Calendar

9896
Sep
9
Wed
WHOLE FOOD ACTION COMMUNITY GROUP MEETING @ Show Map First Congregational Church of Oakland (United Church of Christ)
Sep 9 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

We need to come together and talk, work out where to go from here with these issues around the brutalization of the young black man at Whole Foods. Please join us and please bring your ideas so we can keep moving forward.
(We will be meeting in the Atrium Area) Look for signs

59494
Sep
12
Sat
Strike Debt Bay Area Meeting – Fighting Back Against Unjust Debt @ Oscar Grant Plaza Amphitheater
Sep 12 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

 photo debtors-assembly-6-6-15-fp_zpsd4iiri17.jpg

Come and help us draw awareness to and fight unjust debt!
Come get connected with SDBA’s many projects!
  • student debt resistance
  • organizing for public banking.
  • advocating for Postal banking.
  • ongoing study group
  • helping out America’s only non-profit check-cashing organization and fighting against usurious for-profit pay-day lenders and their ilk
  • our famous Strike Debt radio program
  • staging Debtors’ Assemblies
  • Restaging our recent presentation on money and debt at the US Social Forum
  • Working on debarring US Banks that have been convicted of felonies from municipal contracts
  • saving the Berkeley Post Office and stopping the Staples non-union takeover of good Post Office jobs
  • and much more!
 Also check out our website, our twitter feed, and our Facebook page.
Strike Debt Bay Area is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and Strike Debt, itself an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.

Strike Debt – Principles of Solidarity

Strike Debt is building a debt resistance movement. We believe that most individual debt is illegitimate and unjust. Most of us fall into debt because we are increasingly deprived of the means to acquire the basic necessities of life: health care, education, and housing. Because we are forced to go into debt simply in order to live, we think it is right and moral to resist it.

We also oppose debt because it is an instrument of exploitation and political domination. Debt is used to discipline us, deepen existing inequalities, and reinforce racial, gendered, and other social hierarchies. Every Strike Debt action is designed to weaken the institutions that seek to divide us and benefit from our division. As an alternative to this predatory system, Strike Debt advocates a just and sustainable economy, based on mutual aid, common goods, and public affluence.

Strike Debt is committed to the principles and tactics of political autonomy, direct democracy, direct action, creative openness, a culture of solidarity, and commitment to anti-oppressive language and conduct. We struggle for a world without racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of oppression.

Strike Debt holds that we are all debtors, whether or not we have personal loan agreements. Through the manipulation of sovereign and municipal debt, the costs of speculator-driven crises are passed on to all of us. Though different kinds of debt can affect the same household, they are all interconnected, and so all household debtors have a common interest in resisting.

Strike Debt engages in public education about the debt-system to counteract the self-serving myth that finance is too complicated for laypersons to understand. In particular, it urges direct action as a way of stopping the damage caused by the creditor class and their enablers among elected government officials. Direct action empowers those who participate in challenging the debt-system.

Strike Debt holds that we owe the financial institutions nothing, whereas, to our friends, families and communities, we owe everything. In pursuing a long-term strategy for national organizing around this principle, we pledge international solidarity with the growing global movement against debt and austerity.

59411
Sep
14
Mon
Oakland Tenants Union monthly meeting @ Madison Park Apartments, community room
Sep 14 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

OTU’s Mission

The Oakland Tenants Union is an organization of housing activists dedicated to protecting tenant rights and interests. OTU does this by working directly with tenants in their struggle with landlords, impacting legislation and public policy about housing, community education, and working with other organizations committed to furthering renters’ rights. The Oakland Tenants Union is open to anyone who shares our core values and who believes that tenants themselves have the primary responsibility to work on their own behalf.

Monthly Meetings

The Oakland Tenants Union meets regularly at 7:00 pm on the second Monday evening of each month. Our monthly meetings are held in the Community Room of the Madison Park Apartments, 100 – 9th Street (at Oak Street, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station). To enter, gently knock on the window of the room to the right of the main entrance to the building. At the meetings, first we focus on general issues affecting renters city-wide and then second we offer advice to renters regarding their individual concerns.

If you have an issue, a question, or need advice about a tenant/landlord issue, please call us at (510) 704-5276. Leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will get back to you.

59289
Sep
16
Wed
Anti-Police-Terror Project Meeting @ Eastside Arts Alliance
Sep 16 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

The Anti-Police Terrorism Project is a project of the ONYX Organizing Committee that in coalition with other organizations like the Alan Blueford Center for Justice, Workers World and Healthy Hoodz is working to develop a replicable and sustainable model to end police terrorism in this country.

