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Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - April 7, 2012

2012-04-23T16:41:52Z

Firuzehsv: Created page with "Anti-Oppression Working Group April 7, 2012 Present: Angela, Seble, Greg, Michelle, Clyde,Andrea Facilitators: Firuzeh, Greg Agenda Welcome & Introduction Ways of Being A/V eq..."

Anti-Oppression Working Group
April 7, 2012

Present: Angela, Seble, Greg, Michelle, Clyde,Andrea
Facilitators: Firuzeh, Greg

Agenda
Welcome & Introduction
Ways of Being
A/V equipment purchase
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Intersectionality
Exploration of Values
Close (WoB & Appreciations)

The group approved the purchase of equipment in conjunction with the POC & Decolonize.

Coalition of Immokalee Workers- Elena Stein
• 90% of tomatoes grown in Florida, in season, November – June.
• Conditions in the field – subservient conditions, physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual harassment – 90% of women report sexual abuse
• Typical day – get up at 4am. Workers live in trailers, where 5 people live together, no air conditioning, one bathroom.
• At 5 am, 1000’s of workers wait to be picked up in parking lot. They wait to be picked up by repainted school buses, who are a monopoly.
• Crew leader picks workers - who gets picked? Stronger between 16-30 get picked. They are taken to fields that are 10min – 3hrs away.
• In the fields, the workers get there early 7am and have to wait until 10-11am the dew dries because tomatoes have to be picked dry.
• The tomatoes are sprayed with methyl bromide to turn them red, because they are green when picked.
• The workers pick tomatoes to overfill in 32 lb buckets. They lift buckets on shoulders, run to the truck and dump them. They get 50cents a bucket. Workers pick and haul 2.5 tons of tomatoes every day – that’s equivalent to the weight of an elephant. That’s about 4 buckets /min.
• In addition, pesticides are sprayed while pickers pick.
• The Coalition – 15 years is enough. Want raise, better conditions, to be @ decision making table.
• They went on a 30 day hunger strike. Developed popular theatre, video
• Analyzed supply chain – crew leader → supervisor → grower→ retailer. Would get consumers, labor
• Campaign for Fair Food – 10 yrs. 9 corporations signed. Taco Bell = national Boycott, after 4 yrs. they came to table. McDonalds = 2 yrs. ; Burger King = 1 yr.; Subway = 6 mos. Want to get food service (Sedexho, Armarak), providers (Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods)
• Methyl bromide – causing holes in ozone. Methyl iodine – birth defects among children of farm workers.
• Demands
o 1cent more/pound; 50 cents = 32 lbs.
o Only buy from friends w/ code of conduct w/ right to shade, water, complaint without fear of modern day slavery
o Right to have a voice at the table – workers go out into fields + educate each other on their rights
What are your intentions in connecting with OB Movement?
• Coalition – farm workers on ppl with direct experience
• Allies – w intersecting things that affect us, solidarity. Eg. Student – Just Harvest

What is the Decision making process?
• Consensus based, consensus culture, common values
• Helped by movies,
• Organizers – staff members → weekly meeting (10 people)
• Community Meetings - Theatre, video, question posing – Weekly (100 people)
• Central Committee Meeting – every 6 mos. (40 people)

9 cases of slavery have actually been prosecuted in this country; another 1200 people are in debt bondage, chained.

Values
There was a felt sense that the AOWG needed to get grounded in a set of shared values. We lifted up an initial list of values:
• Accountability – being willing to follow the lead of communities most impacted when working on an issue
• Solidarity
• Humility for allies
• Be willing to unlearn in order to learn
• Make space

We discussed what values are and the challenge of trying to build agreement on a list of shared values:
• integral to particular communities, we are plural human being
• we work into a value by practicing it over time
• you are not friends until you’ve had a fight and worked it out
• values require conflict and testing to see if it’s a meaningful one for us
• stated values are different than values in action – there is often a difference between what we say our values are and the values that are actually operating and informing our behavior.
• it’s important that we spell out what we mean by the values we hope/plan to live into because words/concepts mean different things to different people

Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - March 24, 2012

2012-04-23T16:41:24Z

Firuzehsv: Created page with "AOWG 3/24/12 Firuzeh, Jacob, Salma, Tom, Angela, Clyde, Michelle, Allison, Andrea Michelle – facilitated Processing Facilitator Role- Salma Ways of Being Review Share Expect..."

