In attendance: Avery, Ella, Jackson (secretary), Lincoln, Payne, Rowan, Simon, Stacy
Start time: 7:05 PM

1. Upcoming Event – Our John Q movie is this Friday. We’re ready for it.
2. Calendar Distro/Reimbursement – Payne is reimbursed $30 for getting our fall calendars printed. Simon has put a bunch of our calendars on campus. Payne will put up a few more downtown this week.
3. Screenprinting Discussion – Stacy brought a bunch of images for us to look through that we could potentially be screenprinting to t-shirts next month. Some of these image concepts are related to a project that Lincoln is working on; we may collaborate on some of that down the road. We talked about using white paint on dark shirts and black paint on light shirts.

Meeting adjourned: 8:10 PM

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Payne, Salem, Simon, Stacy
Start time: 7:05 PM

1. Event Review – We had a discussion here with the READ Network on Friday night. We had excellent turnout, and folks seemed very engaged with the material. The READ representatives seemed pretty happy about it afterwards as well.
2. Calendar Distro – We’re a bit behind schedule. Salem is still planning to do the bulk of the greater downtown area. Simon took fliers to get UNL campus done.
3. Tabling Opportunity – The Black Cats have been invited to table at Nebraskans For Peace’s 55th Anniversary Celebration on Sunday, September 28th. We want to do it. Jackson will reach out to NFP to confirm our spot.
4. Screenprinting Workshop – Dr. Stacy came and met with the Black Cats in anticipation of the screenprinting workshop next month. We spent most of our hour and a half talking politics with her.

Meeting adjourned: 8:30 PM

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Simon

Start time: 7:05 PM

1. Upcoming Event – READ Network is coming in on Friday night for a discussion. Jackson encouraged Simon to spread the word among campus groups.
2. Calendar Distro – Payne got the fall calendars printed, and Salem has started distro. Unfortunately, neither of them made the meeting tonight so Jackson and Simon still need to get some calendars. Simon is open to distro on campus, but Jackson needs to get calendars to him.

The rest of our discussion was not directly Black Cat related.

Meeting adjourned: 8:30 PM

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

1. Event Review – Winslow’s Wardrobe was here on Saturday, and a few folks left with new clothes. Jackson and the Winslow’s folks tentatively agreed to come back and do it again in December.
2. Fall Calendar – We took some time to workshop and finalize our micro-blurbs. Now we’re sending it off to Matt. Jackson and Payne will communicate online about the best way to get them printed this week, which may depend on how quickly Matt gets them made up.

(We spent the rest of the evening discussing non-Black Cat stuff…)

Meeting adjourned: 8:30 PM

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

1. Upcoming Event – Winslow’s Wardrobe is coming on Saturday. We’re ready for them!
2. Fall Calendar – We finalized our events and dates! We agree to finish our micro-blurbs over Discord so we can hopefully get these laid out and printed this week.

Friday, September 5th, 7-9 PM: Self-Defense Within Oppressive Systems (co-hosted by READ Network)

Friday, September 19th, 7-10 PM: Movie Night: John Q

Saturday, October 11th, 1-3 PM: t-shirt screenprinting workshop

Monday, October 13th, 4:30-6 PM: Columbus Day Protest (@ Federal Building – insert address)

Saturday, October 18th, 1-3 PM: MLK’s Civil Disobedience (a reading discussion)

Friday, October 24th, 7-10 PM: Movie Night: Punk Rock Vegan Movie (2023)

Saturday, November 15th, 1-3 PM: Re-imagining Trans Remembrance (poetry and open mic)

Friday, November 21st, 7-10 PM: Movie Night: Mankiller (2017)

End time: 8:51 PM

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

1. Event Review – We showed White Light/Black Rain on Friday night. Our turnout was pretty low; it was probably a problem that we were double-booked with Nebraskans for Peace’s event at Holmes Lake.
2. Web Reimbursement – Jackson renewed one of our website URLs. He paid $36.17, and we agree that he will be reimbursed for it.
3. Fall calendar – We really weren’t on the same page tonight, and got very little done on the calendar. Jackson suggested a discussion event about Palestine. We agreed that the November movie will be the documentary Mankiller. Jackson and Payne particularly had some strong disagreements on several event ideas.

