Calendar

When a young man mysteriously dies in Santa Rita jail, his mother, Barbara Doss, begins a determined quest to find out what happened to him, but quickly runs into the opaque and powerful position of American sheriffs..

Oakland International Film Festival

(Followed by the feature documentary Decade of Fire, about the history of the South Bronx)

$15 (tickets)

Communities for A Better Environment (CBE) presents…

East Oakland Toxic Tour
11 AM sharp

RSVP>>

Please bring your own water bottles, and pen and dress weather pending, bring sun visors, umbrellas, sunscreen, etc.

Get together with other filmmakers, writers, and actors in the area to co-create amateur scripts and films together.

All skill-levels are welcome. No equipment or experience required.

Bring light snacks and drinks.

***Please bring ideas, but this is NOT a pitch night or a recruiting social for you existing project. The point is to find out what we can create together.

Forty years ago this summer, in 1979, Warner Bros released “Boulevard Nights,” a film that centers around a fatherless Mexican-American family living in East Los Angeles.  The Avila family. Two brothers, Raymond and Chuco, on opposite sides of the spectrum, along with their hard-working mother, will face their greatest challenge when the younger brother, Chuco, is seduced by the gangster lifestyle while seeking acceptance and a sense of identity. As Raymond’s relationship with his girlfriend deepens, he takes steps toward building himself a future. But all that is thrown into jeopardy when tragedy strikes and a gang war erupts.

For the past four decades, the film has been held in such high regard for its cultural importance that in 2017, “Boulevard Nights” was inducted into the National Film Registry, which recognizes films of “cultural, historical or aesthetic significance.” It was the first major studio film to heavily represent low-riding culture, a distinct and significant part of the Latinx experience.

The film stars Richard Yñiguez (Raymond Avila), Danny De La Paz (Chuco Avila), and Betty Carvalho (Mrs. Avila).

After film discussion led by Miguel Molina of Flashpoints and La Onda Bajita.

THE
Program:
Guest artist musical introduction

speakers :-
Gerald Smith – Organizer for Oscar Grant Committee and Mumia Ab Jamal

Steve Zeltzer- Host of WORK WEEK KPFA and Labor Fest SF and Labor Video Project. Organizer for many spirited demos at Federal Building, Brittish, ,Austrialian and Equadorian consulates in support of Chelsea and Julian.

Cecile Pineda -Poet Actress Code Pink

Ricardo Ortiz- Past and founding member of Frente Socialism de Puerto Rico Collaborator Labor Fest SF.

5th Speaker TBA.

Our Aim in this forum is to continue and deepen the discussion on how Chelsea and Julian have helped build more awareness of who the real enemy is and who are our real friends and how important Chelsea and Julian are to our survival.
. We can do this by our speakers presenting their analyses of how very important they truly are .

After the presentation, special guest music interlude, followed by audience participation: 2 minutes each, questions and/or comments on furthering the struggle.

Join APTP in offering hot food, drinks, snacks, and solidarity to releasees and visitors at Santa Rita Jail!

Let us know you’ll be there by sending us a text at (510) 686-3284.

Prisons function to repress, warehouse and extract labor from primarily those of us who are Black or poor. We believe that solidarity is a weapon of resistance, and that we must respond to the basic needs of our community while also confronting state terror.

In honor of Dujuan Armstrong Jr. who entered Santa Rita Jail for a weekend sentence and never came home, APTP is providing material support and direct care to folks at Santa Rita Jail as a small but meaningful way to address the harm caused by incarceration in our community. We do not positively engage with the racist pigs who work at the jail, as they are willing agents of the state that criminalizes and incarcerates us.

We’d love to see you there! Meet APTP outside of the Lake Merritt BART Station at 4pm – we’ll drive out to the jail together from there. All are welcome, no experience required.

