansions connects frontline communities in Canada and the US who are rising to stop climate change.

Moderator

Isabella Zizi member of Idle No More SF Bay and organizer with Stand

Panelists

Charlene Aleck, indigenous leader who holds the Sacred Trust Initiative portfolio and works with the STI team to oppose the expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline and protect TWN lands and waters for future generations.

Cedar George-Parker, 21-year-old member of the Tsleil Waututh Nation and Tulalip Tribes from the Salish Sea. Recently his nation won a victory in the courts against Kinder Morgan to protect the Burrard Inlet. He has travelled to help Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups stick up for the land and the people, worked with United Nations, and done divestment work

Dr. Melinda Micco (Seminole/Creek/Choctaw) is member of Idle No More SF Bay and a researcher and author who focuses on multiracial identity in American Indian and African American communities. She also produced the  documentary Killing the 7th Generation: Reproductive Abuses against Indigenous Women.

Shoshana Wechsler is a founding mother of the Sunflower Alliance, a group dedicated to environmental justice and fossil fuel resistance in the Bay Area and a lifelong grassroots activist.

John Gioia is a Contra Costa County Supervisor whose District includes the Richmond Chevron Refinery and a member of the board the Bay Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). He recently returned from Alberta and British Columbia as a member of a fact-finding delegation on the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline and the Alberta tar sands.

Space is limited to 75 seats. Reserved seats will be up front for elders, first come first serve. If you aren’t able to make it, Stand.earth will be Facebook live streaming.

 

65077
Sep
22
Sat
Bystander Training: Rapid Response to ICE @ Downtown Oakland Library
Sep 22 @ 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

65058
Call Me Phaedra: The Life & Times of Movement Lawyer Fay Stender @ African American Museum & Library
Sep 22 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

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.

65024
First Aid and Trauma Response Training @ Joyce Gordon Gallery
Sep 22 @ 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Image may contain: 1 person, text

65076
Sep
23
Sun
DSA: Knock Doors for Housing Justice & Yes on Prop 10 @ Mclymonds Mini Park
Sep 23 @ 11:00 am – 3:00 pm

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.

 

 

65081
Save People’s Park Rally @ People's Park
Sep 23 @ 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm

65006
Film Screenings: Dystopia Down Under: Stare Into The Lights My Pretties/iRony @ Omni Commons
Sep 23 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Oakland Privacy Movie Night

Come and celebrate the big win at BART at Oakland Privacy’s Movie Night.

Two great films from the land down under, free snacks, and a bit about how we’re wiping out secret surveillance across the Bay.

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.

64961
Sep
24
Mon
Occupy Whole Foods @ Whole Foods Berkeley
Sep 24 @ 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
As Whole Foods continues to exploit and kill millions of animals, we are occupying the Berkeley Whole Foods for an entire week from 7am until 10pm. We will be doing outreach, running workshops, playing music and taking nonviolent action together. We will end this week-long occupation on Saturday September, 29th with a dramatic demonstration. We will put pressure on Whole Foods to show us the farms and give customers the right to know!

“As an act of protest, occupation is a strategy often used by social movements and other forms of collective social action in order to take and hold public and symbolic spaces, buildings, critical infrastructure such as entrances to train stations, shopping centers, university buildings, squares, and parks.”

Whole Foods claims to treat their animals humanely by following the “5 step Animal Welfare Rating.” But we know this is far from the truth. Our investigations inside their farms have found animals without access to food and water, hens rotting to death and turkeys so densely crowded in indoor sheds that they could not move.

On their website, Whole Foods claims to be committed to transparency, yet they’ve refused to talk to us when we asked them if they supply from factory farms. They went as far as arresting two nonviolent activists simply because they asked where Whole Foods animal products are coming from.

You can help us demand a response from Whole Foods by joining this nonviolent occupation!

WEAR: Whatever you like!

ACCESSIBILITY: This event will include walking which will be done at a moderate pace. If you have questions or need support to attend this event, email sfbay-protest [at] directactioneverywhere.com.

WHO: Everyone welcome! If you’re nervous about protesting, you can come observe or hold a sign quietly. All forms of participation are appreciated!

Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) is a grassroots network of animal rights activists. Through open rescue, demonstration, and disruption, we are creating a world where every animal is safe, happy and free.

