John,

The purpose of this thread is to point out and publicize a Facebook community page called Occupy Folk Music! (USA). That page is a forum, not an organization, so there is no specific program. There is, however, a goal, and that is to make the folk music community in the USA more open, welcoming, and diverse.

Perhaps having spent too much time at Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park in New York, I started the community page with language which I now see as intemperate, needlessly provocative, and possibly unfair. In response to criticism both here on Mudcat and on the Facebook page itself, I have revised the language and made other changes. However, I stand by my basic assertion that a small minority of folkies in the USA (perhaps 1%, hopefully fewer, possibly more) act in a narrow minded, boorish, and/or elitist manner that drives others away.

A lot of people here on Mudcat disagree with me. Some of them do not see it as an issue at all, while others see it as only a minor problem at worst. From my own experience, which is long in terms of years but limited in terms of geography, I see it as a more serious problem. However, it is one that I believe can be successfully dealt with. In fact many folk music societies and clubs have already done so, and I applaud them. For other organizations, including many coffee houses and house concert series, it has never been a problem at all, and I applaud them as well.

So far 97 people have clicked that they LIKE the Facebook page. Of those 97 people, 65 are from the USA, which makes sense since it is a forum about the folk scene in the USA. Another 16 are from the UK, and the remaining 6 are scattered among four other countries.

Once again, I invite people to check out the OFM! (USA) Facebook page. Or should I say the kinder, gentler OFM! (USA) Facebook page?

--- Steve