Calendar
OccupyForum presents…
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
OccupyForum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
September 11th, Mass Surveillance,
and Edward Snowden’s Revelations
Join us at OccupyForum for films Citizen4 and/or Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden is an American computer professional, former Central Intelligence Agency employee, and former contractor for the United States government who copied and leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013 without authorization. His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments. The massive extent of the NSA’s spying, both foreign and domestic, was revealed to the public in a series of detailed disclosures of internal NSA documents beginning in June 2013. Most of the disclosures were leaked by Snowden.
On May 20, 2013, Snowden flew to Hong Kong after leaving his job at an NSA facility in Hawaii, and revealed thousands of classified NSA documents to journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Ewen MacAskill. Snowden came to international attention after stories based on the material appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post. Further disclosures were made by other publications including Der Spiegel and The New York Times. Snowden’s identity was made public by The Guardian at his request on June 9, 2013. He explained: “I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong.” He added that by revealing his identity he hoped to protect his colleagues from being subjected to a hunt to determine who had been responsible for the leaks. Snowden has said that in the past, whistleblowers had been “destroyed by the experience,” and that he wanted to “embolden others to step forward” by demonstrating that “they can win.”
Concerning the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the ensuing hyper-surveillance of the American populace, Snowden said,
“What the 9/11 Commission found, in the post-mortem, when they looked at all of the classified intelligence from all of the different intelligence agencies, was that we had all of the information we needed as an intelligence community, as a classified sector, as the national defense of the United States to detect this plot. We actually had records of the phone calls from the United States and out. The CIA knew who these guys were. The problem was not that we weren’t collecting information, it wasn’t that we didn’t have enough dots, it wasn’t that we didn’t have a haystack, it was that we did not understand the haystack that we had.”
“It’s disingenuous for the government to rxploit the national trauma that we all suffered together to justify programs that have never been shown to keep us safe, but cost us liberties and freedoms that we don’t need to give up and our Constitution says we don’t need to give up.”
A subject of controversy, Snowden has been variously called a hero, a whistleblower, a dissident, a traitor and a patriot. His disclosures have fueled debates over mass surveillance, government secrecy, and the balance between national security and information privacy.
Want to help gear up for the Moore family’s October court dates?
The J4KM Coalition invites you to come gather with us on Monday, September 11th to get organized for the trial. We’ll be planning an action to rally community support for the family and to amplify our demands: It’s time to get the racist, transphobic and ableist Berkeley Police Department out of crisis response and to invest in community alternatives!
The Bay Area Remembers Chile: September 11, 1973 Remembrance Day
Join the Chilean Exile Community and friends in commemorating the 44th anniversary of the 1973 Chilean coup d’etat, which ousted the democratically elected government of President Salvador Allende and lead to the disappearance and murders of thousands of Chileans.
This event includes an outdoor candlelight vigil and installation, songs of resistance by local Chilean musicians and members of the La Peña Chorus, and an art exhibit featuring rare revolutionary posters from La Peña’s private archive collection and original art by local Chilean artists inspired by their experiences since the coup.
Chilean food, wine and beer will be for sale, with proceeds benefiting La Peña Cultural Center.
There is no door cover for this event, but donations to La Peña are welcome and greatly appreciated!
La Peña Cultural Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating inter-cultural understanding and social justice through the arts since 1975.
Berkeley City Council is deciding on whether to expand the ordinance to include the use of pepper spray against people wearing masks. This an attack on organizing against white supremacy and those that seek to protect themselves from chemical weaponry and targeting through state and fascist surveillance.
COME OUT TO BERKELEY CITY HALL
Demand that Berkeley City Council not participate in heightened targeting of organizing against white supremacy.
