USSF

Back from the US Social Forum in Atlanta, and still with me is something many of us witnessed on the last morning, during the procession of people presenting resolutions and declarations in the Civic Center. It was a long line, and each person had only a minute or 2, facilitated by a couple people on the stage, who would approach a speaker and lightly touch her or him when the time was up. Mostly it was individuals. Two people, both indigenous, came to the mike, the woman spoke, and she was followed by a man, an indigena from Ecuador.

On Saturday, I attended a “story-building” workshop at the Social Forum, sponsored by smartMeme and the Ruckus Society. The two facilitators, Liana Foxvog and Doyle Canning, were both affiliated with smartMeme's Strategy Training and Organizing Resources for Youth (STORY) board – a group with which my colleague Maryrose Dolezal (FOR nonviolence training coordinator) has worked closely.

It's Saturday morning, and I'm excited to attend multiple workshops and networking events today. I just left the Northeast Region morning gathering -- close to a hundred people trying to figure out how to keep the Social Forum process moving forward in our local communities, now that the national event is about to end. I attended about 20 minutes of the Southeast Region discussion before heading off to my own geographic area: it was exciting to hear that some cities have already taken this process and run with it (e.g., Boston).

Check out the wide range of photos tagged "ussf" on Flickr.

Here's a picture I took yesterday of Maryrose facilitating our Grassroots Civilian Diplomacy workshop:

Yesterday the FOR staff at USSF facilitated a workshop on Grassroots Civilian Diplomacy. We all had a great time and really enjoyed sharing our stories and perspectives.

Over the last two days, FOR staff members have been arriving in Atlanta and gearing up for an amazing week of learning, sharing, and connecting!

Arriving Tuesday was Maryrose Dolezal who leads our Peacemaker Training Initiative and Youth Nonviolent Youth Collective. She is now starting up our Grassroots Civlian Dimplomacy program, and was meeting with youth anti-war organizers late into last night!

Live from the U.S. Social Forum: it's hot here in Atlanta, but not as sticky as it was yesterday morning in New York City, when I left home at 6am. Mostly, the heat here seems to be emerging from the fire and passion of the amazing activists, organizers, artists, youth, and regular people who have come together to seek to build another world -- a peaceful, humane, nonviolent, and just world.

Many of my colleagues have been lamenting our inability to easily browse the list of workshops at the Social Forum. There is a complete list but you can't see the date until you click on the session title. After a little looking around I found this page that actually lists the sessions on a calendar.

FOR staff will participate in a number of workshops at the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta this week. They include:

• "Grassroots Civilian Diplomacy" (#4007) -- 6/28, 1-3pm, St. Luke's Episcopal Church -- Moira Birss, Maryrose Dolezal, John Lindsay-Poland, Ruby Sinreich, Ethan Vesely-Flad, Leila Zand: https://www.ussf2007.org/en/node/4006
• "Realities of War" (#2560) -- 6/28, 3:30-5:30pm, Westin Hotel (Atlanta Ballroom F) -- Maryrose Dolezal: https://www.ussf2007.org/en/node/2560
• "Writing for Peace and Justice Publications" (#3987) -- 6/29, 1-3pm, St. Luke's Episcopal Church -- Ethan Vesely-Flad: https://www.ussf2007.org/en/node/3987
• "No Military Bases workshop" (#1834) -- 6/30, 10:30am, Trinity United Methodist Church -- John Lindsay-Poland: https://www.ussf2007.org/en/node/1834

This Thursday, June 28th, several national staff from the Fellowship of Reconciliation will facilitate a workshop on the topic of grassroots civilian diplomacy at the U.S. Social Forum. Join us from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at St. Lukes Episcopal Church in downtown Atlanta to learn more about our work to end militarism in the United States, Latin America, and the Middle East.