AOWG
3/24/12

Firuzeh, Jacob, Salma, Tom, Angela, Clyde, Michelle, Allison, Andrea
Michelle – facilitated
Processing Facilitator Role- Salma

Ways of Being Review

Share Expectations
Bouquet of Facilitators
• Everyone who wants to should have a chance
• Aim to be as diverse – in terms of race, class, sexuality, people who are often facilitators in other spaces, people who step up who are not always facilitators – coach them, style, whole spectrum
• Two facilitators – not always having a person of color, great goal and could put huge demand on people of color if there aren’t that many of them, some dimensions of diversity may be less visible,
• Styles and influence diversity of structuring of meetings
Progressive Stack
• White people tend to make assumptions about race based on shades of color – not always obvious
• Whole community
• For marginalized people as a whole
• But priority in stack is determined by context of discussion, e.g. in a discussion that directly bears on a particular marginalized group of people, representatives from that group should have priority
• How do we know if there is a marginalized identity – especially if this is less visible?
• In the context of a discussion bearing on a particular marginalized group, the facilitator may need to ask for those who experience themselves as carrying that identity to self-identify
• Cultural dimensions of religion – spirituality is a marginalized identity
Bin (different perspectives offered by those in attendance for this meeting)
• Talk about religion, why these identities
• Christianity has hegemonic power
• More religious ways of knowing are looked down upon
• Hostility towards religion – seeing it as foolish
• In more radical groups, religion looked down upon, as conservatives
• Don’t think about being Christian as an oppressed identity - cultural element of a religious tradition, not the practice
• People who are Jewish not comfortable with saying so
• Everyone claiming some aspect of their identity as being oppressed, then
• Don’t see Jewish people as an oppressed group in this country, nor a Protestant
Institutional vs. situational oppression
• Irish were oppressed systematically, then became white. So whiteness trumped Irish.
• Jewish – not oppressed in same ways as POC,
• In the left, most people in the left are pro-Palestinian, and many Jews are on the left and sensitive to Palestinian issue.
• If a person identifies with a system of oppression – Zionism and feels uncomfortable in progressive situations, is this something we should be concerned with?. because of Zionsist activists in this country, I’ve had to leave my Palestinian identity at the door. Left in this country is not necessarily pro-Palestine, it is dominated by a Zionist narrative OB has not touched even the surface of the issue of Palestine and how politics regarding Israel affects this country…..People do get silenced by strong Zionist activist when the topic of Israel is confronted in left circles. Some even think that the Jewish left (pro-peace) has played a role in maintaining that oppression, intentionally or not, but by dominating the discussion they set the terms for our activism sometimes and limit it to liberal Zionist parameters When I say I am Palestinian, there are people who immediately respond that they are Jewish and believe that that fact should somehow affect how I feel as a Palestinian about my people’s oppression
• Saying one is Jewish can be viewed as a privilege that gives folks a lot of power in conversations about Zionism.
• Your choice of religion is a personal choice and people don’t necessarily owe you anything but respect for your choice. We should treat any discomfort people have about being Protestant for example by adhering to our ways of being and making sure that person is not shamed or blamed for their personal religious choice. Point of clarification – institutional vs. situational. When a white person talks about feeling oppressed by affirmative action/reverse racism – it becomes a distortion of what is actually institutional oppression.
• There is institutional and cultural level oppression against Jews in this country….for those who identify as white, it trumps it all. Wouldn’t want to categorically disappear Jews as a target group.
• Intersectionality – the more identities you carry bears on how much privilege you hold in this society (Facilitator Michelle re-shared a diagram of a wheel of power and privilege in the United States context – inner wheel represents more privileged identities and outer wheel represents more targeted identities)
• How do we do this with respect to progressive stack? Avoid developing a hierarchy of oppression….It could depend on subject – if talking about cognitive disabilities, then I would be on progressive stack. If not, then as a white woman on other subjects, then I wouldn’t
• Historical oppression that Jewish have faced, has been wielded like a weapon …important to mention how situation has changed
• Question of facilitator be sensitive to conversation – POC have links to a community, can speak to the experience of a community. There is specific nature to this experience
• We had a meeting where there was someone who tracked group participation by race and gender. When he reported out at the end of the meeting what he had observed, he had gotten a lot of it wrong – he made a lot of assumptions that were wrong about people’s identities. He didn’t know what he didn’t know, but he also didn’t ask. I wonder what facilitators can do to do progressive stack – maybe people can self identify at the beginning of meeting?
• Self identification in terms of stack – hard to teach people to do that.
• First time in this group speak to your Palestinian identity, important for group to let you know that …came to this group came with cohort of friends who are no longer in the group. Over time and discussion, feeling more comfortable about my positions.
• Not often truly prompted to think about issues of oppression beyond those I think about typically – thank you for speaking to your ouch. Prompting new thinking for me, behaviors of people and intersectionality. We don’t deal with internalized oppression in this group and this is an important topic to focus on
• Don’t believe that there is institutional oppression against Jewish people. There a lot of checks and balances in our institutions today that safeguard against anti-semitism . Jewish Americans are a strong minority as well, hardly oppressed, and they wield a lot of power in many institutions. The accusation of anti-semitism is often even abused to silence people with valid criticism of Israel But what is their internalized view of themselves? Why do Jewish people think they are still oppressed institutionally, that could be important to explore.
