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[A-List] PLANNING VENEZUELA SOLIDARITY SYMPOSIUM and RAISING HELL AT THE CONVENTIONS

Tom Baker here with two more, of a different nature,
I'd say.
    VENEZUELA SYMPOSIUM, Venezuela Solidarity
at Howard University in W-DC, March 15 -- SEE the
list of workshops, WOW!
    UNCONVENTIONAL ACTION. Planning for peoples
presence at the Democratic and Republican Nationals
 
    About "unconventional action" there is a call, I'd say,
for NEXT STEP mobilization. Do you think I heard it?
 
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VSN Symposium Agenda Committee minutes – Dec. 5, 2007

 

Attending: Banbose Shango, Lee Robinson, Tom Baker, Chuck Kaufman, Jill Hokanson, Cort Greene, Dawn Gamble, Yen, Lee Sustar, Omar Sierra

 

There was general consensus about Chuck’s proposals for the symposium agenda and a “repackaging” of the panels given the likelihood of an anti-Iraq war rally on March 15.  The proposals follow:

 

Friday Evening

Venezuela 101 Panel 7:00-9:00pm

Cultural/Social Event 9:00-

 

Saturday

8:30am-9:45am Panel 1

10:00-11:45am  Panel 2

12 noon Board buses to Anti-War Rally (bag lunches)

4:30pm-6:30pm Panel 3

 

Sunday

8:30am-9:45am Panel 4

10:00am-12 noon Panel 5

noon-1:00pm Lunch

1:00pm-3:00pm Panel 6

 

The repackaged panel proposal is as follows (except for the first panel, they are not in any particular order):

 

 Venezuela 101: From Capitalism to Socialism in the 21st Century

1490-1998 in 10 minutes

1998-2004 Bolivarianism defines itself and overcomes opposition

2004-2007 Consolidating and cautiously extending the gains

2008+ Establishing Socialism in the 21st Century

 

Agents of Change Part 1: Workers and Peasant Movements

Labor Unions

Factory Seizure workers

Cooperatives

Land Reform

 

Agents of Change Part 2: Social/Ethnic Popular Movements

Afro-Venezuelan

Indigenous

Women

Youth and Students

 

Oil, Coal and the Environment

Nationalization of resource extraction

Environmental movement

Indigenous communities

 

Popular Democracy: What is it?

Community Councils

Proposals in the Dec. 2 referendum

Equitable sharing of resources and the Missions

 

Traditional Democracy: How does it fare in Venezuela today?

Freedoms: Press, Association, Speech

Institutions: executive, legislative, judicial

Elections and the opposition

 

International Relations: Venezuela becomes a player and a target

US “democracy building” intervention and regime change

Venezuela’s anti-imperialism leadership

ALBA, Bank of the South, Telesur, and Latin American integration

Venezuelan aid to poor countries and communities

US solidarity movement with Venezuela

 

Discussion:

Lee S. suggested that we make sure the reflection among Bolivarians concerning the reasons for the referendum defeat be reflected in the panels.  Chuck agreed but pointed out that much of that discussion will have already taken place by the time of the symposium four months from now so that it will not be as burning an issue as it is today.

 

Banbose suggested a small committee to go over the panels, finalize titles and content, and insure there is nothing critical missing.  Cort, Yen, Lee S. volunteered and the group recommended that Camila be drafted because she’s put a lot of thought into the panels already.  Cort will convene the group.

 

Many suggestions of possible panel participants were made so it was decided that everyone should send written suggestions to Chuck@xxxxxxxx so we can prepare a comprehensive list to go over at the next meeting. (People who were not on the call are also invited to make suggestions.)

 

Omar said there is a Venezuelan band in Minnesota who we might consider for the cultural event.

 

Outreach

Staff will prepare a “hold that date” announcement to go out now and we can all work on outreach once we’ve finalized the panels and speaker invitations.

 

Fundraising

How many Venezuelans can we bring up?  Depends on fundraising.

Cort, Lee, Banbose and others mentioned contacts they have already made with universities and other groups who might help fund Venezuelans as part of a speaking tour.  Yen said she could probably host a video fundraiser in Seattle and others said they might be able to do something as well.

 

The fundraising committee is Chuck, Dave Kane, Cort, and Lee S.

