General Assembly Guide

Atlanta General Assemblies are people’s assemblies, or regularly held gatherings where people exercise their right to congregate and engage in participatory democracy — true democracy — for the betterment of our city, state, nation, and world.

ATL GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Pledge – Peoples Mic
Consensus and Proposal Process
Hand Signals – Terms – Facilitation Roles

 
Inspired by and modeled after the New York City General Assembly.

Occupy Atlanta Pledge and Guidelines:
(guidelines given by OccupyWallSt.org)

• We unequivocally oppose transphobia and homophobia. We are in solidarity with the LGBTQ community. We unequivocally oppose sexism, racism, ableism and religious intolerance.
• Absolute respect.
• We recognize and embrace the equality of our diversity as Atlantans.
• We resist learned prejudices.
• We share burdens by taking initiatives to fill roles and relieve comrades.
• We encourage all voices.
• We discuss ideas, NOT PEOPLE, and disagree without being disagreeable.
• We avoid labeling and targeted profanity.
• We maintain a positive expression of the “message” by not engaging unstable or volatile people.
• We do not accept physical or verbal violence.
• We avoid conflict through active listening and awareness of body language and emotional responses.
• We seek to grow from our mistakes; conflicts within Occupy Atlanta are opportunities to learn.
• We are either all leaders or none of us are leaders.
• Make friends! Make an effort to get to know people and HAVE FUN!

What is the Peoples Mic and why do we use it?

A People’s Mic is used when amplified sound is not feasible and there are too many people to easily hear the speaker.

The speaker says just a few words at a time, then pauses as the people who can hear what she said loudly repeat the phrase so people further from the speaker know what was said. For very large crowds, multiple echos might be necessary.

Effective use of the People’s Mic requires speakers be concise and avoid the temptation to say phrases of more than a few words at a time.

A “Mic Check” is how a speaker gets attention to the People’s Mic and ensures everyone can hear: Everyone repeats the speaker’s “Mic Check” until the speaker can be heard through the whole crowd.

If a crowd gets too large for the People’s Mic to work effectively, another possibility is to distribute a few walkie talkies in the assembly and have the people around each one serve as the people’s mic for those around them. Or use cell phones in place of the walkie-talkies.

There are other advantages to the use of the People’s Mic beyond the utilitarian benefit of sound amplification. The People’s Mic also serves to:

• Focus attention on the issue at hand and encourages people to speak from the stacks, rather than focusing on side conversations
• Engages participants in the conversation, in that they must listen carefully to the speaker to repeat those words exactly
• Promotes empathy for points of view that may differ from your own, in that your must speak someone else’s idea with your voice
• Empowers those who have been traditionally unheard, as hearing your idea repeated back in unison by the group is a concrete evidence that they “hear” you

The People’s Consensus – Download a printable .pdf
Consensus decision-making is a democratic process with the main goal of incorporating everyone’s voice into a solid accepted proposal. Instead of votes, a process of patience and understand is used.
Consensus decision-making has been used for thousands of years by societies such as the Tribe of Abraham, the Iroquois Nation, the Quakers, and the Civil Rights, Feminist, and Anti-war movements of the 1960s & 70s. Today, the consensus decision-making process is being used all over the world in the Occupy Movement. This guide is a quick reference and is meant to help speed the process along and keep it efficient by defining terms and facilitation roles, and demonstrating Hand-signals.

Consensus Flow Chart, Hand Signals, and Video Guide

Terms

• Proposal – Proposals affect the entire group and must be approved by consensus.
• Announcement – Announcements do not affect the entire group and consensus does not need to be reached.
• Agreement – You agree.
• Disagreement – You disagree, but will not necessarily block or stand-aside. This is an expression of opinion, not fact.
• Stack – List of meeting participants waiting to speak. Stack is kept so that participants do not need to keep their hand raised. Once your name has been place don stack, you can relax and formulate what you will say until you are called to speak.
• Direct Response – A correction or statement of fact to what has just been said. This will place you at the top of stack, so please DO NOT USE IT TO STATE OPINION.
• Point of Process – The topic of discussion has been strayed from. To be used if discussion has strayed away from the original proposal. This will place you at the top of stack, so please DO NOT USE IT TO STATE OPINION.
• Clarifying Questions – You did not understand or hear completely what was just said. The moderator/facilitator will ask for clarifying questions after a proposal is stated.
• Concerns – You have a concern regarding how the proposal will affect the entire group. This can lead into discussion or modification/amendment of the proposal. The moderator/facilitator will ask for concerns after a proposal is stated.
• Stand-aside – Abstention. You have a disagreement with the proposal, but will let it pass. You are incapable or unwilling to participate in proposal. Stand-asides do not block proposals
• Block – One person may block a proposal from being passed. A block should only be used if the proposal endangers the organization/group or its participants, or violates the mission of the organization/group. Please use bocks as a last resort.
• Temperature Check – Used by Moderator/Facilitator or Empath/Vibe-check to see how far along towards consensus the group is. Temperature Checks are not a binding consensus.
• Consensus – Proposal or motion is passed. Stand-asides have been considered and there are no remaining blocks.

Facilitation Roles

• Moderator/Facilitator – This can be more than one person, but the job is only to keep discussion on topic such as introducing new agenda items, repeating proposals, helping concerns and blocks be addressed, and calling for consensus.
• Time-keeper – Simply put, this person keeps time. If time limits are set, this person makes sure no-one speaking, or agenda items go over that limit.
• Empath/Vibe-watch – Keeps track of general morale based on body-language and emotional responses. This person defuses potential emotional conflicts, maintains a climate free of intimidation and remains aware of potentially destructive power dynamics, such as sexism or racism within the decision-making body.
• Note-taker – Records the progress of meetings in short concise notes.
• Stack-taker – Takes the names of people who have raised their hand in the order raised so the crowd can hear them as they are called to speak.