The Glass Room, is an exhibition that gives visitors hands-on experiences with unconventional artworks and tools that visualize abstract ideas about data and digital privacy. So far we’ve had successful exhibitions in Berlin, New York, and London, which drew over 30,000 visitors.

As part of the Talks Program at The Glass Room, there will be a  panel discussion about what the facial recognition ‘ban’ in SF really means for its citizens. We are bringing together activists from EFF, ACLU, Oakland Privacy and others to discuss the topic.

IN MEMORY OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
WHO DIED

CROSSING THE US – MEXICAN BORDER.

eckoning With Nia: A Community Symposium on Black Womxn, Public Safety & Collective Trauma On July 22, 2018, Nia Wilson and her sisters, Tashiya and Letifah, were brutally attacked by a white man wielding a knife at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland; while her two sisters survived the attack, Nia died that night on the platform. Her murder shocked the Town as thousands marched in the streets of Oakland and cities across the country demanding accountability. Yet more than a year after her death, little has changed and justice for Nia’s death has not been forthcoming.

Reckoning With Nia: Black Womxn,* Public Safety & Collective Trauma is a community symposium convened by Ashara Ekundayo Gallery that brings together black womxn artists, scholars, activists from the Bay Area to examine the structural conditions that make black women vulnerable in the public sphere and to share the political strategies and aesthetic practices that they are developing in response to this violence.

Every Body Welcome | Limited Space |

Doors 1145am

Lunch – 1200p – 1245p – Catered by Miss Ollie’s
w/ musical offerings from Destiny Muhammad

Panel Discussion – 100p – 230p
Roundtable – 245p – 415p

The symposium will consider the following questions:
What would it mean to center the experiences of black womxn in discussions of public safety?
What are the structural processes and logics that explain why public institutions – mass transit, the education system, the police – continually fail to keep black womxn safe?
How do we make our communities safer without criminalizing them or increasing the presence of the police in our communities?
What are the artistic and cultural responses that create collective safety and how do can we show up as “First Responder” in situations of need?
And finally how we can intervene in these public institutions in ways that protect all black womxn’s lives and bodies?

Guest Speakers:
Lateefah Simon , President, Akonadi Foundation, BART Board of Directors District 7

Letifah Wilson , Community activist, Sister of Nia Wilson

Olka Forster , Creator/Host of the Black Moon Podcast

Courtney Morris, PhD , Assistant Professor – Women & Gender Studies, University of CA – Berkeley, Artist-In-Residence at Ashara Ekundayo Gallery

Leigh Raiford, PhD , Associate Professor – African American Studies, University of CA – Berkeley, Curator

Angela Hennessy, Associate Professor – Fine Arts/Critical Studies, California College of the Arts, Visual Artist

Janelle Luster, Program Associate, Compton’s Transgender Cultural District

Moderator, Ashara Ekundayo , Curator, Cultural Strategist

womxn* is an inclusive term and identity that welcomes cis and trans women, femmes, gender non-conforming people, and non-binary folx into the narrative

Ashara Ekundayo Gallery is honored to Partner with: The The Greenlining Institute, City of Oakland Human Services – ReCAST Grant, the Girls & Women of Color Collaborative aka “Breaking The Silence” Bay Area Town Hall on Women & Girls of Color, Compton’s Transgender Cultural District, National Black Women’s Justice Institute, and the Nia Wilson Foundation

Accessibility Information: The Greenlining Institute is an ADA compliant, wheelchair accessible venue. Restrooms will be labeled as Non-Gendered.

We have confirmed ICSS member Mehmet Bayram, freelance journalist, who currently writes for the Sendika.org news outlet, which has been shut down 62 times by the Turkish government. He has recently returned from Turkey and will clarify the situation.

Here’s a preview:  Turkish invasion of Syria serves many purposes for the Turkish regime.  It distracts the masses from the harsh economic realities of capitalism, it unites the Turkish people fed with nationalism behind the fascist dictator when his voter support has fallen below 40%, it kindles the old flame of building the Islamic-Turkish empire that died after the WW1, it legitimizes the barbaric attacks with the long held hatred against the Kurds, it demands funds from the West to keep the “hordes of refugees” from reaching the metropolitan centers of Europe, and, yes, it exposes the hypocrisy of imperialism, to be used as blackmail against Erdoğan’s bosses that created him.

