Calendar

9896
Nov
26
Sat
Strike Debt Bay Area: Debt Resistance is NOT Futile! @ Paris Baguette
Nov 26 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

(Backup location if Paris Baguette has no seating: Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater, 14th & Broadway, outside of City Hall.)

Strike Debt is building a debt resistance movement. We believe that most individual debt is illegitimate and unjust. Most of us fall into debt because we are increasingly deprived of the means to acquire the basic necessities of life: health care, education, and housing. Because we are forced to go into debt simply in order to live, we think it is right and moral to resist it.

Come get connected with SDBA’s projects!
  • organizing for public banking
  • Tiny Homes for the homeless.
  • Working on debarring US Banks that have been convicted of felonies from municipal contract
  • money bail reform and fighting modern day debtors’ prisons and exploitive ticketing and fining schemes
  • helping out America’s only non-profit check-cashing organization and fighting against usurious for-profit pay-day lenders and their ilk
  • student debt resistance
  • Promoting the concept of Basic Income
  • advocating for Postal banking
  • Presenting debt-related topics at forums and workshops
  • Bring your own debt-related project!

If you are new to Strike Debt and want to come early , meet one or two of us and get a briefing on our projects before we dive into our agenda, email us at strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com .

 Also check out our website, our twitter feed, our radio segments and our Facebook page.
Strike Debt Bay Area is an offshoot of Occupy Oakland and Strike Debt, itself an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street.

Strike Debt – Principles of Solidarity

Strike Debt is building a debt resistance movement. We believe that most individual debt is illegitimate and unjust. Most of us fall into debt because we are increasingly deprived of the means to acquire the basic necessities of life: health care, education, and housing. Because we are forced to go into debt simply in order to live, we think it is right and moral to resist it.

We also oppose debt because it is an instrument of exploitation and political domination. Debt is used to discipline us, deepen existing inequalities, and reinforce racial, gendered, and other social hierarchies. Every Strike Debt action is designed to weaken the institutions that seek to divide us and benefit from our division. As an alternative to this predatory system, Strike Debt advocates a just and sustainable economy, based on mutual aid, common goods, and public affluence.

Strike Debt is committed to the principles and tactics of political autonomy, direct democracy, direct action, creative openness, a culture of solidarity, and commitment to anti-oppressive language and conduct. We struggle for a world without racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of oppression.

Strike Debt holds that we are all debtors, whether or not we have personal loan agreements. Through the manipulation of sovereign and municipal debt, the costs of speculator-driven crises are passed on to all of us. Though different kinds of debt can affect the same household, they are all interconnected, and so all household debtors have a common interest in resisting.

Strike Debt engages in public education about the debt-system to counteract the self-serving myth that finance is too complicated for laypersons to understand. In particular, it urges direct action as a way of stopping the damage caused by the creditor class and their enablers among elected government officials. Direct action empowers those who participate in challenging the debt-system.

Strike Debt holds that we owe the financial institutions nothing, whereas, to our friends, families and communities, we owe everything. In pursuing a long-term strategy for national organizing around this principle, we pledge international solidarity with the growing global movement against debt and austerity.

61929
Nov
27
Sun
Bay Area LGBTQ Town Hall Meeting on Strategic Responses to Trump @ Omni Commons
Nov 27 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Bay Area LGBTQ Town Hall Meeting and Strategy Session in response to the incoming Trump administration’s agenda and threats to our community.

This facilitated Town Hall meeting will focus on needed strategic community organizing and solidarity, and will feature speakers providing updates on the likely impact of Trump’s agenda on LGBTQ lives in the areas of law, legislation, healthcare, immigration and the growing sanctuary movement.

Organized by the ad-hoc Bay Area Queer Anti-Fascist Network. Find us at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1770059716578820/

62058
Occupy Oakland General Assembly @ Oscar Grant Plaza
Nov 27 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

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.  (In prior years we have agreed to meet at 4:00 PM during summer hours, that is, once Daylight Savings Time goes back into effect).

On every last Sunday we meet a little earlier at 2 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

ooGAOO 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

  1. Welcome & Introductions
  2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
  3. Announcements
  4. (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

61980
Nov
29
Tue
Prisoner Work Strike – Oakland IWOC chapter meeting @ One Fam/7th St. Cafe
Nov 29 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Hey IWOCers and supporters, We’re having our next meeting on Tuesday.

We’ll be reporting on the work ongoing at the national level as well as the local level. Plus we will be sorting through all that we have in motion for future work, outreach, inreach, mutual political education, and more.

Come plug in and shape what’s in the works!


62071
Anarchist Study Group @ Longhaul
Nov 29 @ 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm

62076
Nov
30
Wed
Oakland Privacy: Fighting Against the Surveillance State. @ Omni Commons
Nov 30 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Join the Oakland Privacy Working Group to organize against the surveillance state,  against Urban Shield, and to advocate for privacy and surveillance regulation ordinances to be passed around the Bay Area, including the Alameda and San Francisco County Boards of Supervisors, the BART Board of Directors, and by the Oakland and Berkeley City Councils.

We are also engaged in the fight against Predictive Policing and other “pre-crime” and “thought-crime” abominations, drones, improper use of police body cameras, ALPRs, requirements for “backdoors” to your cellphone and against other invasions of privacy by our benighted City, County, State and Federal Governments.

op-logo.2.1OPWG originally came together to fight against the Domain Awareness Center (DAC), Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub. OPWG was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network; its members helped draft the Privacy Policy that puts further restrictions on the now Port-restricted DAC, and made Oakland’s new Privacy Advisory Commission to the City Council happen.  We were also the lead in having Alameda County pass the most comprehensive privacy and usage policy in the country for deployment of “Stingray” technology (cell phone interceptors).

We have presented our work at the recent RightsCon in San Francisco and at Left Forum and HOPE in New York City.

If you would like to attend our meeting and would like a quick introduction to what we’re doing before we dive right into the thick of our agenda, send email to contact@oaklandprivacy.org and one of us will show up twenty minutes early to give you some background on our work.

Stop by and learn how you can help guard our right not to be spied on by the government.

If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy Working Group email listserv, send an email to:

oaklandprivacyworkinggroup-subscribe AT lists.riseup.net

or send a request to contact@oaklandprivacy.org

Check out our website.

For more information on the DAC check out

61958
Dec
1
Thu
Omni Commons General Assembly @ Omni Commons Ballroom
Dec 1 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Come by our open Delegates Meetings every First and Third Thursday of the month at 7pm! We’ll give space to brief announcements, updates from working groups, proposals up for consensus, and discussion around important issues. The schedule is created weekly at the following url: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom

61760
Dec
4
Sun
Occupy Oakland General Assembly @ Oscar Grant Plaza
Dec 4 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

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.  (In prior years we have agreed to meet at 4:00 PM during summer hours, that is, once Daylight Savings Time goes back into effect).

On every last Sunday we meet a little earlier at 2 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

ooGAOO 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

  1. Welcome & Introductions
  2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
  3. Announcements
  4. (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

61980
Dec
6
Tue
Spokescouncil Meetings for MLK Week of Action! @ GPW
Dec 6 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

This year, Oakland’s Anti Police-Terror Project is calling on our Bay Area community to up the resistance level, as we reclaim the radical legacy of Martin Luther King and resist the fascist Trump agenda. This year the Reclaiming King’s Radical Legacy March on Monday (1/16) will launch 120 hours of direct action, culminating on #HellNawGuration Day (1/20). This year we are focused on immigrant rights, protection of our Muslim brothers and sisters, womens reproductive rights, loving our LGBTQ sisters, brothers and siblings, and the defense of Black life.

As is our custom, we will host a Spokescouncil meeting to plan and coordinate actions in the SF Bay Area. PLEASE SAVE THE FOLLOWING DATES in your calendar.

> Tuesday Dec 6th, 6:30pm orientation and kickoff meeting, GPW 955 7th Street.
> Tuesday Dec 13th, 6:30pm orientation, 7pm meeting, OMNI Commons
> Tuesday Dec 20th, 6:30pm orientation, 7pm meeting, OMNI Commons First Presbyterian Church, 2619 Broadway
> Tuesday Dec 27th, 6:30pm orientation, 7pm meeting, OMNI Commons
> More dates TBA
* If it”s your first meeting, please make sure to show up early to attend the orientation!