The Film “The Wanted 18”

Through a clever mix of stop motion animation and interviews, The Wanted 18 recreates an astonishing true story:

The Israeli army’s pursuit of 18 cows, whose independent milk production on a Palestinian collective farm was declared “a threat to the national security of the state of Israel.”

In response to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, a group of people from the town of Beit Sahour decide to buy 18 cows and produce their own milk as a co-operative. Their venture is so successful that the collective farm becomes a landmark, and the cows local celebrities–until the Israeli army takes note and declares that the farm is an illegal security threat.

Consequently, the dairy is forced to go underground, the cows continuing to produce their “Intifada milk” with the Israeli army in relentless pursuit.

Recreating the story of the “wanted 18” from the perspectives of the Beit Sahour activists, Israeli military officials, and the cows, Palestinian artist Amer Shomali and veteran Canadian director Paul Cowan create an enchanting, inspirational tribute to the ingenuity and power of grassroots activism. (The film is 75 minutes long)

Discussion:
Palestinian activist Leena Dallasheh has been active in the struggle for freedom and justice in Palestine for many years. She will share about her experience in this struggle and about her time in the Zapatista Caracol of Oventic this summer. Ms. Dallasheh will present some thoughts about the the common challenges indigenous people experience in both places, the commonalities between the Zapatista and Palestinian struggles, and the potential of solidarity work between the two.

Members of the Chiapas Support Committee will share information about Zapatista autonomy.

Requested Donation: $5-$10 (Sliding scale. No one turned away for lack of funds.)

For more information:
www.chiapas-support.org

Offside is a 2006 film directed by Jafar Panahi. If you are a woman, you are forbidden from watching a soccer game in a stadium in Iran. Offside is the story of a group of women who decided to go anyway.
Offside is a work of fiction, but on Sept. 9, 2019, an Iranian woman, 29-year-old Sahar Khodayari, a soccer fan died. She had been arrested in March for “appearing in public without a hijab” when she attempted to enter the stadium “dressed as a man” to see a game. When she learned she could face 6 months in jail, she set herself on fire and died two weeks later. She is known as #BlueGirl and her death has sparked an international outcry demanding that the ban be overturned.

In this academy-award-winning documentary, viewers are transported to the front lines of the class struggle as militant striking coal miners and their families in Southeastern Kentucky go to battle against their tyrannical bosses.

Even today, workers in Harlan County are fighting back. This summer, miners employed at the Blackjewel Mine camped out on the railroad tracks to demand their stolen wages. https://www.labornotes.org/2019/07/kentucky-miners-are-camped-out-railroad-tracks-blocking-coal-train-demanding-their-stolen

ABOUT SOCIALIST NIGHT SCHOOL
Socialist Night School is a rolling open course that provides opportunities for East Bay DSA members to ground their political work in the rich theoretical and historical traditions of the socialist left.

Classes are down-to-earth, inclusive spaces that give East Bay comrades a chance to grow their politics together, regardless of background knowledge or affiliation. You don’t have to have been to a night school before and you don’t have to RSVP to join us! You don’t even have to be a member of East Bay DSA—everyone is welcome.

The Cambodian American community is under attack by ICE AGAIN. ICE is scheduling check-ins for Cambodian Americans with deportation orders on October 3rd at the San Francisco ICE building. WE NEED TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY FROM DEPORTATION. We are hosting a rally in support of impacted folks and their families who have check-ins that day. This is a nationwide collective action in support of other Cambodian community members that have check-ins.

Hosted by Asian Prisoner Support Committee – APSC

Facebook

join our call on October 3rd and then invite a friend?

Over 7.6 million and counting took action during this past week of Global Climate Strikes. This is one of the largest coordinated global protests in history – and many of you were part of this historic event. More than 6,100 events were held in 185 countries with the support of 8,500 websites, 3,000 companies, and 73 Trade Unions. We truly demonstrated the power of our movement.

