Minutes of General Meeting
May 15, 2009

A general meeting for USC4P& J was held at Caffé della Pace on May 15, 2009. Attending were Anna, Becky, Gene, Greg, Marci, Maria Chiara, Michelle, Paula, Raoul and Stephanie.

Stephanie chaired the meeting and Anna took the minutes.

The meeting began with a discussion about the process involved in the annual elections for our Coordinating Committee due to take place in June. Stephanie explained what would be required of the volunteer ‘elections administrator'. Marci volunteered for the job. Stephanie offered to help Marci out if she needs any help at any point (especially as Stephanie will not be running, having served on the CCom three years running). Everyone was encouraged to consider serving on the CCom. For more information on our operating rules see: www.peaceandjustice.it/osom.pdf

We then discussed our participation in the all-day event at Piazza Navona on May 21st against Italy's military bases and military pacts and alliances. It was agreed, on Gene's suggestion, that we should concentrate our presence there between 5 and 7 pm, urging members to make an effort to at least stop by during that time, while encouraging those who can only stop by at earlier times that day to please do so. Greg, for example, said that he would be going in the early afternoon. Stephanie proposed we use a ‘Military Spending Bean Poll' to illustrate, inform and involve people in the issue of Italian military spending. Used once before by the group, this involves clear tubes and differently colored beans to represent military and other (social) types of government spending, which passers by can stop by and redistribute according to their views/judgement. It was agreed by all that this would be an effective, ‘hands on' method of getting the message across. The organizers have told us we would have a table to set up on. We also decided to produce a simple, bilingual flyer with a heading like “Did you know about the F-35s…?” Gene suggested that each side of the page should have bilingual headings, so it is clear to all walking by that the flyer is in both languages. Maria Chiara volunteered to do the budget research that would provide us with the percentages for the Bean Poll. Stephanie volunteered to draft the flyer and Maria Chiara would take care of the translation into Italian.

We then turned to the National Demonstration, on June 2nd in Novara (near Milan), against the Italian government's decision to purchase 131 F-35 fighter jets. An Italian base near Novara is being converted for their assembly. Raoul brought up the fact that Italian companies' involvement in these military ventures came about in a serious way only since and during the Bush administration. In terms of our group's contribution, it was decided that we would keep members informed about the demonstration, including news of any organized travel by bus. We would also send a solidarity statement. Anna agreed to draft a letter, and in the meantime we would send our endorsement.

Our discussion then picked up once more on the issue of how to effectively increase members' participation in our initiatives, actions and demonstrations. It was noted, by Marci and others, how difficult it is for outsiders to get to know about our group. Yet again, it was suggested that at film nights and other group initiatives, we should all make more of an effort to greet people and inform them of our activities and plans. Raoul suggested creating specific initiatives, targeting US colleges, for example. Gene said we should consider targeting people at our film nights (on an individual basis) and Stephanie suggested that we always have at least one action attached/associated to/with each film, like a pledge or signing a petition to make the film series more action-oriented. Various suggestions were made: Raoul suggested posting a monthly review of our activities in Wanted in Rome or Rome Post websites (latter has asked for articles), and writing articles for English-speaking papers and sites; Paula suggested that when sending to the VCN, we should not just send announcements but also some presentation about the work we are doing, and asked why we not consider producing a flyer about us. Stephanie agreed we could produce a letter/flyer to give out at appropriate places and meetings, adapting the “about us” page that is used on the back of the film flyer. Gene then suggested we take a small ad in Wanted in Rome, simply stating something like “Join U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice!” Raoul and others agreed that a paid ad may well be worth it, just so that more people will know the group exists! Finally, Raoul suggested sending out general invitations to people (through the usual sites/mailing lists) to meet informally at a venue. Stephanie suggested an end-of-year party could provide a good opportunity to invite potential new members.

We then discussed Vicenza's own July 4th “Independence Day”, a national demonstration calling for Dal Molin's “liberation” from the new, unwanted military base. Stephanie informed us that the U.S. military has established the Command for ground troops for AFRICOM at Vicenza. We decided that we would send our endorsement, and send out an announcement to members to get an idea of possible numbers planning to go up for the demo. Michelle said that she would be able to help us get good prices on car or van rental and hotels. Stephanie pointed out that the Vicentini are generally happy to provide hospitality, but that if we had the right number for a car or van, we'd definitely welcome Michelle's help on this.

Marci made an announcement, asking for help and specifically fund-raising ideas for a project she is working on called the “Eurobama Contest”, aimed at finding the “next Obama” in Europe among minority youths aged under 30. The contest, organized by ICLS (International Cultural Education Leadership School?), covers 37 countries, is conducted online via multi-lingual, peer-voting systems. It was suggested that she send an announcement out to members, asking for ideas/input.

Finally, we discussed an addition to the agenda brought forward by Stephanie. She proposed that we consider a solidarity event in Rome on June 25th to support a planned demo – Torture Accountability Action Day. Led by After Downing Street, Code Pink, Amnesty International, and others, the rally in Washington D.C. will march to the Department of Justice and demand a special prosecutor for torture. Greg said he would be in favour of impeaching Obama; Stephanie pointed out that it's not the proper climate, would alienate people and be counter-productive. She also mentioned the Friends' new slogan for Obama: “Help him do it. Hold him to it.” It was agreed that we should organize a solidarity demo, but would wait for more details from the organizers in D.C. Becky suggested we should also try to involve other groups in Italy, including Dems Abroad. Stephanie mentioned that while some individual members might be interested, it's not something that Dems Abroad would get involved with. It was suggested that the site of the demo should be in front of the US embassy, that we would send an announcement to members asking for volunteers to form a working group, and work on involving Italian groups.

Next general meeting: date to be announced. Join our mailing list for updates.

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