Wishadoo!: Mutual Benefit Community
Last edited Sun May 1, 2016, 01:56 PM - Edit history (2)
For those of you who recognize my screen name and remember Wishadoo!, you know I've been on this path for a long time and have posted periodically while having things on hold, asking for feedback as I've explored different ways forward. I had to put Wishadoo! and everything else on hold because it worked as intended -- there is definitely proof of concept -- but it was almost immediately overwhelming for me, especially as I've had to continue to do the work-work which puts food on the table. I never had time to catch my breath and create/find ways to fund it. When people started falling through the cracks, that's when I decided to put it on hold; I'd rather Wishadoo! not exist than anyone make their way there and not be at the very least acknowledged. I most definitely need a national network -- people in each state -- to be in place the next time around. I'll certainly be reaching out beyond DU but thought I'd share this here, too.
The TL;DR version of the background info below is this: Anyone resonate with the Coalition for Good and/or Wishadoo! and want to be involved in some capacity? If so, let me know. 
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I've been hesitant to post anything here lately because in doing so it leaves me and my work open to attack given the nature of trolls who peruse sites like DU. I'm all for criticism, but mob attacks with the intent to destroy are another matter. Online attacks are especially vicious and prevalent, and it's simply a fact that it happens to women a lot more -- especially women such as myself who speak of such dangerous things as mutual benefit, justice (social, racial, economic, environmental...the whole shebang), and compassion. 
I've had experience with these online attacks and stalking as some of you may recall, and I know there are a significant number of people out there who are eager to not only demonize but destroy everything I'm about. I didn't realize how much the previous experience had impacted me until fairly recently when I had to admit to myself that it DID make me afraid to open myself up to attacks and smears once again. ( 
CC'ers, I know y'all will create a thread about this post sometime today.)
But that's bullshit. My daughter is grown, I no longer have to fear for her safety. And people still need and want Wishadoo! and the other projects which you can see at the "portal" of sorts: http://ourgood.org
I don't know how to summarize the last 9 years for those who aren't familiar with me or Wishadoo!, so I recently created three audio files to tell the story:
http://coalitionforgood.org/from-wishadoo-to-coalition-for-good/
Over the last year I've been focused on the Coalition for Good:
The Coalition for Good is a network of caring individuals, schools, groups, projects, businesses and organizations committed to our Community Good. We view the world as a community: humans, animals, and the planet itself. The Coalition connects and supports all who are doing the transformative work of creating a more caring, diverse, just, and equitable world for all.
http://coalitionforgood.org
Yoohoo, Thom Hartmann, Laura Flanders, Melissa Harris-Perry, Rachel, TYT....
This is why the CFG has been my focus:
1. I'm interested in and passionate about MANY issues and have never been able to narrow my focus. I've tried, and fail miserably each time. So, instead of trying to narrow my focus -- and knowing there are other people (and businesses and organizations) out there who share this dilemma -- I wanted to find a way to help connect the wonderful work being done that many people never hear about. There's so much going on; so many positive, GOOD things being done. But there's also a LOT of fragmentation and competition (for eyeballs, for resources) even within the same lanes|silos and it drives me bonkers.
As one example of this, I've been involved with the Charter for Compassion for many years; Wishadoo! has been a partner since its inception. I'm also involved with the Peace Alliance. I've been engaged in the various aspects of the "New Economy" for many years: cooperatives, sharing economy, gift economy, resource economy, humane economy, yada, yada.
Many of these movements & organizations have campaigns for cities to become "Compassionate Cities" or "Peace Cities" or "Sharing Cities"...you get the drift. But, good grief, why should a city have to choose between being compassionate versus being peaceful or being a sharing economy city? I was tasked with that, being involved in all of them, and that's where the idea for the Coalition for Good came from. A way to pull it all together to support ALL of the good work: the individuals, the businesses, the organizations, the movements.
2. I stepped back to see the bigger picture as it concerns the movements and projects and organizations I resonate with and long to collaborate with and support, and saw what was to me an appalling lack of diversity. In many key areas, segregation has gotten WORSE over the last 8 years, not better. (The "new economy" movement is a case in point.) In fact, there's a growing trend in some circles to negate the need for diversity and inclusivity -- similar to climate change deniers. Inclusivity is hard, so it's being dismissed as being necessary when something is in the early stages. "We'll deal with that later. We need to get this off the ground now."
It is my very strong belief that, without diversity, nothing can be built on a foundation of true integrity and thus cannot be sustained, nor will any project or venture be meaningful in the long term. Without diversity the same inequality in power dynamics continue.
