Calendar
Bring secret government surveillance out of the shadows. Tell the Berkeley City Council to vote yes!
You can take action today to protect our diverse Bay Area community from unaccountable police surveillance. The Berkeley City Council is currently considering a crucial surveillance technology ordinance that would ensure transparency, accountability, and oversight of these technologies. Tell them to vote YES.
This ordinance comes at a crucial time. Right now, ICE is trying to access local databases as it escalates attacks on Bay Area neighborhoods.
With your help, Berkeley could be the first city in the Bay Area to adopt an ordinance that requires transparency for surveillance technologies. The people of Berkeley have the right to reject dangerous surveillance technologies before local law enforcement agencies can acquire them.
Law enforcement shouldn’t be able to acquire surveillance technology in secret, yet it happens every day. Our local elected leaders must be empowered to intervene.
The Berkeley City Council will be voting very soon on this ordinance. Similar legislation is under consideration by city councils in Oakland and Davis. The Bay Area is part of a nationwide movement to fight secret and discriminatory surveillance. Take action now to stand for community control of police surveillance.
On March 13 Berkeley is poised to become the first California city to follow in Santa Clara County’s footsteps and adopt a comprehensive surveillance transparency framework. Surveillance Equipment Regulation Ordinances (SERO) mandate use policies for all spying equipment and audits of how the equipment was used. They get rid of secret surveillance and let the community know what is happening.
Berkeley’s ordinance has been in development since July of 2016. It is time to make it law. Come out to show your support and mark this historic occasion. There is an alternative proposal on the agenda which waters down real transparency. We need you to defeat it and pass the real thing.The meeting starts at 6pm. We expect the item to come up in the 7-8pm range.The meeting could go quite late. Light Brigade at sunset outside the Berkeley Council Chambers.
Berkeley Can Become A City of Refuge
by Sameena Usman and Brian Hofer
The Time For Surveillance Transparency is Now
by Tracy Rosenberg
This message was brought to you by the folks at Oakland Privacy. Oakland Privacy has been fighting for transparency in law enforcement surveillance operations since 2013.
The Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission, the first municipal citizens privacy commission in the country, was built out of Oakland’s resistance to the Domain Awareness Center.
You may be interested in checking out the Oakland Privacy website, which has information about our other projects fighting against the surveillance state.
On Wednesday, March 14th, 2018 will be the one of anniversary of Elena “Ebbie” Mondragón, who was killed by two Fremont cops; Sgt. Jeremy Miskella & Det. Joel Hernandez in an undercover operation.
Please join us as we remember Elena “Ebbie”, an not let her name just go in vain or be forgotten, by from the violence of the police.
—-
On Tuesday, March 14th, 2017 Elena “Ebbie” Mondragon was 16 years old and pregnant, when two Fremont Undercover Police officers; Sgt. Jeremy Miskella & Det. Joel Hernandez where on an undercover sting operation.
Elena was with three of her friends at a apartment complex, near Cal State East Bay in Hayward, when Sgt. Jeremy Miskella & Det. Joel Hernandez shot at the moving car, as the driver was backing out to leave the apartment complex, saying he was ” accelerating towards the police car” and that the officers “feared for their lives”.
Sgt. Jeremy Miskella & Det. Joel Hernandez ended up shoting 7 bullets at the car, missing the driver while 5 of the bullets hit Elena, killing her.
Sgt. Jeremy Miskella is now the Board of Directors President for the Fremont Police Association and Det. Joel Hernandez is still a detective for the Fremont Police Department.
—-
Want to endorse this vigil?
Feel out this google form: https://goo.gl/forms/
Endorsements:
– Anti Terror Police Project
– Idriss Stelley Foundation
– Justice For Josiah
– National Brown Berets
– Prisoners Reentry Program
– Resistance SF
– South Beach District 6 Democratic Club Of San Francisco
– Together We Stand
– Youth Leadership Council LGBT center SF
Join UCLA Professor of History Kelly Lytle Hernandez for a discussion about her upcoming book: City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles, 1771–1965. The event will feature a conversation about the Ella Baker Center’s current work led by Eric Henderson, Policy Associate.
This event is being hosted by the UC Berkeley Center for Research on Social Change.
El Cerrito Shows Up#Enough #ICEoutofCA
Please join us today & every Wednesday 6 – 7 PM
West entrance El Cerrito Plaza nr Daiso, San Pablo Ave & Carlson.ECSU rallies weekly to speak out in favor of equality and justice. #NoHatehttps://t.co/Wotbz2eRWM pic.twitter.com/E88ORoKhhq
— IndivisibleELCERRITO (@ECindivisible) March 14, 2018
Please join us from 6 to 7 PM at the west entrance to El Cerrito Plaza, intersection of San Pablo Ave & Carlson Ave. We’ll meet on the side nearest to Daiso.
The ECSU goals are to create a significant community presence to speak out in favor of equality, justice, inclusiveness and more. We say NO to hatred, racism, white supremacy and nationalism, bigotry, and anti-Semitism.
