[Dialogue] New Colleagues: The Occupy Crowd Meets the ToP Crowd: a Short Video

[Janice Ulangca]

Gordon - It was a delight to read your account, to see the video, and to see the immediate response of so many colleagues on this list serv.  (Sort of a VAVOOM!)  BRAVO to you for daring to suggest the interchange session at the ToP conference.  The youthful fresh eyes, sometimes painful experience, physical strength, and the passion of the Occupiers is a wonderful complement to the wisdom and varied experiences of many in ICA and ToP.

I am convinced that learning from, interchange with, and at times partnering with, other movements and organizations that care deeply about the future, is exactly the way to go.  Each has developed its own niches of expertise and practice and network of contacts - and there is so much work to be done to shift consciousness and culture that all of us are needed.  I am especially attracted to movements and organizations that are both global and local in outlook and combine some sense of the spirit deeps with valuing practical steps towards justice and needed change.  I've bumped into several in the past few years - will try to write a few sentences about how I see each when a chance.  Would invite you all to share your observations as well.

As ICA/EI celebrates 50 years - "Midway in a Century of Care", it is wonderful to rejoice in our own contributions and special roles in changing history.  But going it alone, or (God forbid) any kind of "turf protection"  could trim our effectiveness drastically.  Let's sing, dance, tell stories, love our accomplishments and tender memories - then look around to see who else is on the journey for the next 50 years. It's such FUN to find new colleagues!

Janice Ulangca


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Gordon Harper 
  To: Colleague Dialogue 
  Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 3:45 AM
  Subject: [Dialogue] The Occupy Crowd Meets the ToP Crowd: a Short Video


  I know that many of us are engaged in some way with the Occupy movement, and it's a subject worth talking about.  We've had Occupiers in our facilitation training here in Seattle, and Molly Shaw and I have worked with several of their projects.  

  I caused something of a disturbance in the Force (who, me?) this January.  I announced at the annual ToP conference in Sacramento that I thought we might have some things to learn as well as to share about grassroots facilitation through dialogue with the Occupy movement--and that I had therefore invited about fifteen Occupiers from Seattle and UC Davis to our gathering for an interchange session.  

  This came about because I had mentioned to some of my troublesome friends here in Seattle that I would be attending this conference and then learned that a number of them would be on a trek visiting other Occupy groups along the Pacific coast during that same time.  It became very clear to me that God intended for our two groups to connect.

  The ToP leadership team put this on the schedule as a small Open Space option on the last afternoon of our conference.  It would be while most attendees would be completing action planning in their task forces for the year ahead.  

  However, when I asked that morning for how many were interested in being part of this Occupy encounter, over 90% of the hands in the plenary shot up.  The leadership team died: there went the prime working time for all that planning.  (I may never be invited to another ToP conference.)

  Nonetheless, despite shooting me looks that would have dropped a more sensitive soul in his tracks, our leaders rebounded gracefully, declared it a consensus that the whole conference would adjourn to the hotel veranda outdoors for this event and that the scheduled planning would simply start earlier, over lunch that day.

  As you'll see from the video, I had a ball doing this.  This included participating in a little direct action after the session, led by the Occupiers, at the Capitol Mall a few blocks away (what's called a Guerrilla Mic Check, to use the technical term--not something included in this clip.  The marching that opens the video is of us on our way to cause that trouble).  No, no one got arrested doing it.

  Joanna Kohler was our videographer, and Marti Roach and I worked with her on the editing.  You'll recognize a number of Order colleagues in the group, as well as interesting ritual activity, a great witness, clearly stated rubrics for participation and team facilitation being created on the spot by people who have just met one another.  

  Enjoy--and, if you share my sense of its importance, let's talk more about just what is going on with this movement and why we maybe should pay attention to it.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnjmWcJjET4

  Gordon 


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