Berkeley Police want to change the law so they can pepper spray #antifa at "#freespeech" rallies https://t.co/NNXAHB8ITe pic.twitter.com/t707cYMSRG
— Alex Rubinstein (@RealAlexRubi) September 11, 2017
List of Banned Items for Fascist “No to Marxism” Rally in Berkeley on August 27, 2017
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/08/26/18802255.php
Ajit Pai, the Trump-appointed Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), wants to kill net neutrality and give control of the internet to companies like Comcast and AT&T. This move would threaten economic opportunity, free speech and online dissent for communities of color.
Now he’s coming to San Francisco on Sept. 12 for a “fireside chat” with tech executives about expanding access and bridging the digital divide for underserved communities. But we aren’t fooled by lip service about expanding opportunity.
Join us in telling Chairman Pai: There can be no conversation about opportunity online without real net neutrality. Our communities depend on a free and open internet to innovate, organize and communicate. Now more than ever, our democracy depends on our ability to connect with one another without censorship or interference.
We will gather outside Galvanize, the venue where Pai will be speaking, with speakers, signs and visuals to send a message to press and the world: From communities of color to tech workers, the Bay Area demands real net neutrality.
Come to the SF Police Commission to tell them #NoTasersSF
at Bill Graham Auditorium. If you can’t make it out email the San Francisco Police Commission, & tell them #NoTasersSF sfpd.commission@sfgov.org
Next Tuesday, come to the SF Police Commission to tell them #NoTasersSF at Bill Graham Auditorium. https://t.co/HGZAbeljuE pic.twitter.com/pRUiaqj6vw
— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) September 7, 2017
** Tasers Are Deadly Weapons **
Facts you should know for the meeting
Tomorrow Tue. Sept 12
6-8PM
Bill Graham Auditorium#NoTasersSF pic.twitter.com/Gvz19czecB— 64 GB (@gilbazoid) September 12, 2017
When Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked thousands of top-secret documents to the press, was asked why he did it, he turned to a 250-year-old warning from Benjamin Franklin: “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Today, the NSA is one of the most powerful intelligence gathering agencies in the world. But at what point does the agency’s mass surveillance programs amount to an infringement on the democratic values it was created to defend? In an era when almost all of our communications are digital and all of our security threats are global, what expectations of privacy are even reasonable? Is it possible to protect individual privacy without sacrificing the intelligence capabilities needed to keep the U.S. and our allies safe?
Timothy H. Edgar, a long-time civil liberties activist who worked inside both the Bush and Obama intelligence communities, argues that the only way to protect Americans’ privacy is to do a better job of protecting everyone’s privacy. What must be done to bring transparency, accountability, privacy and human rights protections into comprehensive programs of intelligence collection?
SPEAKER:
Timothy Edgar
Senior Fellow, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University
MODERATOR:
Aaron Sankin
Reporter, Reveal, Center for Investigative Reporting
Gentrification comes up constantly in the Bay Area, but few of us feel equipped to take action against it. Is it inevitable? What can we do now to prevent displacement?
This SURJ workshop will put gentrification and displacement in a historical context so we understand the racialized political and economic drivers. You’ll hear about past and current struggles led by communities of color to preserve their homes and communities.
Facilitators from SURJ – Oakland/Bay Area will present analysis based on the work of Causa Justa :: Just Cause. SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice), Bay Area chapter, is part of a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice through communityorganizing, mobilizing, and education. However, all are welcome at this workshop regardless of identity.
Donations will go to support CJJC’s work challenging gentrification and fighting displacement.
Our workshop has space for 66 people. To reserve your spot in advance, please purchase tickets at http://
Building Accessibility: There are two entrances to Sierra Club Office building on Webster and 21st, both of which are accessible for mobility devices. The building has an elevator, and the kitchen space, conference room, and restrooms can also all accommodate mobility devices.
Scents: The Sierra Club’s space endeavors to offer a scent free environment; however as the Club is currently transitioning towards the use of only scent free products, we cannot guarantee an entirely scent free space. We ask everyone to please arrive at meetings fragrance free to support access for folks who experience multiple chemical sensitivities and allergies. This means using only body products and laundry detergent that say “fragrance free” or “unscented” on the label and do not have scented ingredients.
Restrooms: Restrooms are currently labeled in a gender-binary way. The Sierra Club is working on changing this and has an office policy that all restrooms are available to anyone, regardless of lived or perceived gender identity. We ask that folks choose the restroom that is right for them, and that no one question a person’s chosen restroom.
More info on Causa Justa: http://www.cjjc.org/
Register for the workshop: http://
SPREAD THE WORD, INVITE YOUR FRIENDS!
Join the First Unitarian Church of Oakland for a special screening of the award-winning documentary film Indivisible.
Snacks will be provided!
RSVP to secure your spot: https://
About the film: Imagine growing up in the country you call home without legal status. Or not seeing your family for years because they were deported. Renata, Evelyn, and Antonio were young children when their parents brought them to the U.S. in search of a better life; they were teenagers when their families were deported. Today, they are known as Dreamers. Indivisible takes place at a pivotal moment in their lives, as they fight for a pathway to citizenship and a chance to be reunited with their loved ones. With the future of immigration reform uncertain, will they see their families again?
Visit www.indivisiblefilm.com to view the film’s trailer.
The Justice Council and Young Adults of the the First Unitarian Church of Oakland invite you to a film showing.
Indivisible
RSVP: oakland-indivisible.eventbrite.com
You are welcome to attend just the movie. We also encourage you to consider joining us for any part of the evening’s activities:
6pm: Community Dinner; Taco Tuesday! Bring a side to share or just a hungry tummy and an open heart. All leftovers are shared with our neighbors in West Oakland.
6:45: A simple and soulful worship service. Singing and silence to ground us in our work.
7:30: Black Lives Matter vigil led by Pastor Jacqueline on the front patio.
7:45: Our guest speaker will say a few words before the movie, and last but not least
8pm: INDIVISIBLE!
RSVP: http://www.oakland-indivisible.eventbrite.com
Join the First Unitarian Church of Oakland for a special screening of the award-winning documentary film Indivisible. The screening will take place at the church and begins at 8pm on September 12th.
Snacks will be provided at the event!
About the film: Imagine growing up in the country you call home without legal status. Or not seeing your family for years because they were deported. Renata, Evelyn, and Antonio were young children when their parents brought them to the U.S. in search of a better life; they were teenagers when their families were deported. Today, they are known as Dreamers. Indivisible takes place at a pivotal moment in their lives, as they fight for a pathway to citizenship and a chance to be reunited with their loved ones. With the future of immigration reform uncertain, will they see their families again?
Visit www.indivisiblefilm.com to view the film’s trailer.
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, responses to our Night Out for Safety and Liberation letter drive and EBC’s work at large.
Please RSVP to emily@ellabakercenter.org
American Friends Service Committee, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, and San Francisco Friends Meeting and suppporters observed the occasion with their weekly 12-1pm vigil rain or shine every Thursday at 450 Golden Gate, the Federal Building.
Why We Vigil
For five years we have stood on this corner every Thursday from noon to 1:00. We come because we believe that what our government is doing is wrong. The so-called war on terror is a disaster, doing more to stimulate the growth of terrorism around the world than to keep our country safe.
We believe justice is the way to a terror-free world. We urge the United States to devote our resources to things that help humanity. Rather than investing in armaments, destruction and death, this country should be working to see that nobody in the world is starving or without shelter, clothing, education and medical care.
We say: Stop the war
Stop the torture
Bring the troops home now
Defend civil liberties
PRACTICE NONVIOLENCE
We believe in the American dream. We believe that the only way to live the American dream is with nonviolence. Please join us to stand against all war and to pray for all victims of war.
Please stand with us.
We have stood on this corner every Thursday since October 2001. We come to say NO to war and to speak up for nonviolence. All in agreement are invited to vigil with us.
