January 2006 - Page 3 of 4

Toward Freedom Goes to the World Social Forum and More!

Ben Dangl January 18, 2006 Ben Dangl

The World Social Forum is taking place this year in Caracas, Venezuela from January 24-29. The forum is an annual meeting held by activists, NGOs and social movements to coordinate world campaigns, share and refine organizing strategies, and inform each other about movements from around the world and their issues.

Toward Freedom has organized a workshop at the forum on the hopes and challenges of independent media. Participants in the panel will be Eva Golinger (Venezuelan journalist, author of "The Chavez Code"), Ben Dupuy (Co-Director, Haiti Progres newspaper), Teresa Valdez, (Cuban journalist), Scott Harris (radio producer, Between the Lines, Toward Freedom Board Member) Ben Dangl (journalist, editor, TowardFreedom.com, UpsideDownWorld.org). April Howard, a Spanish teacher and writer, will work as the translator for the panel. Other people have been invited to the panel as well, we’ll let you know who they when they confirm their participation. Stay tuned for more details about when and where this panel will take places. We hope to see you there. (Email Ben(at)towardfreedom.com for more details). Here’s a description of the event: read more

Why the World Social Forum Needs to Be Less Like Neoliberalism

Josh Lerner January 18, 2006 Josh Lerner

January is a special month for the global left. Every year at this time, progressives and activists convene at the World Social Forum, usually in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In January 2005, I too was eagerly awaiting my first trip to the Forum, imagining a week of cross-cultural communication, strategic organizing, and inspiring celebrations. Although I didn't know exactly what to expect, I did know one thing - the Forum would be an alternative to neoliberalism. So why did I walk away from Porto Alegre worried mostly about the similarities between the Forum and neoliberalism? And is there still reason to be worried, as the 2006 Forum approaches?

A Meeting of Minds

Michele Gibbs January 17, 2006 Michele Gibbs

Feeling depressed? Downhearted? Demoralized? Terrorized? Isolated? Take one copy of "The Quotable Rebel" and call me in the morning. This new anthology of "political quotations for dangerous times" contains wisdom as old as the hills and as current as a sign declaring "Arms Are for Hugging". Its editor, Teishan Latner, a 28-year-old Philadelphia-based activist, takes his responsibility seriously. He infuses his choices with all the global awareness and urgent energy of his generation located in the 'belly of the beast' in a time of war. A radical egalitarian, he mines this tradition, emphasizing the voices of first world peoples and the living. In this process, on subjects ranging from technology to food, animal rights to empire, work, life, death, law, and revolution, spirited exchanges arise.

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, the Revolutionary

Jeff Nall January 16, 2006 Jeff Nall

On January 16^th the vacuous lip service to Dr. Martin Luther King will begin. Ironically, much of his praise will be expressed by the kind of oppressive, rich, intolerant and prejudiced people that he fought so hard to undermine; people who now find his legacy a firm grave upon which to prop up their selfish agendas. That's why it's time for us to change the way America celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Let's relinquish the tame, PR King that the powers that be force-feed us each year. Let's resurrect the real King; the revolutionary King who committed himself to economic and social equality across all spectrums of prejudice; who unequivocally denounced warfare; repudiated neo-liberalism and an unrestrained, capricious capitalism.

Bolivia’s Trial By Fire

Benjamin Dangl January 12, 2006 Benjamin Dangl

After winning a landslide election victory on December 18th, Bolivian president-elect Evo Morales announced plans to nationalize the country's gas reserves, rewrite the constitution in a popular assembly, redistribute land to poor farmers and change the rules of the U.S.-led war on drugs in Bolivia. If he follows through on such promises, he'll face enormous pressure from the Bush administration, corporations and international lenders. If he chooses a more moderate path, Bolivia's social movements are likely to organize the type of protests and strikes that have ousted two presidents in two years. In the gas-rich Santa Cruz region, business elites are working toward seceding from the country to privatize the gas reserves. Meanwhile, U.S. troops stationed in neighboring Paraguay may be poised to intervene if the Andean country sways too far from Washington's interests. For Bolivian social movements and the government, 2006 will be a trial by fire.

Burma: Darkness at Midnight

Rene Wadlow January 11, 2006 Rene Wadlow

While the United Nations human rights structures are under critical examination and Burma is being discussed in the UN Security Council, it is useful to review the UN's efforts to help a transition occur in the country. The military's responses have always been temporary with minor modifications of its heavy-handed rule. In December, at the Security Council, the Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari, warned "In the longer term, deep-rooted chronic and accelerating poverty, growing insecurity and increasing political tension appear to be moving Myanmar toward a humanitarian crisis."