Calendar
Today, there is unprecedented momentum in the effort to stop fossil fuels and win climate justice.
However, with most of our attention focused on fighting short-term battles, we often forget to ask the question:What would the world look like if we won?
Change the Course, a new program from Rainforest Action Network, is an invitation to dig deep and think hard about what it would actually take to stabilize the climate and create a just transition to a post-carbon future.
We are launching a series of climate-focused workshops and visioning sessions — in cities across the country as well as through a new online platform. Through this program, we will crowd-source a detailed vision of what a sustainable and just future would look like — and develop the strategies and tactics that will get us there.
Our opponents in the fossil fuel industry have their own vision for the future, one defined by rising oceans and ever-increasing carbon emissions — a future where extreme energy practices fly in the face of science and common-sense, and where the worst impacts of climate change are shouldered by the communities least able to bear them.
It’s not too late to define the future we want to live in.
Together, let’s change the course.
Please join us at the upcoming Climate Leadership Summit to kick this project off. This 2 day event will bring communities together from across the region for an innovative visioning, strategic development and skills summit. We will strengthen and grow local groups and prepare our movement to take action together, with our end goals in mind.
This summit will take place on Saturday and Sunday from 1pm-6pm each day. RSVP now!
Nothing’s better for sustaining persistent resistance like persistent music
Why: To create a physical boundary of bodies and voices blocking the transfer of ownership of our public post office
The fate of the Downtown Berkeley Post Office has reached a crisis point.� The transfer of that building to private ownership may be only days away. For this reason, the Berkeley Post Office Defenders call for mobilization of all those who appreciate the danger of privatization. It is time to establish and support a physical presence at the Downtown Berkeley Post Office so that, with arms locked, we can block any poacher of our public property from taking possession. By taking direct action to defend our public goods, we will affirm our reasons for living in community by sharing our energy and resources for the benefit of all.
The Board of Governors of the USPS has done a skillful job of narrowing the focus of the objections to the sale of the Downtown Berkeley Post Office to the issue of two New Deal works of art contained therein. At this time, the position of the USPS is that they’ve done everything they can to satisfy the concerns of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (an agency formed by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966) and concerns of the City of Berkeley for the preservation of these artworks, even to the point of promising that the USPS will provide that protection themselves in perpetuity after the building is sold.
The Berkeley Post Office Defenders re-emphasize two objections that have been largely ignored in the struggle to save our post office:
- The sale that the USPS intends to process is one manifestation of the neo-liberal strategy of privatization, deregulation, union-busting, and the cutting of government services, pursued via the World Bank and the WTO, which in the last half-century have proved to to be so detrimental to the welfare of people living in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, the nations of the former Soviet Union, Iraq, and many others. Locally, the privately-owned Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) is trying to bankrupt the publicly controlled City College of San Francisco. The capital property of the USPS is a possession of the people of the United States as a public holding, meaning it is a component of national wealth and infrastructure, and the defense of that wealth is necessary for maintaining the viability of the national enterprise. The Berkeley Post Office Defenders oppose the privatization of publicly owned property everywhere it is threatened, and we have mobilized our opposition locally to shield the erosion of the material foundation of community, of which the Downtown Berkeley Post Office is an element.
- With regard to the public ownership of the New Deal artworks, the promise of the USPS to preserve them given its strategy of privatizatioon is a deception. By selling more than 300 of its properties since 2006, the Board of Governors of the USPS has undermined the capital foundation of the enterprise it is publicly charged with protecting. This insidious strategy follows the steps to complete privatization of postal services pursued by other countries the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany and The Netherlands. Given that the Board of Governors is selling the USPS out of business, it is their intention that, very soon, they will no longer be in a position to preserve the public ownership of anything.
The Downtown Berkeley Post Office is not only a monument to public organization, it is an organ of our common body; without it we grow weaker. The agents of privatization are chiseling away at the investment our ancestors made to the survival of democracy. Our post office was built by the sweat equity of our great-grandparents, and financed by their tax dollars. As such, the Postal Service has NO RIGHT to sell it. Berkeley Post Office Defenders DEMAND that this sale be halted and that the building continue to serve our – and our great-grandchildren’s – common good.
