Please Note, these notes have been formatted, but still need WikiLinking and maybe broken up into different pages - this page is huge.

Welcome to the open edit EtherPad for USSF! Please save at regular intervals and cut and paste to the wiki when you are done. (and like a white board, erase this for the next person :-)

MAJOR DECISIONS:

We adopted a new NPC Structure: USSF structure proposal
We adopted 3 new pieces of fiscal policy:
1. We will have a financial committee
2. We will use the Tides Center as our fiscal sponsor for our main account
3. We will open a local account held by one anchor organization
We decided we will not go into deficit this fiscal year (which means budget cuts!)

NOTES:

USSF NPC meeting Day one - Sunday July 19, 2009

Attendance: Mark (MayFirst), Josue (MayFirst), Lou Novak (DLOC, Green Party), Priscilla Dziubek (DLOC, EMEAC, Green Party), Danielle (CTWO), Oya (DLOC, Detroit Women of Color, Inc), Jacqui (Women's Working Group), Ahmina (EMEAC), Nisa (DLOC), Jackie (Sociologist w/o Borders), Rishi (Program Working Group), Stephanie (Project South), Darryl (AFSC), Maureen Taylor (MWRO), Marian Kramer (MWRO), Kamau (Praxis Project), Taliba (Project South), Treston (JwJ), Fran (JwJ), Jerome (LRNA), George (IPPN), Michael (GGJA), Genaro (SW Workers Union), Walda (LRNA), Tom (DLOC), Sylvia (MWRO), George (IPPN), Michael (GGJA), Bill W-K (DLOC), Rocio (EMEAC), Adrienne Maree Brown (Ruckus Society), Gary (Ctr for SJ), Larry (Ctr for SJ), Harry (MWRO), Reggie (DLOC), Victor (DLOC), Rosendo (DLOC), kiran nigam (Program & Culture WG), Diane Seales (EMEAC), Willam Copeland (DLOC), Elena Herrada (Centro Obrero), Mark Randazzo (Funders Network on Trade and Globalization), Carmen (Centro Obrero), Alicia Garza (POWER), Maria Poblet (St. Peters), B Loewe (Chicago/DC), Carolyn, Tammy Bang Luu (LCSC), Jen (?), Miss Anne (Michigan Welfare Rights), Marion (Michigan Welfare Rights)

Started with introductions. Then went over community agreements.

step up, step back
speak from the "i"
be aware of time
no oppression here
use the "woah!"
respect the strengths + weaknesses of all
open minds
keep it simple!
default to trust - AssumeGoodFaith
healthy conflict and struggle!

We need to develop a trouble shooting mechanism so we're comfortable with what we're doing.

Facilitation Team: Cindy, Adrienne, Rocio, Maureen, Danielle.

We worked hard to meet the needs we heard beforehand with this agenda, but we are also flexible, and will work with you to make this meeting happen the way it needs to!

Don't offer just what's wrong but proposal on how to do things better--good feedback for give and take relationship.

What questions do you have about this stuff?

CURRENT ACTUAL AGENDA:

SUNDAY

I. Introductions and welcome

II. Air clearing

   What questions do you have?
   What do you feel good about?
   What needs to be resolved?

III. Discussion: Political Content

IV. Where we're at--updates on our work!

V. Close and review logistics for rest of our time together

MONDAY AM:

- (9:30-11) World Social Forum and International Context

- (11-1) Work Updates and Working Groups reconnect

PM:

- (2-4) NPC Structure, Coordinating Committee, Staffing

- (4-6) Budget and Finance

- (6-7) Working Groups Speed Dating, Part 1

Tuesday

8:30 Breakfast

9 Opening

9:30 Working Groups

1pm Collective Work

Promoting USSF2

Growing Work Groups

Communicating USSF to US movements + WSF community

1:30 Working Lunch: Collective Timeline

2 Schedule remaining NPC Meetings

NOTES:

Section: AIR CLEARING

[we answered the questions in these brackets as to where this falls in the agenda, and bolded the questions that have no place yet!]

What Questions do you have?

What's been developed so far in terms of program and logistics? [working groups]

How do DLOC and NPC coordinate? [npc structure]

What lessons from Atlanta are we learning? And how are we implementing them?

How does the international work connect with our work? [wsf/intl context]

Is the agenda realistic to the time we have? [good question we hope so]

How long should we expect to go overtime, if needed? [we're staying on time]

Can we create the schedule for the whole NPC agenda and framework? (what is the larger plan, and the benchmarks - can that be shared?) [collective timeline]

What is the inspirational hook that helps ordinary people participate next June? (to come to Detroit) [WGs]

Are there working group holes that are missing, or need help (ie the religion wg) [WG updates]

Want guidance on how much to interact with NPC around larger vision for 5 days [program working group]

how can we leave as a team today?

what are some of the effects we are expecting for Detroit?

will there be a way to incoporate May Day?

Will there be space to acknowledge the economic crisis? [the political context]

Is there a way to use Canada since they are so close and support them? How can we incorporate them - right now many international activists are being denied, but we could work with Windsor. [international, and outreach]

Getting the org and the structure chart - and how things work - is that written out or can it be by the end of the week? [npc structure - once its decided we can create write it up]

How can we save people that are coming some money in terms of where they're going to stay? Can we save money by renting locally? [logistics]

If and when we are going to hire a national organizer? [staffing]

Who will be hired, when and how? [staffing]

What are next steps in the process? [collective timeline, working groups]

How does the NPC work/structure? [npc structure]

Does everyone have a vote in the process?

If the USSF is more than an event, how does this work outside of the USSF? [dloc, working groups]

What is the larger purpose of the USSF? [show notes from last time?]

What's the process for electing coordinating team, and with staffing?

How can we meaningfully engage more people locally in Detroit? [DLOC]

And how can we work better in our movements around the country to help bring more folks from Detroit? [outreach working group]

What's our theme? [is this program?]

How do we make sure there's a REAL Detroit identity in this event? [DLOC, Detroit participation in working groups]

How do we make sure everyone is on the same plane in terms of the technology? [technology working group]

How has the meltdown structurally impacted Detroit (water...) [political context]

We go to various events from which there is no follow-up. Are we going to have some time of a document or committee that will take action after this? [we're documenting and evaluating as we go]

{IDEA: CARAVAN to go to many cities and come to Detroit - to educate ppl about the social forum, like we did in ATL. more ppl will be coming by bus and van due to ecnomy} [outreach]

{IDEA: MARCH from the Delta. reinitiate the poor people's campaign. how can we coordinate this?} [outreach!]

{IDEA: Use text messages more} [tech

Feeling Good About:

DLOC is moving at the right pace (still needs more coordination with NPC)

Things moving to more structured, independent committees

Feels much more networked and has more momentum Which will result in greater numbers at the ussf

The use of technology and upgrading!

Working group work is ahead of the game! For example, tech is 6 mos ahead of last time and there's good opportunities to take that to the next level.

Good number of groups feeling ownership already this early in the process.

Money in the bank.

We are not in a deficit.

The level of participation, at this stage of the process to have so many people involved in the process feels great.

The amount of energy and the quality of energy about the USSF

I feel good about it being in Detroit

We should all be aware if we do not get active in their community , so they don’t end up like Detroit

People are stepping up

Working with different people from diverse backgrounds from all over the country

learning new organizing tools/methods

We are doing something right here and it is exciting

Excited about meeting new people and those who are already connected.

Being attentive to a process that is more open.

A facilitation that is open and prepared.

Spending time to raise questions on the agenda!

Youth participation

Creating a caravan from across the country for 2010.

Its good folks are focusing their energy on the city.

"40,000 water shut offs in one year. Last week, they turned off the electricity and the whole family except for the mother died. That's why we need the forum. We have people from all levels in here. We have folks working together. The good thing is that it brings hope to us because there is a level of maturity and vision that even brought Will." - Maureen Taylor

What Needs to be Resolved:

Alternative forms of communication [working group speed dating, npc structure, comms working group]

Finance plan and budget!!! [budget]

Decisionmaking process [npc structure]

Coordination between local committee and NPC [npc structure, staffing]

Logistics support (DLOC has been developing an FAQ for how folks get involved, and we thought it would be helpful to have a super defined system/process for bringing folks in) [logistics]

How are we going to raise the money at a pace to match how we will be spending it [budget!]

How are you going to sustain the fundraising movement that was established in the first social forum? [budget]

If and when we are going to hire a national organizer? [staffing]

Who will be hired, when and how? [staffing]

What are next steps in the process? [collective timeline]

Where do working groups that go beyond function fit into the structure? For example the women’s working group, immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights, Disability Rights, Youth, Faith Based Groups, etc.

Transparency [technology is helping with this but can we do more?]

Who makes decisions and how do you get involved if we want to be a part of the decision process?

Plan for caravan [outreach working group?]

Media - outreach, literature, propaganda [comms working group]

Do not hold off on making decisions that impact program design [program working group]

Logistics locally - there's got to be some relationship on the national decisionmaking process. [???]

Revisit relationship between national/local working bodies

I want to resolve that more people from the city are a part of the process. [npc structure]

We need to get the UNorganized to this table. one style is not going to make this thing a success. {there are people in Detroit who are down to support this work} [dloc]

More energy towards young people at this table [outreach, and npc structure]

One logistics coordinator hired [staffing]

Ensure that the structures and processes leave the local community stronger (even if they do nothing else) [dloc and ?]

is there also a piece of this working group (Communication) that's about messaging: i.e. what's the way we want to talk about the ussf?

POLITICAL CONTEXT (Cindy and Rocio)

What is important in your state, in your region, what is happening that you feel folks need to hear about? What is this political moment?

Regions in the US

Southeast:

massive land grabs that started 5 years ago in the gulf coast have continued. a lot of emerging organizations have grown more power - but their funding is about to be cut. a lot of opportunity. a different kind of land grab, connected to militarization of atlanta, tied to extreme violent. really growing youth movement with long-term and community vision.

privatization of everything you could shake a stick at - natural resources, utilities, water.

attack on all working people - efforts to preemptively strike local living wage ordinances.

continuing to expand the # of right to work for less.

deputization of local and state authorities as immigrant enforcement agents. more folks are applying to be able to act in this way.

aggressive recruitment of young people into the military. tracked - don't let them go to school, track to military.

increase of raids at public spaces, soccer, park, etc.

folks are returning to the south and places like houston, from the north (2 million - 800k in detroit, where they went)

RESILIENCE!

how the economic crisis impacts the south - disproportionately. the south has 56% of all african americans in the u.s.

prison industrial complex - pipeline from every school around the south east. from education to jail. or the military.

miami is controlled by right-wing latin american/caribbean movement - right flight when left wing folks take power in latin america.

