Calendar

Item 24: Direct the City Manager to analyze and address disparate racial outcomes in policing and implement policy and practice reforms.
This item has been heavily revised since it was first introduced.  Please see the following link for the current proposal:
https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2017/11_Nov/Documents/2017-11-14_Item_24_Refer_to_the_Berkeley_Police_Department_-_Rev.aspx
Evaluation:  These proposals are positive, if somewhat vague.  They introduce concepts that will become much more developed and actionable with the forthcoming release of the PRC’s Fair and Impartial Policing report, due November 15 (see section II below).

Item 25: Referral to Police Review Commission to Write a Charter Amendment Ballot Measure
Evaluation:  There are competing versions of this measure.  It is unclear what if anything will happen on this reform item.  Two critical things to keep in mind:
1.  A charter amendment, through the ballot box, is an absolute requirement to achieve real police accountability.  Any move other than changing the city charter will be considered illegal where it conflicts with the charter.
2.  Whether or not the council refers this issue to the PRC, a charter amendment will be written, and will be on the November 2018 ballot.  Council’s support would be welcome but the people will make this happen!

Oakland’s Public Safety Committee will hold a public hearing on the ICE raid – with the police chief. Also likely that the surveillance equipment ordinance will go through its final pass through on that same day.

We will want numbers in the room for the ICE hearing. Tell people.  #DeportICE

—–

On August 16, HSI/ICE conducted an AM raid on the 700th block of 27th Street in West Oakland with OPD assistance. The raid was advertised (erroneously) as a search warrant for the sexual trafficking of juveniles, biut there were no actual allegations of sexual abuse, no juveniles were removed from the home and the solitary arrest was for being undocumented. The 25 year old arrestee is now in the deportation process. At an October 5th investigation and hearing that the OPD Chief did not attend, Oakland’s Privacy Commission concluded that the raid violated Oakland’s sanctuary city policy and several statements made by OPD chief Anne Kirkpatrick about the raid were false.

Video of the hearing is here. https://oaklandprivacy.org/2017/10/06/privacy-advisory-commission-investigation-of-oakland-ice-raid-concludes-violation-of-sanctuary-city-policy/

East Bay Express coverage is here:
https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/oakland-police-chief-made-false-statements-about-ice-raid/Content?oid=9793923

City Council members Desley Brooks and Rebecca Kaplan have now set this item for a committee hearing with the OPD Chief in attendance.

Oaklanders and other Bay Area residents who want sanctuary legislation taken seriously around the Bay should attend. Public comment will be taken.

A book talk and discussion with Paul Kivel.

Paul is an Oakland-based social justice educator, activist, author and a co-founder of SURJ – Showing Up for Racial Justice. His newest book is “Uprooting Racism 4th Edition” which he revised and updated after last year’s election. You can learn more about Paul and his work at his website: paulkivel.com. Please join us for what is sure to be a very interesting presentation and discussion of interest to everyone in our community.

Everyone is also welcome to join us for the other Second Tuesdays programming, including cooking at 5, dinner at 6, worship at 6:45, and Black Lives Matter Vigil at 7:30. Contact vespers@uuoakland.org with questions.

— two sessions — 9:15am-Noon & 6:15-9pm at the Laney College Forum. Both sessions will include guest speakers and breakout sessions for discussion. PLUS a mid-day rally + clubs & resources fair on the Quad starting at Noon

PREPARE & PROMOTE  Faculty: BRING YOUR CLASSES, &/or discuss the issues in class and ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO ATTEND.

INTERACT & DISCUSS  HOW DOES DEVELOPMENT IMPACT OUR COMMUNITIES, and what kind of development will help PROTECT & PROMOTE our communities?

Does ‘profit’ have any legitimate role in healthcare? Is healthcare a human right? GET INFORMED & INVOLVED  What is “SINGLE-PAYER” healthcare?

How can we best PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF MIGRANT PEOPLE?

Updates on the A’s stadium proposal – and community efforts to block it!

GET INVOLVED WITH COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS!

Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, police militarization and ICE, and to advocate for surveillance regulation around the Bay.

