Calendar
At a time when California faces one of the worst droughts on record, Nestle is bottling water out of California’s springs, aquifers and national forests to sell for profit. Nestle is unwilling to stop this practice – and even pumped water using a permit that expired 25 years ago.
We must ramp up the pressure on Nestle – the poster child for corporate water abuse in California. Nestle has two bottling plants in California – one in Sacramento, and one in Los Angeles. Please join us on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. as we rally outside both bottling plants in Los Angeles and Sacramento.
The San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Art Festival is a biennial cultural event that has been happening in the Bay Area since 1999. We started out as a film festival, but have expanded to become a vibrant venue for performances, workshops, visual arts, community building, political organizing, skill sharing and have collaborated with various organizations to expand into a multi-dimensional project. The Sex Worker Festival recognizes and honors prostitutes, dancers, porn performers and other sex workers from diverse communities, who have been dynamic and integral members of arts communities since time immemorial. Our next festival will be May of 2015 and will be expanding to straddle San Francisco and the East Bay for the first time.
We have been showing films at the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco, and for the first time ever, would like to find a venue in Oakland where we can screen films and host in-depth discussions facilitated by various community members. We are a very low budget operation with a 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor, that is hoping to find a venue that is financially sustainable for us, accessible by BART for our various communities, that shares a vision of social change with us and can generate participation amongst it’s own constituency. We feel your venue is really perfect and fits neatly into all of these requirements, and look forward to a conversation about this potentially dynamic collaboration.
Although we are asking for paid admission, all of our events are no one turned away for lack of funds, and we feel very strongly that this is a vital tenet of our vision.
Here are links to examples of some of the diverse content and events we have featured over the years which were targeted to organizations and communities.
Thanks for your support,
Carol Leigh and Erica Berman
415-751-1659
Current Festival (in progress)
2015 (in progress)
http://www.sexworkerfest.com/
2013 Festival:
http://www.sexworkerfest.com/sexworkerfest2013.html
Some other program-discussion events of past years:
Sex Work, Trafficking and Labor Migration: Views from Inside The Sex Industry
http://www.sexworkerfest.com/swfest2009/SexWorkMigration.html
Intersections: Krip Sex! Krip Sex Work! An evening of film and discussion on interconnections, sex work and the Krip community
http://www.sexworkerfest.com/swfest2009/sins.html
Our program archives are here:
http://www.sexworkerfest.com/archives/
APTP is launching its campaign Invisible Victims of State Terror: Women of Color on 5/21.
We have chosen this date for our launch in solidarity with the national call by The Black Youth Project to uplift the Black women who are murdered by law enforcement agencies across the country.
The Invisible Victims campaign was born in February in response to the murder of #yuvettehenderson by the Emeryville Police Department on February 3, 2015.
On 5/21, we will gather in the Home Depot parking lot (where the events leading to Yuvette’s murder began) for a brief rally and program.
Immediately following, we will distribute thousands of flyers detailing the stories of Black women who have been stolen by state violence.
The average life expectancy for Black trans women is 35 years. An estimated 25.1 percent of Black American women live in poverty – a higher rate than any other ethnic group.
Black women and girls, trans* and cis, are routinely harassed by police and abused by the state. While we’ve witnessed entire cities rise up to resist the murders of Black men, the murders of Black women continue to go largely ignored.
Silencing the pain of our sisters only perpetuates this violence. #BlackSpring is here: it’s time to remember and lift up the most marginalized victims of state brutality.
Join BYP100’s Bay Area Chapter this Thursday for a National Day of Action to demand #JusticeForRekia and ALL Black women and girls. Together, we’ll paint the town Black with their names, faces and stories.
*Black folks meet-up, 6PM @ Alan Blueford Center* (2434 Telegraph Ave)
#JusticeForRekia #SayHerName #BlackSpring #SayTheirNames #BlackLivesMatter
WHAT: Mass vigil at sunset against mass surveillance – happening in 50 cities across the U.S
BRING: A cell phone, laptop, tablet, and candles with the protestsign.org already pre-loaded. Make a big sunset sign and write “Sunset the Patriot Act”.
