Calendar
The Alliance for a Sustainable Puerto Rico presents an update on autonomous mutual aid projects thriving in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
This art exhibit and talk is to revitalize the relationships between local communities and the indigenous peoples in Chiapas through art and dialogue.
Come meet and listen to Bay Area artists that have collaborated with the Zapatista community and an update by the Chiapas Support Committee at 8pm.
Artesanías: There will also be arts and crafts for sale by the Zapatista Women’s Art Collective!
The Chiapas Support Committee Oakland with La Peña Cultural Center present this CompArte artwork created by diverse, political and powerful Bay Area artists in dialogue with the Zapatista community.
In this art exhibit, painters that create works of art imbued with symbols and images of justice, exposing capitalist exploitation and its inhumanity, share practical visions where our communities live free of oppression, want, poverty, pollution, racism and hierarchical suffocation on canvass. Social justice art shows us how to imagine the revolution.
CompArte is a play on the Spanish words “compartir” (to share) and “arte” (art), “CompArte: The Ballad of the Zapatistas” is a show of sharing art to help us dream a different world where we all fit and to show solidarity with indigenous communities in Mexico and everywhere else.
The painters from Oakland and San Francisco participating in this show include: Jhovany Rodríguez, Daniel Camacho, Yescka, the Asaro collective from Oaxaca, Rafael Sanhueso, Andres Cisneros and Agustin Barajas Amaral.
La Peña Cultural Center is a long-time community space for artists, cultural workers, women and youth of color, queer and culturally rooted groups working in specific traditions to produce and perform works of social justice and solidarity.
The Chiapas Support Committee (CSC) is a grassroots collective based in Oakland, California, and serves as a center for education and information about Chiapas, the Zapatista communities and Mexico. CSC has worked worked with Indigenous Zapatista communities since 1998 to support and accompany their process of constructing autonomous (self-governing) institutions such as health care, education and economic production. CSC organizes forums and other events and activities to share and discuss ideas, analyses and human rights issues related to the Zapatista communities, Mexico and the U.S.
Donations are welcome at the door / No one turned away for lack of funds.
100% of the donations collected at the door benefit Chiapas Support Committee Oakland and La Peña Cultural Center to continue important community programming.
Home of the Compañero Manuel blog on the Zapatistas & Mexico
Come to the next Waffles & Zapatismo class, with an open general meeting after class from 12 Noon to 1pm. The class will focus on the 1994 Zapatista Uprising, the 1994 Democratic Convention and the 1996 1st Intercontinental Gathering. There will be discussion after the presentation and from 12-1 there will be an open general meeting with discussion about what the Chiapas Support Committee is doing and how you can participate.
Zapatista News & Analysis
!. Zapatista Captain calls on Women to “struggle together against the patriarchal capitalist system” – Captain Erika welcomed women to the Women’s Gathering in the Zapatista Caracol of Morelia and urged them to listen and speak to each other with respect as women in struggle that give each other dance, music, film, video, painting, poetry, theater, sculpture, fun, knowledge and thus nourish the struggles that we all have.
2. María de Jesús Patricio and the CIG: What was achieved – R. Aída Hernández Castillo admits her frustration that Marichuy’s campaign wasn’t able to achieve enough signatures for her to appear on this year’s presidential ballot, but also recognizes the achievements of the politics of life over the politics of death. Worth a read!
En español: http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2018/02/21/opinion/021a2pol
3. The Mayor of Oxchuc is removed and new municipal council elected – Following the armed attack on her opponents, the Chiapas Congress finally had enough of Oxchuc Mayor María Gloria Sánchez Gómez and removed her immunity from prosecution, removed her from office and swore in a new mayor and municipal council.
En español: http://www.proceso.com.mx/523066/desafueran-y-destituyen-alcaldesa-de-oxchuc-gobernara-consejo-municipal
4. Tillerson, Militarization and Oil II – In this second part of an opinion article about US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent Latin American tour, Carlos Fazio demonstrates how the US government’s national security strategy (reliance on fossil fuels) plays out in Latin America. The first part of the article is also posted on the blog. The articles take a deep look at US policy in Latin America, including regime change in Venezuela.
