What can we do to have a real voice in political issues?
Neighborhood assemblies:
the possibility of direct democracy
Lessons from People’s Assemblies in Jackson, MS
and Cuba’s Municipal Assemblies
with Steve Martinot, neighborhood activist and Berkeley Planning Commissioner
Why do important issues never seem to get resolved?
� Affordable housing
� An end to rent increases and rent-gouging displacement
� Shelter if not housing for the homeless
� Policing that serves people rather than impose social control
� An end to industrial and infrastructure pollution
These issues become endless issues because we give them to people who are not effected by them – the elite we elect too speak for us, but are not us.
What would give us a voice in our own affairs?
� Local assemblies in which to discuss among ourselves what to do.
� Neighborhood assemblies in which to make our own autonomous decisions
� Community Councils that would bring together the decisions of neighborhood assemblies
Where do we see this kind of system working? In Jackson, Mississippi, and in Cuba, in its system of Municipal Assemblies. Cuba’s local assemblies are legislative for neighborhoods and cities. Composed of people elected from neighborhoods, they are composed of delegates representing 100 to 200 people. These local assemblies make policy on real issues: city maintenance, land use, housing, labor disputes, and sports facilities.
Their meetings are open and permit dialogue between people and delegates. People are not limited to “comments,” as in Berkeley. The delegates live in the neighborhoods and environments about which they pass measures.
Please join us on January 27, West Berkeley Library, to learn about neighborhood assemblies, Cuba’s Municipal Assemblies, and the possibility for “direct democracy.”
Steve Martinot has been a union and community organizer, lecturer at the Center for Interdisciplinary Programs at SFSU, and written extensively on the structure of racism and white supremacy in the US, as well as on corporate economics and culture.
How do we approach the challenging conversations in our lives, whether it’s about confederate flags, Donald Trump, cultural appropriation, Palestine/Israel, or even just racism and racial justice in general?
This workshop is an opportunity to dive in much deeper with structured time to practice a range of difficult conversations around highly-charged racial issues. We will be sharing some basic skill-building tools in how to approach conversations, and then explore scenarios relevant to the lives of participants. This will include examination of some of the ways that internalized sexism can impact our courageous speaking capacities.
Small group work, role-plays, and Theater of the Oppressed techniques will support seeing tough communication blocks in a new light. We’ll try out what feels challenging, in a relatively low-stakes and supportive environment, allowing ourselves time to debrief, reflect, and learn from each other.
Tickets are sliding scale $15 – $25. No one turned away for lack of funds. Contact basebuilding@surjbayarea.o
Accessibility Information
The space is wheelchair accessible. We ask that you do your best to arrive at the event scent/fragrance free to keep the space as low-scent as possible to support people with chemical and scent sensitivities – please see https://
From Mass Incarceration to Restorative Justice: How Contra Costa County is Developing the Blue Print for Criminal Justice Reform
Presented by the ACLU’s Berkeley/North East Bay Chapter
The Berkeley/North East Bay chapter of the ACLU is pleased to present a Criminal Justice Reform panel with newly appointed District Attorney Diana Becton and Public Defenders Ali Saidi and Jeff Landau. Topics will include the current state of criminal justice reform in Contra Costa County and D.A. Becton’s holistic approach for future reform including dismantling the school to prison pipeline for juvenile offenders and bail reform. This is a great opportunity for all who are interested in criminal justice reform to meet those who will be leading the way.
This event is also the Berkeley/North East Bay chapter’s Annual Meeting and Chapter Board Election.
For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. The ACLU protects your freedom through a nationwide network of staffed offices in every state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The Berkeley/North East Bay Chapter is active in the North East Region of the San Francisco Bay (California, USA), including Albany, Berkeley, Crockett, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Hercules, Kensington, Pinole, Richmond, Rodeo, Montalvin Manor and San Pablo.
Please join us for our regular biweekly meeting of the Sunflower Alliance. We’ll discuss ongoing campaigns and plans for the future. Newcomers and old friends welcome — we need your participation and your voice. Come early to share a potluck lunch!
potluck lunch: 12:30PM
meeting: 1 – 3 PM
Come out to connect with DSA, learn more about our Medicare for All campaign, meet your neighbors, and join us for a political discussion!
Raise your voice, rouse your body, and move to the rhythms of the highly spirited Dance Chants and smooth jazz of Humanistic on Sunday, the 28th of January. Calpulli Huey Papalotl, a Danza Mexica and cultural circle open the days cultural jamboree with danza and songs to honor the fight for justice for all immigrants. Danza Mexica,a vibrant meditation in movement, connects the dancers to the Cosmos and to their Indigenous Ancestors through the movements of their bodies, accompanied by the beat of the Huehuetl, the Ancient drum.
