[dan] @TaxDan@retro.social

And as has been said to death already but warrants an addition on my ramble: there's a lot of us. We can do more than one thing. If a referendum doesn't seem worth your time, don't participate. There has always been multiple things happening in this movement. Plug in (or stay plugged in) where it makes sense for you.

Lots of cop city discourse on twitter, the worst of which hopefully is from people who don't actually do anything and won't regardless and will stay in internet land. I don't actually post on twitter but I want to write some words. So I'm putting them here (as I do).

One thing about stop cop city organizing that has been interesting is that the organizers seem to be self aware in ways that I don't think people are giving them credit for. I don't think any organizer for the public comment didn't know that the council was likely going to just do whatever they wanted anyway. That wasn't the point. The point was 1000 people showed up and now have a connection to the movement.

I can't imagine the organizers of this referendum don't know that the city will likely find a way to ignore the referendum and do what they want anyway. That's not the point. And I don't think organizers who are radical enough to have yet to demonize direct action in the face of domestic terrorism charges don't know exactly who and what these big liberal orgs are and will just magically lose those principles. This referendum is an opportunity to use their massive platforms to bring people into the movement. Many people who really thought the public comment would work have now been radicalized by the outcome and by the community that they found at that event. I think that will happen with this referendum too.

In a smaller and arguably less important way this is what my little grassroots bi+ org does when we work with Atlanta Pride. We know exactly who and what they are. But we use their platform (and money) to bring people into community where they otherwise would not know who we are or what we do.

@ajroach42 "What you pay attention to grows" -adrienne maree brown

@DoctorDeathray I don't always stay informed. Sometimes I play catch up with information as I have capacity to receive information. It's okay to take care of yourself. You can't fill from an empty cup.

@saidsoftly there were 4 against actually but yeah, the others are absolutely devoid of any integrity or leadership.

I want folks to understand what happened in Atlanta over the last 24hrs. Around 1000 (last estimate I heard) people showed up to City Hall and stood inside and outside in the face of massive police presence, manufactured hostile conditions like banning food and water intended to deter people, and a poor system for the public to be heard (a single sign up sheet with only around 2 hours to sign up) to oppose the funding of Cop City. 357 people were able to sign up for public comment including time they yielded to others.

This was the culmination of years of multi-faceted and decentralized organizing. This was after everything from rallies and protests, social events, phone banking, canvassing, camping in the woods, mutual aid including free food distribution for the community, and of course the direct action of physically destroying the means to harm the forest. This has been a movement that has by and large refused to be divided on what constitutes "correct" action and has had remarkable solidarity across organizations and various fronts.

Last time the movement showed up at City Hall, there was feedback that folks weren't wearing masks so this time organizers brought PPE and even placed air purifiers at the podium in the chamber. Despite the ban on food and drink, people brought the means to make coffee. A call went out for food to keep people going. 20+ pizzas showed up. Outside city hall, people were playing music and offering free massage services (standing around, sitting on the ground, and even in the uncomfortable city hall chairs is rough on the body). People not only showed up to make clear the will of the people but people took care of each other.

I've been to a couple of protests, a vigil, and the famed concert where folks were arrested. At almost every event organized against cop city I've had food and water provided for me and at many of them, PPE was available. This is more than a protest movement. This is a community practicing a world where we meet each other's needs, a world where police are obsolete. It won't stop. The community is already connected and it is strong. Cop City will never be built.

Never change Atlanta 😂

SIX HUNDRED PEOPLE AT ATLANTA CITY HALL!
https://twitter.com/atlanta_press/status/1665760963721666560

All it seemed to take was another council person waiving them away and they left again.

I have a suspicion it's also dependent on what cops actually want to enforce. You look at the video from when they came into the chamber and they didn't look like they wanted to be there. They were summoned by the council president.

I think it's interesting how in some cases, particularly at these City Hall gatherings where they know people are watching them, cops will back down when people just simply refuse to obey bullshit orders. This happened when they tried to kick everyone out of the chamber for clapping (I think it was clapping) and people just ..didn't move. And now with folks providing food and water outside City Hall.
https://twitter.com/atlanta_press/status/1665741359452389378

Looks like people started showing up 2 hours ago, before public comment *sign up* was even open. Now almost a half hour into sign up there's over 200 people gathered at Atlanta City Hall today to once again, speak out against cop city. Cop city will never be built.
https://twitter.com/atlanta_press/status/1665738746715594755