For more on the current status of the Downtown Berkeley Post Office: https://occupyoakland.org/2014/10/berkeley-post-office-contract-sold/
Berkeley Post Office Defenders: http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999?ref=br_tf
BPOD is affiliated with Strike Debt Bay Area: http://strike-debt-bay-area.tumblr.com/
For more on the Staples boycott:
The Seeds of Protest Bloom. Staples Boycott Goes National.
For background on the fight to Save Berkeley’s Post Office:
Those Damned Hippies, They’re Saving the Post Office
USPS mission:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/39/101
For more on the privatization of the USPS:
Saving the United States Postal Service as a Public Enterprise: http://tinyurl.com/ltqq7ng
Privatization Is Social Cancer; Saving the US Postal Service: http://tinyurl.com/mbcbzrf
Occupy the electoral process!!
YES on G
After our last OccupyForum, Addressing the Housing Crisis Head-On, we’ve decided to do just that:
OccupyForum will be joining the YES on G peeps at their headquarters the night before the election to do whatever it takes
to pass this local ballot measure and keep our brothers and sisters from being kicked out of their homes.
Prop G stops evictions by penalizing speculation and quick “flipping” of rental property.
(Only multi-unit properties that are bought and resold within five years will face surtaxes under the law.
Single family homes, condos, and owner-occupied housing will never be taxed under Prop G.)
Let’s throw our might against the rampaging capitalist speculators determined to turn all but the wealthiest out of our fair city.
(Over 10,000 SF tenants have been displaced by the Ellis Act since 1997.) Let’s fight the national, state and local realtors associations
(which have put well over $1.5 million into stopping it), and resist one of the Bay Area’s most detested corporations, PG & E,
(which just threw $180,000 into the fight to defeat G!)
Solidarity with our brothers and sisters to keep our homes!
YES on G is asking us to drop off polling location information for the western end of SF (transportation provided) and make phone calls.
The larger effort will start around 5 pm but volunteers can stop by any time after 10 am. Food will be provided.
Yes on G also needs volunteers on Saturday, Sunday and especially Tuesday, election day. Please contact Yes on G at:
Prop G will penalize flipping properties and evicting all the tenants; or in plain English (or Spanish),
“S T O P T H E E V I C T I O N S ! ” “ ! A L T O � A L O S D E S A L O J O S ! ”
�
Strike Debt In Action with Student Debtors
We invite you to join us at the Department of Education Public Hearing to support current and former Corinthian (Everest, Heald, and Wyotech) students who will be speak directly to DOE officials to tell their stories and demand debt cancellation.
Join online at: Corinthian.debt.is The Debt Collective tech team created this page so that those of us who can’t be in Anaheim in person can be there virtually. This website will go live an hour before the hearing with a livestream, chat, social media links, DoE twitter bomb and other virtual actions. Everyone who wants to support Corinthian students as they demand debt cancellation, meet here on Nov 4th: http://corinthian.debt.is
What’s the Background?
On September 17th, Strike Debt launched The Debt Collective, where we are developing a new platform for organization, advocacy, and resistance. We aim to build power to bargain with creditors or even to threaten a debt strike. As we build membership, debtors can join together based on region, type of debt, or lender.
Alone our debts are a burden; together they make us powerful.
People already get it. Denny in South Dakota emailed us to ask, “Is it possible there are others who have some of my issues in common? Is there an opportunity to collectivize this issue?”
Phil in California asked a similar question, “Do you have a collective group of Bank of America Mortgage debtors?” Denny and Phil’s questions show that people already understand what the debt collective can do.
People are ready to organize and begin demanding fair terms: fair interest rates, fair principal amounts, even the abolition of unjust debts.
Why Start With a For-Profit College?
