Calendar
Laura Atkins and Stan Yogi Authors of Fred Korematsu Speaks Up
Laurel Book Store and two ACLU of Northern California Chapter Boards present Laura Atkins and Stan Yogi to share from Fred Korematsu Speaks Up, a timely read.
Fred Korematsu defied the government’s WWII orders that all Japanese Americans leave the west coast to be incarcerated. The ACLU of Northern California represented Korematsu all the way to the Supreme Court.
Now, when the lessons of Fred Korematsu’s life are even more important to remember, Laura Atkins and Stan Yogi will speak about their new book for children, Fred Korematsu Speaks Up, which tells the story of Fred Korematsu and the imprisonment of Japanese Americans, linking that injustice to the struggles of other groups.
With politicians citing the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans as a precedent for a Muslim registry, Fred Korematsu’s story of defiance is especially relevant now for all people in America, especially young ones, to understand.
The Alameda County Paul Robeson Chapter and the Berkeley/North East Bay Chapter of the ACLU-NC are proud to co-sponsor this event! Chapter Board members will lead the event with a 10-minutes overview and Q&A of current ACLU-NC activities.
Laura Atkins is a children’s book author and editor who grew up in an activist family and participated in social justice work herself, with a focus on diversity and equity in children’s books. She taught creative writing at the National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature (NCRCL) in London, where she also received her M.A. in children’s literature. She received an M.F.A. in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Stan Yogi is the coauthor, with Elaine Elinson, of Wherever There’s a Fight: How Runaway Slaves, Suffragists, Immigrants, Strikers, and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California. He managed development programs for the ACLU of Northern California for fourteen years.
ARE YOU:
FED UP with trash, potholes, and a City government that doesn’t care?
CONCERNED about the sex trade, homelessness, rising rents and home prices that people can’t afford?
READY to make East Oakland neighborhoods and schools better for your family and your neighbors?
Come join neighbors from all over East Oakland to work for the changes WE want!
To commemorate the September 30, 1991 coup against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide that killed thousands of people and filled Haiti’s prisons;
To honor beloved sister and friend of Haiti, Lori Nairne;
In solidarity with Haitians presently being incarcerated and killed as they rise up against the imposed regime of Jovenel Moise.
Haiti Action Committee presents a benefit for Haiti Emergency Relief Fund
Solitary Man: My Visit to Pelican Bay State Prison
Performed by Charlie Hinton and Fred Johnson
Written by Charlie Hinton
Music by Fred Johnson
Directed by Mark Kenward
Updates from Pelican Bay and from Haiti will follow the performance
with more music from Fred
In Solitary Man, Charlie travels to Crescent City to visit a lifer named Otis Washington, a 64 year old native of New York City, who’s been imprisoned since 1975 and at Pelican Bay since it opened in 1989. To quote Otis, “There are people who say they have no regrets in life, and if they had to do it all over again, they wouldn’t change a thing. Well, I’m just the opposite. Ignorance guided me to this present predicament. Over the decades I’ve worked hard to better myself and recover from my raggedy past.” In Solitary Man, Otis explains some of what he has learned and experienced.
About Fred and Charlie:
Fred is a formerly incarcerated person that has gone on to address the human rights issues of drug users and formerly incarcerated persons, as well as the wider community, guided by harm reduction principles. He has worked in a variety of settings, including policy analysis and syringe access programs throughout the US. He plays trumpet, mostly in the New York City area, and has recorded a CD History Speaking: A Tribute to My Mentors.
Charles grew up in Joplin, MO and spent 3 years in the Peace Corps in Bolivia. He attended the founding meeting of Bay Area Gay Liberation in 1975, and through BAGL, began his work around prison matters. He worked for 19 years at Inkworks Press, a collectively owned and managed printing company in Berkeley that closed its doors in 2015, leaving him “retired.” Besides writing and visiting prisoners, Charlie works with Haiti Action Committee, the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Committee to End Sleep Deprivation, and the Committee to Free DeWayne Ewing. Solitary Man is Charlie’s second theatrical endeavor, after his solo show Life Wish. He is the author of Life Wish: Essays, Letters, Songs, Solo Performance, Haiku written over time.
