NOMAS-Boston | January NOMAS Report

Report for NOMAS National, January 2006

January 13, 2005

Dear NOMAS-National,

NOMAS-Boston is excited to provide this annual chapter update for your mid-winter counsel. We must say that 2005 was a very busy, productive, and enriching year for NOMAS-Boston. Below we review several noteworthy aspects of the programming and outreach that made 2005 such a great year for NOMAS-Boston. We also discuss the current projects and future goals of our chapter that give us momentum in 2006.

Events

NOMAS-Boston has had a very busy, productive, and enriching year. The year has included a number of events that embodied our tenets, enriched our connections with one another, and enabled us to forge new connections with people and communities unfamiliar with the work of our chapter.

In April of 2005 we marched with allies of the Worcester MRC and raised money for local organizations concerned with various forms of violence toward women and children. We also participated in a celebratory fair of women’s sexuality and gender freedom.

In May we sent representatives to Cambridge, MA to celebrate one year of equal marriage in Massachusetts. Great people, free cake, good times, etc.

In July we organized and hosted the very successful Creating Connections in which local community organizers and members, social change agents, and activists create connections between the various anti-oppression and social justice work we do. The day was organized into sessions based on NOMAS Tenets and included the following guest presenters:

Craig Norberg-Bohm – Jane Doe, Inc.

Mike Perry – Impact Boston

Bill Gardiner – UUA

Meck Groot – Women's Theological Center

Christopher McMullen – The Deep Democracy Project

Tamara Sobel – Girls, Women, and Media Project

Rivka Solomon – That Takes Ovaries

Phoebe Sinclair – Writer, Feminist Culture Club

Steven Botkin – Men's Resources International

Rev. Irene Monroe

NOMAS-Boston also attended the reenactment of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic 1965 march from Roxbury to Boston Common in October of 2005.

Two NOMAS-Boston representatives tabled and networked at a local college’s anti-violence conference.

We held a stitchfest in December where members and allies put together a blanket to donate to a local shelter.

We were invited to participate in a day-long organizational retreat for Men’s Resources International (MRI). As part of the day-long event we made connections with other anti-oppression organizations who were also invited to provide MRI feedback on their strategy and scope of anti-violence programming.

Finally, we sponsored our 1^st anti-racist book discussion where we read and discussed Tim Wise’s (2005) White Like Me. The book discussion was the first in a series of events NOMAS-Boston plans to host to promote understanding and combating of white privilege.

All the events mentioned above were important to the members of NOMAS-Boston, as they encouraged us to be active and present in our communities and with each other.

Membership

As is seemingly a trend for profeminist organizations of mostly men, we have struggled with membership over the years. Having said that, our numbers are larger now than they have been in the past few years. We have a membership of approximately 10-12 people which is double where we were last year. We have about 80 people on our public e-list and a few folks that come now and then to events and gatherings. Despite our busy schedules and other commitments and struggles to accomplish our goals we have done very well this year.

Website

Our website still serves to be a focal point for us in posting articles, information on activities, and links to other resources. Please visit www.nomasboston.org to see new photos, changes, and additions to this site.

Current Projects

One project we are looking into is securing chapter-level non-profit status. Recently, when attempting to establish a new account at a local bank, we were denied non-profit status as a chapter due to all of our paperwork originating from out of state. Our new treasurer/membership person, who we will be voting for this month, will be looking into our options. We have also been crafting a mission statement for our chapter and hope to re-examine the tenets of NOMAS to ensure that the language we are using best captures the work we are doing and wish to do. We hope to make progress on this in the spring. We also hope to identify communicative and organizational mechanisms within our chapter to a) promote equity of attention towards each NOMAS tenet and b) to assist one another in describing how we would like to see NOMAS-Boston grow in 2006.

Cheers,

NOMAS-Boston