hi all,
the fire extinguisher that used to live in the common room to the left of
the kitchen (near the light switches for the common room) has gone missing.
our landlord is unhappy that it's gone and it makes us less safe to not
have a fire extinguisher there.
if you have any information about its whereabouts or fate, please let us
know. and if you have it, please bring it back.
thank you,
marina
hi all,
i have wanted this to exist for a long time and now it exists!
nptech.io is the hacker news for social good.
let's put more awesome stuff on it and tell everyone! how else are we going
to find out about all the rad stuff that everyone is working on? we need
this!
- marina
==introductions==
;question is what is delicious?
marc, ben, max, eddan, jc, tom, hol, matt, bryce (hacdc woooo!), marina
(defunct web service), romy, vicky, morten (hot steel), Noel Gallo, jon
from urban strategis council (mama mia cornbread)
==updates==
Action items from last meeting need to be completed.
==announcements==
* Calendar https://sudoroom.org/calendar
* info(a)sudoroom.org is a public-facing email!
- * If you want to receive these messages, join the list
http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/info
- * Remember that people messaging this do not assume it will be posted
publicly. Archives not public to respect their privacy.
* Hamburg hosting Chaos Computer Congress (CCC) hacker convention, more
social justice oriented, though there is still plenty of security stuff.
Not sure if talks are posted yet. Equal parts hacking, socializing, three
days, it's awesome.
- * http://events.ccc.de/congress/2012/Fahrplan/ <- last years talk
schedule
- * https://tickets.events.ccc.de/
- * December 27th-30th, 2013 – Hamburg, Germany
- * Only $100, airline now $1300.
* Max is going to read a list of places and percentages. Guess what the
statistics are!
* Facebook post to start a mackerspace in basement of The *Buzzword* Hub:
Oakland. #h#a#s#h#t#a#g#i#t#s#a#r#e#a#l#t#h#i#n#g#
- * If you're interested in fielding the proposal, seeking something
more like TechShop, less like Noisebridge?
* Sudo room maintains a positive disposition, excited for enabling a
creative community and hackerspace to flourish.
==fiscal solvency==
*max comments since the treasurer of the board is the one person that takes
on liability for sudo room, shouldn't that person be the exchequer with a
finance committee to lighten bookkeeping.
- * Only liability is whether the accounting is done correctly.
Otherwise it's the general liability of being a board member. This is
similar to Noisebridge. That being said, I am not a lawyer (IANAL).
- * Max: It's all good.
- * Matt needs to get bank accounts, Patelco and Internet Archive
Federal Credit Union
- * https//iafcu.org/
==ammendments to articles of incorporation==
*approve the board
checb
- Accepted: count 3
- Max K [treasurer],
- Jenny Rcheck,
- Naomi Mcheck,
- Anca Mcheck,
- Hol Gcheck,
- Vicky Kcheck,
- Matt Scheck,
- Luciano onaicuL unknown human, no consensus,
- Troy Mcheck,
- Liberty Mcheck,
- Marina Kcheck,
- Julio Rcheck,
- Romy check,
- Marc J check
-
- First board retreat Jjimjilbang (찜질방) -- these are gender segregated :(
-
- HISTORY IS NOT EASILY OBTAINABLE
- Declined: Jordan, Kerrie, Anthony, Eddan, Ryan B, Morten, JC
- Nominated: Rhodey, Len, Vian, Shake, Mitch, Brendan, Faust
-
==discussion==
* Rackspace grant (not raytheon)
- * Got a random email on info(a)sudoroom.org. They wanted info that we
have since we just incorporated anyway. Marc sent in all the info. Say
something if you think rackspace is wack (doesn't seem likely) or some
reason not to get no-strings-attached cash.
* The Omni update
- Marc and Matt speak:
- 48th and Shattuck
- 21k sq ft
- $16k/mo 2-3 years
- Deposit $50k
- $1.95MM sale price
- collective of collectives, opportunity for community
-
- The opportunity on the table is to be able to engage in a lease that
has a purchase option for this building. The landlord is seeking serious
parties to create a genuine community space. Not anyone would
-
- Max dissents:
- 0.6mi from MacArthur BART which means
- exposing visitors to additional risk walking
- further from E and W oakland, which means we will be less able to
offer our services to those areas, which in turn is disproportionately
affecting lower socioeconomic classes, which is against our mission.
