2nd General Assembly – October 16th, 2011

Join us! We meet Sundays at 11am in front of Wells Fargo Bank, Point Reyes Station. We are an open, non-violent forum for discussing the issues, strategies, and ideas relating to the Occupy Wall Street movement. We invite everyone to actively participate in our meetings and in our democracy.

Occupy Wall Street – Alex Fradkin from New York (& Point Reyes) joined us to discuss the origins of Occupy Wall Street during the first month of action. He is a photographer, and he will be sharing his work at Bing’s home on Monday 10/17 at 7pm. This gathering is open to the local community. The Occupy Everywhere movement is now happening in over 80 countries with more than 1350 cities in the US!! www.alexfradkin.com. 

Occupy San Francisco – In one week Occupy SF grew from ~400 to ~4000 people. There are folks sleeping at the Federal Reserve, and there are events every day throughout the city. The march to City Hall on Saturday’s Global Day of Solidarity was described as fun, positive, and inspiring by Point Reyes representatives with witty and handmade signs, music, and lively debate about solutions. “Wall Street bailed out. We got sold out.” “We want cosmic change, not cosmetic change.” Occupy SF is also working to take money out of large financial institutions. Bing has a sign up sheet for anyone interested in carpools for the next collective actions in SF. For more information visit www.occupysf.com.  

Take Our Money Back – In our first meeting last week, we decided to focus on taking our money out of the international commercial banking institutions like Wells Fargo in Point Reyes. We are considering alternatives such as Redwood Credit Union and small community banks, as well as models from the Slow Money movement for local investments. Bing has started a petition of West Marin residents who are willing to switch to Redwood Credit Union with a local presence, branch, or ATM in the future. Please Join Our Petition.

Redwood Credit Union is a full service institution, a cooperative, and a credit union which services North Bay counties. They are insured with the US government. With a $10-$15 banking account, customers become shareholders with oversight about revenue distribution. Redwood Credit Union is not for profit, which means revenues are invested in the local North Bay communities, and/or revenues return to “shareholders” as low fees and credit rates.

MMOB “Mainstreet Moms” have several testimonies about the positive relationship they have with Redwood Credit Union. Individuals have creative approaches such as a small account at Wells Fargo for access to emergency cash or check cashing, while the rest of their money is with RCU. Our neighbors have volunteered to run deposits to Petaluma every week until we can conjure a local branch or ATM. Right now, RCU is opening 6-10 new accounts every day, as the Occupy movement encourages people to take control of their money nationwide in credit unions and publically-controlled institutions.

November 5th is a national date for removing our money from these banks. This date may not work for everyone, but we encourage as many people as possible to act now to create momentum!! We need a Working Group to investigate more banking options. We need more facts about RCU and Bank of Marin. We need representatives to announce their findings at our General Assembly meetings. Please join us if you are interested in participating in this Working Group.

Synchronicity – Sky wanted to remind our group that we have the power of synchronicity to create our visions and our new world. He reminded us that when we take action, opportunities arise to move us forward. He reminded us that our actions and our beliefs will create changes elsewhere. Our group expressed their gratitude for Sky’s participation. For more information visit www.expectingsynchronicity.com.  

Language of the Movement – Our group discussed the problem of language in defining our movement to the public and within the mainstream media. Harmony talked about the use of words like “victory” and “defeat” as being counterproductive to our cause. She called for a transformation in the models we use to describe our needs and our strengths. We need a Working Group to create productive metaphors, images, media descriptions, and outreach to better describe our movement and intentions. Please join us if you are interested in participating in this Working Group.

Education & Outreach – We are looking for ways to educate people about the issues of the Occupy movement, as well as our local initiatives in Point Reyes. We would also like to attract more people into the movement for access to a more open and diverse community. We discussed PSAs with KWMR, Soapbox, and street theater to spread the word. John Granatir noted that Occupy Together is directly connected to young people with the issue of student debt relief. We need to bring in the young people of West Marin. We need to contact local individuals and businesses about RCU banking. Eden mentioned the absence of the Latino population at our second meeting. She recommended that we use the meeting time as a way to connect with each other’s day to day lives, crafts, hobbies, and passions. (Bring it with you and make it fun!) We propose a Working Group to promote Media & Outreach.

We also spoke about the need for community education with regards to our personal investments (pensions, hedge funds, etc.) and the relationship to commodity and food speculation. These issues are – again – connected with the international banking institutions and the vast disparity of wealth in the world. This is another area for a Working Group with action plans surrounding the Slow Money movement. For more information visit www.slowmoney.org.  

Gift Circles – Eden recommended incorporating gift circles into our Occupy community. In a gift circle, everyone has a turn to state something they need be it a material item, a service, etc. In the second iteration, everyone has a turn to state something they can give to the community. Alex Fradkin noted that gift circles were very successful for providing for the people in Argentina following the collapse of their economy. Gift circles are another way to remove ourselves from the monetary system.

This conversation sparked interest for more information about the local currency, local trade mechanisms, and the concept of spending our money locally and wisely.

Our gathering wound down with information about medicinal plants, marijuana, hemp oil, and commercial hemp production. We discussed the value of hitchhiking and the certification program in Lagunitas to give signals to local drivers and local hitchhikers. We would love more information about a local program! Art Rogers will take a photo of Occupy Point Reyes on Sunday 10/23 at 10am at West Marin School. MMOB Mainstreet Moms (Even singles and dads can join for a meeting!) meet Mondays at 3-5pm in the Point Reyes firehouse. We are all working together for change! We are the 99%!