Proposal: Kittens Action
This is a mass action idea, so the kind of movement we are building reflects the kind of world we want to live in. Where everyone is empowered to speak for themselves. Where decisions are made based on dialog & power with, not domination & power over. Where people break the walls of fear and ignorance to build solidarity across differences. And where the 99% are talking about the history we’re making together.
Here is the mass action idea (we call it the kittens action because kittens are not herd animals they can’t be herded or corralled like sheep): Imagine that thousands of us instead of only marching around on a route where most of the community cannot see or interact with us, we form teams & affinity groups–maybe 2 to 5 people each–and then we fan out around the city, in front of every supermarket, at every gas station and park, on the buslines & the BART stations, at the cafes & shops, at the banks and government offices, and down at the DMV. We talk with people about the movement–surveys on how they want the Occupy movement to grow, leaflets for the port shutdown, street theater, chalking, stickers, & buttons, debates on the street corners.
Then thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people in Oakland will be talking about the movement that day. And thinking about how they relate to the movement. Because the movement will not be a spectacle–just another show on TV. The movement will be on the street corners asking them to hear and to be heard, inviting them to make history with us. After a few hours we reconverge for a celebration rally at Oscar Grant Plaza. We share our stories, celebrate our action, and build a stronger movement.
Therefore, we propose that as a mass action on Saturday, December 10th, we take the movement to the people and do the “kittens action”. We will converge at Oscar Grant Plaza at 1 pm, form teams or affinity groups people, do mini-trainings and share materials–surveys, flyers, posters, chalk, scripts, etc.–choose neighborhoods, and then fan out around the city, to engage the community in thinking and talking together about the realities we share and the future we want and the movement we’re building. Then we will reconverge at the Plaza at 5 pm to share our stories and insights, and hold a celebration rally.
Affinity groups and teams are autonomous in what materials they want to use, but collectively we will especially focus on 2 things: 1) getting the word out about the West Coast Port shutdown and 2) getting feedback from the people of Oakland about how the Occupy movement can be stronger and more inclusive for them. For the second purpose we will use a simple survey with the following questions:
1. What do you think about the Occupy movement?
2. Have you been involved in any Occupy-related events or activities?
3. How can it be more effective or inclusive?
4. What would you like to do to contribute to a stronger movement?
we’ve actually passed a kittens’ action proposal before, and pulled it off with huge participation from many, many different kinds of people. it was fun…great way to get to know folks and to work together intensely for a focused period of time.
the guy who first presented it is absolutely brilliant. he pretty much set the bar for how proposals should be written and shared with a large group of people.
Did this pass? If so, I’d be glad to come back for this.
I think this is a brilliant idea. I originally clicked through to view this expecting to be confronted with a well intentioned but tactically impractical action. Instead I see an action that essentially defeats the military style crowd control of OPD. It also increase visibility without the filter of the media. And it has the possibility of expanding us into the local community in a direct friendly way. This is the kind of thinking and energy we need to cultivate. This is great on so many levels. Whomever wrote this I am going to start stalking you and collecting your hair and nail clippings for a scrap book. (joke_okay! :P)
I would love to see some organization around bridging language barriers for this as well, so we aren’t imposing a bunch of english language rhetoric on an Asian or Latino neighborhood. Pass this shit and form a committee (in the eves please?) I am so down.