Big Cheers for First-Ever U.S. Social Forum
"Next year will feature a Social Forum of the Americas," said the Forum's director Alice Lovelace at the end of the meeting last Sunday, hinting at the possibility that similar events may also be held in many U.S. states and cities in the future. Under the banner, "If another world is world is possible, another U.S. is necessary," the first-ever gathering of its kind in the United States attracted a crowd of approximately 10,000 activists engaged in a wide array of social justice struggles in various parts of the country. Last Sunday, the USSF, which is part of the annual World Social Forum (WSF), also announced plans to hold a series of protest actions in January 2008 when the World Economic Forum, the club of rich, industrialized nations, convenes its meeting in Geneva. The WSF is a global movement of activist communities from around the world who, in recent years, have organized a series of mass gatherings to promote alternatives to corporate-driven economic globalization, which they see as the driving force behind rising levels of inequalities among and within nations. Launched in 2001 in Porto Allegre, Brazil, the Forum has grown steadily in many parts of the world. In January, an estimated 75,000 people gathered in Nairobi, Kenya under the banner "People's Struggles, People's Alternatives." Since its inception, the WSF has also prompted a series of regional events, such as the European Social Forum, the Asian Social Forum, and the Mediterranean Social Forum, as well as many local and national social forums, such as the Italian Social Forum, Liverpool Social Forum, and Boston Social Forum. Last year, the WSF was held in different cities around the world, including Caracas, Venezuela and Bamako, Mali in January; and Karachi, Pakistan in March.
In addition to expressing their sense of solidarity with social justice movements in other parts of the world, the organizers called into question the impact of U.S. policies on the well-being of millions of ordinary Americans. Such issues included Gulf Coast reconstruction in the post-Katrina era, growing militarism and the prison-industrial complex, discriminatory practices against indigenous people and immigrants, as well as continued violations of labor rights. The Forum also discussed strategies about how to run campaigns on the issues of housing and police brutality. Organizers said they were pleased to see that a large number of activists, particularly youth, took part in the gathering and seemed enthusiastically willing to participate in campaigns aimed at forcing Washington and its allies in the industrialized world to reconsider their economic, social, and environmental policies. "We hit 10,000 [participants]," Lovelace said. "The sessions were brilliant. People made a lot of connections. We had proclamations and declarations. It was an extraordinary gathering." Lovelace told reporters that many of the WSF International Council who attended the Atlanta meeting said they were highly impressed with the organizing efforts and found the sessions to be fully focused "on the future, on vision, on strategies." The Forum did not adopt any resolutions, because, as organizers said, most delegates agreed that they needed more time to reflect and discuss their proposals. However, proposals are likely to be adopted before the beginning of the protests against the World Economic Forum beginning in January. The next wave of World Social Forum activities at the global level are expected to take place in 2009. ....................................................................................
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