G.A. Minutes 11-29-14

We’re at the Amazing Grace Café again. Again it is quiet and almost empty. We order bowls of their delicious soup and sit down at the big table by the fish tank.

The first thing we do is get a copy of the café’s music schedule for the month of December. We are all music lovers but we find it difficult to hold a meeting when there is a band playing on stage. We have to practically shout at each other in order to hear and of course, it’s extremely rude to be talking while musicians are performing.

It looks like most Saturdays will be available while most Tuesdays will be showcasing live performances. We decide to make the Amazing Grace our temporary winter quarters as much as possible and concentrate on finding alternatives when bands are playing.

Next Tuesday is one of the times that the café will not be suitable. An Occupier offers the use of his apartment for our next meeting and we gratefully accept.

An Occupier gives a quick rundown of upcoming December events. Another Sunday Sermon will take place tomorrow November 30th, 6pm at the Red Herring. It’s rumored Mr. Nice is going to show up and that he is considering running for public office again. Mr. Nice is such a fun guy.

On Wednesday December 3rd at 6pm the Jefferson People’s House will show the film “Breaking the Spell” a documentary about the 1999 WTO protests. After the movie they intend to have a discussion about property damage and civil disobedience as tactics for social change. We all plan on attending as this topic is right up our alley.

The next Idle No More/Northwoods Wolf Alliance meeting will be on Friday, December 5th 1pm at the Duluth Indian Center.

The Washington Studios Artist Co-op will hold its annual Holiday Show on Saturday December 6th from 11am-5pm. The Occupier couple live at this co-op so will be working at the show. They ask that the Occupiers please hold their Saturday meeting in the couple’s home so as to allow them to make an easy transition. We all agree this will be a good thing to do.

Loaves N Fishes will hold their annual Christmas party on Sunday December 14th from 2pm-5pm at St Paul’s Episcopal Church.

An Occupier asks, “Do you guys want to hear the scandal of the day?”

We say, “Sure, why not?” and she continues,

“So Jay Fosle, probably our most right leaning City Councilor, wrote on his Facebook page that the protesters in Ferguson are ‘savages’ and should be dealt with accordingly. When I was alerted I went to his Facebook page but it had already been deleted. It looked like a lot of stuff had been deleted. As you can imagine, many people are very offended by his comment”.

Another Occupier says, “So the African American people of Ferguson are savages but the police who have oppressed, abused and made their lives hell for many years are not? I know his term is up in about a year. I hope this comes back to bite him if he runs for reelection”.

Someone else replies, “I wouldn’t count on it. A lot of his supporters are probably racists too. Racism is alive and well in this country and also in this city”. We wish to ally with the African American community in Duluth but so far have not been told what is needed of us.

The Occupiers who are regular attendees at INM/NWA gatherings give a brief report on the progress of the timeline information being researched. They say, “We plan to show that wolves and other species were removed from the endangered species list in order to pave the way for mining, logging and other earth destroying projects. The delisting of wolves actually had nothing to do with the behavior of wolves at all. All that stuff about wolves killing too many livestock, attacking humans etc. is just a smokescreen.

“We’re finding a lot of evidence, in fact, so much that it’s going to take a while to organize it all”.

One of the Occupiers adds, “I’m told our senator Amy Klobuchar was a major supporter of the MN wolf hunt. I haven’t had time to check out this allegation yet so will have to get back to you when I get the facts.”

Some of the Occupiers attended the Citizen’s Review Board open house last Tuesday. One of them reports, “It wasn’t exactly what I had expected. Of course, the people from the DPD took charge of everything. They didn’t have an actual question and answer session like we were led to believe. There were quite a few people, including many black folks, present. People were divided into 5 groups and each group went around to 5 separate tables each of which was monitored by 1 or more members of the DPD.

Each table had a specific topic to be addressed like: What constitutes militarization of the police? How does the CRB operate? How does one file a complaint about a police officer? ….. and some other topics I can’t remember. All the groups were supposed to come back together for final discussion at the end but that didn’t happen. I think the final conclusion from all the citizens attending was something like, “Isn’t the system for complaints that is currently in operation pretty much like the fox guarding the hen house?”
The cops didn’t have much of an answer for that. They just said, “Yes”.

On that note we’re ready to call it a night. November has been a very busy month and we’re all pretty tired.
We’ll meet again next Tuesday at Michael’s apartment, 2021 W 2nd St #204. Ring the buzzer and he’ll let you in.

