11 July 2007
The first U.S. Social Forum concluded July 1, having drawn over 10,000 activists to Atlanta, Georgia, for five days of talks on social, economic and political issues.
With delegates from 68 countries and organizations from Bullfrog Films to Oxfam America, the forum provided space for diverse perspectives to discuss common concerns.
Some 950 workshops were held in hotels, churches, museums and libraries, many focusing on immigrant communities, women’s empowerment, race issues, environmental sustainability and the Iraq war.
Founded in Brazil in 2001, the World Social Forum is meant to be an antidote to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Moving globalization from corporate control into the hands of individuals is a major theme of the events.
While previous World Social Forums have been held in Kenya, India and Brazil, the U.S. forum hoped to send "a message to other people’s movements around the world that there is an active movement in the U.S. opposing U.S. Policies (sic) at home and abroad," its Web site explains.
Atlanta was marked as significant for its ties to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement—and for its current struggles.
"Everything that happens in global communities happens to us here in the South, everything from the poor education, poor healthcare, underpaid workers, bad housing, lack of water. So we, ourselves, are a microcosm of the world and the very issues that we're trying to correct," commented lead staff organizer Alice Lovelace in a Democracy Now interview.
A spin on the World Social Forum's slogan, the theme "Another world is possible; Another U.S. is necessary" marked the event.
reSources
Social forum aims to help activists blend strengths, Ernie Suggs, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 24, 2007 (AJC website)
Forum focuses on social justice themes, Dan Chapman, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 29, 2007 (AJC website)
“Another world is possible, another U.S. is necessary”: Thousands of activists gather in Atlanta for the first-ever U.S. social forum, Democracy Now radio news transcript, June 29, 2007 (Democracy Now website)
US Social Forum website
See Also
Another U.S. is starting to happen, Judy Rebick, Rabble News, July 9, 2007 (Rabble News website)
World Social Forum Charter of Principles (WSF website)