From manski at greens.org Tue Jun 19 20:07:07 2007 From: manski at greens.org (Ben Manski) Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 19:07:07 -0500 Subject: [Corporations] [sdsussf] DEC Campaign Proposal Guidelines & Timeline Message-ID: <46786FAB.7050709@greens.org> FYI . . . Hey SDSers! The Democratizing Education Convention is happening this year in conjunction with the USSF. You can check out more information about the Convention on the Democratizing Education Network website www.democratizingeducation.org . SDS is hosting several workshops that will be a part of the Convention. At the Action Plenary (at the end of the Convention), participants will vote on campaign proposals for DEN to tackle in the upcoming academic year. If you're interested in discussing proposals via email before we macguyver our ways to Atlanta you should subscribe to the DEN listserve. You can do that by going here https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/democratizingeducation Below is more information on submitting a campaign proposal for those of you interested in doing so. See you all in Atlanta! _______________________________________________________________________________ Here are the guidelines and timeline for submitting a campaign proposal at the DEC. Most of this is the same format from the 1st Convention. However, because we are convening at the USSF, the timeline was changed to better fit the needs of DEC participants and organizers. If anyone has any questions or suggestions email the DEN listserve and we will work to make sure the process is accessible and effective for everyone! Feel free to post ideas for campaign proposals to the list before the Convention, so we can collaborate and debate on proposals to ensure that DEN can reach its potential this upcoming academic year. I will send out a full timeline for the Convention in the next couple of days. In Solidarity, Taylour *_2^nd Annual Democratizing Education Convention_* *Format for Submitting and Selecting Action or Campaign Proposals^1 * *I. Deadline for submitting proposals* The deadline for presenting proposals to the Democratizing Education Convention (DEC) is midnight Friday, June 29th. *II. Overview* Proposals may be submitted by individuals, organizations, or co-presented by a consortium of individuals or organizations. To facilitate circulation, discussion and debate about potential proposals before they are rejected or accepted by the DEC General Assembly there will be a sign-up sheet for proposal ideas available at the DEN table in the Democracy Tent. Parties interested in submitting a proposal should record their ideas on the sign-up sheet for others to see. Parties who record a proposal on the sign-up sheet are not required to submit it to the DEC General Assembly. Proposal ideas not recorded on sign-up sheet are still eligible for submission to the DEC General Assembly. All proposals should be reasonably succinct (one to two pages maximum) and include all information necessary for the DEC General Assembly to make an informed decision. While assuring freedom of speech, every effort shall be made to exclude insulting language, slander, hyperbole & innuendo. Proposals shall include the following: 1. The action, campaign or project to be considered by the Democratizing Education Network. 2. The names, organizational affiliations, and contact information of those submitting and presenting the proposal. */Note: There must be at least five contact people per proposal by its final submission at midnight on Friday, June 29^th /*(see schedule below). 3. The timetable anticipated for implementation. 4. Who will be accountable and responsible for the implementation. 5. How will the campaign be coordinated on a national scale? How will progress be measured and reported (for example, to a national coordinating committee). 6. What, if any, are the budgetary implications of the proposals adoption? 7. Any applicable references or sources. *III. DEC Proposal Format* DEC organizers propose the following proposal format to be utilized to the best of the presenters' ability: *PRESENTER INFORMATION *: (including organizational affiliations). *CONTACT *: Primary Presenters (name, address, phone number, email) *SUBJECT or TITLE *: (10 words or less) *EXPLANATION OF CAMPAIGN OR ACTION PLAN *: To include background (including past successes), objectives/goals, reasoning, description, etc. *PROPOSAL *: (What exactly do you want DEC Assembly participants and their respective organizations or schools to do?) *TIME LINE *: Period of implementation (When should your proposed action plan or campaign happen? When should it start? Should it end?) *RESOURCES *: What resources are needed to carry out your proposed action plan or campaign? *FOR FURTHER INFORMATION *: In the interest of keeping proposals as succinct as possible, please list sources of further information (such as campaign literature or websites) to aid in the decision making process of voting members. *IV. Schedule & Timeline * Wednesday, June 26 . 