You can bring your own sign with your own words expressing what you stand for and against. Use BIG lettering so people in cars can see! We’ll also have some sign-making materials.
We’re from the El Cerrito area. Our Show Up location is at the borders of El Cerrito, Richmond and Albany — all are welcome!
We will assemble lawfully, and won’t block the sidewalk. All locations we select will be wheelchair-accessible. To participate you must commit to non-violent and respectful conduct. Family-friendly.
Uncolonized is a short documentary film about a native family who decided never to enroll their two daughters into the public school system, choosing instead to homeschool them from birth. Chris is Potawatomi and Chasity is Navajo. Their daughters Nathaney and Mimicah, ages 11 and 7 at the time of filming, carry both of their parents’ lineages in the their blood, but also in their way of being.
The film takes a critical look at the historical experiences of native children inside of the US public education system, and brings clarity to the decision of this family to keep their daughters out of the public school system, and therefore keep them UNCOLONIZED.
https://www.facebook.com/events/3557968982…
REGISTER HERE: bit.ly/baypower (it’s FREE!)
2018 is going to be a big year. Let’s get ready to win big for our communities!
Join us to build power together in our second annual mass training on March 17th. Trainings will include how to build a sanctuary neighborhood, participate in direct action, win electoral campaigns, and get started in organizing. We have new trainings, a new campaign section, and caucus time including for youth, labor folks, and seniors and people with disabilities. Whether you’re a new or experienced activist, join us to skill up and find out how to plug in!
Childcare and lunch provided; please register at bit.ly/baypower. Space is ADA accessible; more accessibility details upon registration.
We will have silk-screening, so bring a shirt to print on!
Schedule:
10:00 – 11:15 Opening program
11:30 – 1:00 Skills trainings
1:00 – 1:30 Lunch provided
1:30 – 2:30 Campaigns and caucuses
Join your fellow Bay Area activists to build a strong community of resistance and justice – to build power for 2018!
The South Berkeley canvass team cordially invites you to a friendly neighborhood potluck. After The Big Canvass on March 10, get together with your comrades for some tasty treats and socialist cheer.
All are welcome! It’s a potluck, so bring something tasty to eat or drink!
Join the campaign for effective police oversight this weekend!
WHAT: Fan out across Berkeley to gather signatures to put police oversight on the local November ballot!
All out for a fun day! We’ll supply the petitions and will orient you on how to get the most signatures possible. You just bring your walking shoes.
We’ll be going out to talk to Berkeley voters for the next eight weekends. Please reply to this email, or call 510.517-8379, to let us know you can join us Saturday at noon.
Outreach Committee
P.S. You may find today’s Daily Cal article on racial disparities in Berkeley policing helpful as you think about how to talk about why we need real oversight for the BPD.
Berkeley Community United for Police Oversight
P.O. Box 9312, Berkeley, CA 94709
he Watsonville Canning Strike – Lessons for Us All
A presentation by Peter Shapiro, labor activist and author of the book “Song of the Stubborn One Thousand.” Followed by a discussion.
Thirty years ago, Watsonville, California was the “frozen food capital of the world.” In September 1985, 1000 mostly Mexican women workers at the town’s largest plant were forced out on strike when the owner tried to bust their union. Few, if any, of the women had any strike experience. Their local union was barely functioning. But they organized themselves, held out for 18 months, forced the plant owner into bankruptcy, and won a contract from the new owner after a five day wildcat strike.
Worshiping Power: An Anarchist Vision of Early State Formation
Where do states come from, what causes them to arise, and how do they develop? The old dogmas that the State protects and uplifts humanity, or even that it is a necessary evil, have been thoroughly discredited. But many newer theories, that explain state formation within a single optic, or that suggest a single cause, or a linear, progressive evolution, also fall short.
This new book traces multiple pathways of state formation, describing patterns that arise within many different societies with different models of the family, religion, warfare, commerce, and economic production. Rather than being ancient history, state formation is a continuous process, given that perhaps the only feature universal to state formation is the resistance it provokes. As a result, states are continually falling apart, being overthrown, or struggling to maintain their power.
People who fight today against the problems of capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy, anyone who seeks to regain control over their lives, becomes wrapped up in this process as they run up against state authority.
Articulating the ongoing history of state formation—from divine states centered around new sites of spiritual production to democratic states arising from corrupted revolutions—allows us to better understand the ways states today attempt to govern, limit, or repress our movements today.
Peter Gelderloos is an anarchist from Virginia who currently lives in Catalunya. He is the author of How Nonviolence Protects the State, Anarchy Works, The Failure of Nonviolence, “An Anarchist Solution to Climate Change,” “A World Without Police,” and other works.
Presenters include:
• Four women from Empower
• Niki Adams of the English Collective of Prostitutes
Hosted by the US PROStitutes Collective
Empower Foundation is a sex workers’ collective in Thailand which for 30 years has been promoting rights and opportunities for sex workers, especially access to education, health and legal advocacy. Over the years 50,000 sex workers have passed through their doors including migrant women from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam.
