Jake, Lo, and I (Aaron) talked about the Apartheid-Free Communities pledge at tonight's meeting! Here are some combined thoughts.
=== We should sign as soon as possible ===
Signing the pledge will counteract ongoing harm in a small but real way, so we should sign it as soon as possible.
=== Our obligations ===
Here's an idea of what we think we're promising to do, as an organization, by signing the pledge.
--- Items 1-3 ---
> WE AFFIRM our commitment to freedom, justice, and
> equality for the Palestinian people and all people
>
> WE OPPOSE all forms of racism, bigotry,
> discrimination, and oppression
>
> WE DECLARE ourselves an Apartheid-free community
These are things we have or should have affirmed already, so (re)affirming them presumably won't change anything about how we operate.
--- Item 4 ---
> WE PLEDGE to join others in working to end all support to Israel's
> Apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.
Here are some ways we can uphold this promise.
- Sign the pledge. As Lo pointed out in the quoted e-mails below, just putting our name on the list of signatories already helps uphold our obligations: "It reflects public support to our elected officials when we press them to divest from Israeli violence. It reduces harm to Palestinian and Arab members of our community. It challenges the official narratives and expands the public consciousness around Palestine."
- Confirm on our wiki that we've signed the pledge, and add the Apartheid-Free Communities logo.
- Facilitate (and, if possible, promote) the use of our space by organizations "working to end all support to Israel's Apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation."
- Provide information resources (like flyers, zines, articles, book chapters, and a listening / watching / reading list) in the space.
=== Background on the campaign ===
This Apartheid-Free Communities campaign is financed by the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization. You can find some steering committee members on the campaign site's "About" page (https://apartheid-free.org/about/).
All the listed steering committee members are Christian or Unitarian organizations, which for one of us (Aaron) is kind of a red flag.
On the other hand, the list of pledge signatories seems to include more diverse religious organizations. In particular, it has a good number of Jewish organizations, including the national and Bay Area chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace.
> On Mon, 2 Jun 2025, Jake Watters via sudo-discuss wrote:
>
> > Let's have a meeting this coming Wednesday, in two days! Last week just
> > three or four of us got together and discussed things as can be seen in the
> > meeting notes:
> > https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Meetings
> >
> > Here's a proposed agenda:
> > * catch up on new membership applications
> > * continue talking about the process of sudoroom becoming its own 501(c)3
> > * the volunteer effort of updating our membership list
> > * fundraising including reaching out to members who may have forgotten to
> > pay dues
> > * sudoroom signing the "Apartheid-Free Communities" pledge! See below for
> > more info
> >
> > Lets say this Wednesday, 7:30PM?
> > -jake
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> > From: Lo via sudo-discuss sudo-discuss(a)sudoroom.org
> > Date: Tue, May 27, 2025 at 7:37 PM
> > Subject: [sudo-discuss] Proposal: SUDO room joins the Apartheid Free
> > Communities Campaign
> > To: sudo-discuss(a)sudoroom.org
> >
> > Dear Sudoroom members and leaders,
> >
> > For the past 2.5 years I’ve been a Sudoroom “member” (I say this in
> > quotations because I’ve been paying dues and attending but have never been
> > endorsed as a full fledged member), but I’d like to make a proposal that
> > Sudoroom become an Apartheid Free Community!
> >
> > I am writing as a member of SURJ Bay Area’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
> > As a racial justice organization, SURJ believes it is our moral obligation
> > to demand an end to Israel’s system of apartheid, its genocide in Gaza, and
> > its increasing violent seizure of land in the West Bank. All this is paid
> > for by our tax dollars, with the U.S. directly funding the Israeli
> > government to the tune of $35 billion a year.
> >
> > We invite Sudoroom to join us to support the Palestinian people’s human
> > rights, lives, and lands by taking the pledge to become an Apartheid-Free
> > Community.
