Last month, Libby Schaaf presented her budget for the 2019-2021 budget cycle. Despite a citywide survey that revealed Oakland’s two top priorities are homelessness and affordable housing, Libby’s budget increased spending for her office and the police department. And it decreased spending on everything else including public works, libraries, social services, parks & rec and race & equity. On Monday, June 10th, Council President Rebecca Kaplan will present her amended budget for community response.

The Refund Coalition has spent the last several months creating a budget that reflects our values as a city and ensures our most marginalized populations have what they need to thrive in Oakland.

Join us on Monday for a rally and then to speak at City Council in favor of Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan’s budget which most closely aligns with the People’s Platform by redirecting monies from the bloated police budget to social services, expanding our response to the homeless crisis, ensuring city services are funded at the levels we need and investing in permanently affordable housing stock.

Failure to act today ensures that tomorrow will be too late!

HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD

Alameda County-Oakland Community Action Partnership is
seeking comment from the community on its Community Action
Plan and input on the needs and gaps in services that exist for
Alameda County’s low-income residents.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL (510) 238-2362 OR VISIT www.AC-OCAP.com
This meeting location is wheelchair accessible. To request disability-related accommodations or to request an ASL,
Cantonese, Mandarin, or Spanish interpreter, please email AC-OCAP@oaklandca.gov or call (510) 238-2362 at least
five working days before the meeting.

Venezuela is facing significant difficulties and one of its worst difficulties are the lies and misinformation spread by the government and the media. Laura Wells, longtime Green Party Activist recently returned from Venezuela as part of an “End Venezuela Sanctions” delegation and will report back on what she found. There will be a Q&A session after the reportback.

In 1990 members of the L.A. janitors union launched a strike that became a turning point for the labor movement. The “Justice for Janitors” campaign pit low wage, mostly immigrant women and men against powerful local business leaders and multinational corporations.

On June 13th, we will celebrate the brave women and men that sacrificed for the struggle. Century City showed us what organized labor can be and what our power can accomplish. On this day Janitors are launching a statewide campaign to continue the fight for immigrant rights calling on building owners to support sanctuary workplaces, end to rape on the night shift and provide good jobs for immigrant workers. Join us!

Movie Nights at Reem’s

The Arab Film and Media Institute and Reem’s are partnering to bring some of our favorite Arab films to Oakland. Screenings are free + the amazing team at Reem’s will be serving the full menu throughout the evening.  And that’s not all! There will be movie snacks (including za’atar popcorn!),

April 11: Refugee Stories
Far from a one-size-fits-all marking of “experience” so often depicted on Western media outlets when it comes to the plight of the refugee, this program of 5 powerful short documentaries spotlight the multitude of hues that should be considered when discussions of the refugee experience are had.

May 23: Shorts (Playful Pondering)
From dating drama in Bahrain and an abandoned Qatari cinemaplex, to wacky Lebanese nuns and land mine explosions, this eclectic mix of 6 whimsical, albeit socially-concerned short format narrative works will take viewers on a journey of humor, self-discovery, and provocation.

June 13: Seventeen
The Jordanian under-17 women’s soccer team prepares for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, hosted by Jordan in 2016. Coming from different backgrounds, each of the girls has faced a different set of challenges as a national team player. But now they come together to face their biggest challenge yet.

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Agenda Items of Interest:

• Pawlik Investigation Update
• Commission Subpoenas Related to CPRA/Pawlik Investigation Communications
• OPD Budget Update
• OPD’s Policy on the Deployment of the BearCat and Other Militarized Weapons
  Analysis and OPD presentation on the use of the BearCat and the deployment of
  militarized weapons and potential Commission action on OPD’s request for a purchase of a
  second BearCat. The Commission may vote to appoint an Ad Hoc Committee on
  Equipment Acquisition and Use Policy.

• Commission Letter to City Council Regarding CAHOOTS
  The program CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) seeks to remedy the
  skill mismatch and wasted expense when police officers and EMS personnel respond to
  non-emergency mental health and health related crisis calls. The Commission will review
  and may approve a letter to the City Council to support efforts within the City Council to
  fund exploration of whether Oakland can and should implement a similar program.

Meet comrades who want to stand up to PG&E’s corruption and criminal treatment of our communities and learn more about how to get involved in the fight for energy democracy!

The Battle for People’s Park, Berkeley 1969

Impeach Trump

Reading for June 15th Meeting: Introduction and First Chapter of ‘Take Back the Economy.’

Reading for July 13th Meeting: Fourth Chapter: Take Back the Market.

What can we, as individuals do, to seek a more just, sustainable and equitable world?

