A film examining paid family leave. The film and panel that follows highlight the state and national movement for Paid Family Leave.

On July 28, 2018, Jessica St. Louis was released from Santa Rita Jail in the middle of the night at 1:25a. Like so many other people released from Santa Rita, she had to walk the 1.9 miles to Dublin BART. She would be found outside, unresponsive and declared dead before the station opened at 5:30a.

We are demanding an end to late night releases.

Please join us as we take the long, dark and desolate walk Jessica and so many other women and men take to get home after incarceration.
Along the way, we will hear the stories of other women who encountered traffickers, were sexually harassed, and braved the cold after release from Santa Rita Jail.

We will have a number of cars shuttling people from Dublin BART to Santa Rita. Those with disabilities will join our walk via caravan.

#SayHerName
#JusticeForJessica
#ProtectOurSisters
#EndLateNightReleases

Join us for this important way to show solidarity with our incarcerated LGBTQ+ and HIV+ community members! Every month on the 3rd Monday, we’ll have mail processing/data entry, birthday cards to our LGBTQ members in nearby Norcal prisons AND penpal info, so join us for whatever your pleasure is (and invite your friends)!

Please join with or without a laptop – there is work for everyone! If you’d like, we’ll train you to respond to letters or to enter and update penpal request forms in our database. Getting these forms into our database helps get our inside folks matched to penpals, so this is an essential part of our work (and we have so much mail!).

If you want to start a penpal relationship, we will also have info on folks to send letters to, all the supplies, and ways to get more involved in the movement to abolish prisons. Letterwriting is one incredible way we have to overcome the isolation intended by the PIC.

Some food and beverages are available for purchase from the cafe. And please bring some dollars and change toward postage, if you can. Any money raised beyond the cost of supplies will be used to support both local & national Black & Pink projects.

Wheelchair accessible, though outlets for laptops are on the 2nd floor only.

RALLY at the San Francisco Federal Courthouse while the four CA Prisoner Hunger Strike and Ashker Class Representatives ‘Meet and Confer’ with CDCr to address the continuing solitary conditions that violate the Ashker lawsuit settlement agreement. The four prisoner hunger strike representatives will be present in the courtroom, an historic presence!

Help create a strong show of solidarity with prisoners fighting for human rights!

What’s going on? The prisoner class-led movement and the Ashker class action lawsuit resulted in the release of over 1400 people from solitary confinement Security Housing Units (SHUs) to what the CA Department of Corrections (CDCr) calls “General Population.” However, many of those people continue to be subjected to conditions of extreme isolation. With little to no out-of-cell time and no chance for social interaction, they are still in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.

On July 3, 2018, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled:

“The Settlement Agreement was intended to remove Plaintiffs from detention in the SHU, where they were isolated in a cell for 22 ½ to 24 hours a day.� many Plaintiffs [now] spend an average of less than an hourr of out-of-cell time each day, which is similar to the conditions they endured in the SHU.�  … This demonstrates a violation of the Settlement Agreement.” FULL RULING HERE

and “…a substantial percentage of Plaintiffs in Restricted Custody General Population (RCGP) are …not permitted to exercise in small group yards or engage in group leisure activities. This does not comply with the terms of the Settlement Agreement.” FULL RULING HERE

The Ashker Plaintiff class reps and legal team were ordered to meet and confer* with CDCr lawyers to explore a resolution of these two issues. The four prisoner hunger strike representatives will be inside the courtroom. Please join us outside, and bring a friend, in a strong show of solidarity.

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IS TORTURE

UNITY INSIDE, UNITY OUTSIDE

IMPORTANT NOTE: August 21, 2018 is the 47 year memorial anniversary of revered prison activist, George Jackson, who was assassinated by CA guards in San Quentin prison. It is also the first day of the 2018 National Prison Strike for humane living conditions, access to rehabilitation, sentencing reform, and the end of modern day slavery.

*Meet and confers are usually private with no judge present. This one will be in the presence of Magistrate Robert Illman and not open to the public.

prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com

Join the Thrive Street Choir (Oakland) and the Peace Poets (Brooklyn) for a dynamic song leading workshop, a week before RISE for Climate Jobs & Justice 9/8.

The Peace Poets are LEGENDS, coming to Oakland for a short time and will grace us with a performance and workshop!

We will gearing up for a 50k person Choral Flashmob, the largest singing climate mobilization in history! Come learn and practice the movement songs that we will be singing together in the streets of San Francisco (in harmony!).

We will be teaching techniques for being an effective song leader for this mobilization and beyond, and teaching some legendary and fresh new funky songs for (climate) justice – our present day movements need more songs!

facebook event page

This event is the second in a two-part mini-series on race, class, and the socialist struggle against racial oppression. This class will build on the concepts of the first class, focusing on socialism and the struggle against racial oppression via a discussion of the US police state. We’ll discuss how democratic socialists can put theory into practice to most effectively combat police violence and mass incarceration.

