Calendar
Second Sundays:
Interfaith prayer meeting for healing, dedicated to the survivors and victims of violence and police brutality in Oakland.
We are organizing this gathering for the community to connect, share prayers, writings and poems from all spiritual traditions, reflect and recharge and build coalitions interested in healing.
Please feel free to bring quotes or passages to share
All are welcome
We will serve simple breakfast.
Our constitutional system of checks and balances is broken. A Congress in the hands of corporations and their lobbyists can no longer protect the public from special interests and government, with its surveillance and endless wars for oil and profit. Independent media have emerged as a powerful check on government abuses. Whistleblowers play an increasing and vital role in getting information to the public.
Our five panelists will engage in a lively discussion of the public’s need for greater transparency and constitutional protection from government intrusion and abuse. How do “We the People” protect ourselves?
Our Panelists:
Daniel Ellsberg: Activist, whistleblower, co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Norman Solomon: Author, activist, co-founder of RootsAction.org; coordinator of ExposeFacts.org.
Trevor Timm: Journalist and Columnist for the UK Guardian, executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Marjorie Cohn: Law professor at Jefferson School of Law; author and human rights activist; former president of the National Lawyers Guild.
Ahmed Ghappour: Hastings College professor of law; national security and cybersecurity litigator.
This Forum is the third in a series of Civil Liberty forums presented by St. John�s Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, California.
Hearing Postponed Until December 11th.
Plaintiffs City of Berkeley and Mayor and Members of the City Council of the
City of Berkeley have filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary
injunction, to enjoin defendants United States Postal Service, Patrick R. Donahoe, Tom A.
Samra, and Diana Alvarado from completing a sale of the Berkeley Post Office. According to
that motion, “the City believes that USPS will attempt to convey the Post Office property at any
moment,” even though USPS reportedly has not performed the reviews required by the National
Historic Preservation Act or the National Environmental Policy Act.
This order hereby ENJOINS the named defendants from completing the sale of the
Berkeley Post Office until a hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction can be conducted.
Plaintiffs must post a bond in the amount of $5,000 and serve all named defendants with the
complaint, summons, and all papers (including this order) by 10:00AM ON NOVEMBER 6, 2014.
The hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction will take place at 8:00AM ON NOVEMBER 10th, 2014.
(signed)
WILLIAM ALSUP
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Billy Nessen is a long-time activist, most recently working with UC Berkeley students (Fossil Free Cal) to demand the Regents divest from big oil, coal and natural gas.Nessen, a leader of the student anti-apartheid divestment movement at Berkeley in the ‘80s, will give us a history of the movements he’s been involved in, from the protests at the Concord Naval Weapons Station against shipping weapons to El Salvador to his role as a journalist who was captured in the E. Timor Independence Struggle.
Steve Jacobson of Earth First! and Occupy will interview Billy Nessen to help bring his work to light. We may also be seeing excerpts from Nessen’s film, The Black Road.
We are very pleased to announce a tour of the United States by representatives of Colombia’s Marcha Patriótica (Patriotic March) and Lazos de Dignidad (Links of Dignity). The Patriotic March is Colombia’s largest Left movement for a just peace and popular participation in dialogue to end the country’s 50 year civil war. It has been a target of heavy repression, with 70 of its leaders assassinated in just two years time. Lazos de Dignidad provides legal representation and human rights training for Colombian political prisoners and agricultural workers unions. Lazos de Dignidad is also active in grassroots mobilizations for peace and human and labor rights.
This tour features July Henriquez Sampayo and Gustavo Gallardo Morales, speaking on two primary subjects:
- Rising Repression, International Solidarity and Colombia’s Peace Process
- Prison Imperialism and the Colombian Peace Process
SPONSORS: AFGJ, BALASC, and Task Force of the Americas
JOIN US TO CONTINUE TO EXPRESS OUR SOLIDARITY WITH RASMEA.
WHEN: Wednesday, November 12th @ 7:30, with the program starting at 8am.
WHAT: Rally, speak out, and flyering
Without a full and fair trial, Rasmea found guilty!
In a travesty of justice, Rasmea Odeh was found guilty of one count of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization. For over a year, Rasmea, her supporters, and her legal team have been battling this unjust government prosecution, saying from the start that the immigration charge was nothing but a pretext to attack this icon of the Palestine liberation movement. And although there is real anger and disappointment in the jury’s verdict, it was known as early as October 27th that she would not get a full and fair trial.
Facebook page with detailed info & RSVP
Though Rasmea has been unjustly convicted, her struggle is far from over. Read Monday’s report from court here.
In front of all her supporters Monday in the courtroom, U.S. marshals placed Rasmea in handcuffs and under arrest. She will be detained until her sentencing, which is set for March 10, 2015. Our immediate and urgent task is to fight for her release from jail.
The Rasmea Defense Committee with Students for Justice in Palestine is calling on Palestinian and Palestine solidarity organizations and others committed to opposing political repression across the United States to participate in a national week of action to win her freedom now.