“Take Back the Economy dismantles the idea that the economy is separate from us and best comprehended by experts. Instead, the authors demonstrate that the economy is the outcome of the decisions and efforts we make every day. The economy is thus reframed as a space of ethical action – something we can shape and alter according to what is best for the well-being of people and the planet.

“The book explores what people are already doing to build ethical economies, presenting these deeds as mutual concerns: What is necessary for survival, and what do we do with the surplus produced beyond what will fulfill basic needs? What do we consume, and how do we preserve and replenish the common – those resources that can be shared to maintain all? And finally, how can we invest in a future worth living in?”

Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this economics-oriented, non-technical book discussion group, meeting approximately once a month. The first month’s discussion was about the introduction to and first chapter of ‘Take Back the Economy’ by J K Gibson-Graham, Jenny Cameron and Stephen Healy.   The second month’s discussion is about  Chapter 4 of the book: Take Back the Market. It’s easy to catch up, the Intro and First Chapter are easy reading.  All are welcome!

The book is available via online (e.g. Minnesota Press), the introduction is available via ‘Look Inside’, and a few copies exist in local libraries.

Bring your questions, comments and intellectual curiosity!

“Take Back the Economy is the single most farsighted and practical work enlightening us on the path to a steady transition toward a genuine postcapitalist world…” – Arturo Escobar, University of North Carolina

Come join us for a storytelling and fundraising party! Listen to wonderful stories on the theme “Oops//Redemption” and build community.

We will also hear from the Ella Baker Center’s Executive Director Zachary Norris about their exciting new building, Restore Oakland, and ways for you to get involved.

7:00 pm Community Potluck
8:00 pm Storytelling (please contact willyrogers@gmail.com if you want to sign up in advance to be a story teller)

What is Restore Oakland?
A joint initiative between the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United), Restore Oakland is a community advocacy and training center that will mobilize Bay Area community members to transform our economic and justice systems and make a safe and secure future possible for themselves and for their families.

Learn more at http://www.restoreoakland.org/

Accessibility:
Event will take place in a grassy backyard, chairs provided. There are several steps leading up to the house.

Sun, May 12
Turkey at the cross roads of imperialism
Turkey is struggling to find a new and better position in the world while fascism erodes the economy, human rights, freedom of press and all opposition.  New “elections” on March 31 is only a sham as mounting evidence of corruption piles.  Turkey has lost on Syria, a quagmire it planned on winning big with the bog guys.  As Turkey oscillates between European Union, the USA and Russia, it finds itself more and more irrelevant.  Contrary to the big plans of becoming a leader in the Middle East, Turkey has been relegated to a position where it is only trying to find who to follow.  Such is the position of those who accept imperialism instead of standing up to it. ICSS member Mehmet Bayram will present and lead our discussion. TENTATIVE

Sun, May 19
¡VIVA MEXICO!
Mexican President Díaz (1876-1880 and 1884-1911) famously commented: “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States.”
Diaz got it at least half right. Mexico has suffered in the shadow of the Colossus of the North, but Mexico is not poor. Mexico is rich in many ways, yet it also has been impoverished. And Mexico has been greatly underappreciated by North Americans. This presentation will emphasize the many poorly known accomplishments of Mexico, while uncovering the role of US imperialism.
Mexico is bucking an international right-wing tide, shifting its government from right to left-of-center with the presidential inauguration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) on December 1. Speaking for international capital, The Economist is worried. The other 99% of humanity is hopeful.
Roger Harris will present a PowerPoint-illustrated cautionary history of this trice conquered land. A longtime activist with the Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, Roger is on the board of the Task Force on the Americas (http://taskforceamericas.org/), a 33-year-old human rights organization, and is active with the Campaign to End US-Canadian Sanctions Against Venezuela (https://tinyurl.com/yd4ptxkx). He last visited Mexico in March.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
Sun, May 26, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Report from Venezuela Delegation
Venezuela is in the cross hairs of imperialism.  It has the largest oil reserves in the world, but more than that, Venezuela is determined to use its resources for the benefit of its own people instead of handing them over to transnational corporations or imperialist rulers.  In the age of imperialism, these trends are enough to make any country the target of imperialist plunderers.  We are under a media barrage of lies, misinformation, and open US propaganda about Venezuela. With this intense muddying of waters it becomes very hard to know and understand the events happening around this Latin American, Bolivarian, country.
In order to observe what is really going on there, recently Bay Area residents Mehmet Bayram, ICSS member and journalist, and Laura Wells, Green Party Congressional Candidate, visited Venezuela with the “End Venezuela Sanctions” delegation.  They will present their experience and lead the discussion afterwards.

