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

Meeting in session at 7:04pm

1. Event review – Videodrome was a weird movie for sure, and we had a good size group in attendence, including 3 new people, and we had a lively discussion. Thank you to Chris for the prepared analysis presented during the discussion.

2. Upcoming Event – On Friday we are showing American Socialist: The Life and Times of Eugene Debs. We have the DVD and will prepare the chairs and AV before the start.
Due to dangerously cold weather, the Women’s March in Lincoln is postponed to Sunday the 27th, 2-5pm. We will be there on Sunday!

3. Update email about Mutual Aid working group read aloud.

4. Books – The International Socialist Organization – Lincoln Twig officially donated 16 Haymarket Press books to the Black Cat House free lending library. Thank you!

5. February events – New Off-Calendar Event: Serendipiti Presents
Our friend sent us a proposal for a Direct Action Workshop for action in the Age of Trump. We have agreed to host the workshop on Saturday February 2nd from 1-3pm. We will help her out and post that on Facebook ASAP.
Our Malcolm X Event description is approved by Lincoln DSA. Will be posted on Facebook ASAP. We will put poll for what pizzas people want, and there will be pizza.

6. Spring calander

We have multiple ideas about spring calendar events.
1. Jackson will talk to Khenda about a possible PKK/Bookchin Discussion.
2. Movie nights, we will aim for doing 2 movies per month, one documentary and one fictional movie.
3. Discussions.
a.We for sure want to do the “Who Owns Politics?” Discussion Event before the Lincoln general elections in April.
b.We also hope to do a discussion about the PKK, Rojava, the Kurdish Struggle, and Western Anarchist analysis.
c. We will think of something else for third discussion.
4. Annual Yard Sale fundraiser will be in early May.

Meeting adjourned: 8:45 PM

Tabled: AK Press Reimbursement, Stuff to Buy, Library Readership Development, Potential donation to ISO,

In Attendance: Jackson (secretary), Ty, Wyatt (moderator)
Start time: 7:15 PM

1. Event Review – We ran Sorry to Bother You for our Popcorn Politics on Friday. We had our best turnout for a movie in quite some time, including some new faces and some old friends we hadn’t seen in a while! The discussion was good, but half of the room hadn’t seen the movie before and the film has a lot to unpack after seeing it for the first time. Ty wonders whether we should make more of an effort to pre-screen our films as a collective and prepare some questions or discussion prompts for future movie nights, in case discussion starts slowly.

2. Upcoming Event – We won’t be meeting again before our discussion, Socialist Cuba at 60, on January 5th. We have some work to do; we want to offer a short presentation if anyone shows up who doesn’t know much (we’ll establish that with the intros, and skip it if everyone is already up to speed).

3. Red State II – Jackson reports that discussions are underway to begin planning for a second Red State conference, and that the planning committee has asked us to host their next meeting in early January. We are on board, and looking forward to building Red State II.

4. Library Checkout – Wyatt proposes that we have a nice, visible binder with contact sheets for library checkouts on our desk. He thinks it may encourage more people to check out our books. We’re going to give it a shot!

5. AK Press – We got our monthly Friends of AK Press shipment with two new books for our library!

6. January Events – We spent the rest of our meeting working on getting our January events up online.

Tabled: AK Press Reimbursement, “Who Owns Politics?” Discussion Event, PKK/Bookchin Discussion, Graphic Designer, Stuff to Buy (canopy, stuff to secure bike rack, new SSD hard drive for public laptop)

Meeting adjourned: 8:35 PM

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

Start time: 7:02 PM

1. Upcoming Events – Sorry to Bother You is on Friday, and we are very excited. We have a DVD identified and it will be hand delivered this week. We are expecting around 10 people. Cleaning will be done before Tuesday so we should only need to do a once over with the vacuum on Friday.

The Library Cart will be updated with books relevant to Sorry to Bother You.

2. Library Donations
Wyatt donated the Crazy Horse:The Lakota Warrior Life and Legacy book signed by Grandson of Crazy Horse to the BCH Library.
Two books sent by Ty’s pseudo- social democrat secret admirer are added to the library. Can Democracy Survive Capitalism, Robert Kuttner. The Great Transformation, Karl Polanyi. The arguments may not fit our perspective but it is a reference nevertheless.
Several books left in the box of donations by Brian are added to the library.