WHY WE NEED YOU:
This is the week when we have a chance to sunset the PATRIOT Act!
The PATRIOT Act could end this week if Congress fails to reauthorize it by this Friday ahead of its June 1st expiration. So, on Thursday May 21st, people are organizing a mass vigil in 50 cities across the U.S. to demand their Senators let the Patriot Act expire.
And we’ve set it up so its super easy to get involved:
Gather as the sun is setting
Load protestsign.org on your phone, tablet or laptop
Take a picture of your group with signs outside of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office.
Post your pictures to the Sunset Vigil Facebook page and on Twitter with the hash tags #sunsetpatriotact #sunsetvigil and your @SenFeinstein.
You can also sign the online letter at http://sunsetthepatriotact.com/
This protest is being organized by your friends at Demand Progress, Restore the Fourth, Credo, MoveOn.org, Free Press, and Fight for the Future.
The City of Berkeley’s Fair Campaign Practices Commission will consider whether to recommend that the Berkeley City Council establish a public financing system – one of the best tools we have at our disposal to fix our broken electoral process.
As public officials are being bought and sold by billionaires and wealthy special interests, the need for comprehensive campaign finance reform is more urgent now than ever.
Sign up to attend and testify in support of public financing!
Public financing allows candidates to rely on small dollar donations and aims to accomplish two primary goals: 1) Candidates should be able to campaign without the cloud of corruption that comes from over-dependence on money from outside interests and 2) Grassroots candidates with strong community ties should be able to run competitive campaigns.
In solidarity with the global movement to take back our food, that is… REAL FOOD FROM REAL SEED as Mother Nature and human evolution intended…
Please save the date and take part in the groundswell of PEOPLE RISING in defense of unadulterated SEEDS, PROTECTION OF BIODIVERSITY, RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP OF THE SOIL, ETHICAL PRACTICES, TOXIN FREE FOOD SYSTEM AND THE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE WE ALL WANT.
Millions of years of natural evolution and diversity of seeds are being wiped out in a generation if we don’t leverage our collective outrage to DIVEST from systematic poisoning of HUMANITY and PROTECT our children’s future.
Join us as we MARCH AGAINST MONSANTO!
11:30 – Meet Up & Welcome at Frank Ogawa / Oscar Grant Plaza
12:00 – March begins
1:00 – Reassemble at Lake Merritt Pergola Area for RALLY!
http://www.labelgmos.org/realfoodforall
Occupy the Farm organizer Vanessa Raditz will be speaking tomorrow at the rally following Oakland’s March Against Monsanto! Come on out and join the Occupy the Farm contingent! We will have a banner so you can find us at Frank Ogawa Plaza before the march takes off.
Monthly rally to end Solitary Confinement.
Privacy Workshop
It’s easy to succumb to privacy nihilism. That’s the idea that digital security and privacy are simply impossible. But that’s simply wrong. Better security and more privacy are possible. It is true that trying to protect yourself from 100% of the threats you face 100% of the time is a recipe for failure. But perfection is not the goal of digital security. Each person is faced with different threats—potential events that could undermine your efforts to defend your data. By determining what you need to protect and whom you need to protect it from, you can figure out how to counter the threats to your data.
The first step to good security is doing a threat modeling assessment. Using EFF’s Surveillance Self-Defense materials, EFF Activist Nadia Kayyali will talk about some of the threats to your privacy and security, walk you through modeling your own threats, and give a basic overview of some of the most commonly used tools.
EFF is a proud co-sponsor of The Dissidents, the Displaced, and the Outliers, a transbay visual art exhibition about housing security and digital privacy at Random Parts in Oakland and Incline Gallery in San Francisco. This digital security workshop is part of a series of events. For more information, check out the exhibition page.
Facebook event.BYP100: Bay Area , in collaboration with The BlackOut Collective , #BlackLivesMatter Bay Area, Anti Police-Terror Project, The Alan Blueford Center For Justice, and Onyx Organizing Committee are putting out a call to action on the behalf of all Black women and girls everywhere!
