[Street] Actions Assembly + Call to Workshop/Table Proposal (street at lists.occupyboston.org)
Katie Gradowski (Google Docs)
katie.gradowski at gmail.com
Thu Jan 5 15:35:36 EST 2012
I've shared an item with you:
Actions Assembly + Call to Workshop/Table Proposal
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11We4Vdm_aOenIzYvpMl3_iLM8XsFwbNJvhNZrAeGLms/edit?invite=CMjYupEK
It's not an attachment -- it's stored online at Google Docs. To open this
document, just click the link above.
Hey friends!
So a few days ago, Noah tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Hey, Katie!
We've been pretty inward-focused lately. What if we cut the number of GAs
in half, took a weekend night off, and gave over one GA tonight to ONLY
doing outreach to the wider community?" Sounds crazy, right? And
potentially awesome? I'm really excited about this proposal, and wanted
to lay out a brief sketch of what Noah described to me, as well as a quick
update on some other ongoing initiatives that I think could really help OB
come together and organize as a community.
Here's a brief outline of Noah's proposal. There is an additional section
on modifying existing GA structure, which I've left out here, but which you
can read in the attached document. This is likely to come up at tonight's
GA - I'd be grateful if you'd take a moment to read and share your
thoughts! What follows is an abridged version, for easier reading.
All best,
Katie
*******************************************************************************
Proposal: Replace One GA per week with a Action Assembly using Open Space
Technology
Time & Location: This would replace the Tuesday GA and take place at the
Episcopal Church in Harvard Square.
Purpose:
1) To provide a more appropriate meeting format for the discussion of
political, economic and societal issues.
2) To provide a time for Occupy Boston to come together and reflect on and
plan targeted direct actions and campaigns with clear and powerful messages
in order to maintain the occupation of the public conscience in the
post-Dewey era.
3) to aid the formation of direct action affinity groups and enhance the
collaboration and involvement in direct actions of working groups, affinity
groups, and individuals.
Details of Proposal: (paraphrased)
1. One GA per week will be replaced with a "working GA" or "strategic
action assembly," where we gather together to plan ongoing campaigns,
proposals, and collective actions that we want to accomplish as a group ---
and then we plan, implement, and DO them!
2. Each assembly begins with a round of proposals for actions and
campaigns, either "sparks" (initial ideas to be floated to the groups)
or "propositions" (fleshed out ideas that are midway through, but still
need help with implementation)
3. Proposals are listed, and summarized, with facilitators leading a
discussion as to which ones we want to work on, and prioritizes them
accordingly, based on which are the most pressing, which generate the most
interest, etc, and divide them into 4-5 that will be discussed that night.
4. Break-out groups to discuss and plan actions, followed by reassembly
and report-backs.
5. Everyone goes back to their working groups, affinity groups, what have
you, and makes shit happen.
(that last one was my addition)
***********************************************************************
The idea is that if we do this EVERY WEEK -- and make outreach (and
actions) a central part of our organizational structure -- we will develop
a culture of doing, rather than reflecting. in the process, we will
create a support structure by which autonomous actions can still be planned
and organized with an eye to ongoing campaigns and projects. This is very
much in line with some initiatives that are already in the works -- the
Monday community gatherings, the biweekly action summits -- which have
already demonstrated a huge potential for connecting people across working
groups, and solving some of the logistical problems of communication and
organization.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm tremendously excited by this
proposal, and its capacity to reshape and recontextualize what tends to be
a series of isolated projects within working groups (whether DA, outreach,
street, what have you) into community-wide initiatives. It's in no way
meant to replace the working groups -- instead, I believe it will create a
collective, community-wide space that will then allow the working groups to
break and work on more specific and actionable details of these plans,
while also making better use of our time at GA (by insisting that, beyond
making decisions together, we also sit and work together to figure out how
to act on those decisions).
This has already been discussed at GA, and will likely be coming up again
tonight. Please share with anyone whom you think would be interested, and
encourage them to come show support or constructive critique! The more
eyes we have on it ahead of time, the better the final proposal will be
With love and solidarity,
Katie!
--
Due to the present financial situation, the light at the end of the tunnel
will be switched off to save on electrical costs until further notice.
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