“Nightwind” is performance based on Hector Aristizábal's true story of being arrested and tortured by the US-supported military in Colombia. After his release, he witnessed the killings of many of his friends. In exile in the United States, his taxes fund the war in Iraq including torture at Abu Ghraib and the continued bloodshed in his country. In 1999, when Aristizábal's brother was abducted and killed by the paramilitary, his own rage and desire for violent revenge was awakened–what he calls "the terrorist within." Inspired by his own young children, he finds ways to re-channel this terroristic energy into constructive action. Immediately after the performance Hector invites the audience into a brief dynamic...
This workshop will focus on the failures in U.S. housing policies, why these failures have merited international monitoring, and grassroots efforts to create a strong resistance to housing violations and promote housing rights solutions across the country. We will use a panel presentation to discuss the findings of the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing from her 2009 U.S. mission, and the implications of these findings domestically and internationally. The panel and subsequent discussion will focus on organizing to achieve needed reforms to address: increasing homelessness; demolition of and shortages of public housing; Section 8 vouchers; tenant empowerment; and the affects of the foreclosure crisis on both homeowners and...
The Global Justice Game is a training and educational tool intended especially for activists in the global justice movement and for educators who want to present a critical perspective on issues of globalization. It consists of seven scenarios, each of which takes from 3½ to 4 hours to play. The scenarios are summarized on the website: www.globaljusticegame.mrap.info. All the materials to run these scenarios are available online at no charge to the user.
Game developer and MRAP participant Matthew Williams has created a less complicated version of the Global Justice Game that takes about 75 minutes to run and provides a good introduction for those who might want to use it in their work. This version, also described in the above...
A five-member delegation recently returned from the West Bank where they witnessed first hand the economic conditions under which the Palestinians live. They learned about labor organizing in Palestine and pledged solidarity with the workers on behalf of the IWW. The delegation met formally with labor unions organizing under the Independent Federation of Unions in Palestine, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions and the General Workers Union.
This workshop will spend a portion of the time reporting back on the state of the Palestinian labor movement, and the experience of the delegates. The second half of the workshop will be devoted to a discussion and strategy session for building a current within the U.S. labor...
While the USSF is taking place in Detroit, anti-militarization activists and human rights defenders from across the Americas will be gathering to strategize in Venezuela at the SOA Watch Encuentro. The dates of the Encuentro were deliberately chosen to coincide with the USSF in order to connect the two historic events. The connection will strengthen the bond between grassroots peoples movements in the South and the North.
We propose a 10-15min live video link from the Encuentro in Venezuela to the main plenary at Cobo Hall. The time would be used for a short presentation and a solidarity message by Latin American grassroots leaders to those gathered in Detroit and a message from the people gathered in Detroit to the Encuentro in...
A brainstorming session aimed at creating action steps to end the drug war through building broader coalitions between drug reform groups and the prison abolition movement. A strong focus on the overt racist, classist character of the drug war will highlight organizing success in several regions of the US, Mexico and Canada. A 30 minute warm-up orientation, small group affinity match-ups and feedback with practical strategies/actions steps for future collaboration across multi-issue sectors of all the existing movements within the USSF network. A breakthrough workshop to link-up an issue that is hurting youth of color, hurting entire working class communities of color and
striking a blow at unions and workers with drug related...
Progressive Omaha sponsors a weekly film festival and discussion featuring social change films; a web site with calendar of events, forums, etc.; a listserv; and a monthly potluck/networking/discussion meeting; all for about $26 a month.
Participants will learn where and how to find films for discussions and how to publicize them; suggestions for web site hosting and Content Management Software (CMS); where free or inexpensive listserv hosting can be found; and how to publicize and maintain networking/discussion meetings through collaboration with other progressive groups.
Our organization does not so much propose alternatives as plant seeds. We encourage networking and discussion among people of good will, present ideas...
We would like to present a workshop at the US Social Forum in Detroit on "State of Economic Emergency," Fighting for a Moratorum to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-offs. The workshop would discuss the precedents for such moratoriums from the 1930's, the legal basis for the demand, and how we have combined the political campaign for the Moratorium with direct action at people's homes and at the banks to stop foreclosures, evictions and utility shut-offs. We will analyze how the Obama Loan Modification Program in fact amounts to a continued silent bailout of the banks. We have worked with groups from Minneapolis, New York and Los Angeles and other cities on these issues, and could include them in the...
“The Militarization of America: At What Cost” is a Power Point slide presentation that is designed to educate lay people about the dramatic increase in the military budget over the last decade, the expanded role of contractors in the military, and the corruption of democracy brought about by this new militarism. The presentation examines the shocking extent to which our nation has chosen war and military spending over social priorities and how this choice dramatically affects our lives. The presentation is available for free, and the purpose of the workshop is to demonstrate how people can use the slide show and to encourage them to do so in their own communities.
People of color and poor people have historically had little say in urban planning, yet they are most burdened by these policies. The Social Equity Caucus Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute at Urban Habitat responds to this inequity. This San Francisco Bay Area program has as its mandate that poor communities will not only have information about metropolitan planning, but that they will also take part in decisions. Our graduates are seated on, for instance: in San Francisco, the Citizen's Committee in Community Development; in Richmond, the Planning Commission and Community Development Commission; and, in Oakland, the Rent Board, Housing Authority, and Planning Commission. Participants are organizers, nonprofit workers, and...