En español: http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2018/02/26/politica/021a1pol
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The finale in the US Postal Service’s lawsuit against the City of Berkeley for rezoning the downtown Historic District, which includes the Post Office Building on Allston & Milvia, in late 2014 to prevent it from being used for most commercial purposes should it be sold, as the Post Service intended to do beginning back in 2013.
There will be two hours of oral testimony, one hour allocated to each side.
Federal District Court Judge William Alsup, who presided over a previous lawsuit by the City of Berkeley in its attempt to prevent the Postal Service from selling the property in 2014, will preside.
Berkeley activists from Berkeley Post Office Defenders, First They Came for the Homeless and Save the Berkeley Post Office have been fighting against the sale of the downtown Berkeley Post Office and the privatization of the US Postal Service since 2013. Twice the Post Office exterior was “Occupied” and numerous rallies have been held on its steps.
Demand D.A. O'Malley Charge Mateu with Murder of Sahleem Tindle
🚨 #Oakland Monday, April 2, at 3:30 p.m.
"The Tindle family will be meeting with Nancy O'Malley and we want to let them know we support them." @APTPaction#Justice4Sahleem #OMalleyChargeMateuhttps://t.co/VerGmeY22i— Indybay (@Indybay) March 29, 2018
Wednesday April 4, 2018 will mark the 50th anniversary of the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It will also mark the 51st anniversary of his visionary speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” delivered at the Riverside Church in New York City. Dr. King’s words were precautionary and prophetic, providing both a diagnosis and a cure – “a true revolution of values” – for our society’s gravest illnesses, “the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism.” Today his words remain as timely and relevant as ever.
Please join diverse members of our community for a public participatory reading of Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech. We will do three readings of the complete speech, at 12 noon, 1 pm and 2 pm. We have divided the speech into 16 sections, so we can accommodate a total of 48 readers. You can read the speech at https://tinyurl.com/
Initial co-sponsors : Western States Legal Foundation, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), East Bay and San Francisco branches; Asian-Americans for Peace & Justice; Ecumenical Peace Institute/CALC; Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice; Nafsi ya Jamii.
For planning purposes, please let me know which hour(s) you are available to read. PLEASE RSVP TO:
Jackie Cabasso
wslf@earthlink.net
(510) 839-5877
Hear Bobby Seale speak on Police Accountability on Wednesday April 4!
An Evening of Free Speech
With Bobby Seale and Tony Platt
Doors open at 5:30 pm
Tony Platt 6:00 to 7:00 pm
Bobby Seale 7:00 to 9:00 pm
Bobby Seale is an activist working toward police accountability. He
previously co-founded and was Chairman of the Black Panther Party.
Tony Platt is a Distinguished Affiliated Scholar at the UC Berkeley
Center for the Study of Law and Society. He is the author of ten books
and 150 essays and articles dealing with issues of race, inequality,
and social justice in American history. His upcoming book “Behind
These Walls: Rethinking Crime and Punishment in the United States”
will be released by St. Martin’s Press in January 2019.
They will be speaking on police misconduct and accountability in
general, and specifically about the voter initiative to create an
elected Police Accountability Board with full authority over the
Berkeley Police Department.
There is no charge to attend. Any questions call 510-485-6044.
Media please contact us so we can reserve space for you and any
equipment you might bring.
Long, Bitter and Beautiful Struggle for Freedom
A conversation with Vijay Prashad
What does it mean to live in a democracy where guns are more important than ending poverty? On April 4, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made a powerful argument that the mass movement for racial and economic justice needed to break its silence on the US wars raging abroad. King’s words echoed those of other radicals who argued that understanding the relationship between war, imperialism, and exploitation abroad and violence, racism, and impoverishment at home would imbue people’s struggles with stronger connections and broader horizons, toward deeper social and economic transformations. Our own times call for a reinvigoration of such connections and commitments.
