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Dear Jobs with Justice activists,
National Jobs with Justice is asking us to get together a delegation to attend the U.S. Social Forum June 27-July 1 in Atlanta. Information is below. We estimate that air fare, registration, and hotel will be in the $1,000 range.
Normally, we would be asking people to go to the National JwJ conference, but this Social Forum takes its place. Actually, it promises to be even more fun and doubly useful.
Please send your opinions. We'd also like to have the names of any possible candidates and how much of the $1,000 they should be able to raise. If possible, we'll apply for some of the limited scholarships for the rest. They want the scholarships to go toward making more diversity in the delegation. We have to know who's going before April 1, so please give this some attention soon!
Love & solidarity
Gene & Elaine
Plans are well underway for the first U.S. Social Forum to take place in Atlanta June 27-July 1st, and attendance is expected to be 5,000-15,000. The USSF will provide space to build relationships with other activists and movement building organizations in the U.S., learn from each other's experiences, share our analysis of the problems our communities face, and bring renewed insight and inspiration. It will help develop leadership and develop consciousness, vision, and strategy needed to realize another world. The USSF sends a message to other people's movements around the world that there is an active movement in the US opposing US Policies at home and abroad. We must declare what we want our world to look like and begin planning the path to get there. A global movement is rising. The USSF is our opportunity to demonstrate to the world Another World is Possible!
Jobs with Justice nationally is helping to organize parts of the USSF; JwJ is on the national planning committee for the forum, we are helping facilitate a labor working group, we are planning a series of workshops, Atlanta JwJ has proposed the major action that everyone will participate in, we are planning a party to take place during the Forum that will celebrate JwJ's 20th Anniversary, and most importantly, we are organizing a JwJ delegation to "be there". Since we have postponed our JwJ National Conference to 2008 and since we expect hundreds of JwJ activists to attend the Forum, we will use the USSF as an opportunity to do some sharing and thinking among our own network as well as the larger USSF.
Why should your coalition attend? Because we believe that the U.S. Social Forum will provide the space to:
1. Build relationships with other networks of movement building groups (national, regional, and local)
2. Share our model of coalition building and mobilization
3. Learn from other groups on how they approach their work
4. Gather JwJ staff, leaders, and activists to have discussions and planning on our continued campaign work - health care, immigrant rights, global justice, and organizing and bargaining campaigns.
5. Celebrate our 20th Anniversary as a network
6. Explore future actions and mobilizations with other groups who share our
vision.