Calendar

9896
Jan
25
Thu
When They Call You a Terrorist: Hosted by Cat Brooks @ First Congregational Church
Jan 25 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

BLACK LIVES MATTER PATRISSE CULLORS & ASHA BANDELE

 


Advance tickets: $12 : brownpapertickets.com :: T: 800-838-3006
or Marcus Books, Books Inc/Berkeley,  Pegasus (3 sites), Moe’s Books, Walden Pond Bookstore, Mrs. Dalloway’s, 
East Bay Books
$15 door, wheelchair access

 

The emotional and powerful story from the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement and how it came to be.

“It is a story our nation desperately needs to hear, especially right now. Our country has been at war with its own people for decades…This remarkable book … forces us to face the consequence of the choices our nation made when we criminalized a generation.” —Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow

From one of the co-founders of Black Lives Matter, the hashtag that turned into a movement and global network, Patrisse Cullors, comes a poetic memoir and reflection on humanity. Necessary and timely, WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST: A Black Lives Matter Memoir On Sale: January 16, 2018), co-written with award-winning author and journalist asha bandele, asks us to remember that protest in the interest of the most vulnerable comes from love. Leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement have been called terrorists, a threat to America. But in truth, they are loving women whose life experiences have led them to seek justice for those victimized by the powerful.

WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST takes an intimate look at Cullors’ time growing up in Van Nuys, California, surrounded by a devoted family and supportive friends, and weaves her experiences into the larger picture of how predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods are under constant systemic attack. From an unrelenting and hostile police presence, to disproportionate punitive action, to lack of basic social and medical services, Cullors and bandele show how lack of personal security and dignity makes daily life an act of survival.

In WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST, a meaningful, empowering account of survival, strength, and resilience, the writers seek to change the culture that declares innocent black life expendable.

 PATRISSE CULLORS is an artist, organizer, and freedom fighter from Los Angeles, CA. Co-founder of Black Lives Matter, she is also a performance artist, Fulbright scholar, public speaker, and an NAACP History Maker. In​ 2016, Patrisse received the Defender of the Dream Award from the AFL-CIO Executive Council Committee on Civil and Human Rights, the Revolution Award for Freedom from ImageNation Cinema Foundation, the Justice Award from National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Community Change Agent Award from BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Inc., and the Glamour Women of the Year Award for The Justice Seekers. In 2017, Cullors received the Sydney Peace Prize.

asha bandele, author of the best-selling and award-winning memoir, The Prisoner’s Wife, and four other works,

has been honored for her work in journalism, fiction, poetry, and activism. A mother and a former senior editor at Essence magazine, asha serves as a senior director at the Drug Policy Alliance.

“Patrisse Cullors is a leading visionary and activist, feminist, civil rights leader who has literally changed the trajectory of politics and resistance in America.” —Eve Ensler

CAT BROOKS is KPFA Radio’s UpFront Co-Host, and a long-time performer and activist. She played a central role in the struggle for justice for Oscar Grant and is the co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP). The actions organized by Brooks and her associates with groups that include the BlackOUT Collective, ONYX Organizing Committee and the Anti-Police Terror Project, have stood out both for their clear focus and their dramatic flair.

64011
Jan
26
Fri
Solidarity Action Outside ICE: Let My People Stay @ ICE San Francisco
Jan 26 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

 

RSVP Here
**CLERGY PRESENCE CRUCIAL**

This Friday, Bay Area Jewish clergy from Bend the Arc are leading an action outside the ICE building to denounce the administration’s recent threats to conduct mass raids in San Francisco and other Northern California cities.

THIS IS AN URGENT CALL TO ACTION TO ALL CLERGY AND PEOPLE OF FAITH TO SEND A POWERFUL AND PROPHETIC MESSAGE:

NO MORE TERRORIZING OUR COMMUNITIES.
NO MORE CRIMINALIZING OUR NEIGHBORS.
NO MORE TEARING OUR FAMILIES APART.
WE ARE ALL CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF G-D.

Last week, 86 rabbis and Jewish advocates were arrested in a civil disobedience action while staging a civil disobedience action in D.C. in support of a Clean DREAM Act.

Today, Sen. Chuck Schumer caved in to Republic pressure and agreed fund the government on a short-term basis, in exchange for a promise from Sen. Mitch McConnell to work out a DACA fix at a later date.

