Hey all! <br><br>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! <br>
<br> Here's a quick rundown of some of the proposals that are in the works, which will be discussed at next week's meeting.<br><br>For reference, that meeting happens next Monday at 7 p.m. at SEIU615 (23 west steet, 2nd floor)<br>
<br>**********************************************************************************************************************<br><br><b>1. Occupy Winter (proposed by Cynthia Peters, CLVU member and long-time Boston organizer)</b> - 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)<br>
<b><br>2. Town Hall meetings (proposed by Joanie Parker, organizer at SEIU1199 -- also by Martin at OB!) </b>- 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) <br>
<br><b>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) -</b>- 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)<br>
<b><br>4. Mass moblization - day of action for 99% (proposed by Bryan McCormick - OB DA - and Morrigan Phillips, organizer at Survivors Inc) </b> 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. <br>
<br>**********************************************************************************************************************<br><br> 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<br><br>Awesome meeting! Excited to plan next steps. <br><br>