On the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. King, join CPE for a conversation with Vijay Prashad, director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, on resisting war and building freedom.
Eric Clanton’s next pre-trial court appearance is at Rene C. Davidson courthouse (the one by the lake) at 9am in Department 11.
Eric was the target of a harassment and smear campaign led by neo-nazis last Spring which resulted in police raiding two bay area homes. Four felony charges were brought based on the accusations circulating on 4chan, and other parts of the right wing net.
This is Eric’s seventh appearance, the last several of which have been a series of date changes. There’s hope that a heavy show of support this time may push the judge towards accepting a favorable deal and keeping Eric free.
***A few known fascists protesters and right wing bloggers still show up to Eric’s hearing with relative frequency so consider taking steps to conceal your identity.***
Agenda
1. 5:00pm: Call to Order, determination of quorum
2. 5:05pm: Review and approval of February meeting minutes
3. 5:10pm: Open Forum
4. 5:15pm: Introduction of new commissioners
5. 5:20pm: Presentation by UC Berkeley School of Information – CRIMS Privacy Assessment. Possible Action – Accept report; make recommendations to the City Council.
6. 5:45pm: Review and take possible action on Sanctuary City Contracting Ordinance
7. 5:55pm: Review and take possible action on Cell Site Simulator Annual Report
8. 6:10pm: Community Inquiry into Landlord Tax Audit/Business Revenue Data Requests (presentation by Strauss, Keenan). Possible Action – make recommendations to the City Council.
Transition Berkeley presents:
“Tomorrow” Film & Discussion
6:30 pm refreshments, 7 pm event
Please join us for a showing of the French documentary “Tomorrow “(Demain), a globetrotting documentary focused on solutions to our environmental crisis, by actress Melanie Laurent and eco-activist Cyril Dion.
“Tomorrow” provides a comprehensive look at ways in which activists, organizers and ordinary citizens are trying to make the world a better, more sustainable place.
Tomorrow shows communities taking power back from governments and corporations a form of grassroots activism which may be the best way to undo the top-down policies that have set us on the fast track to destruction.
How can we incorporate these ideas and make positive change happen here in Berkeley?
Event is hosted by Transition Berkeley and the Social Justice Committee of the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists.
Please join us for a showing of the French documentary Tomorrow (Demain), by actress Melanie Laurent and eco-activist Cyril Dion, a globetrotting documentary focused on solutions to our environmental crisis.
Tomorrow provides a comprehensive look at ways in which activists, organizers and ordinary citizens are trying to make the world a better, more sustainable place. It takes an optimistic view of the future and visits every corner of the earth to meet with men and women who are taking concrete, positive action for the planet.
Tomorrow shows communities taking power back from governments and corporations — a form of grassroots activism which may be the best way to undo the top-down policies that have set us on the fast track to destruction.
Come at 6:30 for meet and greet and bring vegetarian snacks or drinks to share if you can. Film begins at 7:00. Discussion will follow the film.
Sponsored by Transition Berkeley and BFUU Social Justice Committee.
Wheelchair accessible.
Sacramento police murdered Stephon Clark in his grandmother’s backyard on March 18. The killer cops shot him in the back 8 times. Protesters have taken the streets of the state capital nearly every day since.
Police kill more people in the United States than in any comparable country. Disproportionate numbers of those killed are Black, Latinx and Native American people. Kayla Moore, Shaleem Tindle, Jesus Adolfo Delgado-Duarte, Mario Woods, Yuvette Henderson, Alan Blueford, Oscar Grant. These are the names of just a few of the black and brown people who have been killed by the police in and around the Bay Area.
Join the International Socialist Organization for a discussion of police brutality, and what it will take to put an end to police terror and racist gun violence.