We are led by the most impacted communities but are a multi-racial, mutil-generational coalition.

Subcommittees / action teams include First Response, Media, Santa Rita Jail, Yvette Henderson/Emeryville and more.

We meet the 3rd Wednesday of every month at Eastside Arts Alliance at 7:30 pm.

59390
Sep
17
Thu
Omni Commons General Assembly @ Omni Commons Basement Hall
Sep 17 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Omni General Assembly

omni working group meeting

Come by our open Delegates Meetings every Thursday evening at 7pm! We’ll give space to brief announcements, updates from working groups, proposals up for consensus, and discussion around important issues. The schedule is created weekly at the following url: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom

59539
Sep
18
Fri
Slingshot at the Long Haul All-Night Meeting @ Long Haul
Sep 18 @ 8:00 pm – Sep 19 @ 6:00 am

59537
Sep
22
Tue
Oakland Livable Wage Assembly meeting @ SEIU Local 1000 Union Hall
Sep 22 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Join us to fight for a livable wage for all Bay Area workers! We collaborate in principled reflection and action on what the Bay Area livable wage would be and where we are at on the right to a livable wage.
Living-wage

The Oakland Livable Wage Assembly builds Community and Power among those who seek higher wages and better work life conditions for area workers.

Our work together encompasses:

(1) The concerns of precarious, care and contingent workers,
(2) Campaigns to improve wages for low wage workers, and
(3) Efforts by unionized workers and unions to improve wages and quality of work life.

We share stories and information in an egalitarian and participatory way to build relationships and build the movement.

Oakland Livable Wage Assembly meets every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8:00 PM at the SEIU Local 1000 Union Hall, 436 14th Street #200, Oakland, CA

Please love and support one another ~ We have a duty to fight ~ We have a duty to win!

olwa.org

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1568668586707336/

Since 1978

 

 living_wage

 

59288
Sep
23
Wed
Oakland Privacy Working Group Meeting @ Omni Commons
Sep 23 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

DAC Opposition photo no-surveillance-city-council_zps7d741c77.jpgJoin Oakland Privacy Working Group to organize against the Domain Awareness Center (DAC), Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub, and other invasions of privacy by our benighted City Government, to support privacy ordinances now being considered by the Oakland City Council emerging from the effort to fight the DAC, oppose Urban Shield, fight against Predictive Policing, Stingray and help in other fights to preserve and restore our privacy around the Bay Area, in California and nationwide.

OPWG was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network, and its members helped draft the Privacy Policy that puts further restrictions on the now Port-restricted DAC.

Stop by and learn how you can help guard Oakland’s right not to be spied on by the government & if you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy Working Group email listserv, send an email to:

oaklandprivacyworkinggroup-subscribe AT lists.riseup.net

For more information on the DAC check out

59462
Sep
24
Thu
Bay Area Public School General Meeting @ Omni Commons, Blue Classroom
Sep 24 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

The BAPS General Meeting is where our core group of organizers come together to deal mostly with administrative issues, planning, fundraising, organizing the school, etc. We could use your help. Attending these meetings is how you become a member of the collective. For those looking to get involved with the school, this is a good place to start.

What happens at the General Meeting?

relevant announcements
collaborate and coalesce new visions of the school
distribute tasks and plan to take action
learn how to build collectivity, a commons

59538
Sep
26
Sat
Flood Wall Street West Non-Violent Direct Action Prep @ Greenpeace Warehouse
Sep 26 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

The Flood Wall St. West Welcoming Committee will be hosting two non-violent direct action preps on Sept. 26 & 27 (both 1pm-4pm).

These preps will take participants through the philosophy and tools used in non-violent direct action. These preps will include discussions on the concept of affinity groups, give participants an opportunity to form one or more, a legal briefing and an overall plan for Sept. 28th.

These preps will be an important place to get plugged into for Flood Wall St. West.

WHAT’S FLOOD WALL STREET WEST?
One year ago, thousands of us flooded Wall Street in New York, taking mass direct action in the heart of a global financial system that’s fueling the climate crisis.

Now, a year later, people across the continent are preparing and organizing for #FloodTheSystem, a continental uprising against the economic and political systems threatening our survival.

