[mgj-announce] MGJ meeting minutes - 12/14/2005

[basav at igc.org]

MGJ General Meeting
12/14/2005

A. Updates/Reportbacks

1. Meeting between MGJ and UFPJ
Three people from the national office of UFPJ were in DC, and scheduled a
meeting with us in response to the open letter we sent them. Matt, Nicole,
Oscar, and Basav represented MGJ. The discussion was mixed – on the
negative side, the response from UFPJ was very defensive, with them trying
to rationalize everything they did. But on the positive side, we: (a) were
very assertive and made it clear that we’re not taking back anything we
said in the letter, and (b) the very fact that they met with us, and were
respectful, shows that they’re being forced to take us seriously. They will
write a response to our letter, and we may need to respond to that as well.

2. Meeting with UFPJ and other groups on possible spring anti-war
mobilization
UFPJ had a meeting with a lot of other groups (AFL-CIO, Change to Win,
USLAW, NOW, et al.) on a possible anti-war mobilization in April or May.
Possible locations: New York City or DC.
Hope (representing 50 Years) requested that it not be in DC on April 22-23.
USLAW has issued their own call for an anti-war demo in April, and it’s not
clear if it’s intended to be a separate demonstration or merged with UFPJ
et al.’s demonstration.
What should we do if they call a demonstration on April 22-23 in Washington
DC in spite of our requests not to do so?
Strategize on it at the next meeting, including thinking of how to respond
if there’s a repeat of what happened in September. General sense of “This
time we don’t want to take it lying down.”

3. People’s Property Campaign rally and hearing
The People’s Property Campaign led by Empower DC demands that public
property (such as public school buildings that are no longer in use as
schools) be retained for public use, such as senior centers, youth
recreation centers, homeless shelters, etc. The city is now in the process
of designating them as “surplus” and selling them off. This is an important
campaign for us as MGJ to support – it connects us with community
activists, and it is a way to fight neoliberal economics (privatization of
land!) right here at home.
Rally on Wednesday 12/14 outside mayoral candidates’ forum, particularly
targeting Vincent Orange, who has been a leading force for sale of public
property. Drew 20-25 people, great energy.
Upcoming action:
Turn out to testify at City Council hearing on sale of public property!!!
Monday, Dec 19th 9 AM (TODAY!!!)
Wilson Bldg - 1350 Penn. Ave, NW
Call (202) 724-8191 to sign up 

4. Minutemen protest
The Minutemen (a racist group that targets immigrants) turned out to
disrupt the opening of a day laborer center in Herndon, Virginia on
Wednesday 12/14. They were harassing and intimidating the workers, taking
pictures of them, etc. They were outnumbered by counterdemonstrators, both
locals and people from Washington DC (including a few MGJers and their
friends). Counterdemonstration was quite effective, got OK media coverage.

B. Discussion: do we/don’t we want to do issue-based campaigns?

-Do we want to do issue-based campaigns at all?
-Is there an issue people want to work on?
-How does any other issue-based campaign work on Tax the Bank?

Responses:
•	Desire to do something tangible, with results.
•	Already have Tax the Bank; need to involve whole group in it better.
•	Concern about capacity.
•	Merge Popular Education and Direct Action Campaign (PEDAC) with issue
campaigns?
•	Does PEDAC have an action focus/result/outcome? Intentionally not –
addresses internal goals (public education, recruitment).
•	The only way to build MGJ is to be more powerful – build it and they will
come!

C. PEDAC Proposal

Before going into specifics of proposal, address the following questions:
-Do we want to do a new issue-based campaign?
-Do we want to do only Tax the Bank?
-Do we want to drop all issue-based campaigns?
Based on responses to these questions, it was determined that we do not
have the energy to take on a new issue-based campaign. Not because anyone
questions the political value of issue-based campaigns, particularly as
long as we also do public education/activities that address all of our
political concerns. The only reason to not take on an additional
issue-based campaign at the present moment is concerns about
capacity/critical mass in the group. We are open to re-evaluating in a few
months time to see if the group has built its capacity to the point that it
can take on a new campaign.

Original PEDAC proposal:
“That MGJ adopt a program of popular education and direct action over the
coming months to fulfill internal goals of outreach, education, and
fundraising. This would include: a series of popular education events
making local-global connections, a series of regular internal education
sessions; and a series of direct actions working in tandem with the
education series. As a deliberate, conscious effort to build MGJ’s base
through outreach to different communities in the DC area, this program
would run independently of other campaigns and programs, but be flexible
within its components to intersect with other campaigns.”

Concerns/Discussion:
Two (somewhat contradictory) concerns were expressed:
•	The proposal as stated lacks focus and is too nebulous. It needs to
incorporate more of a defined focus (for example, to focus the public
education on one of our four demands), to be effective and to lead to
something rather than to remain education for the sake of education.
•	The broad nature of the proposal is precisely where its strength lies –
our movement is known for its multi-issue nature, and a ‘focus” might
result in what some in MGJ have termed “issue alienation.” Also, a “focus”
on one issue feels contrived, because a meaningful discussion of any issue
has to inevitably draw upon other issues.

Final proposal:
To reconcile these divergent concerns, we decided to change the language
from “focus” to “framework” or “starting point,” which is fundamentally
different because it does not mean we focus on one issue to the exclusion
of others; rather, it means that a particular issue will be the hook or
starting point for the discussion, which will organically draw upon other
issues as well. 

Based on the above, the final proposal language is:
“That MGJ adopt a program of popular education and direct action over the
coming months to fulfill internal goals of outreach, education, and
fundraising. This would include: a series of popular education events
making local-global connections, a series of regular internal education
sessions; and a series of direct actions working in tandem with the
education series. The popular education events would have an overarching
framework of one issue, but have built-in flexibility to connect to other
issues whenever appropriate. As a deliberate, conscious effort to build
MGJ’s base through outreach to different communities in the DC area, this
program would run independently of other campaigns and programs, but be
flexible within its components to intersect with other campaigns.”

We decided that the framework for the popular education series would be
structural adjustment – but of course we won’t call it that!

Consensed!

D. Proposal to support fundraising for GPI
The DC Guerrilla Poetry Insurgency (GPI) wants letters of support from
other organizations for a grant application. We consensed to support them,
and signed a letter of support.

E. Next meeting facilitators: Matt and Catherine.


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