Close the Camps – Free Our Children

Schedule of Actions

11:00 AM RALLY at 24th & Mission Street
12:00 Noon MARCH to City Hall
1:00 PM RALLY at City Hall
3:00 PM Protest at ICE
3:00 PM Delegation to present DEMANDS to Congresswoman Pelosi
3:00 PM Delegation to present DEMANDS to Senator Feinstein
6:00 PM Mexican Independence Day Celebration & Rally at 24th & Mission Street

WHO ARE WE? – Close the Camps – Free Our Children is a Bay Area grassroots coalition drawn together
by outrage at the horrific mistreatment of immigrants at our borders, particularly children. We are
people of color, faith-based groups, community members, artists, citizens and non-citizens, attorneys,
labor, activist, students, parents, allied organizations and concerned community members that are
committed to closing the camps and freeing innocent children.

WHY ARE WE PROTESTING? – We are outraged at the inhumane conditions that exist at the detention
centers. We are here to connect with those who share our outrage and to create the platform needed to
enact change! We condemn the criminalization of migrants and refugees who are seeking a better life
and we are taking action to bring about real immigration reform.

The recent killing of 22 people in El Paso, Texas, the majority of Mexican descent, also points to the
direct connection between anti-immigrant sentiments and white-supremacist domestic terrorism. It is
deplorable that the President of the United States continues to use inflammatory rhetoric to incite
domestic terrorism against what he calls the “invasion” of immigrants. We stand in direct opposition to
this divisive hate speech which is responsible for the killing of innocent U.S. citizens and Mexican
nationals.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE? – On Sept 16, 2019 – Mexican Independence Day – we will protest and rally
against the inhumane conditions and immoral policies that harm individuals, target immigrants and
damage the fabric of our democracy. We will take direct action to bring attention and awareness to
these issues, and demand action from our elected officials. We will present these demands to elected
officials responsible for oversight and we will monitor the implementation in the months to come. Our
policy demands include:

1. Close the camps NOW! – Eliminate all contracts with private prison operators. Groups such as
CoreCivic and Geo Group receive millions of dollars in contracts, and make huge profits for
detaining immigrants and their children who are seeking asylum.
2. Free Our Children NOW! – We demand the immediate release of our innocent children from
cages that house them, and immediate reunification with their parents or relatives while
awaiting asylum as per the nation’s existing laws.
3. Immediately eliminate section 1325 from the U.S Code – Section 1325 from the U.S Code makes
it a criminal violation to enter the United States without inspection, and is the legal basis for
separating children.
4. Full Amnesty NOW! – Develop an immediate pathway for full citizenship for the millions of
individuals living and contributing to this country. End the 3, 5, and 10 year ban that require the
undocumented who might qualify for legal status to leave the country in order to fulfill
becoming a citizen.
5. Defend and expand Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary protected
Status (TPS), and Deferred Enforcement Departure (DED) – We support asylum for all political
refugees and we oppose the current Muslim Ban.
6. Boycott companies providing services to Custom Border Patrol (CBP) – More than 1,123
vendors collect over $6.4 billion provide an array of goods and services including vehicles, food,
furniture, and housekeeping, computers, and data collection software to CBP. A company such
as Palantir took over $41 million dollar in contracts to provide surveillance and is complicit in
raids conducted by ICE.
7. Make Domestic Terrorism a Federal Crime – It is time for Congress to enact a federal offense of
domestic terrorism, and include white-nationalist supremacists on the domestic terrorist list.
Immigrants must not be the fodder for racist, domestic terrorism!
We support and will coalesce with allied groups who continue to stand in opposition to the current
administration’s immigration policies. We support all actions to close ICE offices across the country,
permanently!

Get Involved!
Contact us: 415-206-0577
Facebook: A Day Without Immigrants SF
Instagram: @ADayWithoutImmigrantsSF

We’ll be holding our regular meeting of the Public Bank East Bay organizational group. We have moved the meeting to regular third Mondays, to make it more predictable and allow some new people to attend. We would LOVE to see you there.

Lots to discuss!

• We had a very successful kick-off meeting for our interim bank board, which happened to be the same day the bill passed the state assembly.
• We have fundraising leads, and we think that the legislation being complete may open fundraising doors. The business plan is absolutely our next step.
• 
  

  Proposed agenda
  1)      AB 857, victories and next steps
  2)      Interim board member meeting reportback and next steps
  3)      Fundraising reportback and next steps
  4)      Anything not covered

AB 857, the bill enabling local public banking has passed both California state houses! On Friday, September 13, we crossed the finish line. The bill now goes to Gavin Newsom, who has expressed public support for public banking in the past. He has until October 13 to sign or veto; if he doesn’t do either, the bill becomes law.