G.A Minutes 11-11-14
We find the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial completely covered with 3 inches of snow upon our arrival tonight. There’s a cold wind and temperatures are in the low 20s.
Almost all the Occupiers are present. Word has gotten around that this will probably be our last meeting at CJM until spring. That fact is enough to get everyone bundled up and out in the frigid air this evening.
As we’re setting up an African American gay man who had been a regular visitor to our fire for years calls out to us. We haven’t seen him since last spring so are pleasantly surprised see him now. We all give him a hug and say, “Man, where you been?” He tells us he was sentenced to four months in the Work Farm and was just released today.
He’s taking a couple of street men to a new homeless camp. He asks them to wait a bit so he can chat with us. He’s sounds more confident than he has in the past and has plans to apply to college. The main homeless outreach worker is going to help him. We are pleased to hear this.
After the newly confident man leaves, an Occupier reports there are two interesting events happening tomorrow. One is the second meeting of the group connected to the Council For Black Minnesotans. It will take place on the third floor of City Hall at 7pm.
The other is a film sponsored by Water Legacy. It’s going to be at the Red Herring, also at 7pm.
Another Occupier reports the Jefferson People’s House has declined our request to hold our meetings in their space during the winter months. They don’t have the staff to manage after hour events on a regular basis. Oh, oh…… It looks like we’re going to be homeless again. Fortunately our homelessness is theoretical rather than factual. That is a big difference.
Someone else tells us there will two events next week which we may want to attend. Next Tuesday, November 18th we are invited out to the FDL Community Center to listen to the wisdom of an elder. On Saturday November 22nd the Voices For Racial Justice will be showing a documentary film about African Americans and Native American working together for racial justice. A large part of this documentary was filmed in Duluth. Both of these events fall on our regular meeting days but we agree they are important enough to attend them in lieu of our meetings.
An additional Occupier comments one of our friends is showing a movie “Breaking the Spell” on Wednesday, December 3rd 6:30pm at the Jefferson People’s House. The movie will be followed by a discussion about whether property damage is violence.
An Occupier attended a wolf rally last Saturday as a representative for Northwoods Wolf Alliance. The rally was held at People’s Plaza/Ma’iigan Corner and was sponsored by Howling For Wolves. The Occupier had a lengthy conversation with the local leader of HFW and will be able to report back to NWA that things look promising re: NWA and HFW being able to work together when appropriate.
As we have been talking a few regular street friends have given us a hurried greeting as they scurried on to whatever shelter they had managed to find for the night. The streets are empty; no one has stopped.
The spiritual street man arrives. He has no boots, just a pair of sandals with socks. He’s on his way to somewhere else but stops by to chat.
A conversation about carbon pollution begins. An Occupier says she has read recently that the U.S. doesn’t report its carbon discharge from war and other military activities when reporting its annual carbon footprint to the UN. Another Occupier says, “That’s probably why scientists are reporting that climate change is happening at a much faster rate than was initially expected”
The discourse turns to the topic of violence. One of the Occupiers states, “Of course there are moral issues but violence in demonstrations and things like that is highly impractical. The 1% owns the bombs, guns, cops and all that stuff. One is certain to get their head beaten in when they use violence. Besides, if one gets their head beaten in when using violence the general public will have no sympathy for them. When one gets their head beaten in while remaining non-violent they are likely to receive support from outside observers”.
Another Occupier asks, “Is property damage violence?” The first Occupier responds, “When the damage is to the 1%, no. When its property of poor people, yes”. We all laugh.
A friend of the Occupier couple arrives. He lives in the artist co-op where the couple also lives and this is his first time at one of our meetings.
An Occupier who has recently received a housing voucher tells his story, “It’s not what it’s cracked up to be. You have to find your own housing. You have to go to each property management company in person, fill out an application and pay a background check fee in order to be considered for an apartment. When you don’t have a car getting to all the places takes a long time. When you have physical disabilities it’s even more difficult. You can easily spend $100 or more just paying background check fees. You also have to pay for the cleaning deposit. With all the added expenses you’re lucky if you have enough money left over to pay the rent”.
An Occupier remarks, “I’m pleased to announce that by sitting here in this weather we have proven we are crazier than anybody else in the neighborhood”. This fact comes as no surprise to any of us.
Somebody else says, “If almost all regular people have to have a job in order to survive, how come everyone can’t have a job? How come people are supposed to fit the job instead of jobs fitting the people? How come people with felonies, even for simple stupid stuff, can’t have jobs?”
The friend from the artist co-op comments, “I’ve noticed one of the only jobs that people with felonies can be successful at is that of an artist. I have some friends who have drug felonies who have become quite successful with their art”.
The conversation turns to religion, various names for God and real requirements for pleasing “God” vs petty imaginary requirements based on fear, atheism and other higher power related things too numerous to mention.
Now it’s late and some of have cold feet and hands. We all have runny noses. We pack up and head out.
On Saturday we’ll meet at the Occupier couples’ apartment and try to figure out where to go from here. If anyone reading this has a suggestion for a public place located in the downtown Central Hillside area that would allow us to meet without a meeting fee please contact us. Any suggestions will be truly appreciated.

