May 26, 2021
Please hold the Family’s and Friends of the VTA light rail shooting in your thoughts / prayers
Rest in Peace
♥ Paul Delacruz Megia ♥,42 y/o
♥ Taptejdeep Singh ♥, 36 y/o
♥ Adrian Balleza ♥, 29 y/o
♥ Jose Dejesus Hernandez III ♥, 35 y/o
♥ Timothy Michael Romo ♥, 49 y/o
♥ Michael Joseph Rudometkin ♥, 40 y/o
♥ Abdolvahab Alaghmandan ♥, 63 y/o
♥ Lars Kepler Lane ♥, 63 y/o
♥ Alex Ward Fritch ♥, 49 y/o
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Periodic posting
NOTE: Articles are divided in two sections – there’s a section of articles on Palestine / Israel
*** ASL interpretation – Let me know if your event needs this service .***
Please include Accessibility and ASL info in your events! And if your action is ‘child friendly’
Please post your actions on Indybay: https://www.indybay.org/calendar/?page_id=12
See Indybay for many other listings of events.
Site for other Bay Area Events
ARTICLES:
A. Tulsa marks 100 years since massacre with somber ceremonies, demands for reparations – May 31, 2020
Tulsa marks 100 years since massacre with somber ceremonies, demands for reparations (msn.com)
See event #
B. All Eyes on Cali, Colombia – May 31, 2021
All Eyes on Calí, Colombia — The Black Alliance for Peace
C. Indigenous leaders and residential survivors want action after finding mass child grave – May 29, 2021
D. Julian Assange’s Father and Brother Announce US Tour to Demand Journalist’s Freedom – May 28, 2021
Julian Assange’s Father and Brother Announce US Tour to Demand Journalist’s Freedom | Common Dreams News
-Date for SF is June 26th!
E. Governor Newsom Announces Clemency Actions, Signs Executive Order for Independent Investigation of Kevin Cooper Case
F. COVID-19: Fauci Backed Strengthening of Viruses Despite Admitting Risk of Pandemic, Australian Newspaper Reports – May 28, 2021
G. DA closes Amilcar Lopez case, but the community trauma still remains – May 27, 2021
DA closes Amilcar Lopez case, but the community trauma still remains | 48 hills
H. Beloved S.F. homeless nonprofit was booted from its Tenderloin space. Will S.F. residents step up to save it? – May 26, 2021
I. CDC Is Investigating a Possible Connection Between Heart Inflammation and the COVID Vaccine in Young Teens – May 26, 2021
J. Haiti Revolution, sparks for freedom – May 26, 2021
Haiti Revolution, sparks for freedom (sfbayview.com)
K. A People’s Guide to the War Industry – 2: Profits & Deception – May 26, 2021
A People’s Guide to the War Industry -2: Profits & Deception – Consortiumnews
L. Douma: Three Years On – May 25, 2021
Douma: Three Years On – OffGuardian (off-guardian.org)
M. Let’s get loud about the future of Muni – May 25, 2021
Let’s get loud about the future of Muni – The San Francisco Examiner (sfexaminer.com)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ARTICLES on PALESTINE / ISRAEL
See Action # 7
See Block the Boat Info
See Events #’s 3, 7, 9, & 12
A. In Major BDS Victory, Bay Area Activists Prevent Docking of Israeli-Operated Cargo Ship, Call for International Solidarity Pickets – May 29, 2021
Press Release May 29 2021 | Block The Boat
B. Israel-Palestine: Activists in UK shut down second Israeli arms factory in a week – May 25, 2021
Israel-Palestine: Activists in UK shut down second Israeli arms factory in a week | Middle East Eye
C. “Find me a new lie to tell my children,” – May 24, 2021
“Find me a new lie to tell my children” | Defense for Children Palestine (dci-palestine.org)
D. To distract from Gaza slaughter, Israel lobby manufactures anti-Semitism freakout – May 24, 2021
To distract from Gaza slaughter, Israel lobby manufactures antisemitism freakout | The Grayzone
E. Democrats dither on military sale to Israel – May 24, 2021
Democrats dither on military sale to Israel | The Electronic Intifada
BLOCK THE BOAT
June 2 – June 9, Block The Boat – International Week of Action
Block the Boat Everywhere! Profiteering from Israeli Apartheid is Not Welcome Anywhere
For the past 12 days, the #BlockTheBoat protest has kept a cargo ship operated by ZIM – apartheid Israel’s largest and oldest shipping company – from docking at the Port of Oakland. We are winning! Our people power is working, and sending a clear message that Israel’s ongoing settler-colonialism, occupation, and violence against the Palestinian people will come with a heavy price.
