Proposal Queue for GA Sunday 5/20

1) Proposal To Endorse Occupy Oakland Media Committee Purpose Statement

2) Proposal for Occupy Oakland to Ratify the proposal created by the National Gathering Working Group

3) Proposal to Endorse Occupy Anti-War Working Group resolution to  END to the militarization and violence of the police, FBI, homeland security, and any other ‘security’ force

4) Proposal to denounce the physical attack on the Revolution Books table at OGP On May Day

5) Proposal for a march against stay away orders and state repression toward Occupy Oakland

1) Proposal To Endorse Occupy Oakland Media Committee Purpose Statement

OCCUPY OAKLAND MEDIA COMMITTEE PURPOSE STATEMENT

The  Occupy Oakland Media Committee (OOMC) is a committee of Occupy Oakland*  (OO) that makes use of the press, social media, multimedia, and other  forms of media to connect with supporters by promoting actions events,  workshops, nurturing political dialogue. The OOMC will develop and  adhere to policies regarding the following responsibilities:

• Connecting  outside press inquiries to current and relevant sources of information –  rotating “spokespersons,” contacts within committees, or document  archives – primarily within OO but also within the greater Occupy  movement.

• Working  with other committees to write, edit, and distribute press releases to  the media, Occupy journalists, and community organizations of interest.

• Keep a list of press contacts and community organizations and other outreach resources.

• Facilitating or giving aid to other committees in calling press conferences.

• Using the official OO versions of social media platforms to support our mission. See policies here.

• Scouring  media sources for journalism positively covering OO activities.  Circulating those stories on to our supporters via social media, email,  etc.

• Producing media trainings and skill shares for OO.

• Coordinating  with the Web Committee to ensure that the OO website is serving the  movement’s informational and media needs, for example making sure that  events are updated and accessible on the website.

The  OOMC will develop relationships with members of the press, a general  understanding (and evaluations) of the media outlets and reporters that  cover OO, and lists of resources (human or technological) for media  dissemination. The OOMC will interact with alternative and mainstream  media outlets, including independent and Occupy journalists. Media  committee members will adhere to the resolutions of the General Assembly  (GA) resolutions, especially those relevant to the Media Committee. The  OOMC will not generate its own opinionated content or maintain  (web/technical/media) resources separate from official Occupy Oakland  resources.

2) Proposal for Occupy Oakland to Ratify the proposal created by the National Gathering Working Group

On January 7, 2012, the Philadelphia General Assembly came to consensus  on a proposal from the Philadelphia Committee of Correspondence to form a  national working group dedicated to conceiving of, and implementing a  strategy towards, a National Gathering of the Occupy Movement.

This National Gathering Working Group (NGWG) has met seven times via  conference call with people from across the country using the  InterOccupy system to debate the merits and discuss the logistics of  convening a mass convergence of the Movement in one place at one time.  Participants have included Occupy activists from Sacramento,  Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Asheville, Missoula, Phoenix, Las Vegas, New  York City, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Palo Alto,  Denver, DC, Oakland, Albany, Schenectady, Delaware, Alabama, Chicago,  Tampa, San Francisco, Boston, New Hampshire, and Kalamazoo, as well as  Canada.

After several weeks discussing several locations, dates, and purposes we  would like to submit the following proposal to General Assemblies  across the Occupy Movement for general ratification:

We, the National Gathering Working Group (NGWG), propose a National  Gathering of the Occupy Movement on July 4, 2012 in Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania at Independence Mall in order to collectively craft a  Vision for a Democratic Future. We further propose that our convergence  begin on June 30, 2012 for four days of community and Movement building  exercises including speakers, teach-ins, and free-flowing open  discussion at a location to be determined by the Philadelphia General  Assembly.

To facilitate the visioning process we also propose the use of the  attached “National Gathering Visioning Process Proposal” which utilizes a  small network model of communication to organically produce a vision  statement of all those in attendance. We also encourage the creation of  local or national processes by which movement resources could be  directed towards funding travel for active movement participants who  otherwise would not be able to attend. We fully understand that no  single gathering can be representative of our entire movement, but we  cannot ignore the value derived from face-to-face contact. We recognize  that attending in person will be challenging or impossible for many, so  we also commit to pursuing an online component through which anyone can  participate via the Internet.