3. Printer donation – The Triumph working class magazine needs a new printer desperately. They still need $1000. BCH would like to donate. Black Cat House agrees to give $75 now. We will consider another donation in the near future. We will also share on our social media and include the link here. Consider Donating to support this very important publication! https://www.gofundme.com/x73j5k-help-the-triumph-buy-a-printer?fbclid=IwAR2Sf_PxZHJr30D-b4bM1KPWl62C-Ny8iDTPB56G6Cei13yupFgeOU7Indo

4. January Events – We still need to three of our January events up online. We spent remaining meeting time working on a draft for January’s Popcorn Politics.

Meeting adjourned: 8:30 PM

Tabled: AK Press Reimbursement, “Who Owns Politics?” Discussion Event, PKK/Bookchin Discussion, Graphic Designer, Stuff to Buy (canopy, stuff to secure bike rack, new SSD hard drive for public laptop), AK Press reimbursement

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Ty, Wyatt (moderator)
Start time: 7:05 PM

1. Event Review – We showed Tough Guise here on Friday night. We had a decent turnout and a great discussion.

2. Winter Calendars – Our winter calendars are here! Ty got them printed, and will be reimbursed $7.60 for getting that done for us. Now we need to get them distributed!

3. Che Event – Ty reports that Francie & Finch has not responded to his email, so it looks like we’re hosting it here. He will contact the author to get into the details of scheduling.

4. Work Time – We spent the rest of our meeting drafting our description for our Sorry to Bother You movie night and starting to re-sort our library.

Meeting adjourned: 8:30 PM

Tabled: “Who Owns Politics?” Discussion Event, Graphic Designer, Stuff to Buy (canopy, stuff to secure bike rack, new SSD hard drive for public laptop), AK Press reimbursement

In Attendance: Ty, Chris, Casey, Jackson (moderator), Wyatt (secretary)
Start Time: 7:05pm

1. Event Review
Movie Night: Johnny Got His Gun. We had a nice turnout with some new people and some people we hadn’t seen in awhile. Enjoyed an enthusiastic and analytical discussion after the movie.

2. Upcoming Event
Tough Guise was checked out of the library, so we have the DVD. Copy may be damaged so Ty will preview it. If needed will service at Game Room. Scheduled for Nov 16, this Friday.

3. Books
Mutual Aid Event, 17 zines, Puerto Rico Graphic Novel, Gardening in your Apartment, 5 Ak Press Books. $81 to Wyatt. Reimbursement in order.

Finally received last three items from Kerspelpedeb! Shipment Finalized. $74.95 to Jackson. Reimbursement in order.

Still waiting on final items from AK Press….tabled.

4. Che Event
Heard back from Indigo Bridge Books, unfortunately they are not interested in hosting the event. Ty will reach out to Francie & Finch bookshop and ask if they would like to host. Last resort remains doing it at BCH.

5. Winter Calender
We finalized the winter calender! Going to print this week and events will start to go up online shortly. Jackson will post online event for Gentrification discussion ASAP. Then outreach to the other orgs we would like to invite to be involved.

Tabled: “Who Owns Politics?” Discussion Event, Graphic Designer, Stuff to Buy (canopy, stuff to secure bike rack, new SSD hard drive for public laptop), AK Press reimbursement

In Attendance: Jackson (secretary), Ty (moderator), Wyatt
Start time: 7:05 PM

1. Event Review – We showed Alien for Popcorn Politics on Friday night. We had one of our best movie turnouts in months, so it was a good pick. We had a decent discussion afterwards.

2. Upcoming Event – Our discussion, Men’s Rights vs. “Men’s Rights”, is this Saturday. We’re looking forward to it, and not feeling like we need to do any special preparations for it.

3. Bookshelves! – Wyatt scored us a couple of nice new bookshelves for $50. We agree to reimburse him.

4. Che Guevara Children’s Book Author – Ty has had no success getting a hold of Indigo Bridge, so we’re tentatively prepared to host it ourselves. It will be sometime in April; Ty will contact the author and advise against double-booking with the Huskers’ spring game.

5. Book Update – Jackson picked up a book at a yard sale this afternoon, and we will add it to the lending library. (He doesn’t want to be reimbursed for it.) Jackson is still waiting on receiving the last backordered items for our AK Press and Left-Wing Books/Kersplebedeb orders to get reimbursed for those. TABLED again.

