feedback from Zo on socsub

[caroline henderson]

Hi Wonderful group!

Excited to hear all your voices tonight!

Jason, I'm sorry to hear about your friend's passing. You'll of course be in our thoughts (and conversation!), and we look forward to the next time you'll join us :)

I wanted to let you all know I spoke with Zo last night, on the pretense of asking him about the possibility of a Support Space (somehow tied to Power Vote campuses)... What we ended up talking about had a broader, and actually much more applicable scope, so I wanted to let you know some of the ideas and notions that were tossed around and get your feedback/reaction. There might be some potential agenda items as a result, so if there's room/time, and it doesn't veer us too off-course, perhaps we could bring it up on tonight's call?

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Zo: whatever projects adopted will be more powerful/likely to happen once SOC SUB can articulate why this shit matters and why everyone should be doing it- his feeling is self-learning is a good starting point.

It's important to situate tactics in robust conceptual framework- which will embolden what you do because you'll feel validated. (how eloquent)

This framework might include:
1) encouraging people to start with their own story, 2) acknowledging motivation 3) fostering relationships along the way

SOC is so important because we already recognize this and make it a commitment, and are getting ready to share with larger movement---- sparkles from Caroline

Caroline: suggestions for Next steps on applying these principles? 

Zo: suggestions- assigned group readings and ...
*Awakening the Dreamer symposium- having this be something SSCers attend, sign up to train, commit to hosting at our campuses, encourage peers to check out/attend

(this is quite similar to how AO committee approaches readings/trainings)

He also mentioned something really exciting/thought-provoking: PS09--> SOC sub should be represented in planning committee (ideas, values represented in agenda!!)

I also asked about how SOC Sub can support/collaborate with plans for State Networks. His feedback:

• we should engage the field team- all regional organizers should talk about with Maura
  
• if we come up with proposal, give Jennie to bring to field team, they can talk about on weekly field call

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So, I guess my questions for y'all are (and these might be agenda bullets)

1. -How do you feel about the idea of SOC SUB readings? (Zo also gave me lots of suggestions/material on this- esp. as it relates to narrative, motivation, and relationships)
   
2. -What do you think about the Awakening the Dreamer idea, as it relates to SOC SUB mission? Did anyone attend the symposium at Shindig or Megacamp?
   
3. -Any thoughts on PS09 planning as it relates to SOC SUB mission? (FYI, I signed up to plan- has anyone else?)
   
4. -What do you think about Zo's suggestion to create a proposal for the field team on State Network support/collaboration?
   

So, sorry this email is so long-winded, but your thought before or on the call would be wonderful.

Amanda, since you're on top of the agenda for this call- do you think the items above would have a space/relevance on tonight's call?

Tallk soon!

caroline

[chrissy s]

Dear Caroline and Socsub,   As much as I always appreciate the input from Zo, I am going to have to say that assigned readings are a bit much for me.  I personally do not have the extra time on top of school work to add additional reading into my workload.  If AO wants to do readings I suggest it be recommended and not mandatory.   In addition, I looked up the "awakening the dreamer symposium" and it seems that they occur all over the US. I think it would be a difficult thing for us to take more time off of school to attend this symposium (I can only leave town over spring break, summer break, and winter break which is one week and I usually have plans over winter and spring.)  If we all attended different symposium's I suppose it might be possible, but I assume the goal would be group unity, so we should all attend together.  If we do think it is something we should do, how about one of the symposium's on the West Coast?  I saw that there are a bunch in CA. Points 3 & 4 seem like something we should talk about during the conference call.   ~Chrissy   'Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither' - Benjamin Franklin --- On Wed, 8/20/08, caroline henderson <chende...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Amanda Hass]

So I just sent out the new agenda and so I'll explain how the questions Caroline brought up will fit into it (plus a sprinkling of my own opinions).

The first discussion point is about create a constructive framework for SOC Sub that will put our work into the context of the movement and organization. That gets its own slot since I think this would work REALLY well when communication about SOC.

Next, SOC Sub readings, Awakening the Dreamer, and Power Shift 09 (PS09) could be discussed in Community Projects since I feel that those could be taken on in that format. I agree with Chrissy with my hesitation on the readings, but because I think we may get too caught up in the theory of motivation and relationships that it may detract from our other work. Also I feel that since Awakening the Dreamer is a separate entity from the SSC, I'd like to get approval from Ex Com before making it an SSC norm. I think Caroline and Zo were thinking along the lines of incorporating Awakening the Dreamer into SSC and local events rather than make everyone attend the same one at the same time.

