Calendar
OptikAllusions is a digital filmmaking collective dedicated to social change, based in Oakland, California. We share resources, skills and knowledge to help each other tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. We make films in a spirit of collaboration and solidarity, share a lending library of film equipment for creative projects, organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops.
If you’d like to make videos or want to become a member, join us for our weekly meeting and a workshop!
We usually, meet briefly and then work on projects. It’s open to all!
https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Optik_Allusions
Meet at the Simon Bolivar Statue in UN Plaza (Hyde Street between McAllister & Market) – a short walk from Civic Center BART in San Francisco
A draconian and racist policy of ethnic cleansing in the Dominican Republic threatens a quarter of a million people with deportation to Haiti. Second and third generation Dominicans who are classified as Haitian have been stripped of citizenship and declared “migrants.” Vigilante mobs and legal authorities alike are pushing people out of their homes and taking their property. Anyone who is Black and under the age of 85 may be classified as Haitian, even if they were born in the DR and have no ties to Haiti. They are being expelled from the country and made stateless.
We join with individuals and organizations across the country, the Caribbean and the globe to denounce this injustice and demand the government of the Dominican Republic reverse its unjust law and end forced expulsion of its citizens. No Human Being Is Illegal.
At the same time, we cannot ignore or fail to denounce our own government which under the Obama Administration by 2014 was responsible for the mass deportation of over two million immigrants and the annual incarceration of half a million people in horrific detention facilities awaiting immigration proceedings across the country. No Human Being Is Illegal.
Updates on our progress, organizing strategies and developing work plan to get Public Safety Oversight measure on the Nov 2016 ballot
Join Oakland Privacy Working Group to organize against the Domain Awareness Center (DAC), Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub, and other invasions of privacy by our benighted City Government, to support privacy ordinances now being considered by the Oakland City Council emerging from the effort to fight the DAC, and help in other fights to preserve and restore our privacy around the Bay Area, in California and nationwide.
OPWG was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network, and its members helped draft the Privacy Policy that puts further restrictions on the now Port-restricted DAC.
Stop by and learn how you can help guard Oakland’s right not to be spied on by the government & if you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy Working Group email listserv, send an email to:
oaklandprivacyworkinggroup-subscribe AT lists.riseup.net
For more information on the DAC check out
Pull the Plug on Jail Expansion
Where: 1500 Capitol Avenue, First Floor Auditorium, Sacramento, CA 95814
Who: Board of State and Community Corrections
Join community members from across California as we come together to stop the funding stream for new jails.
Over 40 of California’s 58 counties have plans to build new jails. While some of them claim to be for treatment or to just replace existing jails, we know we won’t be able to continue to pass sentencing reform or bring our loved ones home unless we stop building cages. These projects put our counties in fiscal jeopardy, and they also undercut the resources available for the life-affirming programs and services that can get people out of jails and keep them out. And with the passage of Prop.47 we know there is no need to build more jails!
Come to Sacramento and help us show that communities across the state are united: No New Jails!
Governor Brown, who continues to position himself as a climate leader while his own permissive dirty drilling and fracking policies undercut his efforts – and also while these policies poison untold quantities of water during an epic drought, will be speaking at a ceremony commemorating the signing of the UN Charter. We’re going to be outside to remind him that climate leaders don’t frack – and responsible leaders don’t poison our water!
Join us in San Francisco as we put pressure the Governor for a fracking ban! Help us send a clear message: TRUE climate leaders don’t create policies that further contribute to climate change, nor do they allow the poisoning of our precious water resources during an historic drought. Period.
Bring noisemakers, signs, and your friends! See you there!
On Jan 20, 2015, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office released a 3-page report completely exonerating Officer Wallace Jensen of any wrongdoing in the shooting of Pedie Perez:
“We conclude that … the officer acted in lawful self- defense, Based on our review, we believe the officer’s actions constitute Justifiable Homicide.”
The District Attorney’s report states that the office must be guided by the “law that states that the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Jensen’s actions were not in self-defense” but the report in no way even discusses two eye witnesses that claim that his actions were absolutely NOT in self-defense. Their narratives have been excluded, but in fact their testimony should be considered by a trier of fact who should make the determination of whether they are credible in a legal proceeding. At least two eye witnesses contradict Officer Jensen’s story, providing ample grounds to initiate a prosecution of the officer for murder in this case.
