PAMP Meeting notes: 1/28/2014

Participants: Nathan, Crash, Hyung, Mark, Neil, Paul, Giles, Dan, Greg,
Danny, Ty
ACTION ITEMs:
1.

Need a better central way of letting everybody know where/when all

the meetings are, and an email list of participants (Sasha, Danny, ?).
a.
Needs to be a big email list - just a list for the different
clusters. Sasha has a small email list - might want to have a way of
communicating other than facebook

a.to the whole group. People constrained by schedule and not location might want to schedule on different days throughout the week. Working group
- central or south east representatives? Biweekly southeast meet up
through Nathan and master cluster bi-weekly - one thought - consciousness
raising groups - . From the unionists - big meeting - breaking into random
groups - identifying behaviors and how can we intervene. Focus on specific
things for us to bring up that any one of us might not have thought of. A
list that consolidated all of the different subgroups - the event page
still existing - checklist of stuff to do - send out a link to this.
Visions for group:
1. Meetings: North, Central, and SE groups for smaller more personal
biweekly breakout sessions. None of them have come together yet. One
person in charge of leading those meetings - working group for more
tangible projects, and bringing the ideas back to the larger meeting at St.
Francis (which could host guest speakers and/or combine with TWAC as
appropriate. The idea is to form smaller groups where more can be done:
Schedule more important than geography - can live in NE but not make it to
NE meeting.
2. Unionists: with red marks wanted to raise consciousness as to their
actual conditions - they were very useful in the communist party. Also women were so isolated in their experience that they didn't know that all
the micro dominating behaviors they're subjected to on a regular basis.
Meeting each other was a way to understand and say, "Oh you too?" PAMP
could be that for men...going around telling men about this privilege ,
what- actual day to day incidents have you missed, people noticing what is
being done - meetings provide outlets and a venue for calling out male
privilege (this is the introspective- more navel gazing part of the group).
Ideas to help people now:
2.
Provide a good plan and set of accountable policies through which
the activist community can refer problems they're encountering with abuse

related to those with male privilege. Tryon PAMP group (Giles)

a.
Introspective, self critical, how patriarchy has affected us,
holding privilege and not realizing it. In the long term our navel gazing
is helpful, but to help people now: Giles: their group: Tryon creek state
park - off of woods ferry road meetings of pamp group. ; the pamps got
together, and the non pamps would say fuck all this talking - just do
things to contradict the way the pattern runs in the community - offer
child care, mediation, and conflict resolution for when abusive situations
are brought by the community - PAMPs intervene so other groups don't have
to be disrupted by it.
3.

Internal accountability, education, support of other groups

a.

Create transparent methods of response to various challenges (can

adapt from bay area book) - internal policies to provide a system
accountability - when someone in the activist community needs help with a
PAMP issue, especially reports of abuse, also behaviors of
racism/sexism/homophobia/self aggrandizement, pushiness, dominance.
b.
Survivor support services including addressing abuser directly or
passive accompaniment, record keeping in case the survivor wants to bring
the issue to the legal system. Have to work to let all groups know that
the PAMP group is there for non pamps to come to so they don't have to deal
with these issues and distract from the missions of these organizations
Other Notes and Examples: One pamp in the community was called out for
yelling and expressing anger in triggering ways. That person came to the
community looking for support. We worked on that by having an
accountability process for all of us where two people would meet and share
things that they
want support and accountability around for ending their patriarchical and
sexist behavior.
How does our sexism show up, get education and feedback from the group.
interview non-pamps
in their life to get a well rounded picture of their specific flavor of
misogyny - it usually
shows up in intimate relationships - what does this look like - we get to
know each other
that way - build trust and intimacy - call each other in on that behavior something that
we're working on - track each other. Also directly creates opportunities

