2015/01/20 Optik Allusions Meeting

Attendees

• Anka
• Noemie
• Tyler has had a new dog in his house
• Helena
• Bunker
• Nikolas
• Haley

Space in the basement

• We need to organize with the other media groups to create a resource/media lab for community media. Helena will get in touch with Scott. We'll talk with Kwe and elaborate a proposal for delegates meeting.

Community Media Projects

• Daniel Arauz is starting a community media project around families that had lost kids bc police brutality. How to make their stories told through community media.
• Opal could be solidary of this endeavor, provide workshop and resources if needed.
• There will be a meeting on Sunday, Noemie will keep Opal posted.
• Opal wants to move forward on their community media projects as well:
  • Reaching out to youth groups - Noemie will make a spreadsheet with groups and contacts.
  • Tyler: this week I'll stop by groups that do media literacy and I'll ask them if there is a need and what need it is.
  • Oscar Grant committee: Gerald suggests that we do something with the Oscar Grant committee: media training for them. They want to do a short documentary. Facilitate for them to make a documentary about their group? Anka will be in touch with Gerald about this.
  • Tyler: Anti-police terror group
  • Justin works on an anti-gentrification, ACCE: Anka, Helena, Noemie, Nicolas, Tyler are motivated to work on a documentary about one of ACCE's family who is about to be evicted.
  • Helena works on premiere with school and she learns editing, after effects. She could do a workshop!
  • When we're ready, we can make a free anti-bootcamp where people can produce a video form start to finish!

Party

• • We should also get crazy and have fun! Everybody could show videos they've made, brainstorm ideas, get together, get wine and have fun.

Bunker

• I just got back form a trip and I've been excited to come back here to work on media related projects. Teaching workshops, screenings. That's where I want to focus a lot of my energy. I'm looking for housing and I want to look for office space. A place I can go to edit and store gear, hopefully not by myself.
• What are you excited about in terms of media stuff: What's most important is work on creating a space that media makers could use. Sharing gear. The next step: a general media that matters. Documentaries, not soul sucking stuff. And then it would start opening up for people from the community to rent gear, we can organize with the film screenings. But also a place for professionals.

Action items

• Schedule meeting with music project and radio project about Space Downstairs.
• Helena can talk to Scott about partnering and arranging the space with the music collective.
• List contacts for outreach to communities.
• List names and skills

Anti-gentrification project

• Justin is a member of Acce. He's been in communication with Noemie. We talked about documenting the lives of people, mostly latino and African american folks that are being evicted. I want to use it as a propaganda piece that show the tactics that are available and that work. I want to promote the tactic. But also tell the people's stories, the ongoing battles and the general background and how for the past ten years 30% of the african american population has been pushed out. DOcumenting gentrified spaces versus spaces that have been gentrified.
• The project would be to document ongoing campaigns. There is an anti eviction campaign going on right now on 30th street.
  • The story: There is a lady who grew up in west oakland. Her grandmother bought a house on 30th street in 1953 because people were only allowed to buy a house in west oakland. Telegraph was a color line and they were confined to west oakland. See the book american babylon about the story of oakland from 45 to 78.

That documents the history of housing in oakland. her granparents bought that place. They were part of the ILWU, it was the only union that is multi racial. They bought that house, Anette's name was on the deed.Her uncle got it under his name. He was a war veteran, died and the father lived in the house, he was also a war veteran. He lives there now and so do a bunch of older folks form the neighborhood, it's a center of social life in the neighborhood. It's a big part to stress. What happened was, the financial crisis and the house switched hands several times. It is the financial world... this group caled Aurora. They bought the house, the bankers were like you should re finance, develop the house. BOA sold the mortgage to this sketchy loan service called Aurora. Anette was the only one working and paying the mortgage because they were disabled. At the same time they started the foreclosure process and they sold it to nation star. Freddy Mac took the mortgage from aurora. You would think that they would be looking out for people. They are actually the most brutal. You can pressure banks more because they don't want to have bad press. The government nationalized a lot of the home owner's debt and then sold it. Freddy mac is the govt selling the houses to bullshit investors. They sold the house and now they are taking shifts to watch the house. it's a weird place, there is a friction between the white gentrifiers and african americans. Anette's father is disabled because he's a war veteran. Another interesting thing to ask is to hear the story: it's interesting to hear their perception of what happened.

• • Nicholas: we should expose the banks for what they really are.
• Recap:
  • Showing the family their stories and how they guard the house
  • Showing the neighborhood and gentrification
  • The tactics: attacking deutsche bank in the beginning of next month.
    • A weak pot of finance is telecommunication they allow to transfer capital. If you disrupt the phone lines you disrupt the flow. We phone bomb their phone lines.
    • Shutting down the offices.
    • Defensive actions: find the share holders. You go where they live in their mansion in SAn Bruno and you do french revolution style, you surround the gates of their house, tell their neighbors.
• Time frame:

Start with meeting the family. Set up a meeting with them. Two or three. Interviewing Annette

• Helena: What is the function of the thing you want to produce? Raise awareness, correct the dehumanization.
• Noemie: Who is The Villain? We could film N. S. a slumlord whose companies are based in Oakland. Michael M. is a slumlord with community LLC

Creative chaos

• A 30 seconds video was made tonight by Helena, Noemie, Nicholas, and Tyler:check out the omni commons you tube for the cyber wizard video!