6. Winter Calendar –

Winter Popcorn Politics/Movie Nights

DSA has indicated that they would like to continue Popcorn Politics. First movie on the list is “Sorry to bother you”.
BCH would also like to screen at least one non-fiction documentary this winter, in an effort to move back toward the 1:1 fiction:non-fiction movie screening ratio. Some possibilities include Manufacturing Consent, Howard Zinn documentary, The People Speak, The Garden, Free Angela, Black Panthers, Black Power.

Discussion Events

Winter Event #1 December 2018
Gentrification. Rejecting reformist approaches (rent controls, tenants rights) and adopting tenement solidarity networks (fixed objectives for monetary recovery, rent strikes)

We like this article as a basis for a reading discussion:

Solidarity networks as the future of housing justice

Jackson still needs to reach out to DSA and Renters Together about possible collaboration on this event.

Winter Event #3 January 2019 5th or 12th
Cuban Revolution 60th Anniversary is Jan 1, 2019. OPEN discussion.

Winter Event #4 February 2019
KXL Pipeline. Energy transfer partners will in all likelihood be undertaking construction in Nebraska at this time. We would like to bust Myths about the pipeline, discuss ongoing resistance tactics, give an anarchist perspective on energy capitalism and alternatives.

Other Possible Events:

Popcorn Politics
Eugene Debs documentary (January?)
Movie Night: The Garden in February

Meeting Adjourned: 8:33 PM

Tabled:

>Continue Winter Calendar Discussion

>Reimbursements for AK/Kersplepedeb books.

>Future Event #2 (We really like this idea but Maybe we should table this until before next election cycle)
Who owns politics? Why working people think they don’t. Not into politics? Your boss is! Every year we hear “just vote” propaganda, but why stop there?

>Other tabled: Graphic Designer, Stuff to Buy (canopy, stuff to secure bike rack, new SSD hard drive for public laptop)

In attendance: Jackson (moderator), Ty, Wyatt (secretary)
Start Time: 7:02

1. UPCOMING EVENTS —
On Friday October 26 at 7pm BCH and DSA will cohost a Popcorn Politics Movie Night! Alien. DVD acquired and ready. On Friday November 9 at 7pm BCH and DSA will cohost another Popcorn Politics Movie Night! Johnny Got His Gun. Event language approved with all parties and Jackson will post promos to relevant social media.

2. BOOK UPDATE —
We finally received our wholesale order of 22 books from AK Press. We also received two books from our Friends of AK Press subscription. In total we received 24 new AK Press books for the BCH lending library. (One book and some merch was on backorder and is still expected. Jackson will follow up with AK). From Kersplebedeb we received our order of 9 books for the library. Ty found two books at a Library Sale, one for the BCH lending library. Reimbursements tabled.
In grand total the BCH added 34 books to the library. We will make a nice display of some of our new books.

3. Che Childrens Reading
Ty reached out to Indigo Bridge Books in regards to a potential guest author Martin Smith who would like to give an event in Lincoln in April. Unfortunately no response from Indigo Books but Ty will follow up again with a call. We are still happy to have the event here if Indigo Books does not work out. Tabled: Ty will update us next week.

4. WINTER CALENDAR–

Winter Popcorn Politics/Movie Nights

DSA has indicated that they would like to continue Popcorn Politics. First movie on the list is “Sorry to bother you”.
BCH would also like to screen at least one non-fiction documentary this winter, in an effort to move back toward the 1:1 fiction:non-fiction movie screening ratio. Some possibilities include Manufacturing Consent, Howard Zinn documentary, The People Speak, The Garden, Free Angela, Black Panthers, Black Power.

Discussion Events

Winter Event #1 December 2018
Gentrification. Rejecting reformist approaches (rent controls, tenants rights) and adopting tenement solidarity networks (fixed objectives for monetary recovery, rent strikes)

We like this article as a basis for a reading discussion.

Solidarity networks as the future of housing justice

This article was posted to social media by Lincoln DSA, so they may be interested in a discussion. Also Jackson will reach out to Renters Together to gauge interest/cooperation.

Winter Event #3 January 2019 5th or 12th
Cuban Revolution 60th Anniversary is Jan 1, 2019. OPEN discussion. Joe can plug the Brigade.