The English Collective of Prostitutes is a UK based group, founded in 1975, which helps sex workers defend themselves against unjust charges and spearheads campaigns for decriminalization, safety and for resources so that sex workers can leave sex work if and when they want.
US PROStitutes Collective is a Bay Area based organization, founded in 1982, which won parity for sex workers in compensation claims and with others got policies establishing immunity from arrest for sex workers reporting violence.
This is a unique opportunity to hear directly from sex workers as well as from grassroots women in the Global South who are organizing for survival across different sectors of society.
Sponsored by Global Women’s Strike/Bay Area, GWS Omni Collective, In Defense of Prostitute Women‘s Safety Project, US PROStitutes Collective and Women of Color/GWS
Potluck reception and discussion with Water and Land Protector Vanessa Dundon aka SiouxZ Desbah, and Water Protector Legal Collective, co-sponsored by AIM-West, Intertribal Friendship House, National Lawyers Guild- SF Bay Area Chapter, and Oakland Law Collaborative.
SiouxZ, Diné / Navajo, is a lead plaintiff in a civil rights class action lawsuit challenging the use of fire hoses, explosive grenades, and other violence against the indigenous-led #NoDAPL movement at Standing Rock. A mother of 4, she is also the founder of Missing Flowers: Missing Murdered Indigenous Women and Men; an organizer of Honor Life – Protect Bears Ears; and is participating in The Longest Walk 5.3. SiouxZ was shot in the eye while trying to help a journalist to safety during the police attack on water protectors at Backwater Bridge in 2016, and suffered a permanent vision loss. There will also be a legal update from WPLC.
SiouxZ will also be speaking on Thurs, March 21, as part of the opening roundtable for INVISIBLE NO MORE: A Symposium on Resisting Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color from 5:45-7:30pm at the Multicultural Community Center in Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Union Building at UC Berkeley.
Angela Davis says, “Sunaina Maira locates contemporary BDS activism and the considerable efforts to expand the academic boycott of Israel …to movements for racial, gender and economic equality…In deftly demonstrating that Palestinian solidarity belongs at the center of all our social justice concerns, “Boycott!” both exemplifies the challenge and urges us to fearlessly rise up to it.”GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE FOR OAKLAND MAYOR
Saied Karamooz announces his candidacy as Oakland’s mayor in 2018
Saied Karamooz will share his motivation, vision, and plans as Oakland’s next mayor. Saied believes that everyone is entitled to safe streets, quality education, decent jobs, and dignified homes.
“With the abundance of resources, innovation, and energy in Oakland, there is no reason why our city continues to be plagued by high crime levels, low graduation rates, high unemployment, and inadequate housing,” said Mr. Karamooz.
Press conference will be held on the steps of City Hall, Frank Ogawa Plaza, on Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at 11:30 am.
“There is no greater disservice to the people of Oakland than allowing status quo to obliterate the rich culture, heritage, and history of Oakland,” says Mr. Karamooz, referring to the false narrative and flawed ways of career politicians who are beholden to the dirty money of their deep pocket donors.
Mr. Karamooz believes that true public safety can only be achieved through solid education, quality jobs and dignified homes. As such, he is proposing to divert a portion of OPD’s annual budget to education, jobs, and housing initiatives. Secondly, he is horrified that fifteen years, four mayors, and over a hundred million dollars later, the city’s largest agency, Oakland Police Department (OPD), continues to operate with racially-biased practices as evidenced by the Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA) that placed OPD under federal court supervision in 2003. Mr. Karamooz pledges to bring NSA to an end within 24 months by spearheading a methodical and collaborative initiative with active participation by community leaders and OPD beat officers. Finally, as a genuine expression of his commitment to running a clean money campaign, he is refusing donations from corporations, non-Oaklanders, or in excess of $45.
To learn more about campaign’s principles, practices, and promises, visit EveryonesMayor.org.
|
|||||
|
El Cerrito Shows Up#Enough #ICEoutofCA
Please join us today & every Wednesday 6 – 7 PM
West entrance El Cerrito Plaza nr Daiso, San Pablo Ave & Carlson.ECSU rallies weekly to speak out in favor of equality and justice. #NoHatehttps://t.co/Wotbz2eRWM pic.twitter.com/E88ORoKhhq
— IndivisibleELCERRITO (@ECindivisible) March 14, 2018
Please join us from 6 to 7 PM at the west entrance to El Cerrito Plaza, intersection of San Pablo Ave & Carlson Ave. We’ll meet on the side nearest to Daiso.
The ECSU goals are to create a significant community presence to speak out in favor of equality, justice, inclusiveness and more. We say NO to hatred, racism, white supremacy and nationalism, bigotry, and anti-Semitism.
You can bring your own sign with your own words expressing what you stand for and against. Use BIG lettering so people in cars can see! We’ll also have some sign-making materials.
We’re from the El Cerrito area. Our Show Up location is at the borders of El Cerrito, Richmond and Albany — all are welcome!
We will assemble lawfully, and won’t block the sidewalk. All locations we select will be wheelchair-accessible. To participate you must commit to non-violent and respectful conduct. Family-friendly.