United States Social Forum 2010: Another Detroit is happening

This week the U.S. Social Forum (USSF) convenes in Detroit, attracting thousands from all over the country, and the world, to participate in what some see as the biggest movement ever in the city. More than 20,000 people are expected to gather at Cobo Hall and various venues throughout the city for over 1,300 conferences, workshops, discussions and social events to strategize on solutions to make the world a better place.

The Forum is not a conference, a business or a nonprofit organization. According to one of its organizers it's “simply a gathering space created so people from all walks of life, all political backgrounds, for whatever's important in your community, you come and you can talk about it." Topics will include education, labor, environmental issues, economics, immigration and media, amongst many others.

Having the movement take place in Detroit is significant because Detroit has the highest unemployment of any major city in the 
country—23.2% (March 2009)—with nearly one in four Detroiters unable to find
 work.

And Detroit is representative of changes underway in other American cities. The things that made Detroit a community are closing or being taken away: Schools, jobs, fire departments, recreation centers and the list goes on.

Some of the events have an ecological and/or environmental justice theme to them, and are being coordinted through one of MLCV's allies, East Michigan Environmental Action Coalition (EMEAC), along with its three other anchor organizations — Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, Centro Obrero de Detroit, and Jobs with Justice. The groups hope to bring awareness, share information, discuss and analyze issues and come up with solutions to the multitude of problems facing Americans.

On June 26, the “Art Not Incinerators” event will bring together participants for a rally, march and mass demonstration to put an end to the world’s biggest waste incinerator, which happens to be in Detroit. The event hopes to highlight the dangers of incinerating trash and the policy solutions available to Detroit's City Government in ending its current implementation. According to EMEAC, burning garbage is one of the primary sources of cancer-causing dioxins in the world, while burning garbage for energy produces more climate pollution per unit of electricity than coal power plants.

EMEAC and the other participants encourage Mayor David Bing to utilize Zero Waste Detroit’s plan for green jobs – expanding curbside recycling throughout the city and ending incineration of Detroit’s trash. They note that over 90% of waste that is incinerated can be recycled or composted, generating more than 10 times the number of jobs than burning or burying these valuable resources. And, if all the waste buried or burned in the U.S. were to be recycled and composted, hundreds of thousands of long-term jobs could be created while reducing a massive toxic burden for some of the poorest communities in this country.

The World Social Forum was initially held a decade ago as a grassroots response to the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland. The first United States Social Forum was held in Atlanta in 2007.

-Posted by Mark Neisler

-Image courtesy of Evolve Detroit