We fight against “pre-crime” and “thought-crime,” spy drones, facial recognition, police body cameras and requirements for “backdoors” to cellphones, to list just a few invasions of our privacy by all levels of Government.

We draft and push for privacy legislation for City Councils, at the County level, and in Sacramento. We advocate in op-eds and in the streets. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and believe no one is illegal.

Oakland Privacy originally came together in 2013 to fight against the Domain Awareness Center, Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub. OP was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network.

If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy email listserv, coming to a meeting, or have questions, send an email to:

contact@oaklandprivacy.org
Check out our website: http://oaklandprivacy.org/   Follow us on twitter: @oaklandprivacy

“WATCHING YOU WATCHING US”

Oakland Privacy works regionally to defend the right to privacy and enhance public transparency and oversight regarding the use of surveillance techniques and equipment. This month Oakland Privacy will be preparing for the passage of transparency ordinances in Oakland and Berkeley and kicking off new processes in Richmond and Alameda County,  To help slow down the encroaching police state all over the Bay Area, join us at the Omni.

With the DOJ recently bringing back the “Going Dark” debate, and now calling for “responsible encryption,” what does the Trump administration have to say about strong crypto? Do we know yet? Do they?

If there’s anyone who might be able to figure that out, it’s Riana Pfefferkorn.

As an attorney and legal fellow, Pfefferkorn is at the forefront of trying to make sense of new technology, surveillance policy and the thorny legal questions that emerge. She’ll explain how this problem emerged, and what the FBI has already done about it over the last decade.

Join Ars Technica editors Cyrus Farivar and Annalee Newitz in conversation with Riana at the next Ars Technica Live on November 15 at Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland.

There will be plenty of time for audience questions, too. Doors are at 7 PM and the event starts around 7:30. Tickets are free, but please do RSVP with Eventbrite so you’re guaranteed a spot.

Riana Pfefferkorn is the Cryptography Fellow at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. Her work focuses on investigating and analyzing the U.S. government’s policy and practices for forcing decryption and/or influencing crypto-related design of online platforms and services, devices, and products, both via technical means and through the courts and legislatures.

Prior to joining Stanford, Riana was an associate in the Internet Strategy & Litigation group at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she worked on online privacy, Internet intermediary liability, consumer protection, copyright, trademark, and trade secrets and was actively involved in the firm’s pro bono program. Before that, Riana clerked for the Honorable Bruce J. McGiverin of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.

Cyrus Farivar and Annalee Newitz are Ars Technica’s Senior Business Editor and the Senior Tech Culture Editor, respectively. Ars Technica Live is a monthly series spotlighting people who are working at the cutting edge of technology, science, and culture. It’s held the third Wednesday of every month at Eli’s.

Monthly APTP meeting, held on every 3rd Wednesday of the month.

– Strategize on addressing proposed changes to the BART police use of force policy.
– Find out ways you can use your talents and resources to support APTP and get involved with the work, including how to join various committees such as the Black Leadership Committee, First Responders, Action, Policy, Media, and Security committees.
– Find out more about the #DefundOPD campaign.

The Anti Police-Terror Project is a project of the ONYX ORGANIZING COMMITTEE that in coalition with other organizations, like Idriss Stelley Foundation, Community READY Corps and Workers World Party – Bay Area, is working to develop a replicable and sustainable model to end police terrorism in this country.

We are led by the most impacted communities but are a multi-racial, mutil-generational coalition.

For the July meeting:

There will be report backs on some of our recent actions including the Defund OPD campaign around the city budget process, including our shutdown of the Council budget meeting. You’ll also hear about our action to protest the promotion of rapist OPD Cops at their “secret” promotions ceremony.

We’d also love to have you get involved with APTP on a regular basis, by joining one of our committees. We will have committee breakouts as part of Wednesday’s meeting, so you can learn about what the different committees do. We know you all have lots of ideas and talent, so please contribute to further APTP’s on-going work.

Some of the committees include:
– Black Leadership
– First Responders
– Action
– Comms/Media
– Policy
– Security
– Fundraising

See you all on Wednesday!

Join us for a #SleepOut to end homelessness!