Participate in the week of action:
Wednesday, November 12-18!
- Write to Judge Drain and urge him to send Rasmea home.
Click here for sample letter. - Organize a protest at your local federal building or on your campus.
• The SJP National Ad-Hoc Steering Committee calls on all SJP chapters to participate by organizing actions on your campuses on November 14, 2014.
• Please send in the details of your protest plans so we can share – justice4rasmea@uspcn.org - Write letters of support to Rasmea.
Rasmieh Odeh #144979
St. Clair County Jail
1170 Michigan
Port Huron, MI. 48060 - Organize a fundraiser to help fund Rasmea’s defense.
• We also call on all those who are able, to donate money to Rasmea’s legal defense fund, so that they can continue to zealously represent her and prepare for an appeal.
Everyone is Needed to Stop Police Abuse
Serve your community! Be an organizer! Join Copwatch!
Berkeley Copwatch is the original copwatch and nationally known for the past
25 years. We are an all volunteer group and we want to train new people to
challenge the growth of police power and abuse of people in our communities.
We all need to watch the cops, but that’s not all. We need people to respond
to victims, conduct “Know Your Rights” trainings, help organize our
communities, manage the footage and information that comes through our office
and create educational programs that strengthen our unity. We need volunteers
to help us:
* Stop Berkeley police from getting Tasers
* End Berkeley’s participation in Urban Shield military exercises
* Bring “Know Your Rights” trainings into our schools and communities
* Increase the number of weekly Copwatching shifts that are going out
* Challenge the systematic mistreatment of homeless youth by police
* Do office work, respond to emails, phones, etc.
* Data management of incidents and video
* Maintain online presence
* Edit and distribute monthly newsletter
On Wednesday, November 12th, Fossil Free Cal is going to be leading a nighttime march around the South Side of the UC Berkeley campus. The March will start at 9:00 PM from the corner of Telegraph and Bancroft at the edge of campus.
The march aims to send a clear message to the UC Regents that a movement against their continued investment in fossil fuel companies is coming. Climate change is taking its toll on the planet and having a disproportionate impact on those least able to protect themselves. That being said, the Regents have shown no desire to stop investing in the big oil, coal, and natural gas producing and extracting companies.
Fossil Free Cal wants students and the community to bring their whistles, pots, drums, megaphones, and signs, so that the Regents can actually HEAR our complaints instead of continuing to ignore us.
Bring your friends, family members, and significant others. Join the movement and help us change the world!
A documentary about Rodney Reed – an innocent man the State of Texas is preparing to “legally” lynch by execution on January 14th, 2015.
#Justice4Rodney
Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
The reality of the progress in the development and applications of solar power energy are described and celebrated in this short film. Countries all over the world are leading the way towards a green economy. Unfortunately lobbying by the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries are hindering progress. Very soon, perhaps even now depending on the cost of electricity in your area, solar technology will be more economically cost effective than traditional forms of electrical production.
Sponsored by the BFUU Social Justice Committee as part of our Conscientious Projector Series for the 99%
Wheelchair accessible.
Autumn brings Recipe, a profoundly funny new work by Michael Gene Sullivan, resident playwright for the Tony award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe.
Central Works serves up the laughs in this delicious take on a circle of sweet old grandmotherly bakers, who just happen to be dedicated to the armed overthrow of the United States government. But baking pies and cakes isn’t enough to satisfy these four intrepid refugees from the 60’s (and 50’s, and 40’s), and their burning desire to “Up the Revolution!”
Read the Radical Recipe Blog!
Pay-what-you-can every Thursday, at the door as available
Plans are taking shape for a National Day of Action on Nov. 14, when members of the four postal unions and supporters will send a powerful message to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe and the USPS Board of Governor’s: Stop Delaying America’s Mail.
The four unions are working together at the national level to produce flyers, posters, T-shirts and press releases, and they are encouraging their members to work together to organize local events. A special web page, www.StopMailDelays.org, has been created to share information and resources. Flyers are now available for union locals and branches to distribute to their members. Information about local activities can be printed on the back. Additional material will be made available as it is produced, including a list of local activities showing the times, locations and contact information.
On Jan. 5 the Postmaster General and the Board of Governors are poised to make devastating cuts in service to the American people – cuts so severe that they will forever damage the U.S. Postal Service, the union presidents said in an Oct. 16 letter calling for the National Day of Action.
- The USPS is slated to lower “service standards” to virtually eliminate overnight delivery – including first-class mail from one address to another within the same city or town.
- All mail, including medicine, online purchases, local newspapers, church bulletins, bill payments, sale notices, throughout the country will be delayed.
- Beginning Jan. 5, 2015, 82 Mail Processing & Distribution Centers are scheduled to close or “consolidate operations.”
The four postal unions, the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) and National Rural Letter Carriers Association (NRLCA), are urging their members and postal customers to send a message to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe and the USPS Board of Governors: Stop Delaying America’s Mail!
On Friday Nov 14th, SEAL delegates will be meeting with Chancellor Dirks to present our proposal for a Food Initiative at the Gill Tract Farm.
