US Social Forum: Another World is Necessary
LDIR alumni, current and former LDIR staff, Ezak Perez, Sam Sunshine, Shoshana Vogel and Dipti Baranwal traveled to Detroit, Michigan for the 2010 United States Social Forum (USSF) on June 22-26. Overall, the USSF provided an opportunity to connect the movement-building work that LDIR is doing in Los Angeles to the broader movements across the US and internationally. Some highlights include:
The 95th birthday celebration of radical Detroit activist and organizer Grace Lee Boggs;
The press conference for Michigan Roundtable’s Truth Commission, funded by the Kellogg foundation; and
The People’s Movement Assembly on Health, Healing Justice and Liberation, and the National People’s Movement Assembly Charter.
Above all, what we learned is that Detroit is a beautiful city, with amazing people, and has a long social justice history that demands national support and recognition. In talking with local folks, we learned that Detroit, much like Los Angeles, is “misunderstood,” and that the people are in a constant power struggle to maintain basic city and government services since the decline of the auto industry. The current unemployment rate, as of December 2009, was just under 30%. But according to the Huffington Press, Detroit’s “underemployment” rate is closer to 50%. Combined with Mayor Dave Bing’s recent decision to close 77 parks in the city of Detroit on July 1st, this had a lot of folks thinking about how to take back community control of their city and its resources.
We plan to provide a more detailed report-back of our experiences and learnings on Tuesday, July 27th in APALC’s Community Room. More information coming soon.
To see our photo album, visit the LDIR Facebook page.
To find out more information about the USSF, visit www.ussf2010.org.