G.A. Minutes 11-8-14
The weather report says a very big storm raging across the Pacific Ocean is on its way to northern Alaska and far northern Canada. Northern MN can expect temperatures below normal for this time of year for the next week or so.
It’s already dark when we first few Occupiers arrive at CJM this evening. We can feel the beginning of the colder temperatures.

Several street people are sitting on the back ledge; among them is a very pretty young woman we have met in the past. She walks over and says, “We’ve been waiting for you. Are you going to make a fire? We’re homeless and we’re really cold”.

With her words in mind, we hurry to get things ready. Some of the street folks assist with the set up. In a short time the fire is roaring; all the chairs are full and everyone is huddled close to the warmth.

Included in this group is another young woman we have met a few times. She is usually quiet and shy except when she’s drinking. When she’s drinking, she is vulgar, hostile and looks for a fight. Tonight she is drinking.
She’s quite a handful but the rest of the people look out for her as she falls over, loses her coat, glasses and other belongings and alternates between cussing at and hugging everyone. She’s fortunate to have these friends. If she didn’t, she’d probably be dead by now.

Once folks are warm, some of them go to the back ledge for a bit, probably to drink a little more. Suddenly the hostile young woman is on top of the pretty young woman and pounding on her. A couple of the men quickly pull the aggressive woman off the other woman and gently scold her. The pretty woman leaves quickly.
We think, “Oh great. I hope it’s not going to be another one of those nights”.

Two of the Occupiers had attended a wolf rally earlier in the day. One had gone as a representative for the Northwoods Wolf Alliance. The rally was sponsored by Howling For Wolves and the Occupier was sent to ask if HFW would be willing to ally with NWA with hopes of working more closely on projects. She reports the response from HFW was quite positive. She also reports that NWA is researching information about wolves and other species having been removed from the endangered species list in order to make way for mining, logging and other earth destroying ventures.

One of the three Occupiers present this evening remarks, “I have a lot of things to report but it doesn’t look like anyone else is going to show tonight so I guess I’ll save things til next time.

Two women who are personal friends of the Occupier couple appear. They have not participated in an Occupy meeting before and seem to be slightly uncomfortable. In an attempt to help the friend feel comfortable an Occupier comments, “It can get a little crazy around here but of course you and I have never acted crazy”. The friend laughs and relaxes.

A woman who owns the African American Beauty Solon in the neighborhood stops by to say hello.

The neighborhood spiritual man arrives, gets some coffee and quietly takes a seat.

Two large African American men are slamming their bodies against each other, wrestling and at first we think they are fighting. It soon becomes apparent that they are just playing. Two large men having fun and acting like they were young boys again. It’s rather cute.

Suddenly one of the men realizes he has lost his cell phone. They stop their game and slowly retrace their steps in an attempt to find it.

A man who has been holding his hands over the fire for some time says, “My hands are so cold and they hurt so much”. An Occupier asks if he has any gloves and when he answers no, she says, “Why don’t you take these? They’re not much but maybe they’ll help. I’ve taken to bringing an extra pair every time we come here in case someone can use them”. The man gratefully accepts the gloves.

Another man who is part of their group says, “You know, everyone says I’m crazy because of the time I spent at Miller Dwan”. He then launches into a loud diatribe, “I’m just waiting for Jesus to arrive. What chu goona do when Jesus comes to you and asks ‘What have you done for me?’ What chu gonna do?”

He soon becomes repetitive and annoying. We’re glad when the group wanders off because they take him with them.
A few at a time, everyone leaves until the spiritual man and the few Occupiers are the only ones left at the fire. We all breathe a sigh of relief as it is finally quiet.

In silent fellowship, we watch the fire and it begins to lightly snow. Oh well……. We knew it was going to happen sooner or later.

After a while it’s time to go. We begin to pack up when the pretty young woman returns. She is perfectly shitfaced and cold.

We allow her to sit and warm up. She is whiny and demanding. She says, “Where am I gonna sleep tonight? I’m gonna freeze to death! I called my boyfriend’s house and another woman answered and called me a cunt. Where am I gonna go?”

The spiritual man is going to hang out in the Casino for a while. We suggest she go there too. She refuses saying, “So what am I gonna do, just walk around there all night?” We then suggest that we call homeless outreach and they take her to Detox. She says, “Hell no! I’m not some kinda drunk!”

We have no other options to offer her and she stumbles angrily off.

As we drive away, we search the street for her but she is nowhere to be found. We figure she must have found someone to take her in.

We’ll be back again on Tuesday.