A convening of social movements from across the United States and globally

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The USSF will take place June 22-26, 2010
at Cobo Hall and Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit.

http://www.ussf2010.org/

About the USSF

Welcome to the United States Social Forum official website! We're glad you're here.

Here's some information that will help you understand more about what is the USSF, our goals, and what we believe in. You'll also find a link to the World Social Forum Charter of Principles that defines the political foundation of the Social Forum process.

What is the USSF?

The US Social Forum is more than a conference, more than a networking bonanza, more than a reaction to war and repression. The USSF provides a space to build relationships, learn from each others experiences, share our analysis of the problems our communities face, and bring renewed insight and inspiration to social movement organizations. Through the USSF process, grassroots groups, coalitions and networks build leadership and develop collective consciousness, vision, and strategies needed to realize another world.

The USSF sends a message to other people's movements around the world that there is an active movement in the US opposing government and corporate policies at home and abroad.

We must declare what we want our world to look like and begin planning the path to get there. A global movement is rising. The USSF is our opportunity to demonstrate to the world that Another World is Possible!

People worldwide know that another world is needed. The Social Forum movement process makes that possible. At the USSF organizations from all over the country gather to think about what kind of world is needed and how we can get there.

The US Social Forum is a very special kind of gathering--one that, up to now, has never taken place in this country. The USSF is a mass movement convergence where we produce own agenda, our own program and our own solutions to change.

The mere process of planning, thinking, talking and preliminary organizing will move you, the people you're working with and the rest of us forward. The moment you begin to think of alternative ideas, you are already participating in the Social Forum process!
2010 USSF Goals:

Our goals for the 2010 US Social Forum in Detroit, MI, June 22-26, are:

    * Create a space for social movement convergence and strategic discussion
    * Advance social movements agenda for action and transformation
    * Build stronger relationships and collaboration between movements
    * Deepen our commitment to international solidarity and common struggle
    * Strengthen local capacity to improve social conditions, organizing and movement building in Detroit

Why a 2nd US Social Forum?

The gathering in Atlanta in June 2007 had 12,000 people come together in the belief that "Another World Was Possible!" Movement forces from all over the country took advantage of the opportunity to celebrate, organize, teach, debate and otherwise contribute to a growing sense that "Another U.S. Was Necessary!" The USSF made it clear our need for greater convergence among progressives and the left in this country and to begin to articulate our vision for "Another World."

The purpose of the USSF is to effectively and affirmatively articulate the values and strategies of a growing and vibrant movement for justice in the United States. Those who build towards and participate in the USSF are no longer interested in simply stating what social justice movements "stand-against," rather we see ourselves as part of new movements that reach beyond national borders, that practice democracy at all levels, and understand that neo-liberalism abroad and here in the US is not the solution. The USSF provides a first major step towards such articulation of what we stand for.
Why Detroit?

To win nationally, we must win Detroit. The Midwest site of the USSF marks a fierce resistance movement for social, racial, gender, and economic justice. Detroit has the highest unemployment of any major city in the country—23.2% (March 2009)—with nearly one in four Detroiters unable to find work. Michigan has had the highest number of unemployed people in all 50 states for nearly four years. Thousands of living wage jobs have been permanently lost in the automotive industry and related sectors. Several reports indicate that it will take at least until 2025 for Michigan to recover from the economic collapse and social despair. What is happening in Detroit and in Michigan can happen all across the U.S.! Detroit is a harbinger for what we must do in our communities! As grassroots activists and organizers, we work to address the indignities against working families and low-income people, and protect our human right to the basic necessities of life.

The US Social Forum provides this space--drawing participants from different regions, ethnicities, sectors and ages across the U.S. and its colonies. Community-based organizations, Indigenous nations, immigrants, independent workers organizations, unions, unemployed, youth, children, elders, queers, differently abled, international allies, academics, and advocacy organizations will be able to come together for dialogues, reflection and to define future strategies. LEARN MORE ABOUT DETROIT

What We Believe
by the USSF National Planning Committee

We, the organizers of the first United States Social Forum:

- Believe that there is a strategic need to unite the struggles of oppressed communities and peoples within the United States (particularly Black, Latino, Arab, Asian/ Pacific-Islander and Indigenous communities) to the struggles of oppressed nations in the Third World.

- Believe the USSF should place the highest priority on groups that are actually doing grassroots organizing with working class people of color, who are training organizers, building long-term structures of resistance, and who can work well with other groups, seeing their participation in USSF as building the whole, not just their part of it.

- Believe the USSF must be a place where the voices of those who are most marginalized and oppressed from Indigenous communities can be heard--a place that will recognize Indigenous peoples, their issues and struggles.

- Believe the USSF must create space for the full and equal participation of undocumented migrants and their communities.

- Believe the USSF should link US-based youth organizers, activists, and cultural workers to the struggles of their brothers and sisters abroad, drawing common connections and exploring the deeper meanings of solidarity.

- Believe the USSF is important because we must have a clear and unified approach at dealing with social justice issues, and meaningful positions on global issues.

- Believe that a USSF sends a message to other people's movements around the world that there is an active movement in the United States opposing U.S. policies at home and abroad.

- Believe that the USSF will help build national networks that will be better able to collaborate with international networks and movements.

- We believe the USSF is more than an event. It is an ongoing process to contribute to strengthening the entire movement, bringing together the various sectors and issues that work for global justice.
WSF Charter of Principles

The USSF is one of dozens of Social Forums that take place annually across the world. We share in common a solidarity to build another world and to link up our struggles internationally. Please take the time to read the World Social Forum's Charter of Principles to learn more about the foundations of this process!


http://www.ussf2010.org/