Want to get involved with SURJ Bay Area? Come learn about our current work and activities. SURJ moves white people to act for justice, with passion and accountability, as part of a multi-racial majority.

Hello we are here to Save the Internet!

Join us every Tuesday in the Omni Commons mezzanine to help build a community-owned and -operated wireless mesh network in the East Bay!

Every Tuesday night, we meet to discuss on-going projects, technical bugs, community and media outreach, finances and budgeting, and upcoming events, such as node mounts, office hours, and workshops.  Newcomers are encouraged to come on the last Tuesdays of the month for general orientation, but are welcome at any meeting.

A wireless mesh network is a network where each computer acts as a relay to other computers, such that a network can stretch to cover entire cities.

Our goal is to create a wireless mesh network that is owned and operated by the community.

Want to help create an alternate means of digital communication that isn’t governed by for-profit internet service providers? Join us for the mesh hacknight! We need people of all backgrounds to help with everything from community involvement and grant writing to mounting antennas on buildings and developing software!

Learn more at https://peoplesopen.net and http://sudomesh.org/

The Village in Oakland #feedthepeople

The city of Oakland posted eviction notices to #HousingAndDignityVillage an hour ago. Please come visit us between now and then so you can see Oakland’s only clean and sober homeless encampment for women and families. Oakland only homeless encampment that provides services and resources to the housed and unhoused in our surrounding neighborhood.

We are not criminals. We are not illegal. We are Human beings asserting our right to exist, our right to Housing, our right to sanctuary.

We are not damaging this neighborhood or endangering it’s most vulnerable. We are doing something the city doesn’t do: providing services and taking care of the most vulnerable who have been in brookfield for generations.

Be very clear there is only one reason the city is shutting us down: cuz we are activists, ousd teachers, homeless advocates, outspoken workers who are homeless. We are getting shut down to shut us up.

All they could do is criminalize us and try to shut us up.

They forget we multiply and get louder.

Please come this Wednesday 8:30 a.m. December 5th to witness the city of Oakland engage in cruel and unusual punishment by removing families with children’s, ousd teacher, workers, artists and people with disabilities who formed a Sanctuary for ourselves throw us onto the streets

Join us as we lift up our community members who have lived and died on our streets.

Welcome by SMC’s new Executive Director Sharon Cornu
Opening Remarks by Pastor Monica J. Cross, First Christian Church of Oakland
Guest speaker: David Modersbach, Alameda County Healthcare for the Homeless

Homelessness is not a crime. It is a symptom of systemic poverty demanding diverse grassroots solutions.

Martin v. Boise – WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO STAY!

RSVP to Janny Castillo
jcastillo@stmaryscenter.org
510 923-9600 x 234
www.stmaryscenter.org

@AROCBayArea @mdbarba @kintarasu @AmalKPIX

— Tariq Eid (@cityboy_tariq) December 6, 2018

Join us for a press conference at 11am Thursday, December 6 in front of San Francisco City Hall: Eid family and attorney, Dan Siegel, will be announcing the filing of federal lawsuit against @SFPD for the murder of 21 year old Palestinian Muslim, Jehad Eid. @APTPaction https://t.co/JwDsW5OAnr

— AROC (@AROCBayArea) December 6, 2018

3 anti-fascist activists are facing serious charges from the June 26, 2016 Nazi shutdown in #Sacramento. Come have their backs and show up to support them at their pre-trial hearing on Thursday 12/6 @ 1:30pm. See Antifa Sacramento’s event for more info: https://t.co/XaabtP6fXZ pic.twitter.com/660r23qX1q

— Berkeley Antifa (@berkeleyantifa) December 1, 2018

Three antifascist activists are facing serious charges for defending our city against neo-Nazis two and a half years ago. We’re calling on our community to come out to their pretrial hearing and show support for these brave individuals. It’s up to us to make it clear that we stand with them!

We will be meeting at the courthouse and attending their court appearance. Come in casual, formal, or semi-formal attire and be prepared to go through a metal detector. Avoid arriving or leaving alone, and leave the area as soon as the court appearance is over. This is a critical way to show your solidarity and be a presence for activists being unfairly targeted by the state.

About the court case:
On June 26th, 2016, members of the neo-Nazi gang the Golden State Skinheads attempted to rally at the State Capitol here in Sacramento. Hundreds of counter-protesters mobilized and successfully shut down the Nazi rally. After the rally was canceled, the neo-Nazis attacked demonstrators with knives and clubs, stabbing and critically injuring several. Since then, one neo-Nazi has been arrested and three anti-racist activists are facing charges. After several cancellations and continuations, this is the final court date before our comrades are put on trial. So far, our community has come out to each court date to support them. This is their most important court appearance until the trial, so it’s urgent that we show up in numbers and make our support known!

