To request inclusion of your local peace and social justice action, please email BerkSpeak@gmail.com.
These alerts are for April/May 2026. Happy Spring!
This week two East Bay progressive organizations will speak out about Berkeley issues. We are grateful for the attention! Tonight Wellstone Club focuses on Berkeley politics. On Saturday starting at 11AM, Urban Habitat holds the second in its series of events on Housing Justice, with a training on the fight against Black displacement in South Berkeley. Both events are in South Berkeley or very north Oakland.
Details are below.
| Sun. | Mon. | Tues. | Weds. | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 4/23 Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club Panel: “Focus on Berkeley” Hybrid event East Bay Community Space, 507 55th Street (corner Telegraph Avenue) in Oakland 6:45PM | 4/24 | 4/25 Urban Habitat Training: “Fighting for South Berkeley: the fight against Black displacement” East Bay Community Law Center, 2921 Adeline Street in Berkeley 11AM, Lunch 12:30 | ||||
| 5/1 Mayday!!March and Rally Fruitvale District, Oakland 3-7PM |
BACKGROUND AND DETAILS
1. Wellstone panel: “Focus on Berkeley”
Today, Thursday, April 23, 6:45PM
East Bay Community Space, 507 55th Street
· PARKING – Street parking is recommended (on either 55th Street or Telegraph Avenue)
o Limited off-street parking is available on the South side of the building, off Telegraph Avenue
· AC Transit – stops for the 6, 12 and 18 buses are very close
· Accessibility – the EBCS Main Room and bathrooms are wheelchair accessible
ZOOM Registration Required for remote participants!
2. Urban Habitat training
Fighting for South Berkeley is an in-person session featuring community organizers leading the fight against Black displacement. Learn how they are advancing a powerful vision for a right to stay, right to return, and right to thrive for all South Berkeley residents.
Training will begin promptly at 11:00 am and, lunch will start at 12:30.
The trainer is Chris Schildt, director of housing justice at Urban Habitat. Chris has been advancing community-driven campaigns for housing justice and equitable development for over a decade. Before joining Urban Habitat, she worked at PolicyLink, leading anti-displacement and inclusive economic development strategies with national partners, grassroots community organizations, and local government officials. Chris currently serves on the board of the Berkeley Housing Authority.
3. MAYDAY!
Friday May 1
No work * No school * No spending
Fruitvale District, Oakland (Oakland Sin Fronteras)
May 1, 2026, 3:00pm rally, 3:00pm march
3411 E 12th St, Oakland, CA, 94601
https://www.eastbaydsa.org/events/5001/2026-05-01-may-day-oakland-sin-fronteras-resource-fair
https://www.bayresistance.org/events/oakland-may-day
Here’s how you can help stop Berkeley from:
– Violating Sanctuary with “Flock Safety!”
– Using Chemical Weapons!
> See also this resource page for more information. <
Here is a calendar of government events related to Flock, surveillance, and police weapons, in March and beyond. All government meetings are opportunities for public comment.
- On May 7 and again on June 2, City Council will discuss and act on expanding and extending several Flock contracts, and a bunch of other surveillance programs, School Board Headquarters, 1231 Addison St. Berkeley. These two special meetings are in Hybrid format (both in-person and with remote participation).
- TBD: City Council to vote on chemical weapons, police dogs and helicopters.
Spring 2026 is decision time for Berkeley on a raft of measures that take the city backwards on police reform and immigrant rights…
> Back to police weapons and tools we thought we had put away for good:
- CS/tear gas, OC/pepper spray, and smoke
- Police helicopters
- Police dogs!
> Back to the days before civilian oversight; before Berkeley instituted:
- The rule that the City Manager must agree before police use dogs or helicopters
> Back to a time before Berkeley created the Sanctuary City principle:
- The rule that says we must not collaborate with ICE thugs, who murder civilians to enforce their mass deportation campaign.The city government is determined to expand its public surveillance contract with Flock Safety, which is known to share people’s video and image data with ICE.
- Working with Flock is second-hand collaboration, or “passively taking part,” as Mario Savio named it at the dawn of Berkeley’s progressive era in 1964: “There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part! You can’t even passively take part!”
How you can influence the decision process.
I. Learn about the Council’s proposals and the struggle to stop them.
See details below and this resource page for more information.
II. Come or Zoom in to the special city council meetings May 7 and June 2.
The city council is on a fast track to approve these proposals.
Council heard hours of community testimony against expanding the Flock contracts on Tuesday March 24. This item will significantly expand Berkeley’s mass surveillance contract with Flock Safety.
Public comments went till 1 AM and people still were waiting to denounce the sharing of our people’s data with this ICE-collaborating company. Mayor Ishii set a special meeting for June 2 for the council to vote.
But Council proponents of the “new ecosystem of surveillance” want to speed up their timeline. Five Council members have called a special meeting on May 7.
Also at some point soon, Council will take up CS/tear gas, OC/pepper spray, smoke, police dogs and helicopters, which were banned or restricted in previous years.
You can find the Council proposals at:
1. Controlled weapons item:
a. Chemical weapons (Public Safety Committee Feb. 19 agenda, item 3, page 17; and PAB review):
b. Police use of dogs and helicopters (Public Safety Committee Feb. 19 p.9, PAB p.82)
https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/legislative-body-meeting-agendas/2026-02-19 Agenda Packet – Public Safety.pdf
2. Flock item (this is the item from March 24 that was continued to May 7; scroll down to item 26):
https://berkeleyca.gov/city-council-regular-meeting-eagenda-march-24-2026