Roughly 25 community members came together to watch two films that spotlight the city’s pivotal role in the fight for liberation: Agnès Varda’s Black Panthers 1968 and Shola Lynch’s Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners. The films offered not only a window into the past but a mirror reflecting the struggles and solidarity still needed in Oakland today.

Agnès Varda’s Black Panthers 1968 is an on-the-ground documentary capturing the resiliency of the Black Panther Party as they rallied to free Huey Newton, co-founder of the movement. Filmed in Oakland at the height of the Panthers’ activism, the film is a testament to their ability to unite working-class people and oppressed communities against police violence and systemic injustice. Varda’s work doesn’t just document history; it brings to life the defiant hope of the movement and its roots in the city’s streets.

The second film, Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners, is an account of Angela Davis’s trial and the international movement to secure her release. Davis, a scholar, communist and activist, was charged with crimes related to a 1970 courthouse shootout. Lynch’s documentary recounts the global solidarity campaign that demanded her freedom, framing it as both a personal and collective story of resistance. It’s a powerful reminder of what can be accomplished when movements cross borders and people stand united against oppression.

FRSO Oakland members led the program, situating these stories in Oakland’s broader revolutionary history. They reminded attendees of the Black Panther Party’s core mission – building unity between oppressed nationalities and working-class people to fight systemic inequality. They also illuminated the government’s counterattacks, particularly through COINTELPRO, the FBI’s covert program that sought to dismantle revolutionary movements.

The discussion didn’t stop with history. Participants connected the lessons of the films to ongoing struggles in Oakland, particularly the work of the newly formed Oakland Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression (OAARPR). This group, a local chapter of the national NAARPR which emerged from the fight to free Angela Davis, works alongside families of police violence victims and pushes for community control of the police.

In this context, the group also critiqued the failures of Oakland’s Community Police Review Agency, highlighting its ineffectiveness as a key example of the city's ongoing systemic issues with police corruption and violence. This discussion tied the historical and contemporary struggles together, underscoring the urgent need for real change.

Adding a tangible connection to the past, CARP displayed a collection of artifacts that captured the spirit of the Black Panthers and the Free Angela Davis campaigns. Old political pins reading “Free Angela Davis and all political prisoners” and “Black Panther Party: All power to the people” sat alongside the Panthers’ iconic “Ten-Point Program”, photo books, and pamphlets from the 1980s. These materials bridged generations, underscoring the enduring relevance of these struggles.

The films and discussions drove home a powerful message: the fight for justice is as urgent today as ever. In a city shaped by revolutionary victories and ongoing battles, the event called on everyone to organize, educate and resist with renewed purpose.

Oakland's legacy as a beacon for liberation movements lives on – not just in history books but in the work unfolding right now. From the Black Panther Party’s bold defiance to today’s campaigns for police accountability, the message resonated loud and clear, the struggle continues, and our commitment must match its urgency.

#OaklandCA #CA #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackPanthers #NAARPR #FRSO #CARP

Oakland, CA – On November 17, Nodutdol held an educational film screening and fundraiser highlighting solidarity between Korea and Palestine. Around 100 people gathered at East Side Arts Alliance in Oakland for the event, which was co-sponsored by Palestinian Youth Movement.

Emcee Simon Ma of Nodutdol began the program by saying, “Both the Korean people and the Palestinian people share deep histories of resistance against colonialism and imperialism, and there are many parallels between their struggles for sovereignty and self-determination.”

Ma explained how the Korean struggle against U.S. imperialism is ongoing, saying, “The Korean War never formally ended, leaving Korea divided, and the U.S. continues to occupy South Korea to this day, with over 28,000 troops stationed across over 17 military bases.”

The event promoted Nodutdol’s recently-launched “U.S. Out of Korea” campaign. The campaign lists four demands: U.S. out of Korea; end the U.S./South Korea Alliance; end all aggression against North Korea, and end the war economy.

The program included a screening of the 2003 documentary film, North Korea: Beyond the DMZ. The film follows the journey of a Korean-American woman who visits the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for the first time to meet her extended family who were separated from her parents during the Korean War.

The film highlighted the human toll of U.S. imperialist intervention in the region, showing how families remain divided more than half a century after the U.S. first invaded Korea in. It also combatted common American stereotypes about the people of the DPRK, showing their day-to-day life in a humanizing light.