SOUTHWEST

Families still leaving in FEMA trailers; energy industry feeling impact of coal burning plants, etc--people are still going thru Katrina effects...toxics and poverty. U.S. border 700 miles of wall being buily, hunger strikes in detention ctrs; beatings and mistreatment parents and kids; militarization on border very real: cops, ICE--deats a big issue

Increase in uranium mining on rim of Grand Canyon--impats indigenous communities in SW. Upcoming Census and redistyricting will be impacted from fears of people being taken away; plus disenfranchisement--but our people are starting to get into power...real opp for community governance and participation.

Dooda Desert Rock won their campaign to stop coal-fired power plant on Navajo Reservation (near Burnham NM).

WEST COAST

In So CA/Los Angeles, continued crumbling of public schools, teacher layoffs and having hunger strikes--class sizes 40-50 students and growing.

IOUs being issued in CA, prison inductrial complex, housing crisis hit hard from bubble and build up--many people of color commuting to affordable housing and losing homes now, no access to work or money--vicious cycle toward poverty.

Deserted towns and ghost towns, wildlife encroaching in suburbs. Oakland criminaliation problems and locking up youth--including kids, e.g. 9 yr olds. Unemployment near 15-25%, need to be clear about who's being hurt in this crisis.

SF home to some of richest people in world so progressives trying to get hold on rent increases; real estate industry runs SF and has run CA into the ground--CA's crazy! Immigrants can't get IDs, community trying to get solutions, cars get impounded

NORTHWEST

Seattle one of most liberal cities but passed ordinance to decrim marijuana and found 55% of those charged are Af American. Much gentrification--driving people of color out--can't afford to live in Seattle, building bigger jails; disproportionate achievement in education and kids being expelled. Black-brown-Asian conflict youth and gangs--schooling them that it's a game, don't get caught up in. Racial conflicts in schools, and negative images of Af Americans.

Portland is the flip of Detroit, 90% white with POC on the periphery. Foster kid issues - kids being found dead and mistreated. Meth is another huge thing, especially with white youth. This isn't unique - poor white working folks are being hit hard by housing crisis. Especially in rural communities, there's no building going on. Exciting thing, the WTO 10th anniversary protests are creating a lot of energy.

Klamath River Justice is waging an uphill battle against Berkshire Hathaway to bring down 4 dams, and protect their salmon. They are succeeding.

OCCUPIED COLONIES

military withdrawing from bases in asia and consolidating in hawaii. lots of fights around sovereignty.

puerto rico - folks want to be able to govern themselves, other folks want to stay as a colony. vieques - want to use some horrible agent orange to destroy the area, also internal struggle around access.

NORTHEAST/EAST

Maryland and DC soaring unemployment, incarceration, homelessness, schools falling apart, loss of public health care; DC still no right to vote. Increase in Predatory lending uptake. Outrageous rates of HIV &AIDS (one in five adults aged 25-49, which is on par with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) as well as infant mortality. In Prince Georges, County (suburb of DC) one of the highest rates in the nation of homicide resulting from intimate partner violence.

New York crimialization and police violence increasing--baton raping--foreclosures in Bedstye? epicenter. Money completely controls state govt

MIDWEST/GREAT LAKES

Milwaukee was job shop of Detroit. Problems started with import industry. More black and Hispanic men in jails than streets; how talkd about Iraq and not talk about what happening on the streets. Why spending 1/2 tax money on militarization? Food safety issues killing local farmers. Many battles on different fronts.

In Midwest clearer that we have to come out with discussion of the class struggle--technology has advanced and we're not needed to produce. Here's a laboratory to understand the effects of technology...also who's controlling this? Cities are declaring bankrupcy. Have to shop around for schools, so many closing down. Don't want to see the day where we're without water.

Need to emphasize we're living in a society where it's imposible to build a school for special needs. This govt goes to latin America, destroys ecnomy and forces millions of workers to come here--then treated badly: whole families in jail, work is criminalized--has to change! Cuba and Venezuela plus 5 other countries are putting forth the needs of the people plus helping other countries with health care, e.g. Cuban doctors. The U.S govt is taking away in pieces our health care.

Tent City-People's Summit organized in Detroit a month ago in response to big corporate leaders who came here for meeting--good organizing! Addtionally, our environment and public health that characterize Detroit is auto industry and Great Lakes. Have to go up north to see things that are green. Need to focus more on ecology

Lack of communty ownership for employment and educational opps. Gentrification rampant in Detroit. Police Dept has psychologically destroyd black men and families. Food security and justice issues a big problem, along with drugs and political leadership.

In northern Indiana, ignmorance about connection of the problems around the country--help people see they're not alone. Amazing new initaitives: community gardens, local ordinance to put regulations on tax abatements--have to pay living wage. Still have issue silo problem of not seeing larger picture.

People need a concrete vision for its solution. (Will has written statement--get from Diana)

Detroit has been dealing with these problems for over 30 years--deindustrialization--but also reinventing the city. "Another world is possible, another U.S is necessary and another Detroit is happening"--possibility to be a postindustrial city.

There's a lot of ignorance among ourselves in not making the connections we need to make. e.g. many feel immigrants are the enemy--that they're taking out jobs away from us but CEO's are making the decision while they work to find the cheapest workers. We have to find out who the enemy is, hopefully with names of those who are instrumental in bringing the war agaisnt the people.

Food security and comunity gardens: n Detroit many groups trying to do this work but govt is stopping us from getting land, cutting us out of places set aside for thi, plus cutting out children's summer meals in funding cuts, also homeless meals--how do we continue to feed our communities.

Southwest Detroit specifically new students and middle class people are ousting community already living there. One of the better off communities, economic wise. Can't call the police because means you're calling ICE, even if people need help from beatings. Whole militarization of schools--not getting messages to go to college but to go to military. Dream Act is recruiting for military--essentially a draft! People live, work, survive here--an example of survival, not a victim so we shouldn't say people don't want their cities to become like Detroit.

Special needs funds badly cut but these kids are abused and need help. College costs inreasing and leaving people out.

WRAP UP:

We're the fighters, resisting, fighting and thriving and our job as NPC is to connect the dots--to lift up these major crises, key moments, key struggles. How do we create the space at the USSF -- to create and highlight these deep struggles? We're fighting for our right to live, exist...how synthesize? There's a global resistance of people fighting back...what's the vision we're fighting for. Our job is to figure out how we keep doing this.

We also have to address the right wing fight back, "isms" and resistance on multiple levels.

This is our chance to percolate some of the issues.

On to the Grace Lee Boggs 94th Birthday Party with Danny Glover, Invincible, and Starlit at Central United Methodist Church in Detroit!

Monday, July 20, 2009 9:30 am.

AMAZING BREAKFAST!! YAY!

{reviewed agenda shifts for the day (see above}, introduced new folks, reviewed community agreements and the decision making process. rocio suggested oya and bill wylie-kellerman as the 2 at-large DLOC members for voting purposes. this decision making process is in place through the NPC structure conversation}

Facilitator Cindy Weisner

Review of yesterday's session.

Focus on the commanility of disenfranchisement and oppression across the country. What are the themes that will help us shape the message of why we should come to Detroit for the USSF 2010. We have the alternatives and the process to create change.

We will focus on a global issues

Latin American

Honduras has a coup that the world is not acknowledging. The U.S. govt. trained the soldiers that took over the country.

Latin American countries are forming a block to find alternatives to the NAFTA and imperialism. Hemispheric unity is the goal.

Middle East

There has been elections recently in Iran. There is political unrest that is being led by women, youth, and the disenfranchised who want to get out of the theorcracy. People are resisting. When they are arrested they are beaten very badly, but they continue. The role of women and girls is unique and important.

Israel has been a key trainer the military in Latin America to use the same strategies that they use in Palestine.

We are going to be in Iraq for a long time. The Iraqi govt is standing up and saying that they do not want us there for a long term stay.

Instability is caused by the U.S. The U.S. relationship with Israel plays a key role in the conflict in the Middle East. People feel that things are changing because they consider Obama to be a president of Peace, but his policies are like the Bush's administation.

Iraq will supply oil to Europe. So mission accomplished.

Cynthia McKinney, and _M1__ from Dead Prez worked on a campaign to bring food into Gaza.

The Palestenians are denied food. Violating their basic human rights.

Israel can continue to be an oppressor because people (in Israel and the US) do not know what is going on (and how their tax dollars are supporting it - www.bdsmovement.net). We need to dispel ignorance about what is happening in Israel.

Asia

The military defeat of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Potential genocide happening.

There are huge land seizures that are sanctioned by the govt, displacing the people.

In India ban on homosexuality was upheld.

Law 377 outlawed sodomy in India. It was mostly repealed.

The U.S. is encouraging Japan and India to get nuclear weapons to challenge China. The U.S. created the tension. North Korea is a pond in the game btw China and the U.S.

We need to think about class division and who our allies are.

Africa

Obama in Africa saying that Africans can no longer blame colonialism for your problems.

China is buying a large amount of land in Africa.

The next World Social Forum will be in Dakar, Senegal in January 2011.

One of Obama's primary reasons to go to Ghana was militarize Africa. Slavery and colonialism still has a strong effect on Africa and New Afrikans.

The myth of post racial world.

Lake Chad is disappearing creating social conflict.

There was a 3 day seminar btw African and Middle Eastern countries to work together and find solutions to class, war, and gender in that part of the world.

In Niger a conference _2010____?

The U.S. is establishing 11 bases of military command in Africa. They want the command ot come out of the country of Georgia. The goal is to protect corporations.

The Niger conference to challenge no bombing in Africa.

Shell had to pay 15 million for the human rights violations in Africa

Farming and land reform supported by Agribusiness, Rockefeller Foundation, Gates Foundation more chemicals, etc to more industrial agriculture who undermine local farmers and may change the way farming is done in African in a negative way.

Europe

Right wing won a number of parliamentary elections

Racist backlash against immigration

Spring demonstrations against NATO in Germany and Austria. One of the big movements is no foreign bases. The U.S. spends 140 billion a year of our tax dollars to support these military industrial complexes.

Conference in Copenhagen for climate justice. Could be a Seattle type moment on an international level with organizers, activists, NGOs, academics, politicians, delegations all converging on Copenhagen to move international environmental policy from the inside and outside.

The next European Social Forum will be held in Turkey in 2010.

The U.S. Social Forum and the European Social Forum is going on at the same time. Europe may change the date.

Workers in France have been taking over their factories. They are holding the bosses hostage and setting bombs around the factories unless their demands are met. Their demands are being met and they are not being arrested.

Caribbean

There were some great strikes in Guadelope. They challenged the French govt. 41 days on strike. They won 268 of their demands.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused the appeal of the Cuban 5.