What is a spokescouncil?

A spokescouncil is a collective framework for direct action mobilizations, where large masses of people organize themselves into smaller teams called “affinity groups”. Affinity groups plan their actions independently with the intention of advancing the larger goal of the spokescouncil. Affinity groups are represented by at least one person (“a spoke”) at the meetings, where they are able to share resources and coordinate their actions with other groups.

Why a spokescouncil?

We propose the spokescouncil as a solution to many of the shortcomings of unstructured mass assemblies. We intend to provide a highly structured organizing space with clear tactical and messaging guidelines, that empowers participants to organize independently and in parallel. We intend to inspire a multitude of diverse actions and awaken the massive potential we have as a community engaging in direct action.

** for questions or more information about the spokescouncil please contact aptpspokescouncil@gmail.com

62103
Dec
7
Wed
Support for Oakland’s DIY Spaces @ Omni Commons
Dec 7 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

In the wake of the tragic fire at Ghostship, this is an open assembly and call for help in order to begin to collectively brainstorm, interconnect and pool resources around what we as a community of artists and organizers can do to aid our DIY spaces right now in the Bay Area — primarily with respect to improving core fire safety and building safety.

Together, we may also better withstand and mutually support one another during what may well be a forthcoming crackdown on such critical places of cultural and political production.

The meeting will also function as a skillshare around tackling zoning problems, code compliance / inspection issues, and legal and tenant law challenges germane to unconventional spaces, as well as address any other other intersecting issues presently challenging virtually all DIY spaces already struggling in our present atmosphere of insane rents and massive redevelopment.

Action items might include:

* Identify spaces / communities presently in need of such assistance

* Define a mutual aid network of local DIY spaces and in particular folks with germane skills in the trades (electrical, structural, plumbing etc), architecture, engineering, accessibility, permits, and building life-safety codes

* Assemble a capable group of volunteers to plan and physically carry out core life-safety improvements to any DIY spaces that need assistance

* Fundraise into an existing 501c3 for tax-deductible contributions to subsidize such improvements specifically, which we should publicize (note: a separate fund from the victim’s relief fund)

* Develop guidelines, how-to’s and points of contact for expert consultation and assistance in various areas of need, be it construction-related or legal/permit-related

* Potentially, agree to create a DIY-space advocacy group that can interface with the city bureaucracy and various authorities, particularly with respect to zoning and land use issues, on behalf of local artists, organizers and activists in our community who rely on such DIY spaces to work and thrive.

We understand many are still in the grieving process and may not be able to attend, but many also voiced a need to address these issues in our community without delay.

To all who are shattered and heartbroken as many at Omni are after this horrifying disaster, we pledge our love and support – let Omni know how else and who else we can help.

https://omnicommons.org/calendar/events/safety-support-diy-spaces/

62110
Dec
10
Sat
Mass Organizing Meeting for Jan. 20 SF Protest on Day of Trump’s Inauguration
Dec 10 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Volunteer and help build the fightback movement against Trump!

Join us for a mass organizing meeting to build for the Jan. 20 protest on the day of Trump’s inauguration.

You can also join an outreach session Tuesdays between 5:30 and 7:30pm or contact us and let us know when you are available. No experience is necessary! We need help making phone calls, putting up posters, handing out flyers, painting banners and making signs.

Come by any time to pick up flyers and posters or to help out. Only an organized people’s movement can push back the Trump program of racism, sexism and war! Join us!

Read the Jan. 20 Call to Action. http://www.answercoalition.org/j20_sf

62077
Oakland Justice Coalition @ Siegel & Yee, 3rd floor
Dec 10 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Join the Oakland Justice Coalition for our final meeting of 2016.
Topics include:
National and Local Elections
What’s Next for OJC?
MLK Week Actions
2018 Elections
Hope to see you there! Bring a friend.

