2 WPC Board Members Reflect on GLOV Working Group Meeting

Here are the reflections from myself and Malachy regarding the important Gays and Lesbians Opposed to Violence (GLOV) meeting last night...

Hi all! I think Chris and Todd did a great job facilitating, and the turnout was excellent. We know we have strength when elected politicians and MPD brass show up! However, this was clearly a community awareness meeting and not an organizing meeting. I think some of the pols and brass there thought they pacified us, but they didn't. That's good and bad, but it means they probably won't be as interested in coming to our next meeting, which will be an organizing one.

I think there's some questions to tackle now. I think most of us do want a holistic approach, like Chris and I advocated for. But I don't think it's possible for us to take on everything under the sun. At our next meeting we may want to organize working groups to take on different aspects. Here's some ideas just to sort of throw out into the mix:

** Schools -- How do we see that GLBT awareness/sensitivity makes it into DCPS? Chancellor Rhee is in the midst of overhauling the curriculum. Should we focus on one or two middles schools or high schools and start from there? We need folks with some education background to help us out -- reach out to SMYAL (http://www.smyal.org/) and get them to the next meeting. Getting at the roots...

** Police -- Continue to push for GLLU to get back to where it was before these promotions, get them fully staffed. Also, let's demand to see the curriculum of the sensitivity trainings, let's push to sit in on one of these. Also, as Chris mentioned -- when do these refreshers happen, do they even happen for all police?

** Community -- Visibility in the communities. Should we plan a block party/festival in the Shaw/Logan Circle area? Should we canvass/lit drop? Start meeting with business owners -- BeBar, The Eagle, etc. and invite them to one of our meetings (their patrons are getting beat up -- not good for business)? Talk with bouncers, set up safety zones?

** Action -- Work with Dana Fonville (?) on that vigil. What other vigils, marchers, parades can we do down the road. What should our messaging be? Do we have a strategy for these?

** Statistics -- Get more numbers. Study what is reported, what isn't -- and WHY? This can be a extremely strong tool to push structural changes. When is our next meeting? And what is our policy regarding open/close door?

-- Pete Perry

 As I arrived last night I have to say that I had some misgivings about the direction of the meeting. I was concerned about the presence of the police and the city council members. I was concerned that actual organizing would be hampered by their presence.

It turned out that the meeting went very well thanks to the facilitating. Thanks to both of you!

I think there was a good exchange of information about this new GLOV. I think a good bit of groundwork was put down last night. Hopefully, we did get people to sign up and take on responsibility for our future work. How many signed up? The word violence was obviously used many times last night. Another word also used just as much was the word community. Our meeting and work was generated because of the violence inflicted on members of the Gay community. But, our community is a part of a much larger community. If we are serious about our work we need to draw in and reach out to this larger community. Furthermore, our outreach should not be simply to respond to the violence but to prevent it by working to eliminate the conditions that cause this violence. There was a little talk last night about changing laws or making laws that, to me, are punitive and not the type of action that gets to the root cause of the violence. I thought Catania's comments were very thoughtful. He has pointed to one of the causes for the violence and trouble in DC. The young people need to be properly cared for and taken care of. It would be good to reach out to youth as part of the effort in eliminating the violence in DC.

I have come across a program that has been around for over 30 years. It is highly regarded. It is called the Alternatives To Violence Project. Here is a link to Alternatives To Violence/USA: http://www.avpusa.org/ I'm wondering if this could be incorporated into the work of GLOV?

Thank you all for you work, Malachy