The Mindful Activist – Facilitating a General Assembly
at the Occupy National Gathering 2014
Matt Ready: [Crosstalk] start General Assembly. Is everyone gathered here? Are you here for the General Assembly? Can we have a temp check if we want to start the General Assembly? Any objection to starting an Occupy General Assembly right now?
Male voice: No objection.
Camera woman: Hey guys! I’m recording and I just want to let you know also that the GA is starting. I don’t know if you want to come up closer.
Matt Ready: [In the distance] [Inaudible 00:00:37] come a little bit forward so we like —
Camera woman: [Calls out] The G.A. is starting!
Matt Ready: All right. So yeah, please try to make a circle-ish thing. A circle-ish thing if you want to [unclear 00:00:58] in this General Assembly. Okay, so —
Female voice: Oh! We didn’t do the temperature check. We didn’t even ask if [you] even consider about doing this.
Matt Ready: I — Okay, so I did ask do we want [crosstalk] is there any objection to start —
Female voice: All good, all good. No worries! Sorry!
Matt Ready: Okay, so my name is Matt —
Female voice: All [unclear] people to move up! Right on.
Male voice 2: Hello Matt!
Matt Ready: My name is Matt and I volunteered to help facilitate this General Assembly. I’m from Washington State, in the Occupy Port Townsend group. Is there any strong objection to me facilitating?
Female voice: No.
Matt Ready: Or do you want a facilitation team?
Male voice 2: No. [Unclear 00:01:41] there’s no objection.
Female voice: [Time] a good timer!
Matt Ready: Yeah. I’m going to fill roles in one moment. Okay. I don’t see a strong objection so thank you for letting me facilitate. So I’ve asked [Carl] to sort of be a backup, a support facilitator. If things get crazy, then I might like say, “Hey Carl, come up here and we might [unclear 00:02:02] think about what to do.”
Female voice: [Unclear 00:02:08] shirts!
Matt Ready: That’s right! Anyone else in a tie-die you can be a support facilitator too.
[Laughter]Female voice: I say he participates as well [unclear 00:02:15]. I’m serious. I’m serious.
Matt Ready: Okay. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. Tie-dies and babies participate. I do need a timekeeper. I’d love a timekeeper on the facilitation team, okay? And so periodically we might say, “Hey…”
Camera woman: Timekeeper.
Woman in white hat: Well, I will keep time according to the rules so we all agree upon, so let’s all maintain neutrality.
Matt Ready: Okay. It sounds great. I need a stack taker. Anyone want to volunteer to be a stack taker for this General Assembly?
Female voice: Are those chairs available?
Matt Ready: Okay. So we have a stack taker. Thank you very much. So if you ever want to speak, put your hand up. [It’s the first] hand signal and make sure you make eye-contact with… what’s your name?
Bill: Bill.
Matt Ready: With Bill. Bill will go [Matt nods his head]. He’ll nod his head, that means he’s written your name down on the stack and we are just going to do stack in order, that your name gets on the list.
Bill: Now, please come to me and tell me your names.
Matt Ready: Actually, I would — you could do that but —
Bill: I’m fine. I’ll work it out.
Matt Ready: Yeah. Bill will work it out. And I’m just going to sort of explain the process that I’m familiar with, and if you want to do a [point of process], if you really feel it’s necessary, then do that and we’ll dive into that but it’s helpful to try to do as little process debate during a General Assembly. So hopefully, the process as I am used to doing it feels good to everyone. And I’m going to describe a little more about that.
[00:03:48]Female voice: How long are you going to take to do that?
Matt Ready: The process? I’m going to explain the process in no more than seven minutes if [unclear 00:03:57] interrupt me. Okay.
Woman in white hat: I’m not staying for this.
Camera woman: Okay. Do we need another timekeeper?
