Emergencies – none

Announcements:

• The CT Coalition for Economic (or Environmental?) Justice is having a rally at the office of the CT Dept of Environmental Protection, August 2, 6:15 pm
• There will be an annual Hiroshima Remembrance on August 6at the Quaker Meetinghouse
• Occupy Danbury has an ongoing action at City Hall to protest the treatment of homeless individuals and would appreciate support
• Lindsey provided some updates on protests abroad: in France, people are occupying and working vacant farms that were to be developed but ended up being abandoned; in Spain, there is a strike ongoing to protest the gov’ts withdrawal of support for the mines, leaving many miners unemployed and without benefits.

Report Back:

• National Gathering – Rebecca, Sara and Alice reported on some of their experiences at NatGat in Philadelphia, June 30 – July 4. There were many different activities or ways to participate, including teach-ins, rallies, protest marches, community building, speakers and music. Watch for the results of the visioning process on NatGat’s fb page.
• ONE Regional Gathering – a change: the second gathering will not be in CT but will be in Burlington VT July 27-29 in conjunction with the New England Governors’ conference – see details on ONE fb page. CT will host the third gathering some time in August, details TBD.
• Lindsey reported on her court experiences, fighting her arrest after the Clean the Banks action. The charge stemming from her videotaping the police was dropped, but they are pursuing trespassing and now disorderly conduct during the action itself; her case has been transferred to criminal court. Next appearance: Friday, July 13 at 9:30; we will protest on Lafayette Street in Hartford beginning at 8:00 am that day.
• Stop Monsanto / GMO Free – Debra reported that the planning group met prior to GA and developed a list of possible actions/tactics; she requested time for this campaign at the August ONE gathering.
• Rebecca gave a partial list of action ideas that were shared by Occupies around the country at NatGat, including fighting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (a topic for a future People’s University?), various campaigns against Citizens United decision; movement toward food independence; “post-it” campaigns as a tactic for various causes; focus on student debt; J20 – a week of actions against big banks; LIBOR education (People’s Univ?); lobbying cities and state to divest from big banks, etc.

Proposals:

• Proposal to support the Holocaust Remembrance on August 6, with members attending the planning meeting on July 11 at Caron’s house; there may also be a related Buddhist peace walk on August 4 – passed; various people will attend planning session.
• Proposal to hold a protest on Friday morning, 7/13, outside CT Superior Court to support Lindsey and free speech – passed, and Rebecca will create a FB Event page.
• Proposal to support Laresse Harvey, founder of Clean Slate, in her own legal struggles – tabled, pending more information on her needs.

Take-aways:

• Rebecca will post information about protest as well as various resources from NatGat
• Nancy will type up the minute for posting, and will contact Johnny with our new suggestions for People’s University
• Debra will post a summary of the Stop Monsanto working group meeting
• Sara will find out more about the Danbury homelessness action
• Alice will work on rescheduling the ONE gathering in CT, and will meet with Lindsey, JoAnne and John K to discuss his role in Lindsey’s case going forward
• David will contact Laresse Harvey to see how OH can be helpful