LEAP DAY ACTION – DECLARE CLIMATE EMERGENCY – EXTRAVAGANT SPECTACLE, ROVING STREET PARTY
Saturday February 29 2-5pm – GATHER Berkeley BART station plaza at 2 pm and then rove through downtown Berkeley visiting banks that invest in fossil fuels and other reckless companies contributing to climate catastropheFree Bring disguises, decorations, musical instruments, pogo sticks, your heart and dreams
Use your Extra Day to Declare Climate Emergency and keep carbon in the ground
*For life, beauty and joy & against eco-destroying robber barons! *
The earth is not dying – it is being killed.
The corporations killing it have locations near you
(including in downtown Berkeley)
*Roam downtown visiting, decorating and disrupting banks and corporations*
*Build zero waste compostable altars for the 1 billion dead animals at each target*
*Dress as an Australian or Amazonian animal*
*Marching band / mobile bike sound system*
*Kid friendly *
Bring disguises, decorations, musical instruments, pogo sticks, your heart and dreams
To help create this event and for updates:
leapdayaction.org / leapdayaction2020 [at] protonmail.com / FB: Leapday Action 2020 Berkeley
RICHARD WOLFF: UNDERSTANDING SOCIALISM
February 28, Friday, 7:30 pm – First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, 2407 Dana Street, Berkeley
Understanding Socialism tackles the taboos and unveils the often hidden histories of socialism, but most importantly it offers a way forward: a socialism built on democracy in the workplace. A blend of history, analysis and opinion, Understanding Socialism is an honest and approachable text that knocks down false narratives, confronts failures, and offers a path to a new socialism based on workplace democracy.
Understanding Socialism not only explains what socialism is and has meant to various proponents, it also looks at the past transition from feudalism to capitalism as a model to help us visualize the next transition out of capitalism. Understanding Socialism explores how socialist theory was used and applied to shape the histories of countries like Russia and China principally, and many other countries in smaller but important ways. It analyzes the successes and defeats of those countries, the world’s reactions to them (anti-socialism and fascism), and how all of those factors offer important lessons for the building of a 21st century socialism.
“Richard Wolff’s book is the best accessible and reliable treatment we have of what socialism is, was, and should be. It is clear, concise, and compelling. In a time in which socialism is more popular than capitalism among the young, we now have a strong and powerful case for why socialism is what radical democracy looks like.” – Cornel West
Rick Wolff puts the social back in socialism by centering the people, the places and the passions that other economists strip out. In the same accessible style that has made his programs and lectures such a hit, he explains his subject in a way that’s not only smart, but makes the rest of us feel smart. It’s actionable intelligence for the every person. – Laura Flanders
There are few economists who are the equal of Richard Wolff, which he once again proves with his latest book. Lucid, brilliant and uncompromising in his dissection of the capitalist system he also provides a sane and just socialist alternative to capitalist exploitation, one we must all fight to achieve. – Chris Hedges
Richard D. Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he taught economics from 1973 to 2008. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University, New York City. The graduate of Harvard, Stanford and Yale is the founder of the non-profit Democracy at Work, which produces media and live events that analyze capitalism critically as a systemic problem and advocates for democratizing workplaces as part of a systemic solution. He is the host of their most popular radio and TV show, Economic Update which has been broadcast since 2011.
E. J. DIONNE: CODE RED: HOW PROGRESSIVES AND MODERATES CAN UNITE TO SAVE OUR COUNTRY
February 27, Thursday, 7:30 pm – The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley
CODE RED provides a blueprint for how progressives and moderates can come together to build a lasting political majority, defeat Trump and Trumpism, and move the country into a post-Trump Era.
In CODE RED, Dionne writes, At the risk of sounding like a perhaps unwelcome counselor attempting to ease a family quarrel, I would plead with progressives and moderates to listen to each other carefully. If they fail to heed each others advice and take each others concerns seriously, they will surrender the political system to an increasingly undemocratic right with no interest in any of their shared goals, priorities and commitments.
