July 2009 Local Meeting
From SP Boston
The Socialist Party of Boston will met at 1 pm on Sunday, 26 July 2009 in the Lucy Parsons Center. We heard back from the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations, organized a standout to commemorate Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and planned for major actions coming up in the fall, including the G20 demonstrations in Pittsburgh; Rosie Jimenez Day; the 17 October antiwar mobilization; Rosie Jimenez Day; and the Socialist Party National Convention.
For more information, check out the full minutes below.
[edit] Minutes
- Introductions and agenda approval
- Matt A., Kevin H., Steve M., Billie M. and David S. attended
- Antiwar
- National Assembly
- Matt, Kevin and Steve all attended the National Assembly and discussed their impressions of it. There don't seem to be many new developments, and the organization remains more like an annual conference than ongoing coalition.
- A notable decision was recognizing that Iraq War began in 1990, and the 2003 invasion was jut the beginning of the current occupation. There was debate on Iran, but it didn't come up as proposal to vote on.
- There were some logistical issues, for instance that things moved very quickly, and acoustics sometimes made it hard to hear speakers.
- A small subcommittee of the Administrative Body seemed to have disproportionate influence. All groups are being encouraged to appoint a representative to the Continuations Body (which currently has about 40 members). Billie will be our representative, and just needs to wrap up the paperwork.
- 17 October antiwar mobilization
- The National Assembly agreed on 17 October as the date for mass antiwar mobilizations. A committee is already forming in Boston, and will meet again on Wednesday, to discuss demands for the rally and communications for organizing it (in particular, whether to continue using the massaction email list, or start a new one).
- We discussed some of the demands (nuclear weapons, climate change), and were generally in favor of including them.
- The Stop the Wars Coalition will meet every other week starting a week from Monday (3, 17 and 31 August). The next meeting will discuss a statement on Honduras.
- De-Militarized Zone
- Next standout falls in between Hiroshima and Nagasaki anniversaries, make it a special event commemorating them.
- Billie will contact WILPF and CodePink to see if they want to get involved.
- David will contact the Union of Concerned Scientists to see if they want to get involved.
- National Assembly
- Other upcoming actions
- G20, Pittsburgh, 24-25 September
- Meeting at e5 Tuesday evening.
- Dual focus on getting people to Pittsburgh as well as having solidarity demonstrations in the Boston area
- Peaceful, low-risk march vs. direct action to shut down meeting. Will also be trainings and organizing meetings in surrounding days.
- Kevin and Steve planning on going to Pittsburgh, Matt may as well.
- Keep in touch with Jason, who is involved in local organizing for the G20
- Rosie Jimenez Day
- Have statement from Women's Commission, but not yet NC motion. David will post the statement on the Web site.
- October 3 is a Saturday, good day for an event.
- Matt will contact Susan Dorazio to see if she has an outreach letter or suggestions for one.
- Sacco and Vanzetti Memorial March and Rally, 23 August, Copley Square
- Proposal to endorse -- passed without opposition.
- Promote online, carry SP banner in march.
- Look for documents of historical interest -- SP statements from 1920s.
- Contribute $25.
- Fundraise specifically for this -- David will add to Web site.
- G20, Pittsburgh, 24-25 September
- Party-building
- Documentaries
- We have two documentaries to show -- Capitalism Hits the Fan, and Showdown in Seattle: Five Days that Shook the WTO
- Try to show them at the Lucy Parsons Center's Radical Movie Night.
- Matt or Billie will contact the LPC to propose the documentary and get it approved by the collective.
- Discuss changing regular meeting time
- Norah, Jason and Chris want to come but have scheduling conflicts.
- Next month, meet third Sunday (16 August), 5:30 pm.
- Add conference calls between meetings?
- State meeting
- Have a pre-convention state meeting to elect Massachusetts delegates and discuss proposals.
- Combine with local meeting on 16 August -- make it a potluck so it can go longer without folks getting hungry.
- Matt will ask Greg if it will be ok for convention delegates to be elected on the 16th, the day after the official deadline.
- Documentaries
- Palestine
- There will be a report-back from the Viva Palestina convoy at the NEU meeting on Saturday, 1 August. Three others in the Boston area also accompanied the convoy and are interested in talking about their experiences.
- A protest of "David Project" events at BU is being organized, but details are still in flux.
- Communication
- David won't be putting together a Bulletin over the summer. He will send the template and contacts to Matt, Billie and Norah.
- Matt has a new student contact at Berklee who is considering organizing a student antiwar group.
- Boston May Day Committee: Matt encouraged recruiting a designated SP contact to attend meetings, work on BMDC projects and help the rest of us keep in touch as well.
- Education workshops: David K. and Paul C. have expressed interest in this.