Yesterday, angelajean asked the OWS Mothership team to consider how we would like to handle the job of maintaining the Mothership going into the future, because frankly, the job had become massive, cumbersome and difficult.
While cleaning up the kitchen and making dinner last night, I continued to to think about what I wanted from the Mothership; and when it dawned on me, I started scribbling notes that turned out to be too lengthy to post as a comment or in the google group. So I decided to present my thoughts in diary form and invite everyone to yea or nay it, offer suggestions or refinement, help flesh out the notion if you like it. I'll start with the main thrust below the artful squiggle.
I NEED THE MOTHERSHIP TO GIVE DIRECTION TO MY NEED FOR ACTIVISM
I want to know where my help is most urgently needed, today.
This should apply to everyone who wants to help the OWS movement, whether they have only 10 minutes to spare, boots on the ground or are flush with cash from last night's poker game.
Let's take an example from Horace's diary about the threat that Liberty Square will be cleared by authorities in order to "clean" it.
We would start out with the ACTION NOW section at the top of the Mothership providing a link to the diary and "Brainstorming now in the comment section".
In the comment section we would define what the problems are and brainstorm solutions.
Obviously, this is a multi-faceted problem with multiple solutions - Legal considerations, contingency planning, etc., but to keep the example simple, let's say we decide that one problem that can be addressed immediately is the the disinformation that paints the movement as a bunch of DFH's who are doing drugs, alcohol, public fondling, failing to clean up after themselves, stinking the place up and terrifying young mothers with small children.
So let's say we have brainstormed, that we have gotten factual information about the cleanup working group, about how the no drugs/alcohol/violence policies are enforced from someone with Boots on the Ground - an important contact who can liason between the relevant working groups and us.
We immediately get volunteers to write LTE's to the NY newspapers that counter the disinformation and perhaps mention what happened when Madison was "cleaned".
Other volunteers with monitor the LTE blogs and provide supporting comments in the paper.
Volunteers agree to write, call, fax the Mayor, Commissioner, private owners and any other relevant people - a counter-freep that is full of accurate, verifiable, referenced information that blows the disinformation out of the water.
Boots on the ground (media team or independents) begin to film a mini-documentary about the cleanup working group at Liberty Square that shows without question that the place is being kept spotless, how order is being kept, how policies are enforced. Man on the square interviews: "how does it smell here?" "how dirty is it?" "seen any drugs or alcohol?" Once loaded to YouTube or anywhere, volunteers pump up the viewership and work to make it go viral.
As all these things develop, the lede to the Mothership changes to reflect what you, the reader, can do Right Here and Now to help. Sometimes it might just be to monitor a livestream where a raid is expected or happening. It might be that one location has had all its stuff confiscated and we need to get donations whipped up for them. It might be multiple things that need to be covered, but it should be right at the top so people can immediately respond.
I don't want to lose all the information that has been compiled to maintain donation and livestream links, but I think that can be put in template form. I'd like to see it organized regionally and see if we can get people to be primary for their region, reporting problems, cultivating relationships with Boots on the Ground, etc.
Angelajean pointed out that the brainstorming etc. took place in Horace's diary, but I think if we had the mothership organized, he could have brought the problem to the mothership and a more organized, disciplined response would have been the result.
I need to go back to Horace's diary, read through all the comments and figure out if there is anything I can do to help. If the mothership had been organized as I've described, it would be the first place I'd go in the morning and the last place at night to see what I can actually DO with my limited time and resources. I wouldn't have to read the whole thing, just head straight to my local LTE blog or tune into a livestream or put together a package for mailing right away.
Well, anyway. That is what I was thinking last night. What you think?