[Sdalliance] Suspension of Michael Russell

Wed Jan 18 16:49:09 PST 2017

Attack DAF? Where? When? I said that because the new alliance has no delegate council yet and therefore no internal decision process, (and since this banning was NOT discussed at one of the preliminary 'mass' meetings) that the banning was clearly not a decision of the new alliance. Therefore, I asked if DAF (as owner of the listserv and as the group that invited all the other groups) had made the banning decision (like, according to whatever internal process DAF does have). I asked if the banning was alternatively the arbitrary and unauthorized decision of an ad hoc committee of 4 people. These questions are still not well and clearly answered. I would also point out that the IWW (I am a member) has very clear procedures for making charges against another member, for a fair hearing, for reasonable remedies (is a lifetime ban in order or a probationary temporary ban) et cetera. If one had banned somebody from an IWW listserv with no due process it could be grounds for one's expulsion for the union. Russell has not had any public complaint made nor any chance to defend himself. What little I have read of his off list argument with others in the alliance appears to center upon an issue which the alliance has on its agenda for the next meeting, which is how the points of unity are to apply (or not) to the supposedly open campaign committees. When the idea of those committees was first explained to us, it was to be the place where we could integrate liberals into our work, without (somehow) letting liberals gain dominance in the organization as a whole. As of our last mass meeting there have been some who say these 'open' committees really should NOT be open. I can see good arguments either way on this issue. But it is far from being any decision we have made. The committee's decision to ban him was extremely unwise because it sets a fucking precedent that has NOT been hashed out by the organization. In Struggle,
Monty

---------- Original Message ----------

Monty, It was a member of the IWW who put forward the motion to suspend Michael from the list serve not a member of the DAF so attacking the DAF on this issue unfounded. You make comparisons to "executing" and "bloodshed." I think this is more like removing someone from an organizational meeting for being repeatedly disruptive, harassing people between meetings, trying to physically intimidate someone at a meeting and finally making it ABUNDANTLY clear that they aren't even sympathetic to the goals of the meeting. If that makes me a dangerous authoritarian so be it.  Eric 

From: Monty Kroopkin <mkroopkin at juno.com>
 To: gm.leuning at gmail.com 
Cc: SDalliance at lists.resist.ca
 Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 12:51 PM
 Subject: Re: [Sdalliance] Suspension of Michael Russell

Process! Very dangerous to ban people with no pre-agreed upon process, especially in a coalition. If people don't want to engage off-list with an individual, nobody is forcing them to read or respond to any message they find offensive. The comparison to the extremes of arbitrary and capricious violations of even the minimal bourgeois rights that are the current standards is apt. Banning somebody from communication in a group is a symbolic form of execution. Real internal bloodshed on the Left should teach us all about being very careful about exclusion practices.---------- Original Message ----------I wanted to chime in here so Monty's voice isn't the only one. The decision by the Communications committee seems like a prudent one based on the email and the very broad points of unity that this person seemed unable or unwilling to deal with. The comparison to "enemy combatants" is unhelpful, unconsidered, and inflammatory. This listserv is an organizational tool meant to be used for enacting political actions, not for the posturing of free-speech absolutists who engage in suspicious splitter behavior any time they or their friends aren't treated with deference.  Thanks to the Communications committee for their diligent work. On Wed, Jan 18, 2017 at 7:51 AM Monty Kroopkin <mkroopkin at juno.com> wrote:Our organizations have not yet seen, let alone ratified, our alliance structure and decision-making process. Therefore this banning decision is a huge process violation. Mature adults don't freak out about bad speech. Accusation of threatening behavior cannot be treated the way the government treats accusation of "enemy combatant" status: no formal charges, no fair trial, etc etc. If DAF asserts that it started this alliance and that until the orgs ratify structure and start using it, that the listserv is the property of DAF, and that DAF can ban whoever it pleases, then we are owed at least affirmation that this was actually a decision of DAF, not only a decision of four committee members who have received zero delegated authority from the alliance to ban anybody they dislike. No coalition can survive with that type of arbitrary power being impose upon us. There will be lots of other times when people get heated up about some issue. We need to learn to deal with it in a principled and inclusive 'coalition' manner. In Struggle,Monty---------- Original Message ----------After receiving several complaints today, Communications Comm. members Eric, Yesi, Erin, and I decided to suspend  Michael Russell of San Diego Speaks from the listserv for inappropriate/harassing emails, and inappropriate and threatening behavior during the meeting at Bread and Salt.  They will not be able to receive listserv emails and any comments they try to send out will be flagged for moderation.  Unfortunately, this will not prevent this person from harassing members through personal emails.  We plan as a committee to develop a standardized procedure for such actions in the future, however, we felt that urgent action needed to be taken.  For the sake of transparency, we are sending this message. _______________________________________________ Sdalliance mailing list Sdalliance at lists.resist.ca http://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sdalliance
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