The founding members of the Coalition must reflect diversity, and the issues of diversity and justice and equity must be kept front and center. Perhaps one of the features at the Coalition site could be a tool to help member organizations move toward genuine diversity. We can show there is Unity in Diversity.
(Please see The Othering-Free Zone Campaign)
And, yeah, trying to cultivate meaningful relationships with various marginalized groups is really hard, especially because I'm not a public figure. I can imagine people may think, "Why should we trust her?"
The only thing I can say to that is that I'm grateful to have earned the trust of people who have followed me for these last nine years, and see what I'm about. I completely understand the lack of trust and don't judge it nor blame anyone who is skeptical; I'm just trying my best to be worthy of everyone's trust.
If I can't gather a diverse group of founding members/businesses/organizations, I don't intend to move forward. It is THAT important.
3. I do believe that the Wishadoo! Ambassadors -- the national network I mentioned above -- will largely be found in the member base of the Coalition for Good. The intention, vision and values is the same across the board, from Wishadoo! to the Coalition for Good...everything found under the OurGood.org umbrella.
The values are just spelled out super clearly via the Coalition for Good: http://coalitionforgood.org/about/
Yes, I use language which filters out those who aren't truly aligned, so people get where this is coming from and what we're moving toward:
The CFG is for people who care ABOUT issues which include but are not limited to the following, in no particular order:
There will be no ideological litmus test requirement for use of Wishadoo!'s tools once things get going again, but it's important that the BASE membership is essentially aligned as far as the kind of world we want to live in and not actively working against one another.
All that said, because the DU Community has worked with Wishadoo! in the past, and I know many of you continue to resonate with its intention and mission, I wanted to update you and let you know I'm now actively looking for members to form this Ambassador Network. Wishadoo! itself is on hold until I get the network in place, but I hope to be able to relaunch toward the end of this month.
I'm STILL focused on setting Wishadoo! up as a member-owned cooperative as I have been from the very start. I didn't anticipate how difficult it was going to be to raise awareness of the benefits of member- and worker-owned cooperatives, so it has been an uphill battle in that regard. As I have said many times, imagine if Facebook had been set up as a member-owned co-op for the first 50k members...the same for ebay and gofundme and so on? Wishadoo! has all of these tools, and has various models to follow to be able to sustain itself financially, so why not invite the base membership to have a voice and ownership?
But instead of referring to it as a co-op, I prefer to refer to it as a Mutual Benefit Community. When a year or so ago I researched the history of cooperatives in the US and learned that it was steeped in marginalized communities -- especially the AA Community -- and were often referred to as Mutual Aid Societies, that terminology felt more fitting. That feels like what Wishadoo! wants to become: a Mutual Benefit Community, one model for a Mutual Benefit Society.
With a solid network, we can put the protocols developed over the years with Wishadoo! into place more reliably: acknowledge each and every person who comes there, especially those who come there because they're in dire need; do a bit of due diligence to confirm the person's story if they weren't referred by an existing member; try to find existing resources to help; and only after the search for existing resources have been exhausted will any $$ fundraiser ever be created (depending upon the time frame; we as a community can decide how to handle this).
There is incredible potential on many levels with the various projects under the Our Good umbrella, so I'm really anxious to gather the founding members of the CFG -- like-minded and like-hearted people and organizations.
If you have time, please peruse http://coalitionforgood.org and see if it feels like a good fit for you and/or your business and/or any organizations to which you belong. If you're interested, please let me know.
If you're specifically interested in being an Ambassador for Wishadoo!, send me a message about that as well.
A handful of you have been so kind to express interest over the last few years, and I will go through the inbox to reply to you and make you aware of this post. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support of and belief in me and Wishadoo! over the years.
You can contact me here: http://coalitionforgood.org/contact/ -- or, if you're a DU member still (there are always a lot of readers-only), please message me here.
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Yeah, it started with Wishadoo! 9 years ago (yes, I created it). Other projects were created to support the work at Wishadoo, and all are now under the umbrella of Our Good. But Wishadoo! really is the heart of it all.
Now I'm focused on the Coalition for Good -- the latest project under Our Good -- for reasons I tried to explain, with the hope that gathering this Coalition will not only provide support for so much good work going on out there, but also create the network which will enable me to move forward with Wishadoo! and the other projects.
I know it gets confusing. You're far from alone. 
I appreciate it.
TBH I'm not exactly sure what they do on a macro level, but on a personal level they have this list of suggestions:
http://www.codepink.org/start_now
And maybe some of the people there would be good contacts?
P.S. You're pretty amazing! 
Thank you so much! I have them on a follow-up list but forgot until you mentioned them.
I will definitely contact them. Thanks again.
