New subject: 7PM 7PM important sudoroom meeting tonight at 7PM

27 Dec 2023

Note: see forwarded email below.

Sudoroom should have a meeting tonight at 8PM, as we have been doing recently
in these complicated times.  Some of us meet in person and some join the
meeting remotely through our Jitsi video link at this address:

https://meet.waag.org/turtlesturtlesturtles

Since the below email was sent to the Consensus list (which is
subscription-only) I wanted to make sure sudoroom people could be aware of it.

Jemma can you please link us to the Peoples Programs proposal that you're in
favor of?

Also I want to clear up a misunderstanding.  Silver did not start this process
of Peoples Programs taking control of the Omni, that idea was brought up by
Rafiq of CLP, at the same time as CLP was blocking Omni from allowing TANC to
join as a member collective.  I think it's clear that if TANC had been allowed
to join Omni, we would have found a new lender by now and not been in this
situation, especially if the boycott/embargo had not been introduced.  So in a
sense, CLP has forced us into this relationship which was their idea in the
first place.

I think it would be great if Peoples Programs wanted to run Omni in a way that
was compatible with Sudoroom, but as much as I try to imagine that being
possible, I really don't believe it.  I think we need to discuss the possible
outcomes of the directions we're considering, and what we can do to protect
our collective in case things don't turn out the way you are hoping they will.

-jake

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2023 12:03:50 -0800
From: Jemma Love &lt;codejems(a)gmail.com&gt;
To: consensus &lt;consensus(a)lists.omnicommons.org&gt;
Subject: [omni-consensus] Reflections on a New Omni Commons

Hello all,

I've been spending the last week reflecting on the conversations we've been
having over the recent proposal brought to us from Peoples Programs. First I
want to thank the many different voices which have given their time and energy
into discussing the matters at hand, sharing their concerns and their
excitements about what this future could look like. I want to directly thank a
few individuals who have helped to initiate this conversation and how they
have added to our community space as a whole.

I'd like to take a moment to thank Silver for their initiative in starting the
work in community building and outreach with Peoples Programs, and from what I
hear a lot of the initial work on getting this proposal started. As well,
because of Silver's recommendations we were able to bring in a few new and
talented people into the paid structure of Omni Commons that have made
exceptional additions in making the community space more active.

I want to thank Pallavi for coming in just after our last development and
grants fundraising person had left. Because of Pallavi's work in such a short
time, just over a month, we have a proposal sitting in front of us today that
allows for community ownership of the building, and not an anonymous lender or
a bank. It is also my understanding that Pallavi has done a lot of work in
making sure this proposal is as complete and thorough as can be and I greatly
appreciate that work.

When these discussions began I think I was coming at it from a place of
scarcity. Specifically, I was thinking how can we use our extremely limited
resources to scrounge up some kind of way to save the building, what options
are there for us to put things together, and if a new group like Peoples
Programs were to come in how could we even share the very limited space and
resources that we have. I think I was wrong to come to these conversations
within the mindset. After my reflections, I want to continue to move forward
in an abundance mindset where I do my best to imagine what does the future for
Omni potentially look like, including both the best and worst. I want to think
of what liberation means for our community, and I want to reassess my
situation from an anti-racist perspective.

In our last meeting Abbas mentioned an interview done by one of our
collectives, Liberated Lens. In that interview they review the process by
which the Holdout went through and how those spaces handled internal issues.
Watching that part of the interview, I felt very much like I was looking in a
mirror with Omni Commons, and it made me feel uncomfortable that we could be
going down a similar path. I think there is room for me as an elected leader
in our community as SudoRoom's delegate to help to navigate us away from
making those same mistakes, and it is for that reason that I do support the
current proposal being brought to us from Peoples Programs.

...
  From the Holdout to Quilombo and Afrikatown: an
interview of Hannibal Abdul Shakur. Interview link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_STgWs6GlY

In our last delegates meeting I heard many feelings shared with me about how
things were discussed, especially how others saw comments directed towards me.
I want to address that. I am a queer, kinky, neurodivergent little queerdo. I
am an easy target if anyone wants to easily attack me as a person. In that
same vein, I was never personally attacked by Abbas or any other member of
Peoples Programs in any of our conversations last Thursday. What Abbas and
others addressed when we were in that meeting were the matters at hand, and
they did so directly and peacefully. I can understand why this may make people
uncomfortable. Hearing positions that disagree and hearing them not said in
the softest of ways can be hard, but at no point do I feel like Abbas was
unkind towards me. After the meeting we were able to shake hands, I apologized
for my fumbles in my language and actions, and he openly invited me out to
their event that night (I didn't make it as I stayed talking with folks until
almost 1:30AM). To me, this shows a group leader who is walking the walk, and
not just talking the talk.

As it stands, our decision making structures within Omni and our ability to
locate information are not working as effectively as they could be. Since
before the current proposal I have been making these complaints for myself,
and as we started to really dig into this proposal I was truly worried I would
not be able to continue my duties as a delegate, limited as they may be, and
strongly considered stepping down. At this point, I'm glad I didn't. It is
time something at Omni did begin to change so we can better address the needs
of the community as a whole.

There are still many conversations to be had with Peoples Programs. I still
believe some comments were inappropriate in other meetings, and that there may
be some difficult decisions coming where we disagree with each other, but I
want those discussions to come from a place of understanding. I do not want to
talk past one another and I want to bring in the healing that our community as
a whole needs to make the next steps for a community owned New Omni Commons.

Once again, thank you everyone who has volunteered your time to talk with me
and bring forward your thoughts and ideas. Let us continue these conversations
with peace, love, and openness for us all and continue to push forward for a
better and more liberated world.

Much love and seasons greetings,
Jemma Love
SudoRoom Delegate

important sudoroom meeting tonight at 8PM