Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series presents Danny Glover

RSVP 510 434 3988

Co-presented by the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center
and the Peralta Community College District

We won! After years of committed actions and struggle, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors has voted to end Urban Shield as of 2019. This would not have been possible without all of you!

The ongoing solidarity efforts of this coalition and visions of community safety have been our greatest power through these years and will continue to be the power that ensures that Urban Shield truly sees its end! Now it’s time to celebrate together, to honor the resistance that has gotten us this far and cheer each other on for the future. All are invited to join the Stop Urban Shield coalition for a night of food, drinks and dancing.

*Food and drinks will be available for purchase from the regular Reems lunch/dinner menu.
*DJ and dancing on the patio
*Indoor seating and slideshow: “Stop Urban Shield Through the Years.”

Accessibility info:
*Patio and cafe are located directly off of the Fruitvale Bart and accessible via ramp.

Come join us for the upcoming Repair Cafe, a half-day community gathering  where some folks bring broken things, others bring know-how and tools, and yet others bring hospitality – and everyone brings goodwill and zeal for fixing. Though free, Repair Cafes aren’t free repair services. They’re participatory events – neighbors helping each other out, getting to know each other over coffee, baked treats, and repair projects, and squeezing more life out of the things they already have.

Volunteer fixers will be on hand who know how to repair all kinds of things – from lamps, clothing, and toys, to bikes, mechanical, furniture, electronics, and appliances … pretty much anything that can be brought through the door. The fix rate runs about 70%, so your item might not be fixed. It might even get worse!  But together you’ll give it a good try and learn a lot about fixing along the way.
You can register or just bring your broken things, puzzle over them with volunteer fixers, then work together to see if you can bring them back to life.

Interested in becoming a Volunteer Fixer or Host?  Great! Check the website to find out what it’s about and sign up.

Besides Fixing… We’ll have a cafe  coffee, tea and goodies, perhaps repair tutorials, perhaps conversation with folks deeply involved in repair and reuse … all’s in the works.

Co-Organized by The Culture of Repair Project and Transition Berkeley

Immigrant rights activists, community leaders and people who have been directly affected by the immigrant detention system will gather in front of the West County Detention Facility (WCDF) for a people’s tribunal to hold Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office accountable for their culture of secrecy and systemic abuse.

The tribunal is one of a series of coordinated people’s tribunals across the country as a part of the #ICEonTrial campaign. The campaign comes with a rise of retaliation by ICE against activists, as the agency is emboldened to be less transparent and unaccountable and to act with increased impunity under the Trump administration.

Justice comes from the people!
La justicia viene del pueblo!

Who: CIVIC (Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement); Detention Watch Network; Pueblo Sin Fronteras; Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity; Let Our People Go

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CIVIC (Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement) is devoted to abolishing U.S. immigration detention, while ending the isolation of people currently suffering in this profit-driven system. We visit and monitor 43 facilities and run the largest national hotline for detained immigrants. Through these windows into the system, we gather data and stories to combat injustice at the individual level and push systemic change.
www.endisolation.org

Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to expose and challenge the injustices of the United States’ immigration detention and deportation system and advocate for profound change that promotes the rights and dignity of all persons. Founded in 1997 by immigrant rights groups, DWN brings together advocates to unify strategy and build partnerships on a local and national level to end immigration detention.
www.detentionwatchnetwork.org

Pueblo Sin Fronteras is a collective of friends who decided to be in permanent solidarity with displaced peoples. For more than fifteen years, members of Pueblo Sin Fronteras have been reaching out to the most vulnerable immigrants in the United States and to migrants and refugees on the move. We accompany migrants and refugees in their journey of hope, and together, we demand our human rights. We provide humanitarian aid to migrants and refugees on the move. Our dream is to build solidarity bridges among peoples and turndown border walls imposed by greed.
www.pueblosinfronteras.org

The Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity works to achieve an equitable, inclusive and healthy society, culture, and economy where the most vulnerable, disenfranchised and marginalized have equal opportunities and access to the resources and tools needed to achieve a dignified quality of life.
www.im4humanintegrity.org

Kehilla Community Synagogue’s Immigration Committee holds a monthly multi-faith, one-hour protest on site called Let Our People Go, on the second Sunday of every month. Let Our People Go is a youth-and-elder-friendly, accessible action that opposes the detentions/deportations and mass incarceration with activist debriefs, music, art, stories and representation from different faith communities (including faithful and faithless humanists).
www.kehillasynagogue.org/immigration-committee

Summon Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern to Appear at a People’s Tribunal

On Saturday, May 5, 2018 immigrant rights activists, community leaders and people who have been directly affected by the immigrant detention system will gather in front of the West County Detention Facility (WCDF) for a people’s tribunal to hold Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Alameda and Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office accountable for their culture of secrecy and systemic abuse.

The tribunal is one of a series of coordinated people’s tribunals across the country as a part of the #ICEonTrial campaign. The campaign comes with a rise of retaliation by ICE against activists, as the agency is emboldened to be less transparent, unaccountable and act with increased impunity under the Trump administration.

Justice comes from the people!
La justicia viene del pueblo!

Who: CIVIC (Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement) and Detention Watch Network

The SF Living Wage Coalition invites you to our spring art and literature gala.  A celebration of cross-border unity and taking back the TRUE meaning of the holiday. MUSIC/ART/FOOD.

We will celebrate the two hundredth birthday of Karl Marx (b. March 5, 1818) with discussion led by three volunteers who will share their views on the contemporary significance of Marx: Antonio Trossero, an Argentinian labor leader and political exile living in the Bay Area; Eugene Ruyle, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, Cal State Long Beach; and Raj Sahai, our ICSS member from India, and longtime Bay Area resident.

Sun, May 6, 2018: 1-2 pm
Planning Session
We get together after the morning session on the first Sunday of every month to discuss things in general and plan the schedule for our Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library forums. This is an open meeting. Everyone is welcome to help plan our future sessions. Please come with suggestions and concrete plans. Newcomers and Old Timers welcome

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.

Mobilization to Submit Reports to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

It comes as no surprise that the Trump administration seems to have failed to submit its report to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) by the deadline November 20, 2017. The Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute (MCLI) continues to reach out to the community to ensure that all forms of racism by the federal, state, and local governments in the U.S. are included in a shadow report to be submitted by MCLI and allies working in communities experiencing racism at the hands of the government.

With the election of Donald Trump racism in the U.S. has been amplified. The struggle of the Water Protectors at Standing Rock, the “Muslim Ban”, the repeal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the police violence against and mass incarceration of African Americans, harassment and criminalization of immigrant communities, and exploitation of immigrant labor are just some of the forms of racism that the MCLI would like to address in the upcoming report.

MCLI is holding this event to explain the process of holding the U.S. accountable for racism, to include the lived experiences of community members who have experienced racism at the hands of the government as well as social justice organizations working in communities of color, and to seek assistance compiling the report.

MCLI wants our shadow report to be as expansive and comprehensive as possible. The only way we can do this is with community input and assistance. Please come to this event to find out how your experiences can be included and how you can help MCLI compile this report.

There will be a presentation by organizers working with MCLI followed by a Q and A.

The People’s Community Medics teach basic emergency first aid skills free of charge “BECAUSE NO ONE SHOULD DIE WAITING FOR AN AMBULANCE.”

Currently, Sharena Diamond Thomas is the only first aid trainer at the People’s Community Medics and she has asked us, The Community Democracy Project (Oakland)* to help her find other folks in Oakland willing to help her do this incredibly important and life-saving work. We’re honored to help her out and invite YOU to come join us.

Feel free to bring food (and booze! because we’re also celebrating Shawn and Tia‘s birthdays!)

*The Community Democracy Project is an all-volunteer campaign working to turn the power structure right side up by putting the people of Oakland in charge of the city budget.

