Calendar
Public Forum with KSHAMA SAWANT in person!
$20 at the door. No one turned away for lack of funds
How can we build an effective movement to achieve justice & peace?
Trillion$ For Human Needs Not Wars & Environmental Destruction! Abolish ICE! Free Palestine!
Kshama Sawant: ten-year elected socialist to the Seattle City Council, leader of the Revolutionary Workers Party/Workers Strike Back, current candidate for U.S. Congress, leader of Seattle getting highest hourly minimum wage in the nation!
Jeff Mackler: Socialist Action National Secretary, twice a candidate for the U.S. presidency, leader/founder United National Antiwar Coalition, Director Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
hosted by BFUU’s Social Justice Committee
As Trump tries to drag us into another endless war that a majority of Americans don’t approve of and Congress did not authorize, we must once again show who has the power in this country.
On Saturday, March 28, millions of us will come together to reaffirm that in this country we have No Kings. RSVP now!
Last June, 3 million of us came together for the first No Kings. Then, 7 million in October. And now, March 28 is on track to be the largest No Kings mobilization yet and the largest nonviolent demonstration in U.S. history.
Trump wants to control us—a key feature of authoritarian rule. This administration wants to consolidate the media, surveil our social media, and twist the truth so we don’t rise up. But if he believes we will roll over and allow him to take our freedoms, he is mistaken. Instead, we will come together en masse and show that we will fight to protect one another and our country.
Dictatorship is not our inevitable fate—we know we can overcome this repression when we unite.
Our momentum is growing as everyday people are fed up with this president and administration, who are raking in riches for themselves while too many of us struggle to afford basics like health care, food, and housing.
Will you RSVP now to join a rally in your community?
More and more of us are seeing past their lies—that as a nation we can’t afford quality health care for every American but then go on to dish out tax breaks to the richest people, send ICE agents to terrorize our communities, and fund wars that fuel their interests. And collectively, we are saying enough is enough.
They’re counting on you staying home. But we’re coming together again on March 28 to make it clear to Trump that his fear and intimidation aren’t working.
There are over 2,500 events already taking place across the country. Check out the map here to find an event near you. Be a part of history and RSVP to join now. And then, forward this email to a friend and invite them to join you!
A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.
P.S. Don’t see an event near you? Sign up to host one!
We’ll set up our blue canopy at that corner with an Occupella sign hanging from it.
We will have QR codes with lyrics to songs we can sing, but if you want to print it out ahead of time, go to https://docs.google.com/
Marcie will have a QR code on site and lead us to sing along with the Mighty Marching Chorus when they pass by.
See you Saturday! Invite your friends! Share our location so folks don’t go to the original location. – Thanks, Love and Peace, Hali
Refreshments at 2:45PM
Join the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo on Sunday, March 29th, for an afternoon panel, discussion, and musical performance to celebrate Oakland’s long history of international solidarity! Learn from Oakland’s own movement leaders about local resistance against the South African apartheid regime, and how we’re carrying on this legacy today through the fight for an Arms Embargo. History shows us that when Oakland fights, we WIN.
Please take 10 seconds to register at this link, and share this invitation far and wide!
Featured panelists include:
• David Canham, Executive Director of SEIU 1021 & Former anti-apartheid organizer in South Africa
• Nesbit Crutchfield, Organizer & former Chairperson of the Bay Area Free South Africa Movement
• Andrea Prichett, Educator & former leader of UC Berkeley Campaign Against Apartheid
• Clarence Thomas, Former Executive Board of ILWU 10 & Black Panther Party member
• Pastor Michael McBride, Founder & Lead Pastor at The Way Christian Center in West Berkeley
+ With musical performance by the Vukani Mawethu Choir
+ Refreshments from Shawarmaji served at 2:45pm
As a proud endorser of the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo, we can’t wait to see you there!
