Calendar
Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the weeks tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.
Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland
Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the week’s tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.
Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland
Protest at the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Conference
Sunday, May 19, 2013
11:30am-5:30pm
Moscone Center, 747 Howard Street, San Francisco
http://occupypsychiatry.net/occupyapa2013/130513OccupyAPANewsRelease.pdf
CONTACTS:
Matthew Morrissey (415) 722-6317 mattmorr21@yahoo.com
Jim Gottstein (907) 274-7686 jim.gottstein@psychrights.org
American Psychiatric Association Protest
May 19, 2013 — San Francisco
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2013
On May 19th, MindFreedom International, the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights®), and the California Client Action Workgroup, organized under the Occupy Psychiatry banner, will protest of the American Psychiatric Association’s 2013 Annual Conference at the Moscone Center, 747 Howard St, San Francisco, California from 11:30 am until 5:30 pm.
The American Psychiatric Association is being charged with serious human rights abuses, coercing people to undergo brain-damaging psychiatric drugs and electroshock, psychiatric profiling, scientific fraud, and psychiatric labeling, including the already discredited Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) to be released at the conference.
Psychiatric survivor, psychotherapist and MindFreedom Board Member Matthew Morrissey will speak and MC the protest rally and demonstration which will feature the following speakers:
§ Leonard Roy Frank, psychiatric survivor and editor.” As psychiatrist Thomas Szasz wrote in 2008, ‘Modern psychiatry — with its Diagnostic and Statistical Manuals of nonexisting diseases and their coercive cures — is a monument to quackery on a scale undreamed of in the annals of medicine.’ Now is the time for the people to hold the American Psychiatric Association and its members accountable for their crimes against humanity.”
§ Ted Chabasinski, psychiatric survivor and lawyer, who was electroshocked for experimental purposes when he was six years old. “The increased labeling and drugging of children, and the way the new DSM puts everyone at risk for being called ‘mentally ill’ must be stopped. Everyone must realize that they too can be called crazy, not just those who have already been dragged into and trapped by the system.”
§ Chaya Grossberg, psychiatric survivor and healer. “Rather than being a source for healing, the American Psychiatric Association has damaged the souls and bodies of millions of Americans.”
§ Michael Cornwall, PhD, licensed therapist and human rights activist. “The profession of psychiatry lives in a collective state of denial. Psychiatrists are true believers with a religious fundamentalist type of fervor that allows them to routinely injure, and frequently hasten the death of those they are sworn to heal. But the reckoning is upon them. Their blatant human rights violations will not stand the light of day.”
§ James B. (Jim) Gottstein, Esq., psychiatric survivor and lawyer. “Hundreds of thousands of people are locked up and drugged or electroshocked against their will every day under the auspices of the American Psychiatric Association. These are human rights abuses on a massive scale in violation of United States and International Law. The American Psychiatric Association must be held accountable for its role in these horrors.”
There will also be an open microphone for protestors who want to speak. At least portions of the protest will be live-streamed at ustream.tv on the Occupy Psychiatry Channel, http://bit.ly/10kf0cS.
On Friday, May 17th, from 7 to 10 pm, along with protest preparations, there will be a free/donation based screening of Daniel Mackler’s new film, Coming off Psych Drugs: A Meeting of the Minds, at the beautiful Goforaloop Gallery, 1458 San Bruno Ave., San Francisco.
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Occupy4Prisoners @Occupy4Prisoner
Hey! A bunch of rad folks are having a strategy mtg to discuss supporting people in CA prisons as they prepare to go on hunger strike! (1/2)
Occupy4Prisoners @Occupy4Prisoner
Hunger strike support mtg: Mon 5/20 6-8p, 499 14th Street, Oak (Siegel & Yee)
Come to the very first session of The Politics of Debt reading group on Monday, May 20th at 6:30!
Darwin Bond-Graham will help kick off the discussion and present on public debt as it relates to our personal lives and public institutions. Together we will help shed light on the variety of ways that the debt economy subjects individuals and communities to moral and financial burden. After the initial talk we will break into a general group discussion and lay out the vision for the class.
Members of the SF Commune and Students at San Francisco State University are calling for a direct action at 2PM on Tuesday, May 21st. Organizers say that the action, which will take place on Malcom X Plaza on the SF State campus, is a response to the brutalization and detainment of five individuals who were arrested while visiting students in the SF State dorms on Thursday evening.
More information, photos, video via Political Fail Blog.
We are less than a month away from PFC Bradley Manning’s court martial which begins on June 3rd, more than 3 years after his initial arrest and incarceration. We will be doing a mass mailing to bring in as much support as we can right before his trial begins. Help us in our office stuff letters and eat pizza to save Bradley!
BRADLEY MANNING, a 25-year-old, openly gay, US Army intelligence analyst is facing life in prison and has been held in pre-trial confinement for over 3 years. He endured torture and solitary confinement for the first 10 months of his incarceration. He is accused of sharing with Wikileaks: the “Collateral Murder” video of the killing of civilians and journalists by a US helicopter in Iraq, the Guantanamo Files, the Afghan War Diary, the Iraq War Logs, & revealing US diplomatic cables. In short, he’s been charged with blowing the whistle on war crimes & telling us the truth.