Erdoğan is trying to capitalize on the contradictions within the imperialist camp and tries playing one against the other by forcing the issues that will benefit his presidency and him personally, until, of course, his personal wealth is put on the table.  The victims of course are the Kurds, Arabs, Yazidis, Armenians.  This invasion, supported by the imperialist centers has become an ethnic cleansing tool for the Turkish racist nationalists to use against the Kurds.

What is Disability Justice? People often express feeling intimidated and ill-equipped to unpack what we’ve been taught about disability, and how to support and advocate for disabled people in our everyday lives. This workshop is a fabulous opportunity for you to dive into the magic of disability justice with SURJ and Alex Locust at the helm.

With “Spill the Disabili-Tea™”, Alex will be facilitating an interactive discussion of disability justice for those committed to elevating their support for disabled folks in their community. Using his lived experience, education, and advocacy know-how, he’ll lead a candid conversation exploring the following questions (and more):

-Who is “disabled” and what creates that experience?
-What is “disability justice?”
-What’s the “right way” to interact with people with disabilities?
-How can I do better about those tricky “microaggressions?”
-What’s the difference between “access” and “inclusion?”
-Is disability a cultural experience and how can that intersect with other cultural identities?
-How can I integrate these skills in the community (e.g. Pride celebrations, workplace culture, community gatherings)?

Come join us for an afternoon of real talk, experiential exercises, group work, and lots of laughs as we all Spill the Disabili-Tea™.

How do we approach difficult conversations, whether it’s about racist violence on the border, cultural appropriation, or white supremacy and racial justice in general? What is it like to have these conversations with our family, friends and coworkers with a vision for the long haul? Members of the White Noise Collective will facilitate this workshop exploring the difficult conversations in our lives around race and power.

Preregistration is required due to limited space.

Food, Stories, Dancing.  All for Michael.

Celebration of Michael’s life.

Michael Dress Code: Wear It Like Michael.

Please come learn about Rojava’s history, organization, and current struggle.

Years after imperialist markings on a map separated their people and fragmented their territory, 7 years ago the Kurdish people realized a piece of their resistance and reclaimed territory in what is known as northeastern Syria, what has come to be known as Rojava.

A revolution led by women, based on ecological justice and anti-capitalism, that developed a political infrastructure for regionally nested direct democracy and a cooperative solidarity economy among an ethnically and religiously diverse population, Rojava is a beacon for anyone yearning for liberation from the forces of extraction, exploitation, and oppression that dominate global geopolitics.

As a realization of peace and self-determination in the so-called Middle East, Rojava is under constant threat from regional and global authoritarian and fascistic powers. With the recent US facilitated Turkish invasion, this threat is more real than ever. It is of crucial importance to understand what is in jeopardy in Rojava, and how we can mobilize to defend it.

Dear neighbors and allies,

The fight for the maximum amount of 100% affordable housing on the E12th St. parcel continues. In the past month, we filed a legal appeal with the city, raised $2k for filing fees, submitted a Public Ethics Complaint against a council member for their conflict of interest, and successfully pressured the council to move the E12th land sale discussion from a closed meeting, to a public session. Next week, the Oakland City Council will make the final decision on whether to approve our appeal. If we win, we will have a new opportunity to realize the People’s Proposal, a community-generated proposal for 100% affordable housing, but we need your help.

In the next week, we need individuals and ally organizations to help in four specific ways:

1. Sign-on to our letter to the City Council asking them to approve our legal appeal of the UrbanCore luxury tower development. We need ally organizations and individual community members to endorse our letter. Read the letter and sign-on here: bit.ly/E12Appeal

2. Send your own individual email to the City Council, asking them to approve our legal appeal and support the maximum amount of affordable housing on our public land. You can write your own email, or use the template attached. Email council@oaklandca.gov by Nov. 4.

3. Join an upcoming meeting with individual city council members this week, to push them to support the People’s Proposal. Email Jen Miller at soyjenn@gmail.com ASAP if you can attend a meeting with a council member on behalf of your organization, or as an individual.

4. Fill the council chambers for the Nov. 5 City Council meeting and to speak out in support of our appeal and the People’s Proposal. The Council will decide whether to approve UrbanCore’s market-rate housing tower or to uphold our appeal — we need a massive turnout to win. We are ready to support you with talking points and snacks! Please come and bring two friends! Please share this call out!! Tuesday Nov. 5 at 5:30 pm or when you can, at City Hall.