Aside from a short opening lecture, the bulk of class time will be spent in small, group-facilitated discussions. We’ll provide a short set of readings here beforehand, and we encourage all participants to read them before class. Members and non-members of any experience and knowledge level on this issue are warmly invited.

Required Readings

See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.

Last month, community pressure led to the cancellation of a contract to detain hundreds of immigrants for ICE in Contra Costa County, and community groups called for the release of all immigrants incarcerated there. Instead, in an arbitrary abuse of power, ICE transferred our community members from the West County Detention Facility to for-profit immigration jails in Denver, Colorado, and Tacoma, Washington. Thus, separating individuals further away from their families, lawyers, and social services.

Please join community members and faith leaders to pack the court for Hugo and Misael who’s bond hearings are scheduled for Wednesday, August 22, 2018 (times for each hearing underneath). RSVP to both Lourdes at lbarraza@im4humanintegrity.org & Sarah at slee@im4humanintegrity.org if you plan on attending any of these events.

8:30 AM – Pack the Court for Hugo Aguilar*
Hugo has lived in the U.S. for over 24 years and is a proud father of 3 U.S. citizen children who miss their father dearly. For almost 17 months, Hugo’s children have been without their father and Hulissa, his 12-year-old daughter, has been very outspoken about how much she needs her dad home. For the past six months, Hugo’s attorney has worked tirelessly to get a bond hearing for Hugo and thankfully, the family was just notified that the hearing was granted. Hugo is 1 out 6 people left at the WCDF. Support Hugo and his family at his bond hearing!

11:00 to 11:30 AM – Press Conference Highlighting Families with Loved Ones Transferred from WCDF

12:30 PM – Pack the Court for Misael Quezada Flores*
Misael is a loving father and husband who has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years. He was one of the community members transferred to Colorado last week, even though he had a hearing scheduled in SF. His wife, Fatima, is 6.5 months pregnant and has suffered physical stress because of Misael’s detention. This Wednesday is his last hearing on his asylum case and will determine whether he’s released. Misael will be on a video call from Colorado. Fatima asks for community presence at this important hearing – let’s show up for Misael!

*If you are attending a bond hearing – bring a valid form of ID, no signs or clothing with words relating to the hearing. If you have clergy attire please wear.

West Oakland Punks with Lunch is a guerilla not-for-profit Harm reduction outreach organization providing food and other necessities to people experiencing homelessness.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to volunteer with us! We just ask a few simple guidelines to keep PWL running smoothly.

Please come wearing closed toed shoes and dressed appropriately for the weather. We ask that you show up with a non-judgemental, come as you are attitude. Be ready to work hard and have fun!

Wednesday:  Mobile Outreach

Meet at: 36th and MLK                Hours: 6pm-8pm

We do mobile outreach from 56th St. and MLK all the way down to 30th and MLK.
We provide snacks, water, hygiene and harm reduction supplies.
If you are interested in volunteering Wednesdays, please email us at:
oaklandpunkswithlunch@gmail.com

Sunday: Fixed Sites

Meet at: 2630 Union St.               Hours:    Prep 1pm-3pm, Distribution: 3pm-6pm
We have two fixed sites on Sundays. One at 35th and Peralta St. from 3:30pm-4:15pm and the other at 4:30pm-5:15pm. Ideally we stay on time, but we don’t beat ourselves up if we are a little late.  You have the option of staying for only prep, only distribution, or BOTH!  Sundays are the perfect day to get to know our organization for the day, or continue working with us to grow as on organization.

Anti-eviction Press Conference
Oakland City Hall
Thurs, Aug 23
1pm
w/ @CalOrganize member Franki Velez & @poormagazine

An entire building of working-class tenants of color, veterans, children and an infant evicted by a wealthy foreign investor now face homelessness or removal. pic.twitter.com/RM7KoqvxfG

— julian francis park (@jfpark3) August 21, 2018

KPFA Radio 94.1FM & St. John’s Presbyterian Church present

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

“One of the world’s most honored philosophers provides a candid examination of the current political crisis.”

For decades Martha C. Nussbaum has been an acclaimed scholar and humanist, earning dozens of honors for her books and essays. In The Monarchy of Fear she turns her full attention to the terrible political standoff tha has polarized America since the Trump election. Although today’s atmosphere is heavily marked by partisanship, divisive rhetoric, and the seeming total inability of two halves of the country to communicate with one another, Nussbaum focuses on what so many pollsters, journalists and pundits have overlooked.  She sees a simple truth at the heart of the problem: the political is always emotional.  Globalizatiojn, automation and the high costs of high education have produced feelings of utter powerlessness in millions of people in the U.S.Similar issues trouble European unity.