DxE cultivates a welcoming and supportive community. We ask that all those who attend our events (online and offline) respect our Code of Conduct which can be reviewed at http://dxecodeofconduct.wikispaces.com/Code+of+Conduct.

To learn about our vision, goals, strategy and more check out the San Francisco Bay Area chapter Activist Handbook here: https://dxe.io/sfbayhandbook

If you have any questions or concerns, please email sfbay [at] directactioneverywhere.com.

65099
Sep
25
Tue
Cancel the ICE Contract: Dreamforce @ Moscone Center
Sep 25 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am

Image may contain: text

 

Last week, one of the largest consulting and management firms in the world cut ties with ICE. McKinsey and Company showed just how easy it is to stay true to its values. McKinsey’s contract did not deal directly with immigration enforcement but the company still took a stance stating they, “will not, under any circumstances, engage in any work, anywhere in the world, that advances or assists policies that are at odds with our values.”

McKinsey’s move to cancel their ICE contract comes amid growing outcry over company’s contracts with ICE, including more than 100,000 people signing petitions and participating in-person protests at Salesforce, Amazon, and Northeastern University.

Meanwhile, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, has claimed since the company’s contract with CBP does not deal directly with activities at the US-Mexico border, Salesforce will not drop their contract.

Facebook event and more info

Demand letter

65091
POSTPONED: Sex Worker Solidarity: Come Out & Speak Against Bad Laws in Oakland @ Oakland City Hall, Oscar Grant Plaza
Sep 25 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED. THE ITEM WILL NOT BE TAKEN UP BY THE COUNCIL THIS DAY.

Council Person Abel Guillen is proposing the Nordic Model for East Oakland otherwise known as End Demand legislation. The law would target clients, thereby creating a smaller pool of paying clients. This is the last thing we need while we are reeling from FOSTA/SESTA.

Every time this kind of bad legislation is put into law, anywhere in the world, it causes more violence against sex workers and unsafe working conditions. We need folks to come pack the meeting and fax City Council before hand at https://tribunus.typeform.com/to/ABrd2T

Accessibility info – This is at City hall – on the 3rd floor, there is an elevator up to the 3rd floor, in terms of scents, it is City Hall, so it’s not scent free

65033
Sep
26
Wed
Intro to SURJ Meeting @ Movement Strategy Center
Sep 26 @ 6:45 pm – 9:00 pm

Want to get involved with SURJ Bay Area? Come learn about our current work and activities. SURJ moves white people to act for justice, with passion and accountability, as part of a multi-racial majority.

64885
Organizing in the Gone City: Tech & the Dark Side of Prosperity
Sep 26 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

ORGANIZING IN THE GONE CITY
A conversation with Dick Walker on his latest book,
Pictures of a Gone City: Tech and the Dark Side of Prosperity
in the San Francisco Bay Area

Join LeftRoots and the The Center for Political Education for an
evening with radical geographer Dick Walker. He will be joined by on-the-ground organizers against gentrification, displacement, and exploitation by the tech industry in the Bay Area, including:

• Vanessa Moses, of Causa Justa Just Cause
• Alex Tom, of Chinese Progressive Association
• Divya Sundar, of ASATA – Alliance of South Asians Taking Action

The San Francisco Bay Area is a jewel in the crown of capitalism—the tech capital of the world and a gusher of wealth from the Silicon Gold Rush. The Bay boasts of being the Left Coast, home of green cities, and the best place for workers in the USA. So, what could be wrong?

Join us to examine the dark side of this success: overheated, exploding inequality, and severe environmental damage—and how Pictures of a Gone City can help us build power and win in these changing and challenging times.

Dick Walker is one of those rare scholars who helps us understand the world in order to change it. A professor emeritus of geography at UC Berkeley, he has long been a resource for Bay Area activists seeking to understand where we live and work, its local dynamics and global context. Pictures of a Gone City—sweeping in scope and exquisitely detailed—examines the political economy and class structure of the region; displacement, internal migration and the growth of its cities; and its history of environmental and political organizing.

Wheelchair accessible.

For more information, email bayareacc@leftroots.net or center@politicaleducation.org

65032
Sep
27
Thu
Make AB 617 Really Work for Impacted Communities @ Byron Sher Auditorium
Sep 27 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

The California Air Resources Board takes testimony this week on the new state Community Emissions Reduction Program, established by Assembly Bill 617.  The CARB board will decide whether to adopt their staff’s “blueprint,” and will set the communities receiving emissions reduction plans and requirements for the first year.  Your important testimony could make all the difference between a weak, inequitable program and one that lives up to its promise.