• Have seen this issue so divisive and violent against Palestinians. Make a difference between Zionism and Jewish history. Zionism started by mostly non-practicing Jews. Heavily influenced by European colonialist movement. Late 1800’s – not propelled by religion, but by desire to create a homeland for Jewish Europeans. Which is fine, any people can have such a desire….But Zionism is a colonial settler movement. They would not dream of demanding a homeland say in Germany, they considered places in Africa and then Palestine, where non-white people have been traditionally colonized. At first, Zionists had a hard time getting Jewish people to immigrate to Palestine. Then with the holocaust more went there when they would have preferred to stay in Europe or go to the US – though not wanted there. Try hard to distinguish between Zionism and the Jewish religion
• PTSD – some attempts at colonizing before the holocaust, in reaction to traumatizing event, Continually experiencing this trauma. This forced state – bringing a lot of traumatized people together, only there from a place of trauma, only connection. Can’t talk to post-traumatic people because they are so stuck in their fear. It’s so weird
• Religious community of Europe didn’t support Zionism. Human beings taking an action. Any rabbi today who doesn’t support Israel wouldn’t have a congregation. Would not allow for rabbis to be called – never met one who wasn’t at least a mild Zionist. In inter-faith situations, these rabbis couldn’t even be in the same space as Muslims. Either me or them. Jewish religious community has been institutionalized into Zionism. This creates Jewish community is 90% convinced of this narrative.
• Zionism tries to link Zionism with religion… Other complicating factor, is power. When picking leaders – of UU churches,– Zionists are members of influential boards in this country, many relay experiencing oppression and silencing by such members, for example members of the Board of MFA have tried to repeatedly shut down the Palestine Film Festival. So Palestinian narrative is often not heard and is actively being censored.
• Christian right became apparent during Bush administration, talks about making armageddon happen. One reason is…..Christianity supporting …why has this alliance happened? This will be a good topic for a future meeting – the alliance of the Christian Right and Zionism.
March on Friday, 30. Palestinian – national land day. Open Jerusalem – to Christians and Palestinians. 6:00 Copley Square. Michelle will send this out. The Decolonize to Liberate Working Group endorsed this march last night; Clyde will seek the POCWG endorsement. A joint announcement will be sent out if possible.
AOWG Purpose and Where it Is
• Who are we? Do we know who we are? Do we contact people and find out if they want to come back? Much more diverse in the beginning?
• People of color WG has also discussed that a lot of POC have given up on OB. They’ll keep up with the POC Caucus, don’t see the governance structure as viable. Decolonize in Oakland has separated out. Seeking to hold GA’s in Roxbury and will talk about things through a democracy sensitive to POC cultural styles.
• It’s a spiritual thing – understanding energy to do something is spiritual, can’t do things out of duty. Need to feel energy for it.
• Topic for another meeting - why has the alliance between happened?
• People who want to deconstruct systems of oppression – a lot of spontaneous that re-does the same dynamics will get old.
• POC – are numerous, 20 or so. Getting sustenance from being with each other. Take turns
• Why have so many people of color left?
o We should ask people individually
o Don’t know who was here that left
o We should be clear about whether they give consent to sharing feedback
o Quick generalization – they left OB, not this group
o Want to know where they are with this work in general
o Have different perspectives about stuff – when talking about OB and people’s negative associations with it. Mine might be different than others’. Where to talk about this that’s safe? What are the group dynamics that allow for change? Seeing that in WG’s. Haven taken on intervention scenarios. There is confidence about saying what they don’t know. People are asking a lot of questions, more open. i don’t get to decide to get off the bus of social justice/movement building. My head inoculated from headaches. For viable mass movement to emerge, good time to be looking at what needs to happen and do we think we need to contribute in some way. Don’t see as GA broken, it’s just immature, under-resourced energetically to create its own change. Facilitator WG as being targeted for GA’s. People play Monday morning quarter backing on aspect of movement. AOWG if not attached to OB, I would pull out of AOWG and do my work I do everyday. Come because of its existence in terms of OB. Some of the dismissal of OB makes me sad.
• Shouldn’t be preaching to POC about how they should feel – 20ish attend meetings, in contact with 40 people. They had an experience of being drawn up and had less than nurturing in OB….average age of POC is 60. Younger people who have only this experience of working with white people who are most burnt out. Those of us who’ve worked with white people know it’s going to be a long process, maybe several generations? OB Oakland are average age 35.
Facilitation
• Trying to try 2 hr meetings. Longer meeting can perpetuating burn out.
• Agenda – ask the group about potential ideas and trust them to do
o Film: Race the Power of an Illusion – analysis about racialized wealth.
o Themes from this meeting
• Integration of this group to OB
• GA
• Progressive stack (Angela will find what exists)
• Why alliance between far right and Zionism?
• Facilitation – Michelle and Salma
• Ways of Being – what we did well
o Appreciate everyone who’s shown up
• Need to be around people who are learning
• Figure out anti-oppression working group
o Appreciation for what was said – deep gratitude for support of Decolonize and AOWG for March 30 March (Clyde will try to get support from POC for March)
o 30 second rule
o Courage to step out there – opportunity
o Facilitation – recognizing where my eyes
o Ouches
• For everyone who shared – the best part of our conversations,
• Apology – immediately offered and accepted allowed us to deal with something right away.
• Jacob
o Notetaking
o Email is not the place