In keeping with principles of the Occupy Movement, the NGWG will  continue planning this gathering only if this proposal is ratified by a  preponderance of General Assemblies from across the Movement. We are  committed to operating in an open, inclusive, and transparent way.  Therefore, all planning will be done via direct democratic conference  calls through the InterOccupy system.

We convene every Tuesday at 9PM EST/6 PM PST.

All are welcome to participate. We endeavor to convene an historic  gathering that will require a great deal of organization, so we invite  participants from every Assembly to join us in the planning and  facilitation of this effort. We have included a copy of the process  proposal that outlines how to effectively and efficiently produce a  collectively written document. By utilizing this small network,  consensus-based model, we will work together to produce a vision for the  future. We will also prove, through the entire process leading up to  July 4th, that our movement is capable of coordinating mass action and  collaborating on a broad scale, while still holding fast to our  principles. In many ways, the process is more important than the  gathering itself. This Movement will always live primarily at the local  level, but every great Movement should have the chance to gather en  masse as a demonstration of solidarity and strength. A National  Gathering of the movement will provide such a demonstration. At this  pivotal stage in human history, we feel we owe nothing less than a  beautiful expression of our collective will to an anxious world grasping  for reasons to hope again.

Once your Assembly has considered this proposal please email your decision to info@occupynationalgathering.com. For media purposes please feel free to utilize @OccupyNG and #NATGAT for social media coordination.

Updates will be posted to InterOccupy.org and OccupyNationalGathering.com.

-The National Gathering Working Group

3/13/2012

3) Proposal to Endorse Occupy Anti-War Working Group resolution to  END to the militarization and violence of the police, FBI, homeland security, and any other ‘security’ force

Because the Oakland police and all their allies, including various branches of ‘security’ and military are the MOST violent presence on the streets of Oakland and all cities today;

We severely object to and demand the immediate END to the militarization and violence of the police, FBI, homeland security, and any other ‘security’ force called into harm unarmed civilians of our cities

Including, but not limited to:

• IMMEDIATELY scrapping the Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) bought & paid for by U.S. tax dollars thru ‘Homeland’ ‘Security’, residing with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department – and all other such “vehicles” brought in to terrorize and stifle the public, including but not limited to those exercising Constitutional rights and responsibilities of protest and resistance
•  IMMEDIATELY identify any DRONES existing and/or allowed in the Bay Area airspace; and should none exist IMMEDIATELY proclaim that such UAV’s are forbidden in our airspace and the entire police forces in California
•  IMMEDIATELY disarming police including removing shields, all weapons including but not limited to so-called “non-lethal” weapons of tear gas, tasers, flash grenades; guns, batons, steel-toed boots
• ELIMINATING the police practices of trying to intimidate and silence protestors with a ridiculous presence of number & kinds of police (sometimes outnumbering demonstrators), handcuffs, any number of various and ugly vehicles of bullying, as well as attempting to control and direct expressions of resistance instead of insuring the rights of the people to protest and hold our government accountable.
• ELIMINATING the current practice of calling up all sorts of police from various outlaying cities and counties, FBI, ‘homeland’ ‘security’, private police, state and BART police, etc.

We recommend to anti-war activists, anti-military prison industrial complex activists, occupy folks, folks concerned with the continued and escalated militarization of our cities, country, and world, that we form a working group to address these violent practices, to propose actions against the county of Alameda, ‘Homeland’ ‘Security’, local city councils and police departments to accomplish the above and more.

4) Proposal to denounce the physical attack on the Revolution Books table at OGP On May Day

“Occupy  Oakland denounces the physical attack carried out by a few individuals  on the Revolution Books table at Oscar Grant Plaza on May Day. Such  actions only aid the system’s agents of repression in their efforts to  isolate, divide, and destroy revolutionary organizations, the Occupy  movement, and the broader movements of resistance. We stand for spirit  of principled unity against this oppressive system. And we stand for a  spirit of serious engagement, principled dialogue and debate over  political differences within our movement.”