US Social Forum Writers Muse and Updates April 23, 2010
Hello writers! This installment of our writers memo has some important updates on the USSF and resources for media. We urge you to step up your work to get stories out there on the USSF as much as you can. We’re seeing some great momentum building as we get closer to June.
IF you can volunteer to write stories in response to requests coming into our media office, please send an email to writers@ussf2010.org to let us know where you live and what topics you’re most comfortable writing on. We can help you place your work!
Thanks, Jackie Smith Co-Coordinator, USSF writers network
As always, let us know when your work is published so we can post it! See stories on the USSF at http://wiki.ussf2010.org/wiki/USSF_Planning_Wiki
NEW PSAs available--Please spread to media contacts! National: http://soundcloud.com/ussocialforum/ussf-psa-national-1 Detroit: http://soundcloud.com/ussocialforum/ussf-psa-detroit-1
Weekly Call-In Sessions for Info on USSF (English and Español):
Planners of the US Social Forum will be hosting informational call-in sessions every tuesday (in english) and thursday (in Spanish). The one-hour phone sessions will be an opportunity for anyone to ask questions and hear about the goals and history of the Social Forum, details about what will be happening in Detroit this summer, logistics on how to get involved, and how to use the Forum as an opportunity for local and regional movement-building.
Every Tuesday (in English) 2pm EST - 1pm Central - 12pm Mountain - 11am Western
Every Thursday (in Spanish) 6pm EST-5pm Central- 4PM Mountain -3PM Western
Call: 712.432.0075 When prompted, enter passcode: 388105#
Media Tele-Briefing for writers, bloggers, journalists and multi-media makers.
When: April 27, 2010, 12p PST, 1p MST, 2p CST, 3p EST
What: US Social Forum and Allied Media Conference Tele-briefing- including updates, history, events, activities and stories from across the country about this summer's gathering of movements in Detroit.
Registration Link for Journalists, Writers and Bloggers: http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/75CKR6DK0RCJEXD
For more information visit www.ussf2010.org or call 877-515-USSF.
WORKSHOP REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED to April 25th: Workshop and Cultural submissions can be made until April 25th. For more information, check the website at www.ussf2010.org
STORY IDEAS:
Climate Justice Conference in Bolivia builds momentum Many activists and organizations active in the US and World Social Forum process have been in Bolivia this week for the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth The conference was organized in response to the failures of government leaders to reach an agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions at the negotiations in Copenhagen last December. It brings together government officials, indigenous movements, non-governmental organizations or NGOs, as well as intellectuals and activists from across the world to preserve "the rights of Mother Earth." A prominent theme in the discussions was the need for a new way of thinking about how our societies measure “progress.” Rather than thinking of economic growth as the main objective of government policies, participants in the Cochabamba conference are drawing from indigenous people’s wisdom to call for buen vivir, or “living well” as a focus for social policy and action. They argue that capitalism and socialism have failed to protect the ecosystem that sustains us, and we need a whole different way of thinking and organizing our economic life in order to prevent ecological catastrophe. These themes were also discussed at earlier World Social Forums, most notably in Belém, Brazil in 2009. In addition to these innovations in the discourse and thinking about climate change, the conference stimulated some new innovations in electronic networking. USSF activists with May First/People Link responded when a European group slotted to do online streaming of the conference got stuck under the cloud of volcanic ash that grounded international flights. In a pinch, they managed to set up a live stream from Cochabamba at: http://envivo.cmpcc.org.bo/. May First/People Link organizers Alfredo and Mallory (and friends) say they’ll bring what they’ve learned to expand access to the US Social Forum in Detroit.
More info on Cochabamba Conference: Bounaventura de Sousa Santos is interviewed by Democracy Now at the World Peoples' Climate Conference and discusses briefly the links between the alliances built during the World Social Forum process and the staging of the summit. http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/21/the_world_is_changing_in_a Inter-Press News Service offers extensive coverage of Cochabamba conference: http://ipsnews.net/climate_change/
May is Bike Month—Highlight those pedaling the route to Detroit!
Groups from all over the US (including Madison, Chicago, Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, Toledo, Washington DC, Albany, NYC, Ithaca, and Binghamton at present) will be bicycling to Detroit for the US Social Forum as part of a coordinated effort, under the name of BikeIt. In addition to promoting sustainable transportation and appropriate technology by example all along the way, cyclists plan to stage events to build momentum for the US Social Forum and to begin to forge the connections with people in communities around the country that will be carried on through the Social Forum itself and strengthened through on-going work. A ride from Washington D.C. will go through Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and other towns and cities on its 650 mile route! Other rides are being planned. See http://bikeit.org/ for more details and to help tell the stories of these intrepid riders and their adventures pedaling the road to Detroit!
Goldman Sachs SEC Case Shows Need to Rein in Corporate Power
Activists gathering in Detroit this summer will be focused on finding alternatives to the kind of economic policies and structures that brought us the financial meltdown and the practices like those for which Goldman Sachs has come under scrutiny. A major thematic track of the forum is “Capitalism in Crisis.” Groups like the Solidarity Economy Network, which was formed at the first US Social Forum in Atlanta, will help people learn about alternatives to globalized capitalism. Many communities are experimenting with projects like community currencies, barter systems, participatory budgeting arrangements, and cooperatives as a way to enhance local control over economic decisions. They’re finding that these activities not only enhance economic security and well-being, but they help build community along the way. (see http://populareconomics.org/ussen/)
Highlighting the need for more popular action against the influence of corporations in our democracy is a new report from People For the American Way Foundation, The Rise of the Corporate Court: How the Supreme Court is Putting Business First which details the Court's role in the making of a "corporate democracy" from Bush v. Gore (2000) to Citizens United v. FEC (2010). The report argues that we have a government constructed to be “Of the People, By the People and For the People and regulated by a vital system of Checks and Balances. However, in an age in which electoral politics have become dominated by money and corporate influence, the Judicial Branch has in too many cases become an enabler of undue overreaching power instead of a necessary Check, thanks to a Supreme Court dominated by pro-corporatist ideologues.” The report can be found at: http://www.pfaw.org/media-center/publications/the-business-of-justice-how-the-supreme-court-putting-corporations-first