To kick off #FloodTheSystem, we’re going to Flood Wall Street West: San Francisco’s financial district. Flood Wall Street West will consist of a tour of shame of some of the worst corporate and political bad actors in San Francisco’s financial district. We will take mass direct action to shut down business as usual and emphasize the connections between the climate crisis, capitalism, exploitation and oppression.

For more info on Flood Wall Street West, check out floodwallstwest.org

59557
Sep
27
Sun
Flood Wall Street West Non-Violent Direct Action Prep @ Greenpeace Warehouse
Sep 27 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

The Flood Wall St. West Welcoming Committee will be hosting two non-violent direct action preps on Sept. 26 & 27 (both 1pm-4pm).

These preps will take participants through the philosophy and tools used in non-violent direct action. These preps will include discussions on the concept of affinity groups, give participants an opportunity to form one or more, a legal briefing and an overall plan for Sept. 28th.

These preps will be an important place to get plugged into for Flood Wall St. West.

WHAT’S FLOOD WALL STREET WEST?
One year ago, thousands of us flooded Wall Street in New York, taking mass direct action in the heart of a global financial system that’s fueling the climate crisis.

Now, a year later, people across the continent are preparing and organizing for #FloodTheSystem, a continental uprising against the economic and political systems threatening our survival.

To kick off #FloodTheSystem, we’re going to Flood Wall Street West: San Francisco’s financial district. Flood Wall Street West will consist of a tour of shame of some of the worst corporate and political bad actors in San Francisco’s financial district. We will take mass direct action to shut down business as usual and emphasize the connections between the climate crisis, capitalism, exploitation and oppression.

For more info on Flood Wall Street West, check out floodwallstwest.org

59558
Community Democracy Project @ Omni Commons, Basement Hall
Sep 27 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

The Community Democracy Project is your connection to direct democracy in Oakland! Convened out of Occupy Oakland in Fall 2011, we’re gathering steam on a campaign to bring the people back in touch with the city’s resources through participatory budgeting.

Picture this: Across Oakland, Neighborhood Assemblies are regularly held in every community. People come together to tackle the important issues of their neighborhoods and of the city. At these assemblies, people don’t just have discussions–they learn from one another, from city staff, and they make fundamental decisions about how the city should run. They decide the city budget.

Democratic, community budgeting is a powerful step toward building strong communities, real democracy, and economic justice–and it’s being done all over the world.

The budget of the City Oakland totals more than $1 billion per year. Although part of the budget must be used for specific purposes, still over half of the budget–over $500 billion per year–consists of general purpose funds paid by the taxes, fees, and fines of the people of Oakland. The Mayor and the City Council decide the city budget, with minimal input from the community.

Working together, we will not only get a seat at the table–we will REBUILD the table itself. Participatory democracy is real democracy–join us to say: Local People, Local Resources, Local Power!

59573
Sep
28
Mon
Berkeley Post Office Defenders General Assembly @ Downtown Berkeley Post Office Steps
Sep 28 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Come learn about continuing developments in the battle save the Berkeley Post Office, other Post Offices in the area, and the Postal Service from privatization, support our Occupiers and help us plan our next steps in opposition to the theft of our public commons.

The postal service wanted to sell the post office to Hudson-Mcdonald, a local developer. The City of Berkeley sued the post office to stop the sale. Hudson-Mcdonald backed out of the deal in early December.

Federal Judge William Alsup decided to dismiss the lawsuit in April because the Postal Service says it is not currently selling the building.  But we’re not fooled. The Postal Service could “find” a buyer at any moment. Fortunately, the Judge ordered the Postal Service to provide 42 days notice before any sale, so that the lawsuit could be refiled.

Check out the Community Garden at the Post Office.

In the latest developments, Berkeley has Declared War on Its Homeless, and an ordinance criminalizing the homeless came before the City Council on June 30th (see here and here) but was tabled until at least September.

Also check out our website and the Save the Berkeley Post Office website, and First they Came for the Homeless Facebook for updates.

BPOD is an offshoot of Strike Debt Bay Area, which itself is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and a chapter of the national Strike Debt movement, which is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.

59457
Sep
29
Tue
Press Conference: Berkeley PD Stop Data Reveals Stark Racial Disparities @ City Hall Steps and Cypress Room, 1st Floor
Sep 29 @ 11:00 am – 11:30 am

Sponsored by: Berkeley NAACP; UCB Black Student Union; Berkeley Copwatch: ACLU Berkeley/ NorthEastBay Chapter: National Lawyers Guild, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter

Newly released data on police stops confirms local activists’ and communities’ of color charges of racial profiling in Berkeley. Data collected by the Berkeley Police Department reveals a pattern of discriminatory conduct against African American and Latino civilians.

