Heaven on Earth
An agrarian road trip to the U.S. Social Forum
June 13–26, 2010
Heaven on Earth is a road trip to the U.S. Social Forum organized by the Presbyterian Hunger Program. We will travel through several states making stops along the way to visit local food and food justice projects. The trip will celebrate the decentralized, grassroots sustainable food and agricultural revolution that is sprouting up everywhere.
Why make so many stops?
We will have fellowship, events and performances, along with the visits to food justice projects, visits with the hope of bringing together church people and community people to share what they are doing with each other and with us, and us with them. We will commune, eat well, be encouraged and encourage those building and rebuilding a just and green agrarian renaissance. We will be posting, reporting, videotaping and songwriting along the way to make it a distance learning experience for Presbyterians and others all over the country!
Who is invited?
Presbyterians and non-Presbyterians alike are encouraged to come. There will be a group of bloggers, photographers, activists, videographers, song writer/musicians, professionals, journalists and young adults along for the ride.
How will we get there?
We’ll hop in a couple of biodiesel or electric cars and hit the highway and if no fuel-efficient cars are to be found, we’ll buy carbon offsets and visit a dairy farm methane biodigester along the way. We have a network of people and congregations in place that will help find us a place to stay each night.
Where exactly will we be going?
The trip starts in Louisville, Kentucky, and heads south through Tennessee to North Carolina before turning north through West Virginia and Ohio to Detroit, Michigan
How do I sign up?
Download an application as a PDF or Word document. Contact Andrew Kang Bartlett at the Presbyterian Hunger Program at (502) 569-5388 or email to learn more. Download the Heaven on Earth flier and share with your friends.
U.S. Social Forum
Another World Is Possible! Another United States is Necessary!
June 22-26, 2010 • Detroit, Michigan
The U.S. Social Forum (USSF) will take place June 22-26, 2010, at Cobo Hall and Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit. Other workshops and community art and culture programs will take place across the city. The USSF will convene social movements from across the United States and globally. Organizers are reaching out to young people, people of color, unionists, laid off and unorganized workers, welfare recipients, veterans, persons with disabilities, indigenous people, freedom fighters, collectives and many others.
Why a social forum?
"This is a large scale and unique opportunity to learn from each other's experiences, shed light on social injustices and build on community efforts to create real change," says William Copeland, a USSF staff organizer and member of the East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC).
Key aims are to create an open space and a process for creating movement convergence and coordination, raise awareness of social justice issues, provide opportunities to share experiences and discuss strategies that create social change and solutions to the problems facing people across our many struggles, sectors, regions and diversity.
Why Detroit?
"Detroit is ground zero for the economic crisis facing millions of people, not only here in Michigan, but across the nation," says Maureen Taylor, a USSF staff organizer and chair of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization (MWRO). "We are really pleased to host this historic event, and we're sure that what happens in Detroit will have a huge impact not only here but elsewhere."
How do we do it?
The U.S. Social Forum is organized by thousands of social movement and grassroots volunteers in all sectors and regions. The planning is underway and open to everyone who wants to see a movement for real change succeed. Working groups are being formed, and using internet tools like wikis you can participate and share ideas no matter where you are.
What is the U.S. Social Forum?
The U.S. Social Forum is a movement building process. It is not a conference but it is a space to come up with the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. The USSF is the next most important step in our struggle to build a powerful multiracial, multisectoral, intergenerational, diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this country and changes history.
What do we want our world to look like?
We must declare what we want our world to look like, and we must start planning the path to get there. The USSF provides spaces to learn from each other’s experiences and struggles, share our analysis of the problems our communities face, build relationships and align with our international brothers and sisters to strategize how to reclaim our world.
Where the Social Forum came from
The first World Social Forum was held in January 2001 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, during the early stages of Brazil's democratic transformation. Millions have since participated in the social forum process all across the world.
2007 Forum drew 12,000 to 15,000
This meeting will build upon the first USSF gathering in Atlanta 2007 that drew an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people.