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Permalink Reply by Diana on November 28, 2011 at 3:55pm

 Kelly shared about organizing a live, on the ground 'Occupy Cafe" in Portland, OR UU last Friday.  No substitute for eye contact.  Personal invites were key.  In the space we had a crafts area and activities for kids. Felt very good about the outcome. 

. Discussion: Is Occupy nurtuting relationships with existing organizations with similar thinking? 

Kelly: We have a variety of outreach committees. Some are geographically oriented for the Portland metro area.

Robert: the appeal of Occupy is strong. What about relationships with existing groups such as Transition Town?

Kelly:  I big on social justice.  There is an "occupy the Hood" group for Afro-american youth.  Also Latiina/o groups,

Question about movement being co-opted.

Kelly: I'm not so focused on that.  There is a big Ron Paul contingent, who are like trolls on forums--there is really a wide range of folks.  I'm with folks who say don't get too narrow too quickly

Hunter: I recommend people blog about what's going on , on their own or other sites

Kelly: Not everyone has internet access.

Jitendra:  What tactics/strategies will enable immigrant communities to feel safe re Occupy?

Kelly: As an example, there are some Latinos organizing for an event in Portland, and they've gotten a permit for it, vs. much of Occupy isn't bothering with getting a permit. Some are going to where day laborers are.  I haven't seen a lot of stuff from Occupy translated into Spanish.

Jen:  Go to Wealloccupy.com, there is a tab for support, and 2/3 of the way down is a Spanish version

Ben: Do you see 2 or 3 conversations that keep coming up, that have "meat" on them?

Kelly: At the live Occupy Cafe we did a "temperature reading"for certain issues.  Top issue was: People don't have a voice in our democracy.  Also concern about 'corporate personhood", and locally, a huge interest in the issue of homelessness, which came out of the camp experience. There's new/renewed interest in providing service to these people.

Ben: I love that trio--there feels like a real ripeness? rightness? to it

Elizabeth:  I feel a lot of people are marginalized. As a result of Occupy, I'm having conversations with people I otherwise wouldn't be having conversations with.

Jitendra: Do you see different groups coming together, or separating out into their own issues?

Kelly:  I find some of the formal process of Occupy to be difficult, and unfortunately, there is a highly visible negative discourse along the lines of "if you don't agree with me, you're stupid."   In learning to collaborate, we're at the pre-school level, and as a country, we have a long way to go. 

Elizabeth: to me the GA process reinforces the idea of listening vs. just pushing your own agenda.

Diana: Going back to the top key issues, I want to bring in the environmental crisis we're in,  ultimately we are all going to sink or swim.

Jen:  I've been collecting data since September 17 about issues in Occupy groups all over.  We are all anti-greed, and pro-first amendment rights.  Those are the fundamentals across all occupy groups.

Kelly:  We're trying to figure out how to have a 'Big Tent' (inclusive of many people and issues) without being co-opted.

Jitendra:  I like to think of it as how can we all play together vs. protecting our turf.

Robert:  what should principles for engaging other groups be? eg, with Move-On. . .it can energize relationships if done right. .

Elizabeth: I'm all for collaboration if done with transparency.

Kelly:  I don't find our GA in Portland to be that inclusive/accessible.  It's outside, in the rain, with a lot of second-hand smoke.

Heather:  I realize I can't be at Quaker meeting, Transition, Occupy, etc, all at the same time.  I need to have a radical trust. . .that there will be a trend towards justice

Diana: Co-opt means, to me, to take in another opposing direction.  Town Hall meetings became co-opted during the health care debate when there was violence and bullying and disruption.  

Jane:  How to build a long-term movement.  There is a theme of learning to listen carefully, to pay attention to themes and patterns.

Steve: I was in a discussion about integrating on the ground and virtual work.  With online discussions, it's easy to be overwhelmed with so many conversations happening.

Ben: We are talking about having hosted conversations online,which would be more focused.  contact us if you are interested in that.  

Bill: Is there a common purpose behind what we are doing?

Erin:  both purpose and principles are key.  This movement may have more than one purpose, that's OK

Scribe for a day, Diana--this wasn't quite the end of the call, but I had to leave. . .

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