Agenda Packet:
Selected Relevant Agenda Items:
ANNUAL SURVEILLANCE REPORTS For each Annual Report, the Privacy Advisory Commission will consider a vote to provide one of the following recommendations to the City Council: (1) that the benefits to the community of the surveillance technology outweigh the costs and that civil liberties and civil rights are safeguarded; or (2) that use of the surveillance technology cease; or (3) propose modifications to the corresponding surveillance use policy that will resolve concerns.
a. Pen Register 2025 OPD Annual Report on the use of pen register technology to track dialing, routing, and signaling information for investigations.
b. Cellebrite 2025 OPD Annual Report on the use of Cellebrite technology to extract and analyze data from mobile devices for investigative purposes.
c. Crime Tracer 2025 OPD Annual Report on the use of CrimeTracer to access records, locate individuals, and support criminal investigations.
d. ShotSpotter 2025 OPD Annual Report on the use of ShotSpotter to identify and locate gunfire for rapid police response
SURVEILLANCE USE POLICY AND SURVEILLANCE IMPACT REPORT FOR CONSIDERATION The Privacy Advisory Commission will consider a vote to recommend that the City Council either adopt, modify, or reject a proposed surveillance use policy or changes to an surveillance use policy that has already been approved by City Council. a. Proposed changes for DGO I-24: Law Enforcement Records Search Platform, Previously Referred to as DGO I-24: Forensic Logic CopLink
Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite. All are welcome!
For our April, 2026 meeting we will be reading and discussing the first three chapters of The Pacific Circuit, by Alex Madrigal (Amazon) (MacMillan). For our May meeting we will finish the book.
Alexis Madrigal reveals how understanding Oakland explains the modern world.
In The Pacific Circuit, the award-winning journalist Alexis Madrigal sculpts an intricate tableau of the city of Oakland that is at once a groundbreaking big-idea book, a deeply researched work of social and political history, and a vivid rendering of the defining themes of the twenty-first century.
Oakland’s stories encompass everything from Silicon Valley’s prominence and the ramifications of a compulsively digital future to the underestimated costs of technological innovation on local communities―all personified in this changing landscape by the city’s lifelong inhabitants.
The Pacific Circuit holds a magnifying glass to the legacies etched by generations of systemic segregation and the ceaseless march of technological advancement. These are not just abstract concepts; they are embedded in the very fabric of Oakland and its people, from dockworkers and community organizers to real estate developers and businesspeople chasing the highest possible profits. Madrigal delves into city hall politics, traces the intertwining arcs of venture capital and hedge funds, and offers unprecedented insight into Silicon Valley’s genesis and growth, all against the backdrop of Oakland―a city vibrating with untold stories and unexplored connections that can, when read carefully, reveal exactly how our markets and our world really function.
Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Our first book was Doughnut Economics, and our most recent books were A Paradise Built in Hell, What’s Left – 3 Paths Through the Planetary Crisis, The Age of Insecurity and Elinor Ostrom’s Rules for Radicals. For the rest of our reading list see here.
Film screening will begin promptly at 6:30pm – please arrive early to find your seats and order food.
This Is Not a Drill
When their communities are threatened, three fearless grassroots leaders — joined by rebellious Rockefeller heirs — confront Big Oil and environmental racism in a fight for a renewable future, proving that everyday people can change the course of history.
Watch This Is Not a Drill trailer here
Synopsis
As extreme weather around the world grows deadlier, a new generation of leaders is rising to face the challenges. In the American South, hard hit by climate disasters, three unlikely heroes take on one of the most powerful industries in the world. 25-year-old Justin J. Pearson rallies a multiracial grassroots coalition to try and defeat a crude oil pipeline in Memphis, Tennessee. Roishetta Ozane, a mother of six from Louisiana, transforms personal loss into political action, taking her fight from the storm-ravaged streets to the halls of Congress. Sharon Wilson, a former oil insider turned methane hunter, uses infrared cameras to expose invisible deadly gases pouring from fracking sites and pipelines in Texas that have been hiding in plain sight. Backing them are unlikely allies, descendents of John D. Rockefeller, who have turned against their family’s oil empire to expose ExxonMobil’s decades long coverup. Together, this coalition uncovers what they call Big Oil’s “Big Con” – an industry doubling down on fossil fuels while disguising the truth.
With gripping access, THIS IS NOT A DRILL is the story of courage, betrayal and grassroots victories that shows how people, armed with only grit and determination, can stand up to power. The smallest voices can topple giants.
Fight to Breathe
A portrait of Oakland’s fight for clean air, told through the voices of residents, doctors, truck drivers, and children living with asthma. Led by activist Margaret Gordon, this documentary traces a community’s battle against diesel pollution, examines recent progress under local clean-air initiatives, and highlights West Oakland’s ongoing vision for a healthier, more equitable future.
Watch Fight to Breathe trailer here