Winter Event #4 February 2019
KXL Pipeline. Energy transfer partners will in all likelihood be undertaking construction in Nebraska at this time. We would like to bust Myths about the pipeline, discuss ongoing resistance tactics, give an anarchist perspective on energy capitalism and alternatives.

Other Possible Events:

December 2: anniversary of John Brown’s hanging

December 7: Noam Chomsky’s birthday

Meeting Adjourned: 8:31pm

5. TABLED:

>Continue Winter Calendar Discussion

>Reimbursements for Ty Library Sale and Jackson Kersplepedeb books.

>Future Event #2 (We really like this idea but Maybe we should table this until before next election cycle)
Who owns politics? Why working people think they don’t. Not into politics? Your boss is! Every year we hear “just vote” propaganda, but why stop there?

>Other tabled: Graphic Designer, Stuff to Buy (canopy, stuff to secure bike rack, new SSD hard drive for public laptop)

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Ty (moderator), Wyatt
Start time: 7:00 PM

1. Upcoming Events – We’ve got our discussion, “To Each According to Their Needs,” coming up on Saturday. We need to clean the room, but we’re feeling pretty good about this event.

2. AK Press – We’ve finally had follow-up from AK Press, but Jackson is still waiting on his final invoice and he has not yet been billed for our order. We will come back to this next week.

3. Moderator/Secretary Rotation – Wyatt will be joining our moderator/secretary rotation.

4. Email – We got an email from a leftist author of children’s books that would like to do a reading and book signing with us. While this is relevant to our interests, Ty made a good point that Indigo Bridge might be a better fit for this event. Ty will be sending out the relevant emails to the author and to Indigo Bridge to see if we can help work this out. We are also decided that we are interested in hosting here if Indigo should not work out for whatever reason.

5. Winter Mat – Wyatt has some leads on mats for our porch. He’ll keep looking.

6. Winter Calendar brainstorming – Discussion idea: Who owns politics?/Why working people think they don’t/Not into politics? Your boss is!, Other event: Cuban Revolution 60th Anniversary is Jan 1, 2019

Meeting adjourned: 8:30 PM

Tabled items: AK Press Purchase, Graphic Designer, Stuff to Buy (canopy, stuff to secure bike rack, labels, 7×7 no-slip outdoor mat for porch, new SSD hard drive for public laptop)

In Attendance: Jackson (secretary), Ty (moderator), Wyatt (late)

Start time: 7:04 PM

1. Event Review – We had our reading discussion on Puerto Rico on Saturday. Our turnout was a bit lower than expected, but it was a good discusssion in spite of that. Once again, the one non-Husker gameday in September had a lot of competition, perhaps most particularly the Nebraskans for Peace conference in Kearney.

2. AK Press – Jackson has tried to call AK Press about our bulk order in the last week. He had to leave a voicemail, and they have not followed up with us by phone or email. Jackson will try to call again.

3. Reimbursement – Jackson picked up our handouts and more handbills from the copy center last week. He spent $7.13, and needs reimbursement. We are cool with this. He also reports that they are bringing back the discount days on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with 3 cent b/w and 28 cent color copies. We will keep this in mind as we schedule future printings.

4. October Events – We spent the rest of our meeting working on getting our October events posted online.

Meeting adjourned: 8:05 PM

Tabled items: AK Press Purchase, Graphic Designer, Stuff to Buy (canopy, stuff to secure bike rack, labels, 7×7 no-slip outdoor mat for porch, new SSD hard drive for public laptop, more button parts), Getting all fall events to website

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Ty (moderator)
Start time: 7:00 PM

1. Upcoming Events – Popcorn Politics returns this Friday! We have the movie; we just need to set up the room! Before that, we’re probably hosting the debrief for the Red State conference sometime this week, so we’ve got to get cleaning for that as well!

2. Calendar Distro – We still need to hit Bluestem, Cultiva, and Ten Thousand Villages (handbills). Jackson will work on finishing these.

3. AK Press – Ty is continuing to sort out our technical SNAFU as we try to place the bulk order with them that we’ve been working on for the past several weeks.

Meeting adjourned: 7:35 PM

Tabled items: AK Press Purchase, Graphic Designer, Stuff to Buy (canopy, stuff to secure bike rack, labels, 7×7 no-slip outdoor mat for porch, new SSD hard drive for public laptop, more button parts), Getting all fall events to website