Calendar

9896
Mar
21
Wed
Oakland Privacy: Fighting Against the Surveillance State @ Omni Commons
Mar 21 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

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

op-logo.2.1We 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.

Our major projects currently include local legislation to regulate state surveillance, opposing Urban Shield and pushing back against ICE with local legislation.

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.

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Restore the Vote: Overturning Voter Suppression @ KEHILLA COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE
Mar 21 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

This free SURJ workshop will dive into the history of voter suppression and mass incarceration from slavery, through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights movement, into the present day of New Jim Crow, and discuss details around – and signature-gathering for The Voting Restoration and Democracy Act of 2018, a ballot initiative that will restore the right to vote to more than 162,000 incarcerated folks and those on parole in California, a disenfranchised group that is disproportionately Black, Brown, and poor. This ballot initiative is led by Initiate Justice. Free but please RSVP.

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Anti Police-Terror Project General Meeting @ EastSide Arts Alliance
Mar 21 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Special guest speaker for January: Chairman Fred Hampton, Jr. Don’t miss this!

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.

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David Rovics in Concert – A Benefit for CIVIC @ The Back Room
Mar 21 @ 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm

David Rovics.jpgTour name: Ballad of a Wobbly WORLD TOUR

A BENEFIT for CIVIC (Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement) featuring David Rovics

David Rovics was born in New York City, and as a guitar-slinging singer/songwriter now based in Portland, Oregon, has toured in over two dozen countries, including at mass protests throughout North America and Europe.

When President Bush came to Berlin in 2002, David entertained the 100,000 or so folks who came to protest, and at the TTIP protest in Berlin in 2015, he sang for 250,000. He was also a featured performer at the G8 protests in Rostock in 2007, the G8 protests in Scotland in 2005, the G20 in Pittsburgh in 2009 and the G20 in Toronto the following year. Other countries where David has played at protests for thousands of people include England, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia and Japan.

In addition to his musical involvement with the anti-capitalist movement, labor, environmental and anti-war movements internationally, he has shared the stage on a number of occasions with Tom Morello, founder of Rage Against the Machine, who also recorded a lead guitar track on David’s 2012 album, Meanwhile In Afghanistan. He has also shared the stage with Billy Bragg, Chumbawumba, Joan Baez, and Pete Seeger, and has toured extensively with Attila the Stockbroker, Robb Johnson, Anne Feeney, Tracey Curtis and Alistair Hulett.

CIVIC
Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) is the national immigration detention visitation network, which is working to end U.S. immigration detention by monitoring human rights abuses, elevating stories, building community-based alternatives to detention, and advocating for system change. Locally, CIVIC volunteers visit immigration detainees at the West County Detention Facility in Richmond, and work in collaboration with the detainees to monitor conditions, educate legislators and the public, and change policy.

Tickets are $15 general admission, and $10 for Students with ID. Advance tickets are available at the link below, or you may purchase your tickets at the door the night of the show. Doors open one half hour before show time. We accept cash only at the door (ATMs are nearby).

The Back Room is an all-ages, BYOB (for those 21+) space, dedicated to (mostly) acoustic music of all kinds. You are welcome to bring your own adult beverage with no additional corkage fee. If you need more information or have any questions, please call us: #510-654-3808. Thank you for your support!

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Mar
22
Thu
Film: “Invisible Students: Homeless at UC Berkeley” @ Eshelman Hall, top floor, UC Berkeley
Mar 22 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

No further information

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Movie Screening: Banana Land @ Berkeley Animal Rights Center
Mar 22 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

We’ll be screening and discussing Banana Land, a documentary film about the past and current practices of the Banana industry in Latin America.

This film isn’t about bananas. This is about Big Agriculture, with the banana industry as an example of what happens when Big Ag has complete control of a region. This industry is responsible for the vast majority of the animal exploitation we protest, but we can’t forget that human exploitation is key to Big Ag’s profits and protocol, regardless of if the product is vegan.

A product being vegan does not mean it’s cruelty free, and living compassionately is an ongoing, active process built on critical thinking and kind choices 💚

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Mar
23
Fri
Capture the Movement Workshop @ Oakland Peace Center
Mar 23 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Join us for a two hour photography workshop by activist and photographer Brooke Anderson. Whether you’re using your iPhone or a DSLR, through this workshop you will have the opportunity to:

• reflect on the role of photography in social movements and visual storytelling
• learn key principles of composition, lightening, exposure
• explore the settings and various “tips and tricks” on your camera phone
• practice taking portraits and get feedback
• discuss key issues around consent, representation, legal rights, etc.

Brooke Anderson is a social movement organizer and photographer based in Oakland, CA. Check out her work @ https://www.facebook.com/movementphotographer/.

There is a suggested donation of $10 from any interested activists to help cover the costs of the event. Please email tia@oaklandpeacecenter.org to register.

