Calendar
We will be meditating on Inauguration Eve at 12 noon at Oscar Grant Plaza. This is a loosely organized event and you are welcome to participate in your own way. We will be meditating silently for an hour, in anticipation of the battle to come.
n honor of Martin Luther King and everyone who’s struggling against the prison industrial complex, the Alameda County Jail Fight Coalition will be holding a noise demo at Santa Rita Jail. This action is organized as part ofAnti Police-Terror Project‘s call for 120 hours of direct action. #120Hours,#HellNawguration, #ReclaimMLK.
Noise demos break the isolation and alienation of cages and is a way of expressing solidarity for people imprisoned and remembering those held captive by the state. This will be a family friendly event and it will not be arrestable. We are holding the event during the Thursday evening jail visiting hours to connect with people who are visiting their loved ones inside.
BRING: pots and pans, non-amplified noisemakers, drums, prayers, music, warm clothes, and signs.
RIDES:
If you need help getting to demo, a caravan will be leaving from Telegraph/20th in Oakland (near the Bank of the West pull off) at 4:30pm.
We will also be running free shuttles from Dublin/Pleasanton BART station to the jail from 5:30-6:15pm.
To reserve a spot in the caravan from Oakland or Shuttle from BART please email emily@ellabakercenter.org.
Buses #1 and #14 also pick up at the Dublin/Pleasonton Bart Station and drop off at Broder Blvd & Santa Rita Jail.
#SantaRitaJailFail #CareNotCages
n support of the call by Anti Police Terror Project for 120 Hours of Protest (from the Martin Luther King holiday through Inauguration Day), Berkeley Copwatch is sponsoring a special KNOW YOUR RIGHTS training to help people get ready to deal with massive police presence in the streets. We will also practice techniques for gathering evidence, challenging racist practices and dealing with police intimidation even after the protests are over.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
– At a protest
– On the street
– When observing and recording
– What/how to document
– Non-violence principles
This event is free and wheelchair accessible.
On January 20th, Donald Trump’s inauguration begins a presidential term marked by outright xenophobia, bigotry, sexism, corporate giveaways and hate-fueled policies. We must reclaim our democracy, and show the nation how the Bay Area stands together to defend our communities and fight for justice. On this historic day, stand shoulder to shoulder with your neighbors, co-workers, and friends to RESIST TRUMP and join the movement to protect our healthcare, public education, civil liberties, unions, and environment. #rebelcitiesrising #J20
8 AM – 12PM Meet at Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco (Embarcadero BART) and march to Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Peter Thiel, ICE, and other groups supporting Trump’s hate-fueled policies. Greeters will be at Justin Herman Plaza anytime between 8AM and 12PM to direct you where to join the march.
11 AM: Children’s March
12 PM: Rally at 555 California St., San Francisco [Trump owned property]
Rallies and marches will be family-friendly!
This event is being organized by Jobs with Justice – San Francisco (jwjsf.org) and Bay Rising (bayrising.org).
NO WORK! NO SCHOOL!
#oaklandJ20 #GeneralStrike #DumpTrump #InaugurationDay
Teach-ins/Workshops, Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner, A Free Store, Speakers and Music
In solidarity with the J20 Strike, the cafe will be closed for business, but will offer free coffee and tea for organizers and people who want to collaborate with local groups to make a difference in our communities. We’ll also be collecting donations for: Standing Rock Water Protectors, Ghost Ship, and a domestic violence resistance org. Details TBA on facebook soon: @alchemycollective
Connecting Racial Justice Organizations with Tech. Resources (part of the All Day Mutual Aid Fair: https://www.facebook.com/
If you’re with a not-for-profit organization or activist/advocacy group working on racial/social justice causes to support, defend, and uplift underserved and marginalized communities throughout the Bay Area and beyond, and could use help from technology resources, we’re here to help!
Fortunately, there are a growing number of people with diverse technical skills – often working in software start-ups and big tech companies, or as independent freelancers – who would gladly volunteer their time to support your technology needs upon request, for things like:
– Website set-up, hosting, and management
– Email newsletter setup and membership management tools
– How to create a crowdfunding page
– How to create and promote Facebook events
– File and document management & other cloud services
– Basic computer/wifi/website troubleshooting
Whether you work with a social justice organization or are a tech. specialist looking to volunteer, stop by our booth on #J20 for more information and to sign-up!
Are you a tech. person and able to volunteer at the event? Sign-up here:https://docs.google.com/
NO WORK! NO SCHOOL!
