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— Oakland Police Commission (@OakPoliceComm) March 28, 2023
The 22nd Annual Bay Area BASIL Seed Swap is back and in-person. Free event! In collaboration with Transition Berkeley and Richmond Grows Seed Lending Library, the Seed Swap will include free educational resources on native pollinators and seed saving, space to network with other local gardeners, and an exchange of unique seeds from throughout the East Bay. Seed enthusiasts at all levels of experience are welcome. This event is free- seeds to share or a donation of $5-15 are suggested and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. So grab a friend, bring some seeds, and take home something new!
To participate in this event online, please register in advance at
https://bit.ly/WorldPeace_230401 to receive your personal link
DSA EAST BAY
We will be discussing what class struggle is all about, and how it grounds our politics. Readings to come.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://dsausa.zoom.us/j/85758736005
Meeting ID: 857 5873 6005
Passcode: 090614
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,85758736005# US (San Jose)
Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite.
For our March, April and May meetings we are reading Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber (Warwick, Amazon).For our March meeting we’ll be reading the first five chapters.`For the April meeting we are reading chapters 6 through 9.
Before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods—that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors—which lives on in full force to this day.
So says anthropologist David Graeber in a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Renaissance Italy to Imperial China, as well as sparking innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the language of the ancient works of law and religion (words like “guilt,” “sin,” and “redemption”) derive in large part from ancient debates about debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong.
We are still fighting these battles today.
Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included Doughnut Economics, Limits, Banking on the People, Capital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, The Deficit Myth, Revenge Capitalism, the Edge of Chaos blog symposium , Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons, The Optimist’s Telescope, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, Exploring Degrowth, The Origin of Wealth, Mine!, The Dawn of Everything A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Beyond Money, Less is More, and Cannibal Capitalism.
Anchored by the Wiyot Tribe’s Dishgamu Community Land Trust, several Cal Poly Humboldt faculty members, Green Eco-Socialist Network, Native Roots Network, New Economy Coalition, the US Solidarity Economy Network, and a growing network of additional partners, this 3-day virtual conference serves as a space to exchange experiences and information, strengthen alliances and networks, and to devise strategies to decenter colonial systems and implement concrete solutions to heal the land and people. Over 1,000 people participated in the 2022 Summit, and we expect even more in 2023!
Social Democracy is promoted by its supporters as the set of reforms that pave the way for socialism, and attacked by it’s critiques as a way for a capitalist state to appease workers with some improvements
While as Democratic Socialists, we all agree on the need to go beyond Social Democracy, we will be reading a few articles about the successes and limitations of social democratic movements around the world and discussing what we can learn from them and incorporate into our actions as Democratic Socialists.
** Note that this will mostly be a discussion with a very light presentation at the start, so to get the most out of it please read the readings ahead of time. **
Articles: TBD
Join Zoom Meeting
https://dsausa.zoom.us/j/84773586382
Meeting ID: 847 7358 6382
Passcode: 372293
One tap mobile
+16694449171,,84773586382# US
+16699006833,,84773586382# US (San Jose)
Join Us to Celebrate People’s Park!
Join the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group for a moment of refreshments and celebration of the recent appellate court victory and People’s Park’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places.
We want to thank the historians, writers, gardeners, everyone who came together and continues to work toward the longevity of Berkeley’s most famous landmark. Tom Dalzell, author of “1969; the Struggle for People’s Park”, will speak, and we’ll have additional speakers to clarify where we are now in our effort to educate and protect People’s Park’s historic national place in history.
We look forward to seeing you, but if you can’t make it and wish to donate to support any legal efforts needed to defend our victory, please go to� http://www.peoplesparkhxdist.org/donate-now/� – GoFundMe, Venmo and check options available.
Long Live People’s Park!