- not in downtown w/ 1st friday
- more expensive and we have low finances
-
- Matt speaks:
- Need to find bldg inspector and architect to check building
- Opportunity is in having a community of other groups all in building
- Find out more about guarantors, get specifics from landlord
- Add contingency in purchase for permitting, inspection, etc
-
- Vicky speaks:
- Look for welfare setup to avoid property tax
- If have enough nonprofit sub-entities, can be exempt from property
taxes
-
- Hol Speaks:
- "Doubles down" on range from BART issue ie it is an issue.
-
- Matt speaks:
- Not too into range from BART metric, many issues here, hard to find a
good spot but continue actively looking for best option.
-
- Vicky
- Discussing Rachel's thread about gentrifying effect. Temescal vs
here, mugging, we have computer$ on our bodies. A business had customers
robbed en route to BART. We would be perceived as gentrifiers in
temescal. Would never walk down telegraph at night.
-
- Eddan on stack:
- supports what Matt was saying, that is, not to pass up an opportunity.
we said we wanted to connect with other groups. it would be valuable just
to go through the research phases though.
-
- Vicky,
- and third point. It would be a positive next step. wants to Take a
step back from emphasizing the need to move.
-
- Matt:
- I want to value everyone's participation and input.
-
- Max on stack:
- offer to post this discussion to board and also vindicate matt
-
- Matt:
- just make sure that this
-
- Vicky:
- Do you feel like we are good faith collaborating?
-
- Matt:
- Basically, yes.
-
- Marc:
- 2 things going on. 1 is the omni. and yes its possibly its too
expensive. but 2. we are increasing collaborating with other groups so
that's good, it might not be the omni, but it is a good step to getting new
place.
-
- REmote yar:
- also doeSnt like tHe locatiOn but likeS the susainability part Of it
-
** Sudouino* https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Sudouino
-
- #*THISSHITISREAL*
-
- * Hol doesn't necessarily have to, but is asking to use the sudo name
and such for this project.
- * Marc: is it open hardware? Hol: Yes. Marc: Will chinese people
suffer? Hol: No only the most local people will suffer.
- ...break for bad religion lyrics: And *then* *you* *told* *me* *how*
*bad* *you* *had* *to* *suffer*, *Is* *that* *really* *all* *you* *have*
*to* *offer*?...
- * Device has 7-pin holes, just like the sudoroom logo--it will fit
perfectly! http://sudoroom.org/wiki/Logo
- * What's different about this from an arduino?
- * Power
- *
* *Aorta *(like the heart bit) Proposal
- * bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum
- vicky: i want that.
- marina: is it free?
- max: maybe. if not we can pay a bit
- *marc: pay them in bitcoin
- Matt will reach out to Jiwon.
-
- ------------------------------------
-
- (^_^) //
-
supa-cato/
- (≧σ≦)/
- </(S)
V
/ /
* Gender and Inclusivity
*collab more with rps
*make a button that starts an I'm NEW HERE WELCOME ME ALARM.
* Email list thoughts
** WORD of the WISE: Let's *Decode*
this means, that we should help each other understand what's happening on
the email list. To decode it. <- that was emphasis on the phrase, "Yep."
==conflict resolution==
*nothing to do unless someone is pursuing an action against someone else
and mediation has failed
==action items==
* marc -- to investigate printer recoup cost
* timon -message art murmur mailing list about alcohol license
* marc - tell oakland wiki folk to update calendar to every two weeks
*if so, hol and max volunteer to be this first team with max treasurer and
hol assistant treasurer
*max to post omni debate to
*mail those who were elected to board but not approved
*matt to contact jiwon
===post-meeting teamups==
All:
In the spirit of Rhodey's recent message,[1] I'd like to share an Oakland
vignette of my own, about a pool league I recently joined. But first,
here's why:
I began to get especially excited about Sudo Room when I started to realize
it aspires to be more than just a bunch of computer geeks coming together
to hack computery stuff (awesome enough in itself) -- that it also wants to
be a community that hacks *life* together. Meeting chefs and filmmakers was
the first wave for me, and then I started hearing heatlfelt and inspired
talk about stuff like social change and engaging with local government.
Yeah!