This has been an exhilarating, fascinating, complex, process. Literally thousands of people have been involved. Of course, we will keep you updated when the bill is signed, and when cities and regions start making public bank charter applications to the state Department of Business Oversight.

Please join us! Now is such a great time to get involved.

If you have questions or want to understand the group better, you can come half an hour early, at 5:30. Just let us know in advance.

For Your Reading Pleasure

You might appreciate this detailed, informative, and accurate article on public banking. (We love how the author calls us out as early participants in this initiative.)

Public Bank East Bay (formerly Friends of the Public Bank of Oakland) were at the forefront of these efforts. Activists there advanced the project so far that they were poised to found their bank even before AB 857 gave them an explicit way to do so. San Francisco opened a task force to explore the possibility and state and local treasurers began their examinations as well.  Quickly, it became clear that intermingling public funds with cannabis money would be bad politics and likely impossible as long as marijuana is classified Schedule 1.  But even with that issue off the table, the appetite for greater financial independence in the form of public capital sources was growing, and with more attention came more knowledge, more scrutiny, and more opposition.

The big banks ignored this effort as long as it was a handful of activists in a handful of towns. An effort to change statewide banking regulations, creating public entities that would compete with entrenched financial powerhouses, would not go unopposed. Knowing that the fight to create local public banks would be futile without unity with other California cities, and without the cooperation of regulators operating against a defined legal framework, organizers from these local movements founded the California Public Banking Alliance, with the primary goal of modeling and sponsoring legislation to make local public banks a reality. In one short year, this alliance mobilized activists behind legislation to do just that.

How to reach us

Email us any time.

9/9: Will be discussing issues related to this Crackdown and our strategy for the next 3 to 6 months.

9/16: We have many, many issues to discuss, including the forthcoming visit of Donald Trump and Ben Carson.

UD Director Ben Carson is coming to SF tomorrow.

We will be there to demand more funding for affordable housing and to END the criminalization of homelessness!

Join us!

Text/call Sam Lew, Policy Director, for more info: 415-272-8022

Author Lisa Fithian on New Book: “Shut It Down Stories from a Fierce, Loving Resistance”

Doors open at 6:30pm. Event begins at 7pm.

Our dear friend and long time direct action organizer Lisa Fithian has released a new book, called “Shut It Down Stories from a Fierce, Loving Resistance,” and we’re excited to host her in the Bay Area.

Details on the book:

For decades, Lisa Fithian’s work as an advocate for civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action has put her on the frontlines of change. Described by Mother Jones as “the nation’s best-known protest consultant,” Fithian has supported countless movements including the Battle of Seattle in 1999, rebuilding and defending communities following Hurricane Katrina, Occupy Wall Street, and the uprisings at Standing Rock and in Ferguson. For anyone who wants to become more active in resistance or is just feeling overwhelmed or hopeless, “Shut It Down” offers strategies and actions you can take right now to promote justice and incite change in your own community.

In “Shut It Down” Fithian shares historic, behind-the-scenes stories from some of the most important people-powered movements of the past several decades. She shows how movements that embrace direct action have always been, and continue to be, the most radical and rapid means for transforming the ills of our society. “Shut It Down” is filled with instructions and inspiration for how movements can evolve as the struggle for social justice continues in the Trump era and beyond.

While recognizing that electoral politics, legislation, and policy are all important pathways to change, “Shut It Down” argues that civil disobedience is not just one of the only actions that remains when all else fails, but a spiritual pursuit that protects our deepest selves and allows us to reclaim our humanity. Change can come, but only if we’re open to creatively, lovingly, and strategically standing up, sometimes at great risk to ourselves, to protect what we love.

A general strike is a strike action that includes a large part of the total labor force in a city, region, or country. General strikes are characterized by the participation of workers in a multitude of workplaces, and tend to involve entire communities. The idea of the general strike is powerful precisely because a massive and persistent withdrawal of labor can bring a capitalist city or even an entire economy to a halt.

The last general strike in the United States occurred here in the East Bay in 1946. One hundred thousand members of the American Federation of Labor shut down the economy of four local cities for two and a half days. Thousands of strikers took over the streets of downtown Oakland. It was an explosive protest against employers’ refusal to recognize the union of newly organized retail workers, and against police intervention to disrupt picket lines.

What touched off the Oakland general strike and why did it end almost as suddenly as it began? Why have there been no subsequent general strikes in the United States in over 70 years? Should activists on the left today be calling for general strikes? Or following Rosa Luxemburg, should we view general strikes as historical phenomenon resulting from specific social conditions?

