In attendance: Jackson, Marc, Ty (secretary)

Meeting Start: 7:01 PM

Event Review: We had our digital installment of Can We Vote Our Way Out of This Mess on Saturday. Small turnout, good discussion. Probably should’ve thrown the event up sooner, but we also decided on it last minute, so we can’t beat ourselves up too much about it.

November Event: We have two panelists confirmed, but it’s been hard to get in touch with them this week to confirm date/time. If we can do that though, we might already have a third panelist ready to go, as they were also pretty interested.

Winter Events: We discussed the possibilities of making sure the digital link to the Black Cat House Monday meetings are readily accessible, and an online social gathering event to keep people connected during winter. We also might do a digital follow-up to the election, regardless of results.

Other discussion ideas brewing: different communities’ responses to COVID-19, World AIDS Day (December 1) event regarding the queer community’s aftermath in the wake of the 80s/90s and how they’re dealing with HIV (and how their response to COVID is influenced by it), discussion about courts/SCOTUS specifically?

February is Black History Month and we would want to do something for that but we’re not sure a more specific topic yet.

Ty wants to do something involving music but he’s not sure yet whether he wants to discuss political music or whether he wants to get leftist musicians in a video chat together to have an online concert.

January 16 is the Walk for Life – what do we want to do to counter this year?

Tabled: November Event, Winter Events

Meeting Adjourned: 7:39 PM

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Marc, Ty (moderator)
Start time: 7:10 PM

1. Event Review – We had our first in-person discussion in seven months on Saturday. The turnout was small, but there was still some good discussion with some old friends (who also took advantage of our library!).

2. Upcoming Event – Marc is still excited to move ahead with our digital part two of the election discussion this Saturday on Jitsi, but hasn’t had the time to put the event up online yet. He’ll try to get that up tonight.

3. Library Donation – Jackson is donating two more books to the library.

4. November Discussion – Jackson has secured one panelist for our November discussion, and needs to get in touch with Wyatt regarding his potential panelists. Ty has a couple of leads, but wants to wait until we settle on a date (with Jackson and Wyatt’s leads) before making contact.

Meeting adjourned: 8:15 PM

In attendance: Jackson, Marc, Ty (secretary)

Meeting Start: 7:10 PM

1. Library Donation: Jackson made a very hefty PM Press purchase for real cheap, and donated much of his haul to the Black Cat library, in addition to some other books he’s found.
2. Upcoming Event: It’s this Saturday! There’s not an event description or a Facebook event up! Ty proposed pushing back the event for more time to advertise but since we had some regulars referencing the event as scheduled, that isn’t going to work. Joe brought a canopy over – he’s downsizing and will let us hold onto it for use in our events! Thanks, Joe! We discussed social distancing and mask wearing while outdoors – Jackson had some concerns over people being able to hear each other with masks on and making sure it’s accessible, but safety is still paramount. Marc suggests relocating it to Standing Bear Grounds (more secluded from traffic sounds) but the bare minimum of ads we have had says it’s at Black Cat. After a pretty in-depth discussion about it, we opted to do an in-person event as scheduled this Saturday, and an online discussion with the same topic next Saturday, 1-3 PM. That way people who do not want to risk face-to-face interaction can still participate in the discussion. Jackson will get the event for the in-person one up tonight, while Marc will prep the online one later this week.
3. November Discussion: We had some potential panelists not work out, so we’re not sure what to do about the November discussion right now.

Meeting Adjourned: 8:35 PM

Tabled: November Discussion, Library Cataloguing Project, Website Remodel

Meeting didn’t happen, because Jackson was sick and nobody else showed up.

– Ty

In Attendance: Jackson (secretary), Marc, Ty (moderator)
Start time: 7:03 PM

1. Event Review – Our cleanup event was a bust! We definitely could have advertised it better.

2. October Discussion – Jackson still needs to get that event drafted and ready to be advertised online. We should also still be looking into getting some a canopy/tent for the yard for that day.

3. November Event – Jackson has had some trouble getting back in touch with our prospective panelists. He will keep trying, and has also thought of a couple of other interesting candidates to reach out to as well.

