Posts: 369
Threads: 37
Joined: Aug 2011
Aloha and Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope all of you are enjoying this holiday, whose meaning is so relevant to the economic justice movement, currently growing across America. As citizens of the most bountiful and successful country in history, we have much to be thankful for. Even in our slightly humbled condition, there are few of us who want to live anywhere else, which is why we must work to preserve our good fortune before it is lost to us and our children.
I am thankful to all of you who understand the significance of this moment and your role in it, and I know that if we persevere in our efforts to correct our Democracy, next year's Thanksgiving will be the best any of us has ever known......because we will have rescued ourselves from the brink, and proven that our country's founding principles actually work....that "Liberty and Justice for all" belong to those who have the character to demand them: AMERICANS.
This Saturday's General Assembly at Hale Halawai is a significant step in our journey to this goal. After standing on the road for eight consecutive weeks, educating our neighbors and carrying a candle of hope in a storm of cynicism and apathy, it is time for us to use that candle to light the bonfire of political power, and begin the real work of fixing our terribly broken system. As any of you who has stood out there can attest, the number of passers-by who showed their support for our cause is exponentially larger than the number of us actually holding signs. Why is this? Because most people can barely manage their own survival and sanity in this rapacious, destructive, corporate controlled culture we live in today. They don't have the physical or emotional energy or the time to engage in ideological battles which don't put food on their tables or keep the power on.....But, they are waiting for and desperately hoping for a champion, a movement that is real and will not let them down like politicians have every time before. The Occupy Wall Street Movement, is that movement. It may change names and appearances as it evolves and the majority begins to fill its ranks, but its essential mission and momentum will not dissipate so long as the economic future of working Americans remains a bleak one, and it will for some time.
It is time for us to talk to one another somewhere other than beside a highway. And it is time for those of you who've missed our other gatherings and demonstrations to show up as leaders in this organization, and speak your truth to all of us assembled at Hale Halawai, this Saturday. Even if you cannot make it any other day, come out on this day, and let us see how strong we are. It is time for us to choose which local and national issues we will fight to correct, and what our first steps will be in this mission. This General Assembly's primary goal is to give you, as individuals, the opportunity to speak your heart and tell all of us assembled what you think is wrong with our country and possible ways to fix it.
Following this speaking out, we will vote on which issues Occupy Kona will focus its energy in resolving. The result of this vote will be sent to the members via email, and the top five issues in each category, local and national, will become the focus of individual Working Groups. We will solicit volunteers to join and organize these Working Groups, which will be tasked with researching a particular issue, and forming a plan of action to resolve it. In two months, at our next General Assembly, each Working Group will present their research and plan of action to the larger Occupy Kona group for approval and support. What actions we take as group to support the plans of that Working Group will be discussed in an open forum and decided by a vote. Individuals can be part of several Working Groups and communication and assistance should be shared in a fluid fashion. Also, this process is not necessarily a permanent one, and may be modified or exchanged for another which has majority approval. Individuals who have skills in managing this sort of endeavor and who would like advise or modify this process, are encouraged to step forward and share those skills.
Saturday's event includes a pot-luck. Please bring some pupus or non-alcoholic beverages, if you can. We will have a kitchen area with a buffet table and counter where you may place your contribution before proceeding to the sign-in table, and into the main hall. The evening's format is as follows:
3pm: Attendees arrive and park in the lot adjacent to Hale Halawai until all the spaces are full (about 30 spaces). The best place to park if the lot is full, is the public parking lot just to the west of the Kona Public Library, or any legal parking space within walking distance. Enter through the front doors facing Alii Drive and head to the sign in table in the main hall, where a printed agenda and a name tag will be provided. Make a plate of food, find a seat at one of the tables, and make yourself at home.