A Public Forum with
Christine Hong, Michael Klare, and Andrew Lichterman
A forum on the dangers of war in Korea, options for a peaceful solution, and prospects for a movement leading to that outcome.
Christine Hong is Associate Professor of Literature and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UC Santa Cruz and is the author of the forthcoming book, The Price of Inclusion: Race, Militarism, and the Pax Americana in Cold War Asia and the Pacific.
Michael T. Klare is the Five College Professor of Peace and World Security Studies and the defense correspondent of The Nation. He is the author of The Race for What’s Left (2012), Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet (2008), Blood and Oil (2004), and Resource Wars (2001).
Andrew Lichterman is a policy analyst and lawyer with the Oakland, California, based Western States Legal Foundation.He has represented peace and environmental activists and engaged in environmental litigation relating to nuclear weapons.His current work focuses on US nuclear weapons programs, global disarmament efforts, and the global economy.
This forum, convened by the East Bay Area chapter of Historians for Peace and Democracy, is co-sponsored by the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club and the Peace Caucus of East Bay Democratic Socialists of America. These views do not necessarily reflect the official views of EBDSA or its Local Council.
For further information, contact:
Barbara Epstein (bepstein@ucsc.edu) or Tony Platt (amplatt27@gmail.com).
The housing crisis in the Bay Area and beyond is a wholly preventable disaster, created and maintained by the notion that housing is a commodity and not a human right.
Join DSA in the campaign for the Affordable Housing Act — a proposed ballot initiative that that will give our cities and counties the power to adopt rent control necessary to address the state’s housing affordability crisis by repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.
Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act upholds landlord interests, and — in tandem with the housing crisis — has deeply exacerbated social disparities, displaced longtime communities, driven homelessness, and dealt a blow to working class power by making housing ever more insecure and inaccessible.
This canvass will be the first of many! Come learn more about repealing Costa-Hawkins, and then we’ll hit the streets to talk with our neighbors about housing justice and gather signatures for the Affordable Housing Act!
The Peace and Freedom Party presents
We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us!
The Peace and Freedom Platform states: “We call for open borders. Full rights for all immigrant workers. No human is illegal. Stop ICE raids. Stop jailing and deporting immigrants.” We have four speakers to discuss immigration issues: Bree Bernwanger, Staff Attorney, Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights; Yvette Felarca, Middle School Teacher, By Any Means Necessary (BAMN); Eugene Ruyle, former PFP Congressional Candidate, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, CSULB; Antonio Trossero, political refugee arrested by the Peronist government in 1976, exiled to the United States after spending five years in jail during the military dictatorship.
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 as long as you like. Speaker’s affiliations are listed for identification only. The opinions expressed do not reflect the official views of the Peace and Freedom Party.
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.
http://www.peaceandfreedom.org
Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, 2018:
#METOO WORLD-WIDE AND ACROSS SOCIETIES,
FROM HOLLYWOOD TO PRISONS IN THE U.S.
Whether in Iran demonstrating against the compulsion to wear head scarves, or in Poland threatening the regime posed to pass the most draconian abortion law, or in the U.S. leading the largest opposition to Trump and Trumpism, women’s sustained actions strive to bring about a new world. Every aspect of women’s struggle is reflected and deepened in the experiences and ideas of women prisoners. Does Marx’s view that the man/woman relation is the most fundamental speak to today’s reality?
Speaker will be Urszula Wislanka, Marxist Humanist activist with California Coalition for Women Prisoners and Pelican Bay Hunger Strike Support Coalition.
Many Muslims and allies have been asking about the role bystanders can play in protecting targets of hate crimes since the election. The tragedy in Portland, where two heroes were killed while protecting two women who were being attacked, really brought that question to the forefront again.
The bystander effect is a psychological phenomenon that often prevents people from intervening on behalf of victims of harassment, assault, or other criminal activity. Through training in non-violent intervention methods and role playing in practice scenarios, trainees learn the methods and techniques to circumvent the powerful social pressure to stay silent.
