Calendar
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!
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 & @poormagazineAn 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
Oakland, CA.- Oakland’s progressive mayoral candidates, Cat Brooks, Pamela Price, and Saied Karamooz, will come together in front of Oakland’s City Hall to welcome the National TPS Alliance, a coalition of groups representing Temporary Protected Status holders now threatened with deportation. They will rally and reconfirm Oakland’s position as a sanctuary city for all those targeted by the Trump regime.
The TPS Alliance working in collaboration with Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) is traveling across the country visiting over 50 cities in a specially outfitted bus to highlight the contributions of TPS holders and the need to prevent the next wave of family separations.
According to the American Friends Service Committee, “The largest group of TPS recipients is from El Salvador (195,000 people) followed by Honduras (57,000 people) and Haiti (50,000 people).” https://www.afsc.org/blogs/news-and-commentary/trump-has-ended-temporary-protected-status-hundreds-thousands-immigrants
The movement to #SaveTPS has grown in number and force. In response to the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status for nearly 450,000 beneficiaries, TSP holders are organizing among themselves to demand dignity and respect. As TPS holders, the recipients have been able to establish businesses, hold jobs, buy homes and raise their families–but all that is now in jeopardy.
As José Mejia, of the Save TPS Northern California committee, “Ending TPS goes against our values as Americans. The riders in the TPS Journey for Justice are men, women and children who strengthen our economy and society — we must allow them to stay in their families, homes and jobs.”
The Journey for Justice will arrive in the Bay Area Friday evening, August 24th, riders and local TPS holders will briefly tell their stories and how the threat of loss of status is affecting their lives. They will visit Daly City Friday evening where officials will host them for dinner, then stop by OUSD’s Sanctuary Training Kick-off on Saturday morning August 25th about 10:45 am near Metwest High School https://www.ousd.org/sanctuarydistrict , next stop is a 2 pm TPS Forum at the Corpus Christi Church, 62 Santa Rosa Avenue, San Francisco, CA. This workshop will educate area TPS holders and interested parties about their rights and options. All TPS holders and people interested are invited to attend. After rallying in Oakland, they’ll be back on the bus to more events in the Bay Area before heading to Oregon. Please contact Jose Mejia, 415 963 1557, mejiaj979@gmail.com for more info on the Journey for Justice.
All out to free Mumia!
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.
Please join us for a panel discussion featuring award-winning tech reporter Cyrus Farivar, whose new book, Habeas Data, explores how the explosive growth of surveillance technology has outpaced our understanding of the ethics, mores, and laws of privacy. Habeas Data explores ten historic court decisions that defined our privacy rights and matches them against the capabilities of modern technology. Mitch Kapor, co-founder, Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the book was “Essential reading for anyone concerned with how technology has overrun privacy.”
The panel will be moderated by 2017 and 2018 CTSP Fellow Steve Trush, a MIMS 2018 graduate and now a Research Fellow at the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC). He was on a CTSP project starting in 2017 that provided a report to the Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission.
The panelists will discuss what public governance models can help local governments protect the privacy of citizens – and what role citizen technologists can play in shaping these models. The discussion will showcase the ongoing collaboration between the UC Berkeley School of Information and the Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission (OPAC). Attendees will learn how they can get involved in addressing issues of governance, privacy, fairness, and justice related to state surveillance.
Panel:
Cyrus Farivar, Author, Habeas Data: Privacy vs. the Rise of Surveillance Tech
Deirdre Mulligan, Associate Professor in the School of Information at UC Berkeley, Faculty Director, UC Berkeley Center for Law & Technology
Catherine Crump, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, UC Berkeley; Director, Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic.
Camille Ochoa, Coordinator, Grassroots Advocacy; Electronic Frontier Foundation
Moderated by Steve Trush, Research Fellow, UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity
The panel will be followed by a reception with light refreshments.
RSVP at https://ctsp.berkeley.edu/habeas-data-panel-discussion/ to attend.
We need all your support in helping Naj K. Smith get justice! On Friday Aug. 3 naj took a group of young people on a first Friday ride. As usual Naj had his speaker and typical rig he always rides with. He was jammin his usual non offensive tunes when an OPD OFFICER grabbed his handle bars and stopped his bike. Naj politely got off his bike and proceeded to understand what the cops issue was. Being an example to the youth he was leading he remained calm and respectful even the youth were outraged. He had to dessculate the youth and talk with this cop who was upset about Najari’s music. He first stated he was giving a citation for the loud music so naj turned it off altogether next thing you know naj was in handcufffs bike rig and speaker have all been confiscated and he was booked and sent to Rita where he spent his weekend.
He was able to make bail but can you believe this?? Where is the crime?? How sway how?? I’m asking all the fellow bike riders to please make this post go viral so we can get some awareness to what’s going on. Clearly the OPD was threatened by the power naj was exuding from his pores and couldn’t take it. We want all our fellow bikers riders to please show up to downtown Oakland 6th n Washington traffic division 9am Aug 31st. court building with bikes and music in solidarity to support or community leader who did nothing wrong. We want his bike rig and speaker all back in mint condition along with the bail money returned compensation for missing work dramatizing youth and file harassment charges. Let do this bikers 
🚴🏾♀️
🤜🏽
🤛🏽 #bikingwhileblack the picture shows what has been taken by OPD.
Final Fridays at EastSide Arts Alliance
Join us for a FREE evening of information, food, and film.
Join us on FRIDAY, AUGUST 31 at EastSide Arts Cultural Center, 2277 International Blvd., Oakland, CA 94606.
6-7 PM // Political Education to Build Community Power
This month’s topic: what is Black August and why should we celebrate it? Come out this Final Friday and learn more about why we should honor our People outside of February.
7-9 PM // Free film screenings on issues affecting our communities.
Refreshments provided at film screening.
Check www.eastsideartsalliance.org and www.eastoaklandcollective.com for more info.
Follow the Black Cultural Zone (BCZ) on Instagram #blackculturalzone