Calendar
A Summit to fight the Prison Industrial Complex
RSVP today. Space limited!
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Hosted by the No New SF Jail coalition, this event will bring together organizational partners and community activists working to stop the violence of the prison industrial complex in San Francisco. Summit presenters and participants will discuss interrelated topics such as jail construction, gang injunctions, justice for community members murdered by police, tasers, bail reform, increased policing on our streets, and more. Interactive workshops, trainings, and panel discussions will allow for participants to share information and strategize between campaigns. Our goal is to strengthen connections between our organizations and efforts in order to better address the interlocking impacts of imprisonment, policing, surveillance, courts, and prosecution in San Francisco. Join us!
Lunch provided. Donations accepted.
Current Sponsors Include: Asian Law Caucus, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Communities United Against Violence, Oakland Power Projects, DSA – Justice Committee, American Friends Service Committee, Critical Resistance Oakland, Californians United for a Responsible Budget.
Accessibility: Venue will be wheelchair accessible. Childcare and interpretation provided upon request, please contact us regarding this and other accessibility needs by March 31st.
Sponsorship: Would your organization like to join as a sponsor? Please contact us and fill out this quick survey.
West Oakland residents will get the results of three recent air monitoring studies and discuss how to use this information and local knowledge to push for a truly comprehensive plan that minimizes air pollution in our neighborhoods.
The three studies were done in connection with a new Truck Management Program for West Oakland. The workshop will cover 100 x 100 air monitoring sensors placed throughout West Oakland; EDF/Google air mapping; and a study analyzing why filters on trucks are not working effectively at the Port of Oakland. The results of these studies will inform attendees of scientific findings about how black carbon — the main component of soot emitted from diesel engines, wood smoke, and other sources — varies throughout West Oakland.
Workshop participants will work together to set priorities and recommend ways that this information and residents’ local knowledge can inform the City and the Port of Oakland to produce a truly comprehensive plan that minimizes air pollution in our neighborhoods.
More info here
Registration is free, but a free-will offering will be taken. Lunch will be provided. Please register here (scroll down).
Presenters include:
Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Cohn, the former president of the National Lawyers Guild and criminal defense attorney, is a legal scholar, political analyst, and social critic, who is also editor and contributor to Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues.
Lisa Hajja, professor of sociology at the University of California Santa Barbara, with courtesy appointments in Global and International Studies, and Middle East Studies, is a contributor to Life in the Age of Drone Warfare. Her work focuses mainly on issues relating to law and conflict, military courts and occupations, human rights and international law, and torture and targeted killing.
Lisa Ling, a former technical sergeant in? the U.S. Air Force, is featured in the heralded documentary National Bird, which, according to The Washington Post, is “artful, profoundly unsettling.” In an article for The Guardian (http://bit.ly/2EoYdOU), Ling noted how little the public knew about the U.S. drone program and its consequences.
A film produced by the Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare for use in congregations will be screened along with a half-hour version of National Bird
Issues addressed include:
Why is the faith community concerned about drone warfare?
What is the effect of drone warfare on drone operators?
Co-sponsored by Pacific School of Religion and the Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare
It’s no secret social media giants like Facebook have been found guilty of invading user’s privacy. On Wednesday, May 2, TechActivist.Org will host a free Digital Security workshop. During this workshop we will review how much data social media companies (and other applications) are tracking on you, how to opt out of data sharing programs on these applications, and other key ways to protect yourself and your community online.
Make sure to bring your laptops and other electronic gadgets! This workshop is designed for activists, organizers, disrupters and youth dedicated to social justice.
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We will also be celebrating two special events during this workshop:
1) Kapor Center for Social Impact has awarded TechActivist.Org with an Impact Award and will be recording a small video clip of our work during the workshop.
2) Our founder, Idalin Bobé will be celebrating her birthday with us. So get ready for some birthday cake and some special guests to make an appearance.
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We hope you join us and will consider donating to our workshop. All donations will assist us in our program costs.
We face a current political and social climate that continues to belie black humanity – where, without impunity, a young black man can be followed into his grandmother’s backyard and shot in the back six times out of the 20 shots fired at him.