Rebuilding the island.

Cuba is becoming a model of organic urban gardens for communities around the world.

The build up in prison industrial complexes, military growth, the billions of dollars invested to prepare for the stopping the rising movements across the world.

That is why Obama was chosen as the president to put a relatable face for the oppressors.

The chickens have come home to roost. It has hit America. We need to be prepared.

There was a huge massacre in Peru related to oil and the U.S.

October 12, 2010 want that to be a global movement for anti imperialism

Detroit has potential to do the same thing as Cuba with Urban gardens. 30% of the land in Detroit is vacant. Detroit is looking to Cuba as a model.

Cuba is a center for medical school for the world. School is free, and all they ask is that you stay for a few years for free and practice. Let people know.

More realistic and truthful sources of information is needed to educate the people. We need to develop a list for the people to access.

Masses of people around the world trying to figure out what to do around self determination and challenging oppression.

Portrait of an INTJ - Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging (Introverted Intuition with Extraverted Thinking)

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM CONTEXT

lots of people yesterday had a question abou the WOrld Social FOrum and how we relate to it

we're gonna tell the story of how the WSF happened and how the social forum came to detroit

social forum is a new concept, when we say it's not a conference, we need to be able to say what it is. the historical context and why we as a region and as the united states have decided to take this on. it's not because we want to do it in isolation, but because we see our selves aligned with a global process

story that started 38 years ago; 1971. Klaus M. Schwab, a business professor at University of Geneva founded World Economic Forum. funded by 1000 companies. annual profit of $5 billion dollars. committed to "improving the state of the world" Think tank--produces reports and holds meetings. Annual meeting held in Davos, Switzerland.

five initiatives; health, education, water, environment, and anti-corruption. meets every january in Davos, Switzerland.

economic model that got developed along the way in the early 70s as a response: neoliberalism. basically it is a movement to roll back to back to the basics capitalism. roll back the gains of social and liberation movements. set of policies : privatization (market determines all social relationships) of resources, services, capital and production. defunds the tax base, deplete public coffers, deregulate capital and the corporations. cut back labor, environmental, land all kinds of laws. roll back and lower wages. takes power out of the hands of the public and people. privatization, undermining unions. all about what they can expand and how capitalism needs to expand or die.

institutions were put in place to advance agenda: International Monetary Fund and WOrld Bank. imposed requirements on countries to have to adhere to these policies or else they didn't get ?

global movements decided to call a response in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2001.

in 1998 the (Operation for Economic --- Development) OECD secret treaty called the MAI (multilateral agreement on investments)

giving new power to investors to impose neoliberalism. OECD was exposed and huge movement was developed around it. exposed and beaten back. Seattle WTO protests. IMF meetings in Washington, Prague

lots of people in movements around the world began to say that everytime the World Economic Forum (WEF) meets we need to be there, but we can't just be against--we have to be for something too.

held at the same time as the WEF and continues to grow. 1st one in Brazil was large; shocked at how many people (5 times as many as were expected!) were there, and so decided it needed some structure

development of the international council (IC): started this process to figure out how to continue the process. started with 10 different groups in Brazil, between different movements and over the course of time, the leaders of the WSF has internationalized outside of Brazil. it's grown to at least a couple of hundred networks and movements from all over the world represented on the IC.

In 2004 there started to be discussions with groups in the United States Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ), Poor People's Economic and Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC) about the need to start a US Social Forum process.

Along with that, some of the major US movements were asked to be a part of the international council and ensure that not just more well off organizations from the US were a part of the IC, but really that the grassroots movements from the US were a part of the IC.

2006 GGJ and PPEHRC were brought on to the IC

There's a concept that got developed early on to create open space because we're not trying to bring the direction or be top down, we're not trying to tell people what to do, what we see is the social movements and the people on the ground through their interactions are going to be able to advance the direction.

We needed a space where people don't have to agree in order to talk, to build, to play to be in one space. idea of an open space is that what we have in common is that we are opposing neoliberalism and in order to bring about another world we need to be able to figure out how to be in one space. that is why there are so many people participating in the process. self organized activities: part of what is driving all of this is that we have the skills the knowledge and the ability. in atlanta we had 976 self organized workshops. 100 choices every time slot that were all self organized. we created a space to hold all of it.

The NPC does not organize workshops or tell people what they're gonna do; we create the infrastructure to make it happen, and we encourage people to collaborate.

There are some contradictions: which is why we have the social movement assembly. (we are feisty!) tension developed: we must act. started back in 2001 and developed into social movement assembly that then sparked a global call to action 2003 against the Iraq War. they've then developed across each forum which then lead to some of the thinking about the US Social Forum. debate happening and happened at the IC. some people saying just have open space, others saying let's not just talk, let's act on the ideas that come out of the open space and take broad positions.

The role of the GGJ in bringing conversation: comes out of the WSF process, it comes out of bringing grassroots organizations to the WSF process and the bold conversations about changing the whole world. What is the responsibility of the US? GGJ also began to bring grassroots groups not only to the US, but connecting group to one another. 1st USSF in 2007: GGJ initiates the conversation in the US.

GGJ played an instrumental role, also have to give credit to PPEHRC. We were also playing a role to have some form of a social forum in the US. There was a lot of resistance to having this in the US.

GGj received funding to attend WSF, PPEHRC (Poor People's Economic and Human Rights Campaign) didn't receive funding to attend WSF. together pushed for it to happen from the grassroots.

Before that, there were US members of the IC that didn't participate. international support for USSF. push back from US grassroots groups that we need to do it slowly and bring forward the grassroots, not just the bigger well resourced national and international organizations. wanted there to be grassroots leadership of the process.

The construction of the USSF was done intentionally to make sure the grassroots were there in leadership. has resounded all over the world due to the grassroots participation.

More context: 2006: Katrina and Rita happened in the Gulf Coast, postponed the forum until 2007.

In 2003 IC of the WSF got together at a jobs with justice (JWJ) meeting in MIami. GGJ and PPEHRC was there; out of this process, GGJ alliance was built outside of the funding that brought them together. As GGJ developed, said we agree to shepard the process. consultas with unions, grassroots organization, etc. To see if there was interest in the process. 22 organizations signed up to participate in the NPC. Atlanta was chosen as the site, Project South as anchor. 1st meeting happened in Atlanta. We created 8 working groups and 10 regions to ensure that we could get representation. The most important thing was making the process deliberate. open to open space, and wanted to also create a deliberate process and reach out to grassroots basebuilding organizations rooted in working class communities of color and indigenous nations. A few other social forums happened before that, challenge of representation. USSF was intended to respond to on the ground conditions.

Since it was taking place in the South and because it was so new, we held a Southeast regional forum in 2006. 600 people came to gether to begin to become familiar with how the system worked. What is open space? What is the Social Movement Assembly? Since it's happening in the South, we wanted to have strong representation.

The Border Social Forum in Juarez brought together folks in the southwest to build an understanding of the importance and potential for power. It was a process of building and intentionally connecting our movements in order to get to where we want to go.

Took a People's Freedom Caravan across the south. We stopped and listened in communities to understand what was happening across the South. The process of getting there is very important. The essence of building a social forum is that it can't be carried out as an individual organization; can only happen with you connecting and building intentionally in order to get there.

Intentional deliberation: matching social movement assembly that matched WSF process. created a people's movement assembly where we invited all the different movement convergences where people brought resolutions on the last day. Political position, coordinated potential actions, plans for next steps. 2 big lessons: (1) lots of desire for that space; (2) a lot more design was needed to facilitate that space, to make sure it makes sense, and that people are preparing before during and after to be able to act intentionally and deliberately.

The open space has been deliberate from the begining: creation, plural, coordination, vision about where we're going (more?)

People look at USSF as bringing model and show potential of growing US movement: protagnists on ground, differently able, etc--growing mvmt...leading to 2010.

Site selection--3 top--New Orleans, El Paso, Detroit

Guatemala Social Forum informed USSF and we had a delegation to share experiences and practices learned--Oct 08

DETROIT Early worries that USSF would take over work alraedy going on in Detroit. NPC members came and met with Detroit folks for more convo: can Detroit do it? yes, maybe...

Began in Detroit with a big potluck--cool sharing about experioences and how Detroit could benefit...NPC later came back having chosen Detroit. 5 anchors seleted: East MI Environmental Action Council, MI Welfare Rights Org, Centro Obrero, SE MI Jobs w/ Justice, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice

Opportunity in Detroit for 2 people to go to WSF: Rocio and another from DWEJ. Locally, still many struggles but working toward an action base...emphasis on uplifting Detroit and not leaving more junk behind...connecting with the community and building.

Process is that we're diverse and we have diferent agendas but leading toward creating another world.

In WI, have had social forums linking up with WSF and doing a regional social forum through Midwest SF.

Will's role in helping to make sure SF would be in Detroit: Helping to make sure NPC accountable and really working to keep communication going and working full time on diplomatic level with relationship building.

Cheri: PPEHRC building relationships since 1998, in 2002 talking with GGJ across hemisphere to start this USSF process. Int'l Council mtg in Miami 2003 with JWJ and GGJ then mtg in Washington to start the process. Also, PPEHRC linking up with comrades in Venezuela..

Maureen: Part of what happened in Detroit was that Will was making calls to see who at ground level wanted to get involved on 2007. Poor people don't get involved in early planning: some folks didn't know Will or GGJ, frankly don't trust anybody as poor people get stuck with things. MWRO started going to mtgs inn 2006 and really started paying attention but Will was not the only organizing. You canot come to Detroit and not notify poor people doing this organizing. A lot of people started showing up, including all the token African American and Hispanics, then token freedom fighter white folks. Will pointed out that we needed to get the grassroots, working folks, and the religious communities involved. We operate by mgmt by concensus with these communities.

This same process happened with USSF: early on not a lot of grassroots, low income people--our counterparts--how to move forward with out. So building work here needed time for people to be able to organize these groups and build the USSF process.

There are some things we need to discuss: the US is materially and politically in a different stage, things we need to bring into our process--this is not Porto Alegre or Atlanta. Even though we've had regional processes, we still need to talk to people about why we're coming to Detroit. 2 components upgraded in the methodology that we need to make decisions on--lessons learned: 1) consulta process: happens before 6-9 mos before SF process happens--didn't do in ATL--categories of key frames: economic, push back on women's rights, key themes and fight backs and put it out to the movement and...how are they articulating the issue, the paradigm that can name that track. A consultation process--Program WG takes the lead on the themes, gets feedback thru NPC and regions and asks how we can sharpen and develop new themes.. This beocme the basis for the tracks--are formulated and shaped by the mvmt. Involves Tech, Communication, and Outreach WGs.

