Atlanta, GA - Friday, 6/29/07 -- The U.S. Social Forum is in progress with workshops, presentations and plenaries that cover almost all areas of struggle in this attempt to build "another world." The small Boston May Day Coalition has been present in as many migrant workers workshops as humanly possible. The concept of "migrant worker" is not popular in the forum. Most of the events are labeled "immigrant rights"... Read more>> | Photo from Houston IMC | More USSF Coverage
The first ever United States Social Forum opened on Wednesday, June 27 with a march of thousands through downtown Atlanta protesting a proposal to privatize Atlanta's only public hospital. ( Photos: 1 | 2 ) Trade unionists, peace activists, community organizers, students, IMCistas, and others are converging on Atlanta this week to march, rally and develop strategies in their fight against the ultra-right. An Indymedia Caucus is scheduled for Saturday at 5pm, near the Pine Street stage in the park, or inside at the Indymedia table in case of rain.
Indymedia will be hosting a caucus/meet-up at the Pine Street Stage at 5pmThe Forum kicked off with the arrival of the People's Freedom Caravan and a march through downtown Atlanta addressing sites of signifigance to social justice movements there. Houston Represented with baners from Houston Indymedia and Houston Sin Fronteras, and joined more than two thousand marchers in marching though hot sunny downtown Atlanta.
Audio: US Social Forum Kicks Off Photos: March to Kick off The Social Forum | After two days at the US Social Forum
Houston Indymedia is in charge of staffing a table representing the Indymedia Network with newpapers, stickers, posters, videos and other goodies from Atlanta, Indybay, New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, Ashville, and indymedia.us as well as Houston. [Photos and info on how to find it]
A delegation of over 10 people from Worcester joins thousands in Atlanta, GA for the US Social Forum, including 5 members of Ex-prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement (EPOCA). Participants from Worcester, who also include members of Stone Soup Collective and students from Clark University, have participated in several music events, plenaries, networking sessions, and dozens of workshops on a range of social justice issues from immigrant rights to radical education to youth organizing for change. The Forum is well organized and has successfully highlighted the protagonism of communities of color in the fight for justice in the us and in the world.
The United States Social forum opened on Wed, June 27 with a march of thousands through downtown Atlanta -- protesting issues very familiar to DC activists such as a proposal to PRIVATIZE Atlanta's only public hospital. I heard it said that Atlanta is following DC own the path of structural adjustment -- about 7 years behind.
A wide variety of people were represented at the kickoff march -- and the first two speakers before the march left were two members, one an 85 year old elder of the Cherokee Nation, on whose land Atlanta sits.
http://www.kskq.org http://www.kskq.org/blr 
The Peoples Freedom Caravan made it's second stop after kicking of in Albuquerque New Mexico on Friday the 22nd and spending Saturday in San Antonio. The caravan came to Hartman Park in the Manchester neighborhood of East Houston. looming in the background, right accross the street is a Vallero refinery with it's smokestack puffing away as neighborhood kids bike and play in the park and people getting off their busses eat barbeque and chat. A number of local folks brought banners, flyers and petitions from their movements, including, immigrant rights, death penalty abolition, environmental justice and others. after folks ate and hang out, a rally was held, many people speaking on issues of environmental injustice and environmental racism in San Antonio, Port Arthur, and East Houston. One speaker, who impressed some and and induced heckling and anger from others was Mayor Bill White.
[read full story with photos] [More Photos from Environmental Justice Rally] [Freedom Caravan rolls through Houston]
While the WSF has come under heavy criticism over recent years, due in part to the increasingly dominant role that the political parties and large multinational NGOs play in the shaping and framing of the event, the USSF got off to an encouraging start when it was announced last year that it would take place in the southern state of Georgia, and that Project South would be one of the groups initially bottom-lining the organizing.
Progressive forces in the United States have not been able to mount an effective national response to issues such as the Gulf Coast tragedies, corporate scandals, government corruption, war, attacks against migrants, deregulation, corporate welfare, a widening gap between the rich and poor, a deteriorating education system, monopolization of the media, privatization of public resources, a ballooning federal deficit and attacks on our civil liberties. In the face of these enormous challenges the progressive movement remains fractured along geography, race, class and issues.
The nation’s largest labor federation split, and union membership is at its lowest point in decades. Churches, once a backbone of the civil rights, peace and environmental justice movements, have lost strength due to scandal within the Catholic church, declining membership and the rise of the religious right. Grassroots community-based organizations represent a growing sector, but are severely under-resourced. This lack of political strength demonstrates the clear need for greater convergence among progressives and for spaces in which progressives can begin to come together and articulate our vision for "another world."
The US Social Forum will provide this space. It will be the largest gathering of progressives in over a decade, drawing participants from different regions, ethnicities, sectors and ages. Community-based organizations, Indigenous nations, unions, academics, policy and advocacy organizations will be able to come together for dialogues, reflection and to define future strategies.
The purpose of the USSF is to effectively and affirmatively articulate the values and strategies of progressive civil society in the United States. Those who build towards and participate in the USSF are no longer interested in simply stating what social justice movements "stand-against," rather we see ourselves as part of new movements that reach beyond national borders, that practice democracy at all levels, and that can articulate the world we want. The USSF provides a first major step towards such articulation by bringing together the new movements.
In remembrance of the courage of the first Freedom Ride that met racist violence in Jackson on May 25, 2006, community leaders again will unite on the People's Freedom Caravan to promote a new vision of democracy. This is a vision based on human rights, a vision that bridges racial, geographic and cultural divides and moves beyond the status quo 'pay to play' politics. From Boston to California, Chicago to Florida, people are getting on buses, vans and cars to share their story as they make their way to the 1st United States Social Forum in Atlanta, Ga. Every one person is a story and the masses of voices are bringing solutions to issues of violence, racism, pollution and poverty. As the freedom riders of the 1960s brought a new vision for the South based on desegregation, the People's Caravan will demonstrate that another US is possible, one that is based on equality, living wages, sustainability and human rights. "The stories of Houston will be on the bus, promoting our right and everyone's right to breathe clean air and live in healthy communities. With 250 people joining us here, the local people can share their vision with this social forum on wheels and get their voices to Atlanta," explained Bryan Parras of the Southern Human Rights Organizing Network in Houston.
The Caravan will stop in Houston on June 24th. [read the full story]
This past Monday April 16th, Organizers with the Southwest Workers Union in San Antonio passed through Houston on their way home from attending a conference in New Orleans. A small meeting took place with a number of local organizers at the TEJAS office in Houston's East End. The primary topic of conversation was the US Social Forum which will be taking place this summer in Atlanta Georgia, and the tentatively titled "South-by-Southwest Freedom Riders Caravan"This odyssey of a caravan will kick off in Albuquerque New Mexico, with participants coming from even further west, and will proceed through San Antonio, Houston, Lake Charles, New Orleans, Jackson, Selma and end in Atlanta. At each stop local committee's are planing a dinner with traditional food for the region as well as some type of protest related to local concerns in that community.
The US Social Forum will be taking place in Atlanta Georgia from June 27 - July 1, 2007 | Email List for local Mobilizing effort
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