Calendar
Waffles & Zapatismo is a free space for learning about and discussing the history, ideas, values and practices of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, EZLN or Zapatistas. We serve waffles at the start of the class to those who want them.
The financial crisis that erupted a decade ago in the U.S. subprime mortgage market has had immense political and economic ramifications. Ten years after the bail out, the austerity imposed by capitalists and their politicians has made increasing inequality and hardship the norm. The classical meaning of crisis is turning point. Did the crisis mark the decline of the established political consensus? Did it contribute to the rise of Trump one hand and the DSA on the other? How should democratic socialists organize knowing there’s always a next crisis with capitalism? Find out the answers to these questions and many more at the next installment of Night School.
Required Readings
See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.
Join us for three days of presentations and discussions to help us understand our current conditions and the problems we face under capitalism. Most importantly, we will talk about the kind of organizing necessary in order to change these conditions and create the kind of society that we need.
Friday 10/12
6:30pm-9:00pm
Attica – a documentary film by Cinda Firestone
This film documents the events that began on September 9, 1971 when inmates at Attica State Prison seized the prison for four days after months of protesting inhumane conditions. The uprising resulted in the death of 43 people after state troopers were called in to put down the rebellion.
Saturday 10/13
10:30am-12:30pm
The Crisis of Civilization and How to Resolve It: An Introduction to Ecocentric Socialism
Kamran Nayeri is the publisher and editor of “Our Place in the World: A Journal of Ecosocialism”. Political Economist emeritus, UC Berkeley
1:30pm-3:00pm
The Middle East in the Era of Trump
Prof. As’ad AbuKhalil, Professor of Political Science at CSU Stanislaus and author of Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
3:30pm-5:00pm
The “Gig Economy”: A New Form of Servitude for the Working Class?
Keally McBride is a Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco. She teaches and publishes on a wide variety of topics, including punishment, law, decolonization, revolutions and political economy.
6:30pm-8:00pm
France: In The Streets, Workplaces, Universities, Schools & Hospitals
Gilles Kobry, an activist in the French Trotskyist group, Fraction L’Etincelle, will discuss the recent struggles against the Macron government’s enforcement of the Labor Law in France, as well as attacks on access to public education and the challenges facing the workers in France and throughout Europe.
Sunday 10/14
2:00pm-3:30pm
Sports And Capitalism – How Sports are Used to Squeeze Public Money for Private Profit
Jules Boykoff, former professional soccer player, currently teaches political science at Pacific University in Oregon. Co-sponsored by the Anthropology and Social Change department at California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco
4:00pm-5:30pm
The Challenges We Face Today – Short-Term Mobilizing or Organizing for Real Social Change
A presentation by Speak Out Now (Revolutionary Workers Group) activists, followed by discussion and time to socialize. Refreshments and snacks provided.
Join us for three days of presentations and discussions to help us understand our current conditions and the problems we face under capitalism. Most importantly, we will talk about the kind of organizing necessary in order to change these conditions and create the kind of society that we need.
Friday 10/12
6:30pm-9:00pm
Attica – a documentary film by Cinda Firestone
This film documents the events that began on September 9, 1971 when inmates at Attica State Prison seized the prison for four days after months of protesting inhumane conditions. The uprising resulted in the death of 43 people after state troopers were called in to put down the rebellion.
Saturday 10/13
10:30am-12:30pm
The Crisis of Civilization and How to Resolve It: An Introduction to Ecocentric Socialism
Kamran Nayeri is the publisher and editor of “Our Place in the World: A Journal of Ecosocialism”. Political Economist emeritus, UC Berkeley
1:30pm-3:00pm
The Middle East in the Era of Trump
Prof. As’ad AbuKhalil, Professor of Political Science at CSU Stanislaus and author of Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
3:30pm-5:00pm
The “Gig Economy”: A New Form of Servitude for the Working Class?
Keally McBride is a Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco. She teaches and publishes on a wide variety of topics, including punishment, law, decolonization, revolutions and political economy.
6:30pm-8:00pm
France: In The Streets, Workplaces, Universities, Schools & Hospitals
Gilles Kobry, an activist in the French Trotskyist group, Fraction L’Etincelle, will discuss the recent struggles against the Macron government’s enforcement of the Labor Law in France, as well as attacks on access to public education and the challenges facing the workers in France and throughout Europe.
