Detroit’s Social Forum: Hope in a Crisis

“Welcome to the D,” said Kwamena Mensah in a resounding baritone on Tuesday morning. It was the first day of the 2010 US Social Forum and Mensah, president of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, was standing before a circle of about 65 activists to open a workshop on the thriving local urban agriculture movement. Mensa’s group and Earthworks, a predominantly white urban farming group, combined what had originally been scheduled as two separate workshops in order to discuss their efforts to navigate complex and often painful racial dynamics in order to work together.

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Proposition Project

In honor of the 2010 U.S. Social Forum and in light of the ongoing economic/social crisis in California, we invited the attendees and all other citizens of Earth during the week of June 20 to join us in developing a set of initiatives or ‘propositions’ for debate and consideration for adoption via the ballot initiative process in the State of California.

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Socialism 2010

With the economy in shambles and with wars and occupations continuing, the challenge to change these conditions confronts us all. More than a year ago, millions placed their hopes in Barack Obama and the Democrats to solve these problems. But after months of broken promises and concessions to conservatives, jobs are scarce, health care reform is on life support, and full equality for LGBT people remains elusive.

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