[statecom-discuss] Re: [IPPN] Making History in Atlanta

[Mike Heichman]

Ted Glick wrote:

>
> Future Hope column, June 16, 2007
>
> Making History in Atlanta
>
> By Ted Glick
>
> Experience shows that history, like nature, does not move in a linear 
> way, in a straight line. It is characterized by long periods of time 
> when, on the surface, little seems to be changing. Then, all of a 
> sudden, big changes can happen, much more quickly than anyone thought 
> possible.
>
> We are facing this reality in a negative sense with the transcendent 
> issue of climate change. The hard truth of the matter is that we are 
> in great danger of experiencing soon, within years, not decades, a 
> "climate snap," a shift from the general climate reality the world has 
> been experiencing for the past 10,000 years, to one characterized by 
> freakish, violent and persistent major storms, spreading drought and 
> wildfires, extensive plant and animal species extinction, water 
> scarcity and crop failures on a massive scale, and accelerated sea 
> level rise.
>
> This is what the world scientific community is telling us. The rapid 
> heating up of our atmosphere, caused primarily by the burning of 
> fossil fuels, is the evidence which leaves no room for doubt.
>
> There is one thing and one thing only which will give us a chance of 
> avoiding this climate hell: the emergence of a massive, grassroots 
> popular movement the likes of which the world has never seen, one 
> which forces the U.S. government and the governments of the world to 
> enact a justice-based, clean energy revolution.
>
> There are many signs that such a movement is being born. The most 
> recent and most significant was what happened on April 14th when Step 
> It Up day saw 150,000 or so people take part in actions in all 50 
> states, in over 1,400 localities, demanding that Congress move to 
> legislate an 80% cut in carbon emissions.
>
> Another sign is the coming together of 40 organizations so far behind 
> a call for "No War, No Warming" actions this fall. From October 21-23, 
> in Washington, D.C., thousands if not tens of thousands of people will 
> converge. On Tuesday the 23rd, we will take nonviolent direct action 
> in our nation's capital in a grassroots intervention to break our 
> government's addiction to war and fossil fuels. A solid cross-section 
> of experienced and younger activists has come together and is working 
> hard to make this needed action a reality.
>
> And then there is the U.S. Social Forum (USSF), beginning in a week 
> and a half in Atlanta, Ga. on June 27th.
>
> The slogan of the USSF sums up the vision: "Another World Is Possible. 
> Another U.S. Is Necessary." 10,000 or more people will come together 
> at the Atlanta Civic Center for many hundreds of workshops on a wide 
> range of topics. There will be evening plenaries, a film festival, 
> information tents and tables, cultural performances, art exhibits, 
> poetry slams, rallies and actions, a soccer tournament, an all night 
> carabet, parties and more.
>
> It is truly an event not to be missed.
>
> Great credit must be given to the heroic work of those who have 
> labored so long and so hard to put this event together. There is much 
> that we all have to learn from them about how they did so.
>
> A document posted at the USSF website, www.ussf2007.org, "The Road to 
> Atlanta," by Michael Leon Guerrero, Tammy Bang Luu and Cindy Wiesner, 
> explains the process which has made possible a successful social forum.
>
> The process prioritized three key approaches: basing the organizing 
> upon grassroots groups rooted in communities of color; insuring that 
> the forum consciously helped to build a popular movement and not just 
> an event; and integrating an internationalist approach into the 
> organizing.
>
> Outreach and organizing has taken place around the country: the 
> Southeast and the Southwest in particular, both of which held regional 
> social forums last year, as well as the Midwest, the Northeast, the 
> West, Northwest and the Rocky Mountains/Plains region. A successful 
> D.C. Metro social forum was held this spring.
>
> Outreach has also led to the inclusion of the AFL-CIO and the Service 
> Employees International Union on the USSF National Planning Committee, 
> and outreach has been taking place to faith-based organizations, to 
> women's organizations, the peace movement, lgbt organizations and 
> environmental groups.
>
> A key aspect of how the USSF has drawn in such a wide range of 
> constituencies is by allowing space for those who want to participate 
> in the forum to self-organize. The heart of the event is the daytime 
> workshops, 900 of them, and these are being put together by those 
> groups which are attending and which want to conduct workshops.
>
> Many groups have organized themselves to provide a space for 
> like-minded people to meet and network. One example is the Democracy 
> Track (www.democracytrack.org).  Forty organizations have joined this 
> initiative, groups working on independent politics, electoral reform, 
> grassroots democracy, corporate power, the schools, the media, water 
> rights and more.
>
> And it all begins in 11 days.
>
> The need for this event is profound. It is clear that the world needs 
> what can only be called revolutionary change, not in a pejorative, 
> narrow sense but in a very real sense. We need a revolutionary change 
> in where we get our energy and how we use it. We need a revolutionary 
> change in how we relate to our Mother, the Earth. We need a 
> revolutionary change away from the imperialistic and militaristic 
> methods of the U.S. government and to relations between peoples and 
> nations characterized by justice, truth-telling and respect. We need 
> fundamental changes in the way we do "democracy" so as to expand 
> people's choices at the ballot box. We need to redistribute power and 
> wealth to low-income and working class people, especially people of 
> color, those who have historically had little of either one.
>
> "Another World Is Possible. Another U.S. Is Necessary." Let's make it 
> so, and soon.
>
> Ted Glick is the coordinator of the U.S. Climate Emergency Council 
> (www.climateemergency.org) and works with the Climate Crisis Coalition 
> and the Independent Progressive Politics Network. His past Future Hope 
> columns are archived at www.ippn.org, and he can be reached at 
> indpol at igc.org.
>
> [This message sent using the IPPN Announce e-mail list.  You can join 
> this
> low-traffic email group on alternative politics by sending a blank 
> email to:
> ippn-announce-subscribe at topica.com You can unsubscribe by writing 
> ippn-announce-unsubscribe at topica.com
>
> To participate in a more active discussion of independent and third
> party politics, please send a blank email to:
> ippn-discuss-subscribe at topica.com
>
>
> --^----------------------------------------------------------------
> This email was sent to: mikeheichman at verizon.net
>
> EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1ddtL.bSjSxt.bWlrZWhl
> Or send an email to: ippn-announce-unsubscribe at topica.com
>
> For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit:
> http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER
> --^----------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>