We normally have a meal before GA on the last Sunday of the month, but this month that would be on Xmas Day, so we are having our fress a little early. We’ll cook something inedible to but us in a sour mood for the Electoral College vote Monday, the 19th.

The last Sunday of every month attendees of the OO GA will get together a little earlier than usual, at 2 PM (3 PM pn the summer) to share some food with each others and the community.  There should be a table and utensils/plates courtesy of the Kitchen Committee (such at he is), so just bring a nosh to share…

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 3 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway, often on the steps of City Hall. 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. During the warmer months we tend to meet at 4 PM.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for more than four 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

1. Welcome & Introductions
2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
3. Announcements
4. (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

Harvey Wasserman co-wrote THE STRIP & FLIP SELECTION OF 2016 (with Bob Fitrakis), soon to become THE STRIP & FLIP DISASTER OF AMERICA’S STOLEN ELECTIONS: FIVE JIM CROWS & ELECTRONIC ELECTION THEFT at www.freepress.org and www.solartopia.org

Funny things will happen on the way to the Trumpocalypse. We will fight like hell. We will win a few (already the TPP). And we’ll never lose, because it’s never over til it’s over. We will also take California (and then the world) to Solartopia, because we have no choice.

At this gathering we’ll discuss the 2016 Selection, including how it was REALLY rigged, how we will cope with the coming of The Donald, and how we will shut Diablo Canyon while making California the decentralized post-grid renewable energy capital of the world. And all because of you! Don’t miss this talk!!! No Nukes/4 Solartopia.
Sponsored by the BFUU Social Justice Committee and Codepink Women for Peace.

S Refreshments provided. Volunteers appreciated!

*Note: This event will be in the Connie Barbour Room, which is not wheel-chair accessible. It’s on the second floor of the RE Building of the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists at 1606 Bonita (@ Cedar) in Berkeley (next door to Fellowship Hall).

* Come dressed for holiday cheer and spirited solstice salutations! *

The Indigenous Women of the Americas Defending Mother Earth Treaty calls upon all of us, but especially women, to conduct a direct action to stop harming Mother Earth on every solstice and equinox. Treaty sisters are working with Friends of the Earth, United States (FOE) to call on all our relatives to join us for this winter solstice action!

Friends of the Earth collected more than 30,000 signatures demanding that financial institutions divest from funding DAPL. We will be delivering these signatures this morning to one of the top investors.

We encourage everyone to close their accounts during the month of December at the financial institutions funding DAPL and to write a letter to the CEO or CFO of the bank telling them:
– Why you closed your account: water is life, human rights violations, broken treaties, etc.
– How much was in your account
– You would consider going back to their bank if there were no longer investments in fossil fuel and fossil fuel infrastructure
– Write #NoDAPL on the outside of the envelope

More info here on contacting banks funding DAPL: http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/10/28/how-contact-17-banks-funding-dakota-access-pipeline

Inmsfbay@gmail.com & www.foe.org

Hotline Training

Hotline Training

Federal Judge Alsup will hear the case of United States Post Office v City of Berkeley wherein the Postal Service is suing Berkeley for passing a Zoning Ordinance for its historic district (which includes the Post Office) which prevents commercial uses of the properties therein.

“If you are able, please be there. Tony Rossmann [Berkeley’s lawyer in the original lawsuit challenging the sale back in 2014-2015] reminds us that it’s important Judge Alsup know that there is still strong community concern about Berkeley’s Main Post Office.”

Berkeley Post Office Defenders, in August, 2013, and subsequently First They Came for the Homeless, for 17 months, Occupied the downtown Berkeley Post Office in protest of the possible sale and the privatization of postal services.

Background:

NO, YOU STILL CAN’T SELL THE PEOPLE’S POST OFFICE!

Berkeley Defends Against Post Office Lawsuit

Feds Sue Berkeley Over Historic Zoning Overlay Ordinance.

TODAY! 12pm 850Btyant rain or shine #Mothersfightingpoliceterror @GeorgeGascon #ProsecuteOrElse @FleshmanKaren @Tysonamir @HipHop4Justice pic.twitter.com/by9snAmuJn

— Justice4MarioWoods (@Justice4MWNow) December 9, 2016

Join the Center for Biological Diversity to kick off our #Earth2TrumpRoadshow of Resistance — a cross-country tour headed for Inauguration Day in Washington D.C., building a network of resistance along the way. We’d love to have your there! This a movement-building event — the kind of pump-you-up gathering you’ve been hungry for.

Take a moment and RSVP for this FREE event on this page and right here:http://ow.ly/FYIh30786it

The kick-off will include powerful speakers, badass music, and a night to share with others in the growing movement of resistance to Trump’s agenda.

To help us kick off this roadshow in style we’ll feature the work of spoken-word artist/musician AshEL Eldridge, and the musical stylings of folk rocker Casey Neill as well as Afrobrazilian band Namorados da Lua.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the show fires off at 6:00. Be sure to arrive early to sign-in and get a great seat. This is a FREE event.

Speakers include Julio Madrigal from Planting Justice, Valerie Love from the Center for the Biological Diversity, Sandhya Jha from the Oakland Peace Center, and Eva Lin from the Alliance for Climate Education.

ACCESSIBILITY: ASL and Spanish Language interpretation available upon request. Venue is accessible by a ramp. Main floor bathrooms are wheelchair accessible. Seating available at event. Contact Ash at alauth@biologicaldiversity.org if you need this information or to request language interpretation ASAP.

