In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Jeremiah, Maia, Payne, Salem, Ty
Start time: 7:15 PM

1. Event Review – We had our queer mental health event with Kindred Psychology on Thursday night. We had a good turnout, and our crowd was very engaged in the material. Our speaker made a passing comment during the presentation about being interested in some kind of continuing relationship between Kindred and the Black Cats. Payne will follow up about that.
2. Upcoming Event – Our neurodiversity discussion is coming up on Saturday. Jackson will be unable to attend, but he’ll still have the room ready. We discussed the possibilities of having Payne, Salem, and Matt (who is also planning to attend) potentially co-moderating the event.
3. Donations – Ty brought some buttons that will probably be nice giveaways at upcoming Earth Day and Pride tabling. He also brought some books for our lending library.
4. Website – Jackson reports that our website has been down four times in the last week. We may be having issues with malware, and the Bluehost tech support folks are trying to sell us on some security upgrades. We’re asking Marc to look into this for us and give us some recommendations. Jackson says that we could probably afford some security upgrades, but we don’t want to buy them if we don’t need them.
5. April Newsletter/Events – Jackson will be getting an April newsletter out to our listserv in the next few days. He asked if anyone wanted to make contributions; Ty emphasized that it should include a call for donations for our yard sale next month. Jackson also volunteered to get our latter two April events online ASAP. Since both the Manufacturing Consent movie night and tabling at Lincoln Earth Day are both things we’ve done previously, it should be a simple matter of recycling old event descriptions. Payne asked that the movie night advertisement also include a plug for the propaganda event coming up in May.
6. Bake Sale – We had an extended discussion about the logistics of the bake sale that Payne is adding to our yard sale fundraiser this year. He is reasonably confident about providing conventional and vegan treats, and is also planning to have lemonade and tea. The logistics of offering gluten-free goodies is a bit trickier; it may require finding a gluten-free kitchen to prepare them in to prevent cross-contamination. Payne is curious about reimbursement options for having to buy ingredients; Jackson suggests that we put out a call for the ingredients we will need and see if our community wants to donate what we need. (For example, it would be tremendously helpful if one or more of our backyard chicken-farming friends were to donate eggs.)
7. Summer Calendar – We were already running out of time, but we extended the meeting to briefly discuss an event that Salem strongly believes we should add to our next calendar: Protest/Rally Etiquette and Safety. We all agreed that it would be a timely addition, even if it’s just an informal community discussion where some veteran protesters can come and share some tips for the folks who are newly getting active in response to Trump’s return to the White House. Ty recommended scheduling it early in our calendar, possibly in the first half of June.

Meeting adjourned: 8:40 PM

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Jared, Maia, Payne, Salem
Start time: 7:05 PM

1. Event Review – We had our Killing Us Softly 4 movie night on Friday night. We had a solid turnout and a spirited discussion afterwards. It was unfortunately a bit triggering for Salem, though.
2. Upcoming Event – We have our LGBTQ Mental Health event coming up this Thursday night. Jackson wants to know if our speaker will be wanting to run a presentation on our projector; we may need a copy of it in advance, as the projector may not talk to computers besides Jackson’s.
3. Neurodiversity Event – It’s now online, so invite your friends! Jackson may be double-booked, and may not be available for all of this event (but he will still make sure the room is ready, even if he can’t be there).
4. Mask Policy – We had an extended discussion about the pros and cons of our current mask policy in the house. Under present circumstances, we will continue our current policy into the foreseeable future. We will remain open to re-evaluation if conditions change down the road.

Meeting adjourned: 8:30 PM

In attendance: Audrey, Jackson (secretary), Payne, Salem
Start time: 7:10 PM

1. Event Review – Winslow’s Wardrobe was back here on Saturday. The turnout was slow, but the folks from Winslow thought it wasn’t unusual for one of their winter distros. They are tentatively coming back in the summer (likely in August for Back-to-School).
2. Upcoming Event/Reimbursement – Our _ Killing Us Softly 4_ movie night is this Friday. Jackson will be reimbursed $27.94 for buying the DVD for this movie. We are ready for the movie night on Friday.

Meeting adjourned: 8:10 PM

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Maia, Payne, Salem
Start time: 7:30 PM

1. Upcoming Event – Winslow’s Wardrobe is coming back on Saturday. We’re ready for it.
2. Calendar Distro – It’s a work in progress. We’re all in good shape to finish this week.
3. DVD – Jackson will be ordering a DVD copy of our next movie to help things go more smoothly. He will be reimbursed for it, and it will join our lending library after the movie night.
4. Mask Policy – Payne raised the question of whether it’s time to re-evaluate our policy of requiring face masks in our space. Both he and Maia think they know some people who might come to our events, but disagreement with the mask policy may be the main deterrent. Jackson is on the fence, but thinks we need further discussion on the matter and may need to seek the opinion of our broader community. This item is TABLED for further discussion.

Meeting adjourned: 8:35 PM

In attendance: Audrey, Jackson (secretary), Maia, Payne, Salem
Start time: 7:10 PM

1. Reimbursement – Jackson reserved our table at Lincoln Earth Day and got our spring calendars printed. Jackson will be reimbursed $35 for our table at Lincoln Earth Day and $44.57 for getting those calendars printed.
2. Spring Calendar Distro – The spring calendars are here! Jackson will get the Unitarian Church, Telegraph District, and UNL City Campus. Salem is doing the bulk of downtown, including the Haymarket. Payne will be distributing in some progressive churches. Audrey and Maia had a few places they could help with, too.
3. Online Promotion for Upcoming Events – Jackson will take point on getting the Killing Us Softly movie night up ASAP; we’ve run it before, so repurposing an old event description should be easy. Payne needs to come up with something ASAP for the mental health event (especially as it’s on an unusual night for one of our events); Jackson can help edit that. Payne should also start thinking about a description for the neurodiversity discussion in early April.
4. Summer calendar

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (African-American music month)

RENT OR Pride OR other queer movie (Payne exploring many possibilities)
Free Pride events to table at?

