See also: An Oh Shit! What Now? Statement of Purpose.
Who are we?
The “Oh Shit! What Now?” collective was inspired by a crowdsourced survival guide by a similar name. http://www.
We are a small group of activists whose goal is to facilitate working relationships among leftist and radical groups in Austin, as well as folks who are unaffiliated and looking for a way to get plugged in. We believe that now more than ever, folks on the outskirts of activism should be empowered to share their energy and feel welcome within activist circles.
The Oh Shit! What now? Collective plans study groups, discussions, and workshops aimed at equipping folks with radical skills to share with others.
When and where do you meet?
Ideally, a workshop/discussion/etc will take place about once every 2 weeks, at a rotating location and date/time. The reason for this is we’d like for this to be as accessible to as many folks as possible. Check out the calendar to see when the next meet up is!
Who can host a workshop?
Anyone who has a skill that would be helpful to share with others! Emphasis will be on security culture, protest 101, know your rights, and solidarity network building–though many other topics will be explored. If you would like to propose a workshop, feel free to shoot us a message! Please make sure you are aligned with our anti-oppression and safer space policy [below].
Furthermore, individuals or groups who are hosting events around town with similar goals, please feel free to reach out to us to combine efforts, and/or we we can link your event to our blog.
Points Of Unity:
While we are not founded upon a central ideology, we remain grounded on principles that we feel are necessary to push our movements forward. We are anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist, antifascist, feminist, and anti-oppression driven. We envision a world where communities are empowered to take care of each other, without relying on hierarchical structures that pit people against each other.
Anti-oppression and safer space policy:
We strive to create a supportive, non-threatening environment for all who participate. We want this project to be welcoming and engaging, and we encourage everyone, participants and presenters alike, to be proactive in creating an atmosphere where the safety of others is validated. While we acknowledge that each individual comes from a different level of experience, oppressive behavior will not be tolerated. We encourage everyone to examine and remain critical of how their behavior might negatively impact others.
We define oppressive behavior as any conduct that demeans, marginalizes, rejects, threatens or harms anyone on the basis of ability, activist experience, age, cultural background, education, ethnicity, gender, immigration status, language, nationality, physical appearance, race, religion, self-expression, sexual orientation, species, status as a parent or other such factors.
We aim to create a horizontal, non-hierarchical platform in which to engage with each other. We will prioritize the voices of women, queers, people of color (POC) and anyone who experiences marginalization on the basis of “otherness” within a heteronormative, white, cis-gendered society.
If any of this language seems intimidating or inaccessible, we encourage you to come to an event and check it out, or shoot us a message.
Where we draw the line.
We do not work with groups who cooperate with law enforcement, or who do not align with anti-oppression practice. We do not create platforms for recruitment to political bodies. This series simply aims to spread seeds of knowledge for folks to use in their communities and affinity groups.