We reject the coverup and call for openness and transparency with an independent investigation and an independent prosecutor.
PLEASE COME to the Rally and March, if you can…NO JUSTICE . NO PEACE…ALL LIVES MATTER…END POLICE BRUTALITY and WORSE YET…END MURDER, by KILLER-COPS! Wallace Jensen belongs in JAIL…he had absolutely NO REASON to KILL Pedie…”JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE”…We Don’t Think So!
Direct action against Sprouts Farmers Market in the South Bay.
Be there or be square.
Location, Time TBA.
Bring a wooden spoon.
Email occupyfarm@gmail.com for more details
Defenders of the forests of the East Bay Hills will be meeting to discuss and organize this weekend. Please spread the word and come join us!
If you’ve not signed up on the East Bay Hills Forest Defense discussion and organizing list, please do so here (or get in touch if you need help signing up): https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/eastbayhills
Come learn about continuing developments in the battle save the Berkeley Post Office and the Postal Service from privatization, support our Occupiers and help us plan our next steps in opposition to the theft of our public commons.
The postal service wanted to sell the post office to Hudson-Mcdonald, a local developer. The City of Berkeley sued the post office to stop the sale. Hudson-Mcdonald backed out of the deal in early December.
There was a hearing in Federal Court on December 11th. There was another hearing in March 26th. Federal Judge William Alsup decided to dismiss the lawsuit in April because the Postal Service says it is not currently selling the building. But we’re not fooled. The Postal Service could “find” a buyer at any moment. Fortunately, the Judge ordered the Postal Service to provide 42 days notice before any sale, so that the lawsuit could be refiled.
Check out our response to the Judge’s order.
Check out the Community Garden at the Post Office.
In the latest developments, Berkeley has Declared War on Its Homeless, and an ordinance criminalizing the homeless wil come before the City Council on June 30th. (See here and here.)
Also check out our website and the Save the Berkeley Post Office website, and First they Came for the Homeless Facebook for updates.
BPOD is an offshoot of Strike Debt Bay Area, which itself is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and a chapter of the national Strike Debt movement, which is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.
TWO SQUARE FEET!
That’s the amount of bedding you’d be allowed if you had to sleep on a sidewalk in Berkeley under new anti-homeless laws the City Council will consider on June 30th. Also, you’d have to move it every hour. And it would only be permitted if you were “in transit.”
Shelters are always full. The parks are closed at night. How well would you sleep if you were homeless in Berkeley?
JOIN THE EMERGENCY PROTEST!
Called by SAFE (Streets Are For Everyone)
After the protest and before the item comes up on the agenda, join fellow activists:
June 30 is the big day. And we need everyone we can get there. We’ve tried a lot in advance we’ve sent postcards, we’ve had a couple of good actions, we’ve met with (or are about to meet with) the Councilmembers but it may come down to what happens in City Council chambers Tuesday evening.
Tuesday’s agenda is a heavy one: We’re item #14. Before us come the entirety of the City budget, and the Campanile view vote. Both of these will draw crowds. We can expect our item to start late, and to keep us there late.
Fortunately, Councilmember Worthington has reserved a respite room at the top of New City Hall (the one on Milvia). We’ll be sharing it with the Adeline Corridor and Campanile folks. In the hours leading up to our item, we’ll have movies, maybe music, perhaps a teach-in or two, and food. If you want to enjoy yourself while waiting for our item, you can do that. If you want to nap until our item’s up, you can do that, too. Additionally, there are other ways you can support our item throughout the budget and Campanile portions of the meeting. It’s going to be a long night, but we really need everyone we can get there.
OptikAllusions is a digital filmmaking collective dedicated to social change, based in Oakland, California. We share resources, skills and knowledge to help each other tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. We make films in a spirit of collaboration and solidarity, share a lending library of film equipment for creative projects, organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops.
If you’d like to make videos or want to become a member, join us for our weekly meeting and a workshop!
We usually, meet briefly and then work on projects. It’s open to all!
https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Optik_Allusions
We discuss various monetary and debt-related topics. For our next meeting we will be reading an essay by one of our own, Spencer Veale, on reforming the monetary system.
Here is the essay:
The Politics of Debt Reading Group is affiliated with the Bay Area Public School and Strike Debt Bay Area.
First Friday FTP!