CODE RED:
*combines careful analysis of voting patterns and public attitudes that explain the outcomes of both the 2016 and 2018 elections
*provides innovative ideas about the economy, identity politics, nationalism, and foreign policy
*shows a way forward that combines a restoration of democratic norms and the transformation the country will need to avoid another Trump Era
*is a fresh take on Americas political crisis, neither an argument for an old bi-partisanship that a radicalized right has made impossible nor a conventional call for a move to the center
*shows how both progressives and moderates can create a new path forward
E.J. DIONNE, JR. is a columnist for The Washington Post, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, university professor at Georgetown University, and visiting professor at Harvard University. He is a co-author of the recent New York Times bestseller One Nation After Trump and author of Why the Right Went Wrong.
SPEAKER EVENT: BUILDING HOPE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD
Wednesday February 26 6:30-8pm – World Affairs Council, 312 Sutter St., Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94108Cost: $7 (student rate) – $20
Building Hope and Opportunity for Women Around the World
Speaker Event: Karen Sherman, president of Rwanda’s only women’s college
& author of “Brick by Brick”
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the UN Conference of Women in Beijing, but what kind of progress has really been made? One billion girls and women still lack the skills, education, and rights needed to participate in the labor market. Eighty percent of human trafficking victims are girls. Early marriage is still prevalent in many African countries and women’s economic participation rates are now on the decline globally.
One woman who has spent her life working to improve the lives of women and advocate for a just and fair world is Karen Sherman. Sherman has spent her life advocating for women in war-torn and transitional countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Congo, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Kosovo, and the former Soviet Union. Sherman now serves as President of the Akilah Institute, Rwanda’s only women’s college, and was a senior executive at Women for Women International, an organization that helps women survivors of war to rebuild their lives.
In her new memoir “Brick by Brick” Sherman tells, not only her own story of moving her family to Kigali, Rwanda in 2012, but also those of women who survived the Rwandan genocide, and how it forever changed her life. She’ll join us to discuss the book, how economic empowerment brings choice for women, what role governments and the private sector can play in supporting women, and how women globally can be more connected to one another.
ABOUT: World Affairs San Francisco
We believe that solutions to the world’s most challenging problems are found when the private, philanthropic, and public sectors work together.
Every day, we convene thought leaders, change makers, and engaged citizens to share ideas, learn from each other, and effect change. Connecting people in this way leads to informed thinking, conversation, and actions that transcend traditional boundaries and lead to lasting solutions to global problems.
OSCAR LÓPEZ RIVERA AT LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER
Saturday February 22 5:30-7:30pm – La Peña Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94705NA
Join us for an evening of tribute, music and conversation with Puerto Rican patriot and visionary, Oscar López Rivera. This event is part of a national U.S. speaking tour titled “Oscar López Rivera—Two Years Later: Resistance and Resilience”.
Two years after his release as a political prisoner for 36 years, Oscar López Rivera is returning to the Bay Area to share his current work in Puerto Rico post hurricanes Irma and Maria, and against a backdrop of a series of earthquakes that have stricken the island over the last few weeks.
Since his release in 2017, he founded the Oscar López Rivera Foundation, Libertá, through which he has been leading efforts to strengthen grassroots community organizing, demanding the auditing and cancelation of the island’s debt and advocating for the Puerto Rico’s sovereignty.
(510)849-2568
AFRICAN AMERICANS & THE VOTE: FILM SCREENING & EXHIBIT OPENING
Thursday February 13 6-8pm – San Francisco African American Historical & Cultural Society 762 Fulton Street, 2nd Floor San Francisco, CA 94102Free
In honor of Black History Month 2020 the Society will be hosting a theme based film screening & art exhibit opening reception. The short film screening will explore the stories of four (4) prominent African Americans in the San Francisco political arena. The film was a collaborative piece done by Citizen Film & the Society. Following the film screening there will be an opening reception to the Society’s newest exhibit, highlighting Barack Obama.
Please join us for a night of inspirational & educational history & culture.
