Another Politics is Possible!

The symbol of our NYC delegation (props to Mildred!)

The Garment Worker Center in LA, INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Student/Farmworker Alliance, Sista II Sista, Center for Immigrant Families, Pachamama, Regeneración Childcare NYC, Critical Resistance NYC Freedom School, Harm Free Zone, Kitchen Table Collective, Left Turn Magazine, Catalyst Project, Sisterfire, and Refugio have come together to organize A TRACK of workshops highlighting our shared political commitments to grassroots revolutionary organization.

Some of the broad political principles that bring us together:

• The importance of non-hierarchical and collective leadership models.
• The concept of “intersectionality” and taking seriously the politics of race, gender and sexuality alongside class oppression.
• The idea that it is important to pre-figure the world we are trying to create, both in our politics as well as personal relationships.
• That all of the work we do on the local level in our communities is connected to a larger vision of social transformation.

"Another Politics is Possible" (APP) is the name of a NYC-based delegation to this week's US Social Forum (USSF) in Atlanta as well as the name given to a whole track of sessions (SEE BELOW) that will take place there...I hope you can come meet up with us!

Before sharing the complete list of sessions included in the APP track, I just want to say that this year's Allied Media Conference (AMC) was HOTTT! It was the AMC's first year in Detroit and, in spite of surely losing some attendance due to its proximity to the upcoming USSF, the program, people, and everything else were truly remarkable.

Whereas some conferences can feel like they are taking place on some other planet - totally disconnected from the place where they are being held - this one was firmly rooted in "the D." And, well, as it turns out that is a tremendous strength. From Detroit Summer in the youth wing, to elders in the struggle such as Grace Lee Boggs and Elena Herrada (keep an eye out for an interview with her following her trip to the Second Encuentro of the Zapatista Peoples and the People of the World at the end of July!), to unbelievably talented artists such as Invincible, Angela Jones, Finale, D. Blair, Versiz, and-Techno Legends-Underground Resistance...Detroit was out in force to take the AMC to a whole new level. Not to mention the true pleasure it was to bowl with Blackamazon and Lex, and build with a bunch of the other INCITE! folks: brownfemipower, fabulosamujer, a couple folks from UBUNTU!, and even more whose links I didn't get! This is just tip of the iceberg for what was so dope about this conference...

So you can see the AMC is stepping up it's game, right? Seriously, start making plans NOW to be at the AMC's 10th Anniversary installment next year!

Ok, ok...without further ado, here's the Another Politics is Possible Track at the USSF:

CAPSTONE SESSION (don't miss this!):
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“Another Politics is Possible: Living the Vision, from Below & to the Left”
Friday (29th) 10:30am-12:30pm
Georgia Ballroom East room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown
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AND the rest of the sessions:

THURSDAY, June 28
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History of US Imperialism and Resistance in the Middle East/West Asia
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Athena room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown
Sponsor: Left Turn

The Boarding School Healing Project
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Authors'/Writers' Lounge, Auburn Avenue Research Library
SPONSOR: INCITE!

Solidarity Organizing in the Movement to Rebuild New Orleans
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Room 1402 at the Westin Hotel
Co-sponsored: Catalyst Project

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers: Fighting for Fair Food
3:30pm – 5:30pm
Room 1403 at the Westin Hotel

Intergenerational organizing and the new SDS
[w/ Ashanti Alston, Betita Martinez]
3:30pm – 5:30pm
Sanctuary room at the Inman Park United Methodist Church.


FRIDAY, June 29
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*Another Politics is Possible*
10:30am - 12:30pm
Georgia Ballroom East room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel
Downtown

Movement at the Margins - An Artist's Response to Katrina
10:30am – 12:30pm
Cary-McPheeters Gallery Auburn Avenue Research Library
Sponsor: INCITE! Philadephia

Building in Context: Movements Across Generations
10:30am - 12:30pm
Mezzanine Left Room at Atlanta Civic Center
Co-sponsor: Catalyst Project

Teach Our Own- Activism Through Unschooling
10:30am - 12:30pm
Triangle Classroom room at the Inman Park United Methodist Church.
Sponsor: The Kitchen Table

Anti-Arab Racism and Islamophobia
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Atlanta Ballroom D room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown
Sponsor: Left Turn

Creating Alternative Responses to Violence Against Women of Color in the Sex Trade and Street Economy
1:00pm – 3:00pm
International C - Westin Peachtree
Co-sponsor: INCITE!

GI Resistance & Solidarity Movement Against War & Empire
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Choir Room at Trinity United Methodist Church
Co-sponsor: Catalyst Project

SATURDAY, June 30th
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How to Build a More Coordinated & Strategic Peace/Antiwar Movement?
10:30am – 12:30pm
Atlanta Ballroom H room at the Westin Hotel
Co-sponsor: War Resisters League

Independent Media & Movement Building
10:30am – 12:30pm
Balcony Left room at the Atlanta Civic Center
Sponsor: Left Turn

Saving Our Schools from Privatization: A Strategy Sharing Workshop
10:30am – 12:30pm
1st Floor Conference Room at the CARE
Co-sponsor: Left Turn

Allies at Intersections: Radical Solidarity
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Room 1402 of the Westin Hotel
Co-sponsor: Regeneración Childcare NYC

White Anti-Racist Organizing Visions & Strategies
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Room 1205 at the Westin Hotel
Sponsor: Catalyst Project

Revolution Will Not Be Funded Part I (panel)
1:00pm – 3:00pm
International E room at the Westin Hotel
Sponsors: INCITE!, Left Turn

Revolution Will Not Be Funded Part II (group activities)
3:30pm – 5:30pm
International E room at the Westin Hotel
Sponsors: INCITE!, Left Turn

Organizing Community Accountability in Communities of Color
-- open to people of color only --
1:00 – 3:00pm
Zeus Room, Atlanta Mariott
Co-Sponsors: INCITE!, CARA, Sista II Sista.

Organizing in the Shadow of Slavery: Domestic Workers, Farm Workers and Low-Wage Workers in the South
1:00pm – 3:00pm
International C room at the Westin Hotel
Co-sponsor: Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Post- Katrina New Orleans: Reconstruction & Rebuilding of a Police State
3:30 – 5:30pm
Mezzanine Center, Atlantic Civic Center
Sponsors: Critical Resistance NOLA & INCITE! New Orleans.

Exploring the Challenges of Organizations Led by People of Color
3:30pm - 5:30pm
Room 1204 at the Westin Hotel
Co-sponsor: Brotherhood/Sister Sol

Military Veterans Speak-Out on Practical Strategies to End War
3:30pm – 5:30pm
Room 1202 Westin Hotel.
Sponsors: War Resisters League, Catalyst Project, Iraq Veterans Against
the War.

CLOSING PANEL
Liberating Gender and Sexuality: Integrating Gender and Sexual Justice Across Our Movements
6:00pm - 9:30 pm - Atlanta Civic Center
co-sponsor: INCITE!

SPECIAL: Art Exhibition Running Through the Entire US Social Forum
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Luchadoras*Women Warriors*Mohila Joddha: a Photography and Storytelling Exhibit
by Center for Immigrant Families
Atlanta Taskforce for the Homeless Gallery Space
477 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta, GA 30308