Background: Eastlake United for Justice and the E.12th St. Coalition has been engaged in a multi-year campaign to win affordable housing on city-owned public land. Despite massive community opposition, the City of Oakland has offered the developer a series of sweetheart deals to develop a luxury tower consisting of 253 market-rate units, and a separate smaller building with only 90 “affordable” units. After several years, the market-rate tower development is now moving toward final approval, and we have one more chance to re-engage the City, kill the deal, and guarantee 133 100% affordable homes for close to 700 people and numerous public amenities on public land through our community-generated People’s Proposal.

Thank you for being part of our collective fight for affordable housing and community-driven development on public land in Oakland.

In solidarity,
Eastlake United for Justice

E12th Individual Supporter Letter Template for City Council:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sRSikAOdBY7hz0GCkGA1WoJI3CFzO-xhgxns2HT-glg/edit

Every Face Every Tent Has A Story!

This will be an engaging evening through the use of the films from two local Berkeley film makers, highlighting some of the “Unhoused” population residing in Berkeley followed by a presentatiom/discussion of the problems facing those on the streets as well as their impact on the housed residents that have been their neighbors.

Dinner will be buffet style and several local restaurants have already agreed to donate. Some of the sponsors are: The Thai Table, Everett & Jones, Juan’s Place, all in Berkeley, and Cal Peternell’s new restaurant, The LEDE located in Oakland… and MORE!

RESERVATIONS: Due to limited seating, If you want to attend, PLEASE let Eleanor know ASAP and get your seats reserved now:

Email her at: Eleanor@ConsiderTheHomeless.org
Be sure to include your name, email address, phone number and the # of tickets to reserve. To guarantee your reservations tickets must be paid in full by Oct. 31st

Pay by Check: Make it out to Consider The Homeless! 
then mail it to Consider The Homeless
PO Box #2771
Berkeley, CA 94702

Pay by Credit Card: only available via PayPal.

Barbara Brust – Founder, Director – Consider The Homeless!

Please forward this to others or share with them this link.
www.ConsiderTheHomeless.org/Newsletters/100819.html

Join us election night, Tuesday, Nov. 5th at 7pm for KPFA’s Documentary Night Screening of:

The Great White Hoax by Tim Wise.

In The Great White Hoax, anti-racist educator Tim Wise explores how American political leaders have scapegoated people of color to divide working class voters and consolidate power. Taking from Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign it expands its scope to make sense of what’s happening today as we gear up for 2020 and how Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric fits a pattern of racism that goes back centuries.

After-film discussion led by Adrienne Lauby of the program Pushing Limits. Adrienne will share her insight on the film (with audience participation) and her own 9 years of anti-racism work experience.

For a century, the US labor movement advocated immigration restrictions in fear that new immigrants would drive down wages for US workers. In the last few decades, however, the AFL-CIO has made a dramatic turn to become advocates for comprehensive immigration reform. What accounts for that shift?

Policies that aim to restrict immigration flows rarely achieve their intended result. Instead, their main result is to deprive immigrant workers of rights and to undermine the ability of all workers to organize to improve their conditions. For that reason, Lee argues, the labor movement should advocate for the free movement of labor across borders. Such a stance provides the basis for solidarity between working-class people regardless of where they are born.

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

We will rally on Sproul Steps on the UC Berkeley Campus to defend, protect, and save People’s Park from development. Don’t let UC destroy our historic, green, and public space! Join us! Be part of the power of the People of People’s Park!

PUBLIC FINANCE WORKSHOP: MEMBER MEETING

50 years ago this fall, on November 20, a group of people that came to be known as Indians of All Tribes began a 18-month occupation of Alcatraz Island. This act of self-determination emerged from conditions faced on reservations and in urban centers, from the activism of the Third World Strike at San Francisco State, and resulted in major changes taking place across the continent. From a new consciousness of sovereignty to at least ten major policy and law shifts, Mary Jean Robertson, host of the radio show Voices of the Native Nations, discusses the far reaching impact of claiming “the Rock”.

Relevant Agenda Items:

4. Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OPD – Live Stream Camera Impact Report and proposed Use Policy – review and take possible action
5. Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OFD – Data Collection for Wildfire District and Fire Safety Inspections – review and take possible action
6. Federal Task Force Transparency Ordinance – OPD – FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force MOU – review and take possible action