Calendar

Tomorrow the Re-Entry Council will consider taking a position in opposition to gang injunctions. We need a large show of support to let them know how critical this issue is, and move them to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, NO MORE GANG INJUNCTIONS!

The city attorney and police have used this out-dated tool of repression for years, and have never demonstrated its use in establishing public safety. On the contrary, gang injunctions push African American and Latino families out of SF and dismantle entire neighborhoods. Gang injunctions are actually a tool for police to racially profile and harass us in our own neighborhoods, putting the safety of people of color in jeopardy and making it impossible for us to stay in our homes.

Officials in San Francisco have been in the business of making racial profiling and other forms of police harassment sanctioned public policy for too long, and we’re going to stop them! Dennis Herrera is feeling the pressure. On Monday Herrera issued a press release after finally conducting the first known review of the injunctions, reviews that should have been conducted every 3 years since 2006 according to his own policy. In the press release he makes outrageous claims, stating that the injunctions are not stay away orders, and “They do not restrict anyone, including enjoined gang members, from living, working, going to school, or otherwise being present in the safety zones.”  This is an outright lie. We know that the persons named have been harassed and arrested for being at their work sites, for picking up or dropping off their children at school, visiting family members; if you can’t conduct functions necessary for living a normal life in your neighborhood then one’s neighborhood is unlivable. In short the injunctions are meant to drive those named, and by necessity their families out. SHAME ON YOU DENNIS HERRERA!

Upcoming: Save the date, June 13th at 4pm the BOS Public Safety & Neighborhood Services committee will hold a hearing on the injunctions at City Hall room 263.

From its inception, the Oakland Police Commission has been incredibly problematic. One of the most egregious elements is that it allows the Mayor to directly appoint three people to the commission with no vetting.

NOW – the Commission is dragging its feet to comply with community demands that the Chair of the commission, Thomas Lloyd Smith, who was directly appointed by Libby Schaaf, undergo an investigative process related to inappropriate actions he has taken as the Chair:

– On March 11, the night of the most recent police shooting in Oakland, Mr. Smith showed complete disregard for the community by getting on the media and parroting the police narrative of that shooting without any investigation having happened.

– Mr. Smith was not supposed to be at the scene in the first place. His mere presence at the scene violated the very procedures he was trained in and prevents him from later engaging in disciplinary procedures.

– Mr. Smith falsely claimed that the meetings needed to move from Wednesday to Thursday’s because that was the only day KTOP could broadcast in an effort to exclude a member of the commission who has been publicly critical of his behavior.

– There are multiple concerns about the actions of Mr. Smith, both on the dais and behind the scenes. These have been brought to him both from the community in public forum and privately, and as well have been expressed to him by several commissioners- mostly women. He remains unwilling to acknowledge or respond to these concerns.

Not only has his actions demonstrated a necessity for careful scrutiny of the behaviors of commissioners, but before this commission was even formed we knew it was compromised by the placement of Mayoral appointees without a clear transparent process for the skills, and characteristics of who the mayor would send to be on this commission. We knew this before the commission even began, but as a Mayoral appointee, he has simply proven our point.

We continue to maintain that all commissioners should be appointed by the community to represent the community, and should be always evaluated by and held accountable by the community. You cannot replicate the systems of oppression that exist within the police department by hiding facts, being dishonest and avoiding accountability.

Join APTP to demand an investigative process for Mr. Smith to be accountable for his actions.

You may be aware that there is a rise in overdoses due to fentanyl (fueled by the War on Drugs). Narcan (naloxone) administration is one successful method to reverse overdose. Walgreens and CVS have recently been authorized to sell Narcan over the counter, and we would like to share this life-saving information. This training will teach you how to administer naloxone to someone who has overdosed. Please join us in building tangible skills for preparedness and increasing mutual care in our communities.

This family-friendly festival is free to all and will offer free health screenings, interactive fitness workshops, live music, free healthy lunches, garden workshops, free children’s face painting and activities, vendors, info on alternative health options and more.

And in #Oakland join us on Saturday, April 28, 12 pm at Oscar Grant Plaza, 14th & Broadway to #FreeMumiaApr30 https://t.co/HEUk25pLS0

— Terri Kay (@TKOakWWP) March 29, 2018

A radical movement is tightening its grip across America. The collateral damage? WOMEN. @BirthrightFilm is a must-see → https://t.co/d6ixdbGXDP pic.twitter.com/WN1JFcTBFV

— ACLU of Northern CA (@ACLU_NorCal) April 19, 2018

Remember that chant “Bernie, Bernie, Bernie?

