Nebraskans participate in the U.S. Social Forum
We are not alone. Progressive movements are alive, vibrant and making advances across the country—even if it doesn’t always seem that way out in the middle. That was the unmistakable message from inside a surging crowd of thousands marching down the streets of Detroit during the U.S. Social Forum (USSF) this June. Day laborers and unionists, veterans, refugees, religious leaders, academics and the unemployed—and yes, Nebraskans, all joined in unison with the call, “Another world is possible, another U.S. is necessary, another Detroit is happening!”—the rallying cry of the week’s forum.
A dozen of us from Omaha and Lincoln traveled to the U.S. Social Forum June 22–26. After the long van ride, we were presented with overwhelming options to keep us busy: over a thousand workshops and numerous cultural events, marches and actions. Some of us came for specific reasons, to connect our work in Nebraska with national and international campaigns. The interests of our group included indigenous rights, theater for social change, combating police brutality and alternative medicine. A few of my fellow Nebraskans also presented workshops on topics as diverse as protecting the health and safety of meat and poultry workers, deconstructing the violent portrayal of Palestinians and student organizing around Whiteclay.
The USSF is a truly diverse gathering and is both nongovernmental and nonpartisan. Organized by a committee of activists from all over the country, it is a big strategy session for collective action. In 2007, the first USSF occurred in Atlanta. This June in Detroit, an estimated 15,000 people arrived from all over the country and world to discuss, plan and build a movement where people—not political parties, governments or NGOs—are at the heart of positive change.
The seeds for the USSF were planted over 10 years ago with the first World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Started as an alternative grassroots response to the World Economic Forum, the WSF created a space for peoples’ solutions to the world’s economic issues, countering the top-down directives of powerful nations. Since that time, many regional social forums have taken place around the globe—from the Mediterranean to South Africa to Kentucky—all with the idea of presenting alternative and locally appropriate answers to social and economic problems.
At the heart of the forums are Peoples Movement Assemblies (PMA), large democratic discussions that meet for a few hours or a few days on a certain topic and that come up with resolutions for action. The biggest protests ever, the February 2003 global anti-war protests, are one concrete example of action resulting from a PMA at the World Social Forum—an international action of which Nebraska was a part.
The concept of a peoples’ forum has ties to Nebraska, too. Back in the heyday of the Grange and the Farmers Alliance in the late 1800s, the Plains were full of agrarian populists, self-determining folks who believed that eastern monopolies and the government were crooks and that it was in the best interest of working people, farmers and small business owners to organize themselves.
With low crop prices and a major drought, Grangers set up relief committees to distribute supplies and food through a national network. They held public meetings in Grange Halls across the state—organized cooperatives, vaccination drives and political campaigns. Some hot-button issues were the railroad monopolies, the gold standard and the eight-hour work day. And it was in Omaha where the Farmers Alliance presented a national platform establishing the Populist Party, a short-lived political movement based on empowering everyday people. At the heart of it all were Nebraskans articulating their demands and visions for a new world.
In Detroit, I took part in a powerful assembly on “Immigration Rights from Below,” an ongoing national discussion working on effective campaigning against Arizona’s and other copycat anti-immigration legislation. The session was facilitated by several undocumented college students who are risking deportation for their open support of the DREAM Act, proposed legislation giving undocumented students the opportunity to gain permanent residency. Nebraska is currently one of only 10 states where some children of undocumented people can qualify for in-state tuition, yet some are trying hard to change that.
It was moving to be in the presence of these courageous young people, the leaders of a new civil rights movement for immigrants in this country. I learned later that in June, local leaders, students from O’Neill High School, rallied at the Nebraska Capitol, and one student—a U.S. citizen—even walked the 195 miles to Lincoln to support his undocumented classmates and the passage of the federal DREAM Act.
In our discussion at the forum we talked with the group about the recent bill passed in Fremont, Neb. Surprisingly, many of our counterparts from Los Angeles and New York already knew, making me conscious of our state’s national image now that we have joined the racial profiling and discrimination bandwagon. At the end of almost five hours in the assembly hall, hundreds of us narrowed our ideas into several unified statements —available on the USSF website—including a call for an international day of action on July 29, “A Day Without Papers,” against Arizona law SB 1070.
The immigration issue is escalating to new heights nationally and here in our state. Taking the lead from immigrant communities and those who are risking it all by speaking out, communities around the country are stepping up. I saw a great sign at the forum that said, “European Immigrants for All Immigrant Rights.” This is a simple message that is true to our roots and counters the perception that all of us in the Corn Belt are right-wing Tea Party devotees.
So much was accomplished in Detroit—not just concerning immigration but in strategies around many social issues. I caught just a glimpse of the countless manifestations of this progressive momentum. It was great to march with my fellow Nebraskans in Detroit and to debrief with them about all that was learned on the long car ride back. We made it there to the U.S. Social Forum, but now the crucial point is in how we all apply that knowledge and inspiration in the communities where we live. Conjuring up some of our independent progressive past, let’s get to work turning our visions into action.
Learn more about the issues mentioned in this article at the Arizona Human Rights Summer website, http://www.altoarizona.com, and the U.S. Social Forum website, http://www.ussf2010.org.
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Yahoo
Post new comment