Can’t come to the regular meeting? We recommend our very good New Member Meeting next Sunday. https://t.co/VqLVSWjToy pic.twitter.com/yiqwxNebBn
— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) September 27, 2017
Welcome to all members and people who are just curious about DSA. Learn about upcoming events and learn how to plug in to new and ongoing projects.
Starting at our workshop tomorrow, the $495 USCIS #DACA application fee for renewals will be covered by a generous gift from Mission Asset Fund. All DACA applicants/recipients are encouraged to attend the information sessions, regardless of renewal status.
Please share widely.
To register for a workshop, please fill out the following form:
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 3 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 3:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months, once Daylight Savings Time springs forward we tend to assemble at 4 PM).
On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 2 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over five years! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally. Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.
At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.
General Assembly Standard Agenda
- Welcome & Introductions
- Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
- Announcements
- (Optional) Discussion Topic
Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.
Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area
San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv
Please join us in a vigil for the as yet unnamed Black man who was killed by OPD on September 28 as a result of being tased. We offer our deep sympathy to his family and loved ones.
Please bring candles and flowers.
We are still trying to reach out to both his family and to witnesses of the events leading to his death. Please contact APTP either by direct message to our Facebook page or by email to aptpinfo at gmail.com
OPD, under Kirkpatrick, claim no command staff can be punished for Guap screwup b/c of statutory deadlines. Not the case, say Chanin/Burris pic.twitter.com/aX7ZgtBrJ8
— Ali Winston (@awinston) September 26, 2017
Sing songs with Ocupella and hold signs, use a sign created by Tax the Rich or create your own on the GOP-Trump tax plan.
Reportbacks (5 min)
- Sparkasse forum
- Black-Eyed Pea festival
- Octoberfest
- Maren’s new videos
Repeating items: (15 min)
- Treasurer’s report
- introductions of new attendees
- overview of public banking for new attendees
- set next meeting time and place.
Working with GIC (20 min)
- Focus groups planning; someone should take point on this
- Governance has a meeting set up with Cathy and Maeve on 10/14 to discuss division of tasks
Committees (20 min).
- Outreach: thoughts about how to move forward during this different phase.
- Governance (see above). Governance will be meeting very regularly in October and November
- Major gifts and donations: Marie, can we get this restarted?
- Equity: Margie is attempting to move this forward.
Discussion of next forum or other public event (10 min.)
Anything upcoming not discussed above.
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Berkeley city council fills the funding gap!
We scored a huge victory on Tuesday, September 12th, when Berkeley city council approved a $25,000 appropriation for Oakland’s public bank feasibility study. We are in deep gratitude to Berkeley residents who contacted their councilmembers and pressured them to support this issue. Please be sure to call your city councilmembers and thank them for their support. You can find their contact information here.
Oakland City Council Meeting
At the September 19 Oakland City Council meeting, the councilmembers voted to fund $75,000 of the $100,000 we need to do our feasibility study.
Public Banking Funds Sustainable Energy
On September 25 at 7:00 p.m. in Oakland’s City Council Chambers, 14th and Broadway, Councilmembers Dan Kalb and Rebecca Kaplan sponsored 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, explained 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 were: 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.
Information, discussion, & community! Monday Night Forum!!
OccupyForum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
The Original Free Speech Movement:
“Berkeley in the Sixties”
Berkeley is considered the birthplace of the original Free Speech Movement, a massive, long-lasting, student-led protest against campus restrictions on political speech. Students first aimed to support the struggle for civil rights and later opposed the Vietnam War. In 1964, the Berkeley campus became the seedbed of the nascent antiwar movement when student demonstrations culminated in the mass arrest of hundreds of protesters. Under the leadership of Mario Savio, Jack Weinberg, Michael Rossman, Jackie Goldberg and others, and the participation of thousands of students, the Free Speech Movement was the first mass civil disobedience on a college campus in the U.S. Students demanded the administration lift the ban on on-campus political activities, and acknowledge students’ right to free speech and academic freedom. Spanning the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement, it had far-reaching influence on the political views and values of generations of college students, college administrations, and the general public of the U.S.
