Occupy-ers need to become skilled in AoH. Who wants to help?

[George Por]

The global Occupy movement, inspired by Occupy Wall Street, has the potential to bring more joy and dignity into the life of more people around the world than any past social movements, by righting what is wrong with the capitalist system.

Whether it will realize that potential is another question. Among other factors, it is also a question whether Occupy-ers can become skilled in the arts of hosting conversations that matter, rapidly. It is an urgent issue because the forces of repression threatens the all Occupy sites and the movement may even implode, by not being able to access and mobilize its full collective intelligence.

Where do we, AoH practitioners, stand? On the sideline watching history doing its work in front of our eyes, or with our sisters and brothers, who put their body on the line, day after day, fighting for all of us? If you feel called, go to your nearest Occupy site, participate in a General Assembly, feel into how you can help, then act on your feeling!

If you're in London and inspired, please join Linda, Liane and me in the conversation about how we can support Occupy London, in this forum. To start with, we could meet next Friday (Dec 9), 7 pm at the General Assembly at St.Paul's and have share our thoughts about it over a warm meal or tea afterwards. In preparation to that, to get better acquainted with what is going on I suggest that browse the Working Groups and other online conversations, here.

For more background information on the current use of collective intelligence methods by the movement, you may also want to review these two blogposts. 

Then, when we are ready, when we learned how we can introduce AoH in a way highly relevant to the movement's issues, let's offer a series of brief educational events either in the its Banks of Ideas (the re-possessed UBS building) or at the Tent City University.

We can also use this forum, here, to explore any of the broader issues about the relationship between AoH and Occupy. Let us know what all this means to you.

love and solidarity!

george

[Frauke Godat]

Wow, thanks for all your deep insights! I have just written this email/blog post to the CoP members in Berlin.

After some very harsh verbal attacks (about people not doing enough public actions, people living in the camp burning-out, problems with the officials who are renting the space, threats of the police to be removed, fragmentation of working groups, etc.) between members on the Occupy Berlin email list 2-3 weeks ago, somebody stood up last week and proposed to have a big World Café with 200 people in January. Of course, I jumped in right away with signalling support and we will have a preparation meeting in January. Although, we might not end up with a World Café...there might be an OpenSpace or even a 100-Dialogue-Circles Flashmob (an idea that came to me last week thinking about the 1000 Tables in Israel, the Discussion Circles at Tahrir, and the needs I heard of Occupy Berlin to connect to the broader public through actions and to connect differently with each other.)

For the German-speakers, this is the PiratePad with process design ideas for the World Café in January.

[Lama Juma]

yes, there has been an occupy movement in DK, but very few are left and for some reason I'm more conencted to the one in London.

It's illegal to leave when the government supports you while looking for a job. The deal is: you find a job, they make sure you have money to live, but don't do holidays etc. that for your own money and you need to apply for vacation to do so. My studies are done, that's why I'm looking for a job. graduated from KP last year :)

[Frauke Godat]

Some really beautiful pictures from Filiz from some West Coast Occupy sites We are the ONES we've been waiting for

[George Por]

Thank you Frauke for posting the link. It was very uplifting to see those places I love and recognizing some of my old friends in California being with the Movement. Films like this strengthens my resolve to give all what I have to it. 

Blessings to Filiz!

[Frauke Godat]

...and from the December IAF newsletter I find this story quite interesting Occupy movement: the revolution will need marker pens

Merry Christmas everyone ;-)

[George Por]

I just sent a message to Penny, who us also in London. Thank you for the link, Frauke.

[Linda Joy Mitchell]

Hi guys, little harvest doc from a flashmob dialogue circle we hosted in leeds with occupy - invited by Fraukas invitation to join in the global day of action.  Love Linda 

[Frauke Godat]

Really nice, Linda, and here are some thoughts from the circle in Berlin on that day: Flashmob Circle Berlin

And here the call for the Occupy Harrisonburg Open Space and the report form from a break-out session on Collaborative Democracy in Berlin last week.

[Ria Baeck]

Hé Linda, you should share this harvest with the emaillist - it is really good! Let it travel wide, also in Occupy circles! (in my humble opinion)