On the night of Thursday, May 21st, while marching and chanting, and standing up for the lives of all Black women everywhere, Oakland Police Department informed us that there was a new ordinance in place: not only were we told that we are not longer allowed to march at night, but we were not allowed to march in the streets. Who’s streets?! Our streets! They chose the national day of action for the rights of Black women against police violence to enforce aggressive policing of our right to peacefully convene and protest.
They want for us to go into the shadows. They want for us to be silent, to bow down, to forget the lives of so many Black women who have been stolen from us by police. They want us to give up, to ignore the trauma caused by the ways our Black women bodies have been violated, policed, harassed, exploited, demoralized, dehumanized, beaten, abused, raped, and murdered…but they are sadly mistaken. We will not back down; we will fight harder! We will wage war until our lives are valued. #BlackLivesMatter Black women’s lives matter. They always have and they always will. #sayhername #blackspring
We are sending out a call to action for all Black people and allies to come together TONIGHT at Oscar Grant Plaza/OGP. We will hold space as a declaration that the rights of Black women and girls WILL BE upheld.
We ask that you join us TONIGHT!
Please wear ALL BLACK.
Bring a white candle.
Bring a scarf.
Tell all of your family friends and comrades.
Please be advised that this is a peaceful protest but diversity of tactics is respected and honored.
See you in the streets!
Sunday, May 24, 2015 is the 25th anniversary of the attack on “Earth First!” activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney by car bomb in Oakland in 1990 as Redwood Summer dawned. We will commemorate this in several ways.
At 7 pm doors to Historic Fellowship Hall will open for a Judi Bari Day evening event sponsored by the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists (BFUU) Social Justice Committee.
NOTE: Earlier in the day of Sunday, May 24, people will gather to mark the moment of the bombing itself where the bomb blew up Judi’s car with Darryl and Judi in it. The location is across from the intersection of E. 33rd and Park Blvd, in front of Oakland High. Gather at 11:30 am sharp. Bring signs, songs, drums for a speak out and commemoration.
Following the film, the audience can join in the discussion for a Q & A session.
Volunteers appreciated!
Sponsored by the BFUU Social Justice Committee, www.bfuu.org/events
Come support a comrade arrested protesting the city’s recent crackdown on Black organizing.
NOTE: court is set for 9 am but COULD be pushed to 1 pm…so check here you cant come in the morning but can make it out in the afternoon!
After a period of public comment, the Oakland Public Safety Committee will again take up recommendations from the ad hoc Committee on the Domain Awareness Center Privacy Policy.
(This was postponed from May 12th, to provide time for things to be forumulated into an ordinance)
— a strong privacy policy in place for the DAC.
— creation of a privacy policy for the City of Oakland
— a surveillance equipment acquisition ordinance, demanding open and transparent processes before acquiring such devices.
The Oakland Privacy Working Group asks you to come and stand and speak in support of these proposals, which will make Oakland a model for privacy across the nation.
The Oakland neighborhood at Ground Zero for the proposed coal export terminal is getting informed and mobilizing. Join neighbors and friends to keep West Oakland coal-free and say NO to coal exports!
Help get the word out about the forum. If you can contribute an hour or two to canvassing, please contact Katy at katypolony@gmail.com. Here’s a flyer you can print and distribute.
Announcing a new monthly event organized by the Bay Area Anti-Repression Committee! Last Wednesday of every month!!
Come write letters to prisoners of the state. It’s our responsibility to support those who have directly faced state repression as a result of their involvement in political struggle. All movements face repression, and we need to do what we can to ensure that those who are shouldering the biggest burden have support, love, and care.
This Wednesday we will be focusing on writing letters to the Ferguson 3. They were arrested in the rebellions that took place this past fall after the murder of Mike Brown and have just been sentenced. They are feeling isolated and want as much communication as possible. Come take a few minutes to drop them a line! We will provide paper and envelopes, addresses and stamps, and will even make sure all the letters get dropped in the mail the next day.
We will also have snacks and music, and encourage you to bring food and BYOB so we can generally chill and enjoy each other’s company.
UPDATE
On Wednesday night, BPD Chief Meehan disclosed to the Police Review Commission that he will not be ready to present the results of their internal investigation on the December police response next week (May 27) as they had promised. He didn’t give any explanation except for saying that they have not finished their report, which they had said would be done by the end of April. Instead, they now say they will present two weeks later, on Wednesday June 10 (more than six months after the fact). So, please save that date.