2) PMA: Int'lly has operated outside of SF process--attached selves to other days. In USSF we integrated and has been credited by WSF. Int'lly called Social Mvmt Assemblies. Open space but is the leading edge of networks and activists where they bring a frame --much discussion and fighting but leading to a global/US action--all self-organized, we create the space and all forces come together to figure out what we do about something, e.g. anti war. 14 assemblies happen in Belem--an Assembly of Assemblies--with one document declaring a day of action.

Belem expanded--a technological day for people to get involved who can't get here--people can do workshops and plenaries in other parts of the country/world. Thru tech we have participants via radio, Skype, etc and we count those people as delegates because they submitted a program.

Pan Amazonic Day: first day of WSF strategically in Belem; first day of SF concentrated on the region, around highlightng why Pan Amazonic wa important. Similarly, we need to decide if we want first day to be about Detroit/GreatLakes/region.

IC: are talking about ecological crisis, Dakar, Senegal 2011 one of the next WSF--what's common thread betwen them as we globally respond to crisis? Can there be a day around the int'l crises and how we respond? IC wants to build more deliberatly with NPC and Detroit--can there be a day that highlights these struggles?

IC is meeting in Quebec in October. Strategically have invited us to have a convo btwn NPC and IC to link up Detroit. Programing will be impacted by a lot of these processes.

May Day demostrations in Detroit are also being organized now. Local people will be doing this work.

There's a committee that will also do invites and figuring out who to link to.

What we're talking about now we've got to start thinking about moving it into the Working Group process instead of this full group process.

WORKING GROUP UPDATES:

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Working Group

We've been doing meetings every other week, as well as working days. Things bubble up that need to happen, then we do working groups where the work actually happens. A big space for this has been the wiki (a tool where webpages can be created and its a shared document that anyone can post and edit information together online {like this note taking process}) - there will be a link on the left sidebar that says "POST A NEW TICKET". That ticket system is the way to communicate to us. Every group will be using technology. Moving forward, ideally, we want to have people on the ICT working group to serve on other working groups to help deeply integrate the work. The technology part is such a small part of what we do - we have to work through that technophobia!

Look at http://ict.ussf2010.org/wiki/ict_report-20090709 for a much more detailed report

Communications

Through national phone conference calls we've been working, also serving the local detroit communications needs. Did one piece of material on the USSF for the Allied Media Conference. We're just at the early stages. Need more folks from around the country to participate. Our goals - to recruit more people, get more representation from around the country, come up with images and iconic branding, start thinking about use of the media, and establish a good working relationship with more of the groups. We think it's fun - the idea is getting the word out to as many people as possible in the media, to develop a broad presence. Also, need to work on other languages - we need people good in other languages! Design and logo - we're working with the Design Action Collective and have some cool concepts, need folks with an eye to help move that along. Have a deadline to get all of that going. This past weekend at AMC we saw that alternative media is going to be the way. is there also a piece of this working group that's about messaging: i.e. what's the way we want to talk about the ussf?

Outreach

Starting with local. Started putting out fires, but we realized the DLOC is not representative of Detroit so we're filling those gaps. We created an outreach kit - a powerpoint, how to use it, what we're going. We have a desire for a video as another way to engage folks. Have the postcards in spanish and english, working on chinese and arabic, first postcards based off of this image. Working on theme planning, tabling kits, and list of organizations and communities we want to work with. Next call is August 5 - on the national level want to see whose covering what, and we're mapping! Plug: Ain't gonna be nobody there unless we have this work. We need a nonmonogamous committed relationship with Communications group!

Women's Working Group

The WWG has been functioning on some level since the 2007 forum. There are 132 members on the WWG listserv. There is a monthly telcon where the group has primarily discusses outreach as well as what our role will be in the US Social Forum process. However, the most active core of the WWG hasn't been as representative of wide swath of women's movements as we'd like. Therefore, we want to have a big push to reinvent ourselves. We're working on a retreat in Oakland hosted by the Women of Color Resource Center where we would be setting an agenda for the WWG in the lead up to the USSF 2010. Question from the floor--Can men attend? they can do the childcare and cooking and cleaning!

USSF 2010 Program and Culture Working Group Report

We've been meeting every two weeks! Going to stay together as program and culture working group for now. Vision, minutes and timeline all available.

We've been working to develop a USSF 2010 Program and Culture Working Group Vision Statement :

Movement Transformation

We want to create solidarity amongst the various sectors of our movement at the USSF 2010. We want mass organizations and social movements to work towards convergence where possible and logical, and for our social movements to be ready to grow in size, scale, and politics. The movement we have at the end of the USSF 2010 should be more courageous, more committed, and more strategic than the one we started with.

Grassroots Participation

We must have a very high level of participation from grassroots organizations. The expertise of organizers and members of grassroots organizations must be valued. To accomplish this, we must make the planning process open and highly participatory to ensure the program design reflects the questions relevant to strengthening and growing grassroots struggles. Our outreach should emphasize the relevance of the USSF process to the daily work or grassroots struggles, and should highlight the connections between the USSF and the International World Social Forum process. At the social forum, we should have highly participatory spaces (achieved through equally participatory workshop and caucus proposal processes) for grassroots struggles and organizations to discuss and struggle through the challenges, opportunities, and lessons that they are finding in their work. Finally, we must create mechanisms to overcome major barriers to attendance, especially the high cost of travel and accommodation.

The Role of Cultural Programming

We believe that cultural programming of all kinds is crucial to making the Social Forum a dynamic, inspiring experience for all. Perhaps more importantly, we believe that cultural programming must be integrated into most aspects of the Social Forum (before and after plenaries, through an opening march and/or concert, and even during sign-in and registration). We want cultural programming to celebrate the depth and creativity of our struggles, through murals, dance parties, poetry, artistic performances, and many other forms. We think the cultural programming can create the opportunity for an extremely engaged and interactive experience at the USSF (at the tents and other creative spaces), and that this type of programming is likely to be one major way to grow and encourage local participation. Finally, we want the opportunity to share healthy meals at the USSF 2010. We believe it plays an essential role in encouraging people’s active participation, and we also believe that shared meals provide an unmatched opportunity for relationship-building that will prove useful at USSF 2010.

The Role of US Social Movements We believe that the fight against US-led Imperialism must be at the center of the forum. One key goal of the forum must be to build the consciousness of the attendees around the role of Imperialism and all forms of exploitation and domination in our own communities and also globally.

Political Culture We believe that our movement must be able to understand political differences clearly, engage in honest struggle with each other over those differences, and develop unity where possible. We are committed to a program at the USSF that respects differences and most importantly encourages struggle that is not necessarily antagonistic, so that we may continue to build unity together. We believe that this moment in our movement calls for political convergence amongst people and organizations, and that we should develop the needed level of unity to move towards that convergence. We believe that some forms of cultural programming can play a helpful role towards this end.

Format and Accessibility

Specific Suggestions From the Program and Culture Working Group In our outreach and marketing: Forward the message that what we are doing counts, that everyone’s efforts count. Honor the work we are doing. Put intensive effort put into gathering workshop proposals from many diverse groups. Promote the forum, not only as an event in Detroit, but also as a movement and a national period of action during the days it takes place. Before the forum, use spontaneous art and performance within the community to get people involved and raise awareness within the community. Printing locally is ideal.

In our art and music: View the integration of culture as a way to move the whole Social Forum, not just as entertainment. We want all cultural aspects to be geared to/reflect social justice in some way. We want a tent city, representing diverse communities and social issues. We want it to be used as a highly interactive space for folks to actively create art. Have a tent with DJs and a mic for people to freestyle. Have a graffiti tent. Bring in musical artists from all over the country to do one big performance together. Include movement poets; they can articulate a movement vision in a way that touches folks. Integrate art, bring art into Detroit: community murals and graffiti art in community gardens, on building faces, etc. As people are standing in line for registration, have performance theater, spoken word, music, mural creation (on durable canvas). March with the products of all the visual artistic expression at the closing march.

In our program: We want a children’s forum. We want a cultural opening, along with a march to start off the event. We want to stay connected with the PMA Working Group in order to develop a broad program vision. Our program should emphasize that we are a forward-looking process and that there is something that we want. Create spaces for dialogue, for the creation of associations, national-sized movements. Have caucus times and spaces. Create a space for caucuses to report back on their goals and vision for the coming years. In putting out a call for workshops, also put out a call for people to request, or offer to facilitate, caucuses. We want to raise consciousness about the role the US has in shaping the futures of people around the world through domination.

Miscellaneous: We would like a tech Wiki training at the NPC meeting. We want to stress integration from the local to national level. We want to include the struggles and context of Detroit in the program and culture, and want to work as a team with local organizers. We propose the creation of a joint program design group. We would like to create this team as soon as possible; it will exist throughout the planning process Do grassroots fundraising so that those who want to can get to Detroit. Include many languages at registration and throughout programming and workshops. (We need DLOC to bring forward what languages are needed, particularly in programming dealing with immigration.) Build community through food. Create spaces for people to eat with each other. Incorporate breaks in the program for meals. Bring food to where people are.

Decisions and Process We have been meeting once every two weeks via conference call, as the joint Program and Culture Working Group. Our regular meeting time is Mondays at 9pm Eastern. We have someone take minutes at each of our meetings and email them out to the list. We have been making our decisions by consensus. If anyone is opposed to a decision, they express their concerns and we work as a group to meet these concerns. Regarding separating into two Working Groups, one Program and one Culture, we decided to wait until after the NPC meeting to split into two groups. We wanted to stay together until we were finished with the larger visioning process. Our intention is to talk more about this at the NPC meeting. If we do separate, we intend upon maintaining regular communication between the two working groups, with joint conference calls not less than once a month.

USSF 2010 Program & Culture Work Group TimelineTimeline March 2009 – July 2010 Note: Once overall Program Design is developed at NPC July 2009 meeting, we will add more detail, especially around the political culture of USSF and cultural programming.

March to now: Built working group (24, including good Detroit rep & national rep & growing) Set up listserve (by Mallory from Tech & kiran volunteered to be administrator) Regular bi-weekly calls (Mon @ 9pm ET/8pm CT/6pm PT will be regular time) Collective leadership going into July NPC (Oya & Will – Detroit, kiran, Rishi, Jerome & walda) of program & culture components of WG No definitive decision at national level on 1 WG w/2 subgroups or 2 WGs with collaboration & coordination (at DLOC level 1 WG to date)

July – October Participate in NPC development of overall program design for Cobo Hall, Hart Plaza, other venues (cultural programming, workshops, plenaries, opening march & closing, assemblies & peoples movement assembly process, open spaces, tents, other) from NPC July meeting.

