US Social Forum: Forging Alliances, a Movement of Movements

Carlos Jimenez marches with Jobs with Justice at the 2007 US Social Forum.

Photo by Carlos Fernandez

In 2001, 12,000 people congregated for the first World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. By 2005, the number was 10 times as many, as social movements, labor leaders, indigenous activists, and youth joined under the banner “Another World is Possible.” The movement spread around the world. In 2007, the United States joined in with a social forum in Atlanta led by a diverse group of leaders representing grassroots social-justice organizations. Ten thousand people attended.

Organizers expect more than 25,000 when the second United States Social Forum meets June 22–26, 2010, in Detroit. Karlos Gauna Schmieder of the Center for Media Justice says Detroit was a conscious choice: It’s a microcosm of the world economy and a center of resistance to fore­closures and joblessness.

• On the Road to Detroit: Find out how to get to the USSF.

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Ashlee Green wrote this piece for America: The Remix, the Spring 2010 issue of YES! Magazine. Ashlee is an editorial intern at YES!

 

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