 

NEXT MEETING: Dec. 19, 2007 at 8:30pm EST

 

 

 

 

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--- Begin Message --- 
 This Tuesday, December 11, there will be an Unconventional Action meeting
aiming to start organizing locally against the Republican National
Convention, which is set for September 1-4 in St. Paul, MN. The meeting
starts at 7:00pm. For meeting location, please contact: UAchicago (at)
riseup.net

What Is Unconventional Action?

Unconventional Action is an emerging network aiming to complement the work
of local organizers in Denver and the Twin Cities with regional organizing
throughout the rest of the country. Our goal is to build a horizontal,
inclusive framework for protests that will disrupt the upcoming Democratic
and Republican National Conventions. We are currently organizing meetings,
propaganda, and consultas in our communities and encourage those in other
regions to do the same.

We aim to organize militant direct action that manifests opposition to
both the Democratic and Republican Parties. As anti-authoritarians, we
oppose so-called representational politics, but even those who still
believe in it must understand that we can only have leverage over our
rulers by showing our own power, that we must back our demands by
demonstrating that we can interfere with their business as effectively as
they interfere with our lives.

Why Protest the Conventions?

The Democratic and Republican National Conventions present a tremendous
opportunity for anarchists and other opponents of war and oppression. If
the increasingly unpopular occupation of Iraq is still in effect by summer
of 2008, it will be obvious that neither docile street marches nor
electoral campaigns are effective means of opposing it; it will likewise
be clear that the Democratic opposition is either not capable of or not
interested in following through on their promises of ending the war, let
alone solving all the additional problems capitalism poses.

Tens of thousands have participated in protests at the conventions
preceding the past two elections; we can expect the 2008 conventions to be
a major flashpoint. If we successfully disrupt them, this will inaugurate
a new era of oppositional activity -- and just in time, as federal
repression intensifies, wars breed new generations of terrorists, and
global warming worsens the ecological crisis.

Why Organize in Advance?

We must go into these protests with a strategy that is widely known,
instantly comprehensible, and integrates a diversity of tactics and
approaches. The farther in advance this strategy is established, and the
broader the diversity of groups that utilize it, the more effective we can
expect to be.

One of the fundamental shortcomings of the demonstrations at the
Republican National Convention in 2004 was that there was no generalized
strategy for anarchists, anti-authoritarians, and anti-capitalists. As a
result, though tens of thousands came to the city, many had a difficult
time coordinating their efforts or even figuring out what to do besides
join marches organized by hierarchical groups. Establishing a strategy
early on gives us the advantage of taking the initiative to determine what
we do together.

A good strategy provides a simple goal that all the specific actions of
individual protesters can combine to achieve. The strategy of the Direct
Action Network at the Seattle WTO protests in 1999 was a good example of
this: by announcing early that their intention was to block off and shut
down the summit, DAN gave all the participants in the protests a common
end to strive for.

Everyone need not fall in line behind a single strategy, but there must be
an easy way for people to plug into and contribute to something larger
than themselves. Even explicitly autonomous actions are more effective in
the context of broadly coordinated activity. A strategy is not the same as
a unified plan of action; it is simply a framework within which different
plans and approaches can complement one another. A good strategy works
whether or not the authorities are aware of it: it enables individual
groups to retain their privacy in planning how to play their part, and
takes into account the responses that can be expected from the police. The
past years of experience have shown that not having a plan ourselves,
simply so the police will not catch wind of our plan, is not effective.

The strategies for these demonstrations will have to take into account the
local context of the host cities and the current political situation. It
will also be useful to draw on the lessons of more recent mass actions
such as the previous RNC in New York, the G8 summits in Scotland and
Germany, and the anti-war protests of 2003.

We urge everyone to begin meeting now on local and regional levels to
begin planning for the conventions. One way to begin such discussions is
to ask what a victory would look like and work backwards from there,
brainstorming approaches that can provide for the widest possible range of
participation.

Finally, it is important that we do not approach these protests in a
vacuum. We can only expect to arrive at the conventions ready to act
effectively if there are actions leading up to them at which we can gain
experience and momentum. Likewise, we would do well to aim beyond the
protests, using them above all as an opportunity to build up national
networks capable of powerful, horizontal, decentralized organizing for a
long time to come.