Recommendation to NPC: Set up NPC overarching Program Design team: includes reps from Program / Culture, PMA, Plenaries (if separate), Opening / Closing march / ceremony, Logistics, Tech, Outreach, International & whoever doing printed program Possible consultations (with Outreach): to help determine “tracts” or themes for organizing program, build for participation, submission of self-organized proposals In Detroit area work with Outreach to do local consultations & insure grounding in local communities – find out how they want to participate – encourage programmatic / cultural participation Develop on-line submission form w/ Tech (needs vast improvements over 2007) by September 30th (absolute deadline, earlier if possible) Post on-line submission form on website & other outreach media by September 30th

November – January Work on overarching programming / cultural spaces (needs detail @ / after NPC meeting) Work on getting self-organized proposals in, especially solicit, joint proposals, bigger pieces Work with Logistics on details of space Work with PMA on PMA / assembly process of programming Tents – how will they intersect with Program / Culture?

February – March Deadline for self-organized proposals: March 1, 2010 Push to get self-organized proposals in, start to review, if needed communicate with orgs, networks, alliances, local communities Work with logistics – will we have enough space? How do we do “program / culture” in general space of Cobo Hall & Hart Plaza Have draft of all pieces of Program Design

April – May Decisions on self-organized proposals: April 20, 2010 (absolute deadline, earlier if possible) Emails go out as decisions made, all decisions, emails by April 20 Finalize all aspects of Program Design (cultural programming, workshops, plenaries, opening march & closing, assemblies & peoples movement assembly process, open spaces, tents, other) Work with logistics on location of all aspects “Program” Layout printed program – who, how? Work with printed program folks to get info for printed program to them by May 15 Program goes to printer by May 20 (absolute deadline, earlier if possible) Program on-line by May 20 (absolute deadline, earlier if possible)

June! Get printed program June 15 Last minute details Logistics, materials, set-up for Cobo & Hart Plaza spaces Teams for crisis management Arrive June 15 to 20 USSF II June 22-26 Initial debrief & evaluation

July Extended debrief & evaluation What worked, what didn’t & lessons learned Write-up report

Questions to answer / affirm 5-day walk through: overall Program Design How do we insure full integration DLOC Program & Culture WG with our/NPC Program & Culture WG in overall work? How does this overall program design move forward the processes of movement convergence & movement building? How does it bring forward our visions and our strategies for fundamental social transformation? How many & what will tracts/themes be? Who will do printed program lay-out & design and who will print it? Will it look consistent/continuous with 2007 Program? If changes, what, why? (no need to reinvent) Only organizations submit self-organized proposals, requests for open space, etc. Individuals w/ their organizational affiliation have to be registered & paid to submit proposal Urge at least 2 organizations to submit all proposals Limit of 1 / 2 proposal(s) per organization as lead org Length & time / space self-organized workshops Details all venues, exact number rooms at each & all time slots Room allocation details

Mon, July 27 @ 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT Call-in number: 712.432.9998 Access: 841125 #

Logistics Committee (locally)

No Logistics Working Group has not been established yet.

Housing: We've been looking at housing and we've found housing at hotels and motels in the downtown area between $80-120. Reserved rooms at Wayne State for $25 committee. Also working with religious folks for housing.

Transportation: There's not a train from the train, there's a long bus ride. We have a vision of asking for and receiving 5000 bikes we can repair and have for folks. Using those through the conference and then would have that resource afterwards.

Youth Camp: looking for spaces and learning from Atlanta

Recycling: have to organize our own (this is an incinerator city)

Children's Space: looking for it.

Looking for input from folks on any of those areas.

People's Movement Assembly Stephanie and Ruben are chairs currently!

Before - how to build up to it During - what happens during the forum to advance the process After - what needs to happen after to support the political process.

Looking at encuentros and Detroit - these are not new models.

Excited about the first meeting at the Kentucky Social Forum in 2 weeks!

Gonna work on an organizing kit for folks to do it locally, and a report.

Kentucky has asked us for a PMA process while we are there. Every region of the US and Canada are included in this process!

Resource Mobilization/Joint report with personnel and finance committee.

Great news - we have 300K in the banks. We're finalizing the overall strategy including foundations, online, grassroots. We want to revive the concept that it is a shared responsibility to raise resources for the forum. There was a pledge sheet which we want to revive for each NPC organization.

In this meeting we want to finalize the budget, management structure - we're bringing that proposal in.

Finally looking at fiscal sponsorship process - talking to Tides - want to finalize that.

We're working on a $1.9 million budget that needs to be raised, we're at $300K. Want to raise half through foundation, the other half through grassroots (registration, t-shirts, etc).

Mark is with Funders Network on Trade and Globalization - they have a group of funders to help us on this effort.

Language Access

Making sure non-English speakers can participate in the process and the conference. Work on getting all content at least into Spanish and up on the web. This week the ATL language access committee staff sent EVERYTHING - all the contacts. In ATL there was spanish and American sign language. we're open to thinking about other languages, but to do that we need other people to join our team! Last time the languages chosen was a political decision, so that's something we need from this body.

Documentation and Evaluation

Can update more on evaluation than on documentation. Our evaluation committee really needs more people - who we have is great.

We've had emails and a conference call. Need to know the scope of the evaluation, how many volunteers to engage. Need to contract the people who will do the evaluation piece.

International Solidarity Committee

Had 2 phone conferences. Want 2 proposals - 1, that this stays as a committee, not a working group, because of the delicacy of immigration issues (can't be open and safe). We spoke to the folks who did this last time. This is an intensive work, tracking international delegates, building relationship. There are people nationally and locally that we do want to recruit into it. It's really about relationships.

Will be the main liasion between the IC and the NPC - we will be coordinating and delegating tasks for when the report back is. Will be putting up a letter of invitation on the website to make it an official event which embassies and councils can see that its a real event.

Need to work closely with language access. Also planning how to bring them into the whole conversation.

Also putting forward idea of a solidarity fund so that workers, indigenous folks can come (not just students and upper middle class)

DLOC

The anchors meet every Tuesday. Every other Tuesday the DLOC meets together in this space, and meet together.

We have a place called Cobo Hall, the convention center in Detroit. WE rented the entire thing. Next door is Hart Plaza - and outdoor spot with an underground food place and goes by the river - we rented all of it. When we get here, we will own everything south of Jefferson! Wayne State, Wayne County Community College, churches we've started to negotiate space.

Securing tents convos started. we have disabled american vets securing tents and provide security. Bicycles convo has started. We want to print USSF dollar bills so that when people get here and don't have resources we can give them the USSF dollars to use them at the forum wherever they're accepted. Disabled community, cultural committee, already started; seniors committee first meeting this week.

Last Tuesday we were working on our structure - that will help us to move forward!!

NOW WE ARE GOING TO BREAK INTO OUR WORKING GROUPS AND ANSWER THESE 5 QUESTIONS!

What are your goals?
What's your 3 month work plan?
Who else needs to be recruited?
What feedback/direction/decisions do you need from the NPC to help you move forward?
Who are your co-leads? (point people, ideally 1 Detroit, 1 national)

One question - who is our audience to outreach to for the 2010 USSF? Outreach working group is responding - what was powerful in ATL was who came - 12-15k people that were grassroots, people of color, commitment to indigenous participation. The goal of our outreach is to start there, and broaden out. Want to start strong in ATL and highlight the connection between Atlanta and Detroit. Specifics - we didn't have strong Arab representation in ATL - we in Detroit next door to Dearborn.

We have to do cultural outreach. Detroit has second highest number of Middle Easterners outside the Middle East. We can walk next door and ask them to come over. But need to talk about economic outreach, cuz working folks aren't in the organizing bodies. As we incorporate this in the conversation - our outreach teams are finding the low-income, welfare folks. Can't just put lowincome.com and hit enter.

There's the organized and unorganized. (Tammy: We represent busriders in LA - we talking about welfare, folks in and out of jail, folks working not in the formal sector) We want to reach out to organizations, but in many social forum settings you don't get the community, people who won't/don't join a social forum. So we need to know - IS THE CITY OF DETROIT represented in the process? In outreach to organizations we want to make sure those with members in the working class, and then work with folks who aren't online.

This speaks also to our form of organizing - if it's mostly online, we will miss certain folks. Also, how do we track it. How do we prove who came and how they came.

Everyone knows that we have a mass issue with layoffs. We are losing health care.

I will only speak about Latinos. In 2008 we organized demonstrations for immigration ____-for 2006 and ______for 2008.

We were involved in the PS two weeks ago. We want participation. We don't Europe to tell us what to do in our communities. We need a voice in organizing this process.

Now we are moving into working groups. We are encourageing everyone to join a working group to have their voice heard.

We are taking a lunch and then going into WG.

ICT BREAK OUT NOTES

also see: http://ict.ussf2010.org/wiki/ict_report-20090709

1. Whats our goals?

strong connection and support of local organizing committee
interact with communications group and media [ I think we want to interact with activist media and bloggers, but I'm not sure our goal is to interact with mainstream media --jamie]
organize seamlessly along with other WGs, evolve our structure
assure that technology organizers are integrated in the decision-making process, avoid service-provision
coordinate technology troubleshooting: connect people who need assistance with people who can provide it; spread knowledge to grow the ranks of troubleshooters.
serve as a technology advisory group
assist with open source tech needs, hardware, and related needs--wiki, website, listservs, etc
work with the intention of helping people who have different levels of tech knowledge (i.e., none, some, much)
Overcome problems people have using technology and make it friendly to people using it, including training and user testing.
ensure we/ICT WG work to allow open access to tools, to promote participation in the tools at all levels, and to reduce gatekeeping mechanisms that interfere with access, participation, and political process.
make it so that information, data, and other content is easily found, searched, tagged.
Work with all groups to encourage content from a broad spectrum. Expect communications group to write official communications for web site, and then use our technology expertise to structure content to make it accessible and easy to contribute to and expand.

2. Whats our 3 month work plan?

continue every other week conference calls
continue regular work days
Online Registration with credit card payment
Proposal Submission (Since Culture and Programming want to put out the calls in September or October,) also included in this would be the ability to link similar proposals, and to organize the submitters of thos proposals for possible collaboration
site redesign based on Design Action Collective's work
make more tools available for region/topic centric organizing
plans for "low tech" i.e. radio
plans for text messaging
work with Language access to provide more language translations on ussf2010.org
work with outreach WG around Detroit Expanded
try to find places to donate computers for onsite registration
find an alternative to EtherPad that is free and open source
continue to educate people on the importance of using free and open source tools
find more free and open source tools for our organizing
continue to do trainings for any USSF organizers on all of the technology tools in play

3. Who else needs to be recruited?

Non-profit and social justice minded for-profit groups, e.g., Progressive Technology Project, Radical Designs, Democracy in Action, NOSI, Aspiration Tech, Chicago Technology Collective, Detroit Linux group, Detroit Drupal group, Detroit Summer, Allied Media, PPEHRC, etc.