The opening ceremony will set the stage for Humanistic, a diverse soulful jazz band with a flare for funk. The group features international artist, Otoe Mori on the saxophone, Greg German on drums, and Vince Khoe on keys. Grab a preview of their music here. Poetry by local artist Pennie Opal Plant will lead us to the highly energetic finale featuring Dancechant, a unique gathering of 12 musicians who cultivates love, joy, and community with simple meaningful chants and melodic phrases that invite listeners to join in and sing and dance along with the band.
The cultural workers of Artists for Humanity are performing to raise funds for the Bay Area Bond Fund, a project of the Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC).
You can support men and women targeted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) due to their citizenship status. ICE detainees at the West County Detention Facility in Richmond are not provided legal counsel if they cannot afford a lawyer. and often times, due to a backlog in the court system, wait years for a hearing. Imagine being forced to sit behind bars, unable to work, isolated from family and friends, and too poor to afford an attorney to pay for bail. The average bond of $3,411, is often times an impossible sum for detainees to raise. According to CIVIC, immigrants who secure bond during their case and find legal representation are about 8 times more likely to win their cases than those who remain incarcerated and unrepresented.
We need a revolving Bond Fund now! You can be a part of the movement to end the isolation and help build the Bond Fund to get our residents out of detention and back into society with family, friends and co-workers. Share out!
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 3 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 3:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months, once Daylight Savings Time springs forward we tend to assemble at 4 PM).
On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 2 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over five years! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally. Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.
At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.
General Assembly Standard Agenda
Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.
Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area
San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv
Transit Equity Day is a collaborative effort of several organizations and unions to promote public transit as a civil right and a strategy to combat climate change.
At a digital townhall on January 28th, hear from worker and community leaders as the Labor Network for Sustainability and its partners prepare for Transit Equity Day on February 5th.
On that day we will honor Rosa Parks’ February 4th birthday and the Civil Rights movement by dedicating Transit Equity Day to lift up the rights of all people to high-quality public transportation powered by clean/renewable energy.
The Sunday evening conversation at the video townhall (the weekend before Super Bowl Sunday) will highlight the importance of transit equity. You’ll hear why public transit is important to everyone and learn of the local and state campaigns that are advancing the rights of workers and communities. You’ll understand how public transit improves the quality of life of our communities and confronts the climate crisis.
“Memories of our lives, or our works and our deeds will continue in others.” —Rosa Parks
Sponsoring organizations:
Amalgamated Transit Union, Jobs with Justice, Institute for Policy Studies, Chainbreaker Collective, The LEAP, Labor Community Strategy Center, Americans for Transit, Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Partnership for Working Families, OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, Labor Network for Sustainability
Endorsements:
Greenpeace, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, People’s Action
800 people illegally occupy an old movie theater in Barcelona in order to screen a documentary. They rename the old building after a girl who committed suicide in 2011: Cinema Patricia Heras. Who was that girl? Why did she kill herself and what does the city have to do with it? That’s exactly what the squatting action is about: letting everyone know the truth about one of the worse corruption cases in Barcelona, the dead city.
More information:
https://roarmag.org/
Trailer:
https://
Directed Xavier Artigas & Xapo Ortega. Associates of the filmmakers will be here to answer questions about the film’s subject matter.
Doors at 6pm, film at 6:30pm. $5 donation, no one turned away. Free popcorn!
OccupyForum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
Taking Stock of our Actions to Defend Immigrants:
Group discussion and planning
But it is important to realize that the attacks on immigrants have aroused widespread, diverse and potentially powerful opposition. They include activist groups, churches and faith groups, labor unions, lawyers, and some progressive, especially local, politicians, and immigrant groups themselves.
Last week, in response to threats by ICE to initiate raids and mass roundups in the Bay Area, two demonstrations were held at the ICE headquarters at 630 Sansome. On Thursday it was a coalition of political actors from Refuse Fascism, Occupy, Code Pink and other groups. On Friday it was a convergence of religious forces initiated by the Jewish community. It included activists from Faith in Action and the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. More people plan to protest on Monday. Each of these groupings brings with them their own strengths and weaknesses, but all are essential and important in forging a broad defense of immigrants.
What strategies do these groups bring to the struggle, what are their differences and their similarities? Can they collaborate and overlap, even as they work independently?
Let’s meet and kick around some ideas about this. We see two areas where the movement to stop ICE can be immediately assisted:
1. Keep up a regular protest presence at ICE calling upon different sections of the community to take the lead in doing this and,
2. Develop closer coordination, and information sharing, between the different pro-immigrant forces in the field.
Time will be allotted for announcements. Donations to OccupyForum to cover
costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
Critical Resistance invites you and your community group/organization to join us.