Many of us, though, are new, or newish, to Oakland. And we are people who
want to have a positive impact on the world around us. But Oakland is a
place with deep history and culture, and on a pretty basic level, it would
be...impolite...to come to a party and immediately start trying to change
what it is. So the desire to get to KNOW Oakland is one that resonates very
strongly with me, as an important first step before contemplating ways to
INFLUENCE Oakland. I think sharing stories is a powerful way (among others)
to get to know something complex and multifaceted.
Anyway, enough of the philosophizing. I want to tell you guys a little bit
about the pool league I joined a couple months back.
Apparently, there have been several Oakland/East Bay pool leagues over the
last 30 years or so (where each team has a home bar, and competes weekly
over a scheduled season). Right now, there's only one league (or at least,
only one connected with this community). It's coed, it's a 30 week season
(we're about 9 weeks in), it's run by a woman who has run an all-women's
league but just started this one, and it will culminate in a trip to Reno
for all participants. By now, having played against all the other teams,
and can say I am truly the only white person in the league;[2] and I think
I'm also unique (more or less) in my connection/familiarity with
Internet/hacker culture.
I've played in a pool league before, but it's been 10 or 15 years. As this
league was forming, I heard about it from a number of regulars at my local
bar in Emeryville -- the organizer, and a number of people who have ended
up on various teams in the league. There was some buzz about it, and I
ended up joining a team that plays out of an East Oakland bar.
The first couple weeks passed pretty quietly. Weeks 3 and 4, though, got
rowdy! Lots of arguments in various games, and of course, there was some
inertia to it -- the overall mood became increasingly tense each night. I
felt cautious about this -- as a newcomer, I was reluctant to be involved
in the arguments -- I was still getting to know the vibe and the people.
But that only goes so far. I felt a responsibility to the integrity of the
game (I know the rules better than many in the league, who are more
familiar with "bar rules" than "league rules"); and moreover, a
responsibility to my team. I have to advocate for myself in my own games --
that's part of what I showed up to do -- and there are situations where I
have to step it up on behalf of my teammates, too. To keep it short, weeks
3 and 4 were were it "got real" for me.
In week 5, there was a new twist: my friend Eugene, who's recently been
taking photography classes (and who hasn't played pool in a competitive
context), had been asking about coming to take some photos, and was finally
able to make it to a match. I had run this by the league coordinator and a
couple teammates, so I was confident our bases were covered -- but after
the hot tempers of the preceding weeks, I was nervous! Were we now in a
new, hypercompetitive mode where the slightest detail is going to lead to a
shouting match? Is it OK to introduce a new and unfamiliar element to a
volatile situation? What kind of effect will it have?
Fortunately, overall it was a super mellow night. Both teams seemed
relaxed. I found myself lining up laid back blues tracks on the jukebox
between my games, and caught several of my teammates and opponents nodding
their heads or singing along throughout the evening.
But one moment was an exception. I was watching a teammate's game, and felt
a surge of adrenaline as a dispute broke out about whether her opponent had
made a clean hit.[3] I had seen the shot clearly, and knew what I'd seen,
but there were enough eyes on the table and enough people in the discussion
that I was happy to sit back and watch it play out. But I did notice that
Eugene, who had begun to hit his stride with the camera, was continuing to
snap pictures. I was thinking this might be weird, but nobody else seemed
fussed over it, so I stayed passive, just taking it all in. The players
were raising their voices, talking over each other, captains and teammates
had stepped up to the table to weigh in. Most of the 10 players present
were involved in an escalating argument.
After a couple minutes things started to wind down -- an agreement had been
reached. The players got back to their game, but people continued talking
about the shot. Eugene came close enough that I could grab his elbow. "What
did you think of that?" I asked. Eugene and I have a shared passion for
sports, and I was certain that he would have an opinion -- maybe not of the
substance of the dispute, but at least something about the dynamics among
the various players. But he gave me a blank look. "Of what?"
In that simple statement, it hit me: between the jargon/etiquette of the
game of pool and the cadence of the Ebonics,[4] there is a world I have
come to know much better than I did a few months ago. I don't know that I
understand it *well* -- I'm not sure if that's even possible without having
grown up in this community! I still find myself in situations almost every
day where I haven't the slightest idea what the people around me are
talking about. But without realizing it, I had become much more highly
attuned to what was going on, at least in that situation.
