Calendar
We are excited to announce our Fall Film Series at the Ecology Center! In an effort to open up our space to the community, while providing an accessible format for fostering discussions around the various climate issues we cover, we will be hosting free monthly screenings of select films at our Ecology Center store.
Check out a new film, or one of your favorites, with other members of the community for a fun-filled and family-friendly evening. All screenings are free and open to the public (and include free popcorn!).
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Princess Mononoke (1997)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Rated PG-13
Runtime: 2:13
Kicking off the Ecology Center film series is Princess Mononoke, from legendary Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli team. This A classic animated film that explores the relationship between human activity and the environment through heavy symbolism to highlight the need for sustainable practices and greater consideration of the environment in day-to-day life. Miyazaki crafts a captivating tale of man vs. nature, where the exploitation of natural resources leads to the manifestation of deadly beasts that threaten an all out war between a mining village and the creatures of the forest.
Themes: Sustainability
Preview Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/
Future Showings and Event Links:
Historically, Open Circle has stayed stationary in Oakland and SF.
We’re at a point where we want to bring Open Circle to areas that need further support. We’ve been to Stockton. At this meeting, we will be organizing the October Open Circle to the South Bay. Who’s with us?!
Join us for a community potluck and thoughtful discussion around police accountability on behalf of families directly impacted by police brutality.
Open Circle holds space for families directly impacted by police terrorism to gather with each other and members of the community. We love and support one another. This gathering also provides opportunity and some structure to help families collaborate with each other in their struggle for justice for their loved ones.
*This is a Potluck Event, please feel free to bring a dish, snack or (non-alcoholic) beverage to share. ♥
Location Information:
5600 Third Street
(@ the corner of 3rd & Armstrong, across the street from MLK Park) SF CA 94124
*Enter side of building on Armstrong*
From Oakland : BART to Embarcadero Center, transfer downstairs to MUNI and get on the T Light Trsin going south bound towards Bayview, get off on Caroll Street and walk back half a block on 3rd.
Join us at the Finnish Hall for our next General Assembly! Doors open at 7PM; we’ll start promptly at 7:30PM. We’ll have updates from our teams, an invited speaker, and community event announcements, followed by team breakouts and discussions.
Bring snacks to share! Bring friends!
Questions? Email info@indivisibleberkeley.org.
FEATURED SPEAKERS
CA State Senator Nancy Skinner will providing an end-of-session legislative report-back! Details below. More speakers to be announced.
RSVP
Please RSVP to let us know how many people to expect. No RSVP? No problem – we’ll also have a signup at the event.
State Senator Skinner
California lawmakers recently wrapped up one of the most progressive legislative sessions on record—approving: the “sanctuary state” measure, SB 54; a package of bills addressing CA’s affordable housing crisis; legislation that steps in to embrace environmental and land-use policies, as a push back against the Trump administration, and other important policies.. Bring your questions and thoughts for what’s sure to be a lively and informative discussion regarding recent legislation, bills signed into law by the Governor… and what’s on the horizon.
Elected to the Senate in November of 2016, Nancy Skinner represents California’s 9th Senate District, where she has been a strong social justice advocate, energy and climate change trailblazer, and accomplished legislator. She completed three terms in the State Assembly before being elected to the Senate where she’s served as chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, and on numerous other Committees.
Senator Skinner began her public service in 1984 as the first and only student to be elected to the Berkeley City Council. On Council Skinner introduced the nation’s first Styrofoam ban and co-founded an international association of cities, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability. After her term on the City Council, Skinner served as Executive Director of ICLEI’s US office and International Director of ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection program which engaged cities worldwide to take action to stop climate change.
Berkeley Rally Against White Supremacy
“Defend Our Campus, Reclaim Free Speech”
We are students, workers, and members of the UC Berkeley campus community, the City of Berkeley, and the larger Bay Area. We are immigrants, people of color, religious minorities, queer and trans people, liberals, leftists and others. We think it’s time to come together in a united front, celebrate our differences in solidarity, and speak out against the hateful currents in American politics while affirming our vision of a free, inclusive, and equitable society.
Since the 2016 election, white supremacists have been coming to Berkeley to intimidate, harass, and incite violence against us. This time, the UC Berkeley administration is set to spend hundreds of thousands of public education dollars and heavily militarize the campus to ensure that Milo Yiannopoulos, Ann Coulter, and Stephen Bannon speak at our university from September 24-27. We believe these speakers and their supporters are dangerous to our community. They support deportations of our undocumented friends and family and are leading figures of the white supremacist movement. They uphold the structures of power that violently police the speech and democratic rights of workers and oppressed people around the world.