Points of Unity:

The name Unconventional Action is available to all who:

* Reject all forms of hierarchy including capitalism, patriarchy, white
supremacy, colonialism, and so-called representational politics
* Organize on a non-hierarchical, consensus-based basis that promotes
autonomy, solidarity, grass-roots involvement, and the agency of those
most affected by each decision
* Embrace a diversity of tactics
* Do not condemn any action on the grounds that it is illegal alone

Why Diversity of Tactics?

Communities in resistance are often plagued by conflicts over which
tactics are most effective and appropriate. Such debates are usually
impossible to resolve -- and that?s a good thing. Instead, to the extent
it is possible, the activities of those employing different methods and
even those pursuing differing goals should be integrated into a mutually
beneficial whole.

Accepting a diversity of tactics provides for the broad diversity of real
human beings. Every individual has a different life history, and
consequently finds different activities meaningful and liberating.
Insisting that everyone should adopt the same approach is arrogant and
shortsighted -- it presumes that you are entitled to make judgments on
others? behalf -- and also unrealistic: any strategy that demands that
everyone think and act the same way is doomed to failure, for human beings
are not that simple or submissive. Critics often charge that the tactics
they oppose will alienate potential participants, but the more diverse the
tactics employed by a movement, the wider the range of people who can
recognize among those tactics approaches that appeal to them. It may be
necessary for factions applying different tactics to distance themselves
from one another in the public eye, but this need not be done in an
antagonistic spirit.

A movement that employs a diversity of tactics is able to adapt to
changing contexts. Such a movement is a laboratory in which various
methods can be tested; the ones that work will be easy to identify, and
will naturally become popular. As we haven?t yet succeeded in overthrowing
capitalism once and for all by any method, all methods are still worth
trying, in case one works. In this sense, those who employ tactics other
than the ones you favor are doing you a service by saving you the trouble
of having to test them for yourself.

Different tactics, applied in conjunction, can complement one another.
Just as the more confrontational politics of Malcolm X forced privileged
whites to take the non-violent civil disobedience of Martin Luther King,
Jr. seriously, a combination of tactics from accessible and participatory
to militant and controversial can simultaneously attract attention to a
struggle, offer opportunities for people to get involved at their own
pace, and provide those who engage in it with leverage on a variety of
levels.

Honoring a diversity of tactics means refraining from attacking those
whose chosen approaches seem to you to be ineffective, and instead
focusing on what missing elements you can add to make their efforts
effective. Thus, it reframes the question of strategy in terms of personal
responsibility: at every juncture, the question is not what somebody else
should be doing, but what you can do.

The importance of a diversity of tactics doesn?t apply only when it is
convenient for you. Don?t claim to believe in a diversity of tactics and
then argue that -- just in this particular case, of course -- others
should prioritize your agenda over their own. Recognizing the value of
diversity of tactics means taking into account that others will make
different decisions based on their differing perspectives, and respecting
this even when their decisions baffle you.

Accepting the legitimacy of a diversity of tactics means moving from a
competitive mindset in which there is only one right way of doing things
to a more inclusive and nuanced way of thinking. This contests hierarchies
of value as well as of power, and undermines rigid abstractions such as
'violence' and 'morality'.

Finally, respect for diverse tactics enables disparate groups to build
durable solidarity. Such solidarity must be founded on a commitment to
coexisting and collaborating in harmony, rather than on limiting demands
for unity.

Just as some shortsightedly reject tactics other than their own as
ineffective, others feel the need to compete to determine whose tactics
are the most committed or the most impressive. But the most dramatic
triumphs of militant direct action are only possible thanks to the support
of people applying more conventional approaches, and vice versa. It is
important that we not see tactics as existing in a hierarchy of value from
risk-free and insignificant to dangerous and glorious, but rather in an
ecosystem in which all play an irreplaceable role. As revolutionaries, our
role in such an ecosystem is to create a mutually-enhancing harmony
between our efforts and those of others, even if some of them want to
waste time competing with us for the currency of 'being right' or 'being
bravest'. No tactic can be effective alone; all can be effective together.

Check out:
unconventionalaction.org
rncwelcomingcommittee.org

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