Sunday 10/14
2:00pm-3:30pm
Sports And Capitalism – How Sports are Used to Squeeze Public Money for Private Profit
Jules Boykoff, former professional soccer player, currently teaches political science at Pacific University in Oregon. Co-sponsored by the Anthropology and Social Change department at California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco
4:00pm-5:30pm
The Challenges We Face Today – Short-Term Mobilizing or Organizing for Real Social Change
A presentation by Speak Out Now (Revolutionary Workers Group) activists, followed by discussion and time to socialize. Refreshments and snacks provided.
Waffles & Zapatismo is a free space for learning about and discussing the history, ideas, values and practices of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, EZLN or Zapatistas. We serve waffles at the start of the class to those who want them.
Doughnut Economics Reading Group starts Nov 10th
Creating a world with neither human suffering nor planetary peril
Doughnut Economics: 7 ways to think like a 21st century economist
By Kate Raworth Chelsea Green Publishing (2017)
The capitalist economic system defines every aspect of our lives: the schooling and medical care we get, where we live, and how we sustain ourselves. The system works for a lucky few and exploits everyone else. And it’s a real threat to the survival of our species (and many others) on this planet.
We know the system needs to change—but we can’t change what we don’t understand. We have to know what we’re talking about.
Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics lays out traditional economic theory—still taught as gospel at all the major temples of capitalism—with clarity, authority, lots of graphics, and quite a bit of humor. She exposes the flawed models and persistent myths that keep the system in place. Even more importantly, she presents seven big, basic ideas with which to begin creating the world we want to see. We can indeed build an economy in the “doughnut”—meeting the needs of all while maintaining the biospheres that support us.
All of us need to read this book. We’ve all grown up in this deeply unfair and absurd system; seeing it clearly and getting free of it require a group effort.
So we at Strike Debt Bay Area are sponsoring a group discussion of Doughnut Economics. We’re thinking of seven meetings so we can talk about one chapter per meeting. Please join us!
First meeting:
4:00 – 5:15pm, Saturday, November 10th
Omni Commons, 4799 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland
Bring the book (available at your favorite online bookseller and in select local bookstores) and/or your thoughts on the first chapter (available online – http://tinyurl.com/ycysqtde ‘Look Inside’).
https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/
Are you thinking about going solar – tapping the sun for your energy needs? But you have so many questions, you don’t know where to start? Solar Simplified will provide a strong foundation for your decision-making. Solar is more accessible and affordable than ever, and the industry is rapidly changing. Solar expert Doug McKenzie will discuss the latest solar products, rebates, and technologies, plus the factors that are advancing or limiting the future of solar in the US. Presentation followed by Q&A, so bring your questions!
Topics include:
Why: The environmental and financial benefits of solar
What: How a PV system works, and the latest technology
Solar Financing: Owning versus leasing, low-income options, rebates
Other Considerations: Contractors, home selling, policies, Community Choice energy
Getting Off Gas: Batteries, electric cars, electric appliances
Jobs: The growth of solar in CA, US, the world, and how to get a foot in the door
Doug McKenzie retired early from HP after almost 20 years in software development and customer support. Before HP, he received a degree in Applied Math from UC Berkeley. After HP, he is living his dreams as a solar educator and consultant and as a career coach helping people through career transitions. He’s the East Bay development manager for non-profit solar installer SunWork.org and is on the Board of NorCal Solar. Doug lives in Berkeley and drives an electric car powered by rooftop solar.
We are disappointed to relay that dangerous air quality in the Bay Area has compelled us to cancel the People Get Ready II Conference, which was scheduled to take place tomorrow, Saturday November 17th.#climatechange #californiafires pic.twitter.com/qUfeAkaskK
— CPE (@Center4PE) November 17, 2018
PEOPLE GET READY IS NEXT WEEK! PRE-REGISTER NOW!
The People Get Ready II planning committee has been hard at work to make November 17 a powerful gathering for learning and discussion. This one day conference is aimed at assessing the post-midterm terrain and charting a path forward to building powerful movements and the radical left. People Get Ready II will include two powerful keynotes, nine discussion sessions, and a workshop featuring dozens of visionary organizers from the Bay and beyond.