Matt Ready: All right. I need a — I’ve got a stack taker, I’ve got a timekeeper, except the timekeeper just left. Any other… All right. Let’s do a quick, really quick hand signals. Everyone knows, just sparkle up if you agree, sparkle down if you disagree, sparkle out if you’re on the fence. Raise your hand if you want to get on stack. If you absolutely must do a point of process, do the triangle and that’s really a way to help the facilitator. Other things… I don’t generally use the direct response because it’s just [another] way to jump stack and so I just generally say, if you want to say something, just raise your hand and you’ll get on stack and get to speak on your —
Female voice: Could another timekeeper step up?
Matt Ready: Okay. Could we have another timekeeper?
Camera woman: Timekeeper!
Matt Ready: Anyone wants to keep time? You just need a timepiece and I’ll say —
Woman in white hat: [See why] process it never takes seven minutes. Go ahead and do it though. I will be your timekeeper. No worries.
Woman in V-neck: I could use the cell phone ’cause I don’t have a watch.
Matt Ready: You will be my timekeeper. Okay.
Female voice: [Unclear 00:05:11] going faster though.
Matt Ready: All right.
Camera woman: I have an iPad that has a clock on it. You could use that but it’s by minute.
Male voice: Could you tell me your [unclear 00:05:20]?
Camera woman: It’s Mary Jane on Livestream and it’s Mary Jane.
Matt Ready: Okay. So in my experience doing a General Assembly, we like to start out with a quick “Why are you here?” And we just do it like for… we do it for five minutes. And we’re just going to let the stack [unclear 00:05:36] for five minutes to take, [let] a few people say, “Why the heck are you here? Why did you travel here?” And speak from your heart for no more than like 30 seconds. Is there any objection to us doing that, taking five minutes to let people share why they’re here? Any objection? Everyone feel okay about that? You feel like an okay thing to do? Is five minutes okay?
Female voice: I think you might need a minute [inaudible 00:05:58] 30 seconds.
Female voice: No.
Matt Ready: Well, I’ll try to be concise. Okay. So then we’re going to do it. So if you would like to share in this group why you are here, raise your hand and get on stack and Bill just tells me who’s first. All right. And keep getting eye-contact with Bill to get on stack. Go ahead.
Woman in V-neck: Okay. I’m here because of all the injustice and because the 99% have to get together because of all — everything and everybody knows how horrible everything is. The middle class has disappeared or in the process of almost being gone, and the strength is in numbers, and we need people to stand together and do things as a group, not just in Sacramento but I mean across the whole nation, and we need to get together and do things to try to help ourselves.
Matt Ready: Great.
Man in red trousers: [Unclear 00:07:09] here to teach people about a resource-based economy, [a true] economic system that will address pretty much everybody’s concerns all in one [unclear 00:07:18] in 2005 Rhode Island had a bloodless revolution, rounded up all the bankers and politicians, threw them in jail, rewrote the constitution, restarted their country. We can’t do this stuff but we actually have to have a B plan of what to do [unclear 00:07:32] and that needs to be logistically plausible. Resource-based economy, it can be done.
Matt Ready: All right. Thank you.
Catherine: Thank you. I’m Catherine [unclear 00:07:44]. I’m here with a full inspiration for this movement as the foundation of Real Democracy Movement of the world, Europe, and Occupy in [everywhere] and support the 99% and I really — I’ve come here with a viable proposal, similar in some ways to the resource-based thing as a way to really actively begin to build the new replacement system from the grassroots. A proposal for a whole system change. That’s [how I’ll] leave it.
[00:08:23]Gabriel: Hi! My name’s Gabriel [McMillan]. Interestingly, I’m here for very similar reasons as the previous two people. I have a lot of different ideas. My focus has been more on alternative forms of banking, ways to make the financial system more democratically governed and more in the interest of the public—whatever the public wants to do—and I’ve got this [small dossier] that I would like to share again later, if I possibly can, about that. It’s also been a [help to reconsider], to rekindle this movement in general and maybe these — far more of these gatherings will continue and [grow back to their form of glory]. I hope so.
[00:09:16]Bill: Did you want to speak?
Female voice: No.
