Hotline Training

Federal Judge Alsup will hear the case of United States Post Office v City of Berkeley wherein the Postal Service is suing Berkeley for passing a Zoning Ordinance for its historic district (which includes the Post Office) which prevents commercial uses of the properties therein.

“If you are able, please be there. Tony Rossmann [Berkeley’s lawyer in the original lawsuit challenging the sale back in 2014-2015] reminds us that it’s important Judge Alsup know that there is still strong community concern about Berkeley’s Main Post Office.”

Berkeley Post Office Defenders, in August, 2013, and subsequently First They Came for the Homeless, for 17 months, Occupied the downtown Berkeley Post Office in protest of the possible sale and the privatization of postal services.

Background:

NO, YOU STILL CAN’T SELL THE PEOPLE’S POST OFFICE!

Berkeley Defends Against Post Office Lawsuit

Feds Sue Berkeley Over Historic Zoning Overlay Ordinance.

TODAY! 12pm 850Btyant rain or shine #Mothersfightingpoliceterror @GeorgeGascon #ProsecuteOrElse @FleshmanKaren @Tysonamir @HipHop4Justice pic.twitter.com/by9snAmuJn

— Justice4MarioWoods (@Justice4MWNow) December 9, 2016

Join the Center for Biological Diversity to kick off our #Earth2TrumpRoadshow of Resistance — a cross-country tour headed for Inauguration Day in Washington D.C., building a network of resistance along the way. We’d love to have your there! This a movement-building event — the kind of pump-you-up gathering you’ve been hungry for.

Take a moment and RSVP for this FREE event on this page and right here:http://ow.ly/FYIh30786it

The kick-off will include powerful speakers, badass music, and a night to share with others in the growing movement of resistance to Trump’s agenda.

To help us kick off this roadshow in style we’ll feature the work of spoken-word artist/musician AshEL Eldridge, and the musical stylings of folk rocker Casey Neill as well as Afrobrazilian band Namorados da Lua.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the show fires off at 6:00. Be sure to arrive early to sign-in and get a great seat. This is a FREE event.

Speakers include Julio Madrigal from Planting Justice, Valerie Love from the Center for the Biological Diversity, Sandhya Jha from the Oakland Peace Center, and Eva Lin from the Alliance for Climate Education.

ACCESSIBILITY: ASL and Spanish Language interpretation available upon request. Venue is accessible by a ramp. Main floor bathrooms are wheelchair accessible. Seating available at event. Contact Ash at alauth@biologicaldiversity.org if you need this information or to request language interpretation ASAP.

Rad Local Cosponsors: 350 Bay Area; 350 East Bay; 350 San Francisco; 350 Silicon Valley; 350 South East Bay; Alameda Progessives; Alliance for Climate Education; Alliance for Democracy; Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments; Alliance of South Asians Taking Action; Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice; California Student Sustainabilityy Coalition; Center for Environmental Health; Center for Political Education; Communication Workers of America – District 9; Earthworks; Environmental Health Network; Families Against Fossil Fuels; Food and Water Watch; Food Empowerment Project; Global Exchange; Great Old Broads for Wilderness; Greenpeace; Local Clean Energy Alliance; Network of Spiritual Progressives; Oakland Peace Center; OccupySF Environmental Justice Working Group; Planned Parenthood Mar Monte; Planting Justice; Rainforest Action Network; Rooted In Resilience; San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, Physicians for Social Responsibility; Sierra Club SF Bay Chapter; Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter; Sunflower Alliance; Sustainable Economies Law Center; System Change not Climate Change — Bay Area Chapter; The Oakland Institute; Transition Sonoma Valley; United Native Americans; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Earth Democracy Group; World Beyond War.

The roadshow is rallying and empowering defenders of civil rights and the environment across the country to resist Trump’s dangerous plans. Stopping in 16 cities on its way to Washington, D.C., it will bring thousands of people to protest at the presidential inauguration.

At each show, you can:
• Sign the national Pledge of Resistance to Trump’s dangerous agenda.
• Write a personalized #Earth2Trump message that will be carried to D.C. in a massive globe and delivered to Trump.
• Create a huge, viral social media #Earth2Trump messaging campaign.
• Connect with people in your community resisting oppression and find out how to join the million people who will protest in Washington, D.C. on Inauguration Day.

Join us to send a powerful, unwavering #Earth2Trump message that oppression and environmental destruction will not be tolerated.

Please RSVP (http://ow.ly/FYIh30786it) to let us know you’ll be at this FREE event in Oakland and share this page with your family, friends and social networks. We’ll see you on January, 2.

Community Assembly Call Out in Response to Oakland Fire and Housing Crisis

The Post Salon Community Assembly, community organizations and individuals throughout the city will come together after the first of the year to build a unified response to the displacement that is occurring in the wake of the Ghost Ship fire, homelessness, eviction of non-profits from downtown Oakland and the crisis of affordable housing that the city is facing.

The assembly will take place in City Hall chambers at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan has agreed to host the meeting for the community.

