Calendar
- special large meeting to launch a broad community campaign to get a charter amendment for a stronger police review commission in Berkeley on the 2020 ballot.
Phase 1 of our ongoing campaign:
-Recruit more people, from different sectors of the community, to get involved with this issue.
-Educate the public about the need for a stronger police review function in Berkeley, especially given the continuing racial disparities in policing.
-Build public pressure on the Mayor & City Council to put the charter amendment (Arreguin/Harrison version, which is currently under consideration) on the 2020 ballot. The vote to put it on the ballot could come as early as September.
Phase 2
-If the Council puts the charter amendment on the ballot, we will be working to ensure that it gets passed.
-If they do not put it on the ballot, we have the other option of pursuing a signature campaign to get it on the ballot.
General Meeting
Our September General Meeting will be an informal gathering to greet new and ongoing rebels and help them plug in to upcoming events. We’ll be on the south side of the park – look for the Extinction Rebellion banner. Come on down!
Ready to Swarm?
After the general meeting, hang around for Swarming Training – as we go over what swarming is, how it works, how to be a police liaison and a lookout, and how to de-escalate tense situations. We’ll be doing plenty of practice and role play, so you’ll be well prepared for the swarming action on September 23rd. De-centralized “swarms” briefly stop traffic to cause POLITE disruption and hand out info to drivers about the climate crisis and upcoming actions. Please swarm with us!
Business Like? Call For Business-Attired Volunteers
Number needed: 25-50, all genders, aged 21�45 ideal (we want to look like the Montgomery demographic) for an action on Montgomery St., San Francisco during the Strike for Climate Justice on Sept. 25:
- 7am�11am�Shift 1; ;
- 11am�2pm�Shift 2;
- 2�5pm�Shift 3; ;
- or any time you can come between 7am�5pm for at least one hhour
Action:
Persons dressed for success (wearing business attire) and wearing N95 masks or other respiration devices will walk up and down Montgomery St. on Sept. 25, handing out leaflets and/or carrying signs. You look like any other business person on Montgomery, except you won’t be on your phone, and you are wearing what we all may need to wear in 20-30 years: breathing masks.
Contact: MaryAnn at doctorpepp@protonmail.com
The 2018 Charter Amendment for a strengthened police commission is back for 2020.
Please join a short-term “push,” over the next two months, to get the amendment on the ballot. Community members will meet for an hour on Sunday afternoon September 15 to get organized for action.
This push will not require you to go door-to-door or get signatures on petitions. It will not require raising money.
All that is necessary is for you to talk to people you already know, in your organization, congregation, union, club, or family and friends, and persuade them to write the city council and mayor to vote the measure onto the 2020 ballot.
Please join us for a brief discussion
At this meeting we will give an overview of the proposed ballot initiative and share suggested talking points for Council outreach. We’ll leave plenty of time for questions and answers.
* * * * *
Background.
- We came very close to getting the charter amendment on the city ballot last summer, but at the last minute the city council did not take up the issue. This failure was bound up with the extended meet-and-confer process, and the intense counter-attack by those who prefer the status quo of ineffective civilian oversight.
- A year later the meet and confer process appears to be winding down. A number of Council members have promised to put a version of the amendment on next year’s ballot. This is the version crafted by Mayor Arreguin and Councilmember Harrison. It is the tamest of all the versions bruited about last year, but still stronger than the current toothless Police Review Commission (PRC). The main advance is that it would remove community oversight from the domain of the City Manager, resolving a clear conflict of interest as the CM is the leader of the police force as well as overseeing the PRC. Also, it provides the PRC confidential access to internal department data as necessary to fulfill its role.
- Any initiative drive has two phases. The first one, qualifying for the ballot, is critical. If Council votes the amendment onto the November 2020 ballot this fall, they will ensure that the public has a chance to vote for police accountability. A coalition of community groups that has been working on this issue, the Racism and Criminal Justice Reform (RCJR) group, is not taking anything for granted. We are planning a fall drive to inundate Council members with messages demanding they strengthen civilian oversight of the police.
Who is organizing this push?
- The RCJR is a coalition of organizations and individuals with a long history of anti-racist and police accountability work. It includes members of Indivisible Berkeley, the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, and local chapters of the NAACP and the ACLU, among others. Alongside the charter amendment campaign, we are involved with the ongoing campaign for the City of Berkeley to take swift and effective action to overcome racial disparities in policing.
What is our immediate objective?