The Debt Collective’s pilot project is with current and former students from for-profit Everest college. Everest, like other for-profit schools, targets students from low-income households, disproportionately from minority backgrounds. As Everest’s parent company, Corinthian, falls apart and its predatory activities are revealed, students are still expected to pay back their loans.
If Everest students join together, we believe they can win a full debt discharge. Their victory will help us demonstrate debtors’ collective power and other groups can be formed to follow their example.
What Will Happen at the Hearing?
On November 4th, we have a unique opportunity to demonstrate the power of debtors acting collectively at the Department of Education public hearing.
If you live in the Los Angeles area, we invite you to join us at the event.
If you don’t live in southern California but still want to support students, go here, starting at 12p PST, to help share students’ messages, see video clips, and watch the livestream of the hearing.
Please follow the Debt Collective on Facebook and Twitter.
Bay Area Book Launch and Conversation
Join us November 4th, for conversation, snacks, beverages, contemplation and celebration, for the Bay Area launch of “Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn’t Work and How We Can Do Better“!
Author Maya Schenwar will read from her book and discuss the impact of prison on families and communities — and how people around the country are taking action to create a world without prison.
CURB will also have two special speakers there!
- Alex Berliner, new Organizer with All of Us or None a Project of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, will talk about her experience with having a loved one inside.
- Emily Harris, Statewide Coordinator of Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), will speak about the movement to reduce prison populations and close prisons throughout the state of California.
Join CURB members, allies, friends for conversation, snacks, beverages, contemplation and celebration!
See Michelle Alexendar and Angela Davis’ reviews of the book on our event RSVP.
Oakland author Michael Goldstein will be reading from his Return of the Light at the Montclair
Branch of the Oakland Public Library Tuesday night, November 4. The book, subtitled “A
Political Fable in Which the American People Retake Their Country,” has been endorsed by
political commentators Michael Parenti and Don Hazen, Executive Editor of Alternet, spiritual
teachers Michael Lerner and Wes (“Scoop”) Nisker, and Wavy Gravy, among others.
Goldstein finds the library’s scheduling him for election night to be fortuitous. “The book is
really for those with doubts that the two-party system can give us the ‘change we can believe in’
that we are perennially promised.”
Return of the Light is set on the night of the Winter Solstice in 2120. At one of thousands of
community gatherings across the United States, a storyteller does the annual retelling of how,
back in 2023, a decade-long movement culminated in the people taking over their own
government, making it a means for mobilizing their collective power to promote peace, social
justice, environmental sustainability, and a society hospitable to the needs of the human spirit.
Goldstein says it is intended to be a vision of the road forward for today’s concerned citizens.
According to Parenti, it is “clearly written, hopeful and useful for those interested in building a
real democracy,” and Hazen describes it as “a very encouraging read, in a time of little
optimism.”
For more information or a review copy, contact:
Leslie Keenan 415 897-0413
leslie@printedvoice.com
Michael Goldstein blogs on the Huffington Post and OpenSalon.com, focusing on the need to move beyond the teeter-totter of the two-party system and the means to do so. Goldstein works as a mediator and death-penalty appeals lawyer in Northern California.
Our Comrade Ali was arrested at a Ferguson/ Mike Brown Solidarity Action in Vallejo. Please come out and support him at his court date .
March to Chelsea Manning Plaza.
This 5th of November, we call on those of you that see the wrongs of society, those that can see we are on a collision course with oblivion. This 5th of November, we ask those of you that can see the fabric of our civilization unraveling before our very eyes to take a stand against the corruption, lies, deceit and greed threatening our very existence. This 5th of November, we ask that you look through the veil of obscurity the shady and corrupt individuals in leadership are desperately trying to perpetuate in order to continue with their obscenities. This 5th of November, we ask that you dawn your mask, take a stand and refuse to live a lie any longer. Let us stand united against the wrongs of this world on Anonymous’ Million Mask March and let us give them a 5th of November they will never, ever forget!
