BLACK BART #2 - The issue's Introduction

A word with the Brigade


First off, we have to apologize for taking so long to come out with this second issue. We've had such an overwhelming mail response (see inside front cover), and we've tried to answer as many as possible, and then the holidays got in the way (more of the printer than ourselves). We'll try and make up for it by being extra quick with number 3.

The mail has brought us a sharp awareness of how potent and widespread is the disaffection with "normal" straight society. The merging of two generations has already begun with people and groups all over the country becoming aware that the well-known "gap " has got to be bridged, and initiating various efforts to do so. A Philadelphia group calls it "gray liberation ". Two books, at least, are currently being written about the activity in this direction, and other small magazines are taking shape. It appears, from our point of view, that this will be a significant development of the 70's.

Our own efforts, aided in no small part by the funds that have been coming in, are expanding rapidly from our original Canyon-centered concept. We have been participating in other new-lifestyles groups throughout the Bay Area , and have started a series of courses in several Free U's in San Francisco and Berkeley, titled Finding A Way Out . We hope these will provide the stimulus for community groups of middle-agers in both of these cities. Symposiums are also being planned, and early this year we will be opening a full-scale program in the Palo Alto area.

A half-hour radio forum on KPFA, the local Pacifica station , and sponsored by Vocations For Social Change, has met with such good response that it is being rebroadcast for the third time this month (January), and is available to other Pacifica stations on request. Five of us, with various involvement in OUTLAWRY, discussed the full range of problems faced by middle-agers who are contemplating radical change.

The entire project is turning out to be a growth process for ourselves also. We are finding it necessary to develop radically different non-business concepts in pursuit of our goal to be people-centered instead of profit-centered. The first significant decision was to apply the donation principal to bulk distribution as well as to individuals in order to avoid the entire hassle of paper work, commission problems, followup, returns, etc.. This will undoubtedly cost us "business", but we gain a sense of freedom that is well worth it. Details are available to any group or store on request.

We are also converting our record keeping away from standard debit/credit nomenclature so that it reflects our own views about money being a form of shared energy. And we have so far refused to bend to organizational requirements for a "businesslike" approach, in order to obtain funding. We are relying upon continued support from our readers in order to maintain this kind of independence.

This issue contains a wide spectrum of personal experience articles, which should provide a meaningful contribution to your own planning for change. The OUTLAW register is off to a healthy start, and we are also undertaking a new kind of service to bring people together (see inside front cover). All we ask of you in return is to utilize these resources, continue to pass the magazine (and its philosophy) around to others, ask us to send them copies if you wish, and send us your own stories if you feel they can be of help others. Fortune willing, we shall pay a modest fee for such contributions (shared energy!).

Enjoy this issue, and until next time, keep your head in the right place.


YOU ARE IN A SELECTION FROM BLACK BART #2

You can return to Opening of BBB #2 (for more of this issue)

or to Opening of the Black Bart section (for others in the Black Bart series)

or to the Main Staging Area (for going anywhere on the site)