[Street] [Ideas] proposal to table GA until Friday (in lieu of community forum on immediate problems)

Daniel McCarey daniel.coexistence at gmail.com
Wed Dec 14 09:56:11 EST 2011


+1 Aria

On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 9:54 AM, Aria Littlhous <aria at littlhous.net> wrote:

> I agree with the sentiment but don't think you will be able to
> successfully cancel Thursday GA on such late notice; whomever shows
> up---and someone will--will feel they have a right to make decisions. Maybe
> start the healing Thursday/ask for input for Friday?
>
> On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 7:04 AM, rita sebastian <rita at brandeis.edu> wrote:
>
>> Thank-you Katie for saying this...I agree!
>> Rita
>> Off to Court
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 1:55 AM, Jennifer Mazer <jmmazer at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>>       THANK YOU KATIE (not yelling, emphasis)
>>>         I felt some very bad vibes at tonight's GA.  Enough to make me
>>> fear for OB...
>>>       My birthday is Thursday.  One of my major birthday wishes will be
>>> for
>>>          OB to survive because when we aren't dysfunctional we are
>>> powerful.
>>>           We have the power to change Boston and the world.  Not being
>>> "starry-eyed" here.
>>>            I KNOW we can do it.
>>>             My thoughts.
>>>               In hope, Jen Mazer
>>>
>>> On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 1:35 AM, Katie Gradowski <
>>> katie.gradowski at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hey all,
>>>>
>>>> I'm forwarding this email widely because it seems pressing.  The past
>>>> two GAs following eviction have felt very out of place -- I feel like we,
>>>> as a community, have not yet dealt with the eviction from Dewey Square,
>>>> which has resulted in a creeping sense of sprawl and dysfunction.   This
>>>> email is a tentative call for a reset!
>>>>
>>>> *A brief overview of my concerns:  *
>>>>
>>>> Over the past two days, we have seen hours worth of working group
>>>> announcements, in many cases for working groups whose purpose and identity
>>>> has irrevocably shifted.    We have seen "message" proposals, even as we
>>>> have houseless occupiers who have gone days without a place to stay.    We
>>>> have had a proliferation of hastily planned actions, with no thought or
>>>> coordination of how we, as a community, want to respond to eviction, or of
>>>> coordinated actions between working groups in response to eviction from
>>>> Dewey Square. Reports so far on tonight's GA (contentious issues of
>>>> storage, personal attacks, a proposal to send homeless occupiers to DC?)
>>>> suggests that things are not getting better.
>>>>
>>>> While this is all happening, there are pressing issues that have not
>>>> yet been resolved.    I feel deeply uncomfortable moving forward in any
>>>> sense until we can take time, as a group, can resolve the question of space
>>>> and housing.   I would like to propose tabling Thursday's GA, and in its
>>>> place scheduling an open community forum this Friday, at St. Paul's
>>>> Cathedral, from 6-8:30 p.m. to find immediate, community-wide solutions to
>>>> the following three concerns:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ******************************************************************************************************************************************
>>>>
>>>> IMMEDIATE ISSUES  (to be resolved in the next few days)
>>>>
>>>> *1)   Permanent space for GA + reassessment of working groups *---
>>>> Without a site, we have sprawl on all sides.   Working groups that no
>>>> longer have space, GAs are tentatively planned, lots of options on the
>>>> table for sites but no solid choices, defunct groups consolidating with
>>>> other groups.   We need to sit down and map out the new terrain.   What is
>>>> the new "site" for OB, in the absence of Dewey Square?  (don't outsource
>>>> this to a working group!  let's solve it together)   Do we want a central
>>>> space for everything or several diffuse spaces?   Do we want roving GAs in
>>>> JP, Chinatown, Dorchester, and elsewhere? (and is it important for Gas and
>>>> working groups to be in the same space?)   Do we want to rent or borrow?
>>>> Do we want a food truck and a caravan of tiny houses?   And if so, how do
>>>> we make that happen?
>>>>
>>>> *Between now and Friday, I propose that *everyone* who has an idea or
>>>> plan about permanent space take this week (facilitation, logistics,
>>>> outreach, Eric, Greg, Brian, myself) write it up as a proposal, and bring
>>>> it with actionable items to Friday's community forum*.   In line with
>>>> that, I propose that as many working groups as possible check in with
>>>> updated information about where you are meeting and how you are situated,
>>>> post-eviction. *This is a top priority at the moment*.   Without a
>>>> space to assemble and a concrete proposal for what space we want to
>>>> inhabit, post-Dewey, we will not be able to settle long enough to
>>>> accomplish anything of substance.   We'll split up, peter out, start
>>>> meeting separately, stop checking in, and that will be the end of Occupy
>>>> Boston.