But we will not be silenced or intimidated. The massive demonstrations of August 19 in Boston and August 26-27 in the Bay Area proved that when we come together, we can protect our communities and politically defeat the bigots. In that spirit, we are meeting on Crescent Lawn—away from the police militarization and the hateful provocateurs on the other side of campus—to reject white supremacy, speak to each other about the world we want, and reclaim our campus, our city, and our democratic rights Join us, bring signs, bring friends!
On Monday, September 25, Republicans are holding a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee that’s designed to provide a fictional “process” as a fig leaf to win Republican (particularly McCain’s) votes [on the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson health care proposal]. To call out this sham process and put more pressure on Senators in these final days, we’re asking you to take action on Monday, September 25th.
Will you stand in solidarity with other Indivisible groups and partners across the country and join us at a sit-in at Senator Feinstein’s San Francisco district office? Our message is clear, use your influence to #KillTheBill.
TrumpCare is back and Indivisible’s national network (and partner)s will show up together to say that it would hurt our friends, our families, and our country—and we’ll remember this vote! If the Republicans have any hope of passing TrumpCare, they only have a few days left. We’re going to do everything we can to stop them; attend this event and show your constituent power.
PLEASE MEET AT 1 POST STREET. Bring signs, sit-in starts at noon; pizza party at 12:15. Please form your own carpools.
http://act.indivisibleguide.com/event/kill…
At the end of 2016, in an effort to support work in the basic income movement, the Economic Security Project was founded. The Project is a two-year, $10 million fund that provides grants to projects focused on basic income like academic research, state and local campaigns, and cultural projects around economic security. Grant recipients include the Roosevelt Institute, GiveDirectly, basic income advocate Scott Santens, and the Universal Income Project.
Join us on Monday, September 25 for a conversation with Economic Security Project Co-Chair Natalie Foster and Creative Consultant Cara Rose DeFabio. We’ll hear about their work supporting basic income projects, their recently launched speculative fiction contest, and about the upcoming CASH Conference in San Francisco.
The event will be hosted at Covo, a coworking space just off of 6th and Mission. Snacks and drinks will be available.
To attend, please RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/105730950120701/
.Councilmembers Dan Kalb and Rebecca Kaplan are sponsoring a great event, organized by us and Local Clean Energy Alliance.
Wolfram Morales, Chief Economist for Sparkasse, the association of local public banks in Germany, will explain the role of these institutions in speeding the development of local renewable resources such as solar and wind, at this panel discussion in City Hall.
Joining Wolfram will be: Nicolas Chaset, CEO of East Bay Community Energy (Alameda County’s soon-to-launch Community Choice energy program), Greg Rosen, Founder and Principal of High Noon Advisors (member of the East Bay Community Shared Solar Collaborative), and Jessica Tovar, Organizer for East Bay Clean Power Alliance. Pennie Opal Plant of Idle No More SF Bay, will lead an opening ceremony.
Hope 2 see folks at the #PublicBank forum at #Oakland CityHall tonight, 9/25. Kudos 2 the @LCEACleanEnergy 4 putting this together. #EastBay pic.twitter.com/eNtmbAVXf9
— Dan KALB (@DanKalb) September 25, 2017
How Germany’s Public Banks Help Transition to Renewables
Wolfram Morales, Chief Economist for Sparkasse, the association of local public banks in Germany, will explain the role of these institutions in speeding the development of local renewable resources such as solar and wind, at this panel discussion in City Hall.
Joining Wolfram will be Nicolas Chaset, CEO of East Bay Community Energy, (Alameda County’s soon-to- launch Community Choice energy program), Greg Rosen, Founder and Principal of High Noon Advisors, (member of the East Bay Community Shared Solar Collaborative), and Jessica Tovar, Organizer for East Bay Clean Power Alliance. Pennie Opal Plant of Idle No More SF Bay, will lead an opening ceremony.
Find out how a public bank in Oakland could help fund local renewable energy for our new Community Choice program, and bring jobs and economic benefits to communities throughout Alameda County.
The event is hosted by Oakland City Councilmembers Dan Kalb and Rebecca Kaplan, and organized by Friends of the Public Bank of Oakland and Local Clean Energy Alliance.
OccupyForum will meet the following week at 474 Valencia Street, San Francisco, from 6:45 – 9 pm (doors open at 6 pm) for a report back
on The People’s Congress of Resistance: http://www.congressofresistance.org/
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12pm – RALLY FOR TENANTS RIGHTS1:30pm- CITY COUNCIL OPEN FORUM
We’re teaming up with Centro Legal de la Raza in solidarity with their clients the JDW Tenants’ Association. Members occupy 13 buildings which their owner, JDW Enterprises, is attempting to exempt from rent control. There are many loopholes in rent control, but JDW’s weapon of choice here is Substantial Rehabilitation. Normally reserved for decrepit buildings that have been fully refurbished, JDW is claiming this exemption despite the fact that they haven’t done the quantity of upgrades required to qualify. While tenants are hopeful for their upcoming hearing at the Rent Board, we all feel that this loophole should be forever banished from our Rent Adjustment Ordinance. More details in the recent East Bay Express article.