Meeting adjourned: 7:25 PM

In attendance: Jackson (moderator), Marc (secretary), Ty

Meeting start: 7:10 PM

1) Upcoming Event – We posted the neighborhood cleanup event on Facebook, as well as the website. Jackson’s going to double-check to see if we have enough trash bags; he’ll get some if not. There may be another Everett clean-up happening this Saturday? Ty saw a yard sign about it but we’re not sure about the details. We may also need grabbing sticks, sharp sticks, and gloves.

2) Library Donations – Marc donated a couple books.

3) October Event – Jackson will draft and post the event for Can We Vote Our Way Out Of This Mess on Facebook.

4) November Event – We haven’t heard back from one potential panelist. Jackson is in contact with other potential panelists. We’re going to set a firm date and time soon to make scheduling easier for the panelists.

5) Domain Renewal – Jackson donated the cost of domain renewal and security for the year for the Black Cat website. (Treasury should probably be updated soon)

Meeting adjourned: 7:35 PM

Jackson was the only one available to meet tonight, so it didn’t happen. We’ll try again next week.

9/7/2020 Meeting minutes. Fall Calendar. Medic training location change.

In Attendance : Ty (moderator), Wyatt (Secretary) , Jackson

>This week. The street medic training got moved to a larger venue. We were not told where exactly this new venue is…. Jackson will continue to investigate and try to find the location.

>Calendar image
Ty made a beautiful calendar meme for the interwebs. We shall post on FB. We need to post the two known events on the website and. asap, post the trash pickup as a facebook event.

We are still searching for a canopy for the October outdoor discussion. We want a white or canvas looking one. We might decorate it later.

>November event updates
We invited one more potential speaker and are waiting to hear back. Our other speakers are still looking OK. We have invited a total of 4 people so far.

Meeting Adjourned 7:40

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Ty

Start time: 7:07 PM

1. Fall Calendar – Ty provided a draft of our fall calendar image over the group chat this evening. Jackson wants the house’s address added to it, since two of the three events have some relation to this physical space. Otherwise, it looks fine to us and Ty will publish it tomorrow unless there are criticisms in the group chat. We also really need to get the neighborhood clean-up event put online no later than next week, since we’re already less than a month away from that.

2. Street Medic Training – We’ve been asked to host a workshop on street medic work at protests here in the fall, and we’re happy to accommodate it. This event will not be publicly advertised, per the wishes of our guest organizer.

3. November Event – Jackson announced the commitment of a second panelist for our web discussion. Since we want three or four, we’re at least halfway there! We talked a bit tonight about the focus of the event being on not only police repression of activism, but also wanting to prioritize discussion on how activists have adapted to repression to survive and continue their struggle.

Meeting adjourned: 7:42 PM

Minutes August 24^th 2020

New books! Guest Speakers Panel work, final Bail Fund decision.

In Attendance: Ty, Wyatt (Secretary), Jackson (Moderator)

Meeting Start Time : 7:20

> Event Review: Garden Day. We did get several projects done around the yard. Attendance was about 8 people. Several children and families attended. We are happy about this as we wish to get the perspective of more different aged people during our discussions and activities. Some discussion was had as to how to broaden our reach further.

> Library Donation: Our friend Jackson donated 24 new books on a variety of topics from Queer History to Police State to Labor History. We even got a coloring book and a few more graphic books. We discuss the departure of Indigo Bridge where many of these discounted books were sourced.

> Fall Calendar: Ty is working on drafting an image. We need to decide a name for our event: Guest Speakers on Police Repression. We do hope to get four “speakers.” So far we have several leads and one tentative Yes.

September 26^th 10am – 12pm

October 17^th 1pm – 3pm Can we Vote Our Way Out of this Mess?

November TBA Guest Speakers on Police Repression

> Bail Fund. We had a meeting on Saturday with several people who were interested in starting a bail fund for Lincoln. The discussion did not end in consensus but in a two sided divide. After the discussion a proposal was sent by the proponents and majority. The dissidents expressed their frustration that the written proposal only reflected one side of the arguments. The arguments presented by the dissidents were not stated but merely characterized with adjectives. Dissidents were ignored and dismissed which is not the basis for a trusting relationship. The Black Cat House Collective will not participate in this endeavor. As always individual members of the BCH may participate as autonomous individuals.

Black Cat House will continue to investigate plans to create a bail fund in its own right.

Meeting Adjourned: 8:45