>>>>
>>>> *2)   Long term winter solution for houseless occupiers * --  At the
>>>> moment, we have up to 10 people remaining who are active occupiers who need
>>>> a place to stay.   At least 4 are couples and cannot go into the shelter
>>>> system.   *We cannot rely on occupiers who have stepped up to offer
>>>> short-term housing as a long-term solution to this issue.  * Those of
>>>> us who have offered space are already stretched thin and are trying hard to
>>>> fill in the gaps.   Many of these people have stuck it out after eviction,
>>>> helping to coordinate space logistics and participating in GAs and working
>>>> groups, in spite of the very real possibility of spending the night in a
>>>> bus station.The occupiers who remain are part of our community, and we need
>>>> a community solution to this issue.
>>>>
>>>> *We need an immediate solution to the question fo where they will be
>>>> housed. *  Possible short term solutions: rotating couch space, church
>>>> space, others?  long-term solution:  outreach to places that will allow us
>>>> to pitch tents (not a good option over winter)?  large indoor spaces with
>>>> housing?   renting an apartment for houseless occupiers over winter?
>>>> Sending people to other occupations is not an option -- nor is farming this
>>>> out to a working group or a dedicated set of individuals.   If we are truly
>>>> a community, we need a community solution to this issue.   Most of these
>>>> people have arrangements that are expiring by the end of the week.  This
>>>> issue must be dealt with, before any broader questions of message and
>>>> direction are considered.
>>>>
>>>> *3)  OB actions this week, next week, and moving forward.  * I had a
>>>> conversation with some folks in media a few days ago about message, and
>>>> someone remarked (quite rightly) that the way we make statements now is not
>>>> with words, but with actions.   There are a number of very exciting actions
>>>> coming out of the community organization meetings, as well as a
>>>> proliferation of exciting, small-scale actions (tiny tents, anyone?) that
>>>> are in progress.   Let's coordinate TOGETHER, plan across working groups,
>>>> and approach these actions in a really intentional way!
>>>>
>>>> This week has seen more sprawl than usual, with a proliferation of
>>>> actions, many reactionary, quickly planned with little coordination or
>>>> thought of execution.  Autonomous action is fine, but too easily becomes an
>>>> excuse to throw things together at the last minute -- let's NOT use GA
>>>> announcements as a place to plan actions in the hopes that people will just
>>>> show up -- let's actually sit down and plan them together!   *There
>>>> are two meetings taking place this weekend -- an OB action summit (Sunday
>>>> at 1) and a community-wide spokescouncil meeting to plan for a mass day of
>>>> action sometime in January or February.*   Let's prioritize these
>>>> meetings, and use that space as a jumping-off point for a larger discussion
>>>> of what we, as a community, want to prioritize going forward.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *********************************************************************************************************
>>>>
>>>> WIDER POST-EVICTION THOUGHTS - on GA, facilitation, and the need for
>>>> open community spaces
>>>>
>>>> (this is less urgent - feel free to skip it if you like -- they deal
>>>> with my broader concerns about GA, and how we can move forward as a
>>>> community in the wake of eviction from Dewey Square
>>>>
>>>> *Reclaiming GAs as a public space* -- the past two GAs have felt very
>>>> closed at a time when they need to be radically open -- they have carried
>>>> on with "business as usual," instead of reclaiming GAs as an open forum
>>>> (which they initially were).   In the wake of eviction, we need SOME spaces
>>>> for "loose" facilitation, for town hall stye forum, similar to what we had
>>>> in the beginning --->  perhaps reviving the PROPOSAL FOR COMMUNITY NIGHTS?
>>>>   how to deal with the sprawl of announcements??   replacing WG
>>>> announcements with print copies to circulate -- info desk at GA? -- all of
>>>> these and more. now, more than ever, we need to make it a radically open
>>>> space, and be proactive about inviting new people in
>>>>
>>>> In the days and weeks leading up to eviction, many people remarked
>>>> privately to me that they felt OB becoming a closed community, with people
>>>> onsite "taking care of their own," and offsite working groups operating in
>>>> total isolation of each other.   Post-eviction, we have followed "business
>>>> as usual" -- continuing meetings, highly procedural GAs, prioritizing an
>>>> hour of working group announcements, and dragging on for hours.