This vigil was started by two Quaker groups–American Friends Service Committee and San Francisco Friends Meeting. They have been joined by Buddhist Peace Fellowship and Episcopal Peace Fellowship. Participants come from a range of backgrounds. Some of us are silent, praying or meditating. Others do not keep silence and are happy to speak with you.
Please vigil with us every Thursday.
Contact information: American Friends Service Committee
65 Ninth St., San Francisco, CA 94103
415 565-0201
www.afsc.org/
Buddhist Peace Fellowship
P.O. Box 3470, Berkeley, CA 94703
www.bpf.org/
Episcopal Peace Fellowship
415 824-0288
http://www.episcopalpeacefellowship.org/
San Francisco Friends Meeting
65 Ninth St., San Francisco, CA 94103
415 431-7440
Welcome to San Francisco Friends Meeting
To contact the vigil:
We hope you’ll join us. We’ll use the occasion to look at the state of human rights in Berkeley and beyond. We will commemorate the generations of movements that we have supported and learned from. But our main focus is to look ahead. We’ll discuss the importance of having a peace and justice commission in the 21st century, and how we can together transform the city and its government to put human rights first.
We are proud of our expansive mandate to act on all issues of social justice. We will highlight the commissions’ accomplishments and challenges the city faces in areas such as:
* Racial justice
* Women’s and girls’ rights
* Nuclear weaponry
* Socially responsible investing, banking, and procurement
* Militarization and peace
* Public education
* Indigenous rights in Berkeley
* International solidarity and the Pacific Rim
* National security state and police accountability
Doors open at 7pm, Screening starts at 7:30pm.
FREE! Donations of any size benefit the Haiti Action Committee & La Peña Cultural Center!
As white supremacy is increasingly coming out of the shadows in this country, it is important we confront racism in our native Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Black in Latin America is an award-winning documentary series where Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. travels to 6 different nations in Latin America and the Caribbean to explore how each nation’s history with colonialism and slavery directly impacts the ways black people in those countries experience discrimination and instituional racism today.
Join us at La Peña Cultural Center on Thursday, Sept. 14 as we screen Episode 1 in the Black in Latin America series “Haiti & the Dominican Republic: An Island Divided”, followed by a community discussion with special guest Pierre Labossiere, founding member of the Haiti Action Committee.
In the Dominican Republic, Professor Gates explores how race has been socially constructed in a society whose people reflect centuries of inter-marriage, and how the country’s troubled history with Haiti informs notions about racial classification. In Haiti, Professor Gates tells the story of the birth of the first-ever black republic, and finds out how the slaves’s hard fought liberation over Napoleon Bonaparte’s French Empire became a double-edged sword.
ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUEST, PIERRE LABOSSIERE:
Mr. Labossiere was born in Haiti and has been active in the struggle for justice since his teen years. In addition to his work at the Haiti Action Committee, he is also a Board member of Global Exchange, the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund and Ecumenical Peace Institute. The Haiti Action Committee, based in the Bay Area, is a network of activists who have supported the Haitian struggle for democracy since 1991. Members foster extensive contacts with the grassroots movement in Haiti and work to promote international solidarity.
ALL BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA SCREENINGS & DISCUSSIONS Doors open at 7pm, Films start at 7:30pm
Sept. 14 – Haiti & the Dominican Republic: An Island Divided
Sept. 21 – Cuba: The Next Revolution in Cuba
Sept. 28 – Brazil: A Racial Paradise?
Oct. 5 – Mexico & Peru: The Black Grandma in the Closet
Community Ready Corps (CRC) is organizing to protect Black spaces & communities from racist intimidation, harassment, and violence, and to provide security & self defense trainings.
Emboldened by the election of Donald Trump, White Nationalists with genocidal aspirations against Black people, Muslims and Immigrants are organizing in the Bay Area.
Who are the organizations and individuals making up the “Alt-Right”? Where did they come from? What do they believe? How has their movement picked up so much steam?
Join CRC and CRC(Allies & Accomplices) for a community teach-in about the Alt-Right and how you can participate in resistance their White Nationalist agenda.
The Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair is an annual event that brings together people interested and engaged in radical work to connect, learn, and discuss through books and information tables, workshops, panel discussions, skillshares, films, and more! We seek to create an inclusive space to introduce new folks to anarchism, foster a productive dialogue between various political traditions as well as anarchists from different milieus, and create an opportunity to dissect our movements’ strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and tactics.
Join us, rain or shine, as we show up for Kayla Moore!
Kayla Moore, a Black trans woman with a mental health diagnosis, was killed by Berkeley police in 2013. Four years later, her family and community are still working to hold the City of Berkeley and Berkeley police accountable with a civil suit. Demands also include that police not be first responders to mental health emergencies and an end the BPD’s violent attacks, criminalization, and profiling of people who are Black, Brown, disabled and/or trans.
This “Human Billboard” will lift up Kayla’s story and the Justice for Kayla Moore Coalition’s call to come out for court support October 23rd. We will also make visible our support for the Movement for Black Lives and communities targeted by Trump. These gatherings, held throughout the East Bay and nationally, are a simple yet effective way of channeling anger and sadness over injustice into collective action and solidarity.
For those of us who are white, it’s a way to express a unified voice in opposition to the white nationalist, transphobic, sexist politics that Trump and his followers represent, and to commit to ending white silence and visibly supporting racial justice.
For all of us, it’s a concrete way to put our heart and soul into action. It’s being in community with each other, to share with like-minded people a belief that a loving, humane, compassionate world is possible, and to take a small step towards making that happen.
If you’ve been wanting to get more involved, this event is a great way to take action, meet people and gain further connections in the community we’re building. Bring flowers for an altar. Bring friends, family and neighbors. Bring a sign – here are some ideas for messaging:
- Justice for Kayla Moore!
- #SayHerName: Kayla Moore
- Will you show up for racial justice?
- Will you show up against police terror?
- Black Lives Matter!
- Black Trans Lives Matter!
- Solidarity with Black and POC Trans Women!
- End Displacement of Black and Brown communities!
- Solidarity with Queer and Trans People of Color!
Follow the Justice for Kayla Moore coalition website and Facebook page for more information on Kayla’s story and court support in October.
At this legal clinic, people will have the opportunity to reduce or clear their felony convictions and get a free copy of their RAP sheets. Attendees will learn how we can help to remove barriers to vital programs and services. Spanish interpreters will be present and there will be free food! We are seeking volunteers to support the legal clinic. if you are available, contact: tash@ellabakercenter.org.
The Left is coming together in the wake of the chaotic Trump administration. Bernie Sanders brought a mass movement together through his campaign, and we’ve seen some of the largest protests in US history, just in 2017 so far. Although the Democratic Party establishment has made some overtures to this movement through the “better deal” program, they refuse to take concrete steps to prove any motion towards the Left, like rejecting corporate money or embracing single-payer healthcare.
So how do we take the movement forward? Socialists and the Left can lead the way. The Republicans may control the federal government, but we can establish footholds in cities or even states, all over the country, and build progressive strongholds. Trump is trying to attack the working class and lower our living standards so he can enrich his billionaire friends.
However, we can Trump-proof the Bay Area by building local, working-class power, and winning concrete gains. We can start by taxing the rich, building affordable housing, ending homelessness, establishing REAL sanctuary cities, winning single-payer universal healthcare, and stopping police brutality. We can win all this and more by electing independents and socialists to local office who reject corporate money – and through unified action based on a movement of the working-class and oppressed people.
Socialist Alternative Bay Area and the San Francisco chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America are hosting this event to bring the left together and Trump-proof the Bay Area.
Featuring
- Kshama Sawant: The socialist Seattle city councilmember and member of Socialist Alternative
- Gayle McLaughlin: Former Green party mayor of Richmond and current independent and corporate-free candidate for the Lieutenant Governor’s race
- Jeremy Gong: Member of the DSA National Political Committee and the East Bay DSA