Calendar

9896
Jan
27
Sat
SF Bay Area Interfaith Drone Warfare Conference @ Pacific School of Religion
Jan 27 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

This interfaith gathering includes presentations, three half-hour videos, and Q&A time to inform faith communities and others about the dangers and realities of drone warfare. Action suggestions for followup.

Panel Presenters include:

Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law. The former president of the National Lawyers Guild and criminal defense attorney is a legal scholar, political analyst and social critic who is editor and contributor to Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues.

Lisa Hajjar, is a professor of sociology at the University of California – Santa Barbara, with courtesy appointments in Global and International Studies, and Middle East Studies. She 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, is a former technical sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. She is featured in the heralded documentary National Bird, which, according to The Washington Post, is “artful, profoundly unsettling.” In an article for The Guardian, Ling noted how little the public knew about the U.S. drone program and its consequences.

Two films produced by the Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare for 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?

64116
Divest from Fossil Fuels/Invest in a Healthy Future @ North Berkeley Library
Jan 27 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Workshop: Divest from Fossil Fuels/Invest in a Healthy Future

Join us for a workshop on the whys and hows of personal divestment from fossil fuels —  a powerful tool in the struggle for climate justice. This 90-minute workshop will explain why fossil fuel divestment matters, the role divestment has played in civil rights movements throughout history, and how you can do it! This workshop is for everyone even if you are thinking about opening your first bank account or have been investing for many years, according to a study published by Libertex Erfahrungen.

We will be debuting an ongoing divestment mentorship program that can continue to provide information and support beyond the workshop. Come get connected and join the divestment movement for a more beautiful world.

 

We will meet in the community room downstairs from the main library room.

This workshop is sponsored by Fossil Free CA. http://fossilfreeca.org/

Info/RSVP

64118
Build Your Own Internet: discussion, demos, hands-on workshops @ Omni Commons
Jan 27 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
What if the internet wasn’t about connecting to Comcast, AT&T, Google, or Facebook?
What if it meant connecting directly with your friends, neighbors, and community…?Let’s discuss how the internet works, how to build your own, and talk about existing community network projects like the Oakland-based People’s Open Network.
2:00pm Introduction
2:15pm Panel discussion: Net neutrality is dead — or is it?
3:00pm Hands-on workshops and demos
5:00pm End / clean up
64182
Jan
31
Wed
Youth-led Rally Against Coal in Oakland @ Street Academy
Jan 31 @ 3:15 pm – 5:15 pm

Join a youth-led and youth -organized rally to show Phil Tagami and the City of Oakland that the youth will not stand for coal in their city. Youth will be there to make some noise and oppose coal in the Oakland Bulk and Over-sized Terminal.

Tagami, developer of the Oakland Bulk and Oversize Terminal, is suing the city of Oakland for blocking his plan to export coal. The City Council unanimously voted to block the coal terminal to protect the health and safety of Oakland residents, especially the residents of West Oakland, where coal trains would have spewed toxic coal dust on their way to the port.

A three-day trial over the lawsuit ended January 19 without a clear signal from Judge Vince Chhabria as to how he will rule. Chhabria’s ruling is not expected until after he has had a chance to review post-trial briefs and other papers to be filed by the parties in the coming weeks and holds a final hearing tentatively set for March 28.

In the meantime, the fight against coal in Oakland continue

WHERE

Start at Street Academy 417 29th St, Oakland
March on Broadway to Oakland City Hall

Hosted by New Voices are Rising

 

64228
Free Ahed Tamimi!
Jan 31 @ 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

January 31st is Ahed Tamimi’s 17th Birthday.

She is sitting in an Israeli military prison for slapping Israeli soldiers. Her cousin had been shot in the head by a rubber coated steel bullet!

Release her now! Drop all charges!

64245
Feb
1
Thu
Restore the Vote: Overturning Voter Suppression
Feb 1 @ 12:00 am – 1:00 am
This workshop will provide the context for the Voting Restoration & Democracy Act of 2018, including essential understanding of voter suppression history in the United States and California. Learn concrete actions you can take over the next several months to help restore voting rights to 162,000 incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals in California. This effort is led by Initiate Justice.

More information can be found here:
http://www.surjbayarea.org/restore-the-vote-20180201

64201
Feb
2
Fri
United Against White Supremacy Symposium @ Berkeley School of Law, Booth Auditorium
Feb 2 @ 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Racism has been the blueprint and the foundation of the United States since its inception. Over centuries of struggle, the United States has been pushed to evolve on this issue and in many ways the Bay Area has led the charge to provide progressive models of social and legal equity and inclusion. Nevertheless, white supremacy continues to operate in the Bay Area both covertly and increasingly, overtly.
Now, the Berkeley Journal of African American Law and Policy, Asian American Law Journal, La Raza Law Journal, and Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Law have come together to co-sponsor a joint symposium entitled United Against White Supremacy.
This symposium will be a space to examine and discuss how white supremacy operates in our daily lives. In particular, the symposium will convene panels addressing gentrification, affirmative action, immigration, and incarceration. These panels will provide forums to develop new ways of thinking and legal strategies to confront and dismantle white supremacy.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
  • Richard Rothstein, Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy Senior Fellow; Economic Policy Institute Research Associate; Author of The Color of Law
  • Ian Haney-López, Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at Berkeley; Haas Institute Racial Politics Project Director; Author of Dog Whistle Politics
  • Eva Paterson, Equal Justice Society President and Co-Founder
PANELISTS
Combating the Bay Area’s Housing Crisis
  • Melissa Colon, moderator, East Bay Community Law Center Disrupting Displacement Project Manager
  • Rachel Gottfired-Clancy, Defend Aunti Frances Campaign Organizer
  • Hillary Ronen, San Francisco City Supervisor
Immigration, Race, and Mass Deportation
  • Leti Volpp, moderator, Robert D. and Leslie Kay Raven Professor of Law at Berkeley; UC Berkeley Center for Race and Gender Director
  • Zahra Billoo, Council on American Islamic Relations Executive Director
  • Prerna Lal, East Bay Community Law Center Staff Immigration Staff Attorney, Clinical Supervisor; UC Berkeley Undocumented Student Program Staff Attorney
  • Paul Chavez, Centro Legal de la Raza Executive Director
Challenging The New Jim Crow and Mass Incarceration
  • Andrea Roth, moderator, Assistant Professor of Law at Berkeley
  • Jonathan Simon, Adrian A. Kragen Professor of Law at Berkeley; Center for the Study of Law and Society Director
  • Sajid Khan, Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender Deputy Public Defender
  • Dorsey Nunn, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children Executive Director
The Changing Role of Race in Affirmative Action
  • David Oppenheimer, moderator, Clinical Professor of Law at Berkeley; Thelton E. Henderson Center Co-Faculty Director
  • Thelton Henderson, US District Court for the Northern District of California Senior United States District Judge
  • Nancy Leong, Professor of Law at Sturm College of Law
  • Angela Onwauchi-Willig, Chancellor’s Professor of Law at Berkeley
SCHEDULE
  • 8:30 – 9:00 AM: Registration and Breakfast
  • 9:00 – 10:00 AM: Welcome & Opening Keynote: Richard Rothstein (1 CLE credit)
  • 10:15 – 11:15 AM: Panel: Combating the Bay Area’s Housing Crisis (1 CLE credit)
  • 11:30 – 12:30 PM: Panel: Immigration, Race, and Mass Deportation (1 CLE credit)
  • 12:30 – 2:00 PM: Lunch & Keynote – Professor Ian Haney-López (1 CLE credit)
  • 2:15 – 3:15 PM: Panel: Challenging The New Jim Crow and Mass Incarceration (1 CLE credit)
  • 3:30 – 4:30 PM: Panel: The Changing Role of Race in Affirmative Action (1 CLE credit)
  • 4:30 – 5:15 PM: Closing Keynote: Eva Paterson (0.75 CLE credit)
  • 5:30 – 6:00 PM: Reception
64237
Feb
5
Mon
STOP DEPORTATIONS Demonstration @ ICE San Francisco
Feb 5 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

STOP DEPORTATION DEMONSTRATIONS
at ICE immigration holding center (deportations)

Mondays and Wednesdays 4 – 6 pm

Let’s build a permanent presence at I.C.E. to stop the deportations.
Bring signs, Spread widely.

64278
Feb
7
Wed
STOP DEPORTATIONS Demonstration @ ICE San Francisco
Feb 7 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

STOP DEPORTATION DEMONSTRATIONS
at ICE immigration holding center (deportations)

Mondays and Wednesdays 4 – 6 pm

Let’s build a permanent presence at I.C.E. to stop the deportations.
Bring signs, Spread widely.

64278
Feb
8
Thu
Rally Against Offshore Drilling @ North Steps of the California State Capitol Building
Feb 8 @ 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm

Trump recently announced his disastrous plan to hand over all of America’s oceans—including the Pacific—to rapacious oil companies.   This means they will be able to expand offshore drilling off the California coast for the first time in over 30 years.   On February 8th, join the Center for Biological Diversity and its allies to tell the administration that offshore drilling—and the oil spills, pipelines and climate chaos that come with it—are unwelcome off our beautiful coast.

Offshore drilling is a nightmare for people and the planet:  it poisons our oceans, covers our beaches in oil, and directly threatens California’s booming coastal economy.  It also deepens our dependence on fossil fuels, driving climate change that accelerates sea level rise and fuels wildfires.

But the fight to protect the California coast from new offshore drilling isn’t over yet.  Let’s show Trump and his oil cronies what resistance looks like to their unending quest to wreck the planet.

Please attend this rally, press conference and march!  And also be sure to submit comments in opposition before the early March deadline.

SACRAMENTO RALLY AND MARCH

At 2:30 pm we’ll march to the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria (828 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814) for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) meeting.
At 3:00 pm we’ll enter the meeting and let BOEM know that we absolutely oppose new drilling  off our coast or in any of our oceans.

RSVP HERE

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

Center for Biological Diversity is organizing buses from the Bay Area:

SAN FRANCISCO BUS TICKET PAGE

OAKLAND BUS TICKET PAGE

Here are some talking points you can use for your comments:

I am writing to urge you to protect our oceans and climate from expanded offshore drilling, and specifically to remove all planning areas from the United States’ five-year leasing proposal. Burning the fossil fuels in the areas currently proposed would contribute 49.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide pollution, the equivalent of the emissions from 10.6 billion cars driven for a year. Expanding offshore drilling will deepen the climate crisis, fueling extreme weather events and driving sea-level rise.  This is a road we cannot afford to go down.  The best science shows that the United States should end offshore oil and gas leasing in all regions, including the Arctic.

Catastrophic oil spills—an inevitable consequence of offshore drilling—destroy coastal communities and devastate marine life.  And the federal government has already concluded that there would be a 75 percent chance of a major oil spill if development and production in the Chukchi Sea moved forward under even a single large lease sale.  A major oil spill in the Arctic would be impossible to clean up.

That’s why I’m adamantly opposed to more offshore drilling, and so is the American public.  More than 150 municipalities on the West and East coasts have formally voiced opposition to offshore drilling.  And polls show that the majority of Americans support permanently protecting the Arctic Ocean from new oil and gas drilling.  What’s more, defense experts warn that Arctic drilling threatens national security, and keeping the eastern Gulf of Mexico off-limits to new drilling is critical to U.S. military readiness.

 

64229
Feb
12
Mon
STOP DEPORTATIONS Demonstration @ ICE San Francisco
Feb 12 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

STOP DEPORTATION DEMONSTRATIONS
at ICE immigration holding center (deportations)

Mondays and Wednesdays 4 – 6 pm

Let’s build a permanent presence at I.C.E. to stop the deportations.
Bring signs, Spread widely.

64278
Feb
14
Wed
STOP DEPORTATIONS Demonstration @ ICE San Francisco
Feb 14 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

STOP DEPORTATION DEMONSTRATIONS
at ICE immigration holding center (deportations)

Mondays and Wednesdays 4 – 6 pm

Let’s build a permanent presence at I.C.E. to stop the deportations.
Bring signs, Spread widely.

64278
Feb
16
Fri
LUNAR NEW YEAR PICKET AT OAKS CORNER! @ Oaks Corner
Feb 16 @ 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm

The Oaks Card Club earned $27 million in gross gaming revenue through various gaming platforms including the best solitaire app around last year. But Oaks Corner (also owned by John Tibbetts) has not increased its contribution to workers’ health care since 2011. The result is that dishwashers, janitors and servers – many of whom earn at or near Emeryvillle’s minimum wage – must pay over $500 per month for family medical coverage through their employer.