Every hour that ZIM cargo ships remain undocked and unloaded is a huge victory, as it means that the apartheid state of Israel is losing enormous amounts of money.
We are now calling on communities all over the world to organize solidarity actions with Oakland, and hold a community picket to block a ZIM-operated ship at your port during this week of action against the apartheid-profiteering ZIM shipping line!
Build solidarity with port workers, and encourage them to heed the call from labor unions in Gaza asking workers everywhere not to handle Israeli cargo or engage with Israeli businesses.
Interested in organizing a local Block the Boat solidarity action? Fill out this form. https://blocktheboat.org/nationwide-week-of-action-6-2…/
To stay up to date on solidarity actions text your name to 181BLOCKZIM, (1.812.562.5946) follow @AROCBayArea on Twitter or Instagram, and visit blocktheboat.org.
Info: (3) Facebook
Oakland Update – Block the Boat (May 31st – 11:00am)
No mobilization this evening. But the Zim-operated ship Volans is scheduled to dock overnight! Please be on alert and ready to mobilize as early as tomorrow morning! #ShutdownApartheid #BDS.
Updates TEXT 181-BLOCKZIM #BlocktheBoat(1.812.562.5946)
SEIU Local 1021 has endorsed our #BlocktheBoat campaign against the return of the Israeli Zim shipping line to the Port of Oakland. Along with the ILWU Northern California District Council’s condemnation of the Israeli government’s military campaign against Palestinian civilians, this is a huge step in international worker solidarity to support #BDS and #ShutdownApartheid !
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Northern CA District Council stands in solidarity with Palestine and Palestinian communities across the world who are fighting for justice. – May 25, 2021 #BlockTheBoat Full statement here:
Info: AROC: Arab Resource & Organizing Center | Facebook:
June 2nd, Upcoming Block the Boat in Seattle
Heads up Seattle – #BlocktheBoat action on June 2nd led by Falastiniyat! Text your name to 833-584-1948 for updates.
Info: Facebook
June 7th – 9th, Upcoming Block the Boat in Vancouver, BC or the PNW
Vancouver says No to Israeli Apartheid! Docking of Zim-operated vessels expected June 7th-9th, so if you’re in BC or the PNW, get ready to BlockTheBoat!
Text your name to 833-590-1987 for updates.
Info: Facebook
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ACTIONS / PETITIONS:
1. Hold police accountable. End qualified immunity.
SIGN: Sign and send the petition: Hold police accountable. End qualified immunity. (dailykos.com)
2.To Congress: Stop funding war and militarism — invest in our communities!
SIGN: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-the-petition-to-congress-stop-funding-war-and-militarism-invest-in-our-communities?source=2021PentagonSpending_PA&referrer=group-peace-action-2&redirect=https%3a%2f%2fwww.peaceaction.org%2fget-involved%2fdonate%2f&emci=d192c9e2-c5bf-eb11-a7ad-501ac57b8fa7&emdi=d492c9e2-c5bf-eb11-a7ad-501ac57b8fa7&ceid=122506
3. End the filibuster and pass the George Floyd Act!
SIGN: sign the petition: End the filibuster and pass the George Floyd Act! | Demand Progress
4, Stop the Mail Slowdown
SIGN: Take Action! (actionnetwork.org)
5. Let’s Protect Women at Work!
SIGN: Avaaz – Let’s protect women at work!
6. No Renter Left Behind: Ensure a Just & Debt Free Recovery!
SIGN: No Renter Left Behind: Ensure a Just & Debt Free Recovery! – Action Network
7. Sanction Israel Now!
SIGN: https://ampalestine.salsalabs.org/sanctionisrael/index.html
8. How to write imprisoned Daniel Hale, whistleblower on US illegal DRONE assassination program
He especially wants print-outs of news articles on politics and international affairs.
He is NOT permitted to receive articles with photos in them (so please remove before mailing) and he is NOT permitted to receive books.
He can be reached at:
Daniel E. Hale
William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center
2001 Mill Road
Alexandria VA 22314
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
EVENTS
Tuesday, June 1 – Saturday, June 5
Tuesday, June 1
1. Tuesday, 10:00am, ACTION: Community Solutions, Not Chevron’s Pollution!
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
375 Beale St. (10 min walk from Embarcadero BART)
SF
Join Communities for a Better Environment at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District) headquarters to fight for the strongest protections against toxic PM 2.5 pollution from the Chevron refinery right here in the Bay Area.
