US Social Forum to Target Long-Term Progressive Goals

Thursday 17 June 2010

by: Yana Kunichoff, t r u t h o u t | Report

US Social Forum to Target Long-Term Progressive Goals
A banner from the 2007 U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, GA. (Photo: Brooke Anderson)

"We are meeting at a moment of world history that is in many ways unique - a moment that is ominous, but also full of hope. The most powerful state in history has proclaimed, loud and clear, that it intends to rule the world by force, the dimension in which it reigns supreme. Apart from the conventional bow to noble intentions that is the standard (hence meaningless) accompaniment of coercion, its leaders are committed to pursuit of their 'imperial ambition'."

So spoke Noam Chomsky in an address to the World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2003. The picture Chomsky went on to paint, of an America ridden by fear and aggression, called for the creation of "a different world, one that is not based on violence and subjugation, hate and fear. That is why we are here, and the WSF offers hope that these are not idle dreams."

Under the banner "Another World is Possible, Another US is Necessary," the attendees of the United States Social Forum (USSF) plan to do just this - on a more local level.

An outgrowth of the WSF, which was created as a people's alternative to the World Economic Forum headed by the world's wealthiest countries in Davos, Switzerland, the USSF will take place in Detroit, Michigan, on June 22-26, and is expected to bring together more than 15,000 progressive-minded people from across the country.

Detroit, a city especially ravaged by the decline in American manufacturing and the foreclosure crisis, was called "the ultimate reflection of America's pain" by "Dateline NBC." But it was not chosen to host the forum only for its status as poster child of the global economic and environmental crisis - unemployment in Detroit was at 15.5 percent in March - but also for the grassroots social movements which have begun to fill the void left by a lack of social welfare and regenerative funding.

Lottie Spady, assistant director of the East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC), said, "having the Social Forum in Detroit is really a good opportunity for the citizens of Detroit as well as across the nation to see different solutions from those that are being proposed by corporate models."

Spady's organization, founded in the 1960s, was instrumental in winning stronger water regulations in Michigan and promoting "green chemistry," with which toxic substances are eliminated from chemical products and processes. The fact that the Social Forum is a zero-waste event is a bonus for Spady and her colleagues at EMEAC.

The USSF will consist of workshops on a wide range of issues, including climate justice, indigenous sovereignty, immigration, migration, displacement, democracy and strategies for organizing social justice movements.

There will also be a daily People's Movement Assembly, "a gathering of people (25, 250 or more!) who come together to identify community issues, discuss solutions, and commit to actions," according to the USSF web site. Throughout the forum, "organizations will collaborate to hold Assemblies throughout the five days of the Forum to culminate in a national Peoples Movement Assembly on the last day," and, after the forum, there will be "coordinated actions across the country! The Assembly process offers the opportunity to collectively create action plans and political directions for our movements in the US, our regions, and our local communities."

More than 1,300 organizations are expected to participate in the event.

This year's event will be the second USSF - the first was held in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2007. Out of this came a number of national alliances, one of which, the National Domestic Worker Alliance, was instrumental in organizing for the Domestic Workers Rights Bill in New York, the first of its kind.

After his first time at the forum, Sam Finkelstein, a youth organizer with the Chicago-based Gender Just, found that "everyone came back with a lot of renewed energy. It also created this like spirit of coalition building - we connected with lots of other groups."

However, Finkelstein said, the first flush soon wore off. "The flip side of that is that things were not really long-lasting," Finkelstein said. "You come back to reality and the romance of a coalition turns into how is a coalition going to really operate, so it kind of fizzled out."

Now Finkelstein is going back to the Social Forum, armed with the knowledge to keep from falling prey to the same obstacles.

"The lesson that we got out of it is that its important to find the middle ground, thinking about how we build community, not worrying about what's the name of the coalition - creating shared language and shared demands," Finkelstein said.

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Comments

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The concatenation of

Fri, 06/18/2010 - 06:33 — Mulga Mumblebrain (not verified)

The concatenation of anthropogenic climate change, now past the point of no return as witnessed by the loss of Arctic summer sea ice, and the consequent amplification of northern warming leading to methane release from clathrates and permafrost, generalised ecological collapse, resource depletion,economic implosion under unprecedented debt and geopolitical intrigue as the US/Israel global empire struggles to maintain its God-ordained dominance of the planet, spells DOOM. The only slender hope for any human posterity,the political path being blocked comprehensively by global dominance of the psychopathic Right, is for the sane and humane fraction of humanity to withdraw from the system. Live frugally, do not go into debt, sell the car, walk, and give away the money to the poorer,share everything, consume as little as possible, grow food and share it, do not legitimise the kakistocracy by engaging in the fraudulent 'political' process, do anything you can think of to peacefully sabotage Moloch. If enough people do so it will collapse before terminal damage is done. It will collapse into violence, as that is the Right's preference, always, but possibly, implausibly, it may usher in a new age where the hate-filled,egomaniacal, ruthlessly greedy and unprincipled spiritual cadavers of the Right will disappear in a burst of entropic moral flatulence.Of course I'm hoping for a miracle,because that is all,now, that can save us from our worst selves.