There’s a new one now: “Nina, Nina, Nina”!

Nina Turner, President of Our Revolution, is coming to the East Bay to help us send to Sacramento and the Alameda County DA seat three corporate-free, people powered WOMEN.

No one is more eloquent than Nina Turner, President of Our Revolution. Her grandma told her about three bones in the body (Ask her!) — she’s got all three!

Nina Turner brings a powerful message to the Bay Area Saturday, April 28th at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School from 6pm-8pm.

Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign was attacked as mostly “Bernie Bros” – young men operating on social media. Never true. Here are the new “Bernie Bros” four WOMEN, dynamic, experienced, and out to help us take back our government!

No one is a more determined and successful champion of all kinds of voters than Jovanka Beckles, Richmond City Council person, now Assembly District 15 candidate.

Gayle McLaughlin has been leading Richmond and the East Bay for years. Now she’s going (for us) for Lieutenant Governor.

https://gayleforcalifornia.org/

Pamela Price promises to be an innovative, corruption-free Alameda County District Attorney, and she and Jovanka have endorsed each others’ corporate-free agendas.

www.priceforda.com

These four women are people-people. They listen carefully. They craft solutions creatively. They fight resolutely for all of us who want corporate money out of politics, who want medicare for all now, who want the broken justice system fixed.

Come, celebrate and support four women who are fighting for us! Buy tickets here. http://www.jovanka.org/our_revolution_s_people_powered_women

THERE IS NOW AN 8:00 PM EVENT AS WELL.  THE 6:00 PM EVENT IS FULL.

TICKETS FOR THE 8:00 PM EVENT HERE.

OAKLAND! SAN FRANCISCO! BAY AREA!

What’s up!

On THIS SATURDAY @ 6pm we will be hosting a FREE event @ Oakland Technical High School. We love Oak Tech and are grateful that they’ve opened their doors up for us again!

Please RSVP, share the event with your friends, and bring your whole crew.

This isn’t just going to be inspirational, it’s going be practical and detailed on how we can build change together!

See you on Saturday!

–Shaun

Wealth & Income Inequality: A Two-Part Workshop by Strike Debt Bay Area

Everywhere we look, everything from the headlines to our paychecks to the tents under the freeway remind us that rich people are getting richer and poor people are getting poorer. But it can be hard to understand exactly how and why that is happening. If we can’t understand it, we can’t change it. And change it we must!

After a look at the causes of runaway inequality in Part 1, we’ll talk about some fairer ways to provide economic security for all in Part 2. What do alternatives to corporate capitalism look like?

Part 1: How Corporations Move Money from the Many to the Few
Sunday, April 29, 11:00am to 12:45pm

Do you wonder what role racism plays in wealth inequality? Do you wish you understood exactly how Wall Street exploits Main Street? The answers are not terribly complicated, but they are shocking. We’ll learn about stock manipulation, financialization, strip-mining, redlining and more.

Part 2: How We Can Build a More Just Economy for All
Sunday, May 6, 11:00am to 12:45pm

Using our shared understanding of the problem, we will examine past and existing movements for change: what they are, how they work, and how they can grow. We’ll talk about better ways to make sure all have access to the basic necessities. Then we’ll discuss how we can keep the wealth we create in our communities instead of paying it into the bank accounts of global elites. In sum, what might a fair, sustainable, and joyful economic system look like?

We’d love you to RSVP to strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com so we know how many people to expect.
This workshop is free.
We’d love you to come to both parts if you can.

Wealth & Income Inequality: A Two-Part Workshop by Strike Debt Bay Area

Everywhere we look, everything from the headlines to our paychecks to the tents under the freeway remind us that rich people are getting richer and poor people are getting poorer. But it can be hard to understand exactly how and why that is happening. If we can’t understand it, we can’t change it. And change it we must!

After a look at the causes of runaway inequality in Part 1, we’ll talk about some fairer ways to provide economic security for all in Part 2. What do alternatives to corporate capitalism look like?