March 31st 4:30-6:30 ASC
March on Friday, 30. Palestinian – national land day. Open Jerusalem – to Christians and Palestinians. 6:00 Copley Square. Michelle will send this out.

Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - March 10, 2012

2012-04-23T16:38:51Z

Firuzehsv: Created page with " AOWG 3/10/12 Present: David, Alle, Greg , Matt, Seble, Michelle, Firuzeh, Angela, Alexander, April, Rachel, Anna, Andrea Facilitators: Allison and Clyde Agenda • Introducti..."

AOWG
3/10/12

Present: David, Alle, Greg , Matt, Seble, Michelle, Firuzeh, Angela, Alexander, April, Rachel, Anna, Andrea
Facilitators: Allison and Clyde

Agenda
• Introductions –
• Ways of Being
• Safe Spaces Presentation and Discussion
• Spokes Council of Anti-Oppression Groups
• Evaluation of Ways of Being

Introductions
The group members answered: Why are you here? What’s in your heart?

Ways of Being
We reviewed the ways of being and commented on some:
• Step Up/Step Back
• Active Listening
• Practice Both/And Thinking
• It’s OK to disagree
o There’s a lot trying to be said here – about disagreement, ways to resolve conflict
o Might we want to revisit this section to see if we want to clarify the various ideas
o Add – Agreement is not always necessary or the goal. Resolution doesn’t mean agreement.
o Add – Pay attention to dissenting voices or silent participants
• Progressive stack
• Take 30 seconds of silence for people to think every 20 minutes
• Use of hand signals is OK and be willing to explore cultural differences in styles of communication
• Practice diversity of structuring/facilitation for different learning styles
• Strive for diversity (bouquet) of facilitators and use a process observer
o A process observer (not facilitator)is someone designated to purely watch for process during a meeting – can be watching for coalitions, anxiety
• Practice giving appreciations at the end of meetings
Consider adding – use Preferred Gender Pronouns (e.g. they/them/their)

Safer Spaces
Objective of this conversation :
Read the statement of Commitment to Challenge Oppression.
Been going to different meetings of other working groups and explore ways of working with them in the spirit of co-creation vs. trying to get them