to actively and directly intervene and take action hen non-pamps need
support in a male privilege issue.
Look at the work women have been doing, the weight they've been carrying in forest activism it went to guys to climb and be the stars and women
would do the washing, etc. Tasks delineated along gender lines... other
groups aren't such neatly outlined gender lines - so harder to tell. - Ask
Valkyrie what they need from us and work around that.
More generally, how is sexism or misogyny showing up in the group. Whose
voices are being lifted up? Tori mentioned at the call out meeting - - she
got talked over during a feminist meeting. It's obvious, but PAMPs might
not notice it right away without active support. TWAC/PAMPs make a
conscious effort to see who the new people are - especially women, and try
to make a safer space, even just by naming it. By saying we're creating a
safer space. cis male bike swarmers listen and help aid that underpinning
of the culture to welcome in new people and keep it safe, make sure that no
one is on the fringes.
Smaller pamp breakout pods - a space for more of the intimate reflection.
The bigger group being the council, spokespersons, action group for the
community - love the idea of having a point person for each pod committed
to attending the spokes council meeting to bottom line their pod - and
report/contribute into the action part of the spokesperson process. that
is one potential of organizations like this. at the end of third
accountability meeting specific proposal to make a conscious effort for
spokes council to be reflective of as many of the activist groups in
Portland as possible. Outreach to all the activist groups possible to let
them know about these PAMP services. How do we do this when activist crews
don't talk to other activist crews. they come in and don't know that there
are these floater groups - when we don't communicate through those barriers
- no community cohesion, discussing dangers and tip each other off - we're
atomized, but it makes it easier for predatory behavior to go unchecked.
put people off in one group - they surface in another.
We can get ahead of ourselves and want to do too much - the idea of
creating a network - spokes council with different groups - happens to be a
male oriented group - ironic if that group starts talking about being a
glue or authority holding other groups together. Can't have a pamp group
that is trying to be the glue throughout the community. has to be a very
specific purpose for that - this stuff happens all the time. who has the
energy to oversee it all? Nonpamps are getting together and have their own
- would be great if could have a spokes council of which there were all the
representative components.
calling the police - that is a really big issue - sounds like some of the
people are saying that we're dealing with a psychopathic or sociopathic
personality - frightened that he had accelerated his behavior. latest
incidents more violent than previous, addiction to violence, sex: we don't

have as a community to the extent we are one - we can't deal with a

coercive entity. if we're not involving the police, could this develop
into a place people can come and say there is a bad situation, we should do
something about it.
the Tryon pamp support group - when bad issues come up - they can be
diverted to the pamps - rather than being something the whole community has
to take on, it's been very disruptive to the work we're doing. when we
have sexist, misogyny, sexual assault, destroys the causes of the groups disruptive to the work we're trying to do together. we host monthly full
moon saunas, and a man there acted inappropriately - so the pamps were
tasked with figuring that out. this is our responsibility to get together
and talk about. so it doesn't hurt the farm.
rules for escalation abusers show up to community accountability meetings
to figure out how to deal with it - workshops seeking people who put
workshops on to bring in guests to help us learn skills. De-escalation,
nonviolent communication, how to recognize patriarchical behavior:
they will share with us - when shit does happen - our navel gazing has to
prepare us to do something to take on and change the ways things are
going. what is the process after the thing at the sauna happened?
designated people? how do you confront?
and accountability of the group, introspection vs. action - what we want
these meetings to look like - how does that work when a situation does
arise - how has it played out?
have to have a plan in place before hand.
Giles:
1.

everyone in the community knows that pamps are getting together

and trying to address pamp issues..

2.
Somebody recognizes that person, comes forward and notices that
person behaving that way; they come to the pamp group and tell them.
3.

that pamp talks to the group to decide how to deal with the
situation

4.
the person is told that they're behavior was wrong, why and that
they can't come back for one particular situation. if the person is more
involved or trying to heal, then there will be more efforts at inclusion.
should be pamps doing that work so that non-pamps don't have to deal with
it.
easier in a close knit community - for that to be the case - have to have a
lot of people

know that we're here to bring something like that. get our shit together
first, but with the goal of being that body.
how, in a volunteer run collective, do you deal with conflict when someone
fucks up. at bikefarm, somebody messes up, an angry email is out - and then better ways to
deal with this were identified. so accountability process has to be explicit to avoid creating
a power vacuum in a volunteer organization where nobody is the boss. even beyond sexual
abuse when patriarchical power games come up, what do you do if somebody does
something inappropriate and makes somebody uncomfortable. at least two people approach, ...biggest
point - have a plan beforehand.
if going to get rid of the police, or the police option, how would that look?
when the police have to be involved, what are pamp's responsibilities for
capturing information and supporting Danny - lots of different - case by
case, but not one template pamps have to be involved in support and record
keeping and accountability to police when they are brought in.
we are not just an n exclusionary body - depending on the perpetration some of it is subtle and the abusers don't understand what they're doing
and shutting them out - how do we make that moment a possibility for this
person to understand what they're doing and change themselves banishment is
not a first resort.
NEXT STEPS
Bi-weekly at the st. Francis:
TWAC meeting this Sunday - may be off schedule for a while before we ramp
up to the actual spokes council meeting. Danny will try to get pertinent reportbacks.
Nathan takes care of getting the hall for next hub meetingSE meeting - mark NE meeting this Wednesday - Danny's
twac/pamp group + pamp facebook- announcements
twac/pamp facebook group - bay area collective called INCITE - premises not using police/social services - not assuming polarizing scenarios/trying to respond to people
that have been harmed keep community cohesion in strategy, a672 pages, but ...comprehensive,
narratives, amazing- "Creative
Interventions"
all on pamp/twac page:
helpful to divvy up for each meeting - each person responsible for