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Mar
24
Sat
Difficult Dialogues Workshop @ Sierra Club
Mar 24 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

How do we approach the challenging conversations, whether it’s about confederate flags, Donald Trump, cultural appropriation, Palestine/Israel, or even just racism and racial justice in general? Members of the White Noise Collective will facilitate this workshop ,exploring the difficult conversations in our lives around race and power.

This workshop is an opportunity to dive in much deeper with structured time to practice a range of difficult conversations around highly-charged racial issues. We will be sharing some basic skill-building tools in how to approach conversations, and then explore scenarios relevant to the lives of participants. This will include examination of some of the ways that internalized sexism can impact our courageous speaking capacities.

Small group work, role-plays, and Theater of the Oppressed techniques will support seeing tough communication blocks in a new light. We’ll try out what feels challenging, in a relatively low-stakes and supportive environment, allowing ourselves time to debrief, reflect, and learn from each other.

Contact basebuilding@surjbayarea.org with ticket requests or questions.

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March for Our Lives: Oakland @ Oscar Grant Plaza
Mar 24 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

The largest national march against gun violence and the largest national march led by the youth ever!
Looking for volunteers, musicians, and speakers.

www.OaklandMarch.com

Image may contain: 3 people, text

Mission Statement:

Not one more. We cannot allow one more child to be shot at school. We cannot allow one more teacher to make a choice to jump in front of a firing assault rifle to save the lives of students. We cannot allow one more family to wait for a call or text that never comes. Our schools are unsafe. Our children and teachers are dying. We must make it our top priority to save these lives.

March For Our Lives is created by, inspired by, and led by students across the country who will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of mass school shootings that has become all too familiar. In the tragic wake of the seventeen lives brutally cut short in Florida, politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk about guns. March For Our Lives believes the time is now.

On March 24, the kids and families of March For Our Lives will take to the streets of Washington, DC to demand that their lives and safety become a priority. The collective voices of the March For Our Lives movement will be heard.

School safety is not a political issue. There cannot be two sides to doing everything in our power to ensure the lives and futures of children who are at risk of dying when they should be learning, playing, and growing. The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues. No special interest group, no political agenda is more critical than timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.

Every kid in this country now goes to school wondering if this day might be their last. We live in fear.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Change is coming. And it starts now, inspired by and led by the kids who are our hope for the future. Their young voices will be heard.

Stand with us on March 24. Refuse to allow one more needless death.

MARCH FOR OUR LIVES!

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Oakland Justice Coalition General Meeting @ ACCE
Mar 24 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

We’ll hear about alt-right activities in Oakland, learn about the Make-It-Fair campaign and discuss our strategy for the next few months.

Proposed Agenda:

  • Welcome and Brief Orientation (Deb Avery)
  • Agenda Approval
  • Report regarding finalized endorsement process and current requests (Carroll Fife)
  • Present and discuss our Interim Strategy (Helen Duffy)
  • Present for endorsement:  Make It Fair Campaign (read about it here) (Carroll Fife)
  • Update on Alt-Right activity in Oakland (Tur-Ha Ak)
  • ANNOUNCEMENTS

64470
DROP LWOP TOWN HALL @ Red Bay
Mar 24 @ 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

This event information comes from the California Coalition for Women’s Prisoners:

Join CCWP for the Drop LWOP Town Hall

In the past six months six women have had their Life Without Parole (LWOP) sentences commuted by the Governor. At the end of January 2018 two of these women were found suitable for parole and will soon be free. This victory illustrates how the Drop LWOP Campaign and A Living Chance project are creating a foundation for the commutation of all people sentenced to LWOP and the  elimination of LWOP  from the penal code altogether.

At the Drop LWOP Town Hall  you will

  • learn updates about the Drop LWOP campaign
  • hear audio from A Living Chance Storytelling to End Life Without Parole
  • engage with a panel of formerly incarcerated women, including survivors of the life without parole sentence
  • learn how you can get involved

Featuring food from Mamacitas Cafe, a raffle and items for sale made by people living inside women’s prisons.

 

64330
Afrin Resistance Bonfire @ Fire Pits
Mar 24 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

This year we light the fires in solidarity with Afrin. Join us to act together in the future 6pm March 24th at the fire pits of Ocean Beach, San Francisco.

64439
Mar
25
Sun
DACA, Detention and Deportation – Current Threats to Immigrants @ Congregation Beth Al
Mar 25 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

64438
Indivisible East Bay All Member Meeting @ Sports Basement
Mar 25 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Join us for our March All Member Meeting. This special California-themed meeting features speakers from the Alameda County Food Bank and Evolve California, the Prop 13 reform initiative. Plus, we will have our usual updates and breakouts with current calls to action and upcoming events. Please come and bring a friend!