Ever since, that moment has stuck with me. As I walk down the street, get a
sandwich at the corner store, or ride the bus, I've been asking myself: how
much of what I see and hear is fitting together? Do I understand what's
going on here? Fully? Or a little bit? Who is trying to get whose number,
what happened to that boy in school today, why is that woman laughing? What
would I have been able to perceive when I moved here last spring? And I'm
starting to realize: it's rarely true, actually, that I haven't the
*slightest* idea. I might not understand everything, but as time passes I
understand more. To me, that's pretty exciting, because beginning to
understand helps unlock the possibility of participating in a relaxed and
genuine way. And if I'm going to be here, it's important to me to *be here.*
I'm curious to hear from others who are relatively new to Oakland, how your
process of getting to know it is going.
-Pete
p.s. Want to help support the league...or have an itch to gamble? We have a
raffle going on! Tickets are $1, and must be purchased by Thursday evening.
The prize is a Thanksgiving turkey -- and I can inquire about Tofurky or
other alternatives if necessary ;) Proceeds go toward making the Reno trip
at the end of the season...well, the word that comes to mind
is..."mo'betta."
p.p.s. Want to PLAY in the league? I think some teams have lost players to
shifting work schedules etc. Let me know, and I can see if there are
openings!
----
NOTES
[1]
http://lists.sudoroom.org/pipermail/sudo-discuss/2013-November/004593.html
[2] Since race has been a sensitive issue lately, let me be clear: I
believe racial relations have an important, maybe even central, role in
Oakland history and culture. I have never had great exposure to any black
community before, and am trying to take it in for what it is, and -- to the
best of my ability -- leave preconceptions behind. I do not claim to be
perfect at this.
[3] If you're not familiar with the "ball in hand" rule in competitive
pool: if you don't hit one of your own balls first (stripe/solid), your
opponent can place the cue ball anywhere on the table and take the next
shot. As you might imagine, sometimes it's very hard to tell which ball was
struck first, so this is a common point of contention.
[4] OK, I'm more than a little self-conscious about this term. I am eager
for input! It's a term people seem to use casually in this community, but
I'm not sure how it's taken elsewhere. I think it carries a lot of baggage.
But, there's definitely a dialect here that can be difficult for me to
understand. I'm not sure what are the best words to use for it.
Most of the time, sudo room is simply a good place to be around good people
doing interesting and worthwhile things, one open to the community.
But when it's at its worst, which it has been quite often during the last
few days, it serves as a vehicle for fantasies of finding authenticity,
righteousness, insight, and empowerment through discovery of and
association with a stereotyped, exotic, mysterious other that read like
they came straight out of an Allan Quatermain novel. Self-aggrandizing
fantasies that patronize and dehumanize the people they feature as props
and the suffering victims they use as human shields to deflect criticism.
A while ago I tried to object to this tendency in oblique terms, and it led
to a tremendous and tremendously bitter misunderstanding. Seeing this
tendency be expressed more directly now makes me think it was more than a
misunderstanding. This time I will be more direct and try to leave no
possibility of misunderstanding.
I struggled through outrage at the hypocrisy to find the words with which
to object this time. I thought of Ivan Illich's
warning<http://www.swaraj.org/illich_hell.htm>to American students
headed to Mexico, which I often come back to.
Eventually I remembered that Teju Cole, a more talented writer than I am,
one in closer contact with more profound examples of what I object to,
provided the right words
here<http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-i…>
:
*"The banality of evil transmutes into the banality of sentimentality. The
world is nothing but a problem to be solved by enthusiasm. The White Savior
Industrial Complex is not about justice. It is about having a big emotional
experience that validates privilege... I deeply respect American
sentimentality, the way one respects a wounded hippo. You must keep an eye
on it, for you know it is deadly."*
I have learned to respect sudo room in that sense (among many others), and
I've developed a habit of keeping an eye on it from a safe distance, out of
some similar kind of dire necessity (among many other reasons).
Paraphrasing Cole with apologies: *"[Oakland] has provided a space onto
which white egos can conveniently be projected. It is a liberated space in
which the usual rules do not apply: a nobody from America or Europe can go
to [Oakland] and become a godlike savior or, at the very least, have his or
her emotional needs satisfied. Many have done it under the banner of
"making a difference." To state this obvious and well-attested truth does
not make me a racist or a Mau Mau..."*
*"What innocent heroes don't always understand is that they play a useful
role for people who have much more cynical motives. The White Savior
Industrial Complex is a valve for releasing the unbearable pressures that
build in a system built on pillage..."* [ellipsis again with apologies to
Cole]
*"But those whom privilege allows to deny constellational thinking would
enjoy ignoring this fact."*
It would be better if sudo room were always, as it usually is, simply a
good place to be around good people doing interesting and worthwhile
things, open to the community, *nothing more*.