Rescheduled from the 4th Monday of the month, May 27th.
2313 San Pablo Ave, Oakland CA
The Occupy Oakland (OO) Finance Committee works inclusively to make our process transparent, our membership requirements clear, and to develop clear communication and financial reporting available to associated groups and to OO as a whole.
Our commitments to Occupy Oakland as a whole:
We commit to report back to the GA. We commit to regularly updating our page onoccupyoakland.org with monthly bank statements, meeting notes, summaries of check reimbursements and general OO Finance committee updates. We will not post or make public any sensitive or confidential information including the names of donors or check recipients.
Our membership structure:
Our work demands solid accountability. We are tasked with acting as the liaison between our supporting organization and OO associated groups seeking to be reimbursed for funds spent, check disbursements, sending thank you cards to donors, printing and making available OO general fund bank statements.
Because of the sensitivity of our tasks, our committee demands a high level of commitment and responsibility from our organizers.
To serve this end we have adopted a model utilizing different levels of commitment and expectations. There are three levels of involvement:
OO Finance Committee Observer: If you are interested in understanding the functioning of the OO Finance Committee, or have questions related to OO finances you are welcome to attend a finance committee meeting to observe and ask questions at the end of the meeting.
OO Finance Committee Supporter: You are welcome to attend meetings to observe and ask questions, give suggestions or make requests during appropriate times during the meeting. You can sign up to receive email updates that let you know how you can plug in.
OO Finance Committee Member: You lend regular support, take on tasks, and are a voting member in our meetings. To become a member, you must have attended at least three meetings and fulfill regular responsibilities.
OO Finance Committee Meeting Ground Rules
The following list of common ground rules from various equity, diversity, and social justice organizations and groups. The OO Finance Committee follows in strict adherence to these guidelines and any observer, supporter or member that cannot observe the following practices will be asked to leave.
1. Listen actively: respect others when they are talking.
2. Speak from your own experience instead of generalizing (“I” instead of “they,” “we,” and “you”).
3. Do not be afraid to respectfully challenge one another by asking questions, but refrain from personal attacks — focus on ideas.
4. Participate to the fullest of your ability, but make space for others participation — community growth depends on inclusion
5. Instead of invalidating somebody else’s story with your own spin on her or his experience, share your own story and experience.
6. The goal is not to agree, it is to gain a deeper understanding and improve our work.
7.Threats of physical force, intimidation, and/or any type of harassment will not be tolerated.
8. Be conscious of body language and nonverbal responses which can be as disrespectful as words.
(all ground rules are subject to the sensitivities and needs of the people participating in each meeting)
*Recent critical analysis of common ground rules have resulted in a collective reconsideration of their role. This is because, too often, ground rules that are put in place, whether by an educator/facilitator or by participants, privilege the already-privileged groups in a dialogical experience. When we consider who is protected by ground rules like “do not express anger,” it becomes apparent that, intentionally or not, they protect the participants representing privileged groups.
We also analyze how our ground rules that might ultimately support the status quo by providing safety and comfort for those who, for the sake of their own learning, most desperately need to be made to feel uncomfortable. We must constantly challenge ourselves to make sure that the discussions and dialogues taken place within OOFC meetings do not further oppress historically oppressed people.
A reading group focused on graeber’s Debt. The plan is to have this be a long discussion covering about a chapter a month so that it will be accessible for those with other commitments. We will have our first meeting on Wednesday may 22 at 7pm. We’re meeting at Research on Collective Art at 2331 international Blvd.
A Film by Darryl Cherney and Mary Laz Thomson.
Free Outdoors Event/Action.
Please gather at Union Square to hear some speakers and share our bag lunch exchange! Kids performance art! Political music!
We will march to Justin Herman Plaza where we will have more speakers including well known activists in the anit GMO movement.
Come Occupy the Farm Saturday night, and let’s camp out under the stars and stay through to Sunday! There will be free food, workshops, music, kids activities, celebration, and farming, of course!
Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the weeks tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.
Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland
Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the week’s tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.
Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland
Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the week’s tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.
Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland
Join us! All Are Welcome!
You Are Not a Loan! Or Alone.
We held our second Debtor’s Assembly (watch a video from our first one in February), May 18th in San Francisco.
We are planning our next general get-together wherein our five current subgroups: Direct Action, Debtor’s Union, Outreach and Education, Alternative Institutions, and Research, will meet, organize, plan and report back. It will be held on June 1, 518 Valencia St, near the Mission St. BART in San Francisco 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
We will be discussing our next major actions.
Join us! You Are Not a Loan! Or Alone.
Strike Debt Bay Area, loosely affiliated with Strike Debt (check out their latest video) and Occupy, is dedicated to educating people about and organizing resistance to debt, and finding alternatives to our current system of debt slavery.