#oaklandJ20 #GeneralStrike #DumpTrump #InaugurationDay
A public interfaith ritual to give voice to the grief over our loss of faith in our nation’s public institutions and systems, looking toward a resurrection of hope through solidarity and community to strive for the world we imagine.
In light of the inauguration of a fascist, and in the week that we officially remember the radical legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., we seek to connect the dreams of our past with the hopes for our future.
This is a space to bring your grief, your tears, your mourning and anger, and to hold each other in love and healing. Together we will honor our feelings and honor our spiritual practices of hope. There will be chaplains on hand for those who wish to speak with one.
Everyone is encouraged to wear white (or other funeral garb for your tradition) and bring candles for the procession.
If you are clergy of any faith, wear garments that signify your affiliation.
The plan:
Gather at Oscar Grant Plaza (14th and Broadway, Downtown Oakland) at 5pm.
Procession at 5:30 in a mournful, solemn tone to Interplayce (2273 Telegraph), with stops for prayer and lamentation along the way in places that are historically significant for the movement for black lives and other struggles for justice.
Arrive at Interplayce around 6:30 pm for Interfaith Requiem Liturgy.
About the organizers:
We are an ad-hoc group of seminarians of many faiths studying at the Graduate Theological Union and our friends. We are committed to providing an anti-oppressive spiritual space for people to mourn. We welcome feedback and participation from people of all spiritual and religious backgrounds. We conceived of this liturgy in response to the grief that we and others in our many communities have felt following the election. We would love to hear in the comments section about what you, personally, are mourning and grieving right now.
Join women and allies across the country to stand for human rights, civil liberties, and social justice for all, on the day after the inauguration. Marches in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose will join the national Women’s March in Washington DC. The call to the national Women’s March describes its purpose as to “stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families – recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country.”
The call continues: “In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new government in their first day in office, and to the world, that women’s rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.
“We support the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities. We call on all defenders of human rights to join us. This march is the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society. We work peacefully while recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all.”
More information on the national Women’s March here
The Women’s March mission statement includes a commitment to nonviolence with a detailed description including, “attack forces of evil not persons doing evil” and “avoid internal violence of the spirit,” as well as embracing the concept of creating a “beloved community.”
Complete statement on nonviolence here
This will be a family-friendly event to protest the inauguration of Trump.
We urgently need a movement to fight racism, sexism, homophobia, and Islamophobia!
– No Border Wall! Stop the deportations of undocumented immigrants!
– Tax rich millionaires like Trump! Fund healthcare for all! Make college free!
– Black Lives Matter!
– End rape culture — #PussyGrabsBack
– Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline — Green Jobs now! — #NoDAPL
The Democratic Party establishment claimed to be our only defense against Trump and the right wing. They have failed and now it’s time to create our own movement that can boldly fight against right-wing attacks on our rights and on our lives. It’s time to build a new party of the 99%, a mass organization which both runs in electi
We, in Berkeley and our surrounding cities, are joining others around the world on January 21 in championing human rights. The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us – immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and those of diverse religious faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault – and our communities are hurting and scared. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.
In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March in UC/Berkeley will send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights. We will stand together exercising our freedom of speech and of assembly , recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending us all.
We would appreciate support from your organization and would love for you to join us in our Women’s March in UC/Berkeley. We are reaching out to mobilize all defenders of human rights. We hope it will be giant step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We invite all groups participating to bring signs honoring their organization and showing that we, as collective people, honor inclusiveness and human rights. This is not an “anti-Trump” event as we don’t wish to be defined and limited by him. Polarizing or hateful messages are respectfully discouraged. Our goal is to leave this event feeling empowered with a strong sense of community as we stand in strength and solidarity with each other.
he Women’s March is a national movement to unite everyone who stands for human rights, civil liberties, and social justice. There will be marches in D.C. and around the country, including in Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose and other communities/towns/cities in the Bay Area.
San Francisco: 3:00-5:00 Rally at Civic Center, followed by 5:00-8:00 Candlelight march To Chelsea Manning Plaza (previously Justin Hermann Plaza)
The march represents the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families — recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country.
As Donald Trump enters office as the 45th President of the United States, what might this mean for U.S. involvement in the Middle East and North Africa, including military involvement, economic ties, and diplomatic endeavors? Join CMES faculty affiliates and community members in an informal moderated conversation about what we might expect in the first 100 days and beyond.