Where: Powell Street Cable Car Turnaround by Powell BART
When: Thursday, 11/16 at 5pm

With the adult shelter waitlist at 1000+ people long and as the City continues to criminalize homeless people living in tents and on the streets, we invite all community members to join us for a #SleepOut to bring light to this issue. Bring your sleeping bag and your friends!

Note from Kelley… If you are looking for ways to contribute it would be great to bring food & drinks (water, coffee, hot cocco, etc). Hit me up if you would like to help!

Single-Payer Social, South Berkeley

The People’s Study group is a grassroots effort to reclaim Black and Brown peoples’ struggles against capitalism and create a collective analysis of our current situation. We will be exploring texts from past and current revolutionary movements and thinkers.

We live in the Bay Area, a region affected by skyrocketing costs of living and stagnant wages and opportunities.

A revolutionary social movement has to take into account the relationship between housing and capitalism; as anti-capitalists we have to dissect its devastating impact on working class communities of Color.

Talking about social change means talking about solutions; we want to struggle over how we think we can accomplish change in our community.

We will bring a short booklet that night to read and discuss. Reading in advance is not required but feel free to take a look beforehand:goo.gl/qhtgJH

We are also open to suggestions regarding other readings we could study.

The People’s Study Group is a new project of some residents of the Fruitvale District. We are not a large organization and will be asking for donations to cover the cost of the space.

If y’all have questions you can reach us at peoplesstudygroup@gmail.com

We are excited to talk and get stuff done!

A Panel on Political Prisoners and Incarceration from Palestine, the US and the Philippines, with Sahar Francis of Addameer (the Palestinian Prisoner Support & Human Rights Association)

The full panel will include speakers from:
Addameer
Critical Resistance
Freedom Archives
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
AnakBayan- East Bay
Malcom X Grassroots Movement

Blossomy Project Benefit for Survivors of Human Trafficking In India:
A Screening of SOLD and a performance by Kristi Williamson of Spoken Word Mystic Poetry, Song and Movement

Blossomy Project is a Berkeley based 501(c)3 working with trafficking survivors since 2004 in India and in 2016 expanded its reach to vulnerable communities in Thailand! The focus of Blossomy Project is empowerment through self expression.

Our programs include dance therapy, art therapy, music therapy and photography.
SOLD is a narrative film based on the true story of Lakshmi’s trafficking from rural Nepal to a brothel in Kolkata, India and highlights the brutality of child trafficking and the resilience of the human spirit. www.soldthemovie.com

Kristi Williamson is brilliant performer who is passionate about archetypal exploration through cultural dance forms and ritual theater and will be presenting a piece that embodies her experiences working with survivors in India. Kristi has been working with Blossomy Project in Kolkata at a shelter home with over 100 girls since 2014 leading a one month workshop in partnership with the Tamalpa Art Corps program.
This event is generously being sponsored by BFUU and all proceeds go to benefit the empowerment of trafficking survivors and those vulnerable to human trafficking.

Lulu Dharma jewelry and tote bags will be on sale at the event for half price www.luludharma.com
Lite fare will be on offer. Free popcorn! $5 Raffle Tickets!
$20 minimum suggested donation at the door. More Information: www.blossomy.org

CELEBRATE THE ZAPATISTA REVOLUTION
with a benefit screening of a new documentary film
ZAPATISTA MOON

Doors open @ 7:00, screening @ 7:30

The film will be followed by a roundtable discussion with:
* Amira Ali, artist, poet, filmmaker, founding member AfricaSpeak4Africa
* Laura Rivas, activist, member of Chiapas Support Committee
* Elizabeth Saez, Center for Latin American Studies, Stanford University

>
> Tamales & Aguas Frescas, Zapatista Artesanía & t-Shirts will be available.

A benefit to support educational projects in the autonomous Zapatista communities in Chiapas

Zapatista Moon narrates one man’s journey in Chiapas as he interacts with a historic Zapatista women’s gathering in 2007, questions men’s role and feels the impact of Zapatismo on the on-going struggle for gender justice & equity.