4. What feedback or direction decision do you need from NPC?

ICT Working Group has a proposal for a possible Tech hire.
Need feedback on website donation page--are we continuing with Paypal? Can we move to something less right wing?
Incorporating wiki, website, and other tool trainings into NPC meetings.
(overlap with outreach) Endoresement of a Detroit Expanded program

5. Who are your co-leads? We haven't really identify leads other than MayFirst who are very involved in overall process and hosting the servers, etc. We're working it out nationally and locally....

WOMEN'S WORKING GROUP BREAK OUT NOTES

Women’s Working Group PURPOSE: Ensure that the spaces and processes of the US Social Forum acknowledge and address the gendered inequities that are inherently present. 1) What is our overarching goal? a. Ensure Women’s Rights are advanced throughout functions, processes and content of the US Social Forum. 2) What’s your 3-month work plan? a. Establish planning committee for WWG Organizing Retreat b. Host the women’s working group organizing retreat (September/October) c. Develop outreach and recruitment plan (implementation of first phase) d. Identify mechanisms for liaisons with other working groups/committees e. Identify list of friendly funders to refer participating organizations who want to conduct organizing for the US Social Forum 3) Who else needs to be recruited/identified? a. Constituent Groups i. Women of Color ii. Non-academic iii. Youth iv. LGBTQQI v. Disabilities vi. Immigrant vii. Workers, including Domestic Workers viii. Women in Poverty ix. Homeless women b. Functions i. Outreach ii. Program and Culture Input iii. Facilitating women’s spaces at the forum iv. Evaluation v. Finance/Resource Mobilization vi. Logistics vii. Communications/Media viii. Linkage with international (World, Americas Social Forum, and others) 4) What feedback/direction do you need from the NPC? a. Information re when and what other constituent groups will be formed and how these groups will engage with the structure of the NPC b. Mechanism for engagement with other constituent groups, working groups, and committees i. Explicit Guidelines about fundraising and coordination around raising funds on behalf of the USSF ii. Explicitly, guidelines about communications re speaking on behalf of the USSF 5) Who are your co-leads? a. Jacqui Patterson and Ariel Dougherty (currently) b. Seeking Detroit Co-Chair

Wiki training will occur 30 minutes during the lunch.

Report backs from Working Group (WG) break-outs:

Question needed from each Workign Group - which areas of work do we need feedback from the larger body so we can figure out answers to these questions. For other issues and work in workging group - share this in WG speed dating - i.e. WG members connecting bi-laterally with all the other WG's to figure out working relationships.

Need Answers to:

Program Culture: Process for developing overall program; tracks and themes; division of labor b/w NPC and WG for developing proposals. Program Culture WG is ready to make an initial proposal. Guidance around how to work with other WGs. Also need guidance on guidelines for submissions for program. Communications: Want transition doc on communications from this WG from 2007. Need to understand what other WGs need to be communicated out about the work.

Outreach: Forming an indiginous WG. What is status of indiginous staff organizer; travel stipends for low-income folks to participate in meetings. Shoulsd we still have regions. International WG - Feedback on 10 folks to attend IC in Quebec. Solidarity fund to be included in budget. Week of Action on Crisis - how to be involved?

Info and Tech: Pay pal account - want an alternative to corp PayPal. Want more Wiki like tech trainings in the NPC so folks know how to use tools. Want NPC to endorse Detroit Expanded (virtual participation).

Language: Interpretator plan - can we pay stipends for interpreters to coem adn help with this effort? Need feedback for number of languages we want to support? Need resources for theis. International institute in Detroit can help with a number of things.

For deaf community - prep adn on site translation into asl adn tdd.

Do we need a WG for other issues of access. There is one in DLOC.

Resource Mobilization:

Need to finalize budget.

Need commitments from folks to raise money.

Ideal budget = $1.9 million to fund everyone. Need folks to approve a bare-bones budget.

Need to reprioritize current budget to ensure there is not a budget short-fall.

Women's: Need clarity on other constituency WGs (youth, etc). How to connect with other work groups to address cross-cutting issues, etc.

Need guidelines aroudn fund-raising in name of USSF so they can raise money for an upcoming retreat.

Are there guidelines for fundraising from multiple sources. In 2007, there was decision to accept no monetary donations from government and corporations, but they did take in-kind from gov and corps. : need to invent for 2010.

Structure and Staffing of USSF structure proposal

Background (MLG): WG's, Detroit LOC and anchor orgs make up organizing committee - it is the folks who are doign the work adn implimenters as much as thinkers. Reps from anchors, local org committees. four in-person meetings.

Coordinating Tema - subcommittee of OC.

NPC = broader group of interested groups and sectors we want to have ownership. There's an applicaiton process. Three things folks most do: mobilize people and funds and plan and carry-out program for USSF.

Staffing: Full-time staff positions: 2 local positions, lcoal logistics, National Coordinator, Communications Coord, Tech manager, Field orgnaizers (2)

This structure and staffing framework was finalized in May in meeting in Detroit.

Coordinating team in 2007 = three local folks and three NPC folks to deal with immediate issues.

Proposal: three ppl = one detroit rep, NPC rep, national coordinator.

Coordinator is responsibile for coordinating this group as well as WG leads adn meeting 4 times per year.

For this meeting: can we decide on NPC rep. Along with Detroit rep adn _____ this group will be responsible for hiring the Nat Coordinator.

General questions:

What is the rational for hiring 8 full-time staff (George Friday).

Staff and structure should support bldg local groups - media, communications, etc - regardless of what it is (Sherri).

Personnel Committe - need for it (Bill - Detroit)

What is the full NPC list currently? What is the responsibility of the NPC under this proposal (Kamau - Praxis);

Answers:

Steph: Rational for 8 FTE staff - from lessons from Atlanta, it will be bigger. Last time folks pulled from organizational staff last time. A larger number of staff will help build local groups in the process instead of sapping capacity.

Need to have really clear job descriptions - Sherri

Who decides who will be on the NPC - the OC would.

Personnel Committee - form to develop job descriptions and help with hiring process and to figure out salary and benefits. At this political and economic moment - groups that threw down hard in 2007 with putting their staff time into the ussf may not be able to do that this time, this plan ensures that the work can still happen. . This is due to state of economy and orgs having budget cuts.

At the same time, it's not a staff driven process. WG's still need to work as hard. This is important for getting the most out of the process and not putting over-whelming burden on staff. Issues we can fix with more staffing: tracking and d-base management - particular skill sets. How do we retain political content that 8 full-time staff isn't enough. If and where we need orgs to step up, we need to have conversations around political goals - what we're fighting for - and this will help groups articulate to themselves why this is important. Need to keep political conversations a priority and other stuff will flow.

SWU put staff ppl into this and also dedicated members to help coordinate travel adn participation of membership - they committed this and took a hit, but it also helped them develop leadership of members that has paid off.

Funders: will be involved in Resource WG adn there's engagement of funders by organziations with their funders.

NPC's role would be reduced with forming of Organizing Committee. NPC is more about political allignment adn not decision making. OC members need to make a commitment to the WG process in order to have decision making. For OC or C-Team - i.e. decision making roles, they need to do this the WG process adn the chairs of the WG represent the WGs.

FNTG have a special group that's been formed around accompanying the USSF in connection to the WSF.

Want to have one of the Field Organizers to be Native - ala Atlanta (Tom);

WG's what does "etc" mean - can we have other WG adn have an indiginous WG.

International WG - Canadians for indigenous organizing is different - they're erasing political lines b/w Mexico and Canada (and US).

Relationship b/w OC adn NPC. OC would meet when NPC meets. WG reps would likely come from pre-existing work.

How are we going to make decisions on who represents the collective on the C-Team due to WG structure which rep their WG, but nothing else and they have ability to make other decisions through OC and also be elected to the C-Team that has a lot of decision making ability.

Process - we can either elect C-Team to pull together the OC or elect the OC to pull together the C-Team. Individuals in roles in OC and C-Team are representing their org as well. C-Team not making major political decisions - in the OC - it's the EC and C-Team is coordinating the OC.

WG chair elections process - process in all WGs.

Need to identify mechanisms for low-income folks to participate in the process - e.g. solidarity fund for international folks.

Point of clarifications - in past meetings, orgs self financed their participation in the past, this is the first meeting where we've funded orgs having stipends to attend.

Need to have conversation about national and local folks having resources and who has what resources to participate - need to be careful of language we're using around who is working with low-income folks and which of us around the table have access to varying level of resources, b/c it's complicated and important.

Concerned that we're saying that the decision making body around funding, etc is the organizing committee that's made up of the chairs of the working groups, etc. Not just the chairs of the WGs doing the work. Folks are doing a lot of work but have not been elected as the chairs, and thus are not part of the decision making.

RESPONSE: Idea is that they are represented by the chairs of the working group. The flip is that everyone from every group would come and make every decision but we don't have the resources for that.

Having representatives from different organizations doing work would make it representative of the diversity of the organizations across the country who are doing this work. Need something that's representative, not just folks who have time and energy to put into being chairs of the WG, but are putting in the work across the country.

Steph and Michael went through process in Atlanta and put a lot of time and energy into this proposal. We need to know if this is it or if this is not it. If it's not, we're going to have to spend the rest of the meeting coming up with another proposal.

Suggestion/Friendly amendment to the proposal: Two more posts added who are elected by the NPC. Their role would be to facilitate communication.

FYI.....Five minute break for those offsite listening in.

Honor the fact that not everyone has been here from the beginning or heard all that has gone into where we are. Goal now is to move what we can move forward.

Appreciate all that folks have brought to the discussion in terms of feedback. Decisions are made by all who come into forum. NPC not being dissovled. Call every month. Meeting twice, once in January, and once in May 2010.

Representatives to the Organizing committee will be reps from the working groups and do not necessarily have to be chairs of the working groups

The goal is to make sure that over the next 3, 6, to 9 months are consistent. The choice for the OC rep does not necessarily have to be the chairpersons.

It is hard to get people in the process who cannot do it. How can we be deliberate about the work that we are doing for people who can speak for themselves.

This is not the USSF structure. This is the planning structure.

We have to be intentional about thinking this thing through.

You cannot leave it out. History will hit you in the face over and over again if poor people and the disabled are left out. Don't make it to the point that you make it here and we demonstrate against you. We want to put into motion a movement, and not an educational movement that represents all people.

Would it be okay to have that conversation on how that happens.

All we're talking about is that the categories under "etc" ...Maureen will work with a group of folks to flesh that out...groups like Labor, etc...If we need to add additional groups some of us to get togehter and work that out.

