Calendar
The Green Party invites you to hear two speakers about the ongoing story of police misconduct in the East Bay.
Our first speaker is Jeralynn Brown Blueford, the mother of Alan Blueford, who was killed by the OPD under very suspicious circumstances. The Blueford family has formed the Justice 4 Alan Blueford Coalition to get answers about why this young man was shot and killed. Andrea Prichett from Berkeley CopWatch will also speak. Andrea has been training people for 20 years to monitor police, document abuse, and organize resistance to police misconduct.
Help plan events for October 10th. First meeting will take place at Oscar Grant Plaza in the amphitheatre, at 6:00 PM, on Monday, September 10th.
The new semester just recently began at UC Berkeley and there is a lot of students who want to know about Occupy around the Bay Area. The purpose of the Info Table is to inform students about Occupy Oakland, Occupy the Farm, and Occupy Cal; what actions they’ve done, what plans are in the mix for the future, and how they can get involved.
Come join us, help out!
We invite you to join us for an inspiring evening of solidarity with the Colombian labor movement as we launch and fundraise for PASO International (Proyecto de Acompañimiento y Solidaridad).
Colombia suffers from the highest level of economic inequality in Latin America, with 2/3 of all workers in the informal sector. Unions defending workers’ rights face surveillance, threats, kidnapping, torture, and death. Over 1,000 Colombian union activists have been assassinated since 2000 (15 this year) and Colombia accounts for 63% of all union assassinations worldwide. Recent implementation of free trade agreements has put Colombian workers on the frontlines of the global resistance against privatization and other neoliberal economic policies. In the face of this exploitation and repression, Colombia has one of the most vibrant labor movements in the Americas. Fired General Motors workers recently inspired the world by encamping 24/7 outside the U.S. Embassy for over a year and sewing their mouths shut in hunger strike, and port workers, oil workers, teachers, food service workers, health care workers, palm workers, and miners are all in key battles.
Working with and at the request of Colombian unions, PASO is launching an on-the-ground international presence in Colombia and rapid response solidarity network. But we need your help!
Join us on Wednesday, September 12th for an evening of:
•A report on the Colombian labor movement from PASO solidarity oorganizers in the Bay Area from Bogota.
•A live Skype conversation with GM hunger strikers.
•Video documentation of recent labor struggles.
•An opportunity to fund on-the-ground accompaniment of Colombian labor leaders.
•A raffle drawing for beautiful prints of Colombian worker rights art and other goodies.
•Yummy food and beverages, of course!
In New York, on September 13th, thousands will BLOW THE WHISTLE and organize determined resistance to Stop & Frisk, mass incarceration, solitary confinement, police brutality, and the criminal injustice system.
In Oakland, meet at Bancroft & 73rd Ave at 4:00 PM to march to the Oakland Police Substation at the Eastmont Mall.
Stop Masss Incarceration National Website.
“From the folks who brought you the West Coast Port Shutdown.”
The OO Labor Solidarity Committee meets weekly, with every other meeting being held at Oscar Grant Plaza weather permitting. This week’s meeting will tentatively take place at UNITE HERE, 2nd floor, 1440 Broadway, Oakland.
PLEASE CHECK BACK AS THE PLACE MAY WELL CHANGE!!
The main topic for this meeting will be discussion of and preparation for an Oakland Port Workers’ rank-and-file Assembly. Non-unionized airport workers (the Port of Oakland runs the Oakland Airport) have been targeted for union-organizing activity while UNITE HERE is trying to organize them. SEIU Port workers have no contract currently and the Longshorman’s contract with the Port of Oakland (and contracts up and down the West Coast) are due to expire soon. Couple that with deep labor unrest at various ports up and down the East Coast, and there seems to be a lot of possibility to work together and show solidarity.
Other topics may include the Chicago Teachers’ strike, recent events in South Africa and Alan Blueford Coalition organizing.
In Partnership With the Interfaith Tent:
Oakland’s Faith Community Responds to Alan Blueford’s Murder by Police (Fellowship Hall): Alan Blueford, high school senior about to graduate from Skyline High School in Oakland, was gunned down fatally by police on May 6. Come to this meeting with the Blueford family to pray, act, and strategize to make sure that what happened to Alan will not happen to anyone else.