But, participating in the biggest climate mobilization in history is simply not enough. We have the momentum, and we need you to help us turn this moment into a tipping point. As the science about the climate crisis becomes more dire and urgent, our movement must take bold, escalated action to build political will and local solutions for the transformation we need.

On Thursday, October 3rd at 8 PM ET/ 5 PM PT, we are hosting a next steps call in the United States called: We Are Unstoppable: Building a Movement to Shut Down Fossil Fuels. We will discuss our ongoing campaigns, how to get involved in a local group near you, and share how together, we can make sure the Global Climate Strikes were just the beginning of the end of the age of fossil fuels. Will you join our call on October 3rd and then invite a friend?

To win this fight, we need a movement that’s more powerful than the fossil fuel industry. This work is not easy but we are going to give this everything we’ve got and we hope you will join us in this epic fight for a just and equitable world.

Join our call to find out how you can be a part of the movement fighting for our lives, our families, our communities and our climate.

Relevant Agenda Items:

4. Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OPD – ShotSpotter Impact Report and proposed Use Policy – review and take possible action

Campaign for Community Power to Decide OPD’s Military Equipment

Community Town Hall
Thursday, October 3, 7:00 pm program

First Congregational Church, 2601 Harrison St., Oakland

Many communities are concerned about police departments’ acquisition and deployment of military-grade equipment in events ranging from public protests to parades and service of drug warrants. In Oakland, the use of grenade-like projectiles, armored vehicles, and military-grade assault weapons by OPD officers has resulted in harm to residents, controversy, and costly lawsuits. In March 2018, Oakland police used the tank-like BearCat armored vehicle as a shooting platform and AR-15 rifles in the killing of Joshua Pawlik.

Oakland PD uses force disproportionately against black residents. And several studies conclude that police departments that acquire military-grade equipment are more likely to use violence and are no more successful in reducing crime.

Yet Oakland has no policy for the acquisition or use of militarized equipment. Oakland PD can acquire and use military equipment of all kinds – anywhere, at any time, with no policy for its use or public reporting of what is has or how it is used.

Now Oakland has an opportunity to exercise community control over the militarization of policing in Oakland, by adopting an ordinance that will require approval by the City Council for the acquisition of military equipment, and use policies and reporting for military equipment that OPD has or obtains.

The proposed ordinance will require that the civilian Oakland Police Commission review proposed acquisitions and use policies for armored vehicles, assault weapons, weaponized aircraft, battering rams, sonic weapons, and flashbang grenades. This will apply to equipment that OPD acquires with grants or with purchases from the city budget. The proposal is modeled on Oakland’s surveillance equipment ordinance.

Supporting organizations (list in formation): 67 Sueños; ACLU; American Friends Service Committee; Anti Police Terror Project; CURYJ; Human Impact Partners; Oakland Privacy Working Group; Restore Oakland; Secure Justice; Urban Peace Movement; Urban Strategies.

Contact: John Lindsay-Poland, American Friends Service Committee,
510-282-8983,
jlindsay-poland@afsc.org.

You can examine the draft of the proposed ordinance here. You can download libreoffice for free if you can not read the open document format.

This is the sign-on message being sent to the Oakland City Council.

To: Members of the Oakland City Council and members of the Oakland Police Commission

Dear Council Members and Commissioners:

We urge you to support a local ordinance that empowers the Oakland Police Commission and City Council to protect our communities against unnecessary police militarization and requires transparency for the equipment that the Oakland Police Departments acquires and deploys.

The acquisition and use of military-grade equipment by civilian law enforcement agencies does not reduce crime,1but it does contribute to substantial fear in the community and a warrior mentality among officers. Several studies conclude that police departments that acquire military-grade equipment are morelikely to use violence.2

Last year, Oakland police used aBearCat armored vehicle as a “shooting platform” for officers armed with AR-15 assault rifles. Police used this equipment to kill an unconscious man. During the 2011 Occupy protests, the OPD fired “specialty munitions” atScott Olsen and other activists.Olsen suffered a fractured skull, and his injuries prompted a lawsuit that the City resolved with a $4.5 million settlement. The OPD deploys military-grade equipment during public protests, parades, local street festivals, and while serving warrants.