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/27/18830116.php
ROOTED IN ENSLAVEMENT: HISTORY OF AMERICAN MEDICINE & THE EXPLOITATION OF THE BLACK BODY
Thursday February 13 4:30-6:30 – UCSF Mission Hall Room 1407, 550 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94158Free – no sign up necessary
Rooted in Enslavement: How American Medicine Was Built on the Oppression, Experimentation and Commodification of the Black Body
PEAKER: Dante King
Executive Leader of Diversity, Culture, Equity and Employee Experience for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) (https://www.danteking.com/)
The Black body has been exploited as a tool by others since the first enslaved Africans were brought to the shores of Virginia in 1619. Many industries such as cotton, sugar cane and tobacco were built on the backs of Black people to create the wealth inequality that we see today.
What is seldom discussed is the many ways in which the fields of healthcare and medicine were also developed and continue to flourish under the same systems of enslavement and Jim Crow.
Dante King, a Bay Area expert in the advancement of equity, inclusion, and equality, will discuss the history and experiences of the enslaved and their descendants, and how the Medical Industrial Complex owes its development, foundation, and success to the experimentation and commodification of Black bodies.
OAKLAND PRIVACY: AGAINST THE SURVEILLANCE STATE MEETING
Wednesday February 12 8:30-10:30pm – Omni Commons (check whiteboard near entrance for specific room) 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland, CAFree
Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, police militarization and ICE, and to advocate for surveillance regulation around the Bay and nationwide.
We fight against spy drones, facial recognition, police body camera secrecy, anti-transparency laws and requirements for “backdoors” to cellphones; we oppose “pre-crime” and “thought-crime,” — to list just a few invasions of our privacy by all levels of Government, and attempts to hide what government officials, employees and agencies are doing.
We draft and push for privacy legislation for City Councils, at the County level, and in Sacramento. We advocate in op-eds and in the streets. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and believe no one is illegal.
Check out some of what we worked on in 2019.
Oakland Privacy originally came together in 2013 to fight against the Domain Awareness Center, Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub. OP was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network. We helped fight and helped win the fight against Urban Shield.
Our major projects currently include local legislation to regulate state surveillance (we got the strongest surveillance regulation ordinance in the country passed in Oakland!), supporting and opposing state legislation as appropriate, battling mass surveillance in the form of facial recognition and other analytics, and pushing back against ICE.
On September 12th, 2019 we were presented with a Barlow Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for our work. If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy email listserv, coming to a meeting, or have questions, send an email to: contact@oaklandprivacy.org
Check out our website: http://oaklandprivacy.org/
Follow us on twitter: @oaklandprivacy
FORUM – EYEWITNESS VENEZUELA REPORT & ANALYSIS OF PALESTINE “PEACE PLAN”
Friday February 07 7-8:30pm – 2969 Mission St. near 26th$3-10 donation, no one turned away for lack of funds. Refreshments provided. Wheelchair accessible.
The World Anti-Imperialist Meeting was held in Caracas, January 22 to 24, with 403 international delegates and 2,096 national delegates participating. Party for Socialism and Liberation presidential candidate Gloria La Riva attended as a delegate and witnessed many of the efforts of the Maduro government and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to defend the Bolivarian Revolution and their country against U.S. imperialist attacks.
Plus – Trump/Netanyahu colonial “Peace Plan” for Palestine
On Jan. 28, after years of delay, Trump stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Israeli prime minister Netanyahu announcing Part II of his “Deal of the Century”, furthering the attacks on the Palestinian people.
$3-10 donation, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Refreshments provided. Wheelchair accessible.
Share the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2968273966530108/
(415) 821-6171
“KIDS CAUGHT IN THE CRACKDOWN,” A DOCUMENTARY WITH BERKELEY PROFESSOR ANDRES CEDIEL
Thursday February 06 7-9pm – Revolution Books, 2444 Durant Ave. Berkeley CA 94704Donation
As the detention of migrant children has climbed to record-breaking levels under Trump, FRONTLINE and The Associated Press investigated what’s going on inside federally-funded shelters – and the lasting impact on children held in U.S. custody. The nearly 70,000 migrant children who were held in government custody this year – up 42 percent in fiscal year 2019 from 2018 – spent more time in shelters and away from their families than in prior years.