On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 10:44 PM, Pete Forsyth <peteforsyth(a)gmail.com>wrote:
> All:
>
> In the spirit of Rhodey's recent message,[1] I'd like to share an Oakland
> vignette of my own, about a pool league I recently joined. But first,
> here's why:
>
> I began to get especially excited about Sudo Room when I started to
> realize it aspires to be more than just a bunch of computer geeks coming
> together to hack computery stuff (awesome enough in itself) -- that it also
> wants to be a community that hacks *life* together. Meeting chefs and
> filmmakers was the first wave for me, and then I started hearing heatlfelt
> and inspired talk about stuff like social change and engaging with local
> government. Yeah!
>
> Many of us, though, are new, or newish, to Oakland. And we are people who
> want to have a positive impact on the world around us. But Oakland is a
> place with deep history and culture, and on a pretty basic level, it would
> be...impolite...to come to a party and immediately start trying to change
> what it is. So the desire to get to KNOW Oakland is one that resonates very
> strongly with me, as an important first step before contemplating ways to
> INFLUENCE Oakland. I think sharing stories is a powerful way (among others)
> to get to know something complex and multifaceted.
>
> Anyway, enough of the philosophizing. I want to tell you guys a little bit
> about the pool league I joined a couple months back.
>
> Apparently, there have been several Oakland/East Bay pool leagues over the
> last 30 years or so (where each team has a home bar, and competes weekly
> over a scheduled season). Right now, there's only one league (or at least,
> only one connected with this community). It's coed, it's a 30 week season
> (we're about 9 weeks in), it's run by a woman who has run an all-women's
> league but just started this one, and it will culminate in a trip to Reno
> for all participants. By now, having played against all the other teams,
> and can say I am truly the only white person in the league;[2] and I think
> I'm also unique (more or less) in my connection/familiarity with
> Internet/hacker culture.
>
> I've played in a pool league before, but it's been 10 or 15 years. As this
> league was forming, I heard about it from a number of regulars at my local
> bar in Emeryville -- the organizer, and a number of people who have ended
> up on various teams in the league. There was some buzz about it, and I
> ended up joining a team that plays out of an East Oakland bar.
>
> The first couple weeks passed pretty quietly. Weeks 3 and 4, though, got
> rowdy! Lots of arguments in various games, and of course, there was some
> inertia to it -- the overall mood became increasingly tense each night. I
> felt cautious about this -- as a newcomer, I was reluctant to be involved
> in the arguments -- I was still getting to know the vibe and the people.
> But that only goes so far. I felt a responsibility to the integrity of the
> game (I know the rules better than many in the league, who are more
> familiar with "bar rules" than "league rules"); and moreover, a
> responsibility to my team. I have to advocate for myself in my own games --
> that's part of what I showed up to do -- and there are situations where I
> have to step it up on behalf of my teammates, too. To keep it short, weeks
> 3 and 4 were were it "got real" for me.
>
> In week 5, there was a new twist: my friend Eugene, who's recently been
> taking photography classes (and who hasn't played pool in a competitive
> context), had been asking about coming to take some photos, and was finally
> able to make it to a match. I had run this by the league coordinator and a
> couple teammates, so I was confident our bases were covered -- but after
> the hot tempers of the preceding weeks, I was nervous! Were we now in a
> new, hypercompetitive mode where the slightest detail is going to lead to a
> shouting match? Is it OK to introduce a new and unfamiliar element to a
> volatile situation? What kind of effect will it have?
>
> Fortunately, overall it was a super mellow night. Both teams seemed
> relaxed. I found myself lining up laid back blues tracks on the jukebox
> between my games, and caught several of my teammates and opponents nodding
> their heads or singing along throughout the evening.