Moving to vote on this structure for moving forward. On the wiki are the members of the NPC and who can vote.

Only 16 people can be on the etherpad at once because it is a propietary tool because they want you to pay. The number of people who can be on the wiki simultaneoulsly is without limit.

19 voting spots in total. 2 at large persons from the LOC.

Roll call of voting members

Applications have been submitted by several groups who have been working hard but are not currently officially on the NPC.

Motion to move the structure to a vote.

Moved by Cheri Honkaln Seconded by Adrienne Maree Brown.

Abstention by Praxis Project

All in favor--23

None opposed

FISCAL POLICY DISCUSSION

Project South has been the fiscal sponsor since 2005. PS wants to transfer it to somewhere that can carry the administrative duties that are too straining on a small grassroots organization. Want to make sure staff gets paid on time and all operates smoothly. What nees to be in place for an effective transfer to keep things moving. Need a system to maintain budget and expenditures.

Decision 1: Anchor representative, fiscal sponsor, resource mobiliation group, book keeper and staff coordinator needs to be the composition of the finance committee.

Decision 2: Proposing that the USSF becomes a project of the Tides Cente r--payroll, . They charge 9%. At this point the agreement was 8%. Provides account person, turn checks around within a week, provide credit cards that are tracked and monirored. Expedit check with a fee. Offers health benefits because they are so large.

Decision 3: Suggest that one of the organizations has an account in Detroit. It would not go through Tides. It would be accounted for here through accounts that they've already set up. Held by Anchor committee and run by finance committee.

conversations: Surdna grant: being held by Praxis with no fees; Project South still has CD's that will be released in February 2010.; Project South and USSF are deeply tied, and will continue to be throughout the process. - if one is safe the other is not safe. The Detroit anchor who takes on this role needs to understand that level of seriousness.

Vote: yes 22 no abstentions no nay's

there will be a negotiation around the transfer fee; will stay in contact with same folks working on this, there are questions that are still in the sheet like how do we make decisions about how money is allocated? how much do we spend? etc. these questions are real and live.

BUDGET - USSF Finances

first reviewing the projected budget, and then review the cash flow projection good news and bad news: we got money, but not enough money

not approving today, there are going to be recommendations about making some adjustments and then we'll approve with adjustments tomorrow

michael went through an explanation of terms on the budget, and is available for major questions. michael also went through an explanation of the projections. last time we had a number of in-kind donations and fully expect to have that moving forward.

with hiring, positions are phasing in over the year, which impacts the budget. based on the funding we're bringing in from foundations (without the grassroots fundraising) we go into the red (or deficit) in november, so we have serious challenges that need to be addressed.

the resource committee is making the recommendation that we don't have a deficit this year. (btw tides will not allow that anyway) this means we make adjustments to the budget to balance it for through this year.

last year we created a bare bones budget - last year 4 months out we had $107,000 in the bank. money was slow in coming in, groups were sustaining the budget themselves. we had a meeting in chicago in march and asked ourselves - if we don't raise another dime what are we going to prioritize spending on? this became a movement moment. it was clear foundations weren't going to support us enough. we created a pledge sheet where folks showed which donors, foundations, and support they could offer. it became one of the real significant moments. at the end of the day we had a $250K SURPLUS. registrations alone brought in $300K! we did fundraising days. this set the tone, even at the world level - they'd experienced deficits for years, but this built up their process and they had a surplus in 2009!

our 3 decisions to be made:

does the staffing structure make sense? (we know the LOC has ideas for how logistics can happen, which doesn't impact the national budget) (there are some contract positions {like indigenous outreach} which is a contract position. we also want to move some hires earlier, like a grassroots fundraiser.

local suggestion - ask folks to give early. 10,000 people to give $25 (250K). 5000 give $50 (250K). 5000 give us $100 (500K). that will give us $1 MILLION DOLLARS!

we have insurance in the budget for all 8 staff people.

Clarifying questions:

- how about the hiring process? answer: this is about the budget.

- where did this proposal come from? answer: this is an aggregate of lessons from last year, and from the working groups. the local hires, the local logistics hire. it came from discussions with the working group.

- i thought all staff would recieve the same amount? answer: the baseline is 40K a year (3500 a month), but not everyone comes on at the same time. also, locally folks have been talking about working out how they use the budget to share the load between folks who can't all give the same amount of time.

- honor that folks are being asked to vote on things they are just receiving.

- your duplicating the costs on your benefits.

- want to advocate for full-time positions! pt folks get burnt out. (also need to be real about what folks are trying to hold down.) maureen: we have a policy around living wage and full-time work. for the next 60-90 days there is an opportunity for us to bring more folks on for a stipend that would make a big difference locally. just temporarily, work with us on this.

WE APPROVED: WE WILL NOT GO INTO A DEFICIT THIS YEAR (1 abstention, 0 nays, the rest ays)

we will come back tomorrow for final budget decisions. (mark, michael, genaro, maureen, anyone else from resource working group!)

WORKING GROUPS SPEED DATING!!!

- share your goals

- share your main tasks

- what do you need from the working group you are meeting with?

- what is something you are NOT willing to do (ok??)

Evaluations Meets Program and Culture

Evaluations:

Tasks: Want to set up mechanisms for documenting the process. Establish these mechanisms and intervals for feeding that back to the NPC.

Goals: To document the entire process, help it evolve and improve over time. Set up an online tool for people to feed info into, then feed that back to the NPC at each meeting, both orally and through a reporting process.

What we need: Respond to the tools we're sending out. In terms of documenting workshops, we need to know what the priorities are.

Program and Culture:

Tasks: Responsible for most of the programming, including cultural programming. Still figuring out with some of the tasks exactly what our purvue is.

Goals: What we need:

We need to know what you need from us in terms of set-up?

Will their be video equipment available, to document the event? We need to link with communications as well.

Evaluation forms for workshops.

Evaluation forms for the whole event.

What is the difference between evaluation and documentation?

Regarding online tool: How are we going to get information from people who don't communicate that way? We will need other tools as well. Can we include hard copy filing into this process? (DLOC is doing this)

Have something for work groups to fill out at the end of each NPC meeting: struggles, tensions, breakthroughs

Jerome recommends evaluations schedule an interview with Alice and with people in Detroit.

International Meets Program and Culture

International

What we're about, what we are doing and will do: We are expanding the notion: figure out how to get visas, raise money, build criteria about who we want to come, ensure international social movement participation. We don't want people coming to just be participants. Looking at ways NPC builds politically with the IC. We want to send a 10 person delegation to the Quebec IC meeting and Social Forum. Still figuring out process of how we invite, how we go about inviting. We will create a letter of invitation and can recommend potential hosting. We will not do any more than that. We will track the person and ensure that they're not wandering, lost, or in detention. We will not be planning any programming, just helping get people here.

What we need:

We want space in programming for international movement people. We want someone from programming to be on the delegation to the IC to participate in convrsations about international programming. (Oct 6-12th)

Global day at USSF to focus on international economic crisis to have dialogue-- we want a decision at this meeting. It will have deep program implications. Come to us if there are people you want to invite.

We need legal support on this team.

Program and Culture:

What we're about:

What we need:

How do we have artists from outside the US come to the USSF?

Do you want a focused international panel? (No-- if a group wants an international panel, or wants to bring an international person, they will come to the international committee).

Decision: We will set up a date.

Program and Culture meets Communications

Program and Culture

Tasks: Responsible for most of the programming, including cultural programming. Still figuring out with some of the tasks exactly what our purvue is. Cultural expression throughout the whole forum.

Our relationship: How do we get info out to the public, in terms of publicizing. Are there particular flyers. People will give us feedback by going to the website by filling out an online workshop proposal form.

What We Need:

Using streaming media to put things out during the event and also to document. We will need to coordinate with Communications, as well as other WGs.

Getting the word out, via media.

Feeding back what happened, helping to share the story with the broader US and world.

We want a media strategy to mobilize for, get the word out that there is a movement.

Communcations

What we need:

We will have a writers network with a wiki online. People from your group can be part of this network. They would write one piece a month for magazine, local papers, etc. We send out reminders, announcements, ideas.

We will need from you what you want us to put out in the regular updates to the writers network.

We need concrete feedback. We need people from this group helping to create the media strategy.

2 liasons to our group, and we want two liasons to your group.

We need your timeline to inform our timeline.

We need your help shifting course along the way.

We want to highlight the culture folks to help us craft our messages, do videos, etc.

Program and Culture meets Language Access

Language Access

What we're doing:

Plan is to do ASL, Spanish and based on feedback, provide more. If there are large groups of one language, we will help fund thier interpreters, if they already have one. A-list for the plenaries, website, then have a broader pool for workshops, etc. We will be getting a trainer to come to Detroit to train people to do social justice translation trainings. We're planning on doing transmitter translation.

What we need:

Ask people what language they will be doing the workshop in, will you/can you do it in more than one language?

When people register, we want them to be able to volunteer to interpret.

We need help finding translators.

We need more local people.

If local organizers and unions can make a committement, that will be helpful.

Program and Culture

What we need:

We need to be able to ID classes that need translators (ones that make sense), and pass them on to you.

Our online form will be clear about translation. What happened was that last time many people offered to do their own translation and were not able to.

We need you to test out the transmitters, to be sure they work.

Arabic will be an important language for this region.

What's our position on utilizing union interpreters? (We don't pay. If they want to donate their time, awesome. Some folks can get stipends around housing or travel.)

Decision: We will date, in the future, after the Program and Culture group figures themselves out a bit more.

ICT and Language Access

Sylvia to be ICT liason to LA WG

LA requests an Single Point of Contact, an email address for handling translation requests. ICT suggests something based on the ICT trouble ticket system providing a tool and process for handling such requests. LA wants to insure quality of translation.

ICT and Evaluation and Documentation WG

E&D looking for ways to document sessions of the USSF, video, streaming etc. Discussion of distance learing facilities and their application for the USSF. How best to evaluate the work that has already been done, use SurveyMonkey or something like that for online surveys and also need non-internet based means. Need liason with ICT. Use of the community to do the documentation, allowing to upload video and/or blog on the sessions. Leverage the Allied Media Conference participants which will be held the week before USSF.

---

ICT and International Solidarity Committee

International communications is highly dependent on technology. Start with an email address for folks requesting a letter of invitation or other international contacts, that can be distributed to the committee. Some discussion of using the trouble ticketing system to handle this. ISC emphasizes ease of use. Needs: a liasion between groups, link from USSF site to WSF site, a web page for the ISC.

