[mgj-discuss] MGJ Meeting Minutes, June 7th 2006

[Danny P]

Minutes, courtesy of Oscar.  Text formatting is a pain in the ass so I 
won't even try.  -Dan (a.k.a. Dialtone)

MGJ meeting notes

Reportbacks
Proposed South Korea . US FTA
  	Sunday . march beginning at World Bank with great percussion 
section and
  	Ending at Lafayette Park

          Tuesday . teach-in at NY Avenue Presbyterian Church with members
          of Korean delegation regarding specifics of FTA and strategies for
          movements

Wednesday . press conference at Cannon Office building; sam-bo 
il-bae march
  	Followed from Capitol West to Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street 
NW
  	Thursday . Office demonstration at Cargill (1101 15th Street Suite 
1000) with
  	Traditional funeral (for Cargill)
--Discussion followed relating to possible action(s) relating to 
corporations supporting
Korean/Malaysian FTA
--Sameer was chosen to speak for MGJ at a closing rally for the week.s 
anti-FTA actions on Friday June 9th at 4 PM (he did great!)
--IFC . 50th Anniversary (July 24th)
    -had been discussion of creative theatrical action
    -proposal to merge efforts with NGO.s that want to organize action for 
50th anniversary
    -Hope will represent MGJ on conference call and report back
Jubilee South Call to Action for September World Bank/IMF meetings (to 
take place in Singapore)
-Questions that came up
  	(1)will we endorse? yes
  	(2)will we organize anything? yes
Pros
-the call is international, hence will be much interest and support
-our geographic location is close to the IFI.s
-the call is already catching on quickly (actions planned on all 
continents save Antarctica)
-the meetings are in a police state; should be something here where we can 
do more
-thinking long term, we can build for a larger direct action model
Cons
-some of MGJ won.t be around during the meetings
-what is our capacity?
-participants (in the meetings) are  a world away
-investment of resources

We agreed to endorse and organize something for the fall. Possible ideas 
we came up with were:
-office occupations
-time frame similar to US-Korea FTA.s, could connect the two
-stick with message already in Jubilee call
-pull in more people, with wide variety of issues
-focus on getting media coverage in Singapore
-don.t forget the lovely IMF
Next Steps
-Working locally on outreach vs. working nationally
-wary of decentralization due to political climate (lack of large global 
justice presence in US)
  	1.Endorse statement
  	2.Commit doing direct action in DC; not mass media
  	3.Do outreach locally/regionally while also advertising 
nationally; we are
  	Not doing mass housing
  	4.Encouraging people to come in April (conference call perhaps)
  	5.Prioritizing doing actions in hometown rather than DC; list of 
corporations that
  	Benefit from WB/IMF policies
--add a brief blurb from us to Jubilee South call
--Proposal passes; dialtone will reformat
Next facilitator: Dialtone