16 people present Sean- facilitator Monica- note taker
National Gathering Report
Maria
Early on in the event Anarchist and young folks were thrown under the bus by more conservative occupiers. The event itself was kicked out of the National Independence Mall and then also the Washington Square park. Eventually they moved to another park Franklin Square and were issued a permit.
Nat-Gat and Occupy Philly were hosts. Our first evening there were around 100-150 people present.
Inter-Occupy had a greeting table set up. Many people from other occupy movements were present. Having organizations identified like Code Pink or Veteran’s for Peace allows for easy interactions but meeting individual folks without a specific group was a little harder but we had many deeper connections.
Amalia spoke on issues of decolonization. She was unsure of how people were receiving what she was saying but in the end had a standing ovation. Afterwards people really wanted to ask questions and talk. At the workshop that followed there were around 25 people who attended from many different cities. We had lots of good dialogue.
After the workshop Amalia was asked to speak at the Mumia Abu Jamal rally that was being held simultaneously on the Independence Mall in conjunction with Veteran’s for Peace.. There the speaker named Anthony Montiero was completely making the connections for people regarding colonization and racism.
We connected with people at Nat-Gat from Anti-racist LA, Occupy Atlanta, young women that were feeling cut out of the mostly male media group in Occupy Wall St. and who decided to start their own Feminist GA’s in communities around NYC. We were also contacted by a fellow form Occupy Philly who works for an organization called Promethius Radio. They sued the FCC and won the right to have access to many low powered radio frequencies. Their work is to help grassroots organizations start up radio stations in their communities,
Q: Was there a goal of Nat-Gat or an overall idea of it?
More to be determined about what will come out of it. There is a document, a declaration that was constructed through a visioning process.. We did not take part in that process.
However, the Radical Convergence held a GA that allowed anarchists, people of color, queer folks and women to have a voice by having a progressive stack. Because they took that space it allowed folks to practice anti-oppression politics as an active model and it proved very difficult for many white males to listen more and talk less. The Radical Convergence folks were humble and gracious in their demeanor. It was well attended and folks seemed hungry for dialogue.
The Quakers were awesome in their offer to open their space to the Nat-Gat and without their sanctuary space the event would have been a really different event. The Quakers here in Albuquerque were also major contributors for Amalia and Maria’s trip to Phila.
Announcements
The struggle in LA intensifies– people have been arrested and attacked for Chalking. The police responded with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Please remember the intensity of their movement there.
Danny Johnson, one of the Occupy Walkers has had his charges re-instated stemming from his NATO arrest. They are asking for help for his bond. He intends to turn himself in Chicago.
Holloman Air Force Base: main training center for drone pilots- they have approved policy of bombing weddings and funerals. They train pilots by following civilian vehicles here in NM. Request for future actions against this.
Petitions for raising the minimum wage are available. See Enrique.
Los Alamos National Lab: Monthly action held by Trinity House and Pax Christi will be held Monday July 16th at the labs. Carpool leaving from Presbyterian Hospital bus stop on Central and Andy plans to drive too…
Claude: volunteer at the Health Fair came to speak about his experience as business owner here in Albuquerque who recycles veggie oil for diesel converted engines. The organization ASTM)sets standards for commerce. It is also connected to the private oil industry. Using 100% veggie fuel must be approved by the ASTM organization. Claude is a voting member and when he asked to record the yearly meeting meetings asking for accountability, he was denied. Occupy San Francisco responded with 3 activists to show up and put pressure on this group… ASTM meets 2 times a year: Sunday December 2-6 2012 at Waterside Marriott; Norfolk, VA US. Also: Sunday June 23-27 2013 Fairmont QE Montreal; Montreal, QC, Canada.
Folks can join and together have a voice at the table for environmentally better fuel.