1:00 p.m. USSF commences and sign up sheet available at DEN table. Wednesday, June 26 through Friday, June 29. All proposals ideas recorded on sign up sheet at DEN table are available to the public for circulation, discussion and debate. Friday, June 29. Midnight. Deadline for submitting proposals. Saturday, June 30. Organizing Committee. All proposals will be available for viewing circulation at the Organizing Committee meeting. Saturday, June 30. Action Plenary. All proposals will be introduced to the DEC General Assembly for discussion and amendments. Revisions will be made during the Action Plenary. Presentation of final proposals including all amendments will be voted on by Paper Ballots at the end of the Action Plenary. (Paper ballots will be taken for record and can be reviewed upon request by any DEC Assembly member. They will include identifying information, such as name and/or organizational affiliation, for authentication purposes.) Paper Ballots will be counted directly after the Action Plenary. Saturday, June 30, 5:30 p.m. Closing Reception of Convention and announcement of results. Closing Reception will take place in the Democracy Tent. *V. Voting Rules * All members of the DEC General Assembly will get one vote (yes or no) for each action proposal. Delegates must be present at the DEC in order to vote. Members include all convention registrants. Decision shall be passed by majority vote. Multiple action proposal/campaigns can be adopted. An action proposal is considered adopted by the DEC and the Democratizing Education Network (DEN) if it receives an affirmation from the majority (50% + 1) of the General Assembly. Abstentions are not "votes" for purpose of action proposal decisions at the DEC. Ballots shall be counted by a committee of no less than three DEC organizers. Taylour Johnson Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution www.libertytreefdr.org -- Ben Manski Co-Secretary, Four Lakes Green Party of Dane County http://www.FourLakesGreenParty.org "We, the generation that faces the next century, can add the solemn injunction 'If we don't do the impossible, we shall be faced with the unthinkable'." ~ Petra Kelly See also: Wisconsin Green Party http://www.WisconsinGreenParty.org Green Party of the United States http://www.GP.org Liberty Tree http://www.LibertyTreeFDR.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.corporations.org/pipermail/corporations_corporations.org/attachments/20070619/7a043c91/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: DEC 2007 Campaign Proposal Guidelines.doc Type: application/msword Size: 32256 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.corporations.org/pipermail/corporations_corporations.org/attachments/20070619/7a043c91/attachment-0001.doc From manski at greens.org Thu Jun 21 18:43:10 2007 From: manski at greens.org (Ben Manski) Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:43:10 -0500 Subject: [Corporations] [SDI] Democracy at the U.S. Social Forum Message-ID: <467AFEFE.8050205@greens.org> *DEMOCRACY* *at the U.S. Social Forum* * *http://www.DemocracyTrack.org ** * * *THURSDAY, JUNE 28**TH*** */ /* */~ 10:30 am to 12:30 pm ~/**//* */ /* *Corporations and the Deterioration of Democracy: Reasserting Popular Sovereignty Over Corporations & Creating Democracy* /Corporations/ Room 1202 room at the Westin Hotel This session will discuss the tools used by the wealthy elite to execute their oppression of the masses and their subversion of democracy---constitutional level interpretations by the elite Supreme Court. the roots of imperialism and neoliberalism lie in our own country's governance structure. Primary sponsor:* *Sierra Club Confronting Corporate Power Task Force *Our Bodies, Our Water: Our Right to Safe Water and Health* /Corporations/ Socrates room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown This workshop will focus on raising awareness about "chemical body burden" and introduce specific strategies for claiming our right to safe water in the face of corporations that profit from polluting our bodies. Primary sponsor:* *Peoples Health Movement *Building a Democratic Movement* /Democratizing Education Convention/ Triangle Classroom at the Inman Park United Methodist Church This workshop will focus around how and why organizations on a state-wide level should come together democratically to build a movement without losing their own autonomy. Specific topics will include how to balance effective, speedy, decision-making power while preserving the autonomy of individual organizations and the individuals themselves. Primary sponsor: Students for a Democratic Society** * * *Education Against Empire* /Democratizing Education Convention/ Mezzanine Left room at the Atlanta Civic Center In this session, the Global Studies Association, would like to discuss some of our activities in studying and critiquing Empire, the current form of capitalism in its global moment. We would like to share some of our theories and research on the nature of globalization, its human and social costs, and how to resist and transform the system. Primary sponsor:* *The Global Studies Association *Voter Disenfranchisement: From the Voter Fraud/Voter ID Scam to Electronic Ballots/Touch-Screen Voting* /Elections & Voting Rights/ Room 1401 at the Westin Hotel Learn about the struggle to make sure that you get to vote AND that your vote is counted as cast. Panelists from the election integrity movement will detail the current threats to democracy from the use of "electronic ballot" technology, how these machines are used to disenfranchise voters en masse, and the movement to ensure a tabulated, accessible paper ballot for every voter, including voters with disabilities and minority language voters. Primary sponsor:* *Velvet Revolution. *Youth Power: Creating Change through Effective Political Participation: Part I* /Elections & Voting Rights/ Room 1207 at the Westin Hotel Our aims are that young people will gain an understanding of the political process and accountability mechanisms, preparation to insert their concerns and remedies in the 2008 election campaigns and encouragement to put concerns and remedies together as a political agenda. Primary sponsor: Southeast Regional Economic Justice Network *Moving the Movement in the U.S.* /Movement// Building/// Piedmont A at the Atlanta Civic Center This panel discussion will draw from the knowledge and experience from veteran organizers from various sectors within the U.S., including labor, women, youth, queer, economic justice, and environmental justice. We will talk about the challenges we will have to overcome to build a broad-based, national progressive movement within the context of an internationalist global justice movement. Primary sponsor: Grassroots Global Justice Alliance * * *The Democratic Arts: Tools of Social Change * /Movement// Building/ Auditorium Back Left room at the Atlanta Civic Center Our workshop is designed to equip participants with an understanding of the democratic arts, the tools for practicing them, and their application to social change. The ideas we want participants to take away relate to demythologizing the Constitution and questioning the widely held assumption that the U.S. is or ever has been a democracy. Primary sponsor: Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County *Defining Racism: Different Perspectives, Shared Goals* /Race & Democracy/ Delphi room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown Different anti-racism trainers/facilitators use different and sometime contradictory definitions of racism. However, since we are all working for the same goal - dismantling racism - we feel it is important that we have an open dialogue about our varying definitions; what, if any, is the impact on our work of using varying definitions; and how we can collaborate in spite of those differences. Primary sponsor: Baltimore Racial Justice Action (BRJA) */ /* */~ 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm ~/* */ /* *Creating a "Third Party" That Will Make the State Our Own* /Elections & Voting Rights/ Mezzanine Center at the Atlanta Civic Center This session directly addresses the impulse to build a unified movement, one that consciously employs "all available resources" in "educating others and ourselves." Moreover, a historical and internationalist perspective provides many potential answers to the question of what kind of unifying organization we need. Primary sponsor: Defenders Of Democracy *Voting Rights and Election Integrity Movements: Moving Forward Together* /Elections & Voting Rights/ Magnolia Conference Room at the Days Inn Downtown This session is designed for people active in the voting rights and election integrity movements to come together to listen deeply to each other and build on our common goals toward a unified movement for true democracy in the U.S.. Primary sponsor: Velvet Revolution *Visioning Toward Democratic Global Governance* /Global Democracy/ Dogwood Conference Room at the Days Inn Downtown Our biggest challenge is to overcome the legacy of Bush unilateralism, militarism, and imperialism. Our proposal: To create momentum toward a post-Bush era that both practices and celebrates Earth Community. Primary sponsor: Coalition for World Parliament & Global Democracy * * *Holding the U.S. Accountable for Racial Discrimination Against Native Americans* /Race & Democracy/ Zena room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown The United States has filed its Periodic Report with the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination Committee and is slated to be examined by the Committee next spring. This workshop will review previous CERD Conclusions and Recommendations to the United States with regard to Indigenous Peoples, the standards applied to States by the CERD Committee, and the issues that might be presented to the Committee by Indigenous Peoples in the U.S.. Primary sponsor: Intern. Indian Treaty Council. */~ 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm ~/* *1st Steps in Dismantling Corporate Rule* /Corporations/ Mediterranean room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown This introductory workshop teaches the history and context for corporate power and will help participants to take the "1st Steps" necessary to reclaim our democracy from corporations. After an initial presentation, we will facilitate a series of focused discussions and small and large group exercises. Primary sponsor: Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County *Campus Organizing Roundtable* /Democratizing Education Convention/ Mezzanine Center room at the Atlanta Civic Center Higher education is in crisis, but those with the most to lose and the most to gain don't share knowledge, experience and resource enough. This roundtable will therefore provide a unique, much needed opportunity to strengthen our ties and build a movement to make education something that really is of, by and for the people. Primary sponsor: Democratizing Education Network *Intergenerational organizing & the new SDS*** /Democratizing Education Convention/ Sanctuary room at the Inman Park United Methodist Church This panel will talk about the dynamics of intergenerational organizing - and how they relate to race, gender, class, and sexuality - and one national project that is making intergenerational organizing a reality for hundreds of people across the country: The new Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and it's sister organization Movement for a Democratic Society (MDS). Primary sponsor: Students for a Democratic Society *Access to Higher Education: Breaking Down the Barriers* /Democratizing Education Convention/ Atlanta Ballroom D room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown Access to higher education goes beyond facts, figures, and financial aid. This workshop will examine a comprehensive campaign addressing all barriers to higher education. Participants will learn how immigration, the war, racism, sexism, homophobia, and reproductive rights are all access issues. Primary sponsor: United States Student Association *Defending Democracy from Corporate Theft** & **Restoring People-Powered Elections*** /Elections & Voting Rights/ Second Floor Meeting Room at the Central Library Goal: To end US oppression worldwide, US citizens need to re-take control of their government, which begins with citizen-run, monitored and supervised elections. This workshop will present discussions with those involved in election reform, listen to workshop attendees election experiences & voting system problems, envision a revitalized, engaged voting public and strategize methods of making that vision a reality. Primary sponsor: Defenders of Democracy * * *Colonialism in the United States* /Global Democracy/ Room 1404 Westin Hotel We are planning a panel event to discuss colonialism within the United States. Each panelist brings with them an experience with a form of colonialism. Primary sponsor: Green Institute *Creating Democracy: Infrastructure for Revolution in the U.S.* /Movement// Building/// Atlanta Ballroom B at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown In this workshop we will discuss what structures ( in addition to non-profits) can work to create fundamental social change in the U.S.. Drawing on the democratic traditions and lessons of the civil rights movement, women's liberation, and anti-nuclear movement, and recent examples from affinity groups of the anti-globalization movement, we will look at what an alternative organizing model and practice for revolution in the US could look like that is based on socially just, grassroots, small group democracy. Primary sponsor: Rural Organizing Project *Direct Action Skills and Tactics Track* /Movement// Building/ Small Dining Room at the Task Force for the Homeless The Ruckus Society is collaborating with Art in Action, Midnight Special Legal Collective, and smartMeme/STORY to provide a direct action skills and tactics track at the US Social Forum. Primary sponsor: The Ruckus Society * * *Through the Lens of Culture* /Race & Democracy/ Second Floor Gallery D at the Hammonds House This workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to develop shared definitions of key concepts in cross cultural effectiveness. It will also focus on assessing organizations. Using case studies of institutional oppression as a catalyst, we will focus our