> >
> > Apartheid is a crime against humanity. As defined by the United Nations
> > https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/cspca/cspca.html, apartheid includes:
> >
> > • Acts such as murder, torture, inhuman treatment, and arbitrary arrest of
> > members of a racial group
> >
> > • Deliberate imposition upon the subjugated racial group of living
> > conditions calculated to cause its physical destruction
> >
> > • Legislative measures that discriminate in the political, social,
> > economic, and cultural fields
> >
> > We could fill pages with examples of how Israel’s treatment of Palestinians
> > meets this criteria—from arrests and imprisonment without charges to the
> > destruction of Gaza by bombing homes, hospitals, and schools and cutting
> > off food, water, electricity and medical supplies. Palestinians are
> > subjected to entirely different laws and judicial systems, without freedom
> > of movement and economic opportunities.
> >
> > Inspired by the anti-apartheid movement that helped topple the white
> > supremacist regime in South Africa, the Apartheid-Free Communities Campaign
> > is bringing communities together to end apartheid in Israel/Palestine. We
> > encourage Sudoroom to join the over 500 organizations across the globe,
> > including cities, schools, faith-based communities, labor unions,
> > businesses, and organizations, in taking the pledge to become an
> > Apartheid-Free Community.
> >
> > Signing the Pledge makes a difference! It reflects public support to our
> > elected officials when we press them to divest from Israeli violence. It
> > reduces harm to Palestinian and Arab members of our community. It
> > challenges the official narratives and expands the public consciousness
> > around Palestine. We ask that you sign this pledge, and take actions, in
> > whatever way makes sense to Sudoroom, to be part of this effort.
> >
> > Be sure to let me know if you have any questions and how I can support your
> > Sudoroom in signing the Pledge and joining this campaign.
> >
> > In Solidarity,
> >
> > Lo
> >
> > P.S. We have materials including buttons, posters, and pamphlets you can
> > use to increase awareness and build support. Plus the Apartheid-Free
> > Communities website https://apartheid-free.org/about/ is full of great
> > resources and educational materials.
> >
> > --
> > *Lo *
> > Pronouns: She/They https://www.mypronouns.org/
> >
> > There is no neutral body from which our bodies deviate. Society has
> > written deep into each strand of tissue of every living person on earth.
> > What it writes into the heart muscles of five star generals is distinct
> > from what it writes in the pancreatic tissue and intestinal tracts of Black
> > single mothers in Detroit, of Mexicana migrants in Fresno, but no body
> > stands outside the consequences of injustice and inequality
> >
> > *― *Aurora Levins Morales
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > sudo-discuss mailing list -- sudo-discuss(a)sudoroom.org
> > To unsubscribe send an email to sudo-discuss-leave(a)sudoroom.org
> > More options at
> > https://sudoroom.org/lists/postorius/lists/sudo-discuss.sudoroom.org/
> > _______________________________________________
>
> sudo-discuss mailing list -- sudo-discuss(a)sudoroom.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to sudo-discuss-leave(a)sudoroom.org
> More options at https://sudoroom.org/lists/postorius/lists/sudo-discuss.sudoroom.org/
I just want to bump this so people show up for a meeting tonight!
Also afterwards maybe we can do some organizing of bins, cords on the floor,
and dead/ancient laptops to be sent off to e-waste! We have too many old dead
laptops in the metal cabinet and need to make room for newer ones that can be
fixed.
see you tonight?
On Mon, 2 Jun 2025, Jake Watters via sudo-discuss wrote:
> Let's have a meeting this coming Wednesday, in two days! Last week just
> three or four of us got together and discussed things as can be seen in the
> meeting notes:
> https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Meetings
>
> Here's a proposed agenda:
> * catch up on new membership applications
> * continue talking about the process of sudoroom becoming its own 501(c)3
> * the volunteer effort of updating our membership list
> * fundraising including reaching out to members who may have forgotten to
> pay dues
> * sudoroom signing the "Apartheid-Free Communities" pledge! See below for
> more info
>
> Lets say this Wednesday, 7:30PM?
> -jake
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: Lo via sudo-discuss <sudo-discuss(a)sudoroom.org>
> Date: Tue, May 27, 2025 at 7:37 PM
> Subject: [sudo-discuss] Proposal: SUDO room joins the Apartheid Free
> Communities Campaign
> To: <sudo-discuss(a)sudoroom.org>
>
> Dear Sudoroom members and leaders,
>
>
>
> For the past 2.5 years I’ve been a Sudoroom “member” (I say this in
> quotations because I’ve been paying dues and attending but have never been
> endorsed as a full fledged member), but I’d like to make a proposal that
> Sudoroom become an Apartheid Free Community!
>
> I am writing as a member of SURJ Bay Area’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
> As a racial justice organization, SURJ believes it is our moral obligation
> to demand an end to Israel’s system of apartheid, its genocide in Gaza, and
> its increasing violent seizure of land in the West Bank. All this is paid
> for by our tax dollars, with the U.S. directly funding the Israeli
> government to the tune of $35 billion a year.
>
>
>
> We invite Sudoroom to join us to support the Palestinian people’s human
> rights, lives, and lands by taking the pledge to become an Apartheid-Free
> Community.
>
>
>
> Apartheid is a crime against humanity. As defined by the United Nations
> <https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/cspca/cspca.html>, apartheid includes:
>
> • Acts such as murder, torture, inhuman treatment, and arbitrary arrest of
> members of a racial group
>
> • Deliberate imposition upon the subjugated racial group of living
> conditions calculated to cause its physical destruction
>
> • Legislative measures that discriminate in the political, social,
> economic, and cultural fields
>
>
>
> We could fill pages with examples of how Israel’s treatment of Palestinians
> meets this criteria—from arrests and imprisonment without charges to the
> destruction of Gaza by bombing homes, hospitals, and schools and cutting
> off food, water, electricity and medical supplies. Palestinians are
> subjected to entirely different laws and judicial systems, without freedom
> of movement and economic opportunities.
>
>
>
> Inspired by the anti-apartheid movement that helped topple the white
> supremacist regime in South Africa, the Apartheid-Free Communities Campaign
> is bringing communities together to end apartheid in Israel/Palestine. We
> encourage Sudoroom to join the over 500 organizations across the globe,
> including cities, schools, faith-based communities, labor unions,
> businesses, and organizations, in taking the pledge to become an
> Apartheid-Free Community.
>
>
>
> Signing the Pledge makes a difference! It reflects public support to our
> elected officials when we press them to divest from Israeli violence. It
> reduces harm to Palestinian and Arab members of our community. It
> challenges the official narratives and expands the public consciousness
> around Palestine. We ask that you sign this pledge, and take actions, in
> whatever way makes sense to Sudoroom, to be part of this effort.
>
>
>
> Be sure to let me know if you have any questions and how I can support your
> Sudoroom in signing the Pledge and joining this campaign.
>
>
>
> In Solidarity,
>
> Lo
>
>
> P.S. We have materials including buttons, posters, and pamphlets you can
> use to increase awareness and build support. Plus the Apartheid-Free
> Communities website <https://apartheid-free.org/about/> is full of great
> resources and educational materials.
>
> --
> *Lo *
> *Pronouns: She/They <https://www.mypronouns.org/>*
>
>
> *There is no neutral body from which our bodies deviate. Society has
> written deep into each strand of tissue of every living person on earth.
> What it writes into the heart muscles of five star generals is distinct
> from what it writes in the pancreatic tissue and intestinal tracts of Black
> single mothers in Detroit, of Mexicana migrants in Fresno, but no body
> stands outside the consequences of injustice and inequality*
>
> *― *Aurora Levins Morales
>
> _______________________________________________
> sudo-discuss mailing list -- sudo-discuss(a)sudoroom.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to sudo-discuss-leave(a)sudoroom.org
> More options at
> https://sudoroom.org/lists/postorius/lists/sudo-discuss.sudoroom.org/
>
Hi Sudoroom,
It's been a minute.
Just moved back to the Bay, West Oakland. Noisebridge member
<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/User:Justinmorrison> but looking to be
more engaged here, where I live, and more Queer. Hello!
Here's a throwback to me performing at Sudoroom in 2013 (video):
https://justin.dance/2013/03/16/video-oakland-nights-sudoroom-christine-bon…
So, who's interested in improvising, dancing, mo-cap, sensors, projection,
audio & visual synthesis, noise music, music music, video, cinema, analogue
film, and would like to have some working sessions? If not Sudoroom, I have
a few other venues in mind.
Schedule is tight right now, but looking forward to joining a Tuesday night
and not this but the next meeting.
Have a CR-V and can volunteer for an e-waste run with a few tips on how
it's done.
email me(a)justinmorrison.net to say hello or find me on the socials:
ig: @justindances @fag.ninja @wwwerk.lcc @malaformadanza @justin.yoga
*--Justin Morrison*
*w: justin.dance <http://justin.dance> & workofbody.com
<http://workofbody.com>i: @justindances
<https://instagram.com/justindances>*
p: 213.700.6385
Hi, all.
Just wanted to let everyone know that there was a hiccup with the
sudoroom mailing lists that caused most (all?) messages since around May
31 to get stuck waiting to be sent out. I've cleared the blockage, so
apologies for the small avalance of emails you've just received / are
about to receive.
I'll be keeping an eye on things, but please send me a direct email if
you try to post to a sudoroom.org email list and it doesn't seem to go
out in a timely manner (~15 minutes or so).
--Sean
Hi Sudoers:
Here’s some things we might do at Sudoroom tonight:
-We have yet another big flat screen TV to work on, a TCL 55C807
Apparently this is a TCL C807 series: on providing power it looks like
the panel is working but there’s no video signal except for a patterned
horizontal white stripe.
Can someone research what might be wrong with it?
It’d be great to get at least one of these big displays working so we
can telepresence people in to sudoroom, and to build out a large flat
screen display practise more generally.
-Jonathan from Castro Valley High School will be working on converting a
couple of Chromebooks I gave them a while back. I also added a bunch of
additional Chromebooks to the cabinet.
-We’re going to work on purging some of the laptops in the 2nd cabinet
in the aisle alongside CCL) and stage them to be e-wasted: can someone
do an e-waste run soon?
See you later, -Peter
Hi everyone,
I am a Sudo Room member who has been volunteering a lot in admin work for
the last year, and am at least the sudo room president in name. But also
I'm on the board for Omni Commons. Omni Commons is still fiscally
sponsoring Sudo Room, since Sudo Room isn't yet ready to act as a
nonprofit.
The planned update to the fiscal sponsorship agreement between Omni Commons
and Sudo Room (and the other groups sponsored by Omni) has been decided to
go into effect starting June 1st.
- The agreed on fee was 8% of total receipts. Here is the document
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JeImeQK0ugbb7Ewys5H9mufxyX_NFikeoVr_Rnm…
)
- The agreement needed to be updated after the building sale because
Omni Common's nonprofit no longer has any income otherwise --- before
"fiscal sponsorship fees" were rolled into each sponsored project's rent.
Now that Omni no longer owns the building/collects rent, it instead will
collect funds through fiscal sponsorship fees.
- Funds are needed since Omni Commons still has some debts, and has been
paying for Sudo's insurance since the building sale. 8% was chosen as a
comparable rate to most organizations providing fiscal sponsorship.
Also, since Sudo Room and Free Store have not been making any contributions
to the Omni Commons nonprofit, me/Omni's board is also asking if Sudo Room
can contribute towards insurance payments since September 2024. I haven't
done the accounting on this yet, and we are also waiting to get another
insurance refund which will change the amount. I know Sudo Room doesn't
have a lot of money coming in so we are more seeking extra donations for
this.
Tldr: Sudo Room, at least while sponsored by Omni, will need to start
keeping track of how much it makes in donations and member fees, and then
pay 8% of that back to Omni. Sudo Room is still on the Omni board, so it
can join the Omni delegate/board meeting to discuss more! The next one is
on June 12th.
Paige