Join the workers on the picket line to celebrate Lunar New Year and fight for affordable health care!

64309
Mar
16
Fri
Emergency protest in response to reported Berkeley ICE arrests. @ Old City Hall
Mar 16 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

64442
Mar
18
Sun
Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library READING CAPITAL VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ONE @ Niebyl Proctor Library
Mar 18 @ 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Before we even start, let’s remember Marx’s warning to “those readers who zealously seek the truth. There is no royal road to science, and only those who do not dread the fatiguing climb of its steep paths have a chance of gaining its luminous summits.” Our discussion will get as for into Chapter One as possible. We will read, paragraph by paragraph from the Penguin edition (translated by Ben Fowkes, 1976).)

Seating is limited, so plan to come early. We start promptly.
FREE – but hat will be passed for donations to NPML

About Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library
A weekly discussion series inspired by our respect for the work of Karl Marx and our belief that his work will remain as important for the class struggles of the future as they have been for the past.

For our full schedule, go to icssmarx.org

icss-fly-2018-03-18-read_cap-1.pdf_600_.jpg

64419
Mar
19
Mon
Say No Tar Sands in the Bay Area @ Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Mar 19 @ 8:00 am – 12:00 pm

RSVP through 350 Bay Area here or on Facebook here.

For the last several years, the Bay Area has been part of an international movement to stop the expansion of the tar sands. We’ve supported efforts led by Indigenous peoples across North America against Keystone XL, Line 3, Energy East, and Kinder Morgan. All of these projects would dramatically increase the amount of dirty oil extracted, transported, and burned around the world. These tar sands projects impact all of us — and now it’s time to fight against this expansion in our own backyard.

2017 was a year of drought and fires for the Bay Area and much of California. Already, we’re seeing the real impacts that climate change creates for our communities — from burned homes, losss of agricultural land, job loss, and mass displacement in an area where we’re already facing extremely high cost of living.

If we’re going to truly address this climate crisis, we must demand that our local decision makers reject all new oil, gas, and coal projects, and move rapidly to a just and equitable 100% renewable energy future.

Please join us on Monday to send a message to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and say NO to tar sands.

64445
Mar
20
Tue
Demand OPD Charge Mateu for Sahleem’s Murder @ Oakland Police HQ
Mar 20 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

We’ve all seen the video! How is it that BART police officer Joseph Mateu has not already been charged with the murder of Sahleem Tindle, after he shot the 28 year old in the back three times? OPD is responsible for the investigation of this murder, since it happened outside of BART property, across from West Oakland BART. Join us to demand that OPD do their job and charge Mateu for murder. Arrest him now!

Sahleem Tindle was murdered by BART Police Officer Joseph Mateu on January 3, 2018. He is now back on the job, after only a two week leave. The family demands: fire, arrest, charge and prosecute Joseph Mateu!

64429
Mar
23
Fri
Capture the Movement Workshop @ Oakland Peace Center
Mar 23 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Join us for a two hour photography workshop by activist and photographer Brooke Anderson. Whether you’re using your iPhone or a DSLR, through this workshop you will have the opportunity to:

• reflect on the role of photography in social movements and visual storytelling
• learn key principles of composition, lightening, exposure
• explore the settings and various “tips and tricks” on your camera phone
• practice taking portraits and get feedback
• discuss key issues around consent, representation, legal rights, etc.

Brooke Anderson is a social movement organizer and photographer based in Oakland, CA. Check out her work @ https://www.facebook.com/movementphotographer/.

There is a suggested donation of $10 from any interested activists to help cover the costs of the event. Please email tia@oaklandpeacecenter.org to register.

64459
Mar
24
Sat
March for Our Lives San Francisco Rally @ Civic Center plaza square between Polk St. & McAllister St. & 9th St. & Grove St.
Mar 24 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Solidarity Rally at the Civic Center

Instead of crying they are speaking. Instead of mourning they are protesting. And instead of waiting, the children of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are begging for our help.

