Hey to all of Occupy Portland!
First and foremost, thank you for last night. I felt proud. Stayed till 5:30am. Then went home. I was wearing my Polar Bear hat. Woke up to the camp coming down. So, what now?
A couple of things, I think. But first... ground-rules for Occupy Portland 2.0.
1. If you're at the camp, you contribute to the camp.
2. We hold each other accountable.
Priority #1- We need to move the ideas and the concepts of the Occupy Movement to the neighborhoods. I propose that you find out the park closest to you, go to that park at 3pm on Sundays, promote it to your neighbors and get some neighborhood connectivity going. Build these meetings up through outreach. When the meetings get big enough.... you have your neighborhood networked, activated and you focus your neighborhood on whatever the local, national or global needs we need to address. This is a simple step, and it decentralizes the movement and brings it to the 99%. Don't try to Occupy a park until you have the people to do it.
Priority #2- Figure out after a few meetings, the "specialty" that you can bring to the larger groups. Neighborhoods in Portland are very different, and each has its own qualities. Alberta as the "Art and Festival" coordinating neighborhood, for example. Just an example.
Priority #3- Elect representatives from your neighborhood meetings to be the voices and votes in the larger City of Portland General Assemblies. This takes away a lot of the agent provacateurs power from the General Assemblies. Keep the General Assemblies open to the public, of course. But work to limit the ability of one or two people to disrupt the Assemblies for their own ego needs or because that's their job...