Meeting adjourned: 8:28 PM

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Simon

(We talked for a couple of hours, but with just two of us here most of it wasn’t business…)

1. Upcoming Event – Our _White Light/Black Rain_ movie night is coming up on Friday. We talked a little bit about some possible discussion questions for after the movie.
2. Fall Calendar – Regarding the proposed Trans Day of Remembrance event, Simon has been doing a bit of research on historic trans people we might want to look more at.

In attendance: Brieanna, Jackson (secretary), Jessie, Payne, Parker, Salem, Simon
Start time: 7:00 PM

1. Event Review – Payne, Parker, and Salem tabled at Disability Pride on Saturday. As usual, they collected a few more email addresses for our listserv, gave away some swag, and talked to some interesting people. Salem reports that we are running out of some of our stickers. Payne emphasized that we really need an information brochure, as it seems many people don’t really understand what we are.

2. Radio – Payne spoke with someone from Nebraska Radio Talking Book Service at Disability Pride. They would like to interview us in a 30 minute Zoom call in October. We are excited to get some free publicity. We will likely discuss this again when the calendar is finished…

3. Fall Calendar

(Mostly) finalized:
Friday, September 5th, 7-9 PM: Self-Defense Within Oppressive Systems (co-hosted by READ Network)

Saturday, October 11th, 1-3 PM: t-shirt screenprinting workshop

A few new event ideas were offered tonight:

Salem suggested a workshop building empathy for people with disabilities. Jackson thinks we’d need a veteran facilitator to run such an event for us.

Jackson had some movie suggestions: Rebels with a Cause (documentary about Students for a Democratic Society), The Revolutionist: Eugene V. Debs (documentary), John Q. (Denzel Washington drama about Americans having horrible healthcare), and Johnny Got His Gun (a classic anti-war story set in WW1 which could tie in with Veteran’s Day coming up in November)

Payne’s earlier suggestion of a reading discussion on MLK and non-violence was revisited and debated. There was some suggestion of expanding it into some kind of non-violence vs self-defense discussion with two short readings?

The Trans Day of Remembrance reading discussion was also discussed again, built around remembering trans folks for accomplishments rather than mourning their deaths. We’re still really excited about this, but also still searching for the actual article that we would be reading.

Other event ideas from previous meetings:

Civil Rights discussion (Payne, et al)

Columbus Day protest (Jackson)

Arya also pitched a Star Trek night: “Bar Association” (DS9) [and Jackson loves himself an excuse to run Star Trek…]

Jackson reports that we’ve been offered a couple of workshops from our professor friends. One is on the benefits of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and the other is about solidarity between Black Americans and Asian Americans.

Habla Now documentary (Payne)

Song For Cesar documentary (Payne)

Lost in America movie (Payne)

Lead Me Home short documentary about homelessness (Payne)

Mankiller documentary for November (Payne)

Punk Rock Vegan Movie (Salem) [apparently free on YouTube…]

Meeting adjourned: 8:28 PM

In attendance: Jackson (secretary), Parker, Payne, Salem, Simon
Start time: 7:05 PM

1. Event Review – Our Pride movie night was on Friday night. Everyone loved the movie, but we struggled to keep the discussion afterwards on topic. Should we consider preparing discussion questions for future movies?
2. Upcoming Event – Payne and Salem will be tabling for us at Disability Pride on Saturday at Antelope Park. We will need to bring our own chairs as well as the canopy, but they’re supposed to provide They’ll come here on Saturday morning to pick up materials on their way out to the park. Parker will likely be joining them.
3. Social Media Question – We get a lot of visitors at the House who only visit once or twice. Payne and Salem had the idea of asking for feedback about why that is on our social media accounts. They initially suggested a poll, but Jackson countered that it would be better to just give folks a chance to leave us a public comment or send us a private message. We took a few minute to workshop the language of the message we would send out:

We have noticed that many people who attend our events only show up once or twice. If this sounds like you, we would like to hear from you. We would like to know if there’s something that we should be working on improving. Please leave a comment, send us a DM, or send us an email at contact [at] theblackcathouse.org. Thank you!