Here are the joint Oakland Warehouse Coalition / Centro Legal de la Raza demands for City Council in this legislative season, which we will breeze through at the rally, then march right in to the Community & Economic Development Committee at 1:30pm and do the same! Grab any of these for talking points and make your voice heard in Committee by signing up to speak at Open Forum.
- Close the Substantial Rehabilitation loophole that allows landlords to exempt units from rent control with minor repairs;
- End the owner-occupied duplex/triplex exemption from rent control and Just Cause;
- Require landlords to pay relocation funds for all no-fault evictions, including owner move-in evictions;
- Require landlords to pay relocation funds when they raise rent above 10 percent and tenants are forced to move out;
- Pass protections for tenants facing unfair buyout offers;
- Add tenant protection plans to the Building Department’s permitting process, including all non-conforming residential properties. Require immediate notification by the City to all occupants of a property when a permit application has been filed, an inspection has been scheduled, or a notice of violation has been sent;
- Create a routine code inspection program that prioritizes health and safety while guaranteeing no loss of housing
- Change Code Enforcement policy to protect existing tenants: Stop issuing notices that call for discontinuance of residential use when there is no immediate life safety concern;
- Prohibit discrimination based on source of income or Section 8 status; and
- Increase funding for proactive universal enforcement of all Oakland tenant protection laws.
Frisco 500,, where we at.!?!! pic.twitter.com/6kZVQZb5ul
— Equipto (@EQUIPTO) September 24, 2017
THE VILLAGE ROUND 2 AT THE OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL LIFE ENRICHMENT COMMITTEE
We are very pleased to be supporting the Village in their work to acquire a City-owned parcel for an encampment. At Council on September 19th we passed the first reading of the Shelter Crisis Ordinance, which will receive its second reading October 3rd. In the meantime, we’re going to urge this Council Committee to lock in an address!
You can sign up for both Open Forum and Agenda Item 3, which is the first item of the day. We’d suggest keeping Open Forum comments general, concerning the need to assign City-owned land to unsheltered communities. Then on Agenda Item 3, please speak specifically about the Village’s contributions to West and North Oakland, and how they should be allowed to do their thing so that not-yet-housed folks can have a place to stabilize and flourish while they look for jobs and permanent housing. Here’s the City Administrator’s report for our Agenda Item.
You are invited to spend an evening with Aura Tegría Cristancho, U’wa indigenous woman lawyer, who is an integral force in the protections of indigenous rights and forests in Colombia.
The U’wa consider themselves the guardians of their sacred ancestral homeland. In accordance with their natural laws, for centuries they have successfully defended their territory high in the Andean cloud forests. The U’wa have resisted conquistadors, missionaries, colonists, and, more recently, the oil industry, guerrillas, the military and paramilitary groups active in the region. A testament to the strength of their traditional leaders, the U’wa have survived these aggressions with their language, culture and a large area of their ancestral territories still intact.
Aura Tegría Cristancho is a young indigenous lawyer from Colombia’s U’wa Nation. Since late 2013, she has served as the legal advisor to the U’wa Association of Traditional Authorities and Councils (ASOU’WA). During her tenure, Aura has been central to a number of important advances made by the U’wa people in the defense of their ancestral territory, like their successful shutdown of a natural gas exploration platform, called Magallanes, which was constructed within their ancestral territory in early 2014. Through nonviolent protest, international advocacy, media campaigns, and direct negotiations with the government, the U’wa were able to stop the project in its tracks and by early 2015 the platform had been dismantled. Throughout this process, Aura served as a liaison with Colombian and international allies, and a spokesperson before international media outlets and the government. Aura has served as an international ambassador for the U’wa, participating in the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in 2014 and 2016 and traveling to Washington, DC to meet with human rights lawyers at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which formally admitted the U’wa case in late 2015 in large part due to Aura’s diligent work. Aura is a leading voice in the growing movement for indigenous-led conservation and the protection of sacred natural areas, including Mt. Zizuma, the Uwa’s sacred mountain threatened by tourism.
Doors will be opening at 6pm to WOMEN of the community only. This is an opportunity for our women to connect with, be empowered by and listen to the wisdom of Aura on perseverance through these times, as women warriors.
At 7pm doors will then open to the general public to hear Aura speak from a panel to share their work and accomplishments, and also to let us be inspired to see ways that both men and women can empower each other, as we are all needed to create a strong front in the many ways we resist. Questions for our guest will be open after the panel.