This is a great opportunity to learn vital skills for intervening in harassment situations at this important time, as well as a chance to build relationships across faith communities.
The training is capped at 50 people. RSVP
Questions? Please contact Emily Galpern at emilygalpern@gmail.com
Ms. Veronika Fimbres (She/Her) is an award winning LGBT living legend and trans pioneer. Fimbres is the first trans officer in the San Francisco city and county history. Serving as Commissioner of Veterans Affairs for over fourteen years, Fimbres implemented policy changes including contract compliances as well as gender inclusive language and non-binary options on for demographic forms to the city, state, and nation at-large.
Fimbres staffed for Former Speaker of the California State Assembly Willie Lewis Brown Jr. during his Campaign. As Brown’s Lavender Co-Chair and Precinct Captain, Fimbres worked tirelessly to elect Matt Gonzalez , a Green Party candidate, for Mayor of San Francisco. It was during that time, Fimbres became a Green Party member. Ms. Veronika Fimbres is currently running as a Write-In Green Party Gubernatorial Candidate for Governor of California.
This Green Sunday, Veronika will talks about why she is running, inclusion of queer, trans people of color in political campaigns, as well as hurdles she has experienced during her candidacy thus far. For more information please visitveronikafimbres.com or email her at veronika4governor@gmail.com.
SPONSOR: Green Sundays are a series of free programs & discussions sponsored by the Green Party of Alameda County and are held on the 2nd Sunday of each month. The monthly business meeting of the County Council of the Green Party of Alameda County follows at 6:45 pm; council meetings are always open to anyone who is interested. Please visit our website: https://acgreens. wordpress.com/
Protect the Water – Join Idle No More SF Bay to say NO TAR SANDS IN OUR BAY!
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has issued a permit to the Phillips 66 Refinery for the Refinery Expansion Project. This is the first part of a project leading toward the refinery processing more Alberta tar sands and allowing an additional 93+ oil tankers a year filled with tar sands into the Bay (also called oil sands or dilbit).
Please sign this petition: https://www.stand.earth/
Come early to ensure that you get a seat inside the chambers – sometimes the fossil industry tries to pack the room. There is also an overflow room where people who want to make public comments can go to the chambers when their names are called. Be prepared to stay until 1:00 – we don’t know where this items is on the agenda. Bring something to keep you occupied and snacks to eat (there is a cafe on site and you can go in and out). Make sure you get a copy of the talking points and Indigenous protocols from Idle No More members.
Details:
On Monday, 19 March 2018 the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District) senior staff made several public statements about the permit it had granted to the Phillips 66 Rodeo refinery on 25 January 2018. This permit is the subject of an appeal filed by Communities for a Better Environment, San Francisco Baykeeper, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, Stand.Earth, and the Sierra Club.
The Air District denied that the subject permit had increased the permitted capacity for hydrocracking at the Rodeo refinery. Instead, the Air District asserted, the refinery’s hydrocracking “Unit 240” was still limited to the same 65,000 barrels per day (b/d) limit it had set in 2007, and appearances to the contrary were due to a “transcription error.” Community members, reporters, and others have asked questions about these assertions.
This project is directly related to the Kinder Morgan pipeline in Canada which our First Nations relatives & allies are resisting. Over 10,000 People protested the proposed Kinder Morgan Pipeline on March 10th and protests and arrests are ongoing: https://www.teenvogue.com/
Oil tankers spill. This would be a disaster in our beautiful bay. Join your Indigenous water protectors and land defenders to protect and defend the Bay! Tar sands are impossible to completely clean up when accidents occur (https://
Feel free to make your own signs – suggestions: No Tar Sands in SF Bay, Transparency in BAAQMD, Can’t Clean Up Tar Sands, Save the Bay, No Phillips 66 Expansion, No Phillips 66 Wharf Expansion, We Are Here To Protect The Bay, No Tar Sands Oil Tankers, Stand Up to Big Oil, Tar Sands: Keep It In The Ground