At last year’s conference, our comrade Linda Burnham urged us to take up the often-difficult task of balancing our revolutionary imagination with the brutal realities we face. Amid war, right-wing terror, racist state policy, environmental devastation, and capitalist barbarism, it seems that the fate of our peoples and the planet requires the utmost from our imaginations and our energies on the ground. And times aren’t without hope. A growing tide of people all over the world are mobilizing, strategizing, and building the liberatory politics and movements necessary for us to live in humane and sustainable societies.
Our goal is to create a space where people in struggle can converge to understand where we are, what we’re up against, how to fight back, build strength, and shift power—now and into the future. Join us for People Get Ready II.
Details are still being worked out but we are proud to share what we’ve got so far!
People Get Ready II will feature the following sessions:
- Taking Stock: Analyzing the Political Terrain after the Midterms
- Hard Work: New Battles, New Organizing in the Workplace and Beyond
- Spanning the Globe: Internationalist Solidarity vs. US Militarism
- Land: The Basis of Freedom, Justice and Equality
- Who’s Got the Power?: A Workshop on Assessing the Balance of Forces
- Towards 2020: People Power at the Ballot Box and in the Streets
- No Pasarán!: Strategies to Defeat Fascism and the Authoritarian Right
- Against Displacement: Freedom to Stay, Freedom to Move, Freedom to Return
- Deep and Wide: Building Alliances with Teeth
- Fighting to Win: Cultivating a Successful Left Strategy
Speakers will include:
Aimee Allison (She the People)
Brace Belden (DSA)
Calvin Cheung-Miaw (Left Inside/Outside Project)
Cathi Tactaquin (National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights)
Clare Bayard (Catalyst Project)
Claude Marks (Freedom Archives)
Donté Clark
Ellen Choy (Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans)
Elsadig Elsheik (Haas Institute)
Francesca Fiorentini
Isaac Ontiveros (Center for Political Education)
Kimi Lee (Bay Rising)
Kung Feng (Jobs with Justice—San Francisco)
Lara Kiswani (Arab Resource & Organizing Center)
Leila Sayed-Taha (Arab Resource & Organizing Center)
Linda Evans (co-founder and former staff, All of Us or None)
Maria Poblet (LeftRoots)
Max Elbaum (Organizing Upgrade)
N’Tanya Lee (LeftRoots)
Rebecca Gordon
Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz
Saba Waheed (UCLA Labor Center)
Sara Kershnar (International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network)
Tony Samara (Urban Habitat/Right to the City)
Tur-Ha Ak (Community Defense Corps)
Vanessa Moses (Causa Justa :: Just Cause)
Walter Turner (Africa Today)
As we put the finishing touches on our program, we will share news about more of our exciting guests!
We are excited to have People Get Ready II endorsed by the following organizations:
Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA), Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), Ambedkar King Study Circle, Asians 4 Black Lives, Bay Resistance, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Causa Justa :: Just Cause, Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Dignidad Rebelde, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy(EBASE), Freedom Archives, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, GABRIELA–SF, Generative Somatics, Haiti Action Committee, Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans (HOBAK), International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Jobs with Justice San Francisco, Labor and Community Studies–City College of San Francisco, LeftRoots, Movement Generation, National Lawyers Guild–SF, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Organizing Upgrade, Palestinian Youth Movement, PODER, Race and Resistance Studies—SFSU, Teachers for Social Justice, Underground Scholars Initiative, Viet Unity.
To pre-register or sign up to volunteer at the conference, click here.
Help us spread the word!
Align your money with your values– stop funding war and fossil fuels!
Free Workshop to help you align your money with your values, break up with your Wall Street bank (Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citibank, Chase, etc.), and divest from investments in fossil fuels and weapons. Join the growing movement for a “Peace Economy” and withdraw financial support from the War Economy.
Optional: Bring your laptop or other wi-fi-enabled device for a hands-on experience.
Learn to:
Identify local banks and credit unions where you can move your money with confidence. Break up with your Wall Street bank and keep your money local and used for community needs.
Use tools such as the online “As You Sow” program to discover if you’re invested in weapons and fossil fuels, plus identify socially responsible funds that perform as well as funds invested in weapons and fossil fuels.
Form support groups for continued mutual assistance on how to move your money.
Presenters include Cynthia Papermaster of CODEPINK, Sandy Emerson of Fossil Free California, Dave Peattie and Steve Murphy of Indivisible Berkeley Economic Justice Team.
Handouts, refreshments, hands-on workshop.