Will we stand on the sideline or will we join the important struggle that Black Americans & many others daily endure to live free from racism, violence & terror?
We believe we are called to lean into a ministry and theology of resistance, reclaiming the hope and power inherent in our prophetic faiths, giving us courage and healing for the days ahead.
There are many different ways that your congregation and community can enter into solidarity with us.
There will be a time of celebration and fellowship, and training around resisting State Violence, ICE Raids, 2018 Election, Digital Organizing, and the Poor Peoples Campaign Workshops.
We are inviting you to wrestle with the principalities and powers that manifest themselves in racial prejudice, systemic evil and violence, and religious apathy and complicity.
We need you here; it is our duty to firght for freedom!
Register today! Space is Limited.
(Childcare and Food provided)
We face a current political and social climate that continues to belie black humanity – where, without impunity, a young black man can be followed into his grandmother’s backyard and shot in the back six times out of the 20 shots fired at him.
Will we stand on the sideline or will we join the important struggle that Black Americans & many others daily endure to live free from racism, violence & terror?
We believe we are called to lean into a ministry and theology of resistance, reclaiming the hope and power inherent in our prophetic faiths, giving us courage and healing for the days ahead.
There are many different ways that your congregation and community can enter into solidarity with us.
There will be a time of celebration and fellowship, and training around resisting State Violence, ICE Raids, 2018 Election, Digital Organizing, and the Poor Peoples Campaign Workshops.
We are inviting you to wrestle with the principalities and powers that manifest themselves in racial prejudice, systemic evil and violence, and religious apathy and complicity.
We need you here; it is our duty to firght for freedom!
Register today! Space is Limited.
(Childcare and Food provided)
SUPPORT STRIKING PRISONERS!
Join Oakland IWOC at Mosswood Park Amphitheater on Tuesday, July 17, 6-8pm for an open infosession, where we will talk about the upcoming national prison strike and its demands, as well as how you can help collaborate in spreading awareness and building an anti-repression network to support striking prisoners!
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In April 2018, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, a network of inside prison organizers, put out a press release calling for a two-week national strike beginning on August 21, the anniversary of George Jackson’s assassination, and extending until September 9, the anniversary of the Attica Prison Rebellion in 1971. The call has been taken up inside from coast to coast, and across at least 17 different states. Through a coordinated series of work strikes, hunger strikes, sit-ins, and boycotts, prisoners will demand an end to prison slavery.
However, repression of inside strike organizers is already underway as the state aims to suppress this uprising before it can begin. Support is need NOW!
Food and drinks will be provided (but you can bring some too). Bring your friends, comrades, and questions, and be ready to put in some support work!
The amphitheater is wheelchair accessible, and there are accessible restrooms at the Kaiser across the street. As an outdoor space, it will not be scent/smoke free, although we will have a smoke free area. Please contact us with any other accessability questions or needs, and we will do our best to accomodate.
SEE YOU ON TUESDAY!
For a world without prisons,
Oakland IWOC
Join East Bay DSA’s next Socialist Night School class as we tackle one of the most pressing issues facing working-class people: immigration.
We’ll explore the conditions that have led to this crisis and how we can effect change.
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.
Restorative Justice for Oakland and the North Oakland Restorative Justice Council is offering free restorative justice trainings for community members wh want to help creae a restorative North Oakland.
If you are interested in attending one of the trainings, please email us your name, your desired training date and we will reply.
rjoytrainings@rjoyoakland.org
Do you sometimes get “triggered” or shutdown in stressful, racially tense situations? This workshop, facilitated by the White Noise Collective, will explore how the brain and body respond to these perceived threats, help you manage guilt and shame that can arise in learning about race and racism, and build skills that enable greater resilience in moments of challenge.
We need volunteers to assist the detainees with their paperwork BEFORE WEST COUNTY closes for ICE detainees and they are forced to go to some facility somewhere else in the country, probably away from their families.
If you feel ready to take on this important role you’ll need to be trained – it’s a two hour training with Rebecca Merton from Freedom for Immigrants.