That sense of powerlessness and a pervasive underlying fear bubble into resentment and blame: blame of immigrants, blame of Muslims, blame of other races, blame of cultural elites.  While this politics of blame played a hefty role in the elction of Trump – and the vote for Brexit, Nussbaum argues that it can in fact be found on all sides of the political spectrum—confusingly intertwined, however, with reasonable arguments aiming at greater justice. She insists that retribution is always a bad response to fear, and she articulates a clear politics of constructive work and hope.

“Nussbaum is an elegant and lyrical writer, and she movingly describes the pain of recognizing1 one’s vulnerability.” — THE NEW YORKER

“Like any clearheaded thinker, Nussbaum was unsettled by Trump’s election, but she’s also troubled by the way people of all political persuasions have succombed to fear and mindless fear-slinging. She tries to keep Trump at arm’s length and focus instead on what philosophers and psychologists going back to antiquity have had to say about fear…its role in stoking anger, disgust, and envy, and how those emotions in turn perpetuate divisive politics (sexism and misogyny especially)”  —Kirkus Reviews

Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, appointed in the Philosophy Department  and the Law School of the University of Chicago. She gave the 2016 Jefferson Lecture for the National Endowment for the Humanities and won the 2016 Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy. She has written more than twenty books.

KPFA benefit

7th Street Cafe (aka Rev Cafe) is an important space for our West Oakland community. It is where we come together to play music, share ideas, and learn, and it’s home to OneFam, our grassroots community organization that empowers us to fight for our neighborhood.

Now the 7th Street Cafe is under threat of eviction from a hostile landlord, and we need to fight back!

Come to our Save the Cafe Fundraiser. Here’s what’s happening:

6:00 Arts and Crafts (family friendly)
Tile painting for a community mosaic

8:00 Jam Session
Bring an instrument, or your voice, or play one of ours

9:00 Live Music
Local musicians

Food and drinks for purchase inside the Cafe.

Memorial services for Elbert “Big Man” Howard, an original Black Panther Party founding member, will be held at Defemery Park.

Memorial services for Elbert “Big Man” Howard, an original Black Panther Party founding member, will be held at Defemery Park.

** This is not an official EBDSA event. It is hosted by the Refoudnation caucus of the DSA***

Cat Brooks, a long-time community organizer is running for Mayor of Oakland. She is by far the most radical candidate in the race, considered by many to be the successor to Bobby Seale of the Black Panther Party.

As an organizer, Cat has served as the Exective Director of various organizations including the National Lawyers Guild SF, Justice Teams Networks, and Youth Together. As the co-founder of Anti-Police Terror Project, Cat is a staunch advocate of community-led solutions to public safety that divest funds away from OPD.

This forum is a chance for the public to ask Cat directly about her policy positions, and how she plans to move Oakland closer to socialism.

Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library

Against Assad: Anarchist and Marxist-Humanist Voices

As Anarchists, it is our job to organize independent of the self-appointed anti-war leadership, and to work to build an alternative. An anarchist alternative would be ruthlessly single-standard in is opposition to war—which means sayng no to Assad and Putin as well as Trump, and offering solidarity to the anti-authoritarian currents in the Syrian Revolution. Not betraying them by acquiescing with their oppressors. ICSS members Lew Finzel and Ron Kelch, will make the case

Seating is limited, so plan to come early. We start promptly.
FREE – but hat will be passed for donations to NPML

About Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library
A weekly discussion series inspired by our respect for the work of Karl Marx and our belief that his work will remain as important for the class struggles of the future as they have been for the past.

For our full schedule, go to icssmarx.org

Do you have convictions? Or do you know someone who does?

Get help clearing your record with members of OpenOakland.

We’ll use Code for America’s online application tool to help remove barriers to new jobs, housing, and educational opportunities. Clear My Record is a free, nonprofit, service for people with a criminal record in select California counties. It is easy to use, but we’ll be at the library to guide you through the process.

Drop-in any time between 2 and 5 pm. No appointment required.

Know someone who might be interested but can’t make it? They can get started at this website: https://www.clearmyrecord.org.

If you’d like to learn more about OpenOakland, a local brigade of Code for America, or how to get involved, please visit: www.openoakland.org.

Celebration of Life for John Murcko

A wonderful dedicated activist for human rights ans social justice.  John was active in the five year so-far successful fight to save the Berkeley Post Office from privatization.

In solidarity with the National Prison Strike we will be screening the documentary film “13th” by Ava DuVernay, who also directed Selma. As always our film will be shown in the ballroom of the Omni Commons. Bring friends, it’s a free event! Invite everyone, let’s pack the house and show our support for abolishing the prison system. Free popcorn and snacks.

We will be having a panel discussion afterwards with local organizers:
Nube Brown, California Prison Focus
Cole Dorsey, Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee
Bilal Mafundi Ali – Bay Area National Prison Strike Solidarity Committee/coordinator

Learn more about the prison strike:
– https://incarceratedworkers.org/
– http://sawarimi.org/

Dinner: 6:30 PM

Movie: 7:30 PM