Exploring the difficult conversations in our lives around race and power. How do we approach the challenging conversations, whether it’s about confederate flags, Donald Trump, cultural appropriation, Palestine/Israel, or even just racism and racial justice in general?
Members of the White Noise Collective will facilitate a workshop exploring the difficult conversations in our lives around race and power. How do we approach the challenging conversations, whether it’s about confederate flags, Donald Trump, cultural appropriation, Palestine/Israel, or even just racism and racial justice in general?
This workshop is an opportunity to dive in much deeper with structured time to practice a range of difficult conversations around highly-charged racial issues. We will be sharing some basic skill-building tools in how to approach conversations, and then explore scenarios relevant to the lives of participants. This will include examination of some of the ways that internalized sexism can impact our courageous speaking capacities.
Small group work, role-plays, and Theater of the Oppressed techniques will support seeing tough communication blocks in a new light. We’ll try out what feels challenging, in a relatively low-stakes and supportive environment, allowing ourselves time to debrief, reflect, and learn from each other.
Contact basebuilding@surjbayarea.org with ticket requests or questions.
ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION The space is wheelchair accessible. 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.
The recent UN report on climate change is sobering. Urgent action is required to avert environmental disaster. We need a bold vision of a good and livable future — and a political program to match. For starters, that means insisting on a publicly funded clean energy transition on a rapid timeline and a major green jobs program. The main obstacle to achieving this vision should be obvious. Corporations spent millions of dollars to defeat clean energy initiatives in the elections earlier this month.
Please join the Night School for a discussion on how democratic socialists can organize for climate justice and help build the mass movement that will be needed to take on the corporations.
Accessibility: East Bay Community Space has a wheelchair-accessible entrance and bathrooms.
Required Readings
See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.
Waffles & Zapatismo is a free space for learning about and discussing the history, ideas, values and practices of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, EZLN or Zapatistas. We serve waffles at the start of the class to those who want them.
GOING SOLAR WORKSHOP
Learn about solar photovoltaic (PV) for your home. Understand the basics of solar PV, the economics benefits of going solar, the options you have and purchasing tips. Special focus will be on home owners with low electric bills averaging under $100/month (excluding EV usage)
Waffles & Zapatismo is a free space for learning about and discussing the history, ideas, values and practices of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, EZLN or Zapatistas. We serve waffles at the start of the class to those who want them.
Join us for a legislative strategy session and workshop that will demystify the legislative process, build our legislative capacity, and highlight the legislative priorities and strategies of our people of color (POC) led partners!
More Info:
This workshop is the first of a two-part series for anyone who is passionate, curious, or wants to learn more about the ways that policy combined with grassroots organizing can be used as a tool in the movement for racial justice and collective liberation.
This workshop will provide opportunities for participants to:
– Learn how the Movement 4 Black Lives Policy Platform (M4BL) fits into SURJ Bay Area’s organizing framework
– Leverage our grassroots power in the state Capitol
– Plug into statewide policy work and action
– Practice bringing your voice and positionality to the political process
– Hear from our POC partner organization, Initiate Justice, on their 2019 legislative campaign
This workshop is a fundraiser for Initiate Justice. Please bring a cash donation that is meaningful for you. We are eager to hear all of your voices and to help develop SURJ’s role in the California policy landscape. All levels of experience are welcome!
Hold the date for the second workshop in this two-part series: February 3, 2019!
ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION
Seneca Family of Agencies is located at 6925 Chabot Road, Oakland, CA 94618.
PARKING AND TRANSPORTATION
Thirteenth Annual Social Justice Symposium
The Social Justice Symposium (SJS) is a student-organized event that serves as space for the community to meet and discuss social justice work in the Bay Area.
Schedule
This year, our keynote speaker is George Galvis. Galvis holds both a Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies and a Master’s in City Planning from UC Berkeley where he was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) Fellow. Galvis is the co-founder and executive director of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ, pronounced courage). Galvis advocates for at-risk youth, prisoners and formerly imprisoned individuals with children. He has led statewide advocacy efforts to transform punitive school and juvenile justice policies that disparately impact youth of color and has developed traditional rites of passage programs as healthy alternatives to gang violence.
- 9:00 — Doors open/Registration
- 9:30-11:00 — Workshops
- 11:15-12:00 — Keynote Address
- 12:15-12:45 — FREE LUNCH
- 1:00-2:30 — Workshops
Required Readings
See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.