4. READ Yard Sale – Our friends with the READ Network are planning a yard sale fundraiser of their own in August. Jackson suggested that we could share some of our good leftovers with them, and everyone else is ok with it, too.
5. Fall Calendar

(Mostly) finalized:
Friday, September 5th, 7 PM – 9 PM: Self-Defense Within Oppressive Systems (co-hosted by READ Network)

Saturday, October 11th, ??-??: t-shirt screenprinting workshop

Other event ideas:
Civil Rights discussion (Payne, et al)
Columbus Day protest (Jackson)
t-shirt screenprinting workshop (Jackson)

Arya also pitched a Star Trek night: “Bar Association” (DS9) [and Jackson loves himself an excuse to run Star Trek…]

MLK Reading Discussion on non-violence (Payne)

Trans Day of Remembrance is coming up in November; there was some talk of a traditional vigil, though it may be redundant with OutNebraska and UNL often organizing them. Arya suggested a reading discussion about achievements from trans activists; it was a somewhat intriguing concept to re-imagine the day, but we don’t immediately have an appropriate reading for the event. We like this idea, but Jackson doesn’t want to commit to it until we find the reading.

Jackson reports that we’ve been offered a couple of workshops from our professor friends. One is on the benefits of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and the other is about solidarity between Black Americans and Asian Americans.

Habla Now documentary (Payne)

Song For Cesar documentary (Payne)

Lost in America movie (Payne)

Lead Me Home short documentary about homelessness (Payne)

Mankiller documentary for November (Payne)

Punk Rock Vegan Movie (Salem) [apparently free on YouTube…]

Meeting adjourned: 8:30 PM

In attendance: Arya, Jackson (secretary), Jess, Payne, Salem, Simon
Start time: 7:10 PM

1. Event Review – We had our Malcolm X reading discussion on Saturday afternoon. We had a nice turnout and a very spirited discussion that ran almost three hours. We saw a lot of contemporary tangents in that 60-year old reading.
2. Upcoming Event – Our Pride movie night is this Friday. We’re ready for it and excited to see it again.
3. Disability Pride – Payne wondered if we were set up to table at Disability Pride yet. Jackson sent them a message on Facebook, and he sent them an email. We’ll hopefully get that sorted out.
4. Fall Calendar

Left over from last week but not discussed tonight:
Civil Rights discussion (Payne, et al)
Columbus Day protest (Jackson)
t-shirt screenprinting workshop (Jackson)

One event (mostly) finalized:
Friday, September 5th, 7 PM (until?): Self-Defense Within Oppressive Systems (co-hosted by READ Network)

Arya also pitched a Star Trek night: “Bar Association” (DS9) [and Jackson loves himself an excuse to run Star Trek…]

MLK Reading Discussion on non-violence (Payne)

Trans Day of Remembrance is coming up in November; there was some talk of a traditional vigil, though it may be redundant with OutNebraska and UNL often organizing them. Arya suggested a reading discussion about achievements from trans activists; it was a somewhat intriguing concept to re-imagine the day, but we don’t immediately have an appropriate reading for the event.

Jackson reports that we’ve been offered a couple of workshops from our professor friends. One is on the benefits of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and the other is about solidarity between Black Americans and Asian Americans.

Habla Now documentary (Payne)

Song For Cesar documentary (Payne)

Lost in America movie (Payne)

Lead Me Home short documentary about homelessness (Payne)

Mankiller documentary for November (Payne)

Meeting adjourned: 8:25 PM