There is almost no publicly-available information about what military-grade equipment OPD possesses or how it is used. There is no established process for community representatives to set policy for the equipment OPD should use moving forward, and there is little policy in place to provide oversight for the military-grade equipment that the OPD has already acquired.

It’s time for the community to know what equipment OPD has and have a say in whether and how it will be used. The proposed ordinance empowersthe Police Commission to review and approve OPD requests for military-grade acquisitions, and mandates that the OPD submit use policies to the Commission for equipment that the department already has. Oakland has an equivalent ordinance for surveillance equipment that functions well. A similar ordinance on military equipment will provide the City Council, Police Commission and the public with important tools to oversee the police working in our neighborhoods and to place appropriate restrictions on counterproductive uses of militarized equipment.

Oakland has a chance to set a precedent for transparency in the use and acquisition of military-grade weapons for civilian law enforcement. We urge you to advance this legislation.

Sincerely,

Attachment: Draft Proposed Ordinance on Military Equipment

1Jonathan Mummolo, “Militarization fails to enhance police safety or reduce crime but may harm police reputation,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, September 11, 2018 (37) 9181-9186.

2Casey Delehanty, Jack Mewhirter, Ryan Welchand Jason Wilks, “Militarization and police violence: The case of the 1033program,” Research and Politics, April-June 2017, 1-7; and Edward Lawson Jr., “Police Militarization and the Use of Lethal Force,” Political Research Quarterly, 2018, 1-13.

Three documentaries will screen outside on the plaza at National Nurses United headquarters .
The art exhibition “Recognition: Labor Meets Art in Explorations of Social Justice and Identity,” will be open to the public during the screenings.

The films feature three locations where Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN) volunteers have deployed to provide direct relief and response to humanitarian, environmental, and social injustice: Post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, Standing Rock, and rural Arizona. RNRN volunteers will introduce the films with stories of how RNs have intervened to provide direct care in support of social justice.

Undeterred: Border Militarization and Community Resistance

Undeterred is a documentary about community resistance in the rural border town of Arivaca, Arizona. Since NAFTA, 9/11, and the Obama and Trump administrations, border residents have been on the frontlines of the humanitarian crisis caused by escalating border enforcement. This intimate portrait shows how Arivaca residents have mobilized to provide aid to injured, oftentimes dying people traveling across the desert. Directed by Eva Lewis, an Arivaca resident and member of People Helping People in the Border Zone (PHP). Screens as part of “Recognition and Response,” National Nurses United’s fall outdoor documentary film series.

A big event involving tiny houses is coming to Richmond this fall.

The Tiny LIVING Festival California is set to bring tiny homes, vintage campers, con­verted buses (skoolies), tear­drop trailers and more, along with live music and all sorts of family-friendly activities.

The festival will include live music and entertainment, a kids area that includes fun activities with Circus for Pur­pose, speakers, presentations and notable members of the tiny house community.

The event will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Founded by John and Fin Kernohan, the festival serves two main purposes: to raise awareness about the tiny house movement, and to help raise funds for good causes in com­munities where the festivals occur.

This is the 14th tiny house event by the United Tiny House Association that has thus far given over $600,000 in proceeds to over 70 charities, nonprofits and other causes.

For the Richmond festival, the United Tiny House As­sociation has partnered with Richmond-based Tentmakers Inc., a nonprofit that creates innovative affordable housing solutions in the Bay Area.

For more than seven years, the Kernohans have been liv­ing in a 304-square-foot, off-grid home and travel the coun­try their towable 148-square -foot tiny house, called “Tiny Firehouse — Station No. 9,” which is a tribute to firefighters and emergency responders and supports fire station fundrais­ing.