While Congress passes one continuing resolution after another, 850 undocumented youth are losing their DACA protections each week. The youth have been declaring: we don’t need a solution next month, we need one right now.

All are welcome to join this action to proclaim unequivocally #LetMyPeopleStay.

Link to Facebook Event Here

64221
Hands Off Afrin! @ Powell St. BART
Jan 26 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

64214
Power Not Paranoia: a Discussion About Digital Surveillance
Jan 26 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

The vast system of U.S. surveillance is in the hands of a President who is violating our constitutional and human rights. It’s vital that organizers protect their digital security so we can continue to work for social change.

The Ella Baker Center and The Center for Media Justice – home of the Media Action Grassroots Network – in partnership with Wellstone Action, would like to invite you to an evening of dialogue on 21st century policing, the impact on our community, and what we can do to protect ourselves and defend our rights.

Join us for a panel presentation about the current state of surveillance. Our panel will feature:

Malkia Cyril, Founder and Executive Director of The Center for Media Justice
Virginia Eubanks, author of Automating Inequality: How High Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor:*
Tunisia Owens, Policy Manager of The Ella Baker Center for Human RIghts
And more!

Immediately following the panel presentation we will have a mixer with light refreshments.

Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the event.

Automating Inequality: How High Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor – https://virginia-eubanks.com/books/

64060
Jan
27
Sat
Saturday Brunch with AROC
Jan 27 @ 9:00 am – 3:00 pm

In January, 5% of all Saturday brunch proceeds at Reem’s will be donated to the Arab Resource & Organizing Center!

Join AROC at Reem’s on Saturdays and support local Arab organizing!

AROC is a local grasssroots organization that builds power in the Arab and Muslim community through immigration services, organizing and mobilizing against racism, war, repression and Zionism.

@AROCBayArea
www.araborganizing.org

64160
RALLY FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
Jan 27 @ 11:30 am – 2:30 pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/151943795433074/

On January 27th at 11:30 a.m., people of the Bay Area will unite to stand up for reproductive justice. This coalition will come together this year and in future years to drown out the voices of the Walk for Life, a mass march organized by sexist, right-wing, Christian fundamentalists.

They are building a movement to take away our right to have an abortion and to limit access to reproductive healthcare, contraception, and sex education. They oppose the basic rights of women and other oppressed people to bodily autonomy and self-determination.

We are residents of the Bay Area – women and trans folks, anti-sexist men, people of color, working class people, leftists, liberals, and others. We stand together to defend our right to have an abortion and to confront sexist hate on the streets of San Francisco.

It is time to speak out against sexism in our society and take action to keep each other safe. We represent a majority, like the millions who participated in the Women’s March and the #MeToo campaign. We hope to demonstrate that sexist bigots are unwelcome in the Bay Area, a place where women, the queer community, immigrants, and others have historically fought to defend their communities from those who would take away our agency. This year, we stand together in solidarity to confront the right-wing now, so that their movement cannot make further advances. This cannot wait until November 2018 or 2020.

Please join us at the Rally for Reproductive Justice in San Francisco on January 27! Confront the sexist bigots of the Walk for Life! Stand in solidarity with women and all oppressed people!

Endorsed by:
UC Student-Workers Union – UAW Local 2865
United Educators of San Francisco
International Socialist Organization
Workers’ Voice / La Voz de los Trabajadores
Democratic Socialists of America SF
Left Party / Partido de Izquierda

Refuse Fascism Bay Area

Socialist Action

Bay It Forward

CODEPINK San Francisco
ResistanceSF
South Beach District 6 Democratic Club of San Francisco
Democratic Socialists of America Lower Peninsula branch of Silicon Valley

64218
Neighborhood assemblies: the possibility of direct democracy @ West Berkeley Library
Jan 27 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

What can we do to have a real voice in political issues?

                  Neighborhood assemblies:

the possibility of direct democracy

Lessons from People’s Assemblies in Jackson, MS

and Cuba’s Municipal Assemblies

 with Steve Martinot, neighborhood activist and Berkeley Planning Commissioner

Why do important issues never seem to get resolved?

�      Affordable housing
�      An end to rent increases and rent-gouging displacement
�      Shelter if not housing for the homeless
�      Policing that serves people rather than impose social control
�      An end to industrial and infrastructure pollution

These issues become endless issues because we give them to people who are not effected by them – the elite we elect too speak for us, but are not us.