To find out the answer to these questions and more, please join us for a special edition of Socialist Night School. Fred Glass, local labor historian and author, will be joining us to give lead-off talk on the history of the last Oakland General Strike.

Find the readings here: https://www.eastbaydsa.org/night-school/

You believe in making a difference, but when it comes to racial justice, are your actions aligned with your beliefs? The work begins with looking in the mirror. Without intentional learning and reflection, white people may uphold beliefs and systems that perpetuate injustice. Join us for an intimate and interactive workshop in which we will unpack how whiteness has shaped our lives and discuss how white people who care can take action for racial justice.

This workshop offers those who are new to racial justice work an opportunity to reflect on and analyze the role that whiteness has played in their lives. Through individual, small-group, and whole-group activities, participants will be invited to:

*Reframe racism as a system, rather than a product of individuals who are “good” or “bad”
*Reflect on how their own racial identity has influenced their experiences in the world
*Create a plan for taking at least one action in their own lives to deepen their commitment to racial justice

This workshop welcomes anyone who would like to participate, but it is especially well-suited for white people who are:

*In the early stages of exploring what it means to be white
*Seeking to grow their skills in analyzing and discussing the effects of racism
*Feeling ready to take action to create a more just world

Preregistration is required due to limited space.

Join this event

Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, police militarization and ICE, and to advocate for surveillance regulation around the Bay and nationwide.

We fight against “pre-crime” and “thought-crime,” spy drones, facial recognition, police body camera secrecy, anti-transparency laws and requirements for “backdoors” to cellphones, to list just a few invasions of our privacy by all levels of Government, and attempts to hide what government officials, employees and agencies are doing.

We draft and push for privacy legislation for City Councils, at the County level, and in Sacramento. We advocate in op-eds and in the streets. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and believe no one is illegal.

Oakland Privacy originally came together in 2013 to fight against the Domain Awareness Center, Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub. OP was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network.  We helped fight and helped win the fight against Urban Shield.

Our major projects currently include local legislation to regulate state surveillance (we got the strongest surveillance regulation ordinance in the country passed in Oakland!), supporting and opposing state legislation as appropriate, battling mass surveillance in the form of facial recognition and other analytics, and pushing back against ICE.

On September 12th, 2019 we were presented with a Barlow Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for our work.

If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy email listserv, coming to a meeting, or have questions, send an email to:

contact@oaklandprivacy.org

Check out our website: http://oaklandprivacy.org/   Follow us on twitter: @oaklandprivacy

Check out our sister site DeportICE.

“WATCHING YOU WATCHING US”

Oakland Privacy works regionally to defend the right to privacy and enhance public transparency and oversight regarding the use of surveillance techniques and equipment.  Oakland Privacy drove the passage of surveillance regulation and transparency ordinances in Oakland and Berkeley and is kicking off new processes in various municipalities around the Bay.  To help slow down the encroaching police and surveillance state all over the Bay Area, join us at the Omni.

The Anti Police-Terror Project meets the third Wednesday of every month.

August’s agenda will include an update on developments at Santa Rita jail and an active shooter response training.

In September we’re giving updates on our Police Commission campaign and about a local campaign to audit Sheriff Ahern; showing a short film about Dujuan Armstrong, who died in police custody at Santa Rita Jail earlier this year; and giving a quick update about our newly formed Sacramento chapter. Let us know if you can join us!

Join us to find out how you can get involved.
This space is wheelchair accessible. Please contact us for any additional accessibility questions or concerns.

Join this event

Come by our open Delegates Meetings! 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

This meeting usually happens in the Ballroom, but the the location may change depending on the access needs of people attending and other events taking place in the building.

EVICTION SUPPORT NEEDED: Tomorrow morning, Friday in Berkeley. Camp across from Seabreeze Deli, University & Frontage Rd.
CalTrans is coming between 7:30 & 11:30am. Come ready to assist residents and document. #WhereDoWeGoBerk

— Indybay (@Indybay) September 20, 2019

We call for a youth-led climate strike march, going to different targets that are contributing to climate breakdown, leaving our mark to let these places know what we are fighting for. We will again start at the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and will connect targets in government, finance, and energy. For those that can’t join in person, we will be asking people to post on social media and tag our targets.

Demands:

1.WE DEMAND A SAFE, HEALTHY AND JUST PLANET.
This climate crisis threatens our ability to live. If climate change continues on this course, we won’t be able to eat, breathe, or have safe shelter. In order to successfully fight the climate crisis we are facing, we must also fight the systems of white supremacy, racism, greed, and exploitation that have led us to it. Fighting for climate justice means fighting for a world that is safe, healthy, and just for all of its inhabitants. We must enact climate emergency plans at the local, national, and international level.

