Calendar
We are meeting at the Lake Merritt Pergola. We are joining in a circle of compassion and clarity to announce that FAMILIES BELONG TOGETHER! #endICE
Co-Sponsors/Endorsers Include:
Anti Police-Terror Project
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
SURJ – Oakland/Bay Area
The East Oakland Collective
Youth Together
Spectrum Queer Media
The Center for Political Education
Join your comrades for the upcoming July general meeting! We’re back to our regularly scheduled programming of chapter decision-making after having our massive convention in April and are ready to put our nose back to the grindstone and get business done in our fight for socialism!
There will be non-violent direct action training in West Oakland.
This training will take participants through the strategies and tools used in non-violent direct action. It will include a a know your rights training.
This training will be an important place to get plugged into for upcoming street actions around the Global Climate Action Summit in September.
Diablo Rising Tide calendar of events for summer and fall 2018: http://diablorisingtide.org/take-action-diablo-rising-tide-calendar-of-direct-action-events-and-trainings/
For more information, email diablorisingtide@riseup.net
Join the African American Museum & Library at Oakland for a screening of Stanley Nelson’s inspirational documentary, Freedom Riders, the first feature-length film about this courageous band of civil rights activists.
Strike Debt is building a debt resistance movement. We believe that most individual debt is illegitimate and unjust. Most of us fall into debt because we are increasingly deprived of the means to acquire the basic necessities of life: health care, education, and housing. Because we are forced to go into debt simply in order to live, we think it is right and moral to resist it.
- Presenting debt and inequality related topics at forums, workshops and in radio productions.
- Promoting single-payer / Medicare for All to end the plague of medical debt
- Money bail reform and fighting modern day debtors’ prisons and exploitative ticketing and fining schemes
- Tiny Homes and other solutions for the homeless.
- Student debt resistance. Check out the Debt Collective, our sister organization
- Helping out America’s only non-profit check-cashing organization and fighting against usurious for-profit pay-day lenders and their ilk
- Working on debarring US Banks that have been convicted of felonies from municipal contracts, and divesting from the Wall St. banks
- Promoting the concept of Basic Income
- Advocating for Postal banking
- Organizing for public banking in Oakland! We made the first steps happen… now there’s a spinoff group
- Bring your own debt-related project!
If you are new to Strike Debt and want to come early, meet one or two of us and get a briefing on our projects before we dive into our agenda, email us at strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com
Strike Debt – Principles of Solidarity
Strike Debt is building a debt resistance movement. We believe that most individual debt is illegitimate and unjust. Most of us fall into debt because we are increasingly deprived of the means to acquire the basic necessities of life: health care, education, and housing. Because we are forced to go into debt simply in order to live, we think it is right and moral to resist it.
We also oppose debt because it is an instrument of exploitation and political domination. Debt is used to discipline us, deepen existing inequalities, and reinforce racial, gendered, and other social hierarchies. Every Strike Debt action is designed to weaken the institutions that seek to divide us and benefit from our division. As an alternative to this predatory system, Strike Debt advocates a just and sustainable economy, based on mutual aid, common goods, and public affluence.
Strike Debt is committed to the principles and tactics of political autonomy, direct democracy, direct action, creative openness, a culture of solidarity, and commitment to anti-oppressive language and conduct. We struggle for a world without racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of oppression.
Strike Debt holds that we are all debtors, whether or not we have personal loan agreements. Through the manipulation of sovereign and municipal debt, the costs of speculator-driven crises are passed on to all of us. Though different kinds of debt can affect the same household, they are all interconnected, and so all household debtors have a common interest in resisting.
Strike Debt engages in public education about the debt-system to counteract the self-serving myth that finance is too complicated for laypersons to understand. In particular, it urges direct action as a way of stopping the damage caused by the creditor class and their enablers among elected government officials. Direct action empowers those who participate in challenging the debt-system.
Strike Debt holds that we owe the financial institutions nothing, whereas, to our friends, families and communities, we owe everything. In pursuing a long-term strategy for national organizing around this principle, we pledge international solidarity with the growing global movement against debt and austerity.
UnB2 Launch Party
California Progressives, this is how we do it!
Join us and hundreds of our closest friends for the official launch party for
Unbought – Unbossed (UnB2):
an incubator for the next generation of political disruptors.
It’s time to bring a few more folding chairs to the decision-making tables!
Please join us for our regular biweekly meeting of the Sunflower Alliance. We’ll discuss ongoing campaigns and plans for the future. Newcomers and old friends welcome — we need your participation and your voice.
NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:
occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph. 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. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)
On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over six years, since October 2011! 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)
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
For years, many thousands of Haitians have protested peacefully month after month against foreign occupation, stolen elections, government corruption, poverty, land grabs, and rising prices. The international media has ignored their struggle and helped stifle their voices. Foreign investors and Haitian elite have continued to amass enormous wealth while popular resistance has been met with bullets, teargas, imprisonment and even death at the hands of Haitian police and paramilitary forces.
The current crisis kicked off when the Haitian government raised the price of gasoline, diesel and kerosene — which were already high and out of reach for most. It has been building as numerous arson fires over the past months have targeted Haitian market women, wiping out dozens of public markets which sustain women’s economic activity, upon which the livelihood of so many Haitian families depends.
Faced with deepening misery and unbearable living conditions, the Haitian people have no choice but to resist. Fanmi Lavalas, the party of Haiti’s poor majority, has supported the courage and determination of the Haitian people in the face of dictatorship and oppression:
“The cauldron of corruption and lies has been boiling non-stop 24 hours a day. The time has come to overturn it for Haitians to begin to see the light of peace. Haiti is for all Haitians.” – Fanmi Lavalas, July 8, 2018
This is a time for solidarity. A time to stand with Haiti.
http://www.haitisolidarity.net
SUPPORT STRIKING PRISONERS!
Join Oakland IWOC at Mosswood Park Amphitheater on Tuesday, July 17, 6-8pm for an open infosession, where we will talk about the upcoming national prison strike and its demands, as well as how you can help collaborate in spreading awareness and building an anti-repression network to support striking prisoners!
—
In April 2018, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, a network of inside prison organizers, put out a press release calling for a two-week national strike beginning on August 21, the anniversary of George Jackson’s assassination, and extending until September 9, the anniversary of the Attica Prison Rebellion in 1971. The call has been taken up inside from coast to coast, and across at least 17 different states. Through a coordinated series of work strikes, hunger strikes, sit-ins, and boycotts, prisoners will demand an end to prison slavery.
However, repression of inside strike organizers is already underway as the state aims to suppress this uprising before it can begin. Support is need NOW!
Food and drinks will be provided (but you can bring some too). Bring your friends, comrades, and questions, and be ready to put in some support work!
The amphitheater is wheelchair accessible, and there are accessible restrooms at the Kaiser across the street. As an outdoor space, it will not be scent/smoke free, although we will have a smoke free area. Please contact us with any other accessability questions or needs, and we will do our best to accomodate.
SEE YOU ON TUESDAY!
For a world without prisons,
Oakland IWOC
This week, the East Bay Express published the results of a review of civil rights settlements for police misconduct by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department. Not surprisingly, they found that Alameda County leads the region in civil rights payouts. The article describes the brutal and often fatal lawless behavior that has cost us millions of dollars in just the last 3 years.
We know that the Alameda County Sheriff and deputies invested heavily in the re-election of incumbent District Attorney Nancy O’Malley to protect and preserve the status quo. We also know that O’Malley has publically stated that she will NOT swiftly, thoroughly and transparently investigate officer-involved shootings and police brutality and make her findings publicly available. Without that check, lawlessness rules the day and the taxpayers will continue to pay.
We cannot give up the fight! We have to continue the political fight to hold all law enforcement agencies and public officials in Alameda County accountable. Civil rights attorney Glenn Katon (quoted in the East Bay Express article) says it best:
“Apart from the obscene amount Alameda County taxpayers are paying for the sheriff’s incompetence and/or malice, more disturbing is the emotional trauma that has been inflicted behind those numbers, . . . The dead and maimed bodies, grieving families, and emotional trauma people will live with for the rest of their lives.”
I invite you to join us for the first organizing meeting of local activists by the Real Justice Political Action Committee. The public is welcome to attend and help us plan the way forward. I hope to see you there. Bring a friend.
Thank you in advance for your courage and continued support,
Pamela Price
Join East Bay DSA’s next Socialist Night School class as we tackle one of the most pressing issues facing working-class people: immigration.
We’ll explore the conditions that have led to this crisis and how we can effect change.
Aside from a short opening lecture, the bulk of class time will be spent in small, group-facilitated discussions. We’ll provide a short set of readings here beforehand, and we encourage all participants to read them before class. Members and non-members of any experience and knowledge level on this issue are warmly invited.
Required Readings
See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.