ICT and Communications WG

Outreach mentioned to Comm: contact capture, geo-mapping of contacts, distribution mechanism for flyers that can be localized

A store front, local to Detroit, for labs, meetings, outreach etc. with technical infrastructure. Newsletter, text messaging, social media tools. Do they want one-way or two-way? Only see a need for one-way, outbound, at this point. Nancy Brigham is ICT rep to Comm. Joel will be Comm rep to ICT. Web site redesign will be ready for us in September. Need for multilingual capability on web site. Need to broaden languages provided, based on participation if possible.

Resource Committee with…

International Committee Requests funding support to get ten or so Detroit reps to WSF IC meeting in Quebec in Oct, to gain a deeper sense of the WSF process, and then to stay for the Quebec Social Forum In Quebec there will be more discussions with the IC about international organizing for the USSF, and about ways to raise support for these efforts. Committee will develop a basic proposal to be shared with Resource Committee for the different components of the work to by done.

Communications Committee Design Action has started working, and by mid-August will have a logo ready; the website by mid-September. A space on the website will identify all kinds of opportunities and initiatives for funders and donors to support… Committee will develop a basic proposal to be shared with Resource Committee for the different components of the work to by done.

Media Committee Resources are needed to gain access to media, establishing relations with them, for a media center, production facility in the community. They have ideas for developing low power FM community radio, a writers and bloggers network and other ways of getting word out locally and nationally. Committee will develop a basic proposal to be shared with Resource Committee for the different components of the work to by done.

Language Access Translation equipment, stipends for translators are needed… Committee will develop a basic proposal to be shared with Resource Committee for the different components of the work to by done. Committee will develop a basic proposal to be shared with Resource Committee for the different components of the work to by done.

Documentation and Evaluating Process Need to begin the process early, first by determining key issues to be evaluated. This whole process will be useful as well for reporting to funders and major donors. Committee will develop a basic funding proposal for the different components of the work to by done.

Outreach “speed dating”

COMMUNICATIONS

Outreach:

Tammy- what we noticed last time, we need to separate tech from communications. Have a clear process of how to develop materials, who generates them, takes them into design…how much should we do as outreach, how much should tech do, comm….and how to get it linked up in the creation line. We need a cleaner division of labor

Second- where is communications working group at now, who is in it, do they need support…

Our goals- to have predominant participation of p.o.c lower income, arab peoples, LGBT, etc Goal of 30,000 turn out, half Detroit based. Getting cards and flyers out to people.

Concentrate on- groups convergences, non internet, also committees….each NPC member where located could start outreach committee to mobilize numbers to Detroit

We want to track, with a calendar about major events to makes sure USSF presence is there.

Also want to track who is coming, regions, sectors, who is planning pre USSF meetings… Issue or sector specific gatherings?

Ex- previously incarcerated family picnics before hand, Chinese labor forces gatherings…

We want a visual way of tracking these things to let people know. Also track who is talking to whom, who is outreaching to whom. Some of this is internal to us, some external. All could even be external.

Re: movements, marches coming through here, we want to know where they are so USSF folks can go and join them there.

Commications:

Josue- The work of this group is for you to tell us what you need. What we need from you is content, what do you want to say, language for the different groups, etc. On our end, we work with tech to create mechanisms. Like flyers easy to obtain, etc. In terms of where the working group is…center for media justice will be a co-chair. Wanting another co-chair. Left turn is a possibility for national co-chair. We are IDing a staff person to be local in Detroit, one National one Local. Their job will be recruitment. We need more help if you have folks with that kind of skills

Tammy- Baker center may donate strategy and online person to help with that process

Josue- Your goal list, will help us. Thinking of the materials, kinds of wordings, numbers, ongoing conversation. How you are thinking about your goals, how we support them.. Definite need for tracking system, more for Tech. Also the calendar more for Tech.

Jackie- we focused on media outreach and division of labor between working groups, figuring out alt and mainstream media strategy and resources for doing that.

Joel- maybe every two weeks we can meet and coordinate

LANGUAGE ACCESS

Language:

If you know interpreters that would be helpful!

Outreach:

Steph- FAQs- an outreach, organizing kit is being developed. Can we send interpreters to you? We have high needs for interpretation. We will need the toolkit translated.

Tammy- things to ask folks to take care of task wise: what is the ability of language access to help translate our materials. Once we create them, work with tech and design, can we send them to you or should we figure out translation. What are the parameters of language comm.? Just at the forum or in this process?

Danielle/Language:

The bulk of it is at the forum. Now, where you can translate your stuff, if you have the capacity, do it. Where you can’t , you can send it to us and we can figure it out. But we don’t have a ready army of translators.

Tammy- are you making a proposal for which official languages we’ll have?

Language:

We ask you that, based on who is coming and who will be outreached to. That’s the difficulty. If your organization has interpreting, they can get free perks, housing, etc. Last time we had Spanish, sign language, and Cantonese. We would like from you a sense of who would come. And we want to set up interpreter training, specifically here, so social justice based translators and interpreters can get into the process.

Danielle/Language:

We would want to connect with the locally based translators, especially if they do social justice, court justice, interpretation, we can connect with them.

Tammy/Outreach:

What could be helpful, what were the ad-hoc arrangements made that allowed different languages and tiers of help to emerge? It would be good to lay that out so that we can know that these are the various ways that can be done as things arise.

Steph/Outreach:

I think its up to you to determine, based on numbers, who people will be coming from. Half will be from the Detroit region.

Marian/Outreach:

Peoples from the middle east, Spanish speaking peoples are present in the area. On the registration form they could indicate their languages.

Language:

But people register late, it can be hard to determine. Is there a strong organization that will come, have their own resources for a certain group, be able to translate and also support other efforts? That is the ideal situation

Outreach:

We’ll have to get back to you on that. We could encourage early registration for money, and logistical needs.

Language:

We need a local Detroit co-chair! Outreach, maybe you can help us with that. Especially from the other communities beyond Spanish, like the Arabic community. They could give a better lay of the land.

EVALUATION/Documentation WORKING GROUP

Evaluation:

Our main task is to document the process, up through the USSF and beyond, evaluate the processes, everything about what has happened to date. What are our main mechanisms for obtaining this info and how to present it back to outreach at quarterly intervals to help you do what you do, and have it on a continuous basis. That’s the long and short of our function. Big picture, working group evaluation, we weren’t thinking staff evaluation but NPC evaluation—their function, purpose.

We are discussing the main vehicle for gathering the data, talking to all, asking you all what the best way to do that is. Survey monkey on line, interviews of some sort, etc. May even review meeting minutes.

We haven’t gotten to methods quite yet, but thinking of the scope of things

Outreach:

Ahmina- do you need our help to grow the size of your committee?

Evaluation:

5-6 people are on it. We need more people. We also want some kind of liason so someone can sit in, connected to Outreach directly. Is there someone you can ID as your point person?

Outreach:

Tammy- It could change over time, but a certain group of questions that could be asked over time to monitor and check up on status, so that you could track progress. Survey for some might work more than interview.

Ahmina- we talked about our goal of 30,000 total, half from Detroit. Predominant participation of oppressed peoples, people of lower class, people of color, LGBT, arab peoples.

Send out evaluative measures that we can use to track also.

We can send a clear map of our goals to help this out, as a larger mapping, so NPC can decide, and can determine what of this is up to Outreach to make it happen.

Many tasks tend to get thrown to outreach, but we can’t do it all. There needs to be clearer lines.

Many things fall into the possibility of being outreach, but it is that and a separate entity. We need to decide how many things outreach can actually track, and what would be outreach subcommittees. Like outreach/womens groups or outreach/international groups, for example.

INTERNATIONAL WORKING GROUP

Outreach:

Our goal is to bring in 30,000 folks, half from the Detroit region. Predominantly oppressed, low income people of color, Arab peoples, LGBT, etc. Unorganized groups, people from the community who are not of particular organizations.

International issues fall into outreach and into separate group. So we need to think of differentiation, and even regional conversations, considering Canada and Mexico for example. Especially due to border travel back and forth, without thinking of them as a separate entity.

Whatever is happening on the global level in terms of assemblies, may be a separate date, to know what thoughts are, mechanisms, communication…We’ll be developing from the context here, but there are some things to think about.

For us, we want to know, who is doing international outreach? Which orgs? Who through which networks? How much official outreach would your group do? Will this working group do? What is your potential in this? In some ways you could be an outreach subgroup and we could coordinate.

International:

We didn’t think of doing the outreach ourselves, in the way that others do the workshops and not us, but they submit requests. So it wouldn’t necessarily be us doing the direct outreach.

Cindy- what we are clear with and want to develop, how to improve and build the relationship between the NPC and the IC. Looking for a opportunity for this interaction, and a Liason with the Quebec Social Forum as well (there are plans to travel there and network). It would be great to have the social movement assembly, PMA process, someone from program, so that if there is an idea around global organizing days, that that process get deepened when people are talking in October. What we won’t necessarily take responsibility for is outreach outside of the IC, we would delegate that to other organizations. We could do letters of invitation, tracking, helping with resources. International solidarity fund idea. We could help with speakers from elsewhere

This involves dialogue between the US and Internationally, solutions to crises, join action. Beyond logistics support for VISAs and such, the work of this committee with other groups, would be to focus on that global day of action connection to social movement assembly and IC, we would help with prioritizing and coordinating efforts between movements, how we can get them to come together for that global day/response to a crisis.

Outreach:

Is there a point person on the IC related to the Social Movement Assembly?

International:

The relationship has been in tandem, folks on both efforts. The social movements are spearheading the strategy committee. Out of their proposals, the idea for global action day came

A Liason exists, organizers of other social forums, that want to specifically relate to the USSF. So inviting the NPC to the IC meeting can help so we can meet and exchange.

Outreach:

We would like a contact on the strategy committee, or insurance that someone from the PMA goes to Quebec to make that contact.

Also we could have an exchange with the USSF about the Belem experience.

International:

Cindy- potentially, people from the IC who are organizers of other forums and other folks are interested in figuring out how to be a resource to the organizing process. Whether that is the social movement assembly process or logistically, we have to figure that out. IC meeting is Oct 6-8, the social forum is from the 9-10th.

The Global Day of Action proposal from the IC:

The international council discussion in Morocco- there is no WSF next year, but a variety of other types happening in different spaces. A proposal from the strategy committee came out, from the left wing orientation, to focus on the idea that another solution to the crisis is possible. Given the location and strategic importance of this happening in the USA, a high point of 2010 could be bringing folks from all over to the USSF to have some sort of dialogue and action around the crisis. There is a proposal to the NPC to take it up, and in what form.

July 19-20 NPC Notes

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Contents

NOTES:

Regions in the US

Southeast:

SOUTHWEST

WEST COAST

NORTHWEST

OCCUPIED COLONIES

NORTHEAST/EAST

MIDWEST/GREAT LAKES

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