The film-showing will be followed by a roundtable of women who will review the film and discuss the dimensions of the struggle for women-based power and leadership of our movements and communities and the struggle to forge new relationships based on gender justice and equity.

The film highlights the December 2007 Meeting of Zapatista Women with the Women of the World. Our focus on indigenous women coincides with the current independent presidential candidacy of an indigenous woman on behalf of the Indigenous Governing Council, María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, Marichuy.

Sponsored by the Chiapas Support Committee
And endorsed by Liberated Lens
__________________________________________________________

For more information visit: https://chiapas-support.org/

Super psyched for this #Antifa event organized by JBAKC + NLG comrades in #Berkeley pic.twitter.com/idLmVX6egV

— Mark Bray (@Mark__Bray) November 6, 2017

After years of plotting, Hasta Muerte Coffee  — a third-wave cafe, radical bookstore, and community events space — will hold its grand opening. While hip coffee shops are often thought of as gentrifying sources, the Hasta Muerte collective is working to actively subvert that notion. Its five members — who have experience in community organizing, activism, art, music, and bikes — were primarily drawn to coffee as a way to bring people together. Another element working in their favor is that three of them actually live in Fruitvale.

“The first step is offering coffee, community, and solidarity,” worker-owner Matt Gereghty said. After normal coffee-consuming hours, Hasta Muerte plans to organize cultural events like film screenings, workshops, and art shows — “things that are centered on holding down our various and vibrant cultural identities,” Gereghty said.

A small bookstore within the cafe is curated with an eye toward decolonizing struggles.

“What trends can history teach us about making it through the present moment and times to come? We want to add fuel to the flame of resilience and resistance,” Gereghty said.

There’s a conference room in the back, which Gereghty said Hasta Muerte plans to lend to community groups in need of meeting space. The main, 600-square-foot cafe space seats about 25 people and features a robust play area for kids.

Read more here

This year has brought many hundreds of thousands of people to the streets to defend immigrants, fight for healthcare for all, defeat a Muslim ban, and provide a powerful voice against the racism, mysoginy and homophobia that brought Trump to office. This is the spirit that the Fourth Annual Howard Zinn Book Fair celebrates on Sunday, November 19th as we envision what “The World We Want,” might look like.

Over 140 Authors, Zinesters, Bloggers and publishers will gather for a jam-packed for a day of close to 60 readings, panel discussions and workshops exploring the value of dissident histories. In the spirit of the late historian Howard Zinn we recognize the stories of the ways that everyday people have risen to propose a world beyond empires big and small. There will also be a big room full of over 75 radical book sellers, publishers and community organizations.

Highlights include talks from:

• Adam Hochschild, NY Times Best-Selling author of Spain in Our Hearts and King Leopold’s Ghost
• Sekou Odinga, former Black Panther Party member and recently released political prisoner, author of In the Whirlwind
• Rebecca Solnit, Harper’s contributing editor and author of The Mother of All Questions and Men Explain Things to Me will discuss What’s Next for the Resistance
• Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz debuting her new book Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Ammendment..
• Punk Icon, Michelle Cruz Gonzales, author of the Spitboy Rule: Tales of a Xicana in a Punk Band
• Sasha Lilly, local activist, Pacifica Radio host and author/editor of numerous books including Capital and Its Discontents: Conversations with Radical Thinkers in a Time of Tumult
• Radical strategies with important activists such as Mark Bray, Jovanka Beckles, Cindy Milstein, Kevin Van Meter, and Antonio Roman-Acala.
• A five-session track dedicated to exploring what ‘Black Reconstruction In Our Time’ would look like based on the seminal writings of W.E.B. Du Bois.

The Howard Zinn Book Fair is brought to you by an all-volunteer team and the support of the City College of San Francisco Community: (Labor and Community Studies Department, Social Justice AA-T Program, Free City Outreach, American Federation of Teachers 2121 ) and Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, California Institute For Integral Studies, Green Arcade Books, Haymarket Publishing and AK Press.

FULL PROGRAM:  HERE
LIST OF EXHIBITORS:  HERE
IMPORTANT INFO AND LOGISTICS: HERE