History
• a group from OWS since Nov. They are the people who wrote this document plus a google group on line. We found it compelling and brought it to GA, where it was agreed upon XXXXXX. Sexual survivor and support informs the sentiment around transforming cycles of abuse. Dewey Sq. had a safety team and Anna was involved with doing safety. A month into living DS – resurrected Mediation WG which existed 4 days into occupation and then abandoned. How to address harm within the community –without saying go away and don’t come back. Changed from mediation to community wellness because disingenuous to call it mediation. Did a fair amount of mediation between 10pm and 2am. A small group remained engaged with this. After eviction, not much of a lull before picking up work again.
• Post Dewey, needed to field safety questions answering to certain things and didn’t even have a safety team. Wanted to evolve beyond notion of safety – people needing to be protected from one another. Wanted to move towards concept of space, values and principles. For many of us come from personal experiences about feeling unsafe in certain spaces. So this stuff is personal.
So this proposal came after the good neighbor agreement and there was a split. There was an effort to make this space safer. There was a learning experience of trying to mediate between different
Question: Was it originally more focused in terms of non-violent spaces?
What happened in DS, one of the first things we did was Good Neighbor Agreement – more operational.

Vocabulary is more geared towards oppression. How did that evolve?
Difference bet GN agreement is that we’re not living together. Now it’s about other contexts – GA’s and beyond. We need to affirm some community values. Started with this particular set….issues that are not recognized or articulate enough in the movement. This comes first when trying to agree what the mission is in terms of regulating or moving towards a safe space.
Additional perspective – why the transformation – in the chaotic or troubling stuff at DS, the attempts to deal with it were very different. Watched the attempt of intervention lacked awareness or sensitivity around issue of oppression with respect to people of color or gender….growing awareness of ways that anti-oppression needed to be brought to everything.
Admire you for continuing to digest these issues and making it more applicable to the stuff that is happening in OB currently.
Have some thoughts: As I understand oppression, race, class, heteropatriarchy and these arise historically and perpetuated because they recruit next generation to their system. They came about violently and are perpetuated violently. We through every piece of our skin is racist, classist and ….when I read this I read …no analysis of systems of oppression. How we internalize the power of rules and being ruled and how we bring it into OB. Communities designates spokespeople. If POC sends someone to the GA, the Women’s’ Caucus can …it’s very individualistic. Doesn’t scream out about the systems of oppression.
Some of the energy is more than collaboration – merging forces, bringing wisdom, how to merge some of the energy …this group has gone through significant change. There should be space for a new form possibly to come about.
Nothing in this statement about systems of oppression – no analysis about the structural nature of this. Part of way we envision the group is about learning about this stuff by going to Decolonize and AOWG and learn, amplify these conversation in other spaces – GA – so we can guide them, someone else would have to do this….First step of this is to be nice to one another.
There is no definition of oppression in this thing. Made a commitment to this at GA. How to do power analysis and historical system s of oppression? Not with a group that has already agreed that these systems exist, but with groups like GA
GA is an oppressive space. Very difficult to change this…when bring proposals to GA – wouldn’t pass….had discussion about what it meant to …this was questioned in the space of GA. How do we get space to have conversation about analysis at GA’s? Don’t even know if that is possible in current process of GA.
Ways of Being is no way to dismantle systems of oppression. Some people have experience doing these kinds of
We’re all beginners – only way to do this is through it. Doing it in different locations. Will take a group that is committed to this and merging energies.
GN Agreement - Histories of Now- a collection of artists in Cairo, symposium dealt with global occupy movement in esoteric c and concrete ways. Both GN and this document are docs of now …what can we take on as a community at this moment? Some folks are probably further along than some of us here…if GA structurally inhibits us to take steps forward how do we deal with that? If this is all that we can say now …continually being able to commit to more as a community?
While see the challenge of what document doesn’t have, stand behind it. I’m beginning to think that we’re going to find ways to have political discussions. In the last 3 weeks, the amazing influence that anarchy has on Occupy movement. I have no experience with it on the ground. On the surface, the things that I hear about anarchism and actions seem almost antithetical to doing anti-oppression work. In the way I’ve been mentored by people of color….this is the cultural rub of politics that we’ll have to find way to talk about. There are many people making decisions being made by folks who don’t hold anti-oppression lens.
Structure of GA – people are realizing that it’s lacking…doesn’t it mean the GA needs to change or does it mean that we need fewer …started by 2 hr talking about ways of GA within GA’s. Is this happening still? There’s a catch 22 coming up in different ways – that when we come into this space going over ways of being. They’re not stated as I statements. By reviewing them, we’re inherently stating this is way we’ll be together and agreeing to them, our expectations. Don’t know purpose of this document, for those who weren’t there, how will they know? Unless we commit to continuing this as a conversation.