- RCJR has a very realizable goal of organizing five hundred or more Berkeleyans to write or call Council in the next two months. A thousand messages would be overwhelmingly effective. We need to contact all nine Council members including the mayor, taking no one for granted. Their promises aside, we know that political leaders are subject to pressure from all sides. We must deluge the Council members to ensure they remember their promises. Phone calls, emails, letters, office visits, council meeting comments, all help get the message across.
Resources:
Thanks for your participation in this historic campaign. Always remember that this is a simple matter of justice. Public safety requires the trust of the community, and a certain knowledge that policing is done impartially. This moderate initiative will enhance public accountability and improve the policing experience for everyone involved.
Contact RCJR at:
racialandcriminaljustice@wellstoneclub.org or
middeen@berkeleynaacp.com
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
We’ll be holding our regular meeting of the Public Bank East Bay organizational group. We have moved the meeting to regular third Mondays, to make it more predictable and allow some new people to attend. We would LOVE to see you there.
Lots to discuss!
- We had a very successful kick-off meeting for our interim bank board, which happened to be the same day the bill passed the state assembly.
- We have fundraising leads, and we think that the legislation being complete may open fundraising doors. The business plan is absolutely our next step.
Proposed agenda
1) AB 857, victories and next steps
2) Interim board member meeting reportback and next steps
3) Fundraising reportback and next steps
4) Anything not covered
To The Governor’s Desk!
AB 857, the bill enabling local public banking has passed both California state houses! On Friday, September 13, we crossed the finish line. The bill now goes to Gavin Newsom, who has expressed public support for public banking in the past. He has until October 13 to sign or veto; if he doesn’t do either, the bill becomes law.
This has been an exhilarating, fascinating, complex, process. Literally thousands of people have been involved. Of course, we will keep you updated when the bill is signed, and when cities and regions start making public bank charter applications to the state Department of Business Oversight.
Please join us! Now is such a great time to get involved.
If you have questions or want to understand the group better, you can come half an hour early, at 5:30. Just let us know in advance.
For Your Reading Pleasure
You might appreciate this detailed, informative, and accurate article on public banking. (We love how the author calls us out as early participants in this initiative.)
Public Bank East Bay (formerly Friends of the Public Bank of Oakland) were at the forefront of these efforts. Activists there advanced the project so far that they were poised to found their bank even before AB 857 gave them an explicit way to do so. San Francisco opened a task force to explore the possibility and state and local treasurers began their examinations as well. Quickly, it became clear that intermingling public funds with cannabis money would be bad politics and likely impossible as long as marijuana is classified Schedule 1. But even with that issue off the table, the appetite for greater financial independence in the form of public capital sources was growing, and with more attention came more knowledge, more scrutiny, and more opposition.
The big banks ignored this effort as long as it was a handful of activists in a handful of towns. An effort to change statewide banking regulations, creating public entities that would compete with entrenched financial powerhouses, would not go unopposed. Knowing that the fight to create local public banks would be futile without unity with other California cities, and without the cooperation of regulators operating against a defined legal framework, organizers from these local movements founded the California Public Banking Alliance, with the primary goal of modeling and sponsoring legislation to make local public banks a reality. In one short year, this alliance mobilized activists behind legislation to do just that.
How to reach us
9/9: Will be discussing issues related to this Crackdown and our strategy for the next 3 to 6 months.
9/16: We have many, many issues to discuss, including the forthcoming visit of Donald Trump and Ben Carson.
Care about climate change? Want a Green New Deal? Join us! Learn more about how to participate in the September 20 Climate Strike and week of action!
Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, police militarization and ICE, and to advocate for surveillance regulation around the Bay and nationwide.
We fight against “pre-crime” and “thought-crime,” spy drones, facial recognition, police body camera secrecy, anti-transparency laws and requirements for “backdoors” to cellphones, to list just a few invasions of our privacy by all levels of Government, and attempts to hide what government officials, employees and agencies are doing.
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. We helped fight and helped win the fight against Urban Shield.
Our major projects currently include local legislation to regulate state surveillance (we got the strongest surveillance regulation ordinance in the country passed in Oakland!), supporting and opposing state legislation as appropriate, battling mass surveillance in the form of facial recognition and other analytics, and pushing back against ICE.
On September 12th, 2019 we were presented with a Barlow Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for our work.
If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy email listserv, coming to a meeting, or have questions, send an email to:
Check out our website: http://oaklandprivacy.org/ Follow us on twitter: @oaklandprivacy
Check out our sister site DeportICE.
“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. Oakland Privacy drove the passage of surveillance regulation and transparency ordinances in Oakland and Berkeley and is kicking off new processes in various municipalities around the Bay. To help slow down the encroaching police and surveillance state all over the Bay Area, join us at the Omni.