Bill: Oh! Do we have anyone else?
Matt Ready: Are you the timekeeper? If you could just tell me when five minutes is up.
Jack Strasburg: Hey! My name is Jack Strasburg and I came here wanting to try and check out where Occupy is at [unclear 00:09:32] to the beginning. But more important for me is [unclear 00:09:37] [crosstalk] the new paragon [unclear][crosstalk] economics if you want to really do something about what’s going on and really kind of check out how many people will be interested in the Occupy [inaudible 00:09:55] communities as a way of building an alternative economic system.
D’Andre: I’m D’Andre from the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and Month] of Resistance and briefly I came here to encourage people to be part of this month of resistance against mass incarceration. There are 2.4 million people locked up in prison. The black and brown youth will have no future under this system, they have a target painted on their back, who are considered suspects, gang bangers, criminal elements before they’ve even done anything [unclear 00:10:34] large number of women in prison that has increased by 800% in the last 30 years, and the roundup of immigrants, wholesale roundup, and rounding up of children. All this is part of this horrible policy of treating people as less than humans while Obama goes around the world and points his finger at other countries when right here 5% of the population of the world, 25% of the prisoners, and month of October is going to be a massive month of resistance, and I’m calling on every Occupier here, where we are from, to join with this Month of Resistance. I’ve got information I’ll talk about later if you want to talk to me, but let’s do a Freedom Summer all over again, where people gladly in the millions are challenged to get out of their safety zone and actually confront the illegitimacy of this country.
Male voice: Amen!
Male voice: All right!
[Crowd cheers and claps]Matt Ready: It’s up. Well, I’m sure we went over our five minutes. Maybe like a…
Female voice: [Inaudible 00:11:50]
Matt Ready: No? Okay.
Woman with red scarf: I’m here because — to give a teaching, which I gave today and will give another tomorrow on a way to magnify the power of Occupy. It’s a national education campaign based on a resolution that was passed in 2011 in Occupy, Sacramento. I’m also here tonight because I would like — I can provide a workshop for people who have not spoken to groups this size before, they don’t feel comfortable speaking, even to the people who haven’t spoken to smaller groups because, for me, one of the most amazing things that happened in Occupy in Sacramento was when the person with the megaphone invited everybody who wanted to speak up and invited people to stand on stage so that people who were not usually seen as the speaker, got to speak. So I will schedule for eight o’clock and what I’m going to do is I’m going to go over there where that chair is. If — I didn’t know there was a GA at this time but if there’s anyone who wants to do an experiential interactive workshop on finding [unclear 00:13:27] I’ll go over there. No one comes. You want to be here. I’ll come back. I’ll be there for a while though.
[People clap]Matt Ready: Okay. All right. So the time it is up so we’ve got two more —
Female voice: Forty seconds.
Matt Ready: Okay. So we won’t — how many people are left on stack?
Bill: One person.
Matt Ready: Okay. Please, we’re trying to keep it under like 30 seconds to say why you’re here.
Man in black outfit: Thank you very much. [Inaudible 00:13:59] since I’ve been very young [inaudible 00:13:59] in a lot of different aspects, and what I’d like to do here is to try to think of as many ways as I can to get your message out to as many people as [inaudible 00:14:13], ways that you haven’t tried before, some have effective for you but not that effective for you, obviously, because I haven’t heard about you for years. So that would be my job if you [unclear 00:14:26] try to get you an audience that is going to take you seriously, that’s going to listen to what you have to say, and get more people into the group. That’s my purpose.
[00:14:42]Matt Ready: Okay. All right! So we have a process check on the events. There needs to be announcement.
Woman in blue: That’s what it’s about. Process check. Okay. Sorry. Sorry to interrupt! I’m going to need — I know a couple of people volunteered, but we need some help moving the food from the capital back to the hostel. I’m offering my car. We’re going to start that around 8:30, which is like I think in half an hour, so meet me at that tree right there, 8:30. We need, like, probably three people. [Unclear 00:15:13]. So that tree right there, 8:30 and obviously bring the food back and we’ll — yeah… Thanks! Sorry.
