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<DIV> </DIV>Friends,<BR><BR>The next general assembly meeting for the
Western Mass Social Forum will be this coming Sunday, the 21st. We'll meet
at 3:00 p.m. at El Mercado, 413 Main Street, in Holyoke. I'll attach the minutes
of the Jan. 7th meeting in case you missed them. The agenda for Sunday will
include the following:<BR><BR>-what we want to accomplish in the April
event-goals<BR>-how much to scale down the 3-day event-one or two days<BR>-work
in small groups: publicity, logistics (space, transportation, food, etc.),
fundraising (for April and for sending a representative group to Atlanta in
June), program/tracks, coordination)<BR>-next small group meeting date<BR>-next
general assembly meeting date<BR><BR>The meeting will be from 3:00 to 5:30.
Bring easy to eat snacks that people can access before and during the meeting.
As you know we were slow getting started last time, so let's try to start on
time. Having a full 2 hours to meet is very important.<BR><BR>Let me know by
Friday if you need childcare, interpreter, or transportation. I look forward to
seeing you on Sunday.<BR><BR>Doug<BR><BR>Western Mass Social Forum<BR>El
Mercado, Holyoke<BR>January 7, 2007<BR><BR>After a round of introductions we
discussed the statement:<BR><BR>The nature of a Social Forum is to explore
alternatives to systems that oppress people. In order for the Social Forum
to be effective, those who are oppressed need to be present.<BR><BR>There were
comments that indicated that we all might have different meanings for
"oppressed," but there was general agreement that we wanted a representative
group to plan and come to the forum. Thoughts about getting that representative
group:<BR>. Send out agendas in hard copy; not everyone has email.<BR>.
Language: "oppressed" groups could be a problem; people have different
educational backgrounds.<BR>. Take time to contemplate the agenda presented for
the meeting and negotiate changes.<BR>. Refer to the principles of the WSF in
terms of representation is desired. Don't start over and try to define
this.<BR>. Need to be practical and not get bogged down. Leadership should keep
it practical.<BR>. Start with the premise that we are allies; we are here
because we have an idea in common.<BR><BR>Comments on the proposed conflict
resolution committee:<BR>. Test assumptions.<BR>. Complete transparency<BR>.
Learn from our experience<BR>. Procedure: if there is conflict in the meeting,
one alternative is to ask people to take it outside the meeting. Parties in
conflict can also speak to each other directly, preferably outside the meeting.
It can be helpful to have a third party guide the communication between two
parties who are in conflict.<BR>. People willing to serve as a CR committee:
Eduardo, Teeom Williams (nominated by Eduardo), Remy Fernandez-O'Brien,
Doug.<BR><BR>Doug Renick went over the current structure and process of the
forum organization. This was an informational piece. It was acknowledged that if
we scale back the scope of what we do in April, we may not need core groups for
the six tracks. The Task groups (Coordinating Committee/Outreach,
Tracks/Program, Logistics, Publicity, Fundraising/Outreach and Conflict
Resolution) could become the important working groups.<BR><BR>We discussed a
proposal for scaling back the April event, which was presented by Emily Kawano.
<BR><BR>Proposal Background:<BR>- Organizing for the social forum is an ongoing
process of building relationships and trust, learning from each other,
mobilization, networking, sharing, building trust and working
relationships.<BR>- Given that April is coming up fast, it will be a real
challenge to organize a three day event on the scale that we've been talking
about and in the way we all want to do it.<BR>- We are starting somewhat afresh
in strategizing and moving on outreach, especially on the race and class front.
To do this right will take time - for example going to board or membership
meetings can require a month or two of lead time. Building relationships takes
time.<BR> - In particular, if we are serious about enabling the
participation of poor people, people of color, and immigrants, especially from
Holyoke and Springfield we need to be able to deliver on things such as
childcare, transportation, translation, and food. At the moment we have no
financial resources.<BR> - Originally we had planned on having a
celebration/dance for Saturday night but the big spaces (Student Union ballroom
and Campus Center auditorium) at UMass are not available.<BR><BR>Proposal:<BR>-
Scale back to a one day social forum. This would significantly ease the
transportation, childcare, translation and food burden.<BR>- Increase our focus
on organizing and raising resources to bring a contingent from W. Mass. to the
U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, June 27-July 1. <BR>- Use the inspiration, energy
and experience coming out of participation in the U.S. Social Forum to organize
a full fledged social forum in W. Mass. Most local social forums have emerged
this way.<BR><BR>Comments on the Proposal:<BR>. Do we know what the cost for one
day would be? I agree with scaling back to one day.<BR>. What will it look
like?<BR>. Given the time frame one day is more reasonable.<BR>. I agree with
one day. Link locally. Maybe not have tracks. We can do it for very little
money and have Food Not Bombs serve the food for next to nothing.<BR>. One day
is not enough. There is strength in unity. Who are the people who will come?
Local groups can organize transportation. Two days is best-Saturday and Sunday
with an early cultural event. Do as a rehearsal. We have Herter Hall for the
whole weekend beginning at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.<BR>. How much responsibility are
we taking on? Think about the U. Mass space. We could invite organizations to
use the space for their organizational purposes (and then join the
forum?).<BR><BR>We did not agree on exactly how long the April forum should
be-one or two days. That will happen in the next meeting. We did agree to scale
down the event, to focus on the long term effort of building a movement and to
send a representative group to Atlanta with our support. We should see this is
the first act of the play.<BR><BR>Next meeting is on January 21st, El Mercado,
3:00 to 6:00 with food, childcare and possibly translation. The Coordinating
Committee will be responsible for the agenda since we didn't on anyone else
doing it. Everyone is responsible for outreach and let's reach out as broadly as
possible. Hopefully, small groups will begin their work in the next
meeting.<BR><BR>Thanks: Eduardo (for the space), Maya/Maurice/Doug (for agenda
and facilitation), Maya (for overseeing the food), Emily K. (for fleshing out
the proposal).<BR><BR>Notes by Doug Renick<BR><BR><BR></BODY></HTML>