[OccupyCU] Minutes from 11-19-12 ocCUpy meeting

[Theresa Scott]

ocCUpy Minutes 
November 19,
2012
 
Next meeting: Monday, November 26, 2012, IMC
 
In attendance:  Susan, Chandler, Michael, Karen, Stuart, Sandra, Pam, Ya’aqov, Mark,
Doug, Chris E., Theresa
 
Susan began the meeting by summarizing where we are.  We need to determine if ocCUpy is
viable, that perhaps we don’t have the stuff to call it ocCUpy (and if not, or maybe
we should change the name).  If we
find out we need more time, then we will continue.  Maybe we are still “under construction.” We need to
determine what the purpose of the Monday night meetings is.  Additionally, do we want to be a
regular working group with a mission statement and goals, etc.? 
 
Karen said that none of the people in the room can stay
home.  There are a lot of issues
that we are excited about.  We do
need ocCUpy because some things are not being done elsewhere.  She voted for keeping us together.  However, she said we should rotate who
is in charge. 
 
People shared what they had been thinking about:

Michael said that it is important to reach out to people, that we can change
people’s minds, but in speaking with the larger community, they might also
change our minds. It is good to hear what others are thinking.  Given that we have JWJ, CUCPJ, AWARE, and
the GEO, he is not sure if a proliferation of groups is a good idea, but it is
important that we reach out and talk to people on basic issues of money in
politics and economic inequality.  However, he said that when you do go up to a door, it is good
to have something that you “ask.”  There has to be some reason why you are there.  Perhaps we need to ask people how they
related to the rhetoric of the 99%.  We need to begin to get a sense of what people care about.  We don’t know what is in our own
neighborhood.  
 
Pam talked about canvassing.  She felt we could can both give and get input if we go door
to door.  We might also give people
information about ocCUpy. Perhaps we could get a flier together that lists all
of the service organizations in town. Her impression is that CUCPJ was effective
with the prison issue because they did go door to door.  Susan said that when Francisco Baires
talked with the group, he stressed that while we should continue to protest and
rally, we also need to influence people culturally and socially.  In the past we have not talked to
people.  We didn’t explain to
people why we were trying to act in others’ interests
Stuart asked us to think about what we are for (as Baires
asked us to do).  If we are
canvassing, what could we be telling people?  Stuart mentioned the co-ops /collectives in Mondragon Spain,
that we might share with people to help them see that another world is
possible.  Stuart also mentioned
the great writing in Zinn’s A People’s History
of the U.S.  and said that it
is good to read ourselves so that we can bring information to people as we talk
to them.  
 
Mark brought up the Rolling Jubilee.   While the national debt is a very public thing and is being
talked about everywhere, personal debt is something that is horrid and cannot
be spoken of.   Perhaps we can
ask for a small contribution for debt forgiveness as we canvass?
 
Chandler said that now that it is after the election, there
seems to be an increased fixation on the debt.  For some time, Occupy seemed to control the message of  that debate.  Currently, it has gone back to the debate of the past,
involving cutting social programs. 
 
There was a lengthy discussion about how here in CU the money
for welfare-related programs is not being used as it should be but rather is
being used in other ways to make the budget look good.  There is a requirement by the state for
townships to give money to the poorest of the poor.  However, there is a great deal of money stockpiled that is
not being used because the way the system is set up currently, the requirements
are extremely stringent.  Perhaps
we might get people interested in this money mis-distribution.  We can work on try to fight back
against austerity in our own community.  The hard part is finding out how to get the information and write
something for the city council in Champaign to pass a motion.  Perhaps we have someone in our
connections who can help us to start.  Chris suggested that we could FOIA this.  Chris is interested in how many people are turned away.  People are not referred anymore.  
 
Ya’aqov said that he liked Chandler’s referenda and tactics
because they were successful.  If
we pick a specific project, let’s pick something where we can make a
difference.   He does not
think we should not disband but keep the momentum of the group.  
 
Ya’aqov asked about Flex-N-Gate.  Was that too big for us?  Sandra said some employees were fired.  Karen said that we should tell this to
Democracy Now!  and get national
attention on the continuing abuses in the plant.  Karen said that she will do some research and present the
current state of affairs at FNG for the next meeting. 
 
There was a lengthy discussion about the list serves.  It was decided that we will have 3
lists: one for general announcements of meeting times, minutes, etc.; one for
discussion; and an action list that will be used by people who are working on
specific issues and projects and which is not open to the general public. 
 
Susan said that whatever we do locally, we need to use the
language of the larger discourse.  We should think of ourselves as activist-learners.  If we like the task, then we might not
mind learning the task.  
 
We will meet on November 26th in order to work on
how we think future meetings might go.  We will determine how often we should meet, what might be discussed, the
nature of those meetings, etc.  Many
felt that having a moderator that keeps things moving is a good thing.  However, Chandler said you don’t want a
structure that is imposed on you by someone you didn’t ask to  lead you.  But if you don’t, then the behaviors from the outside creep
in and we sometimes get behaviors that turned many people off to ocCUpy at its
initial meetings.  Chandler
discussed the difference between a movement of leaders vs. a leaderless
movement.  Each person can do
something and bring it to the group because we are all learning to be leaders.
We need to use all the skills of the group.  He suggested that we have a once-a-month General Assembly
meeting that is not particularly lengthy as well as a once-a -month working
group.  The GA should draw people
in and inspire people to do work in working groups.  Whatever we decide we need to be mindful of the workload we
are asking of others.
 
Next week we will also work on sample
questionnaires/questions that we might pose to people as we canvass.  
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