>
> But one moment was an exception. I was watching a teammate's game, and
> felt a surge of adrenaline as a dispute broke out about whether her
> opponent had made a clean hit.[3] I had seen the shot clearly, and knew
> what I'd seen, but there were enough eyes on the table and enough people in
> the discussion that I was happy to sit back and watch it play out. But I
> did notice that Eugene, who had begun to hit his stride with the camera,
> was continuing to snap pictures. I was thinking this might be weird, but
> nobody else seemed fussed over it, so I stayed passive, just taking it all
> in. The players were raising their voices, talking over each other,
> captains and teammates had stepped up to the table to weigh in. Most of the
> 10 players present were involved in an escalating argument.
>
> After a couple minutes things started to wind down -- an agreement had
> been reached. The players got back to their game, but people continued
> talking about the shot. Eugene came close enough that I could grab his
> elbow. "What did you think of that?" I asked. Eugene and I have a shared
> passion for sports, and I was certain that he would have an opinion --
> maybe not of the substance of the dispute, but at least something about the
> dynamics among the various players. But he gave me a blank look. "Of what?"
>
> In that simple statement, it hit me: between the jargon/etiquette of the
> game of pool and the cadence of the Ebonics,[4] there is a world I have
> come to know much better than I did a few months ago. I don't know that I
> understand it *well* -- I'm not sure if that's even possible without having
> grown up in this community! I still find myself in situations almost every
> day where I haven't the slightest idea what the people around me are
> talking about. But without realizing it, I had become much more highly
> attuned to what was going on, at least in that situation.
>
> Ever since, that moment has stuck with me. As I walk down the street, get
> a sandwich at the corner store, or ride the bus, I've been asking myself:
> how much of what I see and hear is fitting together? Do I understand what's
> going on here? Fully? Or a little bit? Who is trying to get whose number,
> what happened to that boy in school today, why is that woman laughing? What
> would I have been able to perceive when I moved here last spring? And I'm
> starting to realize: it's rarely true, actually, that I haven't the
> *slightest* idea. I might not understand everything, but as time passes I
> understand more. To me, that's pretty exciting, because beginning to
> understand helps unlock the possibility of participating in a relaxed and
> genuine way. And if I'm going to be here, it's important to me to *be here.*
>
> I'm curious to hear from others who are relatively new to Oakland, how
> your process of getting to know it is going.
>
> -Pete
>
> p.s. Want to help support the league...or have an itch to gamble? We have
> a raffle going on! Tickets are $1, and must be purchased by Thursday
> evening. The prize is a Thanksgiving turkey -- and I can inquire about
> Tofurky or other alternatives if necessary ;) Proceeds go toward making the
> Reno trip at the end of the season...well, the word that comes to mind
> is..."mo'betta."
> p.p.s. Want to PLAY in the league? I think some teams have lost players to
> shifting work schedules etc. Let me know, and I can see if there are
> openings!
>
> ----
> NOTES
>
> [1]
> http://lists.sudoroom.org/pipermail/sudo-discuss/2013-November/004593.html
> [2] Since race has been a sensitive issue lately, let me be clear: I
> believe racial relations have an important, maybe even central, role in
> Oakland history and culture. I have never had great exposure to any black
> community before, and am trying to take it in for what it is, and -- to the
> best of my ability -- leave preconceptions behind. I do not claim to be
> perfect at this.
> [3] If you're not familiar with the "ball in hand" rule in competitive
> pool: if you don't hit one of your own balls first (stripe/solid), your
> opponent can place the cue ball anywhere on the table and take the next
> shot. As you might imagine, sometimes it's very hard to tell which ball was
> struck first, so this is a common point of contention.
> [4] OK, I'm more than a little self-conscious about this term. I am eager
> for input! It's a term people seem to use casually in this community, but
> I'm not sure how it's taken elsewhere. I think it carries a lot of baggage.
> But, there's definitely a dialect here that can be difficult for me to
> understand. I'm not sure what are the best words to use for it.
>
> _______________________________________________
> sudo-discuss mailing list
> sudo-discuss(a)lists.sudoroom.org
> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss
>
>
Hey all you Sudo people I saw at the Oakland City Council meeting last night, I just wanted to thank you for staying so long and waiting to speak about the proposed Domain Awareness center. You are all really amazing. It was the highlight of my rainy exhausting workday today to hear Aesthetix on the NPR radio news, asking pointed questions to the city council and bringing lots of publicity to the issue. From that NPR report I learned that you all stayed until 1:00 A.M. ! to get your chance to speak, and for this you are my heroes! Thanks a lot for doing that!