Part 1: How Corporations Move Money from the Many to the Few
Sunday, April 29, 11:00am to 12:45pm

Do you wonder what role racism plays in wealth inequality? Do you wish you understood exactly how Wall Street exploits Main Street? The answers are not terribly complicated, but they are shocking. We’ll learn about stock manipulation, financialization, strip-mining, redlining and more.

Part 2: How We Can Build a More Just Economy for All
Sunday, May 6, 11:00am to 12:45pm

Using our shared understanding of the problem, we will examine past and existing movements for change: what they are, how they work, and how they can grow. We’ll talk about better ways to make sure all have access to the basic necessities. Then we’ll discuss how we can keep the wealth we create in our communities instead of paying it into the bank accounts of global elites. In sum, what might a fair, sustainable, and joyful economic system look like?

We’d love you to RSVP to strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com so we know how many people to expect.
This workshop is free.
We’d love you to come to both parts if you can.

This is one of the biggest events of the year at People’s Park, with a great lineup of music, dance and speakers. Come and participate!

League of Women Voters of Piedmont  Speaker Series

Catherine Crump is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at U.C. Berkeley Law School. She will speak about surveillance, public safety, privacy and civil rights. A former staff attorney for the ACLU, Professor Crump has focused her career on free speech, privacy and the impact of modern technology on the law.

This event is open to the public and is co-sponsored by the City of Piedmont and City Councilmember, Jen Cavenaugh.

You are invited to
A conversation with Terry Kupers:
Why we need to be concerned about mass incarceration and supermax solitary confinement

The prison population is seven times what it was in the 1970s, and meanwhile the proportion of prisoners with serious illness has grown.   Tens of millions of people have served time and experienced resultant compromised lives.

Solitary confinement is pervasive in the prison world and causes great human damage.   Let’s get beyond the “lock ’em up and throw away the key” sensibility and talk frankly about how mass incarceration, solitary confinement and the criminalization of mental illness damage our social fabric.

Speaker

Ashby Village member Terry A. Kupers, M.D., M.S.P., is Professor Emeritus at The Wright Institute and Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He provides expert testimony in class action litigation regarding the psychological effects of prison conditions including isolated confinement in supermaximum security units, the quality of correctional mental health care, and the effects of sexual abuse in correctional settings.   His recently published book is Solitary: The Inside Story of Supermax Isolation and How We Can Abolish It. He is also the author of Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It, and co-editor of Prison Masculinities. Terry Kupers is a contributing editor of Correctional Mental Health Report. He received the 2005 Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

RSVP
(how to reach us)

The location is accessible.

Space is limited!

The 1960s were an exciting time to live through for those who could see what was happening, because they were a time when, all over the world, people were coming together, organizing themselves, and living their lives according to principles – principles of opposition, of democracy, of cooperation, of justice, and of liberation from the colonialisms of former centuries, both in the colonies and in the colonialist countries. 1968 marked a node in this historical development, in which huge events materialized and concretized movements as upsurges that focused on contesting corporate colonialist and militarist power.

We could list the Vietnamese Tet offensive that deconstructed US strategies there, the strike in France that was the largest strike in history, rebellions in black communities across the US in response to the assassination of MLK, the formation of Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement and other RUMs throughout the auto industry along with the first massive strike in Lordstown, the student upsurges in the US that seized Columbia Univ., SFSU, NYU, and others to stop the military’s braintrusts and make education relevant, the civil rights movement in Ireland, the Cultural Revolution in China that was at its populist high-point before being organized into a vast sectarian campaign, Prague Spring, the massive uprising in Mexico City during the Olympics (with solidarity from John Carlos and Tommy Smith), and the beginning of that new form of international anti-colonialist solidarity epitomized by groups of USians working in Cuba and later organized as the Venceremos Brigades.

All these events had profound influence on the thinking of the world’s people, leading almost to an inability of the power elites of the corporate world to govern in the old way. Socialist and socializing ideologies became general ways of thinking, the difference between party politics and people’s politics thrust parties aside, and movements teaching people how to establish political and cultural autonomy as a source of real political strength and not of division took hold for the next ten years.

Steve Martinot has been a union and community organizer, lecturer at the Center for Interdisciplinary Programs at SFSU, and written extensively on the structure of racism and white supremacy in the US, as well as on corporate economics and culture.

Dinner: 6:30 PM

Movie: 7:30 PM