INTRODUCTION
On Sept. 25, 2010, the RPMA held its Mesa Directiva meeting at Café On A Street, in Oxnard, Califaztlán. The four current members of the mesa were present: Ernesto Bustillos (Coordinator of the RPMA), Luis Moreno (Editor of Guerillera/os de La Pluma and the RPMA webpage), Francisco Romero (Coordinator of Membership and Organization), and Antonio Velasquez (Coordinator of Finances).
It has been a practice of the RPMA to be as transparent as possible in the workings and procedures that take place with the RPMA. Therefore, we publish/or post on our web the outcomes of our Mesa Directiva and our General meetings. As far as we know, the RPMA is the only Raza media organization that regularly makes public minutes and outcomes of its meetings.
We believe that this transparency allows others to better understand the type of organization that the RPMA. We hope that through our openness other media worker will be persuaded to uniting with us to build a media that is in the service of our people’s struggle for justice, peace, and self-determination.
Below are the outcomes of the RPMA mesa directiva meeting of Sept. 25, 2010.
RESOLUTIONS/OUTCOMES
Media Campaign:
It was agreed to implement the “media campaign” that was proposed at our last General Meeting (August 28th, in Los Angeles, Califaztlán). The campaign will end with a forum in Jan. 2011. At the forum, media workers representing a broad spectrum of progressive/revolutionary journalism will be invited to describe/demonstrate how they present their point of view on issues of importance to the Raza community, specifically their perspectives on the attacks coming down in Arizona and U.S. We will invite photographers/artists, editorial writers, general reporters, filmmakers, etc. to demonstrate how they present, through their media of choice, their view/perspective on this issue. Compa Francisco, with the assistance of Antonio, will organize the forum. Other RPMA members will be asked to help out.
International Delegation:
We will work to send a group of 4 to 5 RPMA members on a “working international delegation” in April 2011 (Spring Break). Possible countries could be Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, or El Salvador (in that order). Our goal will be to learn and share how the “bourgeois/mainstream” media is use to oppress nuestros pueblos; but when the media is in the hands of the people, it can be used to liberate. Ernesto and Francisco will take the lead on this task. A concrete plan (dates, costs, etc.) will be presented at our next General Meeting in Jan. of 2011 for discussion.
Guerrillera/o Award:
Ernesto will send out a list of possible recipients for consideration of the “2010” Guerrillera/o of the year award. The mesa will add names if necessary and choose the winner of the 2010 award. The award will be presented at our next general meeting in Jan 2011.
RPMA Mesa Elections:
Ernesto will send out names of members who are eligible to be elected to the mesa directiva of the RPMA. The election will take place at the RPMA general meeting in January 2011. Special effort will be made to recruit mujeres into the mesa/RPMA leadership.
Organization/Membership:
Compa Francisco made a recommendation (and it was accepted) that we form an “advisory committee” for the association. Members of the committee will be “respected and known personalities of our movement”. Their role will be to advice and help with the recruitment of more members into the association. Francisco will develop a written outline and present it for approval at our next general meeting.
We will also request to officially become members of progressive international media associations (such as Prensa Latina, etc.). This will make us a more viable and effective media network, and bring more recognition to the work of the RPMA. Compa Antonio will follow-up on this matter.
Website and Projects:
The Mesa Directiva expressed approval of the work that was found on in our Web Page and journal, La Pluma. Everyone committed themselves to complete projects, such as the books and articles to be posted on our Web Page. Compa Luis will follow-up and remind people of their commitments and projects.
It was decided that in the near future, a “policy” for posting on our Web Page will be developed. Items posted will be given priority as follows: First priority would be assigned to RMPA members, then non-member Raza writers, other progressive (non-Raza) media workers, and so forth. The objective must be to create/or advance Raza journalism. Until we have substantial “Raza” media being produced and shared with the RPMA, we will continue to post as is. Compa Antonio raised this particular discussion.
There was also discussion and it was suggested that we place as much emphasis on “reporting” on the news, as we currently do with “creating” news. Compa Luis raised this issue and shared the (reporting) work of the RPMA that went into the U.S. Social Forum held this year in Detroit.
Fundraising:
We need to create a budget based on “a plan of actions/events” we want to organize during 2011. Once this tentative budget is developed, we will forward it to Antonio, who will them move to find funding for it. In the meantime, Compa Antonio will be looking into (a) organizing a nonprofit status and (b) use allies as fiscal sponsors for projects that need to be immediately funded.
Conferences and Workshops:
Ernesto reviewed some of the Conferences that should be of interest to the RPMA and, which we must make efforts to participate in some level. These include the National Association of Chicano Studies, MEChA SDSU High School Conference (Nov. 20, 2010), Teachers-4-Social Justice (Oct. 9, 2010, in San Francisco), and Global Studies Conference. Members are encouraged to attend and report on these and other movement/progressive conferences.