conversation on dismantling oppression at the structural and institutional level. Primary sponsor: Oakland CAN *Undoing Racism/ Community Organizing: An Anti Racist Solution for Building a Movement toward Social Transformation and Equity* /Race & Democracy/ International F room at the Westin Hotel After these sessions, participants will begin to have a collective understanding of the imbalance of power, understand the relationship between poverty, power, and wealth, and how it relates to the foundation of racism, and be able to distinguish the differences between racism, diversity, prejudice, discrimination, and other terms use interchangeably as racism. Most important participants will understand the importance of how accountable community organizing is key to building an antiracist, multicultural movement for social transformation and equity. Primary sponsor: The People's Institute for Survival & Beyond *FRIDAY, JUNE 29**TH*** */~ 10:30 am to 12:30 pm ~/* *Ending Corporate Personhood* /Corporations/ Fellowship Hall room at the Trinity United Methodist Church Is a Corporation a Person? The Supreme Court says yes. When corporations wield legal rights in the U.S. Constitution, it undermines our democracy and actually allows corporations to rule. Corporate rule effects all aspects of our lives and every social justice and environmental issue. Primary sponsor: California Center for Community Democracy *Creating the Local Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots* /Local Democracy/ Room 1208 room at the Westin Hotel Something powerful is building in cities, towns and neighborhoods across the USA. Citizens who may not consider themselves environmentalists are organizing in their communities for local change that promotes green principles and "localization". Primary sponsor: Global Exchange */~ 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm ~/* *A Free University In A Free Society* /Democratizing Education Convention/ First Floor Room at the Prince Hall Masons Grand Lodge The purpose of this session would be to discuss the real meaning of a slogan we've been throwing around for a while. Sure, it sounds hella cool, but what would "A Free University in a Free Society" actually look like? Primary sponsor: Students for a Democratic Society *Empowering Student Democracy* /Democratizing Education Convention/ Room 1208 at the Westin Hotel This panel will be address participatory democracy across the americas and specifically focus on how students can translate participatory democratic experiments to their campus in order to improve. Primary sponsor: Global Exchange *Don't be Afraid to Vote for Third Parties* /Elections & Voting Rights/ Mezzanine Left at the Atlanta Civic Center The session will be a small group discussion about the importance of voting for what we want, rather than voting for the less objectionable ruling class candidate. We will provide handouts about important social justice issues, and will seek to establish long-term connections among socialist and other progressive groups that are represented in the session. Primary sponsor: Peace and Freedom Party *What is Local Democracy? Building from the Bottom Up for Political Power* /Local Democracy/ Sparta room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown This session will be an introduction to the Local Democracy movement, and will engage participants by starting to explore a few of the submovements that compose it. Specifically this session will feature speakers with experience in direct legislation, home rule, community wealth creation, and community empowerment and antiracism. Primary sponsor: Liberty Tree *Corporate Control of Hip Hop * /Media Democracy/ Library room at the Trinity United Methodist Church This ground breaking audio, visual, and lecture presentation invites attendees to share in a full sensory exploration of the role Hip-Hop plays in shaping the culture of mass media information dissemination. The purpose of this Capitol Resistance presentation is to give provocative insight on the inner workings of the music industry - by analyzing its pivotal role in shaping recent world history. Primary sponsor: Green Institute *Media Justice Scenario: Imagining the (Un)-thinkable* /Media Democracy/ Room 1203 at the Westin Hotel The purpose of this panel is to imagine the (un)thinkable -- to push the boundaries of current research on social, political, and technological changes in media, in order to further understanding of the potential implications of the changes in the media. The discussion will suggest possible strategies for a more favorable scenario. Primary sponsor: The Media Justice Fund of the Funding Exchange *A Little Revolution from time to time . . . Democratizing the Constitution for social change in the U.S.A.