The Anti Police-Terror Project meets the third Wednesday of every month.
August’s agenda will include an update on developments at Santa Rita jail and an active shooter response training.
In September we’re giving updates on our Police Commission campaign and about a local campaign to audit Sheriff Ahern; showing a short film about Dujuan Armstrong, who died in police custody at Santa Rita Jail earlier this year; and giving a quick update about our newly formed Sacramento chapter. Let us know if you can join us!
Join us to find out how you can get involved.
This space is wheelchair accessible. Please contact us for any additional accessibility questions or concerns.
Come by our open Delegates Meetings! We’ll give space to brief announcements, updates from working groups, proposals up for consensus, and discussion around important issues. The schedule is created weekly at the following url: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom
This meeting usually happens in the Ballroom, but the the location may change depending on the access needs of people attending and other events taking place in the building.
EVICTION SUPPORT NEEDED: Tomorrow morning, Friday in Berkeley. Camp across from Seabreeze Deli, University & Frontage Rd.
CalTrans is coming between 7:30 & 11:30am. Come ready to assist residents and document. #WhereDoWeGoBerk— Indybay (@Indybay) September 20, 2019
“Where do we go?” March to the West Berkeley Town Hall Meeting
Join the unhoused residents of the Seabreeze and I-80/University encampments in a march to the West Berkeley Homeless Town Hall Meeting. If you are housed, please march with us in solidarity.
Objective: This is a march to demand an answer to the question: “Where do we go?” Homeless residents at these encampments are tired of the constant harassment, citations, and arrest. All want a clean and safe place to stay. They want a lawful place to stay. Instead of harassment, they want an answer: “Where do we go?”
Where: We will meet at the Seabreeze Market, 598 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94710
When: We will gather at 1:30 p.m, Sunday, 9/22/19. We will begin the march at 2 pm.
Route: Is approximately 1.9 miles. Exact route TBA. We will march to 999 Harrison Street, Berkeley
Want to Help: We need paper for signs, pens, water, food, rides back from the meeting, rides to meetings, etc. We need a bullhorn too.
Bring: Please bring signs, drums, etc. We will also make signs at the Seabreeze Market.
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
In order to raise awareness about the reality of the climate crisis, as well as the actions in the coming days, we will be disrupting traffic and performing outreach to every car stops. Low risk and high rewards, we’ll offer trainings day of.
Use swarms, banners, theater, dance & music to disrupt traffic & communicate with drivers.
9/9: Will be discussing issues related to this Crackdown and our strategy for the next 3 to 6 months.
9/16: We have many, many issues to discuss, including the forthcoming visit of Donald Trump and Ben Carson.
Join us for our monthly general body meetings to learn more about us, pressing topics/issues in East Oakland and how you can take action!
A Night for the Buffalo: Buffalo Field Campaign 2019 Road Show presentation
Marking 22 years of front line action for the wild buffalo, the 2019 Buffalo Field Campaign Roadshow is coming to the Bay Area on September 27.
When: Friday, Sept. 27, 7 pm 
Where: the Art House Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley
Buffalo Field Campaign co-founder and field organizer Mike Mease brings captivating stories and striking film footage direct from the land of the buffalo, in a multi-media presentation, with Indigenous soul music by flutist Mignon Geli..
The Buffalo Field Campaign works to end the slaughter and harassment of the last wild herds of buffalo in their native habitat in West Yellowstone, Montana.
BFC used video documentation, non-violent direct action, education and lobbying to change archaic laws targeting buffalo. Volunteers from around the world spend every day, sunrise to sunset, monitoring, documenting and running patrols on skis, snowshoes and other means to defend buffalo as they migrate in their traditional winter habitat.
They bring new stories every time they come to the Bay Area, so come on out on Sept. 27 for a very special event!
We ask for donations at the door, NOTAFLOF. Wheelchair accessible.
Info: bach [at] headwaterspreserve.org, buffalofieldcampaign.org or 510-548-3113.
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
Join us for a work and action planning meeting on Wednesday October 2 as we push forward the #AuditAhern campaign.
There will be a free film viewing of ‘What Happened to Dujuan Armstrong’ followed by breakout working groups. Bring a friend!
This meeting is ADA accessible, open to non-members, dinner will be provided.
Come by our open Delegates Meetings! We’ll give space to brief announcements, updates from working groups, proposals up for consensus, and discussion around important issues. The schedule is created weekly at the following url: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom
This meeting usually happens in the Ballroom, but the the location may change depending on the access needs of people attending and other events taking place in the building.