What would give us a voice in our own affairs?

�      Local assemblies in which to discuss among ourselves what to do.
�      Neighborhood assemblies in which to make our own autonomous decisions
�      Community Councils that would bring together the decisions of neighborhood assemblies

Where do we see this kind of system working? In Jackson, Mississippi, and in Cuba, in its system of Municipal Assemblies. Cuba’s local assemblies are legislative for neighborhoods and cities. Composed of people elected from neighborhoods, they are composed of delegates representing 100 to 200 people. These local assemblies make policy on real issues: city maintenance, land use, housing, labor disputes, and sports facilities.

Their meetings are open and permit dialogue between people and delegates. People are not limited to “comments,” as in Berkeley. The delegates live in the neighborhoods and environments about which they pass measures.

Please join us on January 27, West Berkeley Library, to learn about neighborhood assemblies, Cuba’s Municipal Assemblies, and the possibility for “direct democracy.”

Steve Martinot has been a union and community organizer, lecturer at the Center for Interdisciplinary Programs at SFSU, and written extensively on the structure of racism and white supremacy in the US, as well as on corporate economics and culture.

64104
Jan
28
Sun
Difficult Dialogues Workshop @ Sierra Club
Jan 28 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

How do we approach the challenging conversations in our lives, whether it’s about confederate flags, Donald Trump, cultural appropriation, Palestine/Israel, or even just racism and racial justice in general?

This workshop is an opportunity to dive in much deeper with structured time to practice a range of difficult conversations around highly-charged racial issues. We will be sharing some basic skill-building tools in how to approach conversations, and then explore scenarios relevant to the lives of participants. This will include examination of some of the ways that internalized sexism can impact our courageous speaking capacities.

Small group work, role-plays, and Theater of the Oppressed techniques will support seeing tough communication blocks in a new light. We’ll try out what feels challenging, in a relatively low-stakes and supportive environment, allowing ourselves time to debrief, reflect, and learn from each other.

Tickets are sliding scale $15 – $25. No one turned away for lack of funds. Contact basebuilding@surjbayarea.org with ticket requests or questions.

Accessibility Information

The space is wheelchair accessible. We ask that you do your best to arrive at the event scent/fragrance free to keep the space as low-scent as possible to support people with chemical and scent sensitivities – please see https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/ for helpful information.

64200
From Mass Incarceration to Restorative Justice
Jan 28 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

From Mass Incarceration to Restorative Justice: How Contra Costa County is Developing the Blue Print for Criminal Justice Reform

Presented by the ACLU’s Berkeley/North East Bay Chapter

The Berkeley/North East Bay chapter of the ACLU is pleased to present a Criminal Justice Reform panel with newly appointed District Attorney Diana Becton and Public Defenders Ali Saidi and Jeff Landau. Topics will include the current state of criminal justice reform in Contra Costa County and D.A. Becton’s holistic approach for future reform including dismantling the school to prison pipeline for juvenile offenders and bail reform. This is a great opportunity for all who are interested in criminal justice reform to meet those who will be leading the way.

This event is also the Berkeley/North East Bay chapter’s Annual Meeting and Chapter Board Election.

For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. The ACLU protects your freedom through a nationwide network of staffed offices in every state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The Berkeley/North East Bay Chapter is active in the North East Region of the San Francisco Bay (California, USA), including Albany, Berkeley, Crockett, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Hercules, Kensington, Pinole, Richmond, Rodeo, Montalvin Manor and San Pablo.

64222
Medicare for All Social and Political Discussion @ Mudrakers Cafe
Jan 28 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

South Berkeley Medicare for All Social and Political Discussion

Come out to connect with DSA, learn more about our Medicare for All campaign, meet your neighbors, and join us for a political discussion!

RSVP

64196
Support ICE Detainees in West County Jail Facility – Benefit Concert @ Ashkenaz
Jan 28 @ 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm
sm_benefit_concert.2__1_.jpg Raise your voice, rouse your body, and move to the rhythms of the highly spirited Dance Chants and smooth jazz of Humanistic on Sunday, the 28th of January. Calpulli Huey Papalotl, a Danza Mexica and cultural circle open the days cultural jamboree with danza and songs to honor the fight for justice for all immigrants. Danza Mexica,a vibrant meditation in movement, connects the dancers to the Cosmos and to their Indigenous Ancestors through the movements of their bodies, accompanied by the beat of the Huehuetl, the Ancient drum.