Medicine for the People by the People:
Lots of positive feedback
Q: is this going to happen again? There is a Medicine working group and there is discussion as to how to proceed. The desire to have another health fair exists… when or how is not decided. However, two other health Fairs are coming up: July 24th at UNM 12-4PM and July 26th at Hispanic Cultural Center 4-8PM. Both are opportunities to volunteer to serve the community again. For more info. Contact Monica or Sharon
Convergence Working Group:
Still looking for folks to join. Needs help for LANL, Sept 17th Occupy Wall Street 1 year anniversary, Oct. 1st anniversary here in ABQ.
ACTION IDEA BRAINSTORM
- August 26th action in Pine Ridge, SD called by Lakota Women- asking all women and mothers and those that can support them to return for further action against White Clay, NE liquid genocide.
- Holloman, NM drone pilot program
- Political Prisoners
- FBI Entrapment: Cleveland 5 Sept. 17th
- Pots and Pans Parade and Chalking
- Paul Chacho trial July 30th at Metro court
Sat. July 30th (early afternoon) The Underground Renaissance and the Peace and Justice Center is having an event to get more young people involved in social justice movements. (un) Occupy consensed to be a presence and to have sign making for LANL Action be our activity.
Friday Aug. 17th caravan : Movimiento por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad www.movimientoporlapaz.mx/
Started by poet Javier Cecilia, whose son was murdered by narco trafficers, as a way to fight the violence by both sides of the conflict and to stand up for the people who are most affected by the killings. They consider themselves a movement of victims. They are traveling here to bring attention to their movement here in the US. There has been NO media attention…They are expecting 120 people Friday evening to stay at Holy Family Church gymnasium and then are hoping to have a community gathering on Sat. There is a group meeting to help organize. They are looking for a place to hold Sat. events. Ilse and Andy have been participating in these planning sessions. Contact them for further info. What can (un)Occupy do to support? Food and presence? Rides? Beverages and desserts?
New Camp
Henry would like to re-energize efforts to have a new camp. This time perhaps a private empty lot. Try to improve it (gardens? Late in the season) Other idea is a building space and improve it (art space) Folks who wish to encamp bring a plan to the GA. Discuss again at next GA.
Hi, I was one o fthe organizers for NatGat and was delighted to stumble upon your report back regarding the national gathering. We had a debrief meeting where organizers from both natgat and the radical convergence participated to explore what we found inspiring as well as what needed improvement. video of the meeting is saved here:
http://www.livestream.com/occupyphiladelphia/video?clipId=pla_bcaa2c2c-a06c-4b68-b80a-22be42aa77ce
There is an annoying audio glitch at the start but forwarding a minute or two into the video the audio returns to normal.
We would love any additional observations regarding your experiences.
I was one of the crowd who listened to Amalia’s talk an also participated in the breakout group on decolonization etc that followed and loved both. [I was the one who asked if Amalia would speak at the MOVE/Mumia event nearby – thank you Amalia for squeezing it in. Both talks were very well received and among a number of attendees most memorable moments.]
At OP we have struggled since the first week of our encampment back in october with creating a space where both reformists and revolutionaries could both feel safe and welcome. fortunately it ended up that there was a lot of cross pollination between radcon and natgat and two of the organizers of radcon were also involved in organizing natgat but we continue to try to work on creating a space that is more welcoming and respectful of people on different places along the philosophical and political spectrums.
Despite having instituted a progressive stack from the beginning here we have greatly struggled with racial and privilege related issues from day one. Philadelphia is known as the most segregated city in the North. We have never come anywhere close to having demographics with OP that match the demographics of the city. A lot of white folks were first exposed to the idea of privilege through OP and we have since learned an awful lot and a lot of mindsets have been transformed. However we have yet to find a way to reach out to non-white communities and have only a handful of non white core participants in occupy here in our city. We have struggled to a lesser extent with gender imbalance but have found a woman centered woman facilitated GA a few months ago to have been one of our best attended and most successful meetings ever. I was unable to participate in the fem GA at NatGat due to holding down the info/welcome tent but it also seems to have gone very well. The organizers who bottom-lined natgat actually outnumbered males which was a wonderful thing to watch.
Anyway – I forwarded the link to your report back to the core organizers and workers of natgat and we would love any other feedback from participants!