Sun, June 9, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee
After 24 years in the USA, 38 years in the (East) German Democratic Republic as a McCarthy-era exile, then nearly 30 years in unified Germany, Victor Grossman, the ex-pat journalist and author examines the rise and fall of a socialist experiment as he observed and participated in it. He tries to clear through a fog of misinformation and distortion regarding it, describing its achievements, its successes as well as its blunders and negative aspects. Its position regarding Nazis and fascism is compared with that in West Germany. Its school system, women’s rights, both models in many ways, cultural questions and other matters are examined from a personal, anecdotal and sometimes humorous perspective. 
The book then turns to a broader examination of possible lessons to be learned when searching for solutions to present-day problems: the growing gap between rich and poor, alarmingly malevolent dangers for a crippled environment, the menace of racism and new fascist movements, the almost ignored danger of atomic annihilation – and who is to blame for them. But the book also looks at newly invigorated hopes for a better, a socialist future despite the many barriers to its realization – seen through the prism of a veteran of the “old Left” in the USA, Communist rule and the Cold War in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, and expresses his views on current fears and hopes on both sides of the Atlantic – and the Pacific. 
(Copies of Victor’s book will be available for purchase, cash or checks only, NO CREDIT CARDS.

Sun, Jun 16, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Cuba”s Democracy
Constitutional Referendum and grassroots political processes.
Cuba is always described as a “dictatorship” by the mainstream media and the U.S. government, thus providing a pretext for the economic blockade and talk about regime change. But Sharat G. Lin found a remarkable democratic process in the recent Constitutional Referendum in Cuba and months of nationwide discussions involving millions of voters. (Awaiting confirmation)

Sun, Jun 16, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Cuba”s Democracy
Constitutional Referendum and grassroots political processes.
Cuba is always described as a “dictatorship” by the mainstream media and the U.S. government, thus providing a pretext for the economic blockade and talk about regime change. But Sharat G. Lin found a remarkable democratic process in the recent Constitutional Referendum in Cuba and months of nationwide discussions involving millions of voters. (Awaiting confirmation)

Sun, Jun 30, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Fascism What It Is and How To Fight It
“Fascism: What It Is and How To Fight It” – a two part talk including a historical overview of the events leading up to the rise of fascism in Europe leading up to WWII, and a political analysis of the failures of the communist movement at the time in preventing it. This all in light of the current rise of white supremacy and fascist movements in the U.S., Europe and Latin America and the lack of a united left movement to fight it. Supplemental handouts will be available, including a timeline. Presented by Peoples Alliance members Bill Bowers and Tova Fry (both former WWP) : Bill leading with the historical overview and TovaFry following with the political analysis, largely based on Trotsky’s work of the same name.

Sun, Jul 7, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Reading Capital
This is part of a continuing discussion of Capital, reading, paragraph by paragraph from the Penguin edition (1967). We’ve finished Chapter One (after one year) and are now working our way through Chapter 2: The Process of Exchange, p. 178.

Sun, Jul 7, 2019: 12:45-1:45 pm
Planning Session
We get together after the morning session on the first Sunday of every month to discuss things in general and plan the schedule for our Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library forums. This is an open meeting. Everyone is welcome to help plan our future sessions. Please come with suggestions and concrete plans. Also, please review our web site to familiarize yourself with our current proposals. Newcomers and Old Timers welcome.

Sun, Jul 14, 2019: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
General Elections in India:
Modi’s Fascism vs. Social Democrats and the Left
Modi has completed 5 years in power, with his BJP having a majority in the Indian Parliament. In 2014, Modi won on the slogan of  “Be with everyone, development for everyone” in the background of major corruption scandals in the last 5 years of the 10 years that Congress Party ruled (2004 thru 2014), with Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi as the Congress Party President.
Modi moved rapidly to consolidate power in his hands, ousting or sidelining veteran leaders in his own Party. Under his 5 years of rule, “cow protectors” have become emboldened. Several incidents of lynching of Muslims have taken place, religious bigotry is openly practiced, and assassinations of several public intellectuals, all secularists, have taken place while he mostly sat silently over such egregious violations of civil rights. Further he has tried to create a militarist posture and sought to portray himself as a strong PM, who is willing to take on the terrorists based in Pakistan aggressively. His policies of “demonetization” of 1916 created a great deal of small business distress. Unemployment is at 45 year high and farm distress and farmer suicides continue. But the mass media, now privately owned, and funded by big capital  has helped create him as a “the man of the people”.
Raj Sahai will present his views on what is beginning to boil under the surface of a seeming “all is well” scenario presented in India in the mass media and projected and globally.