64453
Film “Nuclear Cattle” and Discussion About Fukushima @ Berkeley Central Library Community Room 3rd Floor
Mar 25 @ 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20171109/p2a/00m/0na/014000c

“Nuclear Cattle,” directed by Tamotsu Matsubara, 58, focuses on the farmers’ response after the government ordered them to slaughter livestock exposed to radiation due to the disaster.

Matsubara spent about five years making the film, repeatedly returning to affected areas in Fukushima Prefecture from June 2011 onward, capturing the thoughts of the cattle farmers.

“People whose voices aren’t normally heard often ring the truest,” Matsubara says, referring to the people he met.

As a consequence of the disaster, the farmers have been unable to sell cattle exposed to radiation, and are also losing money on food for the animals. Yet in some cases, they continue to keep the cows.

Among those featured in the film is a man who refuses to cave in to the government’s order to slaughter the cattle. On the other hand, there are others who have completed the slaughter, coming out with statements such as, “I will never rear an animal again in my life.”

This event will screen “Nuclear Cattle” and will be followed by a discussion on recent developments in Fukushima.

“Nuclear Cattle” is Matsubara’s first feature film. In making the movie, he was also supported by veteran producer Takeshi Shiba, 53, who has vast experience in the field of documentary production.

“There was no need to sugarcoat the raw statements made by the farmers. I just wanted to spread the voices of these people, and for them to be accepted across the nation,” Shiba explains.

Meanwhile, the director says, “These people believe money alone won’t help them find a solution, and that’s where we can find how precious their way of life as human beings is.”

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64474
FILM SCREENING: FERNGULLY @ Ecology Center
Mar 25 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Film Description:

A man finds himself living among the animals and enchanted spirits of the rainforest, and learns of the true consequences of human destruction in this animated adventure. Crysta (voice of Samantha Mathis) is a young fairy who is being tutored in the powers of magic by the older and wiser Magi (voice of Grace Zabriskie) in an Amazon rain forest. Their home is on the verge of destruction and they must figure out how to save it.

Family friendly!

Watch the preview here

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Occupy Oakland General Assembly @ Oscar Grant Plaza
Mar 25 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

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

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Oakland Greens: Free Dinner and a Movie @ It's Your Move Games
Mar 25 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Dinner: 6:30 PM

Movie: 7:30 PM

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Liberated Lens general meeting @ Omni Commons
Mar 25 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

We document current events, make films together, steward an editing suite and share a film equipment library. We also host film screenings, often with local directors, and put on an annual short film festival for independent Bay Area filmmakers. Our goal is to make the digital filmmaking accessible – no overpriced college degree or certificate program required!

We are also a good group to reach out to if you’d like to screen a film at the Omni. We can be reached at [ liberatedlens@lists.riseup.net ].

We usually meet in the basement, unless otherwise noted.

64412
Mar
26
Mon
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal & Stop Police Terror! – A TeachIn @ Room D-200, Laney College
Mar 26 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Sponsored by: Laney College Ethnic Studies Department and the Free Mumia Coalition

Speakers: Arthur League, Cat Brooks, Jack Heyman, Judy Greenspan, Gerald Smith, and Richard Becker

Alia Sharreif – hip hop artist

Video – Longshore Workers Shut Down Ports to Free Mumia

Ras Ceylon & Carole Seligman, co-chairs Who Is Mumia Abu-Jamal?

Mumia Abu-Jamal is a revolutionary journalist. A former member of the Black Panther Party and MOVE supporter, he fought racism and police brutality with outspoken radio reporting in Philadelphia in the 1970s. Known as the “voice of the voiceless,” he was an award-winning journalist. His work continues today–from behind bars–with books he has written, and recorded essays on imperialism, war, racism and more.

Because he acted and spoke out against police brutality and racism, Mumia was considered an enemy of the state. He was targeted by the FBI’s COINTELPRO disruption program from age 15, framed for a crime he did not commit, and sentenced to death. His death sentence was
overturned, but he now he is serving life without the possibility of parole. He has been falsely imprisoned now for almost 36 years. Cops, courts and politicians conspired to put Mumia away, and they are still at it; but Mumia has never wavered from insisting on his innocence!

Mumia Abu-Jamal should have never spent one day in jail. Mumia’s case exposes the race and class bias of the entire capitalist judicial system. The state demands his slow death in prison as retaliation to his defiant resistance to state repression and racial oppression. But Mumia has not been silenced.

We stand with Mumia. Mumia’s freedom is part of our own struggle for justice and human liberation.

Endorsers: Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Workers World Party, Oscar Grant Committee, ANSWER Coalition, Freedom Socialist Party, Anti Police Terror Project, By Any Means Necessary, Socialist Organizer, DSA Justice Committee, Socialist Viewpoint, Oakland Teachers for Mumia, and Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz.

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