The opening ceremony will set the stage for Humanistic, a diverse soulful jazz band with a flare for funk. The group features international artist, Otoe Mori on the saxophone, Greg German on drums, and Vince Khoe on keys. Grab a preview of their music here. Poetry by local artist Pennie Opal Plant will lead us to the highly energetic finale featuring Dancechant, a unique gathering of 12 musicians who cultivates love, joy, and community with simple meaningful chants and melodic phrases that invite listeners to join in and sing and dance along with the band.

The cultural workers of Artists for Humanity are performing to raise funds for the Bay Area Bond Fund, a project of the Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC).
You can support men and women targeted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) due to their citizenship status. ICE detainees at the West County Detention Facility in Richmond are not provided legal counsel if they cannot afford a lawyer. and often times, due to a backlog in the court system, wait years for a hearing. Imagine being forced to sit behind bars, unable to work, isolated from family and friends, and too poor to afford an attorney to pay for bail. The average bond of $3,411, is often times an impossible sum for detainees to raise. According to CIVIC, immigrants who secure bond during their case and find legal representation are about 8 times more likely to win their cases than those who remain incarcerated and unrepresented.

We need a revolving Bond Fund now! You can be a part of the movement to end the isolation and help build the Bond Fund to get our residents out of detention and back into society with family, friends and co-workers. Share out!

64168
Transit Equity Day Video Townhall @ Your computer
Jan 28 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

REGISTER HERE FOR THE VIDEO TOWNHALL

Transit Equity Day is a collaborative effort of several organizations and unions to promote public transit as a civil right and a strategy to combat climate change.

At a digital townhall on January 28th, hear from worker and community leaders as the Labor Network for Sustainability and its partners prepare for Transit Equity Day on February 5th.

On that day we will honor Rosa Parks’ February 4th birthday and the Civil Rights movement by dedicating Transit Equity Day to lift up the rights of all people to high-quality public transportation powered by clean/renewable energy.

The Sunday evening conversation at the video townhall (the weekend before Super Bowl Sunday) will highlight the importance of transit equity.  You’ll hear why public transit is important to everyone and learn of the local and state campaigns that are advancing the rights of workers and communities.  You’ll understand how public transit improves the quality of life of our communities and confronts the climate crisis.

Memories of our lives, or our works and our deeds will continue in others.”  —Rosa Parks

Sponsoring organizations:
Amalgamated Transit Union, Jobs with Justice, Institute for Policy Studies, Chainbreaker Collective, The LEAP, Labor Community Strategy Center, Americans for Transit, Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Partnership for Working Families, OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, Labor Network for Sustainability

Endorsements:
Greenpeace, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, People’s Action

 

REGISTER HERE FOR THE VIDEO TOWNHALL

64194
Liberated Lens Film Night: “Ciutat Morta” @ Omni Commons ballroom
Jan 28 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

 

800 people illegally occupy an old movie theater in Barcelona in order to screen a documentary. They rename the old building after a girl who committed suicide in 2011: Cinema Patricia Heras. Who was that girl? Why did she kill herself and what does the city have to do with it? That’s exactly what the squatting action is about: letting everyone know the truth about one of the worse corruption cases in Barcelona, the dead city.

More information:
https://roarmag.org/essays/torturing-squatters-barcelona-4f/

Trailer:
https://ciutatmorta.wordpress.com/

Directed Xavier Artigas & Xapo Ortega. Associates of the filmmakers will be here to answer questions about the film’s subject matter.

Doors at 6pm, film at 6:30pm. $5 donation, no one turned away. Free popcorn!

RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/209970796244335/

64198
Reefer Madness @ It's Your Move Games
Jan 28 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Image may contain: text

64226
Jan
29
Mon
Occupy Forum @ Local 2
Jan 29 @ 6:45 pm – 9:00 pm
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!

Taking Stock of our Actions to Defend Immigrants:
Group discussion and planning

We are witnessing at this moment the most serious threat to our immigrant communities, at least since Operation Wetback in 1954.   What’s more ominous today is that this attack on immigrants is part of a broader assault on democratic rights aimed at hammering into place a more authoritarian/fascist form of rule.

But it is important to realize that the attacks on immigrants have aroused widespread, diverse and potentially powerful opposition. They include activist groups, churches and faith groups, labor unions, lawyers, and some progressive, especially local, politicians, and immigrant groups themselves.

