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No Coal in Oakland A report on the campaign (revised August, 2016)   Many activists have expressed interest in an account of how the No Coal in Oakland campaign was organized.  This article is a response, but is not a history.  It is structured thematically rather than chronologically, and the many amazing activists and organizers are not identified by name.  Some of our initiatives came from organizations and some came from individual activists, but this account does not attempt to credit them, as every idea became a shared project.  Unlike … Continued

In April, 2016, the Postal Service through the Department of Justice, threatened to sue Berkeley if Berkeley did not rescind the Historic District Zoning Overlay Ordinance, passed in September of 2014, that made most commercial uses of the zone (see right) – which includes the Post Office at 2000 Allston Way (8) – illegal. This ordinance was passed in the middle of a four-year fight to save the downtown Berkeley Post Office from sale and privatization, begun in 2012 and ended, at least temporarily, by a Federal Judge’s decision in April … Continued

Two members of the Oakland Privacy Working Group (now called simply ‘Oakland Privacy‘) recently gave a presentation at the 2016 HOPE Conference in New York City about the work that went into opposing (and essentially defeating) the Domain Awareness Center here in  Oakland. Aestetix, a technology expert who has since moved to Europe, and Brian Hofer, a local lawyer and now chair of the Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission, both members of OPWG while the fight against the DAC was being waged, gave the presentation. This talk covered the reign of … Continued

Jeronimo Yanez, the officer who shot Philando Castile in his car in Minnesota weeks ago, took a training course called “The Bulletproof Warrior” less than two years ago. The evidence suggests that this course, and courses similar to it, offered by a private company called Calibre Press, are even worse than Urban Shield – the organized para-military and terror response training put on for police by the Alameda Sheriff’s Department – if that’s imaginable.   The New York Times quotes Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, … Continued

In coordinated efforts, groups affiliated with #Blacklivesmatter here in Oakland, in Chicago, Detroit and New York City, and likely elsewhere, shut down police stations, union buildings, and police banks Wednesday afternoon. In Oakland, as of 10:00 PM, they were still barricading. Oakland: “We’re here because officers pay dues to this group that does nothing but defend and justify murderers across the country,” said Anti-Police Terror Project co-founder Cat Brooks, who added that half a dozen protesters chained doors shut. “We want the city to divest from police and put money … Continued

The I880 Freeway in downtown Oakland was blocked for some three and a half hours last evening as more than 3000 people responded on a day’s notice to a Facebook event post calling on Oakland to SHUT It DOWN in response to the executions of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. The Freeway was taken at approximately 8:30 PM, after thousands marched from Oscar Grant Plaza to the downtown Police Station and then, finding the freeway unguarded by the usual CHP patrols, up the Broadway ramp. Watch in fast motion as … Continued

A week ago the Beal family, homeless, moved into Oakland City Hall, confronting Mayor Libby Schaaf, asking for help for themselves and all those families in desperate straights – homeless or about to become homeless – because of a rising economic tide that is drowning many instead of giving them a houseboat. Read their open letter (scroll down) to the Mayor and watch the video that Community Ready Corps made of the encounter: Mayor Libby, what are you going to do about people being homeless? There are kids out here … Continued

In late November and early December of 2015, homeless residents of Berkeley and supporters, organized by First They Came for the Homeless, created Liberty City, an occupation of Berkeley’s Old City Hall Grounds in protest of Berkeley’s soon-to-be enacted anti-homeless ordinances and in support of equal rights and homes for the homeless. After eighteen days the City had had enough, the ordinances had passed, and they were evicted, homeless still. Seven months came and went and the City, despite its declaration of an emergency shelter crisis in December 2015, has … Continued

You put your purse on the seat next to you. Now you pay.  In April, the BART Board passed a law making it illegal to occupy two seats during rush hour on a BART train. The law was not to take effect until the BART police presented their implementation strategy. At the most recent BART Board meeting the BART police presented how they intend to enforce the new law. You can read about it here Debate Stirs Up Controversy Over ‘Seat Hog’ Arrest Policy Some BART directors might have buyers remorse … Continued