  • Ask the Board to include a longer list of communities receiving a Community Emission Reduction Plan, adding RichmondEast Oakland, Southeast Los Angeles, East Coachella, and others.
  • Ask the Board to clean up oil refineries, implement zero emission transportation, address cumulative impacts from small stationary sources, and start a plan to Phase Down Oil Refineries.

What exactly is AB 617?

AB 617, the “Community Air Protection Act” was adopted in the summer of 2017 as a companion bill—and justification—for AB 398, which extended the much-protested state cap-and-trade program.  This greenhouse gas trading program allows big polluters to pay to pollute, instead of directly cleaning up fossil fuels in impacted communities.  AB 617, its intended antidote, is supposed to cut toxics and smog “co-pollutants.”  These are emitted at the same time as greenhouse gases when fossil fuels are burned or evaporated in industry and transportation, especially in most impacted communities of color.

Now that AB 617 is in place, environmental justice organizations that first opposed it are working to get as much pollution cleanup as they can.  Some 617 concepts do include important measures community members have long sought, such as community-level plans to cut cumulative stationary, transportation, and other emissions.  But here’s the problem:  only ten communities in the state are proposed to get any plan the first year, and only seven of these would get an emission reduction plan.  (The rest get only air monitoring plans!)   This is not enough: dozens of seriously impacted communities need such cleanup.

In the Bay Area, we’re very happy that West Oakland was chosen to receive an emission reduction plan.  But East Oakland and Richmond were left out!  And in southern California, Southeast Los Angeles was also passed over.

What do environmental justice groups want?

Community Selection – Add Community Emission Reduction Plan (CERP) for ► Richmond ► East Oakland ► Southeast LA.

  • East Coachella is also seeking an emissions reduction plan.  This is a rural community and coalition partner in the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA), a part of the South Coast Air Basin.  Heavily impacted rural communities frequently are left out of receiving enough monitoring and pollution reduction measures.
  • The state list should include far more than seven communities for emissions plans.  Dozens of communities needing cleanup throughout the state have sought emissions reduction plans.

State Blueprint – Need Oil Industry Requirements:

  • Best Available Control Technology (BACT) for existing Refinery Catalytic Cracking units—to drastically reduce deadly particulate matter responsible for thousands of additional deaths.
  • Replace massive, polluting old refinery boilers & heaters to meet Best Available Control Technology (BACT) standards.
  • Stop expanding oil refineries.
  • Develop a plan to phaseout oil refineries by 2050.
  • 2,500-foot buffer zone between oil extraction sites and neighbors.

 

 

JOIN US ON AMTRAK!  Capitol Corridor #522 to Sacramento:  Oakland: 6:25; Emeryville: 6:34; Berkeley: 6:38; Richmond: 6:45; Martinez: 7:11; Sacramento: 8:25 AM

 

Communities for a Better Environment handout w/ graphs

65098
No DAC For BART – The Suburban Meeting @ Pittsburg City Hall
Sep 27 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

On September 13, BART unanimously adopted a surveillance transparency ordinance, the 6th Bay Area entity to do so and the first transit agency in the country. Thanks to you, there will be no more secret surveillance on BART. But BART still has plans for enhanced security and has scheduled a meeting in the suburbs. What BART does affects all of its riders, so your voice should be heard – even if they make you travel a long way to do it. Pittsburg City Hall, to be exact.

Free shuttle from the Pittsburg Center BART station.

65094
Beer and Roses: DSA Labor Social @ Telegraph Beer Garden
Sep 27 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Join East Bay DSA’s Labor Committee for their regular Beer and Roses Social!

Hang out with other members who are interested in the labor movement, hear about what’s happening in the East Bay DSA Labor Committee, and learn how you can get involved!

 

65079
Vigil for Marcellus Toney
Sep 27 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

On September 27 it will be one year since OPD brutally murdered Marcellus Toney, a Black man who had gotten into a car accident. We will meet to honor his memory and provide support to his wife.

Here is more information about the murder:
https://oaklandnorth.net/2017/11/09/protestors-demand-answers-to-death-of-man-tased-by-oakland-police/

For more event information:
http://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/

65086