Calendar
We’re featuring the best films from FILMS TO THE PEOPLE Short Film Festival. Because of the smoke caused by the fires, a lot of you were bummed that you weren’t able to attend. So we’re hosting a Best of the Fest at our next film night. You won’t want to miss this last chance to watch this slate of films that shows social justice can be touching, hard-hitting, and even funny.
A Pair Of Horns On A Female Homo Sapiens by Saleh Kashefi
Con o Sin Papeles by Aria Zapata
Cycles by Latajh Weaver
Guardian Movie by Nicolas Jara
Snow Mountain by Ed Ntiri
The Salmon Will Run by Survival Media Agency
ZOO by Andrew Schrader
Doors Open @ 4:30pm
$5 NOTAFLOF
A Valve Turner In Person!
Leonard Higgins and four other Valve Turners decided to turn off the valves that regulate the pipeline flow of Canadian crude oil into the US. They were following the honored tradition of civil disobedience – take the bold action, have it documented for all the world to see, then wait to be arrested. At their trials, they sought to use the Necessity Defense to challenge the nation’s energy policy.
Higgins is the only UU in the group of three men and two women. By their actions at the US borders, they demonstrated strong commitment to Environmental Justice.
Sponsored by the BFUU SJC.
SCHEDULE
8:20 Coffee & Bagels
8:30 Gathering & Opening Circle
8:45 Press Conference
9:00 Sgt. Russell’s Courtdate
Recently, it was revealed that Alameda County Sergeant James Russell and Lieutenant Timothy Schellenberg were caught on video admitting to the illegal recording of youth defendants in confidential conversations with their own attorneys.
This is a Constitutional Rights violation and our concern is that it points to a much larger systemic problem.
Recording a defendant and their lawyer is a violation of the 4th, 5th and 6th amendments, as well as CA Penal Code 632, which is a felony offense punishable by up to 3 years in prison.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) have spied on a defendant as they spoke with their lawyer. It also happened back in 2012.
This is NOT an issue of “one bad apple.” We have a rotten tree that must be dealt with.
THE ENTIRE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AS NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.
Felony charges have been filed against one sergeant, which is a good start but certainly not enough. This is just the tip of the iceberg for a department riddled with problems and constant allegations of the violation of people’s rights.
We call on Alameda County’s District Attorney Nancy O’Malley to conduct a thorough investigation of this matter and pursue the appropriate criminal charges against the Sheriff’s Deputies who have broken the law.
SIGN THE PETITION: bit.ly/NotAboveLaw
We demand that the District Attorney Nancy O’Malley do the following:
1. PROSECUTE Sergeant James Russell on the four counts of felony eavesdropping to the fullest extent of the law. No slap on the wrist.
2. INVESTIGATE the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to determine the extent of this egregious violation of the United States Constitution, make public the results of the investigation, and file felony charges against Lt. Tim Schellenberg for his complicity, as well as all other officers involved in the recording of these constitutionally protected conversations.
Three antifascist activists are facing serious charges for defending our city against neo-Nazis two and a half years ago. We’re calling on our community to come out to their 2nd pretrial hearing and show support for these brave individuals. It’s up to us to make it clear that we stand with them!
We will be meeting at the courthouse and attending their court appearance. Come in casual, formal, or semi-formal attire and be prepared to go through a metal detector. Avoid arriving or leaving alone, and leave the area as soon as the court appearance is over. The court date will begin at 9 am and continue until 5 pm or until the hearing has concluded, whichever comes first. This is a critical way to show your solidarity and be a presence for activists being unfairly targeted by the state.
About the court case:
On June 26th, 2016, members of the neo-Nazi gang the Golden State Skinheads attempted to rally at the State Capitol here in Sacramento. Hundreds of counter-protesters mobilized and successfully shut down the Nazi rally. After the rally was canceled, the neo-Nazis attacked demonstrators with knives and clubs, stabbing and critically injuring several. Since then, one neo-Nazi has been arrested and three anti-racist activists are facing charges. After several cancellations and continuations, this is the final court date before our comrades are put on trial. So far, our community has come out to each court date to support them. This is their most important court appearance until the trial, so it’s urgent that we show up in numbers and make our support known!