* /Movement// Building/ Sanctuary room at the Inman Park United Methodist Church This session will take another approach in addressing the possibilities for deep social change in U.S.A.. We will take an open-eyed look at the reality of a Constitution that was, from the get-go, a class compromise. Then we'll take a look back at constitutional change throughout U.S. history, and at the recent constitutional processes in Latin America. We'll wrap with an engaged group discussion regarding what it will take to democratize the U.S. Constitution. Facilitators include Greg Coleridge, George Friday, Ben Manski, and Virginia Rasmussen, with guest presentations by Venezuelan academic Edgardo Lander and Nation writer John Nichols. Primary sponsor: Program on Corporations, Law & Democracy *Summit** on Independent Politics* /Movement// Building/ International G room at the Westin Hotel The primary purpose of the IPPN Summit is to provide time for discussion, debate and sharing of perspectives concerning electoral work in the USA and its relationship to other forms of organizing. */~ 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm ~/*** * * *The Higher Education Crisis: From Resistance to Democratization!* /Democratizing Education Convention/ Auditorium - Fourth Floor room at the Auburn Avenue Research Library This session will feature both facilitated discussion and some prepared presentations. It will ask and address the question of how the crisis in higher education can not only be resisted, but used as an opportunity to change our universities and colleges into truly accessible, public, welcoming, and democratic institutions. Presenters will include represenatives of the AAUP, USSA, DEN, Liberty Tree, AFT, and the Venezuelan student movement. Primary sponsor: Democratizing Education Network *Voter Organizing for People Who Hate Voting* /Elections & Voting Rights/ Sunshine Class room at the Trinity United Methodist Church Whatever the cause you represent year-after-year, when election time rolls around use your numbers to swing or win elections. Learn the importance of using your networks to create strong voting blocs and convincing them of their power. In this session, get hands-on experience figuring out how to create voter guides that address the needs of your community. Primary sponsor: The League of Young Voters *Participatory Budgeting: Community Control Over Public Money* /Local Democracy/ Apollo room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown This session will be an introduction to participatory budgeting and how it has been applied in Latin America and North America. Participatory budgeting is a process in which city residents directly decide how part of a municipal or public budget is spent. Primary sponsor: Liberty Tree *Creating a Culture of Democracy* /Movement// Building/ Second Floor Meeting Room at the Central Library Envision a United States with a functional democracy, a system of self-government that repects human rights and values, the environment and sustainable development. Primary sponsor: Defenders of Democracy *SATURDAY, JUNE 30**TH*** */~ 10:30 am to 12:30 pm ~/* *Trading Water, Trading Democracy* /Corporations/ Library room at the Trinity United Methodist Church We will expose and emphasize how democratic water governance is at risk under neo-liberal financial and market-driven trade policies. One of the biggest challenges the U.S. movement for "fair" trade faces is to shift the discussion from economics and trade to governance and democracy. Primary sponsor: Alliance for Democracy *Got Democracy? - Changing Felon Disenfranchisement Laws to Change Power* /Elections & Voting Rights/ Room 1402 at the Westin Hotel The Got Democracy? workshop will build power with and develop the tools necessary for people directly impacted by felon disenfranchisement laws to effect policy change on the state level. Primary sponsor: Got Democracy *Asserting Community Rights: Local Campaigns to Challenge Corporate Rule* /Local Democracy/ Azalea Conference Room at the Days Inn Downtown We will engage participants through telling the story of Measure T in Humboldt County; throughout the workshop we will use that experience as a reference point. We will use a variety of formats to facilitate attendees applying the content to their communities, including small group discussion, brainstorming, and role-plays. Primary sponsor: Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County *Race, Property and the Commons* /Movement// Building/ Athena room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown Things that were once clearly commons or shared things are fast being turned into property and privatized. Our workshop will connect issues of Race, Property, and the Commons. We envision a lively, participatory conversation with on-your-feet activities, deep inquiry into root causes, with plenty of time to explore strategy. Primary sponsor: The Program on Corporations Law and