NYC: Please join 4MileCircus partners Sean and Nicole at a discussion forum we are organizing with Congested Cat next week.
Artists in Action: Organizing Against the Normalization of Hate
Tuesday, December 13th 7pm
The Local NYC
1302 44th Ave, Long Island City 11101
More Info / RSVP Here*
This event was created in response to community concerns about hateful harassment and assaults surrounding the recent Presidential election, as well as an increased presence of far-right fascistic, racist, misogynistic, islamophobic, xenophobic, transphobic, homophobic, ableist and otherwise oppressive ideology in mainstream media and culture (this list is obviously not exhaustive).
The purpose of this event is to talk face to face, as artists in community with one another, about how we can proactively resist the normalization of hate. This discussion is being put together by filmmakers, but all artists are welcome and encouraged to attend.
AGENDA FOR THE MEETING
We plan to have a whole-group discussion at the beginning of the meeting, during which we will present several general areas of action within which artists can start working immediately, as well as strategically plan for the longer haul. We will then break up into smaller discussion groups, in accordance with attendees’ interests. We hope you will come with your own ideas, either for specific actions or areas of focus, and ask that you private message us ahead of time if there is a topic in which you are especially interested so we can be sure that there is a breakout discussion group into which it fits. We will come back together at the end of the night to hear from each group on the major points that arose in their small group discussion.
The goal of this event is to network different artists and artistic communities interested in being accountable culture workers and effective activists and organizers in a scary time. We hope to spark and share ideas, and leave with a few concrete next steps that we can each bring back to our own communities for whatever types of actions we wish to pursue. We will start an (optional) list serv for attendees so we can stay in touch and continue to work together as appropriate, moving forward.
The goal is not to plan whole group actions, or even necessarily smaller-group actions, but to start laying the groundwork for such actions and connect like-minded people so we can go forth and plan. This will not be a decision-making meeting, but one of facilitated conversation and networking building towards long-term organizing.
Please note that this is an open meeting. Press, law enforcement, and many other demographics may be present, and part of the event may be filmed. We will very clearly inform you of the latter should it occur, and stop filming if anyone wants to speak without being filmed, but we have no control over the former. Please conduct yourself accordingly and consider what you say.
As stated above, the purpose of this meeting is for artists to network and talk face to face specifically about how we can actively resist the normalization of hate, as outlined above. We reserve the right to remove anyone who is there for any other reason, or who disrupts the group’s ability to effectively meet and strategize.
*You do not need to RSVP to attend, but it helps us to have estimated numbers.