OccupyForum will screen “Berkeley in the Sixties” by Mark Kitchell, and discuss the Free Speech Movement in light of the recent co-opting of the name by the extreme right.
Time will be allotted for discussion and announcements.
Donations to Occupy Forum to cover costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
Because of the COVID pandemic we will be meeting virtually via Zoom on the first Monday of the month.
Meeting ID: 828 0976 4186
The Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality & State Repression (OGC) is a
grassroots democratic organization that was formed as a conscious united front for justice against police brutality. The OGC is involved in the struggle for police accountability and is committed to stopping police brutality.
In alliance with the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) we organized the October 23, 2010 labor and community rally for Justice for Oscar Grant. On that day the ILWU shut down the Bay Area ports in solidarity. Our mission is to educate, organize and mobilize people against police and state repression. Sisters and brothers! The Oscar Grant Committee invites you to join us in this vital struggle.
We meet on the 1st Monday of each month
You can join our discussion list by sending a blank (doesn’t even need a subject) email to
oscargrantcommittee-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
SunShares Workshop:
Interested in going solar or buying an electric vehicle, but don’t know where to start?
SunShares is a renewable energy program that offers discounts, free workshops and helps Bay Area residents, including renters, learn more about their clean energy options.
Attend this free workshop to learn about the SunShares program, how solar works and how the financials of renewable energy benefit YOU! Solar and electric vehicle providers will be on hand to discuss their products and answer any questions you may have about going solar or buying/leasing an electric vehicle.
To sign up for this free workshop, please visit: www.bayareasunshares.org.
FROM THE ORGANIZER
A fundraising concert of Puerto Rican diaspora music by Majo and Taller Bombaléle.
All proceeds will go to Hurricane María Community Relief Fund
If you can’t come but want to donate or are looking for ways to help click here:
www.losambulantes.com/help-puerto-rico
Majo:
music is medicine : esotérica tropical
mariajosemontijo.bandcamp.com
Taller Bombaléle:
Afro-Puerto Rican drum and dance ensemble. Community music. De Santurce a la bahía, la bomba es vida. Be ready to sing and dance.
facebook.com/TallerBombalele
Show starts at 7pm
$10-20 suggested donation
Join Indivisible East Bay for beers/pizza/happy hour and, most importantly, text-banking to support the resistance!
We’ll be using a system created by our partner, Rapid Resist, to mobilize voters for local organizers’ events around the country. They’ve recruited for organizations like the Dolores Huerta Foundation, Indivisible Jacksonville, and Working America, and moved thousands to oppose the Trump administration’s agenda.
If you haven’t texted with Rapid Resist before, it is SO easy and SO effective. Come check it out!
WHAT DO YOU NEED?
– A mobile device with a good battery charge
– The “Hustle” P2P texting app (available via iTunes Store or Google Play)
Pack the Courtroom for Yvette’s Sacramento Court date
12:30 Press Conference
1:30 Pack the court room
720 9th Street
Urgent: Yvette Felarca and Eddy Robinson were arrested while protesting at UC-Berkeley on Tuesday, September 26th. While protesting alt-right Portland-based thugs, Joey Gibson and his Patriot Prayer group and other neo-fascists at UC Berkeley, Yvette was assaulted by one of the white supremacists. Then, while following beside the alt-right march and chanting, Yvette was jostled and pushed by the thugs into their march. The police, who had been pointing-out Yvette all day, immediately surrounded Yvette and arrested her and Eddy. Thanks to the swift support and action of the movement, both Yvette and Eddy were released on bail and are awaiting their arraignment.
