Social in every sense of the word

Puanani Burgess speaks to a captive audience
Originally uploaded by lind.diamond

Friday began with the YES! workshop on the Great Turning. Dave Korten and Puanani Burgess captivated the audience--the energy in the room after the two-hour talk/discussion was so powerful, and nearly everyone stayed around to swap stories, ask questions, and snap up the Empire issue of YES!.

Then I headed out for lunch alone as a chance to re-center. I find the networking with thousands of zealous activists in a 50 story mega-hotel (the Westin, one of the 3 or 4 main activity hubs) to be very exhausting. Though I planned to be alone for an hour, it's impossible not to meet people here. By the time I'd finished my salad, I had met a Georgia State grad who is now working as a paralegal and occasionally gets into fist-fights with homeless men. That was after the Turkish owner of the restaurant had given me baklava as a very delicious after-lunch gift.

This social forum really is social in every sense of the word, which is exacerbated by our giant name tags. This morning I met a girl who lives in DC in an intentional community of faith called Sojourners; then I met a man fresh off the plane from Harlem who works to end racism and is also involved in an independent NY radio station where Democracy Now's Amy Goodman got her start. A community college sophomore from Olympia, WA recognized me from a previous workshop as we got off the MARTA (subway) this afternoon, and just walking down the sidewalk I met a South African working in Atlanta on AIDS research who will be off to Connecticut next week as part of his training. The USSF badge sparks lots of conversations. Because and inspite of this, I've taken to wearing it everywhere.

I learned how harmful ethanol is towards the environment and human lives in an afternoon workshop on sustainable farming and biofuels, hosted by Grassroots International. Among others, the panel included an advocate for biofuel production in Minnesota, a woman from Brazil who spoke about the hazards of ethanol-motivated sugar cane farming, a professor from Berkley, and a spokesperson for Latin American farm workers. There was a bit of conflict on the panel regarding the pros and cons of ethanol (only the Minnesotan was really in favor of it) but I left the meeting frustrated that everyone was so confrontational rather than collaborative. But it's clear to me now that even though ethanol is currently touted as a viable alternative energy solution, it's nearly as destructive as oil and would really only benefit the oil companies by maintaining the current consumer structure and further cementing corporate power while depleting essential food crops.