Contents
USSF Outreach Working Group Meeting – January 6th, 2014
Facilitator: Walda Note Taker: Spence On the call: Walda, David, Rose, Jerome, and Spence
Discussion of Goals for upcoming Face to Face NPC Meeting:
• Number one thing come out of face to face meeting is first of all people getting to know each other politically. Lots of new folks who have not worked together and do not know each other yet, so this is really important.
• The meeting could discuss how we reach out to the communities that we know that we need to bring into the social forum process, how do we use the PMA process to bring them into the USSF process.
• The document that David has been working on regarding the structure and process of the NPC. It would be good to get people clear on this.
• It would be good to ask folks who are coming to review the political framing document. Also encourage us to think about any other short readings. As a way to get people engaged before the meeting.
• Talking about the whole working group situation, the fundraising part, connections among the working groups, etc…
• We should discuss what we mean by a polycentric social forum and a new type of USSF? As well as how funding works in relation to this new model and in relation to past funding that the social forum has received.
Call to the Movement:
• This document is really important and Samako got a first draft going.
• First draft still needs a fair amount of work though.
• Feedback should be provided to Samako about the draft so it can be strengthened.
Outreach Working Group Work Plan Ideas:
• Since 2014 is the PMA year we need to make sure that we are clear on the politically grounded nature of this year and this USSF
• Maximize the PMAs as the outreach and educational tools for the USSF.
• Movement schools don’t really have a home in the structure yet, but are an important aspect of the outreach work as well, we need to discuss this more. For now being discussed / planned from road working group and outreach/pma working group.
• We could have a more systematic approach to listing key fronts of struggle in the US. In an ongoing way we could compare these fronts of struggle to the representation within the USSF process in order to identify key groups to reach out to. What constituencies are represented, what fronts of struggle, what is represented and what is not.
• Already identified youth, indigenous, immigrant / migrant work, as key groups to reach out to now.
Outreach Updates
• Jeff Ordwor – from an organization in Missouri who wanted to know what was happening with the social forum process. Missouri is Organizing for Reform and Empowerment. Someone needs to follow-up
• SOA Watch – follow-up from PMA that was held there last fall. Notes are being typed up, Walda is in touch with them.
• David met with the political director of the Chicago Teacher’s Union, and will be meeting with them again. He is wondering about approaching them to be an anchor organization for the polycentric USSF process. There was a suggestion that we should have a more collective conversation about whether or not we should approach them about being an anchor organization. Possibly we could explore some intermediary steps of political engagement such as maybe them joining on the NPC or taking some other steps of involvement before becoming an anchor.
Next meeting will be the 3rd of February
• Spence will send out the reminder.