Gentrification. Police. White supremacy. Heteronormativity. Islamaphobia. Diversity of tactics. Non violence. Respect for transgender people.
These topics, and many others, bring up a vast array of different emotions and thoughts for all of us.
This Thursday evening at 5, the events committee is hosting what will hopefully be the first of many Community Discussion Forums.
This idea was brought forth after many conversations with many people who all said the same thing: Before we can make decisions together, we need to understand each other.
The people in attendance will vote on a topic, and then participate in a moderated conversation that facilitates stepping up/stepping back, respect, and listening. Its not a debate. Its a dialogue.
This is an experiment and we would love for you to be a part of it. See you at the Plaza, this Thursday at 5PM.
Questions? Suggestions? Email: Events@occupyoakland.org
Great work all! A stand out issue to me is lack of representation from most of the 99% at GAs, while decisions are made at GA for all the 99%. I’ve been volunteering/involved with Occupy in Oakland for about 5 weeks, & also talking to/involved with Oakland Unified School District parents & teachers, ’60s activists, some progressive community leaders, faith community folks, north Oakland neighbors, mental health workers, retired people, etc. At camp I usually hear that we must keep fighting the police/City for our camp space, & often harsh judgement for other 99%ers for not camping or for not being 100% against police/government/negotiation, etc. From non campers (a lot more people) I hear a pulling back- criticism of obsessing on fighting w/police for camping space to the exclusion of (or minimal) development of other creative actions that many different kinds of people could get involved with or asking others how campers can help them with their issues or projects (like helping the woman & her family today who are being evicted! that’s great!), or how we can bring many community/grassroots/labor groups together for the Occupy Movement (they are there & want to work with us!) & together developing tactics/actions, not fully rejecting damage of property tactics, not respecting people’s choice/need to not camp or even march regularly. I love the camps & the idea of occupying visible meaningful space , & have been actively supporting the Oakland camp. But I want us to be more creative about this. In Vancouver (I think) they have a unique tactic: they don’t deal with police evictions “because [they] always stay one step ahead of them”, which I interpret to mean they secretly move somewhere else before police arrive. They are still occupying space but avoiding risk of police violence which more of the general public can relate to. How can the Occupy movement be both radical & inclusive of the general public? This is a historic opportunity, an opportunity for numbers. How can we maintain our inspiring awesome momentum as occupiers and unite with the 98% who want to continue to work together for our common goal to stop the 1% from occupying the rest of us?