M. Mumblebrain: In spite of

Fri, 06/18/2010 - 12:57 — mainsail (not verified)

M. Mumblebrain: In spite of obscuring your points with linguistic bombast, your take on current realities is sadly, probably correct. To paraphrase what you said, things are going to get worse before they get better, if they get better at all. While the social forums are laudable in many respects, those and most other attempts to challenge the decline of just about everything, is usually a matter of too little, too late--a game of catch up. As for your hopes for the future, much of what you advocate was a major component of the 60s counterculture. We knew even then, that we were not enemies of the state because we had long hair and did drugs--it was because we rebuilt our VW engines, shared homes, shared resources, and in general did not fit the profile of the "good consumer." Most of us did not share the attitude of the "revolutionaries" of those times, instead being fairly well convinced that the system was crumbling of its own weight. It did not happen as quickly as we thought it might, but the cracks are there and getting larger. I'd still like to think that it does not hurt to spread the message.

not participate in the

Fri, 06/18/2010 - 19:43 — Anonymous (not verified)

not participate in the "fraudulent political process." Sadly, I increasingly conclude this is the case. Though i think those who hurt the system most in this "two party game" are the Democrats. Because they don't deliver on what they imply they shall. Carrot in front of the donkey's nose. Schumer exemplified this notion when he talked about keeping people just a little bit hungry in order to control them. That's what they are continually engaged in doing to the American people. Finally, one gets to the point in which they ask themselves what they're *really* getting out of this. Ask yourself, how has your daily life really benefited from a Democratic controlled Congress and a Democratic president -- whether Obama or Clinton -- we are basically getting what we would have with either. You finally get to a certain point of hopelessness about the whole matter. And after working on behalf of these unprincipaled people and their "careers" doing nothing that takes any ovaries. They can all go F themselves as far as I'm concerned. They created the teabaggers. The teabaggers are their problem. I suppose if someone like Ralph Nader runs again, I'd vote for him. And I was opposed to it before. I felt *responsible* which is how they like you to feel when their 175,000 dolllar per year salaries are on the line -- though their deluxe health care and pensions are not -- just one term in office, and they take that with them and their families for the rest of their destructive and otherwise useless lives.

The least that any citizen

Fri, 06/18/2010 - 19:54 — Anonymous (not verified)

The least that any citizen can do to pay back the Democrats for what they haven't delivered, is to keep talking about it on the internet. Keep talking about it as much you kept talking about it trying to help their sorry asses get elected. About how

We DON'T have Medicare for the country
We HAVEN'T gotten out of Iraq and Afghanistan
We're over a trillion in debt, thanks to the Democrats' SAVAGE LUST for yearly military budgets

35 million Americans are UNEMPLOYED
45,000 Americans STILL DIE EVERY YEAR because they lack sufficient access to health care

They're plotting to get rid of SOCIAL SECURITY

And students still can't get a college education without becoming indentured servants for the greater part of their natural lives ..

while they expand a basket of elephant crap called Medicaid (= health coverage in name only and millions of dead trees in harassing, useless notices rather than money for health care)

Ask yourself--what do they want for you and yours, and what isn't good enough for them and theirs ?

Democrats, Forget About My Vote !!

This forum is the orchestra

Fri, 06/18/2010 - 21:51 — Anonymous (not verified)

This forum is the orchestra continuing to play as the ship goes down.

The grand experiment with creating an artificial world made of petroleum products for a capitalist society ruled by white males didn't work out. The ship is going down, taking everything with it. Glom onto a life boat if you can, and just try to survive. We're all sinking to the lowest denominator. They've worked diligently to pull us under since 1980, and now they have won, and we have all lost--all of us. Pesimistic? No, realistic.

oh get a grip people ...

Wed, 06/23/2010 - 17:06 — Cap'n Beer (not verified)

oh get a grip people ... 2012 isn't a reality, and humans still have the ability to save ourselves ... jeez ...

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US Social Forum to Target Long-Term Progressive Goals

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