Come and hear co-authors, Mumia Abu-Jamal (who will call in during the event) and Stephen Vittoria, plus readers Pam Africa, Tyson Amir, Cat Brooks, Ayanna Davis, Aya de Leon, Emory Douglas, Derethia DuVal, Anita Johnson, devorah major, and others, recite passages from Dreaming of Empire.

This is the first in Mumia Abu-Jamal’s most ambitious work to date, a trilogy written as he struggles for life.
5-20 donation at the door, no one turned away for lack of funds

JP Morgan Chase bank, one of the biggest investors in tar sands, increased its tar sands investments by nearly $6 billion last year — and also increased its investments in coal. Join a local rally as part of a nationwide day of action to #ShutDownChase.

Monday May 7 is the annual shareholder meeting for TransCanada, the company trying to build the KXL pipeline.  Climate defenders are working to stop the KXL pipeline and keep tar sands in the ground with a three-prong strategy:

1. Mass mobilization with the Promise to Protect: Building and igniting a grassroots movement ready to follow the leadership of Indigenous people along the route if TransCanada moves forward.
2. Financial targets: Going after banks, like JP Morgan Chase, who are financing Keystone XL and other dirty fossil fuel projects, can cut off the funding necessary to build these dirty projects. Momentum is growing with the international bank HSBC’s commitment to drop nearly all holdings in tar sands, coal, and arctic drilling last week.
3. Legal action: Fighting TransCanada every step of the way in the courts at the state and federal level.

The national day of action to shut down Chase, hosted by Rainforest Action Network, is part of this strategy.

WHEN

Monday, May 7

IN THE BAY AREA:

8:30 AM, Oakland
Oakland City Hall
Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th and Broadway,

11:30 AM, San Francisco
Chase Bank, 555 Mission St

4:30 PM, Berkeley
Oaks Theater, 1875 Solano Ave

More info here

Socialist solidarity rally TONIGHT!
6pm, Bancroft and Telegraph
Wear green if you have it!

We are joining @norcalsocialism, @LaVozLITci, and @AFSCMELocal3299 pic.twitter.com/OtP9gG0cDW

— East Bay DSA (@DSAEastBay) May 7, 2018

EBC will host a mail night at our office to respond to the increasing amount of correspondence we’ve been receiving from people in prisons and jails across the country. We are getting lots of questions about prior ballot initiatives including Prop 47 and 57, advocacy support, requests for pen pals and EBC’s work at large. We will also be sending information to people inside about how they can get involved with our priority bills.

Please RSVP to Eric@ellabakercenter.org

Habeas Data chronicles the evolution of surveillance law in America over the last 50 years and argues that current law is insufficient for modern technology.

May 8 – Oakland – Laurel Books – 7pm (Launch Party!)

YOU ARE INVITED TO A COMMUNITY CELEBRATION!

Join the E12th Coalition and friends to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the People’s Council (AKA Oakland City Council Take-over) and the spirit of the Public Land for Public Good campaign.

Three years ago this week, community members who’d had enough of Oakland City Council’s continuous failure to listen to neighborhood needs for affordable housing, took over the City Council chambers to prevent the sale of the E12th St public parcel to a luxury tower developer. What followed was a year of community organizing and participatory design that resulted in a beautiful plan for a 100% affordable project that truly reflected the values and needs of the neighborhood. The City ultimately failed to adopt The People’s Proposal, but the spirit of our fight for Public Land for Public Good is still alive and much needed today.

When we can’t count on City Hall, we know we can count on one another to serve the needs of those most vulnerable among us and show a model of land use and housing affordability that the City should prioritize.

We return to The People’s Parcel on E12th St to lift up some amazing community land projects taking place in Oakland today.

Share a meal with neighbors.
Participate in collective art making.
Hear community solutions on supporting houseless folks, building land trusts and public land policy for the people.

Please bring food or beverages to share, if you can. Most importantly, COME and celebrate community resistance and resilience with us!