November 2006 Regional Meeting
From SP Boston
Socialists from throughout New England met in Brattleboro, Vermont on 11 November 2006 for our semi-annual regional meeting. After hearing reports from the various locals, we discussed upcoming events and region-wide cooperation and communication (full minutes below).
Minutes
The New England SP-USA Regional Meeting was held on November 11, 2006 at Bickfords Restaurant in Brattleboro, VT.
Present were Anne T., Robert S., Doris L., Peter D., Michael M. and Mal H. from the Brattleboro Area Local, Ed M., Eric C., Michael L. and Susan D. from the Tom Mooney Local (Western Massachusetts), Matt A. and David S. from the Boston Area Local and VT at large member Murray N. and her son Moirah.
Saturday, April 21, 2007 was set as the date for our next regional meeting and will be held in Boston.
Local reports
We heard reports from the locals that were present and read a report from Bill Shakalis about the CT local.
Tom Mooney Local
Ed McCorkindale led a "Dump the Dems" at a political rally where Duvall Patrick, candidate for governor was speaking. At recent meetings the local discussed and article on revolutionary ecology. They've taken in two new members, both high school students who they will try to plug into YPSL as well. Their local will also be cooperating with other groups on anti-war demonstrations and planning an action on International Women's Day, March 8.
Boston Area Local
The present local group has only had two meetings so far, has four active members and is still getting organized but they've begun working with other anti-war and social justice campaigns as open Socialists. They are trying to attract new members and hope to achieve gender balance. They took part in a recent picket at the Mexican Consulate protesting the state violence against peaceful demonstrators in Oaxaca and distributed copies of the statement in support of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca by SP-USA Party Co-Chair Raul Cano (with their email address added).
Members have been attending the Stop the Wars Coalition's planning meetings and will take part in anti-Iraq war rally on Nov 18, meeting at the Boston Common at noon. They'll continue with activities building toward a massive demonstration on March 24, when George W Bush invaded Iraq. They'll take part in two pickets on Nov 17 aimed at Alvaro Uribe, President of Columbia and General John Abizaid, Head of Central Command.
Member Matt Andrew is working with the local IWW organizing campaign and on the YPSL No War but Class War campaign. There's more information on their website www.spboston.org, which has just been set up.
Connecticut Report
The local is continuing to organize and become a presence throughout Central and Eastern Conn. They've had regular meetings, run public classes on Socialism and Marxism, and written a response to the Lamont-Lieberman congressional debate. They are reaching out to the immigrant community through the CT Coalition for Immigrant Rights which is active in New Haven, Danbury and Hartford. Severl new members have joined who live in the southwest corner of the state so it may be possible for them to organize a new local there. They've arranged for SP-USA member, actor Jerry Levy to perform "Marx in Soho" in New Britain on the 24th.
Brattleboro Area Local
Members have continued to be part of a weekly anti-war vigil in front of the Brattleboro Post Office every Saturday and in the Green Energy Vigil every Thursday at the Wells Fountain in downtown Brattleboro. Local members Peter Diamondstone, Aaron Diamondstone, Jane Newton and Mary Alice Herbert were candidates in the Liberty Union Party.
We are planning to implement the Fair Food Campaign targeting McDonalds. Meetings are held the first Sunday of the month at 1 pm at the Brattleboro Food Coop.
Other Agenda Items Discussed
We talked about the need for a regional coordinator but no one volunteered. We do have a website managed by Matt Andrew, nesocialists (at) lists (dot) riseup (dot) net
There was a report on the October NC meeting. The February NC will be in Austin, TX.
We discussed preparing for the next SP-USA convention coming up in the fall of 2007.
Elections
Vermont was the only state with SP-USA member candidates. Murray Ngoima, candidate for state treasurer garnered 6% of the vote and insured the Liberty Union Party its major party status. Liberty Union hopes to convince its membership to change the name to Liberty Union/Socialist by 2008.
Anti-War and Fair Food Campaign Coordination
We decided to try to try to do these activities simultaneously.
Guest Speaker
Tim Stevenson from the local Post Oil Solutions group sparked a lively hour of discussion. His group which strives for local sustainability through community gardens, Community Supported Agriculture, and localvore pledges (buying and eating locally grown food as much as possible) divorces itself from politics completely and demands or expects no help from government. We tried to square his ideas with "socialism from below".
We ended the meeting with a reading about Martyrs Day, a widely celebrated labor holiday after the hanging of the Haymarket defendants on Nov 11, 1887, until it was turned into Armistice Day in 1918.
A little later in the day the Brattleboro contingent gathered on the Brattleboro Common for a short ceremony in honor of the martyrs of the 8-hour day movement and left a wreath in their honor made by Doris Lake who also read from some of the speeches by American anarchist Voltarine DeCleyre, who spoke regularly at Martyrs Day gatherings.