Matt Ready: Okay. So the five minutes is up and so I would normally just — we’d go on to the next part of the GA each time an agreed time-limit is expired. But I would check with the group. Everyone all right going to the next part of the GA? Any strong objection? If you were on stack for the part that we were just doing, you can keep your point on — your place on stack for the next part. So was that an objection? Was there any objection to moving on? Okay. Is there an objection?
Male voice: Yeah. She needs to finish —
Woman in blue: Okay. Sorry. I’m working. All right. Who wants to — whoever wants to help with food, please raise your hand now! I need like three people. You… Dauphine and I can’t see… All right. Cool. Thank you, guys. [I’ll see you] at the tree. I’ll see you, then confirm who’s actually going to help. Thank you guys!
Matt Ready: Okay. There was a question, a process question.
Female voice: I just had a question. [Unclear] about Mr. Obama?
Matt Ready: I think you need to find him and ask him. But he already went on stack. I would just keep on. It would sort of break process if we went to that. Okay! So if there’s no objection to moving on, the next thing we would do and [the GA’s aren’t familiar with] is consider proposals, okay? We don’t — so first, I need a sense of how many people have brought a proposal for this GA to consider. So we’ve got at least two? Two people. Three people? Okay. So what we’re going to need to do is take a little time to figure out which proposal we want to consider first. We have a number of them; we may not actually get to all of them unless we’re going to stay here till midnight. So the process that I’m going to suggest is that, if you have a proposal, please make sure you have some sort of title for the proposal ’cause we’re not going to read each one completely. We’re just going to give you a chance to read the title of the proposal — and we’ve got some process questions. Let me finish describing the process that I’m going to suggest.
[00:17:52] You read the title of the proposal so everyone, you know — and keep it under, let’s say, 30 seconds — you know, the title of the proposal and any contacts you want give. And then we’re going to need to do some sort of temp check with the group and see which one they want to jump on and start to consider, if any. That’s my process. Is there any concerns about the process that I just described? I see a couple. All right, so stack taker, please recognize people with the [inaudible 00:18:21].Woman: [You] said that there’s one proposal from yesterday’s GA and so I’d like to [acknowledge them]. There was a GA yesterday and that [unclear 00:18:35]
Matt Ready: Okay. So I still would defer to the group if they say they didn’t want to talk about it. I would still go with what the group wants to do.
Male voice: There’s my question.
Matt Ready: Okay. So any other concerns with the process I just described? Okay, so if you have a proposal, please [crosstalk] —
[00:18:57]Woman: [He] kind of indicated something.
Man in chair: Yeah. I just — I guess I feel like this is a bit of a cart-before-the-horse because having done I don’t know how many hours of being in proposals over the last two days, and even just today, I would want to see if that’s what the group actually wants to use the GA for, or even do that.
Matt Ready: Okay so —
Man in chair: Because there might be some other purpose for this GA than just jumping in the proposals.
Matt Ready: So I’m going to take that as an objection to going to consider any proposals. So we could briefly see — we could temp check first do people want to consider some proposals.
Woman: Yes.
Matt Ready: Okay. Is there any strong objection to moving on and consider proposals?
Man in blue: Well, I would [00:19:48] I mean if of course it’s [required][unclear 00:19:52] on proposals that’s [unclear 00:19:54] I hope there aren’t any proposals that are going to like [00:20:00] too divisive. I’m just hoping that we have a real mellow thing and we really get to know — I just don’t want any divisiveness. I hope there’s no proposals out there that are going to have a strong debate over tonight.
Matt Ready: Okay. Is that an objection to us doing proposals?
Woman: No.
Matt Ready: Okay. Is there any objection to us moving on considering proposals?
Male voice: We have a clarifying question.
Matt Ready: If it’s not an objection and you want to get to proposals, then you might hold off. Is there any objection?
