Proposal for Cultural Integration at the 2010 USSF
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[edit] Bringing Detroit to the World: Proposal for Cultural Integration at the 2010 USSF
created by Ebony Golden, Carlton Turner, and Oya Amakisi
[edit] Background
At the 2003 World Social Forum in Brazil it was announced that the United States Social Forum was going to be in Detroit, Michigan. The world was excited about coming to Detroit. It is recognized as a city that has been impacted by powerful movements (labor rights/union, civil rights, Black Liberation Movement, etc…).
Technology was used as a way to make the WSF accessible to people could not go to Brazil. Activists accessed workshops/PMAs/plenaries through video conferencing. The goal is to make that happen at the USSF 2010. We want to bring Detroit to the world.
We want to show the amazing things that are happening in the city beyond Cobo Hall. There will be world class concerts at Hart Plaza, major activities at the Urban Tent Village in the heart of Detroit, urban gardens, bike hubs, etc...
We would like to make video conferencing/streaming accessible to groups and individuals, with emphasis on groups and community centers (schools, local libraries, community centers, churches, mosques, etc).
[edit] Guiding Question
How we can make this happen?
[edit] Proposed Actions
1. Large-Scale Story Circles during Plenaries:
Story circles activate the communal knowledge of the collective. We propose, that through large scale story circles, plenary participants have more space to share their ideas about pressing topics affecting Detroit, local communities and the world. Participants will have the opportunity to come out with one item that is a common struggle, item that unifies the group in about the future, or that informs the future. The goal is to move the plenaries beyond "lectures" to action-based spaces promoting individual and community transformation.
2. Multi-media for Social Change:
Media tools and sources can integrate people withing and beyond the USSF community. In order to reach, diverse learners, and Detroit community members who may choose not to attend USSF, let's activate open dialogue and exchange across multiple-mediums. Participants should be able to "tweet" responses to hot topics during pleneries, workshops and beyond creating virtual, real-time graffiti wall that everyone has access to on their mobile device, computer, etc. It would be awesome to have large screens set up in major meeting areas and plenary settings where the "tweets", facebook updates, etc can be viewed by the large audiene collectively. For those who don't have mobile devices, there should be several station, similar to the way mics are set-up for people to "tweet" through a communal Twitter or Facebook account.
We also propose, the use of film clips, music, real-time responses, video conferencing, skype conferencing, streaming to groups and community centers (schools, local libraries, community centers, churches, mosques, etc) to create and generate dialogue across the airwaves.
3. Speakers:
We propose that speakers expand presentations pass talking/lectures into integrated, participant-centered, action-based open dialogues. Each speaker should find one or more ways to highlight the communal knowledge in the room.
4. Low-tech:
Instead of having four panelists, why not have pre-recorded responses from USSF participants to also inform the conversation. We propose to have video booths and vlogs set up in different areas where participants can record responses and have them aired during the plenary sessions). Let's write the company that produces flip cams and see if we can get half off the cameras.
5. Opening Ceremony:
Build the logo- everyone gets a piece of the puzzle to add to building the 2010 USSF logo or a structure that has specific significance to Detroit.
6. Cultural/historical/political/green tours of Detroit. The Culture Committee proposes that artists perform at cultural venues throughout Detroit after events close at Hart Plaza.
Learning Exchanges for NPC and DLOC
We recognize that their are diverse schools of thought when it comes to social activism. We believe it is important to take time to learn the pedagogy of working and creating dialogue to show how cultural artists activists are doing the work of creating open dialogue through arts activism. We propose that Cultural Working Group work closely with NPC and DLOC in future months to exchange skills and dialogue more about how cultural arts can be infused into the culture of the 2010 USSF.
- Return to Program/Culture WG main page.