Andrés Cediel is a documentary filmmaker and Professor of Visual Journalism. He produced “Rape in the Fields” and was a writer and producer of “Rape on the Night Shift” which brought to light rampant sexual assault of immigrant women in the agricultural and janitorial industries.
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH LEONARD PELTIER SPEAKOUT & PROTEST
Thursday February 06 5:30-7pm – 24th + Mission Street, San FranciscoFree
International Day of Solidarity with Leonard Peltier Speakout
hosted by AIM-West + La Riva/Peltier 2020
Thursday, February 6th
5:30pm @ 24th + Mission Street, San Francisco
Join American Indian Movement West (AIM-West) and the La Riva/Peltier 2020 campaign in a speakout demanding freedom for Leonard Peltier and all political prisoners.
February 6th marks 44 years that Leonard Peltier has been persecuted by the U.S. government for a crime he did not commit.
Leonard Peltier is a champion for the rights of Native and all oppressed people. Since his arrest in 1976, an international movement has demanded his freedom while he continues to speak out for justice from behind prison walls.
This year, Leonard Peltier joins Gloria La Riva on the ballot as Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket of the Party for Socialism & Liberation (PSL), seeking also to win the nomination of California’s Peace & Freedom Party.
For more information about the fight to free Leonard Peltier, visit the website of the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee at http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info
To learn more and support the La Riva/Peltier 2020 campaign, please visit http://www.larivapeltier2020.org
PETER J. HONIGSBERG: A PLACE OUTSIDE THE LAW: FORGOTTEN VOICES FROM GUANTANAMO
February 4, Tuesday, 7:30 pm – The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley
Youre doing Gods work with this book Robert Scheer
Honigsberg combines his impressive research with his persistent advocacy for detainees who clearly played no role in the 9/11 attacks and who almost certainly never posed any threat to American citizens. . . . A well-documented, hard-hitting, necessary exposé. –Kirkus Reviews
What sets Honigsbergs portrait apart is his focus on the lasting effects of isolation and controversial legal process on all involved. The author concludes that the United States broke the rule of law, and is the worse for it. VERDICT A sobering book for audiences interested in law and current affairs. –Library Journal
On January 11th, 2002, the first planeload of twenty detainees from Afghanistan arrived at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Eventually 780 Muslim men were held at Guantanamo, many for ten years or longer, and nearly all were never charged with a crimea violation of Americas foundational belief in due process and the rule of law. Forty men are still imprisoned at Guantanamo today; twenty-six of them are considered forever prisoners who will likely die at Guantanamo, having never been charged, tried, or convicted of any wrongdoing.
Now, in A Place Outside the Law, Peter Jan Honigsberg, a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law and the founder and director of the Witness to Guantanamo Project, offers the most comprehensive picture to date of the lives that were deeply and often traumatically transformed by Guantanamo. From how alleged terrorists were captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan and sold to the US to the Bush administrations use of the term enemy combatant to bypass the Geneva Conventions, Honigsberg details how the law was broken in the name of protecting Americansand how that lawlessness was experienced by everyone who came into contact with Guantanamo.
The stories in the bookand the full-length filmed interviews held in perpetuity at the Duke University Human Rights Archiveare the only record of many of the people who were at Guantanamo. Their witness, cautions Honigsberg, will remind future generations not to repeat what has happened there.
Peter Jan Honigsberg is a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law and the founder and director of Witness to Guantánamo. His research and teaching focuses on the rule of law and human rights violations that occurred in the detention center in Guantánamo, as well as on the study of terrorism and post-9/11 issues. His books include Our Nation Unhinged: The Human Consequences of the War on Terror and Crossing Border Street: A Civil Rights Memoir. Honigsberg lives in Berkeley, California.
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