[Street] [Ideas] proposal to table GA until Friday (in lieu of community forum on immediate problems)
Aria Littlhous
aria at littlhous.net
Wed Dec 14 09:54:09 EST 2011
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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