Agenda:

4. 5:15pm: Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – DOT – Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Anticipated Impact Report and draft Use Policy – review and take possible action
5. 5:35pm: Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OFD – Discuss with staff existing equipment capabilities, report and policy drafting sequence
6. 5:50pm: Federal Task Force Transparency Ordinance – Discuss with OPD annual reporting metrics
7. 6:20pm: Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OPD – Body Worn Camera Anticipated Impact Report and draft Use Policy – review and take possible action

Celebrate 25 years of Zapatismo by watching a love story that takes you to the heart of the Zapatista resistance.

The Chiapas Support Committee presents:
CORAZÓN DEL TIEMPO | HEART OF TIME
BENEFIT SCREENING
For the Zapatista Middle School Project

Corazón del Tiempo (Heart of Time) is a film about love in the time of Zapatista Resistance. When Sonia, a Zapatista civilian supporter, falls in love with Julio, an insurgente (rebel soldier), a problem arises because she is already engaged to Miguel, a young community leader. The film shows how the community deals with this romantic dilemma. 90 minutes, Spanish with English subtitles. Film starts at 7:30pm.

Tamales, Aguas Frescas, and Zapatista crafts available for purchase.
Zapatista artesanía (crafts) make great holiday gifts!

All proceeds benefit the Zapatista Middle School Project –
https://chiapas-support.org/2018/10/31/donate-to-decolonize-education-for-indigenous-zapatista-children/)

The Omni strives to be a low/no-scent space. We request that out of respect for people with environmental illnesses, that attendees please not wear fragrance or scented products. This includes clothing that has been laundered with fragranced detergent or softening products. We appreciate your efforts to make this event accessible to those with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. As the Omni is an old building, there may be dust and mold, although no mold has been visibly detected in the ballroom. More info on the Omni’s low-scent policy here: https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Accessibility

The Omni Ballroom is wheelchair accessible through the corner entrance and then via wheelchair lift and swinging double doors. Please note that this wheelchair lift is NOT user-operated. You will need another person to help you get up and down. The entrance hall bathroom is wheelchair accessible.

Food and beverage details (ingredients) to be announced.

For more information contact the Chiapas Support Committee
enapoyo1994@yahoo.com or visit www.chiapas-support.org

NCIO COMMUNITY MEETING

Meeting of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors’ Ad Hoc Committee on Urban Area Security Initiative, charged with reconstituting and rethinking Urban Shield.

The committee was established by the Board of Supervisors in March 2018 in response to sustained community concerns about Urban Shield, which is funded in part by UASI grants from the Department of Homeland Security, and coordinated by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

The Board of Supervisors decided in March, 2018 that 2018 would be the last year the county would approve Urban Shield, as currently constituted, and asked the Ad Hoc Committee to make recommendations to the Board on the UASI-funded emergency preparedness training and exercise in 2019 and beyond.

The agenda will include a presentation and Q/A with county emergency preparedness officials (from ACSO, Public Health, and Social Services); a discussion of criteria for weighing recommendations; and a presentation about community-based emergency preparedness initiatives.

More information.

Agendas and materials for each meeting are posted at http://www.acgov.org/board/calendarcom.htm

The East Bay Alternative Book & Zine Fest is back at the Omni Commons in Oakland.

We are introducing a Zine Store at EBABZ Fest this year. Drop off your zines and let EBABZ Fest volunteers manage your sales. Apply here:
http://bit.ly/ebabzstore2018

Workshops:
12:00 – 1:15 PM: Writing From the Margins: Creativity & Embodiment for Artists of Color with Fatima Nasiyr
https://www.facebook.com/events/2025491594197387/

1:30 – 2:45 PM: Mixed Media Sticker Making with Rafael Tapia III
https://www.facebook.com/events/196382107933370/

3:00 – 4:15 PM: Letterpress Basics with Kristi Holohan
https://www.facebook.com/events/580478732409174/

After Party:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1916456818469234/

Beyond the Bay: Building Power for California’s Future

Come celebrate with us at the ACLU Foundation of Northern California’s annual Bill of Rights Day at the Impact Hub Oakland.

Recognize bold leaders and celebrate a year of legislative successes for civil rights and civil liberties in California. This year’s honorees include:

• Basim Elkarra for his unwavering commitment to expanding civil rights for Muslim Americans and all Americans, and for building respect and understanding between ethnic groups, faith communities and government agencies.
• Lisa Honig for her exceptional, decades-long commitment to civil liberties and service to the ACLU through board leadership in Northern California and nationally.

After the program, join us for a reception and enjoy appetizers and an open bar.

Doors open at 12:30 p.m. — program starts at 1 p.m.

Purchase tickets »

Doughnut Economics Reading Group:
Creating a world with neither human suffering nor planetary peril

Doughnut Economics: 7 ways to think like a 21^st 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 doing one meeting a month on the 2nd Saturday; we’ll usually do about one chapter per meeting. Please join us!

2nd meeting:

4:30 – 6:00pm, Saturday, December 8th.
Omni Commons, 4799 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland

We’ll be discussing the 2nd chapter

Bring the book (available at your favorite online bookseller and in select local bookstores) and/or your thoughts on the topic (The first and possibly subsequent chapters are available online – http://tinyurl.com/ycysqtde ‘Look Inside’).

The book is an easy read (but full of ideas!) so it’s easy to catch up.

Author website: https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/

Calling all organizations, crews, congregations and affiliations around the Bay to join a People’s Assembly and formation of the Migrant Welcome Committee of the Bay Area.

On October 12, a caravan of refugees departed San Pedro Sula, Honduras fleeing rampant violence and grinding poverty, headed for the US border. Step by step, they called their trek an “exodus” as they gained steam and powered ahead 6,000-strong out of Mexico City toward Tijuana. With other caravans on the way, a crisis is building up on the US-Mexico border that will not be easily resolved.

The Bay Area Migrant Welcoming Committee invites you to join us for an evening of sharing and action as we make collective sense of the recent caravans and take action in solidarity with their participants.

We will engage with the following questions and themes:
1) What are the root causes of the mass migration of Hondurans and other Central Americans in this historic moment?
2) Hear from asylum seekers who have traveled on the recent migrant caravans about the realities, stories and power of their journey and collective action.
3) What are the many ways people and organizations right here in the Bay Area can do to support the material and political goals of the migrants who are seeking asylum in the US?

Confirmed presenters/performers:
Maya Chinchilla
Chhoti Maa
Rev. Deborah Lee
Roberto Alvarenga Lovato

Presentation will also include a person who has traveled on a previous caravan.

Financial Donations to support organizations in Tijuana supporting migrants and migrant legal defense will be collected at this event.

Monthly interfaith prayer meeting, held on second Sundays, dedicated to healing.

The Bahá’í community of Oakland is 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.

Come share prayers, quotes, poems, and favorite passages from your scriptures with us. Simple breakfast will be served.

Doors open: 10:00 AM
Refreshments served: 10:00-10:30 AM
Prayers: 10:30-11:30 AM
Discussion and socializing: 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM

“Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succor in both this world and the world to come. Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” ~ Bahá’u’lláh

“Remember the saying: ‘Of all pilgrimages the greatest is to relieve the sorrow-laden heart.'” ~ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Ay!
Oakland Teachers are going on strike soon.

Learn about it and support them.

Go to the community discussion on 12/9 at 1pm st Geoffrey's.
410 14th St Oakland. pic.twitter.com/Dqvx754Yyn

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) December 6, 2018

Details forthcoming.

ILWU Local 10 Pays Tribute to Howard Keylor, Longshore Veteran of Bay Area Labor Struggles

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Local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in San Francisco is holding a public event to honor Howard Keylor. A veteran of the Battle of Okinawa, Howard opposed the atomic bombing of Japan, an experience that led him to become anti-militarist, anti-racist and anti-imperialist. He quit college to support Filipino farm workers in the 1948 asparagus strike and became a labor activist during the McCarthy period, joining the longshore union in Stockton in 1953.

During his decades on the waterfront, he initiated, organized and participated in many picket lines and demonstrations, including the longshore strike of 1971-1972, the ILWU’s 1974 KNC Warehouse strike of Mexican American workers in Union City, the historic 11-day 1984 boycott of South African cargo to protest Apartheid in 1984, the 1999 coastwide shutdown and march of 25,000 in San Francisco to demand freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, the United States’ most prominent political prisoner, the May Day 2008 anti-imperialist war shutdown of all West Coast ports, the blockades of Israeli ships to protest the war on Gaza, the 2011 ILWU struggle against the grain monopolies in Longview, Occupy Oakland’s march of 40,000 to the port, Local 10’s actions against racist police murders and fascist terror last year, and countless other militant job actions and protests.

Howard Keylor is a veteran of the militant labor history of the Bay Area. Like the core founders of the ILWU, he seeks to replace capitalism with socialism, a commitment which he has maintained all his life. He continues to approach every issue from this perspective.

PLEASE JOIN ILWU LOCAL 10 IN HONORING HOWARD ON HIS 93RD BIRTHDAY:

Sunday, December 9th 2018, 2 – 4pm
ILWU Local 10, Henry Schmidt Room
400 North Point St, San Francisco (near Fisherman’s Wharf)

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A Brief Biography of Brother Howard Keylor

An army veteran of the Pacific Theater in World War Two, Brother Keylor became a longshore worker in Stockton in 1953 and later transferred to the San Francisco local. In 1971 he, along with Brothers Herb Mills and Leo Robinson, and a majority of the Local 10 membership opposed the proposed 1971 contract which codified the 9.43 steadyman system. This led to the longshore strike of 1971-1972, which shut down 56 West Coast ports and lasted 130 days. It was the longest strike in the ILWU’s history.

Like the founders of the ILWU, Brother Keylor seeks to replace capitalism with socialism, a commitment he has maintained all his life. He continues to approach every issue from this perspective. He served on the Local 10 Executive Board and was frequently an elected Caucus and Convention delegate. Brother Keylor was a member of the Militant Caucus, a class struggle rank-and-file ILWU group which published a regular newsletter, the “Longshore Militant”. He later split from the Militant Caucus and published a separate newsletter on his own, the “Militant Longshoreman”. Both called for breaking with the Democratic and Republican Parties, and building a Worker’s Party to Fight for a Worker’s Government.

Brother Keylor has always worked to extend Local 10’s solidarity to other unions and locals. In 1974, he supported the ILWU Local 6 strike at KNC Glass in Union City in which a mass picket line defeated the police and scabs, resulting in a contract for a workforce composed primarily of Mexican-American immigrants. Keylor advocates deliberate defiance of the “slave-labor” Taft-Hartley law through illegal secondary boycotts and pickets by workers.

He worked tirelessly to uphold the ILWU’s proud tradition of militant unionism by participating in protests and boycotts of military cargo bound for the military dictatorship in Chile in 1975 and 1978 and again in 1980 to the military dictatorship in El Salvador.

In 1984, Brother Keylor made the motion, amended by Brother Leo Robinson, which led to the eleven-day longshore boycott of South African cargo on the Nedlloyd Kimberley; and in 1986 he supported the Campaign Against Apartheid’s community picket line against the Nedlloyd Kemba. When Nelson Mandela spoke at the Oakland Coliseum in 1990 after his release from prison, he credited Local 10’s actions with re-igniting the anti-Apartheid movement here.

He also supported the 1974 and 2010 ILWU Boron miners’ strikes and the 1987 Inlandboatmen’s Union strike shutting down the Bay Area ports and mobilizing boatmen and longshoremen to march onto the Redwood City docks to drive out the scabs from other unions.

Even after he retired from active longshore work in 1988, Brother Keylor continued his activism on behalf of the working class and the oppressed. In 1999, he helped organize the coastwide shutdown in defense of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the United States’ foremost political prisoner. ILWU Local 10 workers and the drill team led 25,000 people on a march through the streets of San Francisco. Later in the year he marched with the Local 10 contingent in the Battle of Seattle, the mass protests against the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Throughout his life, Brother Keylor extended solidarity where it was needed, including taking action against racist police murders and fascist terror, defending abortion clinics, and supporting survivors of psychiatric abuse. He witnessed psychiatric torture while working at the notorious Stockton State Hospital in 1949-51. He also witnessed members of his family become victims of electroshock and forced drugging. Having grown up in Appalachia, he has always been an environmentalist, and in recent years helped shut down a Monsanto facility in Davis in 2012, as well as fighting pesticide use and deforestation in the East Bay.

Brother Keylor used his experience and insights to help organize picketing and marches during the PMA lockout in 2002; and in 2010 and 2014, to protest Israel’s massacre of Palestinians in Gaza, he used his experience to help organize successful pickets against Israeli ZIM Lines container ships.

In 2015, as he was approaching 90, he took part in Local 10’s protest at the APL terminal and later in downtown Oakland to protest racist police killings; and in August 2017 he supported Local 10’s anti-fascist action in San Francisco. The following day he participated in the anti-fascist demonstration in Berkeley. Brother Keylor had done this before: in 1980, the Militant Caucus called for a mass mobilization to stop the American Nazi Party from holding a rally at San Francisco Civic Center. Like Local 10’s call in 2017, the mobilization in 1980 succeeded in stopping the fascists.

In light of his contributions to the international labor movement, Local 10 voted the following resolution to honor Brother Keylor for his years of service to the working class and the oppressed: