Community newsletter: Yes, you really should come in

It's a funny thing, starting a community space that has members. Automatically, many people assume that if they are not members, they can't walk in the door. Every day, we run into people who would like to come by, but feel like they can't.

We often say that Local Economy is an inclusive club. That is to say: members pay to support the space and all that we're doing, but everyone is welcome. Anytime we're open (Tuesday-Friday, 8:30-4pm) you can come grab a Painted Leopard coffee or get some writing done or stare out the window.

We didn't think it would be so hard to communicate this idea. But it makes sense. In our society, we are used to everything being so exclusive. We see our model as being filed next to public radio or libraries or seed banks. Organizations where some people contribute time and energy to build something for everyone. In our community, we know that different people have different kinds of resources. Some of us can help create the financial basis. Others have skills to share or workshops to teach. But the most underrated part of any community endeavor is just showing up and that's something anyone can do.

So, come by one of our events, which you can see below. Or check out what's happening around town in ORB's events calendar or through Coyote Media's Bay Area-wide event listings. Go to something at Bathers Library or 2727 California or through Joiners.

This is your one wild precious life. This is Wednesday. There's so much going on and you are the lifeblood of the city.

Everything for everyone,

Sarah & Alexis

Upcoming Events

• Thurs, Jul 23, 6pm: Disability Inclusion in Tech: Strategies for a new Digital Accessibility Ethics
  Digital Accessibility Ethics: Disability Inclusion in All Things Tech is a new book that addresses critical issues of inclusion, exclusion and belonging  facing 1.3 billion disabled people worldwide.  This event centers urgent conversation about accessibility, AI, robots, disability, tech, virtual reality, and inclusive design with three of the book's contributing authors: Lainey Feingold (also an editor), Haben Girma, and Josh Miele.
• Sun, Jul 26, 1pm: Artifacts from a Matriarchal Future
  ​In this workshop, Tracee Worley, founder of Radical Futures, will share the methodology she used to create Seneca Falls 2048, a speculative design project featuring artifacts from the 200th anniversary of the first women's rights convention. Then participants will create their own physical artifact from a world where matriarchy is the norm. Maybe it's currency from a care economy, a report card from a school that values different intelligences, or product packaging from a company accountable to seven generations ahead. Speculative design makes the unimaginable tangible. Whatever form it takes, the artifact will exist in a world organized around care, relationship, and collective power.
• Wed, Jul 29, 6pm: Let's Talk About Abortion: Navigating the Post-Dobbs Landscape
  Join us for an in-depth conversation about abortion care, maternal health, reproductive justice, and the power of radical storytelling. Featuring Megan Jeyifo (Executive Director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, largest independent abortion fund in the U.S.); Dr. Khiara M. Bridges (UC Berkeley professor, author of Expecting Inequity: How the Maternal Health Crisis Affects Even the Wealthiest Black Americans); Dr. Shelley Sella (the first OB-Gyn in the U.S. to openly practice third-trimester, author of Beyond Limits), Prof. Michelle Oberman (Santa Clara University professor, author of Her Body, Our Laws: On the Frontlines of the Abortion War from El Salvador to Oklahoma) and author Kate Schatz (NYT-bestselling author of Where the Girls Were). Refreshments will be provided, and authors will be available to sell and sign books.
• Thurs, Jul 30, 6pm: How To Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear
  ​Hear Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Julia Angwin speak on the new book, co-authored with White House senior advisor Ami Fields-Meyer, On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear, based on their acclaimed The New Yorker essay, “So You Want to Be a Dissident?” ​The book is built on interviews with more than 100 dissidents, activists, and scholars about how people push back against authoritarian pressure in everyday life.
• Sat, Aug 1, 1pm: Oakland Noticing Club: Architectural Details
  Turn on your curiosity radar and join us for the latest meeting of the Oakland Noticing Club, an informal meet-up inspired by Rob Walker’s “Savor of the Month” at The Art of Noticing. This month's theme is Architectural Details - think doors, textures, trims, colors, funky art and anything on a building.  Collect them and bring them to share via words, photos, zines, poems, PowerPoint…whatever strikes your fancy.
• Thurs, Aug 13, 6pm: The Present Moment Game
  Alli Magidsohn’s leads an hour-long social meditation experience that offers a simple yet powerful technique to help people drop into full presence. We call it a game, but it’s really just a framework to deepen present-moment consciousness in community.
• Fri, August 14, 5pm: An Unpractical Guide to Roleplay Games
  A workshop led by Candace Cui, for those who are interested in — but intimidated by — the seemingly complex structure of tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. Instead of learning all the rules, learn about character building, team dynamics, the point of rolling dice, and the reasons we engage in fantasy with our friends. Find out why your imagination matters more than the math.
• Sat, Aug 15, 2pm: Seasonal Mending Circle
  Gather up your pile of holey sweaters, shirts with unraveling hems, and tin of stray buttons, and haul them to Local Economy to make the old new again, by hand. Please bring your own sewing supplies, and we'll all sit and fix together.
• Tues, Aug 18, 10am: Storytime for Caregivers with Vanessa Hua
  Novelist and critic Vanessa Hua is the author of many books now. Her forthcoming debut narrative non-fiction is Uprooted, the story of how foraging helped me navigate the toughest times in midlife. She writes about caregiving, the natural world, and much more. All ages welcome at this free event, including babies!
• Tues, Aug 18, 6pm: Nina LaCour's Great Migration novel, Meet Me in the Garden
  Nina LaCour is best known as a YA and children's author, but in this historical novel, Meet Me in the Garden, she dives deep into the Great Migration, telling the story of a New Orleans Creole family's move to the West Coast. She drew on her own family's story and archives to recreate the mid-century world of the book. It's already being hailed as "a masterpiece" and drawing lots of buzz.
• Thus, Aug 27, 6pm: Writing the Liminal Body workshop
  Parenting a pubescent body while your own is shifting beneath you is complicated, surprising, humbling, frustrating, soft, rugged, potent, poetic, and yes, sometimes absurd territory. Ali Lawrence of Four Chambers Writing invites you to come as you are and let those unruly bodies unlock some unruly words — to write, listen, connect, and create at the untamed intersection of puberty and perimenopause.