Calendar

Come help make the Public Bank of Oakland a reality.

The feasibility study, currently underway. is due to the City of Oakland by the end of March.

agenda:

Reportbacks (25 min)

• Feasibility study changes/role of governance committee
• FoPB Focus group
• Governance

General news (10 min)
1. John Chiang California task force
2. Michigan developments

Repeating items (25 min)

• Treasurer’s report/budgeting and meeting place issues
• introductions of new attendees
• overview of public banking for new attendees
• set next meeting time and place

Upcoming (20 min)

• First Presbyterian Church
• Student debt forum
• Potential community group meetings

oscargrantcommittee-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

In alliance with the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) we organized the October 23, 2010 labor and community rally for Justice for Oscar Grant. On that day the ILWU shut down the Bay Area ports in solidarity. Our mission is to educate, organize and mobilize people against police and state repression. Sisters and brothers! The Oscar Grant Committee invites you to join us in this vital struggle.

We meet on the 1^st Monday of each month
You can join our discussion list by sending a blank (doesn’t even need a subject) email to

oscargrantcommittee-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

**Join Jews and interfaith partners for noontime vigils in front of the San Francisco Immigration & Customs Enforcement offices (ICE) to stand with the immigrant community and stand for the urgency of a clean Dream Act.***

The interfaith vigils will include singing and chanting and the opportunity to take an action (e.g. make a phone call to a decisionmaker) and learn about ongoing actions to take in support of the Dream Act and immigrant justice.

In mid-January, Jews from across the country gathered in Washington, DC for Let My People Stay, a historic Jewish civil disobedience in support of a clean #DreamActNow. Inspired by this powerful action, hundreds of Bay Area Jews and allies gathered on Friday January 26 to rally in support of immigrant communities. Across the country, immigrant communities are leading a powerful movement demanding a solution for Dreamers, dignity and permanent protections – for Dreamers and all undocumented people.

Rumors that ICE is planning a large-scale immigration sweep to punish California for its statewide protections are increasing the climate of fear and isolation for many, with people reporting missing school, medical appointments, and participation in public life. As Jews, we have seen what happens when those in power scapegoat vulnerable communities, and we refuse to be silent.

February 8 is the current deadline to demonstrate the urgency of a solution for Dreamers as part of the Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government.

Join us as we say #LetMyPeopleStay.

Sponsored by: Bend the Arc Jewish Action, Faith in Action Bay Area, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity

REGISTER TODAY

Join us for one of several webinars and in-person trainings on critical civil liberties issues facing our state and the nation:

• Voting Rights: Tuesday, Jan. 16, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
• California has one of the lowest rates of voter registration and voter turn-out in the country. 2018 is a critical year for ballot measures, local elections like the DA races, and of course, changing who holds the keys to power. In this webinar, we’ll give you the resources you need to get all eligible California voters to the polls, starting now!
• Reproductive Justice & Sex Education: Tuesday, Jan. 23, 6 to 7 p.m.
• We’re in a critical moment. Sexual harassment and abuse is being both challenged and normalized. Discrimination against LGBTQ people is on the rise. Here in California, we have the power to make a change. Our schools are required to teach sex ed that addresses healthy relationships and consent and that challenges stereotypes about gender and sexual orientation. But many school districts need extra encouragement to provide the required instruction. They need to hear from you. In this webinar, you will learn how to be a parent advocate for sex education in your district.
• Criminal Justice Reform: Tuesday, Feb. 6, 6 to 7 p.m.
• Right now, a powerful coalition of conservative law enforcement is targeting California mayors and city councils with a cynical misinformation campaign. Their goal is to increase support for mass incarceration and roll back the clock on criminal justice reform. We need you to counter their lies with the truth. In this webinar, we’ll set you up with the skills you need to advocate for local initiatives that truly promote public safety and healthy communities.

ACLU Trainings for Change Makers

Start your year off right by learning how you can get involved in on-the-ground campaigns to make 2018 a visionary year!

Webinars (free)
� Voting Rights, Jan. 16
� Reproductive Justice, Jan. 23
� Criminal Justice Reform, Feb. 6

In-person trainings (free)
� San Francisco, Jan. 27
� Sacramento, Jan. 28
� San Jose, Feb. 3
� Fresno, Feb. 10

• Learn how to verify ICE activity.
• Learn how to be a legal observer in our to protect our communities from ICE.
• Learn what to do when encountering law enforcement.

The Select Committee on Health Care Delivery Systems and Universal Coverage is meeting in Sacramento on Wednesday, February 7, 2018. It’s crucial that we demonstrate that Californians are READY for Single-Payer and that S.B. 562 is the bill to get it done—the legislature simply needs to start moving it.

STOP THE DELAY!
NOW IS THE TIME TO
GUARANTEE HEALTHCARE
TO ALL CALIFORNIANS!

 Please  RSVP for lunch & Buses here: http://bit.ly/febhealthhearing.

OAKLAND/BERKELEY ( ADA ) 50 Passenger
• STOP 1: Departs @ 6:50 am from CNA Headquarters, 250 22nd Street, Oakland CA
• STOP 2: Departs @ 7:20 am from Ed Roberts Campus across from Ashby Bart, 3075 Adeline St, Berkeley CA

www.HealthyCA.org
info@HealthyCaliforniaAct.org
CampaignForAHealthyCalifornia
@4HealthyCA
#HealthyCA #SB562

At a peaceful protest honoring the 50th Anniversary of low-wage African American workers and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marching together to fight racial injustice and affirm the dignity of all labor, the University of California deployed police tactics more befitting of the Jim Crow South–unjustly assaulting a 51 year-old African American UC Berkeley employee named David Cole.

Sign the petition and join us at California Hall on UC Berkeley’s campus to rally and demand that the charges against David Cole be dropped, a full and fair remedy for unjust actions taken and injuries sustained be granted, the officers involved be suspended pending an independent investigation of the incident, and that UC implement system-wide police reforms to protect the rights of all students and workers engaged in non-violent protest.

Sign the petition here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/support-david-cole-and-stop-uc-berkeley-police-brutality

**Join Jews and interfaith partners for noontime vigils in front of the San Francisco Immigration & Customs Enforcement offices (ICE) to stand with the immigrant community and stand for the urgency of a clean Dream Act.***

The interfaith vigils will include singing and chanting and the opportunity to take an action (e.g. make a phone call to a decisionmaker) and learn about ongoing actions to take in support of the Dream Act and immigrant justice.

In mid-January, Jews from across the country gathered in Washington, DC for Let My People Stay, a historic Jewish civil disobedience in support of a clean #DreamActNow. Inspired by this powerful action, hundreds of Bay Area Jews and allies gathered on Friday January 26 to rally in support of immigrant communities. Across the country, immigrant communities are leading a powerful movement demanding a solution for Dreamers, dignity and permanent protections – for Dreamers and all undocumented people.

Rumors that ICE is planning a large-scale immigration sweep to punish California for its statewide protections are increasing the climate of fear and isolation for many, with people reporting missing school, medical appointments, and participation in public life. As Jews, we have seen what happens when those in power scapegoat vulnerable communities, and we refuse to be silent.

February 8 is the current deadline to demonstrate the urgency of a solution for Dreamers as part of the Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government.

Join us as we say #LetMyPeopleStay.

Sponsored by: Bend the Arc Jewish Action, Faith in Action Bay Area, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity

STOP DEPORTATION DEMONSTRATIONS
at ICE immigration holding center (deportations)

Mondays and Wednesdays 4 – 6 pm

Let’s build a permanent presence at I.C.E. to stop the deportations.
Bring signs, Spread widely.

A THIN WALL

A documentary by filmmaker, writer, artist and social activist

MARA AHMED

A THIN WALL is a documentary about memory, history and the possibility of reconciliation. It focuses on the Partition of India in 1947, but derives lessons that remain urgently relevant today. The film is shot on both sides of the border, in India and Pakistan. The film is written and directed by Mara Ahmed and co-produced by Surbhi Dewan. Both filmmakers are descendants of families torn apart by partition.

Doors Open: 7pm
Film: 7:15pm

Free and Open to the Public

Film Screening will be followed by Q & A with Mara Ahmed

Presented in conjunction with

‘This Heirloom’ A Graphic Collage Exhibition
Opening Reception – February 7, 2018
6:30pm Free and Open to the Public

EXHIBITION DATES: February 7 – April 26, 2018

CALL TO ACTION from PHSS Committee to End Sleep Deprivation
9:00am: RALLY & PRESS CONFERENCE outside the Courthouse
10:00am: COURTROOM SOLIDARITY (Crtrm 2, 17th Floor) with the prisoners who brought these cases

3:14-cv-02767-VC – Lipsey v. Norum et al
3:15-cv-05756-VC – Suarez v. Beard et al