Organizations and individuals are being contacted to participate in and co-sponsor this community forum.  For information call (510) 287-8200.

The Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission will be conducting a public hearing on the draft Surveillance Technology Ordinance. Here is the draft which has been recently modified and approved to form for submission.

Oakland-Ordinance-12-16-16

Please share this information widely to encourage public comment as the Commission prepares to submit this draft to the Oakland City Council.

Comments can be submitted ahead of time  directly to jdevries@oaklandnet.com. For more information about the Commission, visit the website: http://www2.oaklandnet.com/OAK057463

Schedule:

5:10pm: Presentation on Surveillance Equipment Ordinance by Nuala O’Connor, President and CEO
of Center for Democracy and Technology; Question and Answer session.
5:20pm: Presentation on Surveillance Equipment Ordinance by Professor Catherine Crump, Co-
Director Berkeley Center for Law & Technology; Question and Answer session.
5:30pm: Discuss and take possible action on a Surveillance Equipment Ordinance.

All Out for Oscar! 

Oscar has been imprisoned for almost 36 years for the charge of seditious conspiracy. The only legal remedy left is a presidential pardon
or commutation.
All sectors of Puerto Rican society, Nobel laureates, Latin American leaders, Former President Carter and Senator Bernie Sanders
have all called for his release. Let’s celebrate Oscar’s 74th birthday on January 6 by joining the hundred thousand who petitioned the White House and demand: FREE OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA NOW!
You can also CONTACT The White House on JAN 6 and 13
For more info, go to: http://boricuahumanrights.org/

11 Years Ago, in the city of Oakland…

A collective of art gallery owners now known as Art Murmur, created a free once-a-month art gallery walk. The event became so successful, that galleries became overwhelmed with the amount of attendees who began overflowing into city streets.

To protect pedestrians and provide greater accessibility to the non-gallery community, participating collective Rock Paper Scissors (RPS), filed for a monthly permit to block the streets from auto-traffic under an event dubbed “The 23rd St. Fair.”  This event turned into what is now Oakland First Fridays: the most renowned art, music, food and cultural community event in the Bay Area.

Oakland First Fridays’ 11th Anniversary Event Dedicated in Tribute to the Ghostship Collective

Our hearts go out to Oakland’s creative community and those who have been heavily impacted by the Oakland Fire. The collective loss of life, shelter, and livelihood is an unimaginable tragedy.

In light of this very challenging time, we would like to pay tribute to Oakland’s Creative Community, by dedicating our 11th Anniversary Event to celebrating the life and art of the vibrant creatives, survivors and victims of the Ghostship tragedy.

On Luis’s 9th month commemoration, SAT. JANUARY 7th 10am-1pm, we will celebrate the Mexican tradition of sharing Rosca de Reyes by breaking bread and drinking hot chocolate, and expressing generosity towards our homeless encampment neighbors by bringing a few basic material gifts for them (e.g. socks.)

For our Coalition, this is also the critical start to the next three months of organizing leading up to the 1 year anniversary of Luis’s killing. Let’s get there together with his family in San Francisco and Yucatán! We’ll announce the first court date in the civil case on Jan 7th too.

For this event we are teaming up with individuals and associations who already work on anti-police brutality, indigenous rights, immigrant rights and unhoused/homeless outreach to collaborate with us.

If you would like to help out, please write to justice4luis@gmail.com

Starline is hosting a benefit gig for the Immediate Oakland Fire Relief Fund, featuring Rituals of Mine, Wax Idols, Anticon artist JEL, Kool A.D. with Cult Days, and more.

More info: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/rituals-of-mine-ghost-ship-benefit/Content?oid=5072561

This action, sponsored by Families Against Fossil Fuels, will call for “No Fossil Fascism for Our Kids.” Families will also march to the office of Phil Tagami, the developer who is now suing Oakland for blocking a coal export terminal. Event will include activities for children, drumming, and dancing.

OccupyForum presents

Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!

The Trump Presidency and the Crisis of United States Imperialism

Almost daily since the 2016 election, the Obama administration and the Democratic Party Establishment has intensified its anti-Russia propaganda ­– while President-elect Trump claims that he plans to normalize relations with Russia.

To explain the significance of that policy divergence,

Professor George Wright will, first, outline the current geo-political situation in relationship to the United States and Russia; second, contrast Trump’s proposed foreign policy to Obama and Clinton’s approach, with emphasis on Russia policy; third, analyze the (transparent) intra-ruling class struggle for control of United States foreign policy currently in play exhibited by the differences over how to relate to Russia; and, fourth, speculate on the political implications of that intra-ruling class struggle as it relates to the crisis of United States Imperialism.

George Wright’s professional experience includes teaching Political Science at California State University, Chico between 1969 and 2003. He also taught History at Skyline Community College between 2004 and 2013. His major research interests include: United States Politics, International Political Economy, and the Politics of International Sport. He has a Ph.D. from the Department of Politics at the University of Leeds (UK).

Time will be allotted for announcements.

Donations to Occupy Forum to cover costs are encouraged; no one turned away!