July 18th is Nelson Mandela International Day

Movies to commemorate the atomic bombing of Japan for August: Barefoot Gen, White Light/Black Rain

Malcolm X’s 100th birthday is in May; can we do something to honor that?

Meeting adjourned: 8:30 PM

In attendance: Audrey, Jackson (secretary), Maia, Payne
Start time: 7:05 PM

1. Event Review – We had our Black History Month movie with the documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners. Folks enjoyed the film, but the discussion was short and unfocused.
2. Spring Calendar – Payne reports that we’re having schedule conflicts with a guest speaker that he’s hoping will lead our trans mental health event. We’re tentatively offering to move that event to Thursday, March 27th, 7-9 PM to hopefully accommodate Payne’s contact. We will keep the neurodivergence discussion on April 5th, despite a possible conflict as April is really tight. We have to wait on the response from Payne’s contact before finalizing and printing the spring calendars.

Meeting adjourned: 8:10 PM

This meeting was canceled on short notice as Jackson was called out of state.

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Maia, Payne, Salem
Start time: 7:10 PM

1. Event Review – Nobody showed up for our discussion on Saturday! The late advertising didn’t help. We’ll have to do better going forward.
2. Reimbursement – Jackson ordered the face masks we wanted to restock on, and they’re here. He will be reimbursed $24.27.
3. Lincoln Earth Day – We finally got the email from the organizers of Lincoln Earth Day. It looks like it will cost $35 for us to table there. Salem and Payne expressed interest in tabling for us, but they will need transportation.
4. Spring Calendar –

March

Saturday, March 15th, 1-3 PM: Winslow’s Wardrobe
Friday, March 21st, 7-10 PM: Movie Night: Killing Us Softly 4
Satuday, March 29th [?], 1-3 PM: [Mental health resources for LGBTQ Folks… Payne is working to see if we can get someone here]

April

Friday, April 11th, 6-10 PM: Movie Night: Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media
Saturday, April 19th, 10 AM – 2 PM: Come see us at Lincoln Earth Day [@ Innovation Campus]
Saturday, April 26th, 1-3 PM: Autism as a Social Justice Issue (a community discussion)

May

Friday, May 9th, 8-6 PM and Saturday, May 10th, 8-2 PM: Annual Yard Sale Fundraiser
Saturday, May 17th, 1-3 PM: [Payne’s Propaganda
Friday, May 30th, 7-10 PM: Movie Night: Matewan

Meeting adjourned: 8:25 PM

In attendance: Audrey, Jackson (secretary), Payne, Salem
Start time: 7:07 PM

1. Event Review – We counter-protested the Walk for Life again on Saturday. Jackson reports that we had a turnout very similar to the past few years, and that the protest went off without any major issues.
2. Upcoming Event – We’ve got our critical look at Valentine’s Day coming up this Saturday, and we’re very behind on advertising it! Salem has struggled with drafting a description; Jackson agreed to take that on.
3. Spring Calendar –

March

Movie Night: Killing Us Softly 4
(Event where we share mental health resources for queer folks; Payne has some leads…; March 29th would be an ideal date)

April

Autism as a Social Justice Issue (a community discussion)
Tabling at Lincoln Earth Day (probably)

May
Movie Night: Matewan
Annual Yard Sale Fundraiser

Propaganda discussion and/or Manufacturing Consent documentary showing

Blackout date: Friday, March 14th

Meeting adjourned: 8:35 PM

In attendance: Audrey, Jackson (secretary), Maia, Matt, Payne, Salem
Start time: 7:00 PM

1. Event Review – We had our LGBTQ Outlook discussion on Saturday. Aryn from OutNebraska was here and had a lot of information for us about the bills being proposed in this legislative session. We had a nice turnout, with a mix of old and new friends.
2. Upcoming Event – Our annual counter-protest of the Walk For Life is this Saturday. We’re ready for it.
3. Web Reimbursement – Jackson paid $36.17 for renewing one of our website domains. We’re cool with him being reimbursed for it.
4. Masks – Jackson thinks it’s time for us to buy another box of disposable face masks, as our current one is running low. Jackson will order one, and seek reimbursement for it when he has it.
5. Grant writing / 501c – Payne is interested in taking on some more ambitious projects which may necessitate more aggressive fundraising. Jackson stressed that the Black Cat House has never pursued an official 501c nonprofit status as doing so would likely limit the kinds of political speech we would be allowed to express. There was also some extended discussion about the availability of larger spaces for bigger events, and Jackson brought up how the Black Cats were part of the Red State conference in 2018 and 2019 that rented the Unitarian Church for day-long leftist conferences with attendance of 100+. And there are also sometimes possibilities for grassroots groups to partner with official 501cs on specific projects, where the grassroots folks can piggyback off the official status of the larger group in exchange for the latter getting a percentage of the grant money.
6. Spring Calendar – Our website is having issues and so our previous minutes were not accessible tonight! Here are some new ideas:

Jean Kilbourne’s Killing Us Softly 4 may be a good March film to add some feminist content
Maia suggested a mental health discussion; Payne added that perhaps a focus on LGBTQ mental health may be especially timely

Meeting adjourned: 8:30 PM