We must stand with them and #MarchForOurLives

Mission Statement of March for Our Lives:

Not one more. We cannot allow one more child to be shot at school. We cannot allow one more teacher to make a choice to jump in front of a firing assault rifle to save the lives of students. We cannot allow one more family to wait for a call or text that never comes. Our schools are unsafe. Our children and teachers are dying. We must make it our top priority to save these lives.

March For Our Lives is created by, inspired by, and led by students across the country who will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of mass school shootings that has become all too familiar. In the tragic wake of the seventeen lives brutally cut short in Florida, politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk about guns. March For Our Lives believes the time is now.

On March 24, the kids and families of March For Our Lives will take to the streets of Washington, DC to demand that their lives and safety become a priority. The collective voices of the March For Our Lives movement will be heard.

School safety is not a political issue. There cannot be two sides to doing everything in our power to ensure the lives and futures of children who are at risk of dying when they should be learning, playing, and growing. The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues. No special interest group, no political agenda is more critical than timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.

Every kid in this country now goes to school wondering if this day might be their last. We live in fear.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Change is coming. And it starts now, inspired by and led by the kids who are our hope for the future. Their young voices will be heard.

Stand with us on March 24. Refuse to allow one more needless death.

MARCH FOR OUR LIVES!

https://www.marchforourlives.com

64473
Mar
27
Tue
WE CAN END URBAN SHIELD! All Out to Stop Militarized Policing in the Bay Area @ Alameda County Administration Bldg
Mar 27 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Rally & Press Conference to Urge Vote to DEFUND Urban Shield

10am – Rally & Press Conference
11am – Supervisors Meeting & Urban Shield Vote

Join the Stop Urban Shield Coalition at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors meeting, where they will be voting on the Sheriff’s request to fund Urban Shield 2018. We are organizing to ensure they say NO! We want real, community-based preparedness for emergencies. Police militarization is not the answer.

We recently learned that Sheriff Ahern hosted ICE at the 2017 Urban Shield! We must turn out all our communities for this crucial vote. Alameda County must resist this blatant collusion with the horrific Trump and Sessions administration, and need to act on ending the racist tactics, and technologies being spread by Urban Shield.

It has only become clearer that Urban Shield does not provide disaster preparedness for the Bay Area. At the most recent Board meeting where AC Supervisors heard back from the Task Force assigned to evaluate Urban Shield, Sheriff Ahern demonstrated open disregard for the terms put in place by the Board to curb some of the program’s blatant racism and violence. Urban Shield clearly can not be reformed and must be defunded.

Take Action! Here’s how you can help.
Stop Urban Shield:

1) Come out on Tuesday, March 27th for our rally and press conference, and plan to stay so we pack the room during the Board of Supervisors vote on Urban Shield. The Board meeting starts at 11am and will likely go for a few hours. Please plan to stay a while or come late in order to make public comment if you can’t arrive by 10am.

2) Call and email the Board of Supervisors on Monday, March 26th. Here’s a sample script and their contact information that you can use:

Dear Supervisor _________, I am calling to urge you and your fellow Supervisors to take leadership in putting an end to the harmful and controversial Urban Shield program in Alameda County. On Tuesday, March 27th, you will be asked to decide whether to authorize funding for the Sheriff to hold Urban Shield in 2018.. By rejecting this, Alameda County can be a leader in prioritizing true community preparedness that is not based on fear and militarization. Despite your guidelines and community concerns, Sheriff Ahern has repeatedly demonstrated complete disregard for very serious concerns, most recently shown when he hosted both ICE and the Oath Keepers at last year’s Urban Shield. I urge you to take action by saying no to the authorization of any funding for Urban Shield. Thank you.

Supervisor Haggerty // josh.thurman@acgov.org (510) 272-6691
Supervisor Valle // cinthya.munozramos@acgov.org (510) 272-6692
Supervisor Chan //dave.brown @acgov.org (510) 272-6693
Supervisor Miley // kamika.dunlap@acgov.org (510) 670-5962
Supervisor Carson // shahidah.lacy@acgov.org (510) 272-6695

3) Spread the word! Let all the people in your networks know that with a powerful turnout and strong community pressure, we can end Urban Shield once and for all on March 27th.

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