3:30pm: The moderator will welcome you to the first Occupy Kona General Assembly and ask you to stand and join in the ceremonial singing of Hawai`i Pono`i, led by Momi Greene and Jackie Kalani, to bless our efforts and show respect for the Hawaiian Culture. The words will be projected on the screen so we can all sing along. The moderator will give a brief history of the Occupy Wall Street movement and Occupy Kona's relationship to it, and Sandra Scarr will be introduced.
3:50pm: The room will be darkened and Sandra, a former college professor, will give a power-point presentation explaining the facts and history of the political and economic injustice which have brought us all together on this evening.
4:20pm: After the thunderous applause for Sandra's presentation has finally quieted, the moderator will ask those who would like to give their opinion regarding our national condition, and who would like to share with us their motivation and goals for participating in this movement, to come up to the podium to make a statement (3 min. or less). Speakers will be called by name from a list of those who have signed up.This may be the most important segment of our Assembly, since it will be the first public forum for most of us to speak our truth and receive validation and support in a society which is deaf to the voice of its majority. You will be asked to observe some listening protocols to preserve a respectful and civil environment, so that each person may speak his/her truth without censure, provided the speaker does not use profanity, bigotry, or violent language. Some opinions may be dramatically opposed to many of those in the audience, and approval or disapproval may be shown with silent, consensus building hand signals, outlined in the agenda and reiterated by the moderator at the introduction to this segment. It is suggested that those of you wishing to speak, prepare a written script or some notes to facilitate a cogent and complete expression of your views. It is also suggested that you rehearse it to keep it within the 3 minute time limit, as there will be a timekeeper moving things along. You may applaud following each speaker, if you choose, but negative words or sounds are discouraged, with silence being a much more powerful and civil statement of disapproval, as well as a disincentive to those few who may choose rudeness.
5:30pm: Intermission: We will take a 20 minute break for everyone to stretch their legs, use the restroom, get some more food and drink, and check out the sunset by the seawall just outside our door, occurring at 5:48pm. Following the sunset, you'll be asked to return to your seats inside the pavilion to participate in a vote by our General Assembly on the issues we will champion as an organization in the coming year. As part of your agenda packet, you will find a voting sheet with a list of the most popular National and Local progressive issues, along with several blank lines to write in issues you feel strongly about, which may not have been listed. Next to each issue will be another short, blank line for you to rank the issue in its order of importance to you. A ranking of 1 would be the issue of greatest importance to you, with issues of less importance to you receiving larger numbered rankings. At the bottom of your sheet will be a line for your name and email address. If you want your vote to remain anonymous, you may leave it blank, but it will be important to have provided this information at sign-in to facilitate informing you of the results. Within 2 days, we will inform all those on our mailing list of the results of our issues vote, including the write-in issues, and the number of votes each issue received. From this vote, five Local issue and five National issue Working Groups will be formed. The names of these groups will be announced to all Occupy Kona members and volunteers to staff each of these groups will be solicited by email. It is possible, and even encouraged that members volunteer for more than one Working Group. Additionally, we will ask individuals to volunteer to serve as "points of contact" for their groups, that is, one person through which the group communicates with the larger organization, via email or phone. The details of how we will coordinate these groups have not been established yet, and we may need a Working Group just to figure that out, but our goal this Saturday is to move forward to our next organizational challenge. Again, anyone with organizational experience is asked to step forward at any point.
6:00pm: After the voting sheets are collected, the moderator will make a closing statement thanking all the attendees for their participation, and announcing the date and location of the next General Assembly. Matt Binder will lead us in a group singing of Makana's song, "We Are The Many", followed by a group singing of the traditional Hawaiian closing song, "Hawaii Aloha", led by Momi Greene and Jackie Kalani. Then, we will all say our Goodbyes and walk out into the Kona night air with a renewed sense of hope and motivation we had once despaired of ever feeling for our political process.
Those wishing to linger a bit to help with breakdown and cleanup are welcome.
I hope that you find this explanation of Saturday's agenda to be helpful and that you will invite anyone whom you think will appreciate and strengthen our organization's efforts.
Mahalo,
Herman Lange
Occupy Kona
