Open Forums

The Omni Commons, a collective of collectives and open space for all Oakland, set itself a challenging goal of raising $80,000. With almost $33,000 raised online at this writing, they’re almost there because… “Thanks to some generous anonymous donors and Oaklandish, who are sending us checks directly, we have actually raised $40,000 MORE than the total shown here!” That leaves just $7000 or so to raise; not an easy task, but one well within the bounds of possibility. If you or your group use the Omni for meeting space, or … Continued

San Leandro, like other cities in the Bay Area, wants to acquire a tank.  Well, not a tank exactly; more like (actually, exactly like) an armored personnel carrier. The kind you see in war movies and Iraq footage. On January 8th a rally against the tank, followed by a San Leandro City Council meeting in which much opposition  to the acquisition of this vehicle was voiced, was held.  (The City Council plans to hold a vote sometime in February).  Most of the voices opposed were San Leandro residents, and a few members of … Continued

Nothing like a 6:00 AM wakeup call for the new Mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf, on Martin Luther King Day.   Breaking News A large contingent have come to the home of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf to protest police terrorism… OPD is now here — Davey D (@mrdaveyd) January 19, 2015   On her first full day in office two weeks ago, Schaaf spent the entire day with the Oakland Police. Three days ago, she refused to speak with #BlackLivesMatter protesters when they came to City Hall with a list … Continued

The main entrance to the downtown Oakland Federal Building was blockaded for four hours and twenty-eight minutes Friday morning, January 16th, 2015. Beginning at 6:30 AM, a half hour before the announced “spoon” action at the Montgomery BART, this unpublicized action by a group identifying with the hashtag #3rdWorld4BlackPower quickly became one of the highlights of a wide-ranging day of action across Oakland and San Francisco in support of #BlackLivesMatter. Some blockaded the main entrance with arms linked in black tubing, while others held signs that said “South Asians for … Continued

Support the BART 14. #BlackLivesMatter. #NotOneDime. Demand that BART stop its persectution of civil rights protesters; those who halted BART for a time on Black Friday. BART is tabulating the number of call they get on this, and that the person coordinating  the tabulation, and therefore an important number to call, is the BART District Secretary, at 510-464-6080.   Please take a moment to make your voice heard in this matter.  Remind them that Rosa Parks never paid the losses felt from the Montgomery Bus Boycott.  this is another such … Continued

The brutal suppression of Occupy Oakland by Oakland Police and Oakland’s Government has now cost Oakland’s taxpayers 7688 broken windows (at the official federal funds discount rate of $1000 per broken window). In other words, it would have taken more than two years of continuous window breaking (at 10 windows a day), to equal what Oakland has paid out in lawsuit settlements resulting from the crackdown – and that’s not including legal fees Oakland paid to its lawyers, nor other staff time, nor court fees. Today, January 13th, 2015, yet another settlement was … Continued

East of MLK Park in Berkeley for blocks and blocks, there isn’t a whole lot of non-concrete and non-asphalt surface. I can think of just one bit – a very small strip of green on the west side of the Downtown Berkeley Post Office. It supports a couple of trees, but has otherwise been lacking in vegetation for many years. That is about to change. On Saturday, January 10th, peeps from First They Came for the Homeless, Berkeley Post Office Defenders, Save the Berkeley Post Office, Occupy the Farm and … Continued

The Occupation of the Berkeley Post Office at 2000 Allston Way in downtown Berkeley continues; soon to enter into its 3rd month.  Occupiers woke up Monday morning, December 29th, to find a new sign in front of their dwelling.  Solidified and supported by two buckets of cement (seriously!) the sign reads First They Came for the Homeless in coalition with Berkeley Post Office Defenders WE THE PEOPLE  insist that the United States Postal Service is a vital part of our public infrastructure and that this post office is OCCUPIED BY … Continued