The Policy Working Group is excited to invite you to our upcoming, SURJ Bay Area Lobby Visit Workshop, part two of our legislative workshop series!
Workshop participants can expect to…
-Learn about lobby visits and how they fit into SURJ’s larger framework
-Practice speaking about policy to a legislative staffer
-Hear about new opportunities to engage in the legislative process with SURJ
-Hear from Essie Justice Group on their 2019 policy priorities
Tickets are sliding scale, $0 – $10. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. This workshop is a fundraiser for Essie Justice Group. Please bring a cash donation that is meaningful for you.
****This is the second workshop of a two part series. Attendance at the first workshop on 1/13/19 is not necessary but may be helpful. All are welcome.
ALTERNATIVES TO POLICING WORKSHOP 2
Let’s talk about the “common sense” ideas about crime, morality, and safety that shape and limit how we think about policing and community safety. Many of these ideas are profoundly influenced by a particular brand of Christianity that has dominated in this country, a version of the faith that served to justify genocide and slavery and continues to uphold white supremacy in ways that are sometimes overt but more often subtle and even innocuous-seeming. How can we begin to call these “common sense” ideas into question so that we can have a different conversation?
In this interactive workshop, we will take a deep dive into both the actual history of policing and the narratives and ideologies that have shaped it. Content will include viewing and discussion of segments from two webinars, one offered by Andrea Ritchie on January 28, 2019 on the History of Policing, and one offered by SoulForce on January 8, 2018 on Christian Supremacy and Policing, both through SURJ-Faith.
Andrea Ritchie is a Black lesbian immigrant and police misconduct attorney and organizer who has engaged in extensive research, writing, and advocacy around criminalization of women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people of color over the past two decades. She recently published Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color now available from Beacon Press. Read more about her and her work here: http://andreajritchie.com/bio/
SoulForce is an LGBTQI organization that sabotages Christian Supremacy through radical analysis, spiritual healing and strategic direct action. Their website reads: “Christian Supremacy is not new; the project of empire has snatched Christianity and put it into service for hundreds of years, especially in the United States and its business partners. Calling out Christian Supremacy means recognizing that the struggles against white supremacy, capitalism, and (neo)colonization – to name a few – are intricately tied to how certain sectors and expressions of Christianity are driven by power over, not justice. We believe consciousness of how this kind of religion works in the United States – its language, its cultural plumb lines, its relationship to social and financial power, its stated and unstated values – tells a more honest story of how this country came to be.”
Facilitators will be Nichola Torbett and Marcia Lovelace.
We will also ground ourselves in our values and agreements, which are rooted in transformative justice, and in our commitment to caring for our hearts, minds, and spirits as we do this work.
By donation; no one turned away for lack of funds.
ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP SERIES
A growing coalition of organizations in the Bay Area is coming together to explore alternatives to calling the police to our campuses and into our neighborhoods. Over the coming year, we will be offering a series of workshops to explore alternatives to calling the police. Some of these workshops, like this one, will provide deepening analysis and a grounding in alternative ways of thinking about safety. Others will provide practical skills. All of them will lift up a transformative justice framework and emphasize the importance of self care.
The Coalition includes First Congregational Church of Oakland, Kehilla Community Synagogue, Agape Fellowship, Qal’bu Maryam, Jewish Voice for Peace, the East Bay Meditation Center, Skyline Community Church, Oakland Peace Center, Oakland LBGTQ Community Center, KinFolkz, the Omni Collective, and Black Organizing Project. We are eager to partner with additional organizations so please contact us if you are interested!
East Bay DSA’s Socialist Night School continues its 2019 Winter Session with a class examining strikes.
Over the last year there has been a wave of successful teacher strikes, and our local Oakland Education Association recently voted to authorize a strike. But how do strikes figure into the larger picture of class struggle and building working class power? And what lessons can we learn from historical strikes?
Please join us on Tuesday, February 19 to discuss these questions and more!
Details and readings coming soon!
Accessibility: Wheelchair-accessible entrance and restrooms
Required Readings
See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.
Oakland teachers just set the date of their strike for this coming Thursday! Join us this Tuesday night for an emergency Oakland Is Strike Ready meeting and bring everyone you know! pic.twitter.com/XlnnSR15Ok
— East Bay DSA 🌹 (@DSAEastBay) February 16, 2019