We are committed to making sure that every person who enters an OB space, it becomes something everyone becomes proud of. We would like language to be something, to be the way we do things. Diversity of Tactics and Autonomy Statement is something like this. Committed to being there on a regular basis. Did a process workshop 2 weeks before the agreement to own the space. Talking about doing a teach-in at a GA about this.

Important point – biggest Good Neighbor Agreement – copied it …difference between that and Diversity of Tactics and Autonomy – the sweater fits….knitting a sweater around a person having only a pile of yarn. How to help people own the language rather than know a catechism. How to own the work?

How do we make this real? Safer Spaces committed to making this consciousness is real in the movement. Know that this is what AOWG also believes. It’s about a diversity of tactics. Keep bringing proposal to the GA to get 2 hrs at GA to talk about white supremacy and create a curriculum that we can insert into GA process.
Believe in spiral form of learning…let it continue to sink into consciousness. Would like to see groups merge – Safer Spaces, Community Wellness, AOWG.....this group needs to recreate itself. Group needs to meet fewer times a month (twice) and from 3-5 on Saturdays.
Where it is and where it wants to go.
Want to hear everyone – round stack.

Was at the GA the other night. This is the first stage. GA is a very hard space to bring proposals. It’s almost impossible to start an anti-oppression conversation in the GA.
How do we shift mindsets and consciousness? To shift people’s understanding of the world as we see it. It’s the hardest work to do!!! Will require lots of different approaches. Figuring out how to do this is part of the work of the AWOG. How do we bring a conversation about anti-oppression to the GA? Maybe we need to re-think assumptions that it can’t work in the GA structure
There is a parallel conversation going on with POC. Look at white supremacy works within OB. A feeling that GA needs to be – form of democracy doesn’t work for POC, tends to alienate …come and join us in this form of democracy and we’ll be a multi-cultural way. Different proposals are being discussed. Making sure that facilitation is diverse. Leadership groups consciously include people of color. One thing that comes up – with white allies …cultural shift and question of accountability. Notion of OB supposed to speaking for folks not on WS, needs to be in relationship with those not on WS – people in Roxbury and trade unions. Taking wisdom …steps to be taken…the now and tomorrow. Question of opportunities – education of systems of oppression. Violence that doesn’t always mean clubs- also means coalitions, passive aggression, talking people down. Systems that exclude people always.

If power analysis is too sophisticated, then we can educate there. Could talk about ways people are gender minorities are excluded in practice of GA. Through talking about it because you want to be more inclusive. And then talk about accountability –a lot of things done in name of wider community (MBTA). Accountability is what POC is biggest weakness the way that proposals are developed, in isolation of community itself. There are things GA can do now and then can do more.
Nothing ever changes unless you make a demand. Have to yell and scream to get it to come down. Can’t get folks who are resisting that this is a better way. That this is in the best interest of OB. Resistance to changing to culture of inclusion and relationship. Needs a concerted effort by a larger group of people. Not happening with small groups going to GA.
Absolute worst conversation to bring to GA – that’s the exactly way to turn GA into a nightmare. Not a place you want to be in.
Might people get defensive if using anti-oppression….rather use inclusive. Frame it positively, e.g. We don’t run in the classroom. We walk in the classroom. We run outside.
There is an element of resistance to change ….there has to be this level of work be done in parallel. There is some kind of motivation that is internalized. When a law gets imposed upon people, those who disagree, their resistance goes underground. There is no process of raising their consciousness while changing the cultural norms. Can’t talk about long enough about accountability. Part of scariest thing for white people to get a hold of notion to accountability. Autonomous action doesn’t have point of reference with accountability. How do they sabotage work of building solidarity? Example: International Women’s Day Celebration the other night. They’ve been having a difficult time. Went to support the caucus. Presentation was so was white, middle-class issues – from suffrage to body images today. There is an educational value. How do we hold a WG accountable?

