Atlanta, GA to host first United States Social Forum in 2006

The Enough is Enough Project/Proyecto Ya Basta -
http://www.ENOUGHisENOUGH.de.vu has received the following announcement
from the United States Social Forum Planning Committee
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Atlanta, GA to host first United States Social Forum

The World Social Forum (WSF) model is spreading around the world and a
wide range of grassroots organizations and networks have just announced
the location of the first ever U.S. Social Forum (USSF) Atlanta, GA. In
January 2005 the WSF drew over 150,000 people to Porto Alegre, Brazil and
this year with a decentralized model of regional forums it is expected to
draw even more participants. 20,000 participants are expected to convene
during the summer of 2006 in Atlanta to build a broader national movement
for social justice around the world; the exact dates are yet to be
determined.

The USSF Planning Committee decided on the site on June 30th after an
extensive criteria-setting and selection process that looked at more than
a dozen cities across the U.S. In the final round of selections, full
proposals from San Francisco, Albuquerque, and Atlanta (including support
from local mayors and city councils) were considered before Atlanta was
chosen to be the host of the first USSF. All three proposals exhibited
inspiring commitments towards building a national progressive movement for
social and economic justice.

Atlanta organizers were thrilled that their city was selected. “The U.S.
South and especially Atlanta welcomes the opportunity to host the first
U.S. Social Forum at this critical juncture in the development of our
movement for social and economic justice” said Jerome Scott of Project
South, one of the lead organizations on the Atlanta host committee.

The planning group chose Atlanta because of its, and the U.S. South’s,
significance as the site of past and ongoing struggles for social and
economic justice. The South has been the site of the most determined and
consistent fights for black freedom, indigenous self-determination, and
working class emancipation. The South has also been a historically
exploited region that has restricted unions and deterred environmental
regulations, while creating a legal system that defended capitalism’s
right to exploit working people.

In an endorsement letter for Atlanta’s proposal, Atlanta Mayor Shirley
Franklin writes, “As the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King III, Atlanta
has a very proud history of promoting and celebrating human rights. It is
a history we continue to appreciate and build upon for the future. Serving
as the host city for the US Social Forum is a continuation of our legacy.”

Currently, the region is home to new immigrant-groups from Latin America,
Africa and Asia. Many of these new immigrants are political or economic
refugees whose situation is the result of corporate globalization and who
seek to find common ground in order to build a powerful movement for
social and economic justice. Planners hope that holding the USSF in
Atlanta will give space for the bottom-up movement building that has been
emerging throughout the region and that it will, in turn, significantly
impact the rest of the country.

“The US Social Forum is an important space for the people most affected by
neo-liberal policies in the U.S. to share and learn from each other's
struggles. Another world is possible and we must begin to envision it now”
said Scott.

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USSF Planning Committee: 50 Years Is Enough Network, American Friends
Service Committee, Commission for Religion in Appalachia, Community Voices
Heard, DARE, RI, Grassroots Global Justice, Indigenous Environmental
Network, Indigenous Women’s Network, Jobs With Justice, Just Transition
Alliance, Labor/Community Strategy Center, Listen, Inc., National Center
for Human Rights Education, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee
Rights, Native American Representatives for youth and Alaska, Native
Social and Civic Justice, Northwest Social Forum Representatives, NYC AIDS
Housing Network, Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, Project
South, Service Employees international Union (SEIU) Southwest Network for
Environmental and Economic Justice, Southwest Workers Union, Tennessee
Economic Renewal Network, United Students Against Sweatshops.


United States Social Forum
211 10TH ST. SW ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87102
505-247-8832
http://www.ussocialforum.org









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Zapatista strategies of organization and outreach provide an inspiring
example of radical social empowerment and movement building for grassroots
organizers, community leaders, and activists worldwide. The ¡Enough is
Enough! Project / Proyecto ¡Ya Basta! aims to spread the Zapatista
approach in North-American activist circles. Be active in the creation of
alternatives to a world where so many are exploited for the lifestyle of a
few. The future is unwritten… still!