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— Starting Position: Civic Center Plaza (near the center of the plaza) —
10:00AM-10:30AM: Gathering the Armada – This is the time we have for the majority of the attendees to arrive and get together; mingle, discuss the upcoming march, advertise to passers-by about our cause and get ready to march. We are not going to be doing too much in the way of preparation here, mostly just waiting for people to arrive.
10:30AM-11:00AM: Time for a little Chat – At this time, we will be mostly assembled and will listen intently as Alfred gives us the “pre-flight safety guidelines” for our march and following rally. Please pay attention as we do want you guys to be safe through-out the duration of the event. In addition to the safety briefing, we will also be reciting the cadences that will be used during the march.
11:00AM-~12:00PM: We will begin our progression to the set destination: Justin Herman Plaza. Our route will be as follows:
Civic Center Plaza –> Larkin St.
Larkin Street –> Golden Gate Avenue
Golden Gate Avenue –> Market Street
Market Street –> Justin Herman Plaza
—- End Position: Justin Herman Plaza —-
12:00PM-~3:00PM: May the Speakers Stand Up – We will have our confirmed speakers give their stance on the issues facing our country and world. This will also be a time for those in the audience to give their points of view as well. Please keep in mind though, that we will be on a time limit permit-wise, so if you do have something you would like to say, be sure to have a general idea what you are saying before you step up.
3:00PM-???: Time for dispersal of our fine march. Great work to all and pats on the back all around!
SWOP Bay
Protest the Nuisance Eviction Ordinance in Oakland
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The Oakland City Council recently passed amendments to the Nuisance Eviction Ordinance (NEO) mandating landlords to evict sex workers.
Join Red Light Legal at the Oakland City Council meeting this Wednesday November 5th to voice your opposition to NEO and participate in a breakout strategy discussion as we build a coalition to see the NEO repealed.
To be clear, the NEO isn’t on the agenda and has already passed. If we want to see this ordinance reversed we’re going to have to force the issue. By showing up at the meeting we’re hoping to call the council’s attention to our opposition during public comment. We’re also trying to meet those who oppose the NEO in person. We can have a conversation in Oscar Grant Plaza, get to know one another and begin to form a plan to see this law torn down.
Bring a coat in case it’s cold outside!
For more info go to https://
Bring your cell phone, flashlight, or candle!
Don’t miss your opportunity to see Pay 2 Play: Democracy’s High Stakes, a documentary that chronicles the corrupting influence of money in politics and what we can do to fix the system, on November 6 in Berkeley.
One solution discussed in the film is giving “we the people” the tools to combat this big money takeover of our democracy and California Common Cause is already committed to this effort in our campaign to pass H.R. 20, the Government By The People Act.
Sign up to see Pay 2 Play for FREE and to learn more about H.R. 20!
Pay 2 Play is a documentary full-feature film that unmasks the enigma that is money’s role in today’s politics and explores the need to level the playing field for individuals running for U.S. office to ensure that the BEST candidate wins; NOT necessarily the richest. The documentary features our National Board President Robert Reich, and CA Common Cause Executive Director Kathay Feng! View the trailer here.
On a recent rainy Saturday in Washington, D.C., hundreds of people took to the streets for the biggest and most successful protest in front of the World Bank annual meetings in a decade. The World Bank is currently revising its policies to protect people and the planet, and we were there to prevent the World Bank from weakening these protections.
On the heels of that mobilization, I am pleased to invite you to a special event featuring my friend and longtime World Bank advocate Bruce Rich. Bruce will be in the Bay area next week to talk about his new book, Foreclosing the Future: The World Bank and the Politics of Environmental Destruction. He will be giving talks in San Francisco and Berkeley.
What: Book talk with Bruce Rich
Click here to email me your RSVP.
Bruce’s new book shows how the World Bank’s failure to address the challenges of the 21st century has implications for everyone. He recounts a story of larger-than-life personalities, international intrigue, and human suffering brought about by a winner-take-all economic globalization — and identifies the changes necessary if the World Bank and the world’s governments are to make real progress in helping the poorest and sustaining the environmental resources on which all of us depend.Please join us for an exciting discussion and refreshments. Email me your RSVP today!