See also the Blueford BBQ on Sept. 15th
Grand Jury Resistors Head Into Court, Expect Jail
From Portland comrades: Supporters will be gathering today in front of the Federal Court House in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington to express opposition to the secret grand jury investigating the anarchist movement, and to show their support for those refusing to testify.
This will be the third time Leah-Lynne Plante has been called before the grand jury. Each time, she has publicly refused to cooperate. She is expected to be imprisoned after today’s hearing.
“So far as I can see, the authorities are just using these hearings to intimidate people, create suspicion, and collect information that they can use to disrupt political movements,” said Leah-Lynne Plante, of Portland. “It isn’t working. None of the subpoenaed activists have testified, and the support we’ve received from the broader community has been really overwhelming.”
For more information from the Portland folks, check out nopoliticalrepression.wordpress.com or email the Committee Against Political Repression at nopoliticalrepression@gmail.com
On May 6th, Alan Blueford was murdered by OPD officer Miguel Masso. On May 15th, members of the City Council promised the Blueford family support for their struggle for justice. Since then, the family has received nothing but stonewalling and lies from the City of Oakland and OPD.
Join us at a BBQ and Community Meeting to take action against this injustice, and to fight to prevent further such tragic events.
New schedule and additional location!
Bi-Monthly meetings to organize and publish web content for occupyoakland.org.
We meet the first Thursday of the month at The Holdout, 2313 San Pablo Ave Oakland,CA 94612 @ 6PM
And the third Sunday of the month at 19th Street / Rashida Muhammad Street (one block away from 19th Street/Telegraph avenue) @ 2PM
If interested on helping us out, please come and join us!
Web@occupyoakland.org
Shut Down Monsanto!
September 17, 2012 – 6am (all day)
1910 – 5th Street, Davis, California
Whether you like it or not, chances are Monsanto contaminated the food you ate today with chemicals and GMOs. Monsanto controls much of the world’s food supply at the expense of food democracy worldwide. Take action against Monsanto during the week of September 17th, 2012.
Organize locally to take action for a decentralized occupation of Monsanto facilities around the world on September 17, 2012
For more details about the Davis action, see
http://occupy-monsanto.com/shutdown-monsanto-davis-california-600am-september-17-2012/
For other Occupy Monsanto actions planned elsewhere, see
http://occupy-monsanto.com/genetic-crimes-unit/
For a list of Monsanto facilities to organize actions at, see
http://occupy-monsanto.com/facilities/
For more information about why Monsanto must be shut down, and ideas for how to do it, visit
http://occupy-monsanto.com/
Monday September 17th, celebrating the one year anniversary of the Occupy Movement and Growing Resistance Worldwide.
At t 1pm begin gathering at Bradley Manning Plaza (a.k.a, Justin Herman Plaza) – Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco, CA.
At 2pm PARTY TAKES TO THE STREETS!
At 5pm Mass Convergence at 555 California, San Francisco, CA.
…. Stay Tuned For October 10th, 2012 — One Year Anniversary of Occupy Oakland!!!
Come and support the Bluefords as they tell the City Council they have had enough of their false promises and OPD’s lies.
In Tweetspeak:
OccupythePort @occupytheport
Tues. Sept. 18 5pm: Alan Blueford’s family to demand Oakland City Council fire Miguel Masso. No more excuses. #J4AB Via @OccupiedOakTribOccupythePort @occupytheport
Sept 18th #Justice4AlanBlueford at #OAKMTG City Council 5:00 join the fight for justice #OO #OccupyOakland #osfAlyssa @alyssa011968
#Justice4AlanBlueford Sept 18th City Council 5:00 join the fight for justice #OO #OccupyOakland
Visit the Justice 4 Alan Blueford Website for more information.
On Tuesday, June 5, just before 9 PM, Derrick Gaines, a fifteen-year-old youth of multi-racial descent, was needlessly killed by an officer of the South San Francisco Police Department.
South City Police Chief Michael Massoni and the cooperative local media wasted no time in fabricating a story intended to justify the blood on their hands, in part through shamelessly smearing the victim’s character.