HASHTAGS: #JUSTICEFORDEMOURIA #BREAKTHECURFEW #BLACKANDBROWNLIBERATION #NOJUSTICENOPEACE #FIRSTFRIDAYFTP #FFFTP
With a lot of people out of town, the OO GA is cancelled this week. Please ignore the subsequent listing.
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets Sundays at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheatre at 14th Street & Broadway, often on the steps of City Hall. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland
OO General A
ssembly has met on a continuous basis for more than three 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
- Welcome & Introductions
- Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
- Announcements
- (Optional) Discussion Topic
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)
Occupy Oakland Kitchen Committee: (kitchen@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
In recent years, the growing epidemic of police killings of mostly people of color, the obsessions with “war” (a misnomer for massacre at a distance), the desire to destroy social infrastructures as opposed to conquering territory in these “wars,” the impunity assumed by government, corporations, and police, the supreme court decisions that legitimize this impunity – all these aspects of a growing violence and extremism by institutions of power, suggest that both human concerns and civil society itself are becoming irrelevant to those power institutions. And this, in turn, strongly suggests a system whose name is “fascism.”
There are other names, and other explanations for these phenomena. Police violence can be seen as defending society, or a new Jim Crow. War can be seen as defending the US, or a new globalized imperialism. The technological destruction of social infrastructures by military means can be seen as targetting militants, or preparing invasions. And so on. But the bias toward corporations on the part of institutionalities like courts and administrations brings with it the suspicion (at least) that humans have been becoming irrelevant to the socio-political systems of power. And that makes reference to extreme contortions in the relations of people to power institutions – relations that have to do with structures of violence, structures of acquiescence, and an economy run by corporate structures.
For that reason, we need an understanding of “fascism” in its US context. Many people make the assumption that there is a concrete definition of fascism, that sets forth characteristics and criteria of evaluation. But even using the European experiences of the 1930s, one finds that different countries (Germany, Italy, Spain) produced different forms of fascism. The real question would be, are the political developments occurring around us simply the emergence of new forms of repression, some being carried to extreme, or are we witnessing something more fundamental, namely, the surfacing or resurfacing of a profound cultural and political structure in the US?
For instance, can we actually say that Dylan Roof was simply a lone (white supremacist) assassin committing his carefully premeditated massacre, or was he performing in terms of norms and exigencies of an underlying cultural structure, a part of whose operations has been to racialize not only the social environment, and US global militarism, but class relations as well?
The thesis of this class will be that there is an underlying structure – economic, political, and cultural – that has operated throughout US history, and which can truly be called fascist. The purpose of the class will be to investigate this thesis, to plumb the historical depths of what is signified and revealed by contemporary events, and to see if we can develop an interpretive description of an underlying structure, if it truly exists.
Some of the structures we shall examine in this class are those of racialization, the police-prison nexus, the corporation and corporatization of the economy and the political structure, and the cultural notions of membership in whiteness and white supremacy (for which racism can be seen as an instrumentality). For this purpose, we shall also discuss a critique of white skin privilege, the notion of cultural identity, what it means that class relations are racialized, and other allied topics.
Facilitator: Steve Martinot
Bay Area Public School
The Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality & State Repression (OGC) is a grassroots democratic organization that was formed as a conscious united front for justice against police brutality. The OGC is involved in the struggle for police accountability and is committed to stopping police brutality. In alliance with the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) we organized the October 23, 2010 labor and community rally for Justice for Oscar Grant. On that day the ILWU shut down the Bay Area ports in solidarity.
Our mission is to educate, organize and mobilize people against police and state repression.
Sisters and brothers the Oscar Grant Committee invites you to join us in this vital struggle.
The Oscar Grant Committee meets on the 1st Tuesday of each month.
The Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality & State Repression (OGC) is a grassroots democratic organization that was formed as a conscious united front for justice against police brutality. The OGC is involved in the struggle for police accountability and is committed to stopping police brutality. In alliance with the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) we organized the October 23, 2010 labor and community rally for Justice for Oscar Grant. On that day the ILWU shut down the Bay Area ports in solidarity.
Our mission is to educate, organize and mobilize people against police and state repression.
Sisters and brothers the Oscar Grant Committee invites you to join us in this vital struggle.
The Oscar Grant Committee meets on the 1st Tuesday of each month.