Restorative Justice for Oakland and the North Oakland Restorative Justice Council is offering free restorative justice trainings for community members wh want to help creae a restorative North Oakland.
If you are interested in attending one of the trainings, please email us your name, your desired training date and we will reply.
rjoytrainings@rjoyoakland.org
Waffles & Zapatismo is a free space for learning about and discussing the history, ideas, values and practices of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, EZLN or Zapatistas. We serve waffles at the start of the class to those who want them.
The financial crisis that erupted a decade ago in the U.S. subprime mortgage market has had immense political and economic ramifications. Ten years after the bail out, the austerity imposed by capitalists and their politicians has made increasing inequality and hardship the norm. The classical meaning of crisis is turning point. Did the crisis mark the decline of the established political consensus? Did it contribute to the rise of Trump one hand and the DSA on the other? How should democratic socialists organize knowing there’s always a next crisis with capitalism? Find out the answers to these questions and many more at the next installment of Night School.
Required Readings
See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.
Join us for three days of presentations and discussions to help us understand our current conditions and the problems we face under capitalism. Most importantly, we will talk about the kind of organizing necessary in order to change these conditions and create the kind of society that we need.
Friday 10/12
6:30pm-9:00pm
Attica – a documentary film by Cinda Firestone
This film documents the events that began on September 9, 1971 when inmates at Attica State Prison seized the prison for four days after months of protesting inhumane conditions. The uprising resulted in the death of 43 people after state troopers were called in to put down the rebellion.
Saturday 10/13
10:30am-12:30pm
The Crisis of Civilization and How to Resolve It: An Introduction to Ecocentric Socialism
Kamran Nayeri is the publisher and editor of “Our Place in the World: A Journal of Ecosocialism”. Political Economist emeritus, UC Berkeley
1:30pm-3:00pm
The Middle East in the Era of Trump
Prof. As’ad AbuKhalil, Professor of Political Science at CSU Stanislaus and author of Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
3:30pm-5:00pm
The “Gig Economy”: A New Form of Servitude for the Working Class?
Keally McBride is a Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco. She teaches and publishes on a wide variety of topics, including punishment, law, decolonization, revolutions and political economy.
6:30pm-8:00pm
France: In The Streets, Workplaces, Universities, Schools & Hospitals
Gilles Kobry, an activist in the French Trotskyist group, Fraction L’Etincelle, will discuss the recent struggles against the Macron government’s enforcement of the Labor Law in France, as well as attacks on access to public education and the challenges facing the workers in France and throughout Europe.
Sunday 10/14
2:00pm-3:30pm
Sports And Capitalism – How Sports are Used to Squeeze Public Money for Private Profit
Jules Boykoff, former professional soccer player, currently teaches political science at Pacific University in Oregon. Co-sponsored by the Anthropology and Social Change department at California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco
4:00pm-5:30pm
The Challenges We Face Today – Short-Term Mobilizing or Organizing for Real Social Change
A presentation by Speak Out Now (Revolutionary Workers Group) activists, followed by discussion and time to socialize. Refreshments and snacks provided.
Join us for three days of presentations and discussions to help us understand our current conditions and the problems we face under capitalism. Most importantly, we will talk about the kind of organizing necessary in order to change these conditions and create the kind of society that we need.
Friday 10/12
6:30pm-9:00pm
Attica – a documentary film by Cinda Firestone
This film documents the events that began on September 9, 1971 when inmates at Attica State Prison seized the prison for four days after months of protesting inhumane conditions. The uprising resulted in the death of 43 people after state troopers were called in to put down the rebellion.
Saturday 10/13
10:30am-12:30pm
The Crisis of Civilization and How to Resolve It: An Introduction to Ecocentric Socialism
Kamran Nayeri is the publisher and editor of “Our Place in the World: A Journal of Ecosocialism”. Political Economist emeritus, UC Berkeley
1:30pm-3:00pm
The Middle East in the Era of Trump
Prof. As’ad AbuKhalil, Professor of Political Science at CSU Stanislaus and author of Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
3:30pm-5:00pm
The “Gig Economy”: A New Form of Servitude for the Working Class?