2. WE DEMAND JUSTICE AND ASYLUM FOR PEOPLE DIAPLACED BY CLIMATE CHANGE.
Individuals and families displaced by climate change seek asylum in a safe place because they have nowhere else to go. Climate justice means abolishing ICE, closing concentration camps at the border, ending family separation, and creating inclusive new laws and regulations that treat everyone as human.

3. WE DEMAND POLICY BASED ON SCIENCE.
We have eleven years before the effects of the climate emergency are irreversible. We can’t afford to compromise with climate change deniers. We must enact immediate legislation based on scientific analysis of carbon emissions and the ways that climate disasters impact certain communities. Science clearly shows that global temperatures are rising dangerously, and that we are on track to face unprecedented climate disasters. We demand a Green New Deal, a resolution that lays out a science-based plan to reach negative carbon emissions by 2030.

4. WE DEMAND THAT PEOPLE, NOT CORPORATIONS, INFLUENCE POLICY.
Representation and transparency are vital for successful democracies; corporate money must be taken out of politics. We demand all politicians sign the “No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge.” We demand Citizens United must be overturned and super PAC’s be abolished. Corporate funding and donations from millionaires and billionaires must be replaced with public funding of elections in addition to small-dollar donations. To ensure that every vote counts, we must restore the Voting Rights Act, secure automatic registration for every citizen above 18, and re-enfranchise those convicted of felonies.

5. WE DEMAND EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL.
The government must be for the people, by the people; all policies and decisions made must be for the benefit of all. Black and trans lives matter; the Equality Act must be passed. The rights of Brown, Black, and Middle Eastern migrants must be respected. Women deserve full reproductive justice, and equity in the workplace. We demand universal background checks and Medicare for All in order to ensure a safe and secure environment for everyone. We demand diversity and representation, and intersectionality must fuel the climate justice movement. Frontline communities must have a voice and leadership role, and we look to indigenous communities to lead the transition to a just and sustainable world.

6. WE DEMAND THAT HUMANS PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF NATURE.
Just as humans have rights, nature has rights. Humans have a moral obligation to respect and protect plants, animals, and ecosystems. We demand that the rights of nature be legally represented. This includes legislation to provide sanctuary for endangered species, regulate hunting, and end deforestation, pollution, destructive fuel extraction, fracking, factory farming, and unsustainable agriculture. All life is interconnected, and we must live in harmony with the Earth.

7. WE DEMAND A JUST TRANSITION
Countries and individuals that have contributed the most to climate change must be held accountable. We demand urgent climate action, including the GND, that protects vulnerable communities and create economic justice. Policies must respect workers’ rights ’to living wages and health care, young people’s rights to free, relevant education, and everyone’s right to affordable housing. To quote Movement Generation:

Transition is inevitable. Justice is not. A just transition is the process of getting from where we are to where we need to be by transforming the systems of economy and governance.

A just transition requires moving from a globalized capitalist industrial economy to linked local living participatory economies that provide well-being for all.

This September 20 – 27th, millions of people around the world will walk out of our workplaces and homes to join youth climate strikers on the streets to march and demand an end to the age of fossil fuels, corporate pollution, and environmental destruction.

Our house is on fire — let’s act like it. We demand climate justice for everyone.

Help us change the world.

Strike events on Global Climate Strike Day: Friday, September 20, 2019

Berkeley Climate Action Coalition/Ecology Center Strike

Friday, September 20th, 15:00 p.m.

Ecology Center Store/Offices

Berkeley, United States

Berkeley Climate Action Coalition/Ecology Center Strike

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Students for Climate Action

Friday, September 20th, 11:00 a.m.

University of California Berkeley, Sproul Plaza

Berkeley, United States

Students for Climate Action

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Massive Sept. 8th Street Festival Lead-up to Sept. 20

Friday, September 20th, 10:00 a.m.

Solano Avenue Street Festival, Albany between Stannage and Cornell

Albany, United States

Massive Sept. 8th Street Festival Lead-up to Sept. 20

Join this event

Oakland-Laney Climate STRIKE Rally / Merging with Youth-led March in SF

Friday, September 20th, 10:00 a.m.

Gather at the Main Quad, center of campus

Oakland, United States

Oakland-Laney Climate STRIKE Rally / Merging with Youth-led March in SF

Join this event

RICHMOND: 11:00 AM @ Richmond Civic Center Plaza, 450 Civic Center Plaza , Richmond 94804

Hearing On Status Of Accused Murderer of Kishana Harley

September 20th, 9 AM

Walnut Creek Juvenile Court

Walnut Creek Superior Court

640 Ygnacio Valley Rd, Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Harley was a much-loved local activist who was brutally murdered in her home. Her comrades want answers.