Rad Local Cosponsors: 350 Bay Area; 350 East Bay; 350 San Francisco; 350 Silicon Valley; 350 South East Bay; Alameda Progessives; Alliance for Climate Education; Alliance for Democracy; Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments; Alliance of South Asians Taking Action; Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice; California Student Sustainabilityy Coalition; Center for Environmental Health; Center for Political Education; Communication Workers of America – District 9; Earthworks; Environmental Health Network; Families Against Fossil Fuels; Food and Water Watch; Food Empowerment Project; Global Exchange; Great Old Broads for Wilderness; Greenpeace; Local Clean Energy Alliance; Network of Spiritual Progressives; Oakland Peace Center; OccupySF Environmental Justice Working Group; Planned Parenthood Mar Monte; Planting Justice; Rainforest Action Network; Rooted In Resilience; San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, Physicians for Social Responsibility; Sierra Club SF Bay Chapter; Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter; Sunflower Alliance; Sustainable Economies Law Center; System Change not Climate Change — Bay Area Chapter; The Oakland Institute; Transition Sonoma Valley; United Native Americans; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Earth Democracy Group; World Beyond War.

The roadshow is rallying and empowering defenders of civil rights and the environment across the country to resist Trump’s dangerous plans. Stopping in 16 cities on its way to Washington, D.C., it will bring thousands of people to protest at the presidential inauguration.

At each show, you can:
• Sign the national Pledge of Resistance to Trump’s dangerous agenda.
• Write a personalized #Earth2Trump message that will be carried to D.C. in a massive globe and delivered to Trump.
• Create a huge, viral social media #Earth2Trump messaging campaign.
• Connect with people in your community resisting oppression and find out how to join the million people who will protest in Washington, D.C. on Inauguration Day.

Join us to send a powerful, unwavering #Earth2Trump message that oppression and environmental destruction will not be tolerated.

Please RSVP (http://ow.ly/FYIh30786it) to let us know you’ll be at this FREE event in Oakland and share this page with your family, friends and social networks. We’ll see you on January, 2.

Community Assembly Call Out in Response to Oakland Fire and Housing Crisis

The Post Salon Community Assembly, community organizations and individuals throughout the city will come together after the first of the year to build a unified response to the displacement that is occurring in the wake of the Ghost Ship fire, homelessness, eviction of non-profits from downtown Oakland and the crisis of affordable housing that the city is facing.

The assembly will take place in City Hall chambers at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan has agreed to host the meeting for the community.

Organizations and individuals are being contacted to participate in and co-sponsor this community forum.  For information call (510) 287-8200.

The Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission will be conducting a public hearing on the draft Surveillance Technology Ordinance. Here is the draft which has been recently modified and approved to form for submission.

Oakland-Ordinance-12-16-16

Please share this information widely to encourage public comment as the Commission prepares to submit this draft to the Oakland City Council.

Comments can be submitted ahead of time  directly to jdevries@oaklandnet.com. For more information about the Commission, visit the website: http://www2.oaklandnet.com/OAK057463

Schedule:

5:10pm: Presentation on Surveillance Equipment Ordinance by Nuala O’Connor, President and CEO
of Center for Democracy and Technology; Question and Answer session.
5:20pm: Presentation on Surveillance Equipment Ordinance by Professor Catherine Crump, Co-
Director Berkeley Center for Law & Technology; Question and Answer session.
5:30pm: Discuss and take possible action on a Surveillance Equipment Ordinance.

All Out for Oscar! 

Oscar has been imprisoned for almost 36 years for the charge of seditious conspiracy. The only legal remedy left is a presidential pardon
or commutation.
All sectors of Puerto Rican society, Nobel laureates, Latin American leaders, Former President Carter and Senator Bernie Sanders
have all called for his release. Let’s celebrate Oscar’s 74th birthday on January 6 by joining the hundred thousand who petitioned the White House and demand: FREE OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA NOW!
You can also CONTACT The White House on JAN 6 and 13
For more info, go to: http://boricuahumanrights.org/

11 Years Ago, in the city of Oakland…

A collective of art gallery owners now known as Art Murmur, created a free once-a-month art gallery walk. The event became so successful, that galleries became overwhelmed with the amount of attendees who began overflowing into city streets.

To protect pedestrians and provide greater accessibility to the non-gallery community, participating collective Rock Paper Scissors (RPS), filed for a monthly permit to block the streets from auto-traffic under an event dubbed “The 23rd St. Fair.”  This event turned into what is now Oakland First Fridays: the most renowned art, music, food and cultural community event in the Bay Area.

Oakland First Fridays’ 11th Anniversary Event Dedicated in Tribute to the Ghostship Collective

Our hearts go out to Oakland’s creative community and those who have been heavily impacted by the Oakland Fire. The collective loss of life, shelter, and livelihood is an unimaginable tragedy.

In light of this very challenging time, we would like to pay tribute to Oakland’s Creative Community, by dedicating our 11th Anniversary Event to celebrating the life and art of the vibrant creatives, survivors and victims of the Ghostship tragedy.

On Luis’s 9th month commemoration, SAT. JANUARY 7th 10am-1pm, we will celebrate the Mexican tradition of sharing Rosca de Reyes by breaking bread and drinking hot chocolate, and expressing generosity towards our homeless encampment neighbors by bringing a few basic material gifts for them (e.g. socks.)

For our Coalition, this is also the critical start to the next three months of organizing leading up to the 1 year anniversary of Luis’s killing. Let’s get there together with his family in San Francisco and Yucatán! We’ll announce the first court date in the civil case on Jan 7th too.

For this event we are teaming up with individuals and associations who already work on anti-police brutality, indigenous rights, immigrant rights and unhoused/homeless outreach to collaborate with us.

If you would like to help out, please write to justice4luis@gmail.com

Starline is hosting a benefit gig for the Immediate Oakland Fire Relief Fund, featuring Rituals of Mine, Wax Idols, Anticon artist JEL, Kool A.D. with Cult Days, and more.

More info: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/rituals-of-mine-ghost-ship-benefit/Content?oid=5072561