All has to do with accountability – way we frame things when educating. I like it when you do this vs. you don’t do this. How do we hold a WG accountable “to our higher knowledge”? Want to find a way of saying – “wouldn’t it be wonderful if..” What/who are we accountable to? Not to a WG. For each individual to themselves. How to have concepts of right and wrong and not be religious about it? New statement trying to provide a new space from which to have this conversation …to be accountable to some greater statement of way to be in the world.
Where this comes from? Word that is popping up is discipline….not sure what GA committed itself? How do we change? No one knows. How do we change habits? If want to meditate, teacher won’t take you on if you don’t commit to discipline about it? The cynical part of me will say – negative space in GA. There was a desperate energy to do something. This is a values statement. Every once in a while there….what’s missing about it a discipline around it. Way we committed to in this group –review ways of being at every meeting. Piece we need to figure out what discipline looks like ….falls apart around boundaries. Until we figure this out- space won’t feel safe. Need to figure out how to get proposals from groups vs. individuals. Don’t feel worked out enough to process at GA’s or representing too few. Instead, proposals get vetted in spokes councils……Groups that represent marginalized groups come together to shape proposals to bring to GA, which will
Inability to have conversations about violence – it could be of significance to have a well facilitated conversation about violence without the goal being that we agree on anything.
Our commitment to begin to do this work doesn’t sound like a commitment – that you don’t trust that the GA hasn’t done the work and that we are committed to. How am I going to take create a statement with people who don’t feel safe coming to GA? I have a lot to learn about oppression and commit to learn about. This is not just a piece of paper. This has a lot value to it. A lot of discussion about it. But not a lot of resistance. People waiting to become allies and waiting to do this work. Not illegitimate because it was worked on for a month with a lot of groups – medics, facilitation, anti-oppression, …..first step in creation of statement of purpose. This means doing a lot of work. I don’t think we can become something together if you don’t trust that I am serious and am holding myself accountable to this statement.

Take a 30 seconds. Remind ourselves to speak in the “I”
Feel safer having this conversation in affinity groups.
Individuals expressed experiences with bringing value statements with the intention of deepening the work not with the intention of shutting this down. To deepen the work of AOWG and Safer Spaces. Not an argument that needs to be resolved. Hold ourselves how to best move GA shift. In my experience, GA will need to review these commitments.
I see the amazing amount of work done and am impressed by it. Not saying that it was not legitimate and …when doing this work at GA, and all the people in OB, not just the people in the room. You have taken a great amount of commitment of talking to people – not a personal criticism. What I’ve experienced at group level at GA, when we get in larger group setting , don’t see that we’ve found a way to …..great start. I am wondering what the steps are to make it a discipline within the GA. Unless it’s actualized discipline on a practical basis. Looking at how to change a culture is what we’re talking about. Don’t know what the GA committed to exactly.

Need to figure out how work continues. The Declaration that have passed, engaging the GA –amend declaration. Autonomy and accountability – need to engage change in new terms that are more self-reflexive vs. to another group or authority. That aspect within OB of educating others while educating ourselves – about race - that has frustrated people with background their effort s to the same level. In terms of the tone with which we bring these values forward. This is the conversation. This is where autonomy and accountability come into play.
Some history has been sitting in this room exemplified in that exchange. There is history in Facilitator’s WG, Safer Spaces and AOWG in the room.
Really hard to have process person step out of process role and when facilitators step out of roles. Loving what you’re doing. Appreciating spiral learning – from paper to action. When we put ourselves into so many meetings there is a lot of tiredness that goes with this. With the idealism there is cynicism.

Appreciations
Rachel: For idealism and cynicism – amazing to me that 5 mos. is long enough to cycle through idealism and cynicism. One of wonderful things of having extra maturity, we gain appreciation of appreciating many different energies and ways of doing this work.
Michelle: For Anna for doing all the work of bringing this to the GA and committing to the work.
Angela: For Andrea for taking notes. Alli –remain willing in your insistence that you put out your preferred pronouns.

Ways of Being
• Practice giving appreciations at the end of meetings
o We did some
• Strive for diversity (bouquet) of facilitators and use a process observer
• Practice diversity of structuring/facilitation for different learning styles
• Use of hand signals is OK and be willing to explore cultural differences in styles of communication
o We used some
• Take 30 seconds of silence for people to think every 20 minutes
• Progressive stack
o not conscious choice about this, be explicit about progressive
• It’s OK to disagree
o
• Practice Both/And Thinking
• Active Listening
o
• Step Up/Step Back
o middling

Questions?
• Challenge for me to be facilitator and relinquish participation – how do facilitators facilitate and participate?