Female voice: What do you want to say?
Camera woman: Wait, he’s the facilitator.
Female voice: Sorry [inaudible 00:20:43] because no matter what our [procedure policy is.]
Matt Ready: So I’m going to be as gentle as I can with the process and so I’m going to — the question at the moment is, “Do we want to move on to proposals?” If no one objects, let’s go to proposals. We don’t need to even discuss that comment if it wasn’t really an objection.
Male voice: [Unclear 00:21:09] to proposals.
Matt Ready: So —
Man in blue: I need a — I guess it’s a quasi objection.
Matt Ready: Okay. So final call for objections, if you have an objection to move on to proposals. Stack taker can recognize —
Bill: We have one objection [unclear 00:21:24] question.
Matt Ready: Just put him on stack [unclear 00:21:28]. Go ahead.
Man in blue: The only objection I have is that that forces us into a contrived time thing that we have to — we can’t take forever, right? And we could stay until midnight. But I don’t want it to get to a point where we have to cut off debate because we’re out of time. I think in this gathering, before there’s any [putting off] debate or anything like — we need to get to know each other! I think that really I — I wish we could actually be in a circle. Maybe we could be in two concentric circles or something. But anyway, I would love hear people’s names and I am more — and I am objecting to a proposal process [unclear 00:22:16] requires some difficulty in terms of time. I don’t think we should be rushed. I don’t think we should have any rush, anything rushed now, I mean tonight.
Bill: And we have a [unclear 00:22:27].
Matt Ready: Okay.
Gabriel: My question is what are we going to do with the DAA if we’re not going to consider proposals? Every [DAA] I’ve ever been to focused [unclear 00:22:37] considering proposals.
Man in blue: Well, the answer is we could get to know each other.
Matt Ready: Okay. So I’m going to go back to the question. Do we want to go on to proposals or do we want to go on to something else? So, you want to go to proposals, give me a temp check. How about a temp check on going onto something else besides proposals. There’s some interest there.
Man in blue: You don’t want to get to know anybody?
Matt Ready: So —
Female voice: [In the distance] [Inaudible 00:23:08] like it’s traditional.
Matt Ready: Okay, so just please raise your hand if you want to get on stack. Let me just ask you again. Is there any objection with us moving on to proposals? Okay. So then I would go on to the point of information.
Man in chair: So we have the permit until ten o’clock and that is about an hour and 56 minutes from now and we have to be cleaned up and all the stuff on the property off the property like it was last night before ten o’clock. So that’s [our time put straight.]
Matt Ready: Okay. Yeah. In terms of process and time, you know what? I’m willing to facilitate as long as people want to go and the GA can move if it needs to move. So I’m at the, you know — we’ll just see how it goes. All right! So is there — okay, point of information.
[00:24:01]Man in chair: So if the GA decides to continue past ten o’clock, I think we need to have a break to get us off the property.
Camera woman: That’s not a point of information.
Man in chair: No, that’s a point of information. If you’re going to do it, we —
Camera woman: It’s a comment.
Man in chair: — need to have everybody help clean up and move off the property. That can’t be suspended just because you want to move somewhere else. That’s all.
Matt Ready: Okay. So we didn’t have an objection. We’re moving on to proposals so I’m going to start the proposal process. So — is that an objection that you really need to voice?
Woman: No. I don’t have an objection now.
Man in blue: I — we have — I don’t think so.
Camera woman: There’s a stack, isn’t there?
Man in blue: Never mind. No. Never mind.
Woman with white hat: Just FYI. [Crosstalk 00:24:42]
Camera woman: She’s jumping stack.
Woman with white hat: — because we’re dealing with proposals. If you are planning on doing the [Light Brigade], they will be leaving from the north stop at 8:30 to go on over the five to put up the Overpass Light Brigade. So to the extent that’s going to diminish the numbers, proposals might be discussed in a smaller group.