On Feb 8, 2018, in the Federal Courthouse in San Francisco, the California Department of Corrections and rehabilitation (CDCr) will argue for the court to dismiss civil rights cases brought by Christopher Lipsey and Maher Suarez, who are imprisoned in California. The men’s cases challenge the constitutionality of the loud “security/welfare checks” that are done every 30 minutes in CA solitary units, causing serious sleep deprivation and other harms for the people in those units, and, as the lawsuits claim, constitute cruel and unusual punishment. (The guards do no checking on top of that). The lawyers for Christopher and Maher will argue that the case against CDCr administrators, guards, and wardens, must move forward. (HERE is a link to Christopher and Maher’s Opposition to CDCR’s motions to dismiss)

We are mobilizing support for the prisoners’ cases. Please be in the courtroom on Feb 8, and also outside, before court, for a Rally and Press Conference.

artwork by R.T. 2016

We have received many letters over the past two+ years from people in 14 different CA prisons describing the loud, disruptive “checks,” every 30 minutes/24 hours a day (now every 60 minutes at night in Pelican Bay SHU), and the mental and physical health problems the “checks” are causing or exacerbating. The courthouse is one place where we can amplify the voices of prisoners, expose the torture of the “checks” to society at large, and apply pressure for the “checks” to cease.

Christopher Lipsey started his case in 2014. He has been enduring the “checks” for over 3 years.

Let’s come together at the SF Federal Courthouse on Feb 8th in strong solidarity with all those who are suffering from the “checks,” and who cannot be in the courtroom or outside rallying and speaking about their experience. Let’s make a powerful showing against torture at the SF Federal Courthouse!

Our Committee has a number of purple t-shirts which will be available to wear at the rally and in the courthouse to show our solidarity with the prisoners. Please wear purple if possible!

Read more about the so-called “security/welfare “checks” at the Sleep Deprivation tab on the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition’s website.

Recent article: The Policy of the Cruel and Absurd: Sleep Deprivation in California’s Prisons

If you have questions or want to give or get a ride to the SF Courthouse, please call Verbena at 707.267.4757.

See you on Thursday in San Francisco!

Get involved with Oakland IWOC!

*New folks should come 15 min early for a brief orientation*

The Muslims I Know (2008) 58 minutes

The events of 9/11 have created much interest in Islam and Muslims. Mainstream media have responded to this demand for information with generalizations and stereotypes. America’s community of Muslims longs to be a part of the discourse. THE MUSLIMS I KNOW is a documentary that gives them a chance to be heard and understood through dialogue with non-Muslim Americans.

The underlying idea is to highlight similarities between Islam and other Abrahamic faiths and to celebrate the cultural richness and diversity brought into the American mix by Muslim communities. It is also a much needed platform for moderate Muslims to express their views about what’s happening in the world. By being both American and Muslim they have a unique insight into the complex inner workings of American foreign policy and the role of the media.

Doors Open 6:15pm
Film 6:30pm

Film Screening will be followed by Q & A with Mara Ahmed

East Bay DSA is thrilled to present a talk and Q&A with veteran Marxist organizer and founding member of PSOL in Brazil: Pedro Fuentes.

Recommended reading:

Brief notes on the world situation:
http://portaldelaizquierda.com/en/2017/01/brief-notes-on-the-world-situation/

Notes on Latin America:
http://portaldelaizquierda.com/en/2016/08/notes-on-latin-america-the-end-of-a-stage-and-cycle-and-the-beginning-of-another-and-also-a-cycle/

Pedro’s Bio:
Pedro Fuentes was born in Pergamino, Argentina and began his activism there as a teenager, when he and his brother joined a high-school student movement to reform the schools called Movimiento de Accion Reformista. Later, in the 1960s, he joined Palabro Obrera, led by the Argentine Trotskyist Nahuel Moreno, and organized in the factories in his city. In 1971, his older brother, Luis Enrique Pujals, was one of the first to be “disappeared” by Argentina’s dictatorship for his activity in the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores (PRT). Soon after, Pedro was forced to flee Argentina and lived in exile for the duration of the dictatorship and beyond, traveling across Latin America and Europe and embedding himself in socialist movements wherever he went.

Eventually he moved to Brazil and in 2000 began organizing with Movimento Esquerda Socialista (MES), then a tendency in the Workers Party (PT). In 2003, the PT introduced anti-worker pension reforms supported by Brazil’s right wing parties. A number of dissenting PT deputies, including MES leader Luciana Genro, voted against the reforms and were subsequently expelled from the PT. Pedro joined these expelled leaders in founding PSOL as a left alternative to the PT. For many years he served as PSOL’s secretary of international relations, though he has recently stepped back to enjoy his old age