Stand up to Chevron with Richmond and local communities before the Air District Board’s final vote on the landmark pollution protection rule recommended to the Board.
Info: ACTION: Community Solutions, Not Chevron’s Pollution! | Facebook
2. Tuesday, 11:00am – 12Noon, Know Your Rights: Disability Discrimination and Your Job
Info & RSVP: Presentation: Know Your Rights: Disability Discrimination and Your Job | San Francisco Public Library (sfpl.org)
Presenters:
Tishon Smith-Bennett, Litigation Assistant, Legal Aid at Work
Tishon Smith-Bennett has worked as a legal assistant and legal secretary in a variety of fields before joining Legal Aid at Work. She enjoys helping people and strongly believes in the power of the law to address issues of social justice.
Jinny Kim, Senior Staff Attorney, Legal Aid at Work
Jinny Kim directs the Disability Rights Program at Legal Aid at Work. She represents workers fighting disability discrimination before federal and state courts as well as administrative agencies.
Host: San Francisco Public Library
Info: Know Your Rights: Disability Discrimination and Your Job : Indybay
3. Tuesday, 12Noon, Conversations on Palestine with Omar Barghouti
Online
Anyone on/off facebook
Register for access to the Zoom event: http://tiny.cc/BarghoutiConvo
ASL interpretation provided
Join us for a conversation with Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS movement for Palestinian rights, and Pranav Jani, associate professor of English and advisor to SJP at The Ohio State University.
Co-sponsored by We Are Not Numbers, JVP-Albany, JVP-Albuquerque, JVP-Detroit, JVP-Bay Area, JVP-Cleveland, JVP-Los Angeles, JVP-Milwaukee, JVP-Northern New Jersey, JVP-Sacramento, JVP-San Diego, JVP-Swarthmore, JVP-Triangle North Carolina, JVP-Tucson, JVP-Westchester, The Columbus Free Press, Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, Israel Committee Against House Demolitions – USA, and Middle East Peace Now.
If you would like to take immediate action, donate to Medical Aid for Palestine: https://www.map.org.uk/
Info: (1) Conversations on Palestine with Omar Barghouti | Facebook or Conversations on Palestine with Omar Barghouti : Indybay
4. Tuesday, 7:00pm – 9:00pm, 100 Years Since the Tulsa Massacre: A Talk by Carl Dix at Rev Bks NY, Viewing in Berkeleye
In store showing
Revolution Books, Berkeley
2444 Durant Ave.
Berkeley
Masks and distancing required in-store.
Watch the live-stream on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/RevolutionBooks1 or Facebook Live https://www.facebook.com/revbooksnyc/live/
The 100th anniversary of the massacre will be marked at Revolution Books with a special in-person and live-streamed talk by revolutionary leader Carl Dix, along with a stunning short documentary film on the suppressed story of the Tulsa Massacre, followed by audience discussion (in store and virtual).
100 years ago, on June 1, 1921, a racist white mob burned down the vibrant Greenwood community of 10,000 Black people in Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as Black Wall Street. Over 1,000 businesses, homes, schools, churches, a hospital and a library were destroyed. Firebombing was carried out from the air. Black WWI veterans organizing armed self defense were overrun by the lynch mob which included National Guard troops, deputized white merchants, and 150 Tulsa police, incited by the supposed insult of a white woman by a young Black man.
At the end, over 300 Black people were murdered and thousands had fled for their lives.
Info: 100 Years Since the Tulsa Massacre: A Talk by Carl Dix at Rev Bks NY, Viewing in Berkeleye : Indybay
Wednesday, June 2
5. Wednesday, 11:00am – 12Noon, The Biggest Abortion Rights Case in More Than 40 Years
Online Register: The Biggest Abortion Rights Case in More Than 40 Years Registration, Wed, Jun 2, 2021 at 2:00 PM | Eventbrite
On May 17th, the Supreme Court announced it will take up the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization – a case out of Mississippi designed to directly challenge the legal right to abortion granted under 1973’s landmark decision in Roe v. Wade. For the first time in nearly 50 years – and with staunch abortion opponent Amy Coney Barrett on the bench – the Court will reconsider the idea that states can’t ban abortion before a fetus is viable because it violates a patient’s constitutional privacy rights.
Rewire News Group’s Jessica Mason Pieklo is bringing in
Shannon Brewer, director of Jackson Women’s Health Organization,
Laurie Bertram Roberts, cofounder of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund and the Executive Director of Yellowhammer;
Dr. Leah Torres, Medical Director of the West Alabama Women’s Center;
Erica Hensley, health journalist covering reproductive and health equity based in Mississippi, to take a closer look at the biggest abortion rights fight in decades, and what a bad decision will mean for the future of legal abortion.
6. Wednesday, 12 Noon (PT), 3:00pm (ET) Conversations with the Nation: Whistle Blowing As A Moral Mission – Daniel Ellsberg
Online Register: Conversations with The Nation | Whistle-Blowing as a Moral Mission | The Nation
Cost: $10.
In the 1960s, Daniel Ellsberg traveled to Vietnam to study conditions on the ground, as the war escalated during the Johnson presidency. While there, he slowly but surely came to the conclusion that the war was not only immoral but also unwinnable. And, upon his return Stateside, he told this to anyone whose ears he could catch, be they Defense Secretary Robert McNamara or Ambassador Averell Harriman, as Sasha Abramsky detailed in a recent Nation profile of Ellsberg as he approaches his 90th birthday. When these senior figures didn’t listen, when the war continued and the list of lives lost grew longer by the hour, he made the momentous decision to go public with his insider knowledge that that war was based on a web of lies. The Pentagon Papers published in 1971 by The New York Times changed the course of
Fifty years after leaking the Pentagon Papers, he shows no signs of slowing down. Join a conversation with the OG whistleblower and Katrina vanden Heuvel about trying to open eyes kept deliberately shut by those who would prefer to avoid having to deal with the crises of our times.
7. Wednesday, 12Noon, Making Sense of Palestine Today: A Panel (Part 2)
Online RSVP: https://stanford.zoom.us/…/WN_0AjcjYkDTEClqDpZeUKwaA
“Making Sense of Palestine Today: A Panel” welcomes Professors Dana El Kurd (University of Richmond) and Sophia Stamatopoulou-Robbins (Bard College) for a discussion on the recent events taking place in Palestine
Part 3 is on Thursday, June 3
Host: Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford
Info: Making Sense of Palestine Today: A Panel (Part 2) | Facebook or Making Sense of Palestine Today: A Panel (Part 2 of 3) : Indybay
Thursday, June 3
8. Thursday, 12Noon – 3:30pm, We Take Care Of Us: A Deep Dive Into The Movement to Decriminalize Mental Health & Skin Color
Anyone on / off facebook
Online registration: We Take Care Of Us: A Deep Dive Into The Movement to Decriminalize Mental Health & Skin Color — Regional Virtual Summit (actionnetwork.org)
We’ll update this event with speaker list closer to the event. ASL and Spanish interpretation and closed captioning will be provided.
Join us on June 3rd for our first virtual regional summit, We Take Care Of Us: A Deep Dive Into The Movement to Decriminalize Mental Health & Skin Color. We’ll spend an inspiring afternoon learning about how to build replicable and sustainable alternatives to police and prisons for mental health — and how we as a community can take care of each other in moments of crisis.
May is #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth, and we know that alternatives to the police for mental health crises are more critical than ever. Up to 50% of the people killed by law enforcement are in the middle of a mental health crisis. Those who are killed are disproportionately Black and Brown. A mental health crisis should not be a death sentence, but it too often is, particularly for people with Black and Brown skin.
We’ll learn from families directly impacted and fighting for justice, elected officials ready to implement new approaches, and healers and organizers who are already doing the work of birthing new, life-affirming, community alternatives into existence from the ashes of today’s barbarous systems of state violence.
Hosts: APTP and Justice Teams Network
9. Thursday, 12Noon – 1:00pm, Making Sense of Palestine Today: A Panel (Part 3)
Register for Zoom webinar at:
https://stanford.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VGgU_f1yRjSzgvDY0HwCxQ
“Making Sense of Palestine Today: a panel.” Shira Robinson, Karam Dana, Dana El Kurd, Sophia Stamatopoulou-Robbins , Muna Dajani and Basma Fahoum will discuss recent events in Palestine across three sessions
Host: Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford
Info: Making Sense of Palestine Today: A Panel (Part 3 of 3) : Indybay
10. Thursday, 4:00pm (PT); 7:00pm (ET), “The Condor & The Eagle”: Film & Discussion on Indigenous Climate Justice w /CBD
Watch film: The Center For Biological Diversity Presents: (webinarjam.com) (View FREE for limited time. Screening started May 27th – June 3)
Register for discussion here: https://act.biologicaldiversity.org/5Zb9ljtOnEGfqb4BGxV8qQ2
To end the extinction crisis, we must unite for energy justice. You’re invited to a special screening and discussion of The Condor & The Eagle, an award-winning documentary featuring Indigenous leaders joining forces across the Americas for climate justice.
The film explores their work to protect land and water from the ravages of the fossil fuel industry, including fights to protect the boreal forests of Canada, frontline communities in Texas and Oklahoma, and the heart of the Amazon.
conversation will include:
–Jean Su, Energy Justice Director, Center for Biological Diversity
–Bryan Parras, cofounder of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, and organizer with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign
Host: Center for Biological Diversity
Info: “The Condor & The Eagle”: Film & Discussion on Indigenous Climate Justice w/ CBD : Indybay
11. Thursday, 7:00pm, Candlelight Vigil on the 32nd Anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre
Portsmouth Square
Clay St. & Kearney St.
SF
Amnesty has been invited to attend and speak briefly at a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the brutal killings of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989. AIUSA Group 30 has been advocating for human rights in China for decades now and Barbara has kindly agreed to speak briefly at the event along with Friends of Tibet and others.
This is all I know about this – the info was in Chinese.
12. Thursday, 7:15pm – 9:15pm, We All Live in Gaza – Special Documentary Screening
Grand Lake Theater
3200 Grand Blvd.
Oakland
Tickets available online: http://www.renaissancerialto.com
$13.00/$9.50 Seniors
Limited seating to 200 – Social distancing
We All Live in Gaza….travel with us to inside the siege.
It is a troubling time for those of us concerned with the political, social and physical future of the women, men and children living in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and especially Gaza. What can we do to tangibly help them?
The planned actions at the Port of Oakland to block the unloading of goods from an Israeli chartered ship is an important statement of solidarity with those inside the siege of Gaza.
Our documentary is another important piece of the solidarity effort. It has been created to raise awareness; to bring audiences inside the siege giving access for those inside to speak for themselves directly and passionately about their condition.
Sadly, our production partners inside Gaza have been hit hard. Their tower offices collapsed in minutes, leaving over 25 years of work destroyed. Monies raised through the admission will go directly to them to help continue chronicling history as it unfolds.
The Gaza Strip. 341 square miles, 2,000,000 men, women and children; all under siege and naval blockade. From the perspective of those living this history “We All Live in Gaza” tells the story of what has happened historically and what is happening today inside the territory. The project seeks answers to why the siege is continuing without end. And most critically explores the issues of how a just and lasting resolution can be found. In collaboration with The Media Group, Gaza City, as well as with independent video producers inside the territory, the project has been in production since 2009. It is a culmination of literally thousands of hours of research, production and editing.
Preview: http://www.renaissancerialto.com/
Special preview with Q&A with Maurice Jacobson, Director/Producer
Info: We All Live in Gaza – Special Documentary Screening – Fundraiser : Indybay
Friday, June 4
12. Friday, 1:00pm – 2:00pm, Shut Down the Police Officers Association
Outside:
SF Police Officers Association
800 Bryant St.
SF
Masks & social distancing
RESIST with “Mothers On The March”, “Black and Brown for Justice and Equality”, Family’s whose loved ones have been killed by cops from SFPD, and the Community.
– Demand the San Francisco Police Officers Association be Shut Down!
– The SF Police Officers Association Be Declared a Non Grata Organization
– Demand the Police Officers Bill of Rights be Abolished.
– Jail Killer Cops – we want killer cops to be charged with murder.
The POA has been supporting / defending officers who have assassinated people in our communities.
Saturday, June 5
13. Saturday, 3:00pm – 4:30pm People’s Assembly
In person outside
Black & Brown Social Club
474 Valencia St.
SF
This is the first meeting since the May 1st (May Day) gathering.
We will continue to build on our original points of unity, and address our new points from the community that were added on May1st. The energy from the last Assembly was amazing. We want to encourage fostering a safe place for the community to build, and there are no heroes, no egos, no group egos!
The Assembly wants EVERYBODY to be empowered to be leaders!!!