One block from 12th St BART. Wheelchair accessible.
RSVP today to join Critical Resistance and the Stop Urban Shield Coalition for a community organization meeting to discuss next steps and immediate targets for the Stop Urban Shield campaign. Learn how you and your organization can fight back against Urban Shield and make 2018 our most powerful year yet. We will also be sharing findings from our Stop Urban Shield People’s Report.
Sheriff Ahern will be submitting his application to host Urban Shield in February and we’re ready to get loud and powerful!
Please share this invitation with your membership and staff. This is an event specially meant for organizations and their members. Healthworkers, EMTs, and San Francisco organizations especially encouraged to join.
Join a youth-led and youth -organized rally to show Phil Tagami and the City of Oakland that the youth will not stand for coal in their city. Youth will be there to make some noise and oppose coal in the Oakland Bulk and Over-sized Terminal.
Tagami, developer of the Oakland Bulk and Oversize Terminal, is suing the city of Oakland for blocking his plan to export coal. The City Council unanimously voted to block the coal terminal to protect the health and safety of Oakland residents, especially the residents of West Oakland, where coal trains would have spewed toxic coal dust on their way to the port.
A three-day trial over the lawsuit ended January 19 without a clear signal from Judge Vince Chhabria as to how he will rule. Chhabria’s ruling is not expected until after he has had a chance to review post-trial briefs and other papers to be filed by the parties in the coming weeks and holds a final hearing tentatively set for March 28.
In the meantime, the fight against coal in Oakland continue
Start at Street Academy 417 29th St, Oakland
March on Broadway to Oakland City Hall
Hosted by New Voices are Rising
On January 31, we’re sharing a bold vision for climate justice at an event we’re calling Fossil Free Fast. Tune in and figure out what your role in this fight can be — RSVP for a watch party in the Bay Area below.
350 Bay Area’s Live Event Watch Party: RSVP here
January 31st is Ahed Tamimi’s 17th Birthday.
She is sitting in an Israeli military prison for slapping Israeli soldiers. Her cousin had been shot in the head by a rubber coated steel bullet!
Release her now! Drop all charges!
For too long, the San Francisco Police Officers Association (the police union) has taken hardline stances and used inflammatory tactics that destroy trust between residents and police. It has blocked or delayed common-sense reforms—like the city’s improved use-of-force policy—and has publicly attacked police accountability champions—including elected officials, prominent athletes like Colin Kaepernick, and its own police members. Unlike other unions focused on wages and benefits and reasonable working conditions for their employees, the SFPOA has used labor law to exert an enormous influence on public policy and public safety.
Right now, the SFPOA is negotiating a new labor agreement with the city. The city must not approve a new contract increasing police officer pay and benefits unless the SFPOA agrees to respect our values and increase public safety. The SFPOA shouldn’t be allowed to use its bargaining power to make San Francisco less safe.
We are a growing and diverse coalition of San Franciscans who care deeply about police accountability and community safety. We want to ensure the present negotiations of the SFPOA’s new labor contract reflects our values and our community’s need for safety. To influence these negotiations, we must act now before the contract is finalized by June 2018.
Join us for a community town hall. We’ll share information about the campaign and get feedback on community demands.
When: Wednesday, January 31, 6pm
Where: St. John’s (corner of Julian and 15th Streets, two blocks from 16th Street BART)
Whether an Observer Corps volunteer or regular LWVO member, you’ll enjoy an evening presentation on the nuts and bolts of how the City works.
Guest speaker Tracy Rosenberg, executive director of Media Alliance, will provide an overview of the city structure––from elected officials to city manager to committees and commissions––as well as the legislation flow. Who can introduce legislation and how does a member of public use the “bully pulpit” to get the assistance from a Council member to do so? Also covered will be a review of good governance regulations such as the Brown Act, how procedural committees such as the Rules Committee operate, and what tools are available to make public meetings transparent and more productive. Did you know that Staff Reports provide context for understanding seemingly obtuse committee meetings?
This is a must-attend meeting if you want to roll up your sleeves and get more involved in local government!
To RSVP and get more information contact Gen Katz at gen@metron.com
More information can be found here:
http://
The Budget Legislative Analyst and the Treasurer will be making presentations on a report about public banking and the status of the municipal banking task force.
We need people to pack the hearing and make public comment on how SF needs a public bank that actually serves the people of San Francisco, not Wall Street.
Meeting Agenda
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2. 5:05pm: Review and approval of November and January meeting minutes
3. 5:10pm: Open Forum
4. 5:15pm: Presentation by Oakland Police Department – Annual Report on Cellular Site Simulator Use
5. 5:35pm: Presentation by Oakland Police Department – Private Video Camera Registry
6. 5:55pm: Annual election of Chair, Vice-Chair