We have years of visions and designs, years of petitions and public comments, years of community processes pointing towards a student and community desire for an alternative use of the land that does not exploit people and does not pollute the planet. We need the world-renown University of California to have a powerful Food Initiative amplifying the voices from the grassroots and producing community-driven research to find solutions to the pressing environmental problems we face today.
Nov 14th is the day. Let’s show our Chancellor the student and community power behind halting the development and engaging in a community-design process for all 20 acres of the Gill Tract Farm.
Facebook event & RSVP. (Check for location details)
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How can you help?? So glad you asked!
> Get inspired at the Occupy the Farm Film! It is having its theatrical premiere right here in Berkeley! Nov 7th-Nov 14th.
https://www.facebook.com/
> If you have not done so already, please sign our petition:
bit.ly/FoodInitiative
> Like us on Facebook and share our posts!
https://www.facebook.com/
> You can use this form letter to email and message your friends and family:
http://
> We love our campaign co-sponsors! Are you part of a food justice, urban garden, environmental justice, local economies, or other related organization and would be interested in signing on as a co-sponsor? email us!
http://
SEAL delegates willb e meating with Chancellor Dirks to present our proposal for a Food Initiative in ALL 20 acres of the Gill Tract. Support them at the Rally!
Keynote address: Eric Holtz-Gimenez from Food First.
Fighting Jim Crow from Ferguson to the Bay Area –
Black and Brown Lives Matter
A Night of Healing for the Community
We are Fighting Jim Crow from Ferguson to the Bay Area with knowledge and unity! Open to the community a night of sharing, entertainment, Food, and so much more! The Event is hosted by Anita Wills, Executive Director of the Inter Council for Mother’s of Murdered Children. Speakers include Alex Salazar, Dionne Smith, Anita Wills, and others from the community whose lives have been touched by violence. The evening will also include will include Chicken Dinners, Seafood Gumbo, Enchiladas, Peach Cobbler, Potato Pies, Cakes, and other dishes, as well as beverages.*
Speaker Anita Wills will share her experience of traveling to Ferguson within a week of Michael Browns death. Other speakers, Dionne Smith-Downs and Alex Salazar will share their experiences in Ferguson. Alex Salazar spent weeks in Ferguson and has set up Cop-watch Workshops. He is an Activist who will share his experience as someone who has been on the inside and outside of Police Work. We have other speakers from the community, as well as short films, and items such as candles, crafts, baked goods, for sale.
Booth space is available for $25, (inbox for details, ntawls@gmail.com). A $10 donation is requested at the door (no one will be turned away for lack of funds). Those who donate $15 or more will receive a free dinner. All proceeds go to the Kerry Baxter Senior Legal Fund (Event is co-sponsored by the Mary & Patty Bowden Foundation).
* Items for sale as part of Fundraiser
Occupation, Repression, and Strategies of Resistance from the US to Palestine:
A Night of Music, Food, and Conversation to Support the Case of Rasmea Odeh
Featuring from Palestine:
Sahar Francis, Deputy Director of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
Accessible by elevator and Bart
Funds raised will support the defense of Rasmea Odeh
Pelican Bay State Prison is one of the largest prisons in our state. With close to 3 thousand men, and more than a third kept in solitary confinement, this prison is one of California’s most notorious for its unjust treatment of folks inside.
Join us tonight at the Omni in Oakland, for a performance of Hell in Paradise: My Visit to Pelican Bay State Prison. A play written and preformed by Charlie Hinton, based off the prison letters of Clyde Jackson.
Hell in Paradise screening & Panel Discussion
Followed by a panel discussion on Prisons: Budgets, Conditions and Resistance:
- Danny Murrillo – UC Berkeley student and imprisoned at Pelican Bay SHU
- Emily Harris – Californians for a Responsible Budget (CURB)
- Annie Kane – Human Rights Pen Pals
The event is free and is being hosted by the Bay Area Public School.
You are invited to join us in presenting Fruitvale, Florida, Ferguson and Beyond: A Summit about Ending Mass Criminalization in Oakland.
The summit will consist of workshops for youth on knowing your rights, for parents on how to keep our children out of jail, and for everyone on busting the school to prison pipeline and ending mass incarceration and deportation. This summit will be focused on youth and parents in the Oakland schools and lead up to a larger conference on these issues in April 2015.
Nationally, more than $60 billion is invested in correctional systems that incarcerate or supervise nearly 7 million people. Yet data shows that the US recidivism rate remains at approximately 67% (81% for youth)–one measure of the systems – failure to improve public safety. In 1970, there were 200,000 people in state and federal prison; in 2013, there were 1.5 million. 65% of prisoners are Black or Latino, though the combined percentage of the population for these two groups is around 30%. It costs $62,000 per year to keep someone in prison, while the California schools spend $9200 per student a year. The U. S. has the highest prison population in the world. According to one study, a Black man is killed by police, security forces, or vigilantes every 28 hours. This situation must change.
We know you understand the importance of this issue.