Calendar
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
Next meeting
Come and help us advocate for public banking! Our next meeting is set for Monday, April 2, from 5:30 to 7:00pm. We’ll meet in the back room at Xolo, a restaurant at 1916 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland. You are welcome to join us!
Agenda
Reportbacks
- Colorado conference
- Governance
General news
Feasibility study timing and progress
Repeating items
- Treasurer’s report/budgeting and meeting place issues
- introductions of new attendees
- overview of public banking for new attendees
- set next meeting time and place
Upcoming (30 min)
- Student debt forum
- California Public Banking Alliance
- Commonbound conference, 6/22 -24, St. Louis
- What next?
Upcoming Events of Interest:
Student Debt Forum
How can a public bank help relieve the burden of student debt that so many of us are struggling with? Come hear the progressive candidate for CA lieutenant governor, Gayle McLaughlin, discuss this question on Monday, April 9, in Richmond’s main library. The library is just .6 miles from the Richmond BART station. All are invited to attend this free event and take part in the conversation.
Study deadline nears
On March 31, Global Investment Corporation (GIC) is scheduled to submit to the city their study on the feasibility of the Public Bank of Oakland. Watch for news of the study in our next edition, coming soon!
PBO governance plan
Some of us at FPBO have been busily working on a proposed governance plan for our future bank. Two weeks ago, at the Public Banking Institute’s conference in Colorado, our own Susan Harman presented an outline of this plan. The final version of our proposed governance plan will be ready in early April.
Public banking beyond Oakland
• San Francisco’s Municipal Bank Feasibility Task Force met for the first time in late February. The task force, headed by SF Treasurer José Cisneros, has now issued a Request for Qualifications on a financial study of a public bank for the city.
� Seattle is the latest city to explore the public banking ooption. The city has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Seattle Public Bank feasibility study. Read more here.
� Two representatives in the Alaska legislature have proposeed a bill creating a public Bank of Alaska. Read more here.
Because of the COVID pandemic we will be meeting virtually via Zoom on the first Monday of the month.
Meeting ID: 828 0976 4186
The Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality & State Repression (OGC) is a
grassroots democratic organization that was formed as a conscious united front for justice against police brutality. The OGC is involved in the struggle for police accountability and is committed to stopping police brutality.
In alliance with the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) we organized the October 23, 2010 labor and community rally for Justice for Oscar Grant. On that day the ILWU shut down the Bay Area ports in solidarity. Our mission is to educate, organize and mobilize people against police and state repression. Sisters and brothers! The Oscar Grant Committee invites you to join us in this vital struggle.
We meet on the 1st Monday of each month
You can join our discussion list by sending a blank (doesn’t even need a subject) email to
oscargrantcommittee-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
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).
A Summit to fight the Prison Industrial Complex
RSVP today. Space limited!
Facebook to stay updated and spread the word!
Hosted by the No New SF Jail coalition, this event will bring together organizational partners and community activists working to stop the violence of the prison industrial complex in San Francisco. Summit presenters and participants will discuss interrelated topics such as jail construction, gang injunctions, justice for community members murdered by police, tasers, bail reform, increased policing on our streets, and more. Interactive workshops, trainings, and panel discussions will allow for participants to share information and strategize between campaigns. Our goal is to strengthen connections between our organizations and efforts in order to better address the interlocking impacts of imprisonment, policing, surveillance, courts, and prosecution in San Francisco. Join us!
Lunch provided. Donations accepted.
Current Sponsors Include: Asian Law Caucus, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Communities United Against Violence, Oakland Power Projects, DSA – Justice Committee, American Friends Service Committee, Critical Resistance Oakland, Californians United for a Responsible Budget.
Accessibility: Venue will be wheelchair accessible. Childcare and interpretation provided upon request, please contact us regarding this and other accessibility needs by March 31st.
Sponsorship: Would your organization like to join as a sponsor? Please contact us and fill out this quick survey.
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
Please come to our Inequality Seminar on Sunday, 4/29 at 11:00 AM at the OMNI!
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.
Our next seminar/workshop will be on April 29th. Check it out and make sure to come! - 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.
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.
April 22nd Meeting is CANCELLED: 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.
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