62089
Dec
11
Sun
Oakland General Strike Organizing Assembly – #J20 and Beyond @ Omni Commons
Dec 11 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Oakland General Strike Organizing Assembly – #J20 and Beyond
https://www.facebook.com/events/1682970751925380/

***We are a part of the APTP Spokescouncil for the 120 Hours of Direct Action that has been endorsed by the Alameda Labor Council*** https://www.facebook.com/events/1144772902305965/

Please Invite all of your friends (After going to the invite window clicking on past events will enable you to invite all friends from that event.) , share with groups, text blast, and email friends to outreach for the organizing. Feel free to copy and paste the details of this event.

We will gather to discuss organizing a General Strike in Oakland (Ohlone Land) on #J20 and or during the Trump presidency. We will have a general discussion about what that would look like then break out into several committees to organize media, outreach, logistics, etc.

The conversation will center working class black and brown voices but everyone is welcome to speak and share their thoughts and skills!

62115
Occupy Oakland General Assembly @ Oscar Grant Plaza
Dec 11 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

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.  (In prior years we have agreed to meet at 4:00 PM during summer hours, that is, once Daylight Savings Time goes back into effect).

On every last Sunday we meet a little earlier at 2 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

ooGAOO 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

  1. Welcome & Introductions
  2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
  3. Announcements
  4. (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

61980
Liberated Lens general meeting @ Omni Commons
Dec 11 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

We document current events, make films together, steward an editing suite and share a film equipment library. We also host film screenings, often with local directors, and put on an annual short film festival for independent Bay Area filmmakers. Our goal is to make the digital filmmaking accessible – no overpriced college degree or certificate program required!

We are also a good group to reach out to if you’d like to screen a film at the Omni. We can be reached at [ liberatedlens@lists.riseup.net ].

We usually meet in the basement, unless otherwise noted.

62130
Dec
12
Mon
Oakland Tenants Union monthly meeting @ Madison Park Apartments, community room
Dec 12 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

OTU’s Mission

The Oakland Tenants Union is an organization of housing activists dedicated to protecting tenant rights and interests. OTU does this by working directly with tenants in their struggle with landlords, impacting legislation and public policy about housing, community education, and working with other organizations committed to furthering renters’ rights. The Oakland Tenants Union is open to anyone who shares our core values and who believes that tenants themselves have the primary responsibility to work on their own behalf.

Monthly Meetings

The Oakland Tenants Union meets regularly at 7:00 pm on the second Monday evening of each month. Our monthly meetings are held in the Community Room of the Madison Park Apartments, 100 – 9th Street (at Oak Street, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station). To enter, gently knock on the window of the room to the right of the main entrance to the building. At the meetings, first we focus on general issues affecting renters city-wide and then second we offer advice to renters regarding their individual concerns.

If you have an issue, a question, or need advice about a tenant/landlord issue, please call us at (510) 704-5276. Leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will get back to you.

59289
Oscar Grant Committee Meeting @ Neibyl Proctor Library
Dec 12 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

This month we had a conflict so the meeting will be held on the second Monday, December 12th at 7 PM at the Niebyl-Proctor Library.

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.

Note: At our November meeting we changed our meeting date from the first Tuesday of the month to the first Monday, starting January 2nd.

oscar-grant-justice-poster

62079
Dec
13
Tue
Spokescouncil Meetings for MLK Week of Action! @ OMNI Commons
Dec 13 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

This year, Oakland’s Anti Police-Terror Project is calling on our Bay Area community to up the resistance level, as we reclaim the radical legacy of Martin Luther King and resist the fascist Trump agenda. This year the Reclaiming King’s Radical Legacy March on Monday (1/16) will launch 120 hours of direct action, culminating on #HellNawGuration Day (1/20). This year we are focused on immigrant rights, protection of our Muslim brothers and sisters, womens reproductive rights, loving our LGBTQ sisters, brothers and siblings, and the defense of Black life.

As is our custom, we will host a Spokescouncil meeting to plan and coordinate actions in the SF Bay Area. PLEASE SAVE THE FOLLOWING DATES in your calendar.

> Tuesday Dec 6th, 6:30pm orientation and kickoff meeting, GPW 955 7th Street.
> Tuesday Dec 13th, 6:30pm orientation, 7pm meeting, OMNI Commons
> Tuesday Dec 20th, 6:30pm orientation, 7pm meeting, OMNI Commons
> Tuesday Dec 27th, 6:30pm orientation, 7pm meeting, OMNI Commons
> More dates TBA
* If it”s your first meeting, please make sure to show up early to attend the orientation!