>>>>
>>>> We need to respond to GA specifically -- but we also need to actively
>>>> create spaces for people to meet and socialize, building in time for social
>>>> events, community forums  (like the one I'm proposing right now),
>>>> discussion meetings, teach-ins, and debate -- planning them in advance and
>>>> publicizing them widely, so that people outside the mailing lists will know
>>>> about them and can come.    In line with this, we need to actively make use
>>>> of the website, wiki, facebook, and twitter make sure we are publicizing
>>>> our events, keeping people up to date, and coordinating within Occupy
>>>> Boston in order to get the word out in a timely manner.
>>>>
>>>> *Taking care of our own*.   When occupied, Dewey Square was in a
>>>> constant state of crisis.   It was impossible to respond, react, or slow
>>>> down long enough to deal with the myriad issues  -- chief among them, the
>>>> marginalization of houseless occupiers and people of color.  Their needs
>>>> need to be addressed and put front and center in any discussion of how we
>>>> as a community move forward as a community  (whether they be clothing,
>>>> shelter, living assistance, a place to take showers, etc)
>>>>
>>>> *Prioritizing people over process:*   David made a proposal at
>>>> Saturday's facilitation meeting to go back to loose process and allow
>>>> people to speak openly at the post-eviction GA.   This didn't happen, and
>>>> to date, no space for this kind of open conversation has been made.
>>>> Post-eviction, we need to reintroduce a sense of radical openness to GA,
>>>> even if it slows things down or breaks process.  *We need spaces for
>>>> loose facilitation, even at the expense of efficiency, both to take into
>>>> account (and deal with) our radically changed circumstances, and to make
>>>> space for new people to have a place in the dialogue.*   Strong
>>>> facilitation is comforting to some and profoundly alienating to others --
>>>> at this juncture, I feel pretty strongly that we need spaces for both
>>>> strong facilitation and open, spontaneous dialogue -- and that if this
>>>> isn't currently happening in GA, we need to make it so.
>>>>
>>>> *Collaboration across working groups.  * For anyone who was at last
>>>> night's community orgs meeting, it was an amazing example of coordination
>>>> across groups -- we had four solid proposals on the table for upcoming
>>>> actions (from January through March) and left with actionable items on each
>>>> one.   For the first time in the history of that meeting, there were
>>>> representatives from media,outreach, facilitation, and community
>>>> organizations from across Boston.   At the facilitation meeting last
>>>> Saturday,likewise,  there were representatives from almost all of the major
>>>> working groups.    It felt amazing, to see and begin to plan large-scale
>>>> collaborative actions as a group, with thoughtful, intentional buy-in from
>>>> everyone in the room.
>>>>
>>>> Too often, we farm out difficult decisions to working groups or create
>>>> new ones on the spot, rather than do the workto have these conversations.
>>>> We need to create spaces where we can collaborate TOGETHER to solve
>>>> pressing issues across working groups, marshal our existing resources and
>>>> work together, across working groups, to plan actions, solutions,
>>>> discussions, and next steps.     More conversations like this = more work
>>>> that can immediately get done (and can get done together!), which is what's
>>>> going to keep us together in the long run.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *********************************************************************************************************************************
>>>>
>>>> Everything that's outlined above is hard.   We need to be thoughtful,
>>>> intentional, and have the courage to take things slowly rather than rush to
>>>> keep up with press coverage and the post-eviction spotlight.   We also need
>>>> to try, as best we can, not to trash each other by email as we work through
>>>> these difficult issues.
>>>>
>>>> Without a space -- and in particular, without concrete accommodations
>>>> made for our most marginalized members -- I feel it will be very hard to
>>>> move forward on any of the rest of it in a meaningful way.   I propose that
>>>> we start this conversation Friday at 6 p.m. at St. Paul's Cathedral.
>>>>
>>>> Those are my thoughts!   Please let me know yours.
>>>>
>>>> All best,
>>>>
>>>> Katie
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Rita Monestersky- Sebastian
>> Brandeis, MA SID' 2009
>>
>> "If you cannot change yourself, how can you change the world?"
>> Gandhi
>>
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>
>
> --
> 'A coalition is not a family. It's not where you feel comfortable or where
> you go to see people you like; it's where your boundaries are tested. It's
> where you get work done." Barbara Smith, African American feminist
>
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