But there are two sides to events like these: what the cops say, and what the truth is. In this case, the
truth is that Derrick never reached for or produced a weapon, and was shot down by an officer who had brutalized and restrained him first. Derrick’s friends and family have staged multiple actions at the site of the shooting, and the anger at Derrick’s murder is combining with general discontent regarding how the South SF police treat youth, particularly youth of color locally, as well as the horrendous reality that such acts of police violence are a disturbingly common occurrence, here in the Bay Area and across the country.
The Arco Gas Station, which was the scene of the incident, is located at 2300 Westborough Blvd., at the corner of Westborough and Gellert. It is 4.4 miles from the San Bruno Caltrain Station, and 3.2 miles from San Bruno BART.
Do not let the South SFPD’s lies, and heinous actions, go unchallenged. Please join friends, family members, and other allies in the ongoing struggle against racism and social injustice as we continue to demand justice for Derrick, and for all victims of racist police violence.
Article about Derrick Gaines: They Treated Him Like a Statistic
“From the folks who brought you the West Coast Port Shutdown.”
The OO Labor Solidarity Committee meets weekly, with every other meeting being held at Oscar Grant Plaza weather permitting. This week’s meeting will take place in the amphitheater at Oscar Grant Plaza, just outside of City Hall.
PLEASE CHECK BACK AS THERE IS SOME CHANCE THE LOCATION MAY CHANGE!!
The main topic for this meeting will be discussion of and preparation for an Oakland Port Workers’ rank-and-file Assembly. Non-unionized airport workers (the Port of Oakland runs the Oakland Airport) have been targeted for union-organizing activity while UNITE HERE is trying to organize them. SEIU Port workers have no contract currently and ILWU contracts at various locales on the West Coast are due to expire soon. Couple that with deep labor unrest at various ports up and down the East Coast, and there seems to be a lot of possibility to work together and show solidarity.
Other topics may include the Chicago Teachers’ strike, recent events in South Africa and Alan Blueford Coalition organizing.
We meet biweekly. We will be reviewing the events of the last week — a BBQ on September 15th and our City Hall action on September 18th. We will be planning our speakout against police violence on September 29th at the Eastmont Mall at 5:00 PM, and planning further steps in our search for Justice For Alan Blueford. Come help us out!
Please visit the Justice 4 Alan Blueford website
Please sign the petition demanding Justice For Alan
Arroyo Park is located within the area bounded by the major thoroughfares of Bankcroft Ave, 73rd Ave, 82nd Ave, and Holly St. It is about seven blocks from the Eastmont Mall.
On September 22 this month there will be a forum in Oakland to defend the right to self-defense, to educate the communities suffering from racial profiling, and to launch new organizing efforts in these communities. The Forum, “SELF-RESPECT AND COMMUNITY SELF-DEFENSE IN A LAND OF ENDLESS RACIAL PROFILING”, will feature new materials on the history and methods of community self-defense, and guest speaker Djibril Toure, a leader of the the campaign against “Stop and Frisk” in New York as well as the newly launched National People’s Self-Defense Campaign, who will bring his experience to share.
Via the Oscar Grant Committee.
Website: A People’s Hearing on Rascism and Police Violence
Show support for the Chicago Teachers Union who are on strike defending jobs and public education.
Organized by local Bay Area unions.
Now performing as Redd Welsh, he sings a dozen mostly original songs on the album, backed by some fine musicians including Joe Goldmark on pedal steel guitar; Pete Elman on keyboards and bass; John Blakeley on Stratocaster, Telecaster and acoustic guitars; Lachelle Oats on vocals; Paul Hlebcar on harmonica; and Kelly Ralston on congas and percussion.
The party gets under way at 7:00 p.m. Saturday Sept. 22 in the friendly Fellowship Hall of the Berkeley Unitarians, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita, in Berkeley – which by the way has a great piano. The Hall is only a six-tenths of a mile walk up Cedar from North Berkeley BART.
Special guest appearances at the party by Jon Fromer, Harriet and Alex Bagwell, Hali Hammer and Barbara Dane.
Don’t miss this festive musical gathering of old and new friends.