[Street] [Occupybostonoutreach] New Developments - Movement building + OB + community organizations

angela giudice amgnsm at verizon.net
Tue Dec 13 12:41:53 EST 2011


I am so exited, encouraged and motivated by all of this.  Many, many thanks for all who have generated the energy and follow-through to get our "on the ground" organizing to move forward.

I have one suggestion that I will bring to a next meeting.  I know that Boston is full of neighborhood associations/organizations.  My own neighborhood in Roxbury, The Moreland Street Neighborhood Association, is incredibly active both in terms of Roxbury but also, other larger political movement types of work.  Also, I'm part of the city's Community Gardens networks.  These are two places where a lot of grass roots (good pun...eh!) work could happen.  We could visit and talk with folks about what we're doing and be live links for people for all of our work.

I think both of
 these ideas as natural contact kinds of situations that would be especially effective in increasing  our visibility within communities of color and more importantly, create avenues for authentic relationships with people of color who might not be represented in more politically oriented organizations.  The same could also be said for churches, etc., but I think that's a much bigger conversation.  

I also think this idea could be one way to create greater collaboration across work groups, especially the people of color working group, anti-oppression, women, and queer/trans.  So anyway, it's an idea.  I look forward to attending meetings, now that my day-to-day commitments have shifted since the raid.

All said and done, much peace & solidarity,
Angela Giudice


Whadda people think???

--- On Tue, 12/13/11, Katie Gradowski <katie.gradowski at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Katie Gradowski <katie.gradowski at gmail.com>
Subject: [Occupybostonoutreach] New Developments - Movement building + OB + community organizations
To: "Rachel Plattus" <rachelbp at gmail.com>, "outreach" <Occupybostonoutreach at lists.occupyboston.org>, "street" <street at lists.occupyboston.org>
Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 1:10 AM

Hey all!  

For those who weren't at the community organizations meeting tonight, a quick update on things discussed.  Four exciting proposals on the table.   None have been proposed to GA yet, and some are far from being a true integration of OB and wider social justice community, but things are definitely moving in the right
 direction.   As an added note: there were many more tonight's meeting, as well as OB representation from multiple working groups (faciltiation, media, interoccupy)   This all bodes very well for the future!  


 Here's a quick rundown of some of the proposals that are in the works, which will be discussed at next week's meeting.

For reference, that meeting happens next Monday at 7 p.m. at SEIU615 (23 west steet, 2nd floor)


**********************************************************************************************************************

1.  Occupy Winter  (proposed by Cynthia Peters, CLVU member and long-time Boston organizer) - modeled on Freedom Summer, a proposal to pair occupiers with community organizations across Boston to work on specific campaigns or issues over the winter months.   Beyond an internship or apprenticeship, a way to share skills and build relationships, with the idea of establishing grassroots beyond Dewey through winter and reemerging in the spring. CLVU is a test case for this -- using this weekend's actions as a jumping-off point for future collaboration  (home occupations and eviction defense through winter - organizing in neighborhoods beyond Dorchester and East Boston, with CLVU's help)


2.  Town Hall meetings (proposed by Joanie Parker, organizer at SEIU1199 -- also by Martin at OB!) - This idea has emerged separately both in OB (spurred by Martin) and in community orgs meetings.   A proposal for mobile public meetings, in conjunction with local community organizations and smaller occupations (quincy, arlington, somerville, etc), linking it to issues in specific communities. This has been proposed on a number of fronts, and seems to be the furthest along  (already happening in local occupies beyond Dewey Square)  


3.  Targeted anti-oppression work within OB / change from within (proposed by George Lee, youth organizer, active in anti-oppression and people of color working group) -- to respond to racism, sexism, and deep levels of privilege within OB -- call for a "freedom summit" among various working groups working on anti-oppression (decolonize, white allies, anti-oppression, womens caucus) to discuss next steps.  As part of this, a move to work with Ideas reevaluate Ob's statement of occupation, and rewrite it with a fuller account of history and community needs (that's my rough summary)


4.   Mass moblization - day of action for 99% (proposed by Bryan McCormick - OB DA - and Morrigan Phillips, organizer at Survivors Inc)   A coordinated day of action in January or February -- combination of collective, planned actions (permitted march, etc), along with autonomous actions across the city, organized by community orgs along affinity group model.  Leading up to this, a spokescouncil framework for planning and organizing the day of action, with community-wide trainings between OB and wider organizations on non-violent direct action, facilitation, etc.   Two trainings set for this weekend, first spokescouncil meeting this Sunday at 5. 


**********************************************************************************************************************

 The first three proposals have been in the works for awhile -- the fourth was new today, and generated a lot of excitement among the group. These are all still in the works, and should not be widely circulated or
 established as fact -- none have, as yet, been proposed to GA or the 
wider OB community.  All edging toward possible, with huge implications for expanding OB's work in the wider Boston community

Awesome meeting!   Excited to plan next steps. 



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