For the state network question, that can get discussed with Regional Meet ups since we would want to use the networks to do the meet ups. I'd like Jenny to give a short report back on what are roles and responsibilities of the field staff, because I don't think we can create a plan until we're all on the same page.

So, yeah I thought a lot about this agenda and worked with Caroline to incorporate all this.
I miss you guys, and I can't wait to chat,
Amanda Hass

ps. I like talking through email, we've never been able to really pull it off well, but this is nice.

[Aaron French]

Hey all!
So, I just got this thing in my email called the SSC newsletter, and, I don't know if you saw- but in it there was this really, really sweet thing- something about an SSC rockstar...hm..I wonder who could have put that in!? OH MY GOD IT WAS US! We rock, seriously! Talk to everyone tonight!
Aaron

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[caroline henderson]

sparklezzzz (esp. on the 'ps')

[chrissy scarborough]

Dear Socsub committee,

 

I have been thinking about this issue further about the AO, and the awakening the dreamer symposium.  I believe that it is innapropriate for the Socsub committee to be deciding issues about the direction and perception of the SSC through communications.  I feel that a decision about the symposium and about "having this be something SSCers attend, sign up to train, commit to hosting at our campuses, encourage peers to check out/attend" should be something that the excom decides and not something that the SOCsub committee decides.  I feel uncomfortable with this issue, and I feel like the minority on this issue.  I feel AO should be about finding a way to encourage greater participation in our campaigns and in achieving our goals, and I feel that some of these things would turn-off some of the students I deal with (conservative orange county students.) 

 

Perhaps we should vote on these issues, have some sort of organizational norm that allows the minority on the issue to not agree.  I appreciate us having a discussion about the issue of "assigned" and therefore required readings, but I feel very uncomfortable with it, and feel that there is little room for me to express my concerns.  Even by expressing my opinion I feel that I will be singled out as negative and therefore "bring down the vibe".  I appreciate how optomistic everyone is and I feel that way about making SSC campaigns amazing and successful, but I do not feel we should be mandating anything, I feel it is oppressive in nature to mandate activities of the SSC.

 

This is really difficult for me and makes me really uncomfortable, I end up feeling like it is me against the group, but I feel that we should be about inclusivity.  Soc's goals on AO should be about how do we engage as many people as possible, about listening to the people we are calling, and about successfully accomplishing the plan set forth by the Excom.  I read what the awakening the dreamer initiative is on their website, and the idea of linking spirituality with the environmental movement should be a personal not organizational choice.  AO should be about engaging the minority, and by setting forth policies we bring forth the possibility of creating a minority which will be excluded by our mandated practices, which in the end I feel goes against our mission statement.

 

I thank you all for taking the time to read this and I hope we can move forward with a greater vision of how we can incorporate AO in a more inclusive way.

 

~Chrissy

[Laura Bartolomei-Hill]

Hey Chrissy,
Thanks for expressing yourself! yay. I agree that mandating things is neither possible, given the broadness of the SSC and the grassroots nature of our organizing, nor really in the spirit of soc and the ssc, though I'm not sure this idea was ever supposed to feel mandatory.

I think that AO readings and awakening the dreamer-esque symposiums are really interesting and new ways of engaging people in SSC campaigns as well as building connections between spiritual awakening and social justice. It certainly shouldn't be mandated that SSC-affiliated groups host such events, but providing guidance and tools to those who wish to do so without closing the window on other powerful ideas will be incredibly useful. I know that my work with the SSC over the past couple years really became more personal when I was able to make connections between the campaigns I was doing and larger social justice movements (movement?),  not necessarily through Awakening the Dreamer, but through similarish stuff.

I think it is very much compatible with the SOC mission to create unity (a sense of movement) and personal (and organizational) growth. I like the idea that we are engaging a community of individuals whose personal values and experiences shape the organization; that the SSC is more than just a series of campaigns, and that when we grow as individuals, the organization grows stronger. Making sure that that personal growth is transformed into SSC strength is a neat little role of SOC to play.

And I don't think any of this stuff was supposed to be conveyed as mandatory, rather as a way of engaging larger issues for those who are interested.

So. if none of that made any sense here's the shortened version:
mandating bad
creating spaces for personal growth good!
homework readings bad
expanding our knowledge around AO through engaging readings followed by conversations and challenging each other good!
feeling stifled and shut out bad
speaking up for yourself good


good night lovelies,
-Laura

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Laura Bartolomei-Hill
Macalester College '10
Laura...@gmail.com
www.itsgettinghotinhere.org
www.wecannetwork.org