Last week, in response to threats by ICE to initiate raids and mass roundups in the Bay Area, two demonstrations were held at the ICE headquarters at 630 Sansome. On Thursday it was a coalition of political actors from Refuse Fascism, Occupy, Code Pink and other groups. On Friday it was a convergence of religious forces initiated by the Jewish community. It included activists from Faith in Action and the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. More people plan to protest on Monday. Each of these groupings brings with them their own strengths and weaknesses, but all are essential and important in forging a broad defense of immigrants.

What strategies do these groups bring to the struggle, what are their differences and their similarities? Can they collaborate and overlap, even as they work independently?

Let’s meet and kick around some ideas about this. We see two areas where the movement to stop ICE can be immediately assisted:

1.      Keep up a regular protest presence at ICE calling upon different sections of the community to take the lead in doing this and,

2.      Develop closer coordination, and information sharing, between the different pro-immigrant forces in the field.

Time will be allotted for announcements. Donations to OccupyForum to cover

costs are encouraged; no one turned away!

64243
Jan
31
Wed
A New Way to Stop Police Brutality: #NoJusticeNoDeal @ The Episcopal Church of Saint John the Evangelist
Jan 31 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

For too long, the San Francisco Police Officers Association (the police union) has taken hardline stances and used inflammatory tactics that destroy trust between residents and police. It has blocked or delayed common-sense reforms—like the city’s improved use-of-force policy—and has publicly attacked police accountability champions—including elected officials, prominent athletes like Colin Kaepernick, and its own police members. Unlike other unions focused on wages and benefits and reasonable working conditions for their employees, the SFPOA has used labor law to exert an enormous influence on public policy and public safety.

Right now, the SFPOA is negotiating a new labor agreement with the city. The city must not approve a new contract increasing police officer pay and benefits unless the SFPOA agrees to respect our values and increase public safety. The SFPOA shouldn’t be allowed to use its bargaining power to make San Francisco less safe.

We are a growing and diverse coalition of San Franciscans who care deeply about police accountability and community safety. We want to ensure the present negotiations of the SFPOA’s new labor contract reflects our values and our community’s need for safety. To influence these negotiations, we must act now before the contract is finalized by June 2018.

#NoJusticeNoDeal

Join us for a community town hall. We’ll share information about the campaign and get feedback on community demands.

When: Wednesday, January 31, 6pm
Where: St. John’s (corner of Julian and 15th Streets, two blocks from 16th Street BART)

64188
Under the Hood of Oakland City Government @ Laurel Book Store (off Oscar Grant Plaza)
Jan 31 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Whether an Observer Corps volunteer or regular LWVO member, you’ll enjoy an evening presentation on the nuts and bolts of how the City works.

Guest speaker Tracy Rosenberg, executive director of Media Alliance, will provide an overview of the city structure––from elected officials to city manager to committees and commissions––as well as the legislation flow. Who can introduce legislation and how does a member of public use the “bully pulpit” to get the assistance from a Council member to do so? Also covered will be a review of good governance regulations such as the Brown Act, how procedural committees such as the Rules Committee operate, and what tools are available to make public meetings transparent and more productive. Did you know that Staff Reports provide context for understanding seemingly obtuse committee meetings?

This is a must-attend meeting if you want to roll up your sleeves and get more involved in local government!

To RSVP and get more information contact Gen Katz at gen@metron.com

64179
Feb
1
Thu
SF Public Bank Now – Budget & Finance Committee Meeting @ SF City Hall, Room 250
Feb 1 @ 10:00 am – 12:30 pm

The Budget Legislative Analyst and the Treasurer will be making presentations on a report about public banking and the status of the municipal banking task force.

We need people to pack the hearing and make public comment on how SF needs a public bank that actually serves the people of San Francisco, not Wall Street.

64224
Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission @ Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 1, Oscar Grant Plaza
Feb 1 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Meeting Agenda

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. 5:05pm: Review and approval of November and January meeting minutes
3. 5:10pm: Open Forum
4. 5:15pm: Presentation by Oakland Police Department – Annual Report on Cellular Site Simulator Use
5. 5:35pm: Presentation by Oakland Police Department – Private Video Camera Registry
6. 5:55pm: Annual election of Chair, Vice-Chair

64235