What is the US Social Forum?
The US Social Forum (USSF) is a
movement building process. It is not a
conference but it is a space to
come up with the peoples’ solutions to the
economic and ecological
crisis. The USSF is the next most important step in our
struggle to
build a powerful multi-racial, multi-sectoral, inter-generational,
diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this
country and
changes history. We must declare what we want our world to
look like and we
must start planning the path to get there. The USSF
provides spaces to learn
from each other’s experiences and struggles,
share our analysis of the problems
our communities face, build
relationships, and align with our international
brothers and sisters
to strategize how to reclaim our world.
What We Believe
We, the organizers of the first United States Social Forum:
- Believe that there is a strategic need to unite the struggles of
oppressed communities and peoples within the United States
(particularly Black, Latino, Asian/ Pacific-Islander and Indigenous
communities) to the struggles of oppressed nations in the Third World.
- Believe the USSF should place the highest priority on groups
that are actually doing grassroots organizing with working class people
of color, who are training organizers, building long-term structures of
resistance, and who can work well with other groups, seeing their
participation in USSF as building the whole, not just their part of it.
- Believe the USSF must be a place where the voices of those who
are most marginalized and oppressed from Indigenous communities can be
heard--a place that will recognize Indigenous peoples, their issues and
struggles.
- Believe the USSF must create space for the full and equal participation of undocumented migrants and their communities.
- Believe the USSF should link US-based youth organizers,
activists, and cultural workers to the struggles of their brothers and
sisters abroad, drawing common connections and exploring the deeper
meanings of solidarity.
- Believe the USSF is important because we must have a clear and
unified approach at dealing with social justice issues, and meaningful
positions on global issues.
- Believe that a USSF sends a message to other people’s movements
around the world that there is an active movement in the United States
opposing U.S. policies at home and abroad.
- Believe that the USSF will help build national networks that
will be better able to collaborate with international networks and
movements.
- We believe the USSF is more than an event. It is an ongoing
process to contribute to strengthening the entire movement, bringing
together the various sectors and issues that work for global justice.
Why a 2nd US Social Forum?
The
gathering in Atlanta in June 2007 had 12,000 people come together
in the belief that "Another World Was Possible!" Movement forces from
all over the country took advantage of the opportunity to celebrate,
organize, teach, debate and otherwise contribute to a growing sense
that "Another U.S. Is Necessary!" The USSF made clear our need for
greater convergence among progressives and the left in this country and
to begin to articular our vision for "Another World."
The purpose of the USSF is to effectively and affirmatively articulate the
values and strategies of a growing and vibrant movement for justice 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 understand
that neo-liberalism abroad and here in
the US is not the solution. The USSF
provides a first major step
towards such articulation of what we stand for.
Why Detroit?
To
win nationally, we must win in places like Detroit. The Midwest site of
the USSF marks a fierce resistance movement for social, racial,
gender, and
economic justice. Detroit has the highest unemployment of
any major city in the
country—23.2% (March 2009)—with nearly one in
four Detroiters unable to find
work. Michigan has had the highest
number of unemployed people in all 50 states
for nearly four years.
Thousands of living wage jobs have been permanently lost
in the
automotive industry and related sectors. Some think that it will take
at
least until 2025 for Michigan to recover from the economic collapse
and social
dislocation. What is happening in Detroit and in Michigan
is happening all
across the United States. Detroit is a harbinger for
what we must do in our communities!
As grassroots activists and
organizers, we work to address the indignities
against working
families and low-income people, and protect our human right to
the
basic necessities of life. In Detroit, we can make change happen!
The
US Social Forum provides this space—drawing participants from
different regions, ethnicities, sectors and ages across the U.S. and
its
colonies. Community-based organizations, Indigenous nations,
immigrants,
independent workers organizations, unions, unemployed,
youth, children, elders,
queers, differently-abled, international
allies, academics, and advocacy
organizations will be able to come
together in Detroit for dialogues,
reflection and to define future
strategies.
World Social Forum to USSF - Globalizing the Resistance
A
global movement is rising. The USSF is our opportunity to prepare and
meet it! The World Social Forum (WSF) has become an important symbol
of global
movement convergence and the development of alternatives to
the dominant
paradigm. Over the past nine years, the WSF has gathered
the world’s workers,
peasants, youth, women, and oppressed peoples to
construct a counter-vision to
the economic and political elites of the
World Economic Forum held annually in
Davos, Switzerland. After
gathering 100,000 people in Porto Alegre, Brazil in
2005, the
International Council (IC) decided that in 2006 there would be
regional social forums to culminate in a WSF in 2007. The IC delegated
Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ) to help shepherd the US Social
Forum
process, stating that it was strategic to hold a gathering of
peoples and
movements within the “belly of the beast” that were
against the ravages of
globalization and neoliberal policies in the US
and worldwide. GGJ is an
alliance that grew out of people-of-color-led
grassroots groups who
participated in the first WSF. These grassroots
leaders initiated a process to
create the first USSF National Planning
Committee (NPC) and Atlanta was
selected as the USSF host city. In
early 2009, the NPC selected Detroit as the
second host city for 2010.
Learn more about the World Social Forum. Learn about
social forums happening around the world.
Call to Participate in Building the Road to Detroit
We
call those who fight for justice to converge and act, and to reflect on
the potential of our position and the power of our connections.
Although we
have built organizations that push forward an integrated,
multi-issue,
multiracial strategy, we have yet to build our movement
on a scale relative to
our sisters and brothers in the Global South.
The USSF II offers the
opportunity to continue to gather and unify
these growing forces. We must seize
this moment and advance our
collective work to build grassroots leadership,
develop collective
vision and formulate strategies that keep a strong movement
growing.