A Pageantry of Protest
When I first arrived in Detroit on Friday the seventeenth of June 2010, I was amazed at the number of abandoned buildings. Everywhere I looked there were empty buildings and broken windows. The streets were desolate, a trickle of people here and there, maybe one person for every three blocks I walked.
As the Social Forum approached, I began to notice a substantial difference in the scenery. On the first day of the gathering, people from several different ethnicities and groups replenished the streets of Detroit, creating a colorful ambience -- a striking contrast to the dispirited atmosphere I had originally noticed. Activists, social groups and locals all came together to demonstrate and march in support of human rights issues like affordable or free healthcare, bringing the troops home from Iraq, a racist-free society, and many other causes. The atmosphere was hopeful yet purposeful, as people waved banners and carried coffins commemorating the lives lost in the global struggle for justice.
The protest then led to the Cobo Hall convention center, the enormous arena where the forum was taking place in downtown Detroit. Most people at the gathering shared a common interest, to share their knowledge and experiences while building upon the strengths of the many groups represented. Many of the workshops were filled to capacity, and throughout the forum it was difficult to find a vacant seat in the Cobo Hall's cavernous lobby. Small circles of people sat on the floor selecting workshops from their program guides, community journalists and bloggers huddled by electrical outlets to power computers and post their latest reports, youth groups rehearsed their chants as social justice activists reunited with friends and allies they had not seen since the last convergence.
The experience has been inspiring. Observing and socializing with people fighting for the same causes we fight for on a daily basis is not only reassuring, but a life-changing experience.
The US Social Forum 2010 has impacted me because through interviewing and talking to such incredible people, I am strengthening my beliefs and values. Just knowing that so many of us care about issues in our communities, issues often neglected or forgotten, provides the motivation to keep fighting and moving forward.