presenting on chapters- lend structure for the small group meetingsinstructional, sequential, complex.
people getting outside help in institutions, the alternative to banishment
- first priority is stopping harm - will think about alternatives for
perpetrators when we have more to work with
Nathan - occupy - bike swarm - overwhelmed on the topics of sexual abuse
Crash - men and patriarchy - in a "Portland right to the city coalition
with hart, not close to or friends with him, not bike swarm. - dismayed by
his abuse. He was chasing women away while we're bringing women in. Sunday
after bike swarm meeting they voted to exclude hart.
hyung right to the city coalition - see hart around at swarm rides and very
surprised to hear about this. didn't see the abuse, just a bit of a jerk just a lot of jerks - a ride with nick, heard him talking about feminism.
as an activist, totally betrayed by him as an activist and hurting the
women, Hart didn't give a shit about the causes he was involved in. All
the women not coming to meeting - trolls and ass holes not with us and
using this against the culture, we need to change the culture.
Mark - bike swarm since the beginning. echo what others have said about
Hart - upset him most that this was even a possibility that in our activist
circles, it's a general problem. in general, women feeling excluded in
bike swarm and other groups. element of patriarchy at call out meeting,
hit him that and to work on himself as well - he doesn't see or understand
a lot of the parts of patriarchy that our insidious.
Neil: bike swarm for a while - not just about hart, even though he echoes
all the bad feelings about him. people not showing up because they didn't
feel safe came up a couple years ago - more than just hart. involved with
vigil at city hall - noticeable that very few females there, especially at
night. there were a lot more at the beginning. grateful that this group is
happening - grateful to Byrd and the other courageous people that went
public with this. it's been a smoldering thing for a while. I've been
somewhat aware of it. not aware of offences, but knowing that a lot of
participation has been killed by patriarchal behavior and inappropriate
behavior - not holding space for people of all strips who don't have access
to male privilege. we take our power for granted, and think that just
because there is somebody we think is a jerk or are not comfortable around,
he feels strong enough to show up, because it's much easier to take that
when you don't walk around with a fear of being raped and it happens to a
ridiculously high degree. it's easy for us to forget that and not hold up
enough space for people who need it. he is here to figure out how to do
better: not only prevent rape/sexual assault - obviously need to eradicate
that, but there is so much more we can do. I hope this momentum keeps
going, and I'm glad we're here.

Paul: very tired, but interested in these issues of sexuality and power in
these movements, exclusion and a lot of issues to deal with. on periphery
of the scenes being discussed, but back in Portland for just a few
years. another issue of an abusive relationship blowing up in the
community a couple years ago, then last year at the law and disorder
conference, and it never got resolved, just led to divisions and
confusions. if we really want to confront this intense shit, we need to
make sure that it doesn't go away without real resolution.
Giles - peripheral with rising tide, been involved with men's groups for a
few years, really excited about this group - this is a passion of his more
and more- gathering as men, confronting patriarchy. moved to Tryon life
community farm. fortunate enough to move into a well established pamp
support group. working with them for a year, but he is new to it. learned
a lot from what he has done partnered men's groups sharing work or
strategizing, cross pollinating, building as a holistic movement. keep
this as collective momentum. use these unfortunate events to push this up a
notch. Dan: new to the area but from here originally. came across the hart
situation on facebook and Willamette week article. his friend that works
with Alexander Reid Ross , wrote a letter to editor about ww article and
thought he'd come check this out.
Greg: meeting people on bikes. glad the cat is out of the bag - he is well
read in studying how the .... abuses - how the empire abuses everybody.
slammed the whole woman half of humanity, also most of male's humanity- the
wild man just as hated as the women - the outsiders. Greg is a recovering
verbal abuser, used to dominate. fortunate to find teachers who could
teach him how to feel. all western culture thinks the fore-brain captains
the body - projected into society. the head brain is a shitty captain brain cells throughout the digestive tracks - connected to the emotions possessed by the emotions. women can be dominators and verbal abuse.
verbal abuse insidious and destroys people from within. especially
children. he wants to out the abuser. whatever flesh the abuse wears, they
can fool with words but not a clear heart.
Danny - involved in forest defense and social justice for a hot minute or so.
he has watched the community suffer with this issue for a while, definitely the past decade up closeneed to take stock of our own specific privilege and how that creates blind spots
in us often to not notice certain types of abuse in cultures and individual
relationships. a lot more ways that we can enact that knowledge- we're
aware to a large degree about how those dynamics manifest - women's
involvement or non-cis male involvement dwindling away - the why is the
blind spot. there are very real reasons why- we need to explore those
reasons and find out how we can do better and keep more people involved and keep abusive and
patriarchal dynamics from running the show.
for every abusive dominant personality that we tolerate - there are plenty
of non-cis males that we are not getting creative and intellectual input from and we're missing out
big time..