---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Larry Swetman <larry@interoccupy.net>
Date: Thu, Mar 21, 2013 at 2:00 PM
Subject: Hello From InterOccupy & WSF Questions
To:
intlnetwork@lists.mayfirst.orgHello Everyone,
For those of you who I have not had the pleasure of e-meeting my name is Larry. I am a part of the outreach committee at InterOccupy. After having a very good conversation with Carminda from VIA22 yesterday I realized that I had not done a very good job of reaching out to the international network that has been developed through so much painstaking and steadfast work by you all. Given the imminent arrival of the World Social Forum this week I figured that if there was ever a time to reach out it was now.
Carminda told me that Michael and Andrea have been participating in this arena for some time but unfortunately they have gone on a sabbatical of sorts and we have been trying to restructure and delegates responsibilities, so many of us have been prevented from more engagement. In this time several of us have been participating in the international arena in varying ways. Chris has been working on this years Occupy National Gathering at which we will attempt real -time purposeful international engagement, Cal has participated in a lot of the GlobalSquare mumble calls, and Dave and I have been trying to prepare for the World Social Forum in a way that is both participatory and educational.
I think what we have to bring to the Forum is simply a question that I think a lot of us are asking right now: Can we, should we, and is it worth the time and energy to develop a global communications structure for the Movement (All I mean by "Movement" here is that thing that binds us all deep down in the fight for social justice, equality, and a sustainable world. ). At the Forum we plan on presenting our story from InterOccupy to Occupy Sandy (For those who are not aware Occupy Sandy is the effort that has been underway in the wake of Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast to provide a people-powered network of mutual-aid for the recovery) as a model for how an open source, free, and movement-powered communication infrastructure can be deployed to coordinate in times of need on a local to a global scale. In my experience it is one part technology and one part facilitation. However, I realize that we are not the only ones bringing such models and processes to the table. Dave and I have been trying to focus on participating in some of these spaces in order to hear what other people think about how we can maintain a global network that can work closely together on a technological and sociological basis. Also, we would really like to help build that network and those tools where we can. The problem so far is balancing our local needs with our ardent desire to get to know you. We did this in the US in part because of a voluntary contact list that hundreds of local assemblies participated in.
I don't know if that is a direction that is possible or desirable for an international network, but the connections that came from our calls, regional and national gatherings, and coordinated actions resulted in some fantastic shows of solidarity. How did you do yours? I guess what I am trying to say is that as we come to the World Social Forum we want to be up front with everyone and say that we would love to get to know you. Relationships build communities and communities build movements. We are simply coming with a story and a question: can we, should we, and how can we stay in touch? I think it starts with a network. It would be an honor to be a part of this one.
Hope to meet many of you at the Forum.
From Philadelphia, USA,
Larry