Conference Call

[Towntalk]

What does this have to do with the Mahoning Valley? With all the problems we have here, who cares about what a gaggle of socialists are running off at the mouth about. If we can't get our act together to make our little space in the world a safe place that we can all be proud of, how are we going to solve the problems for the rest of the world?

My first concern is about the Mahoning Valley ... not what happens thousands of miles away from me that I have absolutely no control over.

Just how many of the folks that will be running off at the mouth at that meeting actually have the power to accomplish anything more than beating their gums?

[tony]

 Another World Is Possible –
US Social Forum Comes to Atlanta

www.ussf2007.org/

Thursday, May 31, 2007
MEDIA ADVISORY
         
Contact:   Alice Lovelace, 404-819-7863 (cell); alovelace@mindspring.com
                   Azi Ebrahimi, 404-586-0460 x14; aebrahimi@afsc.org

* * * * * * * * * *
   ATLANTA – Thousands of progressive activists from hundreds of organizations will descend upon Atlanta June 27 – July 1 for the first United States Social Forum.  Their message:  "Another World Is Possible; Another US Is Necessary."

   "The chasm between rich and poor is growing ever wider," said Atlanta activist-poet Alice Lovelace, lead organizer of the USSF. "Profit-hungry corporations are plundering our commons, and resources which could rebuild the Gulf Coast and provide universal healthcare are being squandered on war and tax giveaways to billionaires.  In these dark but hopeful times, protest is necessary, but not sufficient.  We must also articulate our vision for a better world."

   Atlanta was chosen as the site of the USSF because it was the heart of the civil rights movement, a successful bottom-up struggle by oppressed people of color to create a better world.  "The South has seen lots of repression and lots of resistance," Lovelace said.  The forum will be anchored in the Atlanta Civic Center, but events are also scheduled in numerous other downtown venues and nearby neighborhoods.

   Social forums began in Brazil in 2001 as a grass-roots response to the elitist World Economic Forums, where corporate, banking and government leaders from rich nations lay plans to control the markets, economies and governments of developing countries.  A World Social Forum has taken place each year since then in different countries, with attendance growing from 20,000 in 2001 to 150,000 in 2006.  Unlike the top-down, tightly-controlled World Economic Forums, the agenda and program of the social forums are created by the groups who attend.  In Atlanta, communities of color, grass-roots and indigenous groups will play a major role.

    "The USSF will show the world that many Americans are working to replace brutal US military and corporate policies with a social, environmental, economic justice agenda," Lovelace added.  "We will do our part to create a world of love, sharing, equality, creativity and peace."

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