We are demanding that these false charges against Yvette, Eddy and other anti-racist/anti-fascist protesters be dropped now! Both of them were doing nothing but chanting or holding up signs next to or in front of the white supremacists. Their arrests on Tuesday were politically motivated to try to demobilize the protest and the movement. The Berkeley police targeted Yvette in order to raise the stakes in her Sacramento hearing on Wednesday, October 4th and may try to raise her bond. We need to defeat this attack and defend our leaders. We urgently need donations NOW to Yvette’s legal defense campaign and share with others.
From Yvette:
“Berkeley and the Bay Area stand strong as a national model for what it means to be a sanctuary, and how to build the Resistance to defeat the Alt-Right, white supremacists, and fascists, and to force Trump to resign or be removed. Our movement’s victory last week dealt a humiliating defeat to Yiannopoulos and the whole Alt-Right Terror Week. On Sunday, September 24th, Yiannopoulos was forced to flee to his vehicle after appearing for less than 20 minutes, as BAMN and other anti-racist protesters marched toward him across Sproul Plaza. We are stronger than ever and will continue our march forward to make California a real sanctuary state for all immigrants, defend DACA and stop all deportations, and build the movement to demand Trump resign or be removed By Any Means Necessary. All the bogus charges against myself and other anti-racist and anti-fascist protesters must be dropped now.”
Link to Donate to Drop the Charges Against Yvette Felarca: https://fundrazr.com/81GeUc?ref=sh_c6nIv5
Video of Yvette being pushed by alt-right thugs into their march (her arrest follows seconds later): https://twitter.com/shteveonpurpose/status/912792813045129216
Newsweek article on Yvette: http://www.newsweek.com/alt-rights-worst-nightmare-antifa-middle-school-teacher-669946
Today, join us at the Police Commission meeting! Tasers are off the agenda, but we'll be there making sure the often deadly weapons don't come back.https://t.co/bxKBvzMPsc pic.twitter.com/kUcg0JDsHv
— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) October 4, 2017
Tasers are on the agenda for the police commission meeting. They may be voting at this meeting and will have a public hearing on the subject!
Show up, speak out, and let’s shut down tasers for SFPD.
Today, join us at the Police Commission meeting! Tasers are off the agenda, but we'll be there making sure the often deadly weapons don't come back.https://t.co/bxKBvzMPsc pic.twitter.com/kUcg0JDsHv
— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) October 4, 2017
Tasers are on the agenda for the police commission meeting. They may be voting at this meeting and will have a public hearing on the subject!
Show up, speak out, and let’s shut down tasers for SFPD.
Berkeley’s PRC subcommittee is holding a hearing on the June 20 City Council meeting about Urban Shield that ended in police confrontation.
Here is the call for anyone who attended that meeting and wants to testify to the PRC.
Notice Inviting Testimony
The Berkeley Police Review Commission (PRC) recently voted to open an investigation into whether the police response at and following the June 20, 2017 City Council meeting on Urban Shield was appropriate, and to create a subcommittee for this purpose.
The subcommittee will discuss the issues and take related public testimony at its meeting on October 4, 2017 beginning at 6:00 pm at the South Berkeley Senior Center.
If you were present at the end of the June 20th council meeting and saw theprotest and BPD’s response we would like to hear from you.
If you cannot attend the October 4, 2017 meeting you can forward written comments to PRC staff at prc@cityofberkeley.info.
We are also asking for anyone with relevant video footage of the end of the Council meeting or events immediately afterwards outside of Longfellow to forward the video footage to us. Contact Katherine Lee, PRC Secretary, at 510-981-4960 or email prc@cityofberkeley.info for more information on how to submit
video footage.
PLEASE NOTE: oral testimony, written comments, and videos submitted to the PRC Subcommittee or staff will become part of the public record and will be made available to the public upon request.
Thank you for any information you can provide.
The Oakland Public Library, in collaboration with the James Baldwin Project, will present a special evening of film and discussion.
Filmmakers Karen Thorsen and Douglas Dempsey will screen their documentary “The Price of the Ticket” that traces the life and career of writer James Baldwin.
A community conversation about the issues raised in the film will follow the screening. Oakland History Room librarian Dorothy Lazard will moderate.
This event is free and open to the public.