Keally McBride is a Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco. She teaches and publishes on a wide variety of topics, including punishment, law, decolonization, revolutions and political economy.
6:30pm-8:00pm
France: In The Streets, Workplaces, Universities, Schools & Hospitals
Gilles Kobry, an activist in the French Trotskyist group, Fraction L’Etincelle, will discuss the recent struggles against the Macron government’s enforcement of the Labor Law in France, as well as attacks on access to public education and the challenges facing the workers in France and throughout Europe.
Sunday 10/14
2:00pm-3:30pm
Sports And Capitalism – How Sports are Used to Squeeze Public Money for Private Profit
Jules Boykoff, former professional soccer player, currently teaches political science at Pacific University in Oregon. Co-sponsored by the Anthropology and Social Change department at California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco
4:00pm-5:30pm
The Challenges We Face Today – Short-Term Mobilizing or Organizing for Real Social Change
A presentation by Speak Out Now (Revolutionary Workers Group) activists, followed by discussion and time to socialize. Refreshments and snacks provided.
Waffles & Zapatismo is a free space for learning about and discussing the history, ideas, values and practices of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, EZLN or Zapatistas. We serve waffles at the start of the class to those who want them.
Doughnut Economics Reading Group starts Nov 10th
Creating a world with neither human suffering nor planetary peril
Doughnut Economics: 7 ways to think like a 21st century economist
By Kate Raworth Chelsea Green Publishing (2017)
The capitalist economic system defines every aspect of our lives: the schooling and medical care we get, where we live, and how we sustain ourselves. The system works for a lucky few and exploits everyone else. And it’s a real threat to the survival of our species (and many others) on this planet.
We know the system needs to change—but we can’t change what we don’t understand. We have to know what we’re talking about.
Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics lays out traditional economic theory—still taught as gospel at all the major temples of capitalism—with clarity, authority, lots of graphics, and quite a bit of humor. She exposes the flawed models and persistent myths that keep the system in place. Even more importantly, she presents seven big, basic ideas with which to begin creating the world we want to see. We can indeed build an economy in the “doughnut”—meeting the needs of all while maintaining the biospheres that support us.
All of us need to read this book. We’ve all grown up in this deeply unfair and absurd system; seeing it clearly and getting free of it require a group effort.
So we at Strike Debt Bay Area are sponsoring a group discussion of Doughnut Economics. We’re thinking of seven meetings so we can talk about one chapter per meeting. Please join us!
First meeting:
4:00 – 5:15pm, Saturday, November 10th
Omni Commons, 4799 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland
Bring the book (available at your favorite online bookseller and in select local bookstores) and/or your thoughts on the first chapter (available online – http://tinyurl.com/ycysqtde ‘Look Inside’).
https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/
Are you thinking about going solar – tapping the sun for your energy needs? But you have so many questions, you don’t know where to start? Solar Simplified will provide a strong foundation for your decision-making. Solar is more accessible and affordable than ever, and the industry is rapidly changing. Solar expert Doug McKenzie will discuss the latest solar products, rebates, and technologies, plus the factors that are advancing or limiting the future of solar in the US. Presentation followed by Q&A, so bring your questions!
Topics include:
Why: The environmental and financial benefits of solar
What: How a PV system works, and the latest technology
Solar Financing: Owning versus leasing, low-income options, rebates
Other Considerations: Contractors, home selling, policies, Community Choice energy
Getting Off Gas: Batteries, electric cars, electric appliances
Jobs: The growth of solar in CA, US, the world, and how to get a foot in the door
Doug McKenzie retired early from HP after almost 20 years in software development and customer support. Before HP, he received a degree in Applied Math from UC Berkeley. After HP, he is living his dreams as a solar educator and consultant and as a career coach helping people through career transitions. He’s the East Bay development manager for non-profit solar installer SunWork.org and is on the Board of NorCal Solar. Doug lives in Berkeley and drives an electric car powered by rooftop solar.