APTP meets monthly on the 3rd Wednesday of the month.
The Anti Police-Terror Project began as a project of the ONYX Organizing Committee. We are a Black-led, multi-racial, intergenerational coalition that seeks to build a replicable and sustainable model to eradicate police terror in communities of color. Founding coalition members include the Black Power Network, Community Ready Corps, Workers World, and the Idriss Stelley Foundation.
Safety Is… Rethinking Violence Using a Restorative Justice Lens
The Ella Baker Center will host a panel discussion and planning session where community members can engage with advocates on how we can re-envision safety. The panel discussion will be followed by small group facilitated action planning. Dinner will be provided.
Moderated by Payal Patel of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
Panelists include:
Tamisha Walker (Safe Return Project), John Jones III (East Oakland Black Cultural Zone) and Kim Carter (Time for Change Foundation).
Restorative Justice for Oakland and the North Oakland Restorative Justice Council is offering free restorative justice trainings for community members wh want to help creae a restorative North Oakland.
If you are interested in attending one of the trainings, please email us your name, your desired training date and we will reply.
rjoytrainings@rjoyoakland.org
With Harvey Smith
This walk will explore the “New Deal nexus” in Berkeley that includes Berkeley High School, the Community Theater, Civic Center Park, Post Office art, the old UC Press Building (now being repurposed as the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive), and the old Farm Credit Building. The tour will also include the incredible mosaic mural on the UC Berkeley campus, photographs of the California Folk Music Project, Western Museum Laboratory, WPA prints at the Berkeley Public Library, and WPA projects on the UC Berkeley campus.
For more info: 510-684-0414
The one thing that everyone working towards justice can agree on is that kids are the future. As youth living in the Bay Area we demand that adults treat kids better- no border cruelty, no climate chaos.
On July 21st, young people will march in San Francisco and demand climate change legislation. We march to protect the rights of the youth: we demand an end to border cruelty and greenhouse gas emissions. While this is a youth-led movement, the march is open to all people passionate about defending the safety and prosperity of future generations. Our movement is called This is Zero Hour.
We say:
Dear Decision-Makers (Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, and our Senators)
-Replace all Fossil Fuel extraction with renewable energy sources and sustainable jobs!
-Stop the Delta Tunnels!
-Get Fossil Fuel money out of politics! Don’t accept money from the Fossil Fuel industry!
-A liveable planet means climate justice– we need justice for youth from our climate policy to our immigration policy.
Can your group help us by spreading the word and inviting participants, especially youth?
Where: ICE Headquarters, 230 Sansome Street, San Francisco, marching to Aquatic Park, Beach Street, SF
What: Our event will include drumming, chanting, a speak-out, and a live mural painting project that anyone can participate in.
Who: Zero Hour is organized by youth ages 11-18. Youth and allies encouraged to participate!
Why: My generation did not create climate change, but as the climate crisis unfolds and elected officials fail to take meaningful action, young people are standing up to defend our planet. We cannot afford to wait any longer: we must ensure that our elected officials stop ignoring the needs of young people and their right to a safe, healthy, and clean environment.
How you can help:
1. Sign up to co-sponsor!
2. Spread the word and encourage your member/contacts to attend!
3. Are you in touch with youth (or adult allies) who could help with tasks like planning, art-making, chant-leading, and social media? Please put them in touch with us by messaging Youth Vs. Apocalypse on Facebook, or email <lpaczkowski20@sandomenico.org>
4. Please share our event page widely!
#zerohour #justice #environment #familiesbelongtogether#youthvsapocalypse
Freedom Summer recalls the events of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer, when more than 700 student activists worked together to register African-American voters in violently segregationist Mississippi and shatter the foundations of white supremacy in the nation’s most segregated state. Fifty years later, Stanley Nelson’s documentary film takes a look back at the epochal campaign.
Our generation is creating change in this country.
Join us for a special event. We’re having a barbecue and registering people to vote!
SPONSORED BY
Feed The People!
Usually the last Sunday of every month (but this month the Sunday before) attendees of the OO GA get together a little earlier than usual, at 3 PM (2 PM during cooler months) to share some food with each other and the community. There will be a table, utensils/plates, salad, meat and veggie entrees, dessert and whatnot, courtesy of the Kitchen Committee (such at he is), so just bring yourself, or something to share as well if you’d like. All are welcome!
After the meal the Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets at 4 PM .
The OO General Assembly has met on almost weekly basis for more than six 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. 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.