Matt Ready: Okay. All right. So we’re going to move on to proposals, since no one objected to that. So if you have a proposal, you need to raise your hand to get on stack and whoever —
Camera woman: There’s a stack for that though.
Matt Ready: — gets on stack first, will be the first to read the title of their proposal. And then we’re going to try to sort through them.
Camera woman: Are you going to raise your hand?
Matt Ready: Okay. Who’s first? Tell me who’s number one.
Bill: One.
Matt Ready: Okay. You’ve got a title for it?
[00:25:38]D’Andre: Yes.
Matt Ready: Just a title that they can remember.
D’Andre: A proposal that Occupy and all the occupants from around the country and here, take up the month of resistance against mass incarceration, wherever you might be. Occupy has distinguished itself as being one of the great moments in recent history of the United States when people came together from all walks of life, different races, different creeds, different political positions, and all came together around something that was absolutely urgent and necessary. And in that spirit, I’m really calling on people to take up this month of resistance against mass incarceration that can bring together many many people, a big tent, a big Occupy tent, where Occupy can actually rejuvenate its energy and reach out to many people that are in the oppressed communities that we have not reached out before.
Matt Ready: Great. Thank you. Keep it limited to that.
Camera woman: [Tie it off.]
D’Andre: Okay, so why don’t you say how this could be done?
Matt Ready: Well, we’re going to call it the Month of Resistance Against Mass Incarceration Proposal.
D’Andre: Okay.
Matt Ready: And we’ll take it — to start, that’s all we need for now. We just need sort of a title so the group can decide. Who’s next?
Bill: Number two.
[00:27:06]Man in red trousers: Why We Need to End Capitalism and Start an RBE.
Matt Ready: End capitalism and start what?
Man in red trousers: An RBE, Resource Based Economy.
Matt Ready: Okay, so it’s End Capitalism and Start an RBE Proposal. All right. Give me another proposal.
Bill: Number three is…
Female voice: Number four, I think.
Bill: Who’s three?
Male voice: I am. Ours is the continuation of last night’s solidarity with civilians in Palestine.
Matt Ready: So it’s the Solidarity with Civilians in Palestine Proposal continuing from yesterday’s GA. Okay. Who’s next?
[00:27:44]Catherine: This is a proposal to hold an International G99% People’s Assembly in Australia when there will be a lot of the community of the world, the global justice movement gathered in Brisbane in November for the G20.
Matt Ready: Okay.
Catherine: I’m sorry but I couldn’t indicate that I had two. Another one just as quick.
Matt Ready: Okay.
Catherine: It’s a proposal to start to build the replacement socio-political-economic system from the grassroots, a genuine global democracy from the grassroots while this system is crumbling, start to build a new one called The Earth Holocracy Proposal.
Matt Ready: Earth Holocracy?
Catherine: H-o-l-o-cracy.
Matt Ready: Okay. So we’ve got the International G99% People’s Assembly in Australia Proposal and the Earth Holocracy Proposal. Who’s next?
[00:28:47]Gabriel: So my proposal is to identify a piece of land somewhere where we can have this go on perpetually. Ideally, a private piece of land that’s owned by the movement that’s democratically governed by the General Assembly that operates here.
Matt Ready: All right. So let’s call that the General Assembly Land Purchase?
Gabriel: The Occupy Land Purchase.
Matt Ready: The Occupy Land Purchase Proposal. Okay. Any other proposals that you — we’re already beyond — no way we’re going to have that. Not a strong chance we’re going to get to all these proposals.
[Laughter]Matt Ready: [I don’t say no way] but anyone else really wants to put a proposal on this list? Okay. So I count six proposals. All right. So we’re going to do a — first we’re going to do—this is going to be hard—we’re going to do a temp check, just get some initial reaction. Give me a temp check of what’s your enthusiasm for doing this proposal first. Okay? ‘Cause that’s what we need to decide; which one do we do first. So I’m going to read them and try to watch for the temp check and… All right. I think we’ve got some —
[Distant voice]Matt Ready: That’s good. A process.
[00:30:06]
