Ok folks, hold onto your hats. We have got a change up with Richmond Food Not Bombs. One house in the rotation has dropped out so we are now going to be hosting for the month of September at The Wingnut Anarchist Collective 2005 Barton Avenue. October and November will be planned to be at 3100 1st Avenue. September is Mo’s birthday and marks their 12th year of some sort of involvement with Food Not Bombs. Come celebrate with Mo by coming out to cook on Sundays in September at 12:30.
Look out for notice of a Food Not Bombs meeting soon so we can figure out a long term schedule and maybe a new house to add back into the rotation.
We need to keep strong because we are still facing the privatization of Monroe Park and possible issues from that coming up next Summer. Momentum must be built and allies made.
On July 18th there was a meeting of a group of people interested in re-forming a Barton Heights Neighborhood Association. The Wingnut Anarchist Collective was concerned by both the small amount of outreach ahead of the meeting, and also the types of decisions on the agenda for the first meeting. We made fliers and notified as many neighbors as we could, but it was not an ideal situation in terms of being able to get word out. Luckily, enough folks did come out who agreed that we needed a much more representative of our neighborhood body to be able to make foundational decision.
We filmed the meeting to make it available to folks who could not make it last night.
The next event will be a National Night Out Event on August 7th at Yancey Street Park– more info to come on that next week after our planning meeting.
The next official meeting of the neighborhood association will be Tuesday September 11th at 6:30 pm, location TBA, but we are looking for one closer to Barton Heights.
We passed out fliers on how Consensus decision making works, and Rusty’s Rules of Order as used by the IWW (Thanks to the Richmond IWW branch for those copies http://www.richmondiww.org). Here are links to those for folks interested in learning about multiple options before we decide on how we as a neighborhood association will be making decisions.
We think it is significant/interesting to note, that despite the resistance to using anything other than majority rules voting for decision making at the meeting, that the group actually used consensus to make it’s decisions!
The reading is interactive and is used as a light-hearted rapid consensus-building training, because the audience has to come to consensus about what path to take through the anti-colonialist steampunk adventure.
The Wingnut is located at 2005 Barton Avenue. This is a sober all ages event. Call 804 303 5449 or email wingnut_collective[at]yahoo.com for more info
Checkout the RVA FNB website for this month’s meeting notes!
Also, email rvafoodnotbombs@gmail.com if you want to be added to the Richmond Food Not Bombs google group email list!
A handout on consensus was also distributed at the meeting, to refresh everyone about how Food Not Bombs operates as an organization! You can check it out at the link below:
Last night was the 2nd public meeting of people working to organize Occupy Richmond. This movement has no leaders, no organizers, no hierarchy. The meeting yesterday was not perfect, as could have been expected. There were over 250 people there, many new to organizing, consensus process, facilitating and more.
The main decisions being made yesterday were regarding the time, date, and location of the beginning of the Occupation. A large group started off the discussion, going through some bare bones facilitation and decision making basics. Then folks split into smaller groups to talk about the date and location.
In smaller groups and in smaller conversations throughout the night, there were many discussion about the economy, politics, rights and more. The types of discussions that do not happen on a very regular basis among strangers in Virginia. Just having these discussions, no matter how imperfect, is significant.
Ultimately, what was decided was to avoid conflicting with the TRAP protest already scheduled for October 15th from 1-3pm in Monroe Park. TRAP is the recent Virginia legislation aimed at forcing abortion clinics to meet hospital standards, which would have the chilling effect of shutting down 17 of the state’s 21 abortion clinics. This new rule, wrapped up in the word safety and health, is really about limiting women’s rights to abortion and the health care they need.
The Occupy Richmond group is encouraging people to participate in the TRAP protest. Occupy Richmond will then meet at 4pm on October 15th in Monroe Park. At that time a location will be chosen for the Occupation. Repeat, location TBD.
On the issue of location, there were many ideas thrown around. Kanawah Plaza, Monroe Park, Capitol Hill, FedEx Plaza, locations around VCU, and more were all discussed. There were some folks fixated on Kanawah Plaze for its proximity to the Federal Reserve Bank. Others pointed out that the Federal Reserve Bank is not necessarily the main target of this event. Also that the consequences of trespassing/making mistakes at the Federal Reserve are a lot higher than other places. And that Occupying Kanawaha Plaza would displace homeless persons who sleep there on a regular basis.
This meeting was not perfect, by any means. Folks from marginalized groups swiftly felt marginalized by the process, which is not a good place to start. More white men spoke than other people. Issues of privilege were not really addressed, or understood by many folks in the crowd. Instead of actual consensus “modified consensus” was used, which basically makes it a direct democracy with a limit on how large the majority must be to silence the minority.Hopefully folks (not from marginalized groups) can step up as the Occupy Richmond idea continues to do some education and discussion regarding issues of privilege, among other things.
However, there were a lot of new faces, and a lot of good conversations that did occur. The creation of an autonomous space, in and of itself, can be an empowering positive thing. When this space is created, hopefully radical and anarchist and awesome people in Richmond can find inspiring ways to use this space. Workshops, discussions, and more are all possible once a space has been established.
Here is a video of part of the meeting:
Again- in the time between now and the 15th there is a lot of preparation and education that can be done. From Know Your Rights workshops, to getting new batteries for a flashlight, to taking a few minutes to read about privilege, anyone planning on participating in this occupation owes it to themselves and there fellow occupiers to do some preparing if they can.
Richmond Food Not Bombs Checklists/ Ideas about what the heck is going on
If you are thinking about coming to Richmond Food Not Bombs it would be awesome if you would take a minute to look at these lists and familiarize yourself with the basic process.
If you don’t have the time to read this before you come, that is ok, because we have copies posted at the Wingnut and copies you can take home!
Having these lists helps us to all be on the same page, without having to consult one person or group of people as being in charge. Because no one is in charge!
Cooking
-Gather all of the food from various basements/ rooms/ cars/ etc.
-Bring up 2 or 3 tables from the basement and set them up in big room
-Bring up colanders, cutting boards, and knives from the basement
-Assess what you have and what you need in terms of food- dig through boxes, check the pantry etc.
-Come to a consensus about what dishes will be prepared from the food you have (more…)
The Wingnut 
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