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photo by Phil Shipman
Thank you to Kele Nkhereanye, a community gardener and activist, who represented East New York Farms! at the US Social Forum and brought back these lessons and inspiration for all of us
"From June 22-26, 2010, people from different parts of the world gather together for USSF2010
in Detroit. It was individuals, families, groups, and organizations discussing different ways to
fight for justice. The amazing part was thousands of like- minded people took time out of their
daily activities to come together from diverse communities based on their class, race, gender,
ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and age. WE WERE ALL FOCUSING ON HOW WE CAN
FIGHT OUR ENEMY CAPITALISM (GREED) AND LOOKING FOR POSSIBILITIES OF A
NEW WORLD WHERE HUMAN RIGHTS ARE RESPECTED.
As a participant of the USSF2010, my focus was on food justice, therefore I missed a lot,
but my objective in the report is to share some of the lessons learned. I am sure; everyone
who participated has stories to share too, considering the fact that there were over 1000
workshops, 30 People Movement Assemblies, cultural, indigenous, art expressions, a march,
work brigades, tours information, organizing around Arizona, and other activities which I may
not be aware of. All I can say, we all have to wait for the final report which published and made
available to everyone who is committed to JUSTICE FOR ALL.
LESSONS LEARNED
1. I was honored to represent East New York Farms (ENYF) in the USSF2010. I would
not have had this opportunity without the efforts of talented staff of ENYF, Sarita and
Anna who collaborated with Jessica the coordinator of New York City Delegation. Their
professional relationship and partnership worked magic with the staff of USSF to enable
me to travel to Detroit.
2. The New York City Delegation welcomed me with open arms. Our trip going and coming
back from Detroit was delightful, full of great conversations, and a lot of fun. It was like
we were old friends traveling together.
3. Our work brigade helped the community build the chicken coop. This is more rewarding
because we worked with the community members and we all learned the importance of
collaboration.
4. It is clear to me the organizers of USSF2010 selected Detroit for many reasons and
I was moved to see the presence of people of color in leadership roles during the
panel discussions. I was not sure what were objective of the forum organizers, but
it taught me that there is a possibility for another world if we empower all the people
of the world and respect their human rights. Also, I felt like being is Detroit was an
opportunity to learn firsthand impact of globalization. One can see Detroit, was a great
city, but the closure of the auto industry caused unemployment and people ended
up losing their homes, that is probably why there many abandoned houses we saw.
5. The ideology of People Movement Assembly was powerful because we heard voices
of people who work in various communities/countries. For example, a volunteer for
East New York Farms, I was proud to share in the Assembly what was going on in
my community, in terms of community gardens, farmers market, and access to fresh,
healthy and seasonal food. Also, it was clear we are going to have opportunities to
collaborate since we are all fighting for justice.
6. We all need to be educated on problems we are facing our food system because we
come from different backgrounds and our experiences shape our perceptions. We can
benefit a lot if we know concepts like Food Sovereignty, Migrant Workers, Genetically
Modified Organisms, and the role of corporations like Monsanto when it comes to food
we eat as individuals.
I think organizers of the US Social Forum 2010 gave some simple strategies to help us to
proceed to the next path we need to talk to address problems in our food systems. They were
able to bring together like minded people to discuss strategies to fight capitalism and now they
have to use a similar strategy to educate us in order to see progress. Everyone needs to teach
one. The youth need to be taught history, so they can see what is going on in their communities
especially when it comes to justice. We have many organizations which are already doing
the work like La Via Campensina, Grassroots International, National Family Coalition, East
New York Farms, and many others who can use their talents to educate other organizations
what is going on in the food system. Also, there are people mobilizing for Cancun, Mexico,
which will be a test to our commitment in the fight for justice. There are people who are already
committed to dismantling racism in the food system and some are working on the upcoming Farm Bill."
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