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East Bay DSA Newsletter July 30, 2020
Isolated, we are but straws that any boss can bend to his will, but organised we are a mighty force that no one can break.
Alexandra Kollontai
Comrades, this week marks two months since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

This national reckoning, as incomplete as it’s been, has had impacts throughout our politics and culture, and taken us through every possible emotion - grief, anger, determination, despair, hope, and grief again. In our overwhelmed isolation, we might just experience these in cycles. But marking time means looking past shallow news cycles and our own moods, and recognizing this time for what it is: historic, grave, and full of potential.

So to put it another way: this week marks two straight months of intense public struggle. Months of unequivocal protest against racist state oppression, with formerly radical demands becoming mass politics. Two months of nightly protests in cities like Portland, with escalating abuse by police and federal agents proving just how urgent these uprisings are - how long overdue.

Mark this time with us. Reflecting on the past two months, which few of us ever imagined, we must clearly imagine a better future.
 
In downtown Oakland this past weekend, thousands marched in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter protestors in Portland. President Trump has threatened to send federal agents to Oakland, like those already seen in Portland: acting less in any specific law enforcement capacity than as a general anti-antifascist presence in the city’s streets.
Featured Events
If you're ready to do more than just imagine a better future, here's a list of official chapter events where you can start making a better future. You can also keep track on our Events page.

MAKE CALLS FOR JOVANKA BECKLES

Tonight! July 30 | 5–8 p.m.
Online via Zoom – RSVP for info ♿️
Join us in making calls for Jovanka Beckles's campaign for AC Transit Board! Let's build a movement fighting for racial, economic, social, and environmental justice for all — powered by public transit.

Register in advance for this meeting here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting

RSVP

EAST BAY DSA VIRTUAL SOCIAL

Saturday, August 1 | 7–8:30 p.m.
Online via Zoom ♿️
Comets streak through the sky and the stars wheel about their heavenly axis. The portents are clear: it’s time for the next DSA Virtual Social. Dress to impress an extraterrestrial, chill down or shake up something “out of this world” to drink, locate your most far-out virtual background, and join your friendly Bay Area DSA chapters for Socializing with Socialists: In Space.

Staying at home all day can be kind of isolating, but if we have to be isolated, let’s be isolated together! We’ll meet up to get to know each other better with games and time to socialize. Come to build relationships, meet new people, and learn about how you can get involved in organizing with DSA during times of social distancing.

RSVP

GREEN NEW DEAL FOR TRANSIT CAMPAIGN MEETING

Monday, August 3 | 7–9 p.m.
Online via Zoom – RSVP for info ♿
Join us to win power for:
  • Free Public Transit
  • Greatly expanded service, accessibility, and schedule
  • Protection of union workers and expansion of union jobs
  • Social equity to overcome transportation discrimination
  • Conversion of Public Transit to Zero Emissions vehicles

RSVP on the event page below for a link to join Monday’s meeting!

RSVP

SOCIALIST NIGHT SCHOOL: ECO-SOCIALIST PRINCIPLES

Thursday, August 6 | 6:30–8:30 p.m.
Online via Zoom ♿️
In 2018 the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released an alarming report, stating that the world needed to steeply cut its carbon emissions and make radical changes in order to limit the planet's temperature from rising to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. If that goal wasn't met, the report predicted a horrifying increase in suffering for almost all life and ecological collapses.

In America, this report was met on the political Left by sustained calls for the abolition of capitalist exploitation of people and the planet. The rationale was that capitalism's imperative for endless economic growth required massive amounts of energy, the vast majority of which is still produced through fossil fuels. Some of the specific responses were reinvigorated support for anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist struggles by Indigenous peoples, surges in attendance at climate strikes, and great support for proposals like the Green New Deal by elected officials.

East Bay DSA will explore this theme in a Socialist Night School mini-series, co-organized with our Green New Deal Committee. These 3 events will explore what it means to be an ecosocialist, the Red Deal and Indigenous struggle, and how to fight for a Green New Deal after Bernie.

In this first Night School, we'll get an introduction to ecosocialism, its history, and how we can organize as ecosocialists today from the local to the national and international levels. To learn about our readings and speakers, visit the event page below.

RSVP

GENERAL MEETING

Sunday, August 9 | 1–4 p.m.
Online via Zoom and Facebook
Agenda & Endorsements
At our August meeting, we will be voting on endorsements of the following candidates, slates, and ballot measures:
  • The Oakland Youth Vote Ballot Initiative
  • Carroll Fife for Oakland City Council, District 3
  • Nestor Castillo, Elisha Crader, and Lacei Amodei for Hayward City Council
  • The Berkeley Tenants Union Slate for Berkeley Rent Board
  • Mike Hutchinson for Oakland Board of Education, District 5
  • Ben Tapscott for Oakland Board of Education, District 7
  • Cherisse Gash for Oakland Board of Education, District 3
See below for the full agenda & resolutions, and endorsements report prepared by the chapter Endorsements Subcommittee about candidates with background information, biographies, questionnaires and recommendations.

Agenda Endorsement Report

In order to vote you must be a member of DSA. You can double check your membership at proof.dsausa.org. Please RSVP to receive the Zoom link to participate. If you are not a member, we will be streaming the meeting on our social media.

Member RSVP for Zoom link

RSVP on Facebook
 
Upcoming Events

RACIAL SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE MONTHLY MEETING

Monday, August 17 | 7–9 p.m.

Online via Zoom – email [email protected] for info ♿️

Join the Racial Solidarity Committee for our monthly meeting!

The Racial Solidarity Committee (RSC) is dedicated to fighting for the rights of BIPOC communities here in the Bay Area as well as around the world. We are committed to building a multiracial democratic socialist organization that reflects the diversity of the Bay Area working class. Our work ranges from immigration justice and open borders to workers' rights and access to fully-funded public education. In our general meetings, we hold political discussions and report on upcoming RSC campaigns and events. Join us and become a part of the fight for Racial Solidarity!

Racial Solidarity Committee is open to all, and we especially welcome self-identified BIPOC folx. BIPOC facilitators take progressive stack, and we maintain community agreements.

RSVP

LET’S OWN PG&E CAMPAIGN

Wednesday, August 19 | 6:45–8:15 p.m.

Online via Zoom – RSVP for info ♿️

Learn about why a for-profit PG&E will never work for the people or the planet and be a part of winning a Community-owned, Community-controlled PG&E.

RSVP

SOCIAL HOUSING COMMITTEE MONTHLY MEETING

Wednesday, August 19 | 7–8:30 p.m.

Online via Zoom – RSVP for info ♿

Our Social Housing Committee meets on the third Wednesday each month. The first half of the meeting is dedicated to learning together about social housing and about the broader housing justice movement. The second part of the meeting we discuss campaigns and working group updates. All are welcome!

Please RSVP for the Zoom URL & instructions.

RSVP
Not a Member Yet? Let's Fix That.
DSA now has 70,000 members nationally, and we're still growing. There's never been a better time to get involved than right now! Join our national organization by clicking below and become an official socialist organizer.

Join DSA
East Bay DSA’s Classroom Justice campaign was also out this past weekend, handing out art supplies and coloring books for kids, as well as raising funds to keep those supplies coming. If you haven’t already, check out the website at https://classroomjustice.org/, or sign up here to get involved!
Caucus Corner
Our caucuses organize events too! Check out the Caucus Corner of our website to learn more about the activities of East Bay DSA caucuses and how to participate.
Announcements
JOIN THE CLASSROOM JUSTICE CAMPAIGN
📚✏️VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!📚✏️ EBDSA’s Classroom Justice Campaign has been distributing coloring books with resources and information for parents and teachers during the COVID-19 crisis MONDAY and THURSDAY mornings at OUSD food distribution sites, which have doubled this summer. We're looking for more volunteers to help with distribution and printing!

Interested? Sign up using this Google form.

More info at classroomjustice.org
An injury to one is an injury to all.
Industrial Workers of the World motto

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Isolated, we are but straws that any boss can bend to his will, but organised we are a mighty force that no one can break.

-- Alexandra Kollontai

Comrades, this week marks two months since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

This national reckoning, as incomplete as it’s been, has had impacts throughout our politics and culture, and taken us through every possible emotion - grief, anger, determination, despair, hope, and grief again. In our overwhelmed isolation, we might just experience these in cycles. But marking time means looking past shallow news cycles and our own moods, and recognizing this time for what it is: historic, grave, and full of potential.

So to put it another way: this week marks two straight months of intense public struggle. Months of unequivocal protest against racist state oppression, with formerly radical demands becoming mass politics. Two months of nightly protests in cities like Portland, with escalating abuse by police and federal agents proving just how urgent these uprisings are - how long overdue.

Mark this time with us. Reflecting on the past two months, which few of us ever imagined, we must clearly imagine a better future.


Featured Events
If you're ready to do more than just imagine a better future, here's a list of official chapter events where you can start making a better future. You can also keep track on our Events page (http://eastbaydsa.org/events/) .


** MAKE CALLS FOR JOVANKA BECKLES
------------------------------------------------------------
Tonight! July 30 | 5–8 p.m.
Online via Zoom – RSVP for info (https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fzoom.us%2Fmeeting%2Fregister%2FtJYocu2urToqGdMaC0gvbzlKc0M6mX_7VDGw%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0gei5WPLnwR14uOkMoVkzkOhtafgdpi0QgRgGXY4BKB8zgvK3Obvr-qrQ&h=AT0TVAxe8ZvkAMgFJO-azb1tg_iFpfBY1igyPWy_tk-_8k9QlM2AXZ96bSw4m4la9Ts9qQV4_-GnPFJsVJMjdJ7n5g4DNxKU_-SGgugdjjf_1FzGtEi-H85bwmNsXopb2WMFZ4moqg) ♿️


Join us in making calls for Jovanka Beckles's campaign for AC Transit Board! Let's build a movement fighting for racial, economic, social, and environmental justice for all — powered by public transit.

Register in advance for this meeting here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting

RSVP (https://www.eastbaydsa.org/events/1356/2020-07-30-make-calls-for-jovanka-beckles/)


** EAST BAY DSA VIRTUAL SOCIAL
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, August 1 | 7–8:30 p.m.
Online via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82554697997?pwd=cTQzR0laUDN2M3N1SWcrMk5rWkFtUT09) ♿️


Comets streak through the sky and the stars wheel about their heavenly axis. The portents are clear: it’s time for the next DSA Virtual Social. Dress to impress an extraterrestrial, chill down or shake up something “out of this world” to drink, locate your most far-out virtual background, and join your friendly Bay Area DSA chapters for Socializing with Socialists: In Space.

Staying at home all day can be kind of isolating, but if we have to be isolated, let’s be isolated together! We’ll meet up to get to know each other better with games and time to socialize. Come to build relationships, meet new people, and learn about how you can get involved in organizing with DSA during times of social distancing.

RSVP (https://www.eastbaydsa.org/events/1363/2020-08-01-east-bay-dsa-virtual-social/)


** GREEN NEW DEAL FOR TRANSIT CAMPAIGN MEETING
------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, August 3 | 7–9 p.m.
Online via Zoom – RSVP for info (https://www.eastbaydsa.org/events/1358/2020-08-03-green-new-deal-for-transit-campaign-meeting/) ♿
Join us to win power for:
* Free Public Transit
* Greatly expanded service, accessibility, and schedule
* Protection of union workers and expansion of union jobs
* Social equity to overcome transportation discrimination
* Conversion of Public Transit to Zero Emissions vehicles

RSVP on the event page below for a link to join Monday’s meeting!

RSVP (https://www.eastbaydsa.org/events/1358/2020-08-03-green-new-deal-for-transit-campaign-meeting/)


** SOCIALIST NIGHT SCHOOL: ECO-SOCIALIST PRINCIPLES
------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, August 6 | 6:30–8:30 p.m.
Online via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84693488061?pwd=M2t3S0dzdkhwN01oZm1hcFpHZS91UT09) ♿️
In 2018 the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released an alarming report, stating that the world needed to steeply cut its carbon emissions and make radical changes in order to limit the planet's temperature from rising to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. If that goal wasn't met, the report predicted a horrifying increase in suffering for almost all life and ecological collapses.

In America, this report was met on the political Left by sustained calls for the abolition of capitalist exploitation of people and the planet. The rationale was that capitalism's imperative for endless economic growth required massive amounts of energy, the vast majority of which is still produced through fossil fuels. Some of the specific responses were reinvigorated support for anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist struggles by Indigenous peoples, surges in attendance at climate strikes, and great support for proposals like the Green New Deal by elected officials.

East Bay DSA will explore this theme in a Socialist Night School mini-series, co-organized with our Green New Deal Committee. These 3 events will explore what it means to be an ecosocialist, the Red Deal and Indigenous struggle, and how to fight for a Green New Deal after Bernie.

In this first Night School, we'll get an introduction to ecosocialism, its history, and how we can organize as ecosocialists today from the local to the national and international levels. To learn about our readings and speakers, visit the event page below.

RSVP (https://www.eastbaydsa.org/events/1364/2020-08-06-socialist-night-school-eco-socialist-principles/)


** GENERAL MEETING
------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, August 9 | 1–4 p.m.
Online via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsfu6tpjIjHtOqDFlyX72uf64e5QR4MF6x) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/events/3213259478751092/)
Agenda & Endorsements
At our August meeting, we will be voting on endorsements of the following candidates, slates, and ballot measures:
* The Oakland Youth Vote Ballot Initiative
* Carroll Fife for Oakland City Council, District 3
* Nestor Castillo, Elisha Crader, and Lacei Amodei for Hayward City Council
* The Berkeley Tenants Union Slate for Berkeley Rent Board
* Mike Hutchinson for Oakland Board of Education, District 5
* Ben Tapscott for Oakland Board of Education, District 7
* Cherisse Gash for Oakland Board of Education, District 3

See below for the full agenda & resolutions, and endorsements report prepared by the chapter Endorsements Subcommittee about candidates with background information, biographies, questionnaires and recommendations.

Agenda (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K4Bg5BEZSzGh8Ok5SbrEdMJi1T1RqdK2QwtGIPsn3ZA/edit) Endorsement Report (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lW52zv5njS_r8gR5Yu0vuL9HK9VfBJanG5yw52-CHs0/edit)

In order to vote you must be a member of DSA. You can double check your membership at proof.dsausa.org. Please RSVP to receive the Zoom link to participate. If you are not a member, we will be streaming the meeting on our social media.

Member RSVP for Zoom link (https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsfu6tpjIjHtOqDFlyX72uf64e5QR4MF6x)

RSVP on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/events/3213259478751092/)

Upcoming Events


** RACIAL SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE MONTHLY MEETING
------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, August 17 | 7–9 p.m.

Online via Zoom – email [email protected] for info ♿️
Join the Racial Solidarity Committee for our monthly meeting!

The Racial Solidarity Committee (RSC) is dedicated to fighting for the rights of BIPOC communities here in the Bay Area as well as around the world. We are committed to building a multiracial democratic socialist organization that reflects the diversity of the Bay Area working class. Our work ranges from immigration justice and open borders to workers' rights and access to fully-funded public education. In our general meetings, we hold political discussions and report on upcoming RSC campaigns and events. Join us and become a part of the fight for Racial Solidarity!

Racial Solidarity Committee is open to all, and we especially welcome self-identified BIPOC folx. BIPOC facilitators take progressive stack, and we maintain community agreements.

RSVP (https://www.eastbaydsa.org/events/1102/2020-08-17-racial-solidarity-committee-monthly-meeting/)


** LET’S OWN PG&E CAMPAIGN
------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, August 19 | 6:45–8:15 p.m.

Online via Zoom – RSVP for info (https://www.eastbaydsa.org/events/1343/2020-08-19-let-s-own-pg-e-campaign/) ♿️
Learn about why a for-profit PG&E will never work for the people or the planet and be a part of winning a Community-owned, Community-controlled PG&E.

RSVP (https://www.eastbaydsa.org/events/1343/2020-08-19-let-s-own-pg-e-campaign/)


** SOCIAL HOUSING COMMITTEE MONTHLY MEETING
------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, August 19 | 7–8:30 p.m.

Online via Zoom – RSVP for info (https://www.eastbaydsa.org/events/1334/2020-08-19-social-housing-committee-monthly-meeting/) ♿
Our Social Housing Committee meets on the third Wednesday each month. The first half of the meeting is dedicated to learning together about social housing and about the broader housing justice movement. The second part of the meeting we discuss campaigns and working group updates. All are welcome!

Please RSVP for the Zoom URL & instructions.

RSVP (https://www.eastbaydsa.org/events/1334/2020-08-19-social-housing-committee-monthly-meeting/)
Not a Member Yet? Let's Fix That.
DSA now has 70,000 members nationally, and we're still growing. There's never been a better time to get involved than right now! Join our national organization by clicking below and become an official socialist organizer.

Join DSA (https://act.dsausa.org/donate/membership/)
East Bay DSA’s Classroom Justice campaign was also out this past weekend, handing out art supplies and coloring books for kids, as well as raising funds to keep those supplies coming. If you haven’t already, check out the website at https://classroomjustice.org/, or sign up here to get involved (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfTbsYwKJFP5Aw-r937JdRTNtkWxT6eVAB0S5YVQ9OnJJ2BuQ/viewform) !

Caucus Corner
Our caucuses organize events too! Check out the Caucus Corner of our website (https://www.eastbaydsa.org/about/caucuses/) to learn more about the activities of East Bay DSA caucuses and how to participate.

Announcements

JOIN THE CLASSROOM JUSTICE CAMPAIGN
📚✏️VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!📚✏️ EBDSA’s Classroom Justice Campaign has been distributing coloring books with resources and information for parents and teachers during the COVID-19 crisis MONDAY and THURSDAY mornings at OUSD food distribution sites, which have doubled this summer. We're looking for more volunteers to help with distribution and printing!

Interested? Sign up using this Google form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfTbsYwKJFP5Aw-r937JdRTNtkWxT6eVAB0S5YVQ9OnJJ2BuQ/viewform) .

More info at classroomjustice.org
An injury to one is an injury to all.

--Industrial Workers of the World motto

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