Stops: Though Black people constitute less than 8% of Berkeley’s population, they were 30.5% of those stopped by police; whites, comprising 60% of Berkeley, were 36.7% of those stopped.

Disposition: 38.1% of White people stopped by Berkeley police were eventually released without being either arrested or cited. However, 66.2% of African Americans were released without an arrest or citation, with Hispanics/Latinos close behind at 56.4%.

Searches: African Americans were 31% of civilians stopped, yet they were 57% of searches. Whites, on the other hand, were 37% of stops and only 14% of searches.

Local organizations will discuss the data and its implications in detail at the press conference.

59590
Optik Allusions Meeting and Workshop @ Omni Commons
Sep 29 @ 7:00 pm – 10:30 pm

OptikAllusions is a digital filmmaking collective dedicated to social change, based in Oakland, California. We share resources, skills and knowledge to help each other tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. We make films in a spirit of collaboration and solidarity, share a lending library of film equipment for creative projects, organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops.

Join us for our weekly meeting and a workshop!

We usually, meet briefly and then work on projects. It’s open to all!

https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Optik_Allusions

59574
Oct
3
Sat
Strike Debt Bay Area – Fighting Back Against Unjust Debt @ Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater
Oct 3 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

 photo debtors-assembly-6-6-15-fp_zpsd4iiri17.jpg

Come and help us draw awareness to and fight unjust debt!
Come get connected with SDBA’s many projects!
  • student debt resistance
  • organizing for public banking.
  • advocating for Postal banking.
  • ongoing study group
  • helping out America’s only non-profit check-cashing organization and fighting against usurious for-profit pay-day lenders and their ilk
  • our famous Strike Debt radio program
  • staging Debtors’ Assemblies
  • Restaging our recent presentation on money and debt at the US Social Forum
  • Working on debarring US Banks that have been convicted of felonies from municipal contracts
  • saving the Berkeley Post Office and stopping the Staples non-union takeover of good Post Office jobs
  • and much more!
 Also check out our website, our twitter feed, and our Facebook page.
Strike Debt Bay Area is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and Strike Debt, itself an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.

Strike Debt – Principles of Solidarity

Strike Debt is building a debt resistance movement. We believe that most individual debt is illegitimate and unjust. Most of us fall into debt because we are increasingly deprived of the means to acquire the basic necessities of life: health care, education, and housing. Because we are forced to go into debt simply in order to live, we think it is right and moral to resist it.

We also oppose debt because it is an instrument of exploitation and political domination. Debt is used to discipline us, deepen existing inequalities, and reinforce racial, gendered, and other social hierarchies. Every Strike Debt action is designed to weaken the institutions that seek to divide us and benefit from our division. As an alternative to this predatory system, Strike Debt advocates a just and sustainable economy, based on mutual aid, common goods, and public affluence.

Strike Debt is committed to the principles and tactics of political autonomy, direct democracy, direct action, creative openness, a culture of solidarity, and commitment to anti-oppressive language and conduct. We struggle for a world without racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of oppression.

Strike Debt holds that we are all debtors, whether or not we have personal loan agreements. Through the manipulation of sovereign and municipal debt, the costs of speculator-driven crises are passed on to all of us. Though different kinds of debt can affect the same household, they are all interconnected, and so all household debtors have a common interest in resisting.

Strike Debt engages in public education about the debt-system to counteract the self-serving myth that finance is too complicated for laypersons to understand. In particular, it urges direct action as a way of stopping the damage caused by the creditor class and their enablers among elected government officials. Direct action empowers those who participate in challenging the debt-system.

Strike Debt holds that we owe the financial institutions nothing, whereas, to our friends, families and communities, we owe everything. In pursuing a long-term strategy for national organizing around this principle, we pledge international solidarity with the growing global movement against debt and austerity.

59527
Oct
6
Tue
Optik Allusions Meeting and Workshop @ Omni Commons
Oct 6 @ 7:00 pm – 10:30 pm

OptikAllusions is a digital filmmaking collective dedicated to social change, based in Oakland, California. We share resources, skills and knowledge to help each other tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. We make films in a spirit of collaboration and solidarity, share a lending library of film equipment for creative projects, organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops.

Join us for our weekly meeting and a workshop!