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
Father River Sims and Philip O’Donnell:
Working with the Homeless
The way River Sims tells his horror stories, calmly, barely raising his voice, poised like the Anglican priest he is, makes them seem all the more ugly by contrast. “He’s third-generation homeless,” says Sims, speaking in tones members of Old San Francisco might use to speak of their lineage. “His mother shot him up with heroin for the first time when he was 8 years old.”
Father Christian River Sims has been working with San Francisco’s homeless, junkies and sex workers, primarily in the Polk, Haight and Civic Center areas, for the past 22 years. His ministry, which he calls Temenos Catholic Worker (temenos is Greek for that which is abandoned, cut off or separated), is really just Sims, working out of a sparsely furnished one-bedroom apartment crammed with the things that he needs for his work. Sims exchanges 2,000 needles a week, which he gets from the Prevention Point needle exchange program. He also distributes condoms, clothing socks aree a big draw with the rainy weather and as much advice as people ask him for, about drug rehab or shelters or where the free showers are or anything else a street survivor might want to know.
Everyone knows Sims. He knows all their stories. He never gives them money, so they don’t ask. “I must have spent $8,000 on pizza the first year I was out here, trying to gain their trust,” Sims laughs. He survives on donations, gets food from the Food Bank, lives on less than $800 per month himself. It’s his life, usually five or six nights a week, from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m.
Presenting with Father Sims is a young man he works with, Phillip O’Donnell, who is writing a book “Rise from the Mud� Breathe.” “My name is Phillip O’Donnell. I’m 22 years old and homeless here in San Francisco. Homeless with purpose. I have been trying to get an SRO, but the waiting lists are long and space is scarce. In the meantime, I sleep on the streets, Golden Gate Park, and when luck comes my way, a hostel or a generous person’s apartment. Although I am surviving, the lack of consistency makes it extremely difficult to move forward especially when the tendrils of my depression strike at my soul… Upon receiving housing, I plan to work for one of the organizations providing the services that are critical to my survival. I want to contribute to the effort to end homelessness as well as meet more people facing homelessness and learn their story in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the root causes of homelessness. Homelessness is, in part, a consequence of the flaws in the design of our civilization. If we can illuminate these flaws and how our civilizational design creates homelessness, we can make more effective efforts to help people get on their feet and keep others from facing this hardship. Also, I will continue working on publishing my first novel, Rise from the Mud, Breathe, and finish my college education.
As San Francisco contends with its growing population of people pushed out of housing and onto the streets, its mentally ill and people in need, Father River Sims can help orient and guide us as to how we can be most useful and take responsibility for our sisters and brothers on the streets.
Time will be allotted for announcements.
Donations to Occupy Forum to cover costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
Rally. Hear from seniors, people with disabilities and families who would be affected by repeal of the ACA and cuts to Medicaid.
Then Come to the Health Care Action Center
10:30 AM – 2:00 PM Lighthouse for the Blind, 1155 Market St., 10th Fl, San Francisco
or
Noon – 2:00 PM, Movement Strategy Center, 436 14th St., Oakland
Drop in to learn about ACA repeal and proposed Medicaid cuts, call member of Congress, share on social media, and make your voice heard.
Coordinated by Senior & Disability Action, Hand in Hand, SEIU Local 21, Independent Living Resource Center and Rapid Response Network.
Donald Trump is on a collision course with millions of people. He’s threatened to deport 2-3 million immigrants and to target Muslim immigrants for “extreme vetting.” Women’s reproductive health, democratic rights, and workers rights are all under threat. People are understandably afraid. But also, huge numbers of people are prepared to resist.
Trump’s agenda of hate and greed can be defeated by a strong enough movement centered on the social power of working people. Let’s not forget that previous generations have faced down and defeated war-mongers, hate-mongers, slave-owners, and billionaires, and they won.
But what strategy is required to take on Trump and his right-wing cabinet? Our movement can’t limit itself to playing defense – experience has shown that we must also put forward a bold left-wing alternative to corporate politics. Come to this meeting we’re hosting just days after he takes office so we can discuss the way forward.
SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE DEMANDS:
● No deportations! Full rights for all undocumented workers.
● Defend and extend reproductive rights.
● No cuts to healthcare, defend the expansion of Medicaid. We need Medicare for All.
● $15 an hour federal minimum wage.
● Black Lives Matter! End police brutality and the racist mass incarceration state.
● We need a Party of the 99%!