Tracy
Receiving and contemplating the perspectives of others is one of my
favorite ways to burn metaphorical CPU cycles. The level of respect I
show for differing perspectives is something I hope to never be
content with, that is to say I believe it's an endless process and I'm
still working on it. I have a tendency to keep my head stuck in
projects and have realized is that I've been holding out on sharing
many of my most valued perspectives, more specifically my experiences.
It is my hope that through sharing experiences we can better
understand how to conduct ourselves within Sudo Room and how we Sudo
Room can better conduct ourselves within our local community.
I arrived in the "bay area" May 1st by way of some airport in New
England, in search of hackers, activists and uncomfortable
experiences. After subletting an apartment in the mission for all of a
month I moved to West Oakland. Since arriving in Oakland I've been
robbed three times, to me each experience has been indescribably
educational in its own way. However, my first crime related experience
in Oakland was not a crime at all.
There is a corner store within ~6 minutes walking distance from my
apartment by West Oakland BART called Happy Times. To me it is usually
a liquor store, but this day I felt like working through the night so
I bought 2 large redbull energy drinks. Walking home holding the
redbull as best I could in one hand I passed two African-American
youths, one female, one male and both no older than 17. We passed each
other and at this time I was about 20" from home then from behind me I
heard "hey man, can I get a redbull?".
I turned around to face the two of them with a bit of a guilty smile
on my face, after all who the fuck really needs 32oz of redbull?
Caffeine, other energy drinks, productivity and I all get along
swimmingly, all the better if I can help someone else get things done.
"Sure" I said, followed by "make good use of it" in an attempt to make
the situation more casual. I walked up and handed him the redbull, his
face lit up, he went nuts.
**and I quote** "Oh man! Asking is so much better than stealing!"
The smile stayed on his face as he continued celebrating, exclaiming
all possible iterations of the above statement as I stood their
dumbfounded. This continued for minutes until we parted ways, up the
stairs and into the house I could still hear him talking with his friend.
This was certainly not the first time he'd been told of this
sentiment, but after ~17 years of living it was the first time he had
ever believed it. There are at least 3 other experiences I would like
to share in time, but for now I'll leave it at this.
--
-- rhodey ˙ ͜ʟ˙
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ▲
Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Subject: Plz come to public school mtg Thurs 11/21@7pm // to discuss collectivizing to share space
To:
Hi there,
Timeless, Infinite Light, Sudo Room, and Counter Culture Labs have been invited to the next Bay Area Public School general meeting at 7pm at 2141 broadway this Thursday November 21st to talk about forming a collective of collectives and how we could
collectivize our resources to buy/lease a larger shared space. I think I just said collective too many times in one sentence. Oh well! We're
going to go & we hope you can come too!
If you could come by for even just a bit it would be really great, because it would be good for folks from all the groups to feel more interconnected and foster communication between the different collectives- just showing up would be great.
As this is an open meeting of collectives, this
would be a great time to invite other groups who might be interested in
sharing space with us and who have similar vision and principles.
Currently, the groups involved are:
Timeless, Infinite Light & Manifest
Public School
SUDO Room
Counter Culture Labs (CCL)
Contemporary Art Museum of Oakland (CAMO)
& Some of the groups that we had talked about reaching out to are:
SPT
SPD
Salta / PPP
Book Zoo
Homestead Apothecary
Spokeland (needs a new space, 501c3)
Alchemy Collective
ZIJI (open source buddhists looking for a space mystic archives, meditation room)
Just Cause
Phat Beets (needs a cafe)
MOCO
Black Hole Cinema
& We also talked about possibly wanting to invite
a radical kitchen group,
a radio station (KEXP? KPFA? Rev Cafe's pirate radio station?)
a co-working space
So if you know anyone who's involved in any of these groups, or any groups you want to share space with, please fill them in on the vision we've
been discussing and invite them to the Public School meeting!
∞
Emji Spero
Timeless, Infinite Light
Dear Friends :
At last week's general meeting, the Bay Area
Public School collectively decided to pursue the possibility of a new
permanent physical location, in league with Sudo Room, Counter Culture
Labs, and Timeless Infinite Light. This space is presently known as THE
OMNI.
We also decided to have a special meeting this week to
further discuss this space. This meeting will take place this Thursday,
November 21, 7PM at 2141 Broadway. All are welcome, so please join us
to discuss this exciting prospect !
See you Thursday --
Love -- David