Calendar
Known for being the first American woman to fly in space, astronaut and physicist Sally Ride is one of NASA’s most prominent figures. Even though she logged nearly 350 hours in space, little was known about Ride’s personal life — until now. Currently celebrated as the world’s first-known LGBTQ+ astronaut, Ride had a long-term partnership with Billie Jean King’s mentee-turned-science-writer and professor Tam O’Shaughnessy, which they kept private until Ride’s passing in 2012.
For this Sundance Award-winning documentary, diretor Cristina Costantini (Mucho Mucho Amor) uses a seamless blend of archival footage and intimate interviews to paint an honest and affecting portrait of Ride. Preserved in books, our collective pop-cultural memory, and even a Janelle Monáe song, Ride’s legacy looms large. However, by juxtaposing its titular subject’s storied career with her struggles with fame, privacy, and queerness, this film understands that even history’s most enduring heroes are just like us.
With Jonathan Reischl and Bill Shields
A light breakfast will be offered at 9am and the program will begin at 9:30am.
| The final Forum of the 2024-2025 year is also the kickoff event for San Francisco LaborFest 2025. Bill Shields will introduce our subject and main presenter, Jonathan Reischl. Jonathan will then discuss resistance to the MAGA attack on federal government workers and services from his perspective as an Enforcement Attorney at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a member of the National Treasury Employees Union, Local 335.
Jonathan and Bill will also discuss the Federal Unionist Network (FUN) fightback against Trump’s attempt to destroy all federal unions. Many federal employees and service recipients are people of color, and there is a strong racial justice component to this resistance. Jonathan Reischl has worked at the CFPB since 2015 and lives in San Francisco with his partner and daughter. Bill Shields is Chair Emeritus of Labor and Community Studies at City College of San Francisco and Director of the Workers Voices Storytelling Project. You can also attend via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/96934465087?pwd=R7voICnycAZuWXPjdGlrMnhn6NbEMg.1 Phone in at +1 669 900 6833, Meeting ID: 969 3446 5087 |
Speaker: Stansfield Smith
To Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87388824824?pwd=QTWNvr8cGeGo1ZDW7x9Y8W0sDaNxRc.1
To join on the phone:
Meeting ID: 873 8882 4824
Passcode: 042428
+1 646 931 3860 US
+1 669 444 9171 US
Sunday, June 22, 2025: 10:30am-12:30pm Pacific Time
With the current occupant in the White House unleashing the Marines and National Guard against immigrants, banning US entry to citizens from nearly 20 non-white countries, flouting court orders, accusing media as “the enemy of the people,” and extending executive power, can the US be said to be fascist or on the brink of becoming so?
To have a provocative discussion on this topic, we have invited long-time activist and past speaker Stansfield Smith to return to present on his recent article (https://orinocotribune.com/trump-fascism-a-reality-check/).
Stansfield Smith was a leader of the Chicago Committee to Free the Cuban 5 and has been active in defense of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua for years. He has put out the Venezuela & ALBA Weekly News since 2013 and the online newsletter for the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition for the past three years. He has published in LA Progressive, Dissident Voice, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Covert Action, Monthly Review online, and other websites. Smith is a long time anti-war activist, and opposed US interference over the years in Latin America. His website is ChicagoALBASolidarity.org.
Donation: $20 (to pay instructors, fund supplies for the group, and cover other costs – but – there’s no pressure to pay)
Take This Workshop form trained and experienced Street Medics, and join our team that will be attending large protests very soon – ready to help any activists injured or hurt.
We Are CA Teach In: What’s really happening in LA?
Virtual Teach in Tuesday, June 24th, 6:30-8:30PM
The Trump administration has launched an unprecedented and unlawful invasion. Armed militarized federal agents are disappearing our neighbors from job sites, schools, and neighborhoods. Families are terrified.
But through the fear, something powerful is happening: Angelenos are rising. Together. We’ve seen faith leaders kneeling in prayer in front of federal troops. Teachers, small business owners, and neighbors taking to the streets in peaceful resistance. From South LA to the San Fernando Valley, from Boyle Heights to Pasadena, neighbors are showing up for each other.
This virtual session will prepare us for the road ahead by training-up on who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes and how we take action together:
- Know Your Rights info – how to spread power not panic
- Expose the real villains – the billionaires and bullies profiting off our people and future
- A plan for nonviolent resistance to keep ICE out of our communities and to push back on the MAGA murder budget
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Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite. All are welcome!
For our July, 2025 meeting we will be reading the first two sections (approximately 115 pages) of Stellar, A World Beyond Limits and How to Get There (Amazon), (Goodreads) For our August meeting, we will finish the book.
A bold re-examination of the past, present, and future of humanity, Stellar challenges conventional thinking and offers a vision of hope and optimism – a necessary antidote to the fear and despair that define our times.
Stellar uncovers the root causes of today’s biggest challenges, from war and economic instability to inequality and environmental collapse. It reveals why solutions to these issues are little more than band-aids, why our political and economic structures are failing, and how to unlock humanity’s full potential.
Stellar reimagines what’s possible – a world that gives rather than takes from both people and planet. A Stellar World where today’s pressing issues simply dissolve, where humanity can thrive, free from fear, scarcity, and despair.
This book will transform how you see the world, and your place in it.
Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included (in chronological order) Doughnut Economics, Limits, Banking on the People, Capital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, The Deficit Myth, Revenge Capitalism, the Edge of Chaos blog symposium , Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons, The Optimist’s Telescope, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, Exploring Degrowth, The Origin of Wealth, Mine!, The Dawn of Everything A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Beyond Money, Less is More, Cannibal Capitalism, Debt, the First 5000 Years , Poverty, By America, End Times, Jackson Rising Redux , The Feminist Subversion of the Economy, How Infrastructure Works, Inside the Systems that Shape our World, Wealth Supremacy, The Persuaders, The Path to a Livable Future, Solidarity, Mutual Aid, Breaking Together, Making Sense of Chaos and TechnoFeudalism.