We usually, meet briefly and then work on projects. It’s open to all!

https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Optik_Allusions

59574
Oct
11
Sun
Occupy Oakland 4th Anniversary Lunch and Party! @ Oscar Grant Plaza
Oct 11 @ 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm

Occupy Oakland GA

Sunday, October 11th, 12:30 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza.

Come remember the raising of tents at Oscar Grant Plaza on October 10, 2011, the date Occupy Oakland manifested itself to the world. This is a pot-luck, no one turned away chance to visit old friends and make new ones.

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for four years. Currently we meet at Oscar Grant Plaza at 4:00 PM on Sundays (or at the Omni, in rain or severe cold). We report back on meetings and events staged by activist groups, some indirect descendants of Occupy committees such as Strike Debt Bay Area, Oakland Privacy Working Group and the Oakland Livable Wage Assembly.  We cover events in the East Bay and San Francisco, announce future events, and engage in discussion on varied political, economic and radical topics. Everyone is welcome!

At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement.  If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.

General Assembly Standard Agenda

  1. Welcome & Introductions
  2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
  3. Announcements
  4. (Optional) Discussion Topic

 

Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.

Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Occupy Oakland Kitchen Committee: (kitchen@occupyoakland.org)
Occupy Oakland Calendar (events): occupyoakland.org/calendar

Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumbler.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders: http://tinyurl.com/l9hpvrz
Oakland Privacy Working Group: oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Sunflower Alliance:  sunflower-alliance.org
Occupy The Farm: occupyfarm@gmail.com
Alan Blueford Center for Justice: www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Livable Wage Assembly http://tinyurl.com/mt284ol
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: http://tinyurl.com/3s4nsl6
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepressionbayarea.com
Biblioteca Popular http://tinyurl.com/p5jop25
Fireworks: fireworksbayarea.com/
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Anti-Police Terror Project: http://tinyurl.com/qj3jdst
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Omni Collective: omnicommons.org/ Sudo Room: sudoroom.org
Interfaith Tent: https://www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent

San Francisco based groups:
First They Came for the Homeless: http://tinyurl.com/nmhbut5
San Francisco Projection Department http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv
Occupy Forum: Check the OO calendar on Mondays for seminars.

58520
Oct
12
Mon
Berkeley Post Office Defenders General Assembly @ Downtown Berkeley Post Office steps
Oct 12 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Come learn about continuing developments in the battle save the Berkeley Post Office, other Post Offices in the area, and the Postal Service from privatization, support our Occupiers and help us plan our next steps in opposition to the theft of our public commons.

The postal service wanted to sell the post office to Hudson-Mcdonald, a local developer. The City of Berkeley sued the post office to stop the sale. Hudson-Mcdonald backed out of the deal in early December.

Federal Judge William Alsup decided to dismiss the lawsuit in April because the Postal Service says it is not currently selling the building.  But we’re not fooled. The Postal Service could “find” a buyer at any moment. Fortunately, the Judge ordered the Postal Service to provide 42 days notice before any sale, so that the lawsuit could be refiled.

Check out the Community Garden at the Post Office.

In the latest developments, Berkeley has Declared War on Its Homeless, and an ordinance criminalizing the homeless came before the City Council on June 30th (see here and here) but was tabled until at least September.

Also check out our website and the Save the Berkeley Post Office website, and First they Came for the Homeless Facebook for updates.

BPOD is an offshoot of Strike Debt Bay Area, which itself is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and a chapter of the national Strike Debt movement, which is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.

59588
Oakland Tenants Union monthly meeting @ Madison Park Apartments, community room
Oct 12 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

OTU’s Mission

The Oakland Tenants Union is an organization of housing activists dedicated to protecting tenant rights and interests. OTU does this by working directly with tenants in their struggle with landlords, impacting legislation and public policy about housing, community education, and working with other organizations committed to furthering renters’ rights. The Oakland Tenants Union is open to anyone who shares our core values and who believes that tenants themselves have the primary responsibility to work on their own behalf.

Monthly Meetings

The Oakland Tenants Union meets regularly at 7:00 pm on the second Monday evening of each month. Our monthly meetings are held in the Community Room of the Madison Park Apartments, 100 – 9th Street (at Oak Street, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station). To enter, gently knock on the window of the room to the right of the main entrance to the building. At the meetings, first we focus on general issues affecting renters city-wide and then second we offer advice to renters regarding their individual concerns.

If you have an issue, a question, or need advice about a tenant/landlord issue, please call us at (510) 704-5276. Leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will get back to you.

59289