Celebrating the publication of Human Rights and Wrongs and Plan Colombia
Authors Adrianne Aron and John Lindsay-Poland discuss their new books, Human Rights and Wrongs (Sunshot Press) and Plan Colombia: U.S. Ally Atrocities and Community Activism (Duke University Press), respectively. Both books recount stories of individuals and communities – especially in Latin America – resisting U.S. and state violence, often at great cost, and the power of human solidarity. Aron’s vignettes in the style of Eduardo Galeano draw from her experience as a psychologist and work with Central American refugees.
Lindsay-Poland narrates a Colombian peace community and a massacre, as well as the policy of training and equipping Colombian forces that serves as a template for U.S. intervention globally.
Books will be available for sale and signing.
www.sunshots.org/human-rights-and-wrongs
www.dukeupress.edu/plan-colombia (Preface and Introduction free online)
Sponsored by the BFUU SJC.
JOINT WALK‐IN CLINICS with Public Defender and EBCLC
*Please bring your statewide CA DOJ RAP sheet
if you have it or we can give information at clinic*
We may be able to help with:
Dismissal of Conviction – PC 1203.4
Felony Reduction / Prop 47 and 64 Relief
Early Termination of Probation
Certificate of Rehabilitation
Sealing Arrest Record – Factual Innocence
Juvenile Record Sealing
Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants and
Survivors of Human Trafficking
Employment denials due to criminal background
reports
Occupational Licensing Denials(DSS, Security
Guard)
Voting Rights, Jury Service Rights
Tomorrow @ 12 pm, the Landless People’s Alliance is holding a press conference @ Alameda County Admin Building 1221 Oak St. to speak out against the mistreatment of unhoused folks in the Bay Area. Please show up to support their demands for justice&dignity https://t.co/oOZsFJl7U0
— The Village, Oakland (@VillageOakland) December 20, 2018
A presentation, The True Cost of Healthcare, by David Belk, MD
Have you ever wanted to build a socialist utopia out of gingerbread houses? Want to learn more about what East Bay DSA is doing around housing? Wondering what exactly is “social housing?” Join the East Bay DSA Housing Committee for a fun evening of making gingerbread houses and socializing with comrades. This is open to the general public. Bring your friends! Hot chocolate included.
Mycologist Alan Rockefeller will give a lecture on the identification of psilocybin mushrooms. It will include an overview of all North American species, focusing on the species which occur in the San Francisco Bay area. The audience will learn important characteristics for accurate identification and how to spot poisonous lookalikes. Participants are invited to bring legal mushrooms for a hands-on discussion of how to identify mushrooms you encounter.
Alan Rockefeller is a mycologist living in Oakland. He spends half the year hunting mushrooms in Mexico where he documents a wide variety of fungal species. His experience in the field has focuses on mushroom identification, DNA analysis, microscopy and photography.
In the lab Alan sequences the DNA of mushrooms from all over the world, gaining new insights into existing species, discovering new ones and eliminating duplicates in the taxonomic record.
$10 Suggested Donation – RSVP Below
http://psychedelicsocietysf.org/event/alan-rockefeller-psychedelic-mushrooms-of-california-talk-and-presentation/
By donating to this event you will help Alan do his work in the field as an independent mycologist, the SF Psychedelic Society, and The Omni Commons, a trifecta of open source, community-centered people and organizations. Thank you for your support this Holiday Season.
Macron Out NOW! And Trump Should Be Next:
US Working People Support The Struggle of the French People
To Throw Out Macron
Hundreds of thousands of French workers, students and farmers have been shutting down roads and protesting against massive tax increases on the working class and capitalist austerity with privatization and outsourcing of jobs. The “Yellow Jackets” movement is a spontaneous popular anti-capitalist protest that was organized through social media but is now getting increased from trade unionists and some unions.
The reactionary Macron government has met these protests with rubber bullets and grenades that have seriously injured the protesters. Macron has now ordered armored vehicles in the streets to shut down this protest. The French union leadership has refused to mobilize their members to support these protests despite the fact that their members face massive attacks including their working conditions and benefits. While the government is cutting social benefits and raising taxes on the working class they are increasing funding for the military and police to repress the people of France.
The capitalist class in France like the capitalist class in the US 1s seeking to solve their problems by making the poor and working class pay by allowing the corporations and billionaires to profiteer on the growing economic crisis.
