USSF USSF2007

Ten thousand activists gathered in Atlanta the last week of June for the first ever United States Social Forum. The USSF adopted the World Social Forum’s slogan “Another World is Possible,” and added to it the line “Another US is Necessary.” The week’s events demonstrated the dedication of social movements in the United States to building a new and better world.

The USSF built on the two main issues that drives the WSF: opposition to corporate globalization and repressive neo-liberal policies that leave deep marks on marginalized communities. As with all forums, the USSF took on characteristics of its local host community. In the case of Atlanta, this was particularly notable for being rooted in a history of struggles against racism and other forums of oppression.

Otros Estados Unidos: la mirada desde América Latina / Other United States: The view from Latin America (June 29, 2007) Also listen to audio of the session.

The Hemispheric Council of the Americas Social Forum organized a panel presenting perspectives from Latin America on the United States.

Alejandro Villamar (Mexico) began the session with a discussion of US independence leader Thomas Paine as part of a radical tradition that exists in the United States. When Great Britain asked the United States to lower its tariffs, Ulysses Grant said it would do so after 200 years when the economy was already developed. Villamar argued for the need to unify around common concerns, to look not only at hates but also to remember that loves are part of a shared history.

Maisa Mendonça (Brazil) examined current strategies to extend trade pacts (TLCs), for example the Plan Puebla-Panama-Putumayo that would extend south into Colombia. This is part of making Plan Colombia an economic strategy that is not only for Colombia but for all of the Americas. US focus on the Triple Border region points to the importance of strategic resources and geo-political positionings. This is also apparent in the issue of ethanol that the United States is using as a way to reshape its image as embracing environmental concerns. Mendoza pointed out that even if all agricultural land was planted for ethanol production it still could not meet growing energy demands. Growing cane for ethanol in Brazil has turned into a new form of slavery.

Liliana Cotto (Puerto Rico) noted how we are unified by a history of racism and imperialism. Puerto Rico faces a challenge of gaining independence now or forever remaining a colony. Vieques creates a strong positive example of a broad-based struggle. To be free, Cotto observed, is to begin to be so.

The Future of the Forum (June 30, 2007) Also listen to audio of the session.

Moderator: Marc Becker
Speakers: Janet Conway, Suren Moodliar, Marina Karides, Thomas Ponniah

“The Future of the Forum” is one in a series of panels that the Network Institute for Global Democratization (NIGD, http://www.nigd.org) has sponsored at social forums on the direction that the social forum process is taking. At the US Social Forum in Atlanta, Sociologists Without Borders (SSF, http://www.sociologistswithoutborders.org) and the International Network of Scholar Activists (INOSA, http://www.inosa.org) co-sponsored the session. In order to inform the conversations, we asked the presenters to first read two reflections on the 2007 WSF in Nairobi, Walden Bello’s “The Forum at the Crossroads” (http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4196) and Chico Whitaker’s response “Crossroads do not always close roads (Reflection in continuity to Walden Bello) (http://www.wsflibrary.org/index.php/Crossroads_do_not_always_close_roads).

I taped six sessions at the USSF. The recordings are of varying quality.

1. Forging a Grand Coalition: Opportunities for (and Challenges of) a Black-Brown Alliance (June 28, 2007) Also see my notes on the session.

2. Building Solidarity with Venezuela (June 28, 2007)

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.