Process suggestion – decision to stay longer until 8:40.
Why people who have been dedicated to this group have left?
Holding the space is important next week. Greg will facilitate.
What is the agenda?
• Work going forward
• Further discussion of one of ways of being
• Time and frequency of meetings

Anti-Oppression

2012-04-23T16:33:33Z

Firuzehsv:

= Vision Statement =

Our [[Anti-Oppression/Vision|vision]] is to build a <ins>[[Anti-Oppression/Vision: Beloved Community|Beloved Community]]</ins> that constantly pursues (aspires to) [http://aqueductpress.blogspot.com/2010/04/collective-liberation-alternative-to.html collective liberation] by progressively eliminating and challenging systems of internal, interpersonal and cultural oppression, that are manifested in race, class, gender, sexual identity, and physical, cultural and religious domination.

We envision that we can accomplish this by employing an <ins>[[Anti-Oppression/Vision: Intergenerational|intergenerational]]</ins>, inclusive and <ins>[[Anti-Oppression/Vision: Intersectional|intersectional]]</ins> practice that holds its members accountable to a set of liberatory [http://www.bostoncoop.net/%7Ebalm/training/principles_antioppress.pdf anti-oppressive values]. Our vision is for the practices learned and applied in our community [this working group] to become a transformative catalyst agent for the rest of the occupy movement and our communities at large.

= Working Group Info =

== ==

== Meetings ==

Weekly group meetings held every Saturday, 4:30 - 6:30p at the Arlington Street Church, 351 Arlington St. (corner of Arlington and Boylston Sts.) at the Arlington St. T Stop (Green Line). See [http://www.occupyboston.org/%7C Occupy Boston Calendar] for most accurate information.

==== Meeting Minutes ====

*April 7, 2012: 4:30 pm, Arlington St Church. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - April 7, 2012]]
*March 24, 2012: 5:30 pm, Arlington St Church. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - March 24, 2012]]
*March 10, 2012: 5:30 pm, Arlington St Church. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - March 10, 2012]]
*January 21, 2012: 5:30 pm, Arlington St Church. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - January 21, 2012]]
*January 7, 2012: 5:30 pm, Arlington St Church. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - January 7, 2012]]
*December 28, 2011: 5:30 pm, Arlington St Church. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - December 28, 2011]]
*December 3, 2011: 5:30 pm, Community Change. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - December 3, 2011]]
*November 26, 2011: 5:30pm, Encuentro5. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - November 26, 2011]]
*November 12, 2011: 5pm, Encuentro5. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - November 12, 2011]]
*November 5, 2011: 5pm, Encuentro5. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - November 5, 2011]]
*October 30, 2011: Met at Community Change. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - October 30, 2011]].
*October 23, 2011: Met at Community Church Boston. [[Anti-Oppression Meeting Minutes - October 23, 2011]].
*October 13, 2011: The first anti-oppression working group meeting was held Thursday, October 13, at 6 PM.
*October 9, 2011: The Outreach committee met with Cynthia Peters to discuss issues that arise while trying to engage with the community at large. Ideas from this meeting generated a new anti-oppression working group. Notes from the meeting can be found here: [[Anti-Oppression Minutes CP Teach-in]].

== Proposals ==

Octber 8, 2011: The Occupy Boston General Assembly passes proposal to hold an anti-racism workshop at a General Assembly (held on Oct 16, 2011 - see below.)

== Workshops ==

*October 16, 2011: Anti-Oppression Workshop held during 7pm GA.
**Agenda: [[Anti-Oppression Workshop Agenda - October 16, 2011]]
**Notes: [[Anti-Oppression Workshop Notes - October 16, 2011]]
**Participant comments: [[Anti-Oppression Workshop Participant Feedback - October 16, 2011]]

== Contact ==

Google Group: [http://groups.google.com/group/check_your_privilege_ob check_your_privilege_ob]

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 link to how to de-escalate encounters with law enforcement officials: [[Safety - Law Enforcement]]

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''Based on: [http://occupyboston.wikispaces.com/Anti-Oppression Anti-Oppression at wikispaces]''

 

[[Category:Speculations]] [[Category:Working groups|Anti-Oppression]]