Learn about the latest developments: lawsuits, restraining orders, and Einstein’s Mayoral campaign!
Watch a movie, hang out. Bring a pillow.
Book Release Celebration with Journalist Nora Barrows-Friedman
IN OUR POWER: U.S. STUDENTS ORGANIZE FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE
(Just World Books)
The Middle East Children’s Alliance is thrilled to host this celebration of award-winning reporter Nora Barrows-Friedman’s new book which documents the emergence and success of the Students for Justice in Palestine movement, using many of Nora’s investigative interviews with activists nationwide. Her journalistic experience in Palestine and close engagement with Palestinian solidarity activism give Nora a unique ability to help these inspiring student leaders tell their stories!
Special Guest MALIHE RAZAZAN, who cohosts KPFA’s “Voices of the MIddle East” program, will interview Nora about her book. And activists from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) will participate in the Q and A with Nora.
Nora Barrows-Friedman is a staff writer/editor with The Electronic Intifada and has contributed to Al-Jazeera English, Truthout.org and more. Past Senior Producer/co-host of KPFA’s investigative news magazine “Flashpoints”, in 2009 she received the Lifetime Achievement Media Freedom Award from the Media Freedom Foundation.
On Oct 7, 2014m 26 yr O’Shaine K. Evans was shot 7 times by SFPD officer David Goff.
O’Shaine was born in Montigo Bay, Jamaica, and was living with his Mom in Oakland where he was training to become a boxer.
O’Shaine was not a threat to anyone and was described as a “humble soul” and a “quiet mama’s boy” by family and friends,
O’Shaine family, friends and supporters demand :
* Release the police report, autopsy, surveillance video/
audio of the SFPD “Town Hall” meeting !
* Explain why SFPD held a “Town Hall” WITHOUT inviting O’Shaine’s family or District Supervisor Jane Kim
* Explain why O’Shaine’s mother was NOT allowed to ID his body
* Launch an INDEPENDENT investigation of O’Shaine’s death, including events leading up to and following the shooting
* End racist police assassinations, from SF to Ferguson
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Facebook : Justice 4 O’Shaine Evans
Donate : youcaring.com/O’Shaine
200 urban farmers occupy the last piece of East Bay farmland and plant 15,000 seedlings to save it from becoming a shopping mall. This is a story about what we can accomplish through collective action, and it takes on one of the most powerful institutions in the world. Its about all of us!
We have showtimes! Occupy The Farm is playing at 12:00 pm, 2:20 pm, 4:50 pm, 7:00pm and 9:30 pm at the UA Berkeley 7 on 2274 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley starting November 7!
It’s playing several times a day for 7 days straight. Then we go to New York and Los Angeles. Please help get the word out so that theaters in more communities will take the plunge to book the film.
Later on, it will be available for community screenings and home, but right now we have the opportunity to bring wider awareness of the issues of sustainable food systems and urban farming to a whole new group of people who otherwise would not be aware.
Hang out with or come visit Strike Debt Bay Area at First Friday. Discuss the politics and societal impact of debt and income inequality. Learn about our myriad projects and how you can get involved!
This month we’ll be doing a few economic experiments at the table, giving people easy ways to barter and use alternative credit reports.
Look for us between 24th & 25th streets on Telegraph.
Did you occupy the farm?
Occupy the Farm Film Screening and After Party
The film has had a big break in the first three cities, but without the kind of advertising budget Hollywood films usually depend on, we need people power to let folks know it exists!
Join us for the afterparty on opening night!
RSVP here
See you at the movies!
The film tells the story of the 17-year struggle to protect 20 acres of public farmland (the “Gill Tract”, in Albany) from development into a supermarket, housing complex, and strip mall.
The filmmaker has received a big break from Regal Cinemas, the largest theater owner in the country, but on the shoestring budget of an independent film, we’re depending on people power to get the word out.
5 screenings per day
United Artists 7 Movie Theater