We are disappointed to relay that dangerous air quality in the Bay Area has compelled us to cancel the People Get Ready II Conference, which was scheduled to take place tomorrow, Saturday November 17th.#climatechange #californiafires pic.twitter.com/qUfeAkaskK
— CPE (@Center4PE) November 17, 2018
PEOPLE GET READY IS NEXT WEEK! PRE-REGISTER NOW!
The People Get Ready II planning committee has been hard at work to make November 17 a powerful gathering for learning and discussion. This one day conference is aimed at assessing the post-midterm terrain and charting a path forward to building powerful movements and the radical left. People Get Ready II will include two powerful keynotes, nine discussion sessions, and a workshop featuring dozens of visionary organizers from the Bay and beyond.
At last year’s conference, our comrade Linda Burnham urged us to take up the often-difficult task of balancing our revolutionary imagination with the brutal realities we face. Amid war, right-wing terror, racist state policy, environmental devastation, and capitalist barbarism, it seems that the fate of our peoples and the planet requires the utmost from our imaginations and our energies on the ground. And times aren’t without hope. A growing tide of people all over the world are mobilizing, strategizing, and building the liberatory politics and movements necessary for us to live in humane and sustainable societies.
Our goal is to create a space where people in struggle can converge to understand where we are, what we’re up against, how to fight back, build strength, and shift power—now and into the future. Join us for People Get Ready II.
Details are still being worked out but we are proud to share what we’ve got so far!
People Get Ready II will feature the following sessions:
- Taking Stock: Analyzing the Political Terrain after the Midterms
- Hard Work: New Battles, New Organizing in the Workplace and Beyond
- Spanning the Globe: Internationalist Solidarity vs. US Militarism
- Land: The Basis of Freedom, Justice and Equality
- Who’s Got the Power?: A Workshop on Assessing the Balance of Forces
- Towards 2020: People Power at the Ballot Box and in the Streets
- No Pasarán!: Strategies to Defeat Fascism and the Authoritarian Right
- Against Displacement: Freedom to Stay, Freedom to Move, Freedom to Return
- Deep and Wide: Building Alliances with Teeth
- Fighting to Win: Cultivating a Successful Left Strategy
Speakers will include:
Aimee Allison (She the People)
Brace Belden (DSA)
Calvin Cheung-Miaw (Left Inside/Outside Project)
Cathi Tactaquin (National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights)
Clare Bayard (Catalyst Project)
Claude Marks (Freedom Archives)
Donté Clark
Ellen Choy (Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans)
Elsadig Elsheik (Haas Institute)
Francesca Fiorentini
Isaac Ontiveros (Center for Political Education)
Kimi Lee (Bay Rising)
Kung Feng (Jobs with Justice—San Francisco)
Lara Kiswani (Arab Resource & Organizing Center)
Leila Sayed-Taha (Arab Resource & Organizing Center)
Linda Evans (co-founder and former staff, All of Us or None)
Maria Poblet (LeftRoots)
Max Elbaum (Organizing Upgrade)
N’Tanya Lee (LeftRoots)
Rebecca Gordon
Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz
Saba Waheed (UCLA Labor Center)
Sara Kershnar (International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network)
Tony Samara (Urban Habitat/Right to the City)
Tur-Ha Ak (Community Defense Corps)
Vanessa Moses (Causa Justa :: Just Cause)
Walter Turner (Africa Today)
As we put the finishing touches on our program, we will share news about more of our exciting guests!
We are excited to have People Get Ready II endorsed by the following organizations:
Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA), Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), Ambedkar King Study Circle, Asians 4 Black Lives, Bay Resistance, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Causa Justa :: Just Cause, Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Dignidad Rebelde, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy(EBASE), Freedom Archives, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, GABRIELA–SF, Generative Somatics, Haiti Action Committee, Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans (HOBAK), International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Jobs with Justice San Francisco, Labor and Community Studies–City College of San Francisco, LeftRoots, Movement Generation, National Lawyers Guild–SF, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Organizing Upgrade, Palestinian Youth Movement, PODER, Race and Resistance Studies—SFSU, Teachers for Social Justice, Underground Scholars Initiative, Viet Unity.
To pre-register or sign up to volunteer at the conference, click here.
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