May Monday Mayhem! Solving our problems without the police

Join the Flying Squirrel for May Monday Mayhem! Solving our problems without the police

Monday, May 2, 2016
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Flying Squirrel Community Space
285 Clarissa St.
Rochester, NY

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1706628136285579/

The Flying Squirrel Community Space's sixth Principle of Unity states,

The Flying Squirrel Community Space advocates creative, community-driven solutions to conflict. We will work to create alternatives to the prison industrial complex[1]. Whenever possible, the Flying Squirrel Community Space will use alternative justice solutions rather than relying on the police. Underlying this stance is our belief that communities are empowered when they are able to deal with their own conflicts.

[1]: “The United States uses prisons and policing as a failed 'solution' to social, political and economic problems. We call this system the 'prison industrial complex,' or PIC. As a result our communities are being destroyed. The PIC depends upon the oppressive systems of racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia. It includes human rights violations, the death penalty, industry and labor issues, policing, courts, media, community powerlessness, the imprisonment of political prisoners, and the elimination of dissent. ” - Critical Resistance

With that in mind, the collective adopted a custom, when we opened in 2009, where members agreed we would not invite law enforcement, code enforcement, or firefighters into the space, unless there were agreed upon parameters for the meeting. Discretion was left to the individual collective members based on each individual situation.

Over the years, this custom has come up for discussion over specific instances where a question was raised but a guideline was never officially agreed upon.

The purpose of the May Monday Mayhem: Solving our problems without the police, is multiple:
1. Why we need a space that does not collaborate with police
2. How our Principles of Unity guide us toward the society we want, while living in one we need to change
3. In the rare occasions that it does happen, how does a space with oppositional politics interact with police?
4. Talk about some recent interactions with police that prompted this discussion
5. Share a video history of RPD harassment of the Squirrel and its members
6. Discuss ideas for a more permanent guideline

Please join us!

What is Monday Mayhem?
On the first Monday of every month, the Flying Squirrel hosts special programming that forgoes the technical and logistical concerns of running an open-use community space in order to take a closer look at the impact of our actions on the community and our potential as a catalyst for change.