American workers also face similar attacks on our jobs, housing costs, and health and education rights. The Republicans with the support of the Democrats have pushed privatization and deregulation and also more militarization of the police and the world.
While workers have trouble surviving, Trump with the support of the Democrats is spending more than $750 billion on wars around the world. Macron who is now calling for a new army is pushing the same agenda globally as the major capitalist powers move toward economic and trade war with each other.
The US working people need to follow the lead of the French people and begin organizing with mass action to defend our healthcare, housing, education, and jobs. The trade union leadership in the US like the union leadership in France is terrified of mobilizing against these attacks. In fact, they are blaming the Russians for this crisis instead of the capitalist system, which they support. In fact, they are also supporting the growing trade war against China and many other countries. Our enemies are not the people of the rest of the world but the billionaires and corporate criminals who run the US and the world.
Bring Your Yellow Jackets, Instruments, and Voices Rally
Waffles & Zapatismo is a free space for learning about and discussing the history, ideas, values and practices of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, EZLN or Zapatistas. We serve waffles at the start of the class to those who want them.
2019 is shaping up for an upswing of direct action, movement building and new thought against ecological collapse, wealth inequality, and for social justice.
This film has worthwhile history and some inspiration for folks just plugging in. Interviews plus archival footage. (1990 Documentary Directed by Mark Kitchell -117 minutes)
The 10th Annual Oscar Grant Vigil will be held on Tuesday, January 1, 2019 from Noon till 4pm at the Fruitvale BART station. You are invited to join the Justice4Pedie and Justice4Terry Amons Jr. march, which will meet at 12:30 outside the Guadalajara restaurant (1001 Fruitvale Ave., Oakland) and march to join the vigil at 1pm.
Hope to see you there!
JOINT WALK‐IN CLINICS with Public Defender and EBCLC
*Please bring your statewide CA DOJ RAP sheet
if you have it or we can give information at clinic*
We may be able to help with:
Dismissal of Conviction – PC 1203.4
Felony Reduction / Prop 47 and 64 Relief
Early Termination of Probation
Certificate of Rehabilitation
Sealing Arrest Record – Factual Innocence
Juvenile Record Sealing
Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants and
Survivors of Human Trafficking
Employment denials due to criminal background
reports
Occupational Licensing Denials(DSS, Security
Guard)
Voting Rights, Jury Service Rights
The Peace and Freedom Party presents
The Crisis in Public Education and How to Solve It!
As teacher unions in Oakland (OEA) and Los Angeles (UTLA) are
preparing major strikes this winter, a coalition of educators, parents,
unions, community, and students are fighting for increased state funding
for public schools, currently among the lowest in the nation. To discuss
how we can build California public schools into the educational system
that people deserve, we will be joined by Keith Brown, President of the
Oakland Education Association (OEA); Michael Shane, Teacher (OEA.
member), and member of Classroom Struggle; Bob Mandel, active in
1996 strike, later elected to exec-board of the O.E.A.; and Jack Gerson,
OEA executive board and bargaining team member from 2007 to 2011.
This is part of our on-going Socialist Forum Series on the first Saturday of every month.
Doors open at 2 pm and the program will start promptly at 2:30 pm. The forum will end by
4:30 pm, but folks can stay and talk afterwards. The opinions expressed are those of the
speakers and do not reflect official views of the Peace and Freedom Party.
For information, contact Gene: 510-332-3865 email: cuyleruyle@mac.com
————————————————————————————————————
The Peace and Freedom Party, born from the civil rights and
anti-war movements of the 1960s, is committed to socialism,
democracy, ecology, feminism, racial equality, and internationalism.
www.peaceandfreedom.org
A screening by Liberated Lens of a film from Germany, “Deckname Jenny” (“Codename Jenny” in German)
Subversive. Feminist. Anarchistic. Cross-generational.
Discussion with the filmmakers after the film.
2017, 108min, German with English subtitles
A shift to the right in Europe. The borders are closed. Sea rescue ships like the Sea-Watch are prevented from leaving. Drowned refugees in the Mediterranean. Jenny’s group decides to act. But when her father finds out about their militant ambitions, he has to face his own past as a member of a guerilla group. The pseudonym “Jenny” and its clear classification blurs all the more, the more dangerous it becomes for everyone involved.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/251190328