Democracy *Participatory Budgeting: Making it Work for the U.S. * /Local Democracy/ Achilles room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown This session will strategize how to implement participatory budgeting in the U.S.. Participatory budgeting is a process in which city residents directly decide how part of a municipal or public budget is spent. After being pioneered in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, participatory budgeting has spread to hundreds of cities around the world. Primary sponsor: Institute for Policy Studies */ /* */~ 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm ~/* *Power Shifting: From Corporate Rights to Sovereign Communities* /Corporations/ Library room at the Trinity United Methodist Church Free trade is neo-colonialism on a global scale and immigration and outsourcing (jobs and factories) is a disruption of community and displacement of people world-wide in general and, therefore, unsustainable in regard to people and nature. We will focus on reframing the discussion toward how to build a movement for a "People's Trade Agreement" that respects the rights of communities and nature which is rights-based rather than free vs. fair trade both part of the same regulatory approach. Primary sponsor: Alliance for Democracy *Democratizing Education Network Action Plenary* /Democratizing Education Convention/ Lenox room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown During this session, members and prospective members of the Democratizing Education Network (DEN) representing a variety of diverse constituencies nationwide will come together to discuss, decide on, and coordinate upcoming activities. *Militant Student Unionism in the U.S.* /Democratizing Education Convention/ Conversation Pit room at the Central Library This will be a session on the state of student associations across the U.S.A. and some basic steps we can take to make them more militant and more democratic. Note: Watch the Democracy Tent postings for this session to be rescheduled. Primary sponsor: Coalition for Students Power *Elections for Radicals* /Elections & Voting Rights/ Centennial Ballroom A room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown Current U.S. elections are profundly undemocratic, and if we want to ensure that people are able to participate in a meaningful way in making the decisons that affects their lives then we must demand fundamental reforms of the election process. Presenters include Bill Fletcher, Adrienne Maree Brown, Medea Benjamin, David Cobb, and Jose Angel Gutierrez. Primary sponsor: Liberty Tree *Pushing Back: Building Electoral Power among Low-Income Communities of Color* /Elections & Voting Rights/ 5th Floor Conference Room at the CARE This session will introduce the Pushback Network to the wider group of participants at the Forum and engage participants in dialogue about how civic engagement strategies can and should be integrated into long-term politically conscious organizing work. Primary sponsor: Pushback Network *People's Tribunal on Global Corporations: Building a People's Law Movement* /Global Democracy/ Room 1204 room at the Westin Hotel This is a People's Law Tribunal designed to highlight the way existing courts project corporate power and not people's justice. Primary sponsor: CIPA-APEX *News for the People: How Corporate Media Consolidation Crippled Black Politics & How to Effectively Fight Back* /Media Democracy/ Authors/Writers Lounge room at the Auburn Avenue Research Library The purpose of this workshop is to demonstrate how corporate consolidation of Black-oriented commercial radio has led directly to the current crisis of leadership in Black America and contributed mightily to social disorganization in African American communities. We will propose specific strategies to enable communities to force owners to establish news departments at every Black-oriented outlet in their market. Primary sponsor: Black Agenda Report * * *The Crisis in US Media and the Growing Movement for Media Democracy* /Media Democracy/ Room 1203 room at the Westin Hotel A panel of US and international journalists and activists will discuss the successes and challenges of the current independent media movement in the US. Primary sponsor: Between the Lines Radio *F*&k! the Police: Why Hip Hop doesn't cooperate w/Law Enforcement Agencies* /Movement// Building/ Large Dining Room room at the Task Force for the Homeless Give a clear analysis of why folks within the hip hop community and youth do not, and should not voluntarily cooperate with law enforcement agencies. We are not encouraging anyone to break the law, but rather to exercise their constitutional rights. Primary sponsor: National Hip Hop Political Convention *White Privilege as Benefit, Identity, or Social Control? Exploring the Fault Lines Between Race and Class* /Race & Democracy/ Sanctuary at the Trinity United Methodist Church We want to point out that the "race problem" in the US is a white problem, and that the focus of this workshop is the white race, not Black people or other people of color. Primary sponsor: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta, Ga *Justice, Democracy & Truth: The Greensboro Truth & Reconciliation Process* /Race & Democracy/ Cary-McPheeters Gallery room at the Auburn Avenue Research Library In Greensboro, NC, on November 3, 1979, in the absence of a dissuasive police presence, Klansmen and Nazis killed five labor organizers and wounded ten others at an anti-Klan rally sponsored by the Communist Workers Party. This workshop will be made up of presenters including community members and survivors of the who initiated and worked with the independent truth and reconciliation commission. *//* */~ 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm ~/* *Democratizing Education Network Steering Committee Meeting* /Democratizing Education Convention/ First Floor Room at the Prince Hall Masons Grand Lodge Come to the DEN Steering Committee meeting, find out what the DEN is up to, and find out how your campus or community organization can get involved. *Uniting for Democracy: Unifying And Growing the Voting Integrity Movemen* /Elections & Voting Rights/** Second Floor Meeting Room at the Central Library The Voting Integrity movement nationwide has been divided over solutions to restore transparent elections to the nation, yet for the sake of preventing fascism, we should be able to unite around core principles. Primary sponsor: Defenders of Democracy * * *Click Your Heels Three Times: Fair Trade Means Another World is Here!* /Global Democracy/ Room 1208 room at the Westin Hotel Panelists will discuss how farmers around the world have united to build people's power in the face of corporate-driven globalization and how some farmers have completely turned the status quo on its head by owning their own brands. Primary sponsor: Global Exchange *Local Democracy: Changing National & International Policy at the Local Level* /Local Democracy/ Conversation Pit room at the Central Library The workshop will consist of a short panel, laying out existing frameworks and examples of municipal foreign policy, at home and abroad. We will then quickly become a roundtable with brainstorming around: 1. your experiences with locally-based national and international policy-making 2. vehicles for change 3. engaging existing efforts 4. possibilities for new avenues. Primary sponsor: Institute for Policy Studies *Does one corporation own all the black radio stations in your town?* /Media Democracy/ Auditorium - Fourth Floor at the Auburn Avenue Research Library Participants will learn how institutionalized racism and the corporate takeover of the media has harmed us all, having done the most harm to Black urban communities across the country. Primary sponsor: National Black Coalition for Media Justice *Hip-Hop: From Exploiting to Liberating?*** /Movement// Building/ Front Area room at the Atlanta Civic Center Presentation of a workshop that will train young people from the hip hop generation on organizing through the use of Hip Hop Culture as a tool of resistance against injustice and oppression. The workshop will include shared successes and failures in hopes that attendees can and will learn from one another. Primary sponsor: National Hip Hop Political Convention *A Democracy Movement for the U.S.A.* /Movement// Building/ Centennial Ballroom B room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown A survey of the Democracy Track, featuring Rep. Cynthia McKinney, John Nichols, Sergio Sanchez, Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, Rev. Lenox Yearwood, moderated by Ben Manski. Campaigns to democratize elections, education, communities, work, law, media, culture, and many other areas of society are well underway. And a good thing too: We might survive by demanding table scraps, but we'll only thrive once we run the kitchen. Primary sponsor: Liberty Tree -- Ben Manski LIBERTY TREE Foundation for the Democratic Revolution http://www.LibertyTreeFDR.org/ "If ye love wealth better than liberty . . . may your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." ~ Samuel Adams -- Ben Manski Co-Secretary, Four Lakes Green Party of Dane County http://www.FourLakesGreenParty.org "We, the generation that faces the next century, can add the solemn injunction 'If we don't do the impossible, we shall be faced with the unthinkable'." ~ Petra Kelly See also: Wisconsin Green Party http://www.WisconsinGreenParty.org Green Party of the United States http://www.GP.org Liberty Tree http://www.LibertyTreeFDR.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.corporations.org/pipermail/corporations_corporations.org/attachments/20070621/979c4993/attachment-0001.html