What is a spokescouncil?

A spokescouncil is a collective framework for direct action mobilizations, where large masses of people organize themselves into smaller teams called “affinity groups”. Affinity groups plan their actions independently with the intention of advancing the larger goal of the spokescouncil. Affinity groups are represented by at least one person (“a spoke”) at the meetings, where they are able to share resources and coordinate their actions with other groups.

Why a spokescouncil?

We propose the spokescouncil as a solution to many of the shortcomings of unstructured mass assemblies. We intend to provide a highly structured organizing space with clear tactical and messaging guidelines, that empowers participants to organize independently and in parallel. We intend to inspire a multitude of diverse actions and awaken the massive potential we have as a community engaging in direct action.

** for questions or more information about the spokescouncil please contact aptpspokescouncil@gmail.com

62104
Dec
14
Wed
Intro to SURJ Bay Area Meeting @ Oakland Peace Center
Dec 14 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Due to an overwhelming level of interest, we had to move this month’s meeting to a larger venue. Despite our best efforts to accommodate all who showed interest, the largest site we could secure is the Oakland Peace Center.

We are sorry to have to limit attendance, but we have to adhere to the building’s fire safety rules. Note that we will be holding our next intro meeting on January 11 and would love to see you then, as well!

At this meeting gathering, we will create an altar in honor of Will Sims, the beloved young, Black man and gifted musician who was a killed in El Sobrante on November 12. Please bring items to offer on the altar we will build for him and his community. In so doing, we strengthen our commitment to fighting white supremacy right here in the Bay Area.

Please note: There is very limited parking near the venue. Please allow time to find parking or plan to take the bus, bike, walk, or carpool. 19th Street BART is the closest station and is a 20 minute, .8 mile walk. Bus lines 51A and 11 stop within a block.

Thank you so much for your interest in SURJ Bay and look forward to working for racial justice with each and everyone of you. Additionally, you’ll hear about upcoming workshops and trainings as well as reports from SURJ’s committees – Basebuilding, Communications, Fundraising, Mobilization, Youth & Families, and the Queen & Trans Working Group. We’ll answer your questions, and share how you can get involved in local racial justice efforts.

PLEASE RSVP HERE: http://www.surjbayarea.org/surj_intro_meeting_20161214_peacecenter
Space is limited so we are asking folks to please let us know they’re coming.

Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Bay Area is a local chapter of a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice. There are over 150 chapters and affiliates nationwide. Through community organizing, mobilizing, and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability.

Accessibility:

The space is wheelchair accessible through the glass door off of the parking lot on Farimount Avenue, and there are several accessible parking spaces in the lot next to the door. The bathrooms have a flat entryway but are not wheelchair accessible. There is one gender-neutral restroom, and the other two restrooms will also be gender neutral during the event. The space uses some scented cleaning products. We ask that you do your best to arrive at the event scent/fragrance free to keep the space as low-scent as possible to support people with chemical and scent sensitivities – please see https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/ for helpful information. If you have additional access needs or questions, please email basebuilding@surjbayarea.org.

62131
Support for Oakland DIY Spaces Meeting #2 @ Omni Commons
Dec 14 @ 7:00 pm – 11:45 pm

We’ll be continuing the coordination of immediate responses toward making Oakland DIY spaces safer, in the short and long-term.

The goal of this meeting will be to tighten coordination efforts and check-in on developments from various working groups since the last meeting, as well as getting new volunteers up to speed and involved.

Everyone is welcome to attend the meeting; as volunteers, as members of DIY spaces, or simply as people wanting to know what is going on and how to help.
* We do ask that all press remain outside the event, and respect the privacy of this process.

Please collaborate on the agenda here: https://pad.riseup.net/p/safetymeetingnumber2
Add comments or questions to the agenda in the chat window in the the right-hand corner.

The notes from the previous meeting can be found here:
https://omnicommons.org/wiki/DIY_Safety_Working_Group

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