The PRC is meeting almost every Wednesday for the next couple months, focused on the investigation of the December 6 protest response.
Next week on Wednesday, May 27 the PRC has summoned Chief Meehan to appear and answer our questions. The questions are extensive and pretty pointed. They can be found in:
These minutes also contain the approved PRC Policy Investigation Plan, including the meeting dates through July.
Chief Meehan also promised to release the long-awaited internal report on December and there will probably be questions about that.
I highly recommend people come to this meeting. In general, public attendance has dwindled to almost nothing. That’s too bad, because this is a setting in which important questions about how to constrain police behavior are being publicly debated.
A couple weeks ago the PRC voted to recommend more restrictions on the Suspicious Activity Reporting to the NCRIC fusion center. This puts more explicit language about constitutional protections in the BPD General Order N-17 on SARs. It is not the abolition of ties to NCRIC that many people have sought, but it is an opening to talk about this domestic spying network that Berkeley participates in. And unlike the other item, on crowd control, this one is a final recommendation that is on its way to the city council.
For the current policy, see
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFiles/Police/Level_3_-_General/GO%20N-17_18Sept12.pdf
<http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFiles/Police/Level_3_-_General/GO%20N-17_18Sept12.pdf>
THIS EVENT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN CANCELLED. IT IS NO LONGER ON THE OMNI CALENDAR.
Chairman Fred Hampton Jr (the son of Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton, who was assassinated by the US government) is visiting the Bay Area to build relationships and discuss strategy with activists organizing against police terrorism. This event, sponsored by CRC (Community Ready Corps) & APTP (Anti Police-Terror Project) will a panel of Oakland anti-policing activists in conversation with Chairman Fred. It will also serve as a fundraiser to send a delegation of APTP/Black Lives Matter activists to Chicago later this summer and build a national campaign to end the reign of terror by law enforcement on Afrikan communities.
Optik Allusions is a radical film & video collective dedicated to social change, based in Oakland, California.
We make media that challenge the dominant culture. We tell stories that otherwise might remain untold. We express our alternative views of the world, have fun doing it, and welcome everyone to do so, regardless of prior experience. We learn by doing. We share resources, skills and knowledge to support each other’s creative endeavours. We make films in a spirit of collaboration, inclusivity and solidarity, supply a lending library of film equipment for creative projects, organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops, and host film screenings. We also steward a room dedicated to media post-production at the Omni Commons. If you like to make videos and/or want to become a member, come to our tuesday meetings at 7 pm! We’re open and happy to welcome new members.
To contact us, write to:
optikallusions@lists.riseup.net
To know more about us, join our announce mailing list:
optikallusions.announce@lists.riseup.net
To become involved, come to our meetings on Tuesdays, 7pm at the Omni Commons!
Sometimes, the meetings turn into creative workshops!
To follow what has been going on, read our meeting notes.
Our YouTube Channel is still a WIP, but here are some of our video productions to this day:
The Omni Commons in 30 seconds
Oakland stands in solidarity with Ferguson
No Beauty with an Absence of Color
We are also working on a documentary about gentrification in West Oakland, as well as collaborating with the Oscar Grant Committee to document the work they do. We are organizing a film festival at the end of May 2015. See here for info on submissions!
Optik Allusions is so pleased to announce their very first Short Film Festival! Come discover our out-of-the-ordinary line up of intersectional short films from all over Oakland and all over the world!
The event will also be a fundraiser for our video collective to keep thriving: Optik Allusions provides equipment for video production and post production, organizes workshops… We share skills and resources to make films expressing points of view that are usually silenced, and tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. The fundraiser will also help pay our rent to a room dedicated to media post production.
https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Optik_Allusions
Most of all, this event will be a way to connect with the greater community: YOU!
Please come hungry, because Sarah Bierman will be cooking her famous fried chicken plate with corn, and japaeno cabbage slaw. And her equally famous vegan gumbo!
Suggested Admission: $5 to $15
No one turned away for lack of funds.
