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Jackie Smith, Associate Professor of Sociology and Peace Studies at the Kroc Inst. Int'l Peace and George Martin, Peace Action Wisconsin and United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) discuss issues at the Peace Caucus - I on June 28. George pointed to the importance of decentralizing actions, arguing for the need for local impact to end the Iraq war. Domestic issues need to be connected with the war.

Forging a Grand Coalition: Opportunities for (and Challenges of) a Black-Brown Alliance (June 28, 2007) Audio of session is also available.

Eric Ward (Center for New Community, Chicago)
Tarso Luis Ramos (Political Research Associates, Somerville, Mass.)
Teresa Ortiz (Resource Center of the Americas, Minneapolis)
Corey Barnes (Coalition of African, Arab, Asian, European and Latino Immigrants of Illinois)

Moderator Eric Ward (Center for New Community, Chicago) opened the panel “Forging a Grand Coalition: Opportunities for (and Challenges of) a Black-Brown Alliance” with a discussion of the normalizing of racist discourse and the coding of racist language. He pointed out how the right-wing uses immigration as a way to talk about race. In this way, anti-immigration has become the new face of white supremacy.

Corey Barnes (Coalition of African, Arab, Asian, European and Latino Immigrants of Illinois) noted that activists in Chicago have declared a moratorium on Black-Brown discussions because they are ultimately divisive. Tarso Luis Ramos (Political Research Associates, Somerville, Mass.) echoed that this is not a useful discussion because it reinforces divisions and creates a distorted lens through which to view race relations.

Teresa Ortiz (Resource Center of the Americas, Minneapolis) pointed out that not all immigrants are Latin@s and that not all Latin@s are immigrants. This led Tarso to ponder whether we live in a post racist world in which we are faced with a multi-racist fascism and a neoliberal multiculturalism. Corporate capitalism benefits from a divided labor force.

Teresa noted that different issues and concerns leads to divisions in schools and labor unions. Corey followed up on this by pointing out the problem of coalitions of convenience. Issues of civil rights need to be engaged starting at the border and deepening into Indigenous concerns. Tarso observed that Black/Brown divides are not the only issue. There are also other common concerns. Where can we build unity? Looking at divisions is not a good place to begin discussions. Corey stated that education is a continual process. Teresa added that a a lack of historical perspective often leads people to mistakenly believe that they are the first ones to face these issues.

Tarso critiqued the myth of the “American Dream.” Marginalized groups buy into ideologies of racial supremacy in order to gain benefits and prestige at the cost of discriminating against other groups. For example, the Irish became “white” through joining discrimination against African Americans. He also reflected on the gendering of immigration–it comes to be seen as a male threat of terrorists and taking away jobs. Is it women, however, who do most of the work in the immigrant rights movement.

Teresa observed that we have to fix these problems on a grassroots level, not from the outside. This is also an issue of economic justice. The role of white activists is to work in solidarity with communities in struggle.

I have some video snippets from Wednesday's opening march at the United States Social Forum at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYENUhPlwsE. The march wound through the streets of Atlanta, starting at the state capital and ending up at the civic center where many of the USSF events will be held.

The first day of the USSF closed with an Opening Ceremony in Renaissance Park behind the Civic Center. A series of talks and musical acts connected our struggles. It is a good start to what promises to be a good week of activities.

Our Madison group pulled into Atlanta about noon, and we joined the opening march thru the streets of Atlanta. I've post a bunch of photos of the march at http://picasaweb.google.com/marcbecker2/USSFOpeningMarch. Hot and tired, but very happy to be here.

Two buses have left Madison for Atlanta--one thru Milwaukee and the other thru Chicago. Right now we are at a rest stop some place in the middle of Illinois in the middle of the nite. We plan to arrive in Atlanta in time for the opening march.

A couple photos at http://www.mwsocialforum.org/node/1201

Almost a thousand community activists, workers, students, educators, and others committed to making a better, more just world possible gathered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in July for the 2006 Midwest Social Forum (MWSF). The MWSF is an annual gathering in the Midwestern United States that provides an open space for exchanging experiences and information, strengthening alliances and networks, and developing effective strategies for progressive social, economic, and political change.

The Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed 2007 Conference will be hosted by the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

With Metropolitan State University Urban Teacher Program,
St. Paul Central High School & Central Touring Theatre Company

Invited Presenters include Augusto Boal and Julian Boal— Founder and practitioners of Theatre of the Oppressed Chris Mato Nunpa-- Dakota Professor (Southwest State University, Minnesota) and scholar of indigenous pedagogy Rosa Luisa Márquez-- Puerto Rican Theatre of the Oppressed practitioner and scholar Sekou Sundiata-- Poet, Performer, Educator, and Citizen Activist Members of Viewpoints-- a Palestinian-Israeli group of interactive theater artist/educators who work with Israeli and Palestinian high school students

Background During the summer of 1964, thirty Freedom Schools were established in towns throughout Mississippi to address racial inequalities in the educational system.  Mississippi’s black schools were poorly funded, and teachers had to use hand-me-down textbooks that offered a racist slant on American history.    The Freedom Schools offered a rebuttal to this reality.  Their curriculum included black history, the philosophy of the Civil Rights Movement, and leadership development in addition to remedial instruction in reading and arithmetic.  The Freedom Schools had hoped to draw at least 1000 students that first summer, and ended up with 3000. 

In 2006, Chicago is brimming with the energy of young people who are taking action on issues of zero tolerance, criminalization, racism, sexism, and homophobia.  Typically these young people are affiliated with local community-based organizations and schools.  Some are unaffiliated and taking independent action.  The time is right in Chicago for a citywide effort to provide a space for these young people to gain new skills, build alliances across neighborhoods, identities, and ideology. 

OTE ....On the Earth Productions has an interview with John Quinlan and Alfonso Zepeda Capistran up on our website.  They discuss what you can expect from this years conference.  Todd Price directs the conversation to include a look back when many people knew the event as Radfest.    Enjoy!   k     www.ontheearthproductions.com