For any indigenous women attending there will be an opportunity for treaty signing of the Indigenous Women of the Americas Defending Mother Earth Treaty. For more information on the treaty and what it means to be a treaty signer please visit www.IndigenousWomenRising.
We also appreciate any volunteers who would be willing and able to help us clean up the tables and put away chairs after this event! We’re very excited to share this delegation with the Bay Area community and look forward to seeing you on September 26!!
Where: Intertribal Friendship House, International Blvd, Oakland
When: 6pm for women 7pm open to everyone
Co-Sponsored by Idle No More SF Bay, Intertribal Friendship House and Amazon Watch. Photo by Amazon Watch.
A few articles for reading!
https://www.ecowatch.com/
http://amazonwatch.org/
This public working meeting of the External Organizing Committee is a chance for members to do the work of running our outward-facing campaigns, building our district canvassing program, and recruiting new members. Everyone is welcome regardless of skills or experience!
Want to get involved with SURJ Bay Area? Come learn about our current work and activities. You’ll also hear about SURJ’s new pathways for entering the work, including Study and Action groups as well as committee work, upcoming workshops, and events. We’ll answer your questions and share how you can get involved in the movement for racial justice.
Getting Into the Lobby:
The doors for the Sierra Club building lock right at 7pm, so please do your best to arrive prior to 7pm. We will have someone stationed at the Webster entrance to the building until 7:15 for late arrivals. If you arrive after 7pm, please use the Webster entrance.
Accessibility:
Building Accessibility: There are two entrances to Sierra Club Office building on Webster and 21st both of which are accessible for mobility devices. The building has an elevator, and the kitchen space, conference room, and restrooms can also all accommodate mobility devices.
Scents: The Sierra Club’s space endeavors to offer a scent free environment; however as the Club is currently transitioning towards the use of only scent free products, we cannot guarantee an entirely scent free space. We ask everyone to please arrive at meetings fragrance free to support access for folks who experience multiple chemical sensitivities and allergies. This means using only body products and laundry detergent that say “fragrance free” or “unscented” on the label and do not have scented ingredients.
Restrooms: Restrooms are currently labeled in a gender-binary way. The Sierra Club is working on changing this and has an office policy that all restrooms are available to anyone, regardless of lived or perceived gender identity. We ask that folks choose the restroom that is right for them, and that no one question a person’s chosen restroom.
Last Tuesdays of the month are general orientation meetings for new volunteers. (The first three Tuesdays of the month are open hacknights – we stay focused! )
Our goal is to create a wireless mesh network that is owned and operated by the community.
Want to help create an alternate means of digital communication that isn’t governed by for-profit internet service providers? We need people with both technical and non-technical backgrounds to help with everything from local community involvement and crowdfunding to mounting wifi routers on buildings and developing software!
Learn more at: http://sudomesh.org/
The Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory (RIPA) Board will hear from Attorney General Becerra and will discuss the outline and content for their first annual report on racial and identity profiling by law enforcement.
The RIPA Board was established for one simple reason; the people of California demanded it. Now we need to turn up and hold the RIPA Board & Attorney General accountable to ensure the collection and analysis of law enforcement data to eliminate racial and identify profiling in policing. For more background about RIPA and its members, talking points, and to get a copy of our outreach flyer click here.
Please spread the word and join supporters of AB 953: The Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 on September 27, share your personal experience, and tell AG Becerra what you think needs to be done to stop racial profiling.
If you and or your group can help with turn-out please let us know.
ECONOMICS AND HOUSING – The Bay Area crisis and beyond.
A talk with Phil Hutchings, Lifelong Human Rights Activist.
Refreshments servied. All ages welcome.
As a result of President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1942 Executive Order 9066, approximately 120,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry were evicted from their homes son the West Coast of of the United States and held in American internment camps and other confinement sites across the country.
Over two-thirds of the people of Japanese ethnicity that were incarcerated were American citizens. Many of the rest had lived in the country 20 to 40 years. Most Japanese Americans, particularly the first generation born in the United States (the nisei), considered themselves loyal to the United States. No Japanese American citizen or Japanese national residing in the United States was ever found guilty of sabotage or espionage. The film features interviews with George Takei and others who were incarcerated, and stunning photos by Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams. It’s a moving film you won’t soon forget.
Following the screening in Piedmont, there will be a panel discussion features Dianne Fukami, an award-winning documentary and television producer and a member of the U.S. – Japan Council, and Piedmont resident Don Tamaki, who served on the pro bono legal team that reopened the landmark Supreme Court case of “Korematsu v. the United States”.
Free; no need to RSVP.
https://diversityfilmseries.org