The program also included a speaker from Palestinian Youth Movement, who spoke about their ongoing “Mask Off Maersk” campaign, pressuring international logistics company Maersk to stop shipping weapons to Israel.

Funds raised at the event went to the Middle East Children’s Alliance, an organization providing humanitarian aid throughout Palestine.

#OaklandCA #CA #International #Korea #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Nodutdol #PYM

Supporters also rallied in front of the federal building, condemning the politically-motivated trial that targeted Odeh because of her role as an outspoken Palestinian leader and activist. Odeh was convicted on Nov. 10 in a Detroit federal court of knowingly lying on her immigration application, even though she maintains that she did not understand the questions on the application.

The main basis for Odeh’s conviction was that she had allegedly falsely answered “no” to a question asking whether she had ever been arrested or imprisoned. The government claimed that Odeh failed to disclose that she had been convicted by the Israeli government of participating in “terrorism,” even though this conviction in a military court lacked due process and was the result of a forced confession made after she was repeatedly tortured and raped by Israeli military authorities.

“The only reason Rasmea was imprisoned in Israel was because she was tortured, sexually assaulted, threatened with death and ultimately forced to confess to charges she didn't commit,” says Hatem Abudayyeh, spokesman for the Rasmea Defense Committee. “Now, more than 40 years later, and after nine years of living here with U.S. citizenship, she's being made to relive her trauma and is wrongly imprisoned once again.” Although the judge in the case allowed the Israeli conviction of Odeh to be used as evidence against her, the torture and rape she suffered – which the judge admitted was credible – was not allowed as evidence, a move that brought widespread condemnation from supporters and human rights activist alike.

“The targeting of Rasmea is purely to criminalize Palestinians who are outspoken and critical of Israel’s oppression and occupation of Palestine,” says Lara Kiswani, Executive Director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center. The case against Odeh was originally part of a larger federal investigation in Chicago and Minneapolis where the government has to this day unsuccessfully tried to convict 23 anti-war and Palestinian activists on trumped-up terrorism charges.

Hundreds were present in court to support Odeh over the course of her trial in Detroit, and many more across the country have held solidarity demonstrations demanding that she be freed. Activists in the Bay Area will continue to protest, and vow to intensify their efforts until Odeh is released.

#OaklandCA #Palestine #PoliticalRepression #RasmeaOdeh

Oakland, CA – Several thousand protesters marched to demand justice for Trayvon Martin here, during the afternoon of July 14. The protesters began by rallying at Oscar Grant plaza and from there marched through the working-class neighborhood of West Oakland.

#OaklandCA #OppressedNationalities #AntiRacism #TrayvonMartin #GeorgeZimmerman #InjusticeSystem

Oakland, CA – More than 20 people came a rally on Dec. 14 at the Oakland Federal Building in support of veteran Chicano leader Carlos Montes, who was in court in Los Angeles that same day.

Montes faces trumped up charges as a result of the FBI-orchestrated campaign against anti-war and international solidarity activists. His next court appearance is set for Jan. 24.

Members of the Bay Area Committee against Political Repression pledged to continue the fight to get the charges dropped against Carlos, and to drop the subpoenas against the other 23 solidarity activists from around the country.

#OaklandCA #InJusticeSystem #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #CarlosMontes #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #BayAreaCommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression

Montes faces trumped up charges as a result of the FBI-orchestrated campaign against anti-war and international solidarity activists. His next court appearance is set for Jan. 24.

Members of the Bay Area Committee against Political Repression pledged to continue the fight to get the charges dropped against Carlos, and to drop the subpoenas against the other 23 solidarity activists from around the country.

#OaklandCA #InJusticeSystem #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #CarlosMontes #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #BayAreaCommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression

Oakland, CA – The Occupy movement is planning a dramatic set of blockades at West Coast ports Dec. 12.

We urge readers to check out this inspiring video promoting the shipping shutdown:

#OaklandCA #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyOakland

#OaklandCA #OccupyWallStreet

Oakland, CA – About 75 people came to the June 16 rally here to denounce the arrest of Carlos Montes in Los Angeles, and the grand jury subpoenas which are being resisted by 23 other anti-war and international solidarity activists in the Midwest.

A loud picket line at the Oakland Federal building brought people from many organizations, and was marked by statements vowing not to be intimidated by grand juries or the FBI.

#OaklandCA #CarlosMontes #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression

Oakland, CA – The power of workers to bring production to a halt was on dramatic display April 4, when longshore workers of ILWU Local 10 shut down the ports of Oakland and San Francisco for 24 hours, in solidarity with the heroic struggles in Wisconsin.

The big container port of Oakland was deader than a doornail Monday at 6:00 a.m. I saw a long snake-line of trucks bearing shipping containers idled on the roadway. The shipping cranes were all “standing at attention” – i.e., not working any containers (These are same Port of Oakland cranes that gave George Lucas the idea for some of his “Star Wars” imagery).

The ILWU hiring hall was practically deserted at dispatch time for the night shift, leaving several hundred jobs unfilled. The dock workers stayed away, and no cargo was worked on any shift Monday in Oakland or San Francisco.

The rank-and-file-initiated shutdown was part of nationwide actions on April 4 to challenge the draconian budget cuts and union busting in Wisconsin and other states.

An “organized act of resistance” by rank-and-file dock workers

“This was a voluntary rank and file action – an organized act of resistance,” said Clarence Thomas, a dock worker and Local 10 executive board member.

“It is significant that the action by Local 10 was taken in solidarity with Wisconsin public sector workers who are facing the loss of collective bargaining,” Thomas said. He pointed out that April 4 is also the anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – who was killed in Memphis demanding collective bargaining for sanitation workers in that city.

“So we’ve come full circle,” he concluded. The Memphis public workers got their union, after a two-month strike. Now 40 years later their Wisconsin counterparts are threatened with losing theirs. But it is Wisconsin’s fierce resistance that is inspiring all of us today.”

It is not surprising that the 24-hour port work stoppage came out of International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 10, a racially diverse, predominantly African American local, and the home local of legendary labor leader Harry Bridges. Martin Luther King was named an honorary member of Local 10, six months before he was killed in 1968.

#OaklandCA #InternationalLongshoreWarehouseUnionILWU #DrMartinLutherKingJr #Wisconsin #PublicSectorUnions #April4 #InternationalLongshoreWarehouseUnionLocal10 #ILWU

Speakers expressed solidarity and made donations from Seattle, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Bay Area Committees to Stop FBI Repression, from the United National Anti-War Committee, from the San Francisco labor council and other northern California unions, from socialist and left organizations, from Spanish Civil War veterans, from Sacramento Peace Action, and from the Revolutionary Student Union in Utah and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in Los Angeles.

Subpoenaed activists Hatem Abudayyeh, Anh Pham, Thistle Parker-Hartog, Tom Burke, along with attorney Bruce Nestor, shared their decades of experience as anti-war and international solidarity activists. Each described their commitment to social change at home and abroad, organizing with students, unions, immigrants and community groups. They spoke about the U.S. government’s repression of free speech and the right to organize. Bruce Nestor spoke about the likely indictments and trial of some of the 23 activists. The lawyer also described the new interpretations of U.S. law that make it possible for political activists to go to prison for providing humanitarian aid or promoting political speech that goes against the views of the U.S. empire.

Tom Burke, who chaired the meeting, said, “U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald, raising the ghost of Senator Joe McCarthy, is carrying out a political witch-hunt against American activists. The U.S. government is criminalizing international solidarity, and focusing on the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Fact is the U.S. empire is losing its grip on the world and the regimes it props up are falling one by one. Our groups challenge U.S. wars and occupation, while saying the organizations who resist oppression are legitimate and good.”

Hatem Abudayyeh, whose home was raided by the FBI in Chicago, said, “Right now there is a dynamic and successful international movement to boycott, divest and sanction Israel for its apartheid system where Palestinians are militarily occupied or treated as second-class citizens. Israel is more and more isolated in the world and American taxpayers are growing weary of funding Israel and its occupation of all of Palestine. Some in the current administration are targeting Palestinian-Americans and the Palestine solidarity activists as an ‘internal enemy.’ They are supporting oppression overseas and repression at home.”

Anh Pham of Minneapolis addressed the standing room only crowd, “Now we know a U.S. Federal Agent, whose fake name was Karen Sullivan, spied upon the anti-war movement and lied her way into the lives of many activists. She lied about everything over more than a two years. It is likely Fitzgerald’s trial will be based on her half-truths, distortions and lies.”

Thistle Parker-Hartog , a member of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee in Minnesota, spoke about two decades of international solidarity activism she has been part of. Thistle stated, “When I was in El Salvador, I learned from organizers how U.S.-funded death squads killed farmers and rural community members, nuns and priests, union organizers, and activists. I was able to accompany these targeted members in the first national free elections in that country. As a pacifist, the solidarity trips confirmed my commitment to working for peace and justice. The trips made me determined to promote international dialogue and understanding, and actively oppose the threats and war-making of the U.S. government. It is an ironic sign of the true malleability of U.S. foreign policy and the “terrorist” designations of the state department that the FMLN, who were called terrorists in the '80's by the U.S., is now the recognized governing political party of El Salvador.”

A second panel, “Speak Out Against Repression,” expressed solidarity and lessons learned from others facing FBI and government repression. It included Michel Shehadeh of the Los Angeles 8 on “Organizing to defend the Palestinian movement,” Richard Brown of the San Francisco 8 on “FBI repression of the African-American community and the grassroots response,” Zahra Billoo of Council on American-Islamic Relations on “Attacks on Muslim charities and community leaders,” Nina Farnia of the Impact Fund on “The relationship between U.S. foreign policy and domestic FBI repression” and George McKinney, Southern California Immigration Coalition on “Organizing to oppose raids and deportations.”

The West Coast conference finished with a unanimous vote to organize for the March 19 and April 9 united national anti-war protests. Breakout meetings discussed local protests to respond to the next FBI raids, grand jury subpoenas, or the very real possibility of indictments and a trial. Others discussed further visits to U.S. Representatives and Senators to shut down the Grand Jury and stop the political repression. All the participants took note of the tremendous response of the anti-war movement and discussed ways to reach out to more groups and unions to join in ending this abuse of government power and stop the grand jury.

#OaklandCA #FBI #September24FBIRaids #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #grandJury

#OaklandCA #StudentMovement #News #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Ollin #Cárceles #Prisiones #ElMovimientoDelTercerOjo #JuventudOrganizandoComunidades #LaNuevaRazaIzquierda #FuerzaJuvenil

Some topics of discussion included the criminal injustice system, education rights, and environmental issues. Youth attended workshops and planning sessions throughout the day.

The sentiment of the conference was best expressed by one of the student speakers, Ms. Simons, who stated, “You cannot fix prison, you cannot fix a juvenile hall institution. The only thing we can begin to do is to tear it down, screw by screw. Revolution!” Youth like Ms. Simons were eager and ready to plan a way to justice for their communities.

Youth in the state of California are under attack. With the backing of Democratic Governor Gray, the state recently passed Proposition 21. Prop 21 is intended to make it easier to punish youth as adults, and contains a host of measures that criminalize young people of color.

Some of the youth groups present at the conference included Third Eye Movement, Ollin, Youth Organizing Communities, New Raza Left, and Youth Force.

The conference agreed to continue the effort to create a statewide youth coalition. The first joint action by the statewide group is to protest at the Democratic National Convention, August 13, in Los Angeles. California's schools are a mess. Politicians want to build more jails for youth. The coalition will place demands on the Democratic Party for educational justice.

#OaklandCA #StudentMovement #News #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #NewRazaLeft #YouthOrganizingCommunities #ThirdEyeMovement #Ollin #YouthForce #Jails #Prisons

Transit police murdered Oscar Grant on New Year's Day in Oakland, CA. There is no disputing the video recordings and dozens of witnesses: he was killed in cold-blood. Lying flat on his stomach, he was unaware of what was about to happen to him. Mr. Grant was a son, a father, a co-worker and a friend. Yet, on that day, he became a new symbol for the struggle for Black freedom in America.

Most African-American men have had encounters with the police. It is a fact of life – just ask any group of Black men. For generations, our brethren have died at the hands of the sheriff, lynched by mobs of white people, and killed in wars that made “the man” – in other words, the American Empire, stronger. In the 1600s, the police were responsible for catching African slaves. Today, trained in many techniques of submission, the three BART officers quickly subdued Mr. Grant. When police officer Johannes Mehserle shot Mr. Grant in the back, all of us recognized that evil pattern. We lament that on the eve of having an African-American in the White House, little has changed for the masses of Black people in America.

Over 40 years ago in Oakland, CA, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense declared “We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people.” For their bold stand against police violence, dozens of Black Panther leaders across the U.S. were hunted down and killed.

In this day and age we continue the struggle for national liberation and human equality.

Oscar Grant... you, too, will not die in vain.

#OaklandCA #Commentary #PoliceBrutality #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican