[Peace] Meeting notes, Jan. 23, 2005

[Susan Parenti]

January 23, 2005  AWARE Meeting

[Next week, Jan 30, the AWARE meeting will not happen.
Next meeting: Sunday, Feb. 6]

20 attending. Carol Inskeep facilitates.

Ivan and Carol bring food!

1. News of the Week by Carl Estabrook(to be posted under that title).

2. New Ideas (note:this part of the meeting will now be near the 
beginning, in order to invite discussion and conversations about 
whatever is of concern to people)

     CU Progressives is asking AWARE for support of  Feb. 28 Monday 
night at the Civic
     Center: What the War is Doing to Us?  (race and war) Speakers:
     Dr. Robert Boone, David Roedigger, and Zorah Sullivan

     March 19 is 2nd anniversary of the invasion of Iraq---do we have 
ideas? Sandra
     proposes alternatives to ‘rallying’--to hold street corner 
demonstrations, for example.
      Connect with University students in a protest(difficulty with 
this: it’s at the beginning of
      Spring Break). Have a large Prospect for Peace demonstration?

     Hold Obama to his convicitions---why did he vote for Condoleeza 
Rice?
     Why did Durban? These Illinois politicians are considered to 
represent the progressive
     vote, but they didn’t---can we push on them to honor their election 
commitments?
     Susan P---put something up on  billboard(difficulty--billboards are 
expensive).
     Ricky--letters to the editor are free. Randall---one good letter to 
the editor can be used
     for various purposes. Create an open letter; create a press 
release. Susan P---can we
     connect with other Illinois anti-war groups to put pressure on 
Obama and Durban---an
     Obama /Durban watch?

     working groups are begun around letter writing, and connecting with 
other anti-war groups
      for an Obama/Durban watch.

     Susan D talks about Claudia Leinhof’s articulateness in alerting 
people to how Carle and
     Provena(?)  turn people away who haven’t paid their bill. A 
decision is made to ask her to speak
     at AWARE sometime in the future.

3. AWARE’S finances: $3,173

4. Reports from working groups:
CU Citizens for Peace and Justice: Sandra Ahten: we did have a 
wonderful turnout at the County Board meeting. Jail phone issue. Jail 
will look for lower rates for inmates’phoning.
Last suicide may need to be called an ‘alledged suicide’ or 
‘unexplained deaths in the county jails’.

Media report: UPTV---how is it going? Randall, Morton: Video programs 
are supposed to be starting at 9pm at UPTV, tomorrow, Monday, Jan 24. 
Febrary 2--there should be direct linked TV such that there is regular 
programming at  10pmMonday--Friday. We hope to start with one hour 
every day, and then expand from 7--11pm (prime time) to offer 
something. Hope to have Democracy Now on regurlarly, so that then we’ll 
be able to publicize.

Educational forum: Carl reports that we have an educational forum on 
what the US should din Iraq.  We’re suggesting four things:
     a. a discussion before this meeting on this matter on  February13th;
     b. circulate several articles on Discuss list;
     c. composition of a text, an AWARE statement;
     d. a public presentation in the manner of a Debate.
Susan D: we want to have ‘self-education’ by posting these articles. We 
may be needing new literature; so to have a panel would enable us to 
discuss this before we write the new literature.

Aware Care :10points:
1. new agenda order (such as this meeting)
2. develop a handout and postcard for new people to write something 
about themselves
3. do educational segments about once a month; this would replace the 
new idea segment
for just that day
4. bring snacks to meeting
5. working groups are encouraged to post their updates to the 
list-serve; if your working group doesn’t need to make reports, you 
don’t have to take meeting time;
6. provide a hand-out for meeting faciilitators;
7. develop a list of faciilitators
8. back-up for facilitators
9. set-up an educational forum for White Privilege--one time proposal
10.  have social events outside the meetings--jan and Durl will do the 
first one on friday february 23

Events of the Weeks:
No meeting next week.
Fundraiser next Sunday January 30 for Ricky Baldwin’s fundraiser.
Film DEADLINE on Sunday Jan. 30---4:30 pm