I just returned to my home in Willow, New York, from the Boston Social Forum. The long drive gave me space to think about the event, and I thought I would post some thoughts, especially as I am afraid discussion of the forum will soon be overwhelmed by events at the DNC. But I think it is important to contemplate the purposes and outcomes of events such as the BSF as plans go forward for a west coast version.

Just what are these events, these 'social forums"? Initially, I understand, the idea was to take the initiative after Seattle and to hold events that were more forward looking, less reactive, which posed solutions and models, and didn't rely on just railing against the system.

I didn't attend any of the Porto Alegre Forums, but was able last January to go to Mumbai. At that event there were well over 100,000 people, the vast majority from India. Although there was a "counter event" across the street called the Mumbai Resistance, the Forum itself was a wild affair with a vast range of discussions and cultural events. Most impressive was the coming together from all over the sub-continent of peoples from the two most deprived social classes in India, the Dalits (the 'untouchables") and the Adivasi, the indiginous peoples. For them, this gathering was an historic coming together, a resounding battle cry in their struggles for justice. The internationalistas present were important endorsers of their human rights and that itself gave the event legitimacy.
Post-Mumbai discussions about Social Forums have proposed that the most important "next step" is to have regional and more localized forums. Well, the Boston event was fulfilling that mandate, and here are my thoughts about this Atlantic coast whale.

THE WHITENESS

In contrast to the Mumbai Forum, there was scant evidence of representation by disenfranchised peoples at the Boston Social Forum. Although there were people of color scattered here and here, the crowd was pretty white, even though my daily route to the forum location at the UMass campus passed through one of the largest black urban communities in the United States. I am sure there was "good will" and the "best of intentions" on the part of the organizing committee for this event, but I hope that in retrospect, and in preparation for similar events to come there is some serious rethinking of how to "do the right thing" in the future.

LOCALISM SHOULD BEGIN WITH YOUR STOMACH

The most often heard comment was a question, "Where is the food?" I was positioned at a table near the door of one of the display lobbies and literally everyone who entered the door would grasp for my attention, not to discuss the videos we were screening or the flyers we were handing out, but to entreat me more information, "Where can we get something to eat?" The answer, sadly, was only one place. The contract with the university mandated that the only food providers would be that vile corporation of prison fame, Sodexho. This company, the largest food service company in the world, has a strangle hold not only on most prisons and universities, but also on our would-be liberated events such as the Social Forum. The university had said that there would be five food "cafes" open. For most of the time there was only ONE, which had a bit of candy and soft drinks and one or two choices of grossly overpriced white bread processed food sandwiches. It is hard to believe that with the rich ethnic diversity of the Boston area there couldn't have been twenty or thirty food stalls at which local people could have served homemade nutritious food. But NO! the Sodexco corporation would not allow it! Here is an issue for the Forum to truly address. A local issue, an issue with vital substance, an issue on which our lives depend. Could there not have been some enterprizing group of Food Not Bombers to bring some actual real food to the thousands of attendees? Were the organizers too cowed to resist? What hope for any sort of social revolution exists if people cannot even ensure their daily sustenance? Could this not have been an issue to organize around? The resulting deprivation lead to many a cranky response to panels and lectures. How can one listen if one is only fed coke and candy? I salivated remembering all the delicious samosas that local people provided in Mumbai. The mood in Boston was verging on hypoglycemia. The next forum had better ensure that there be healthy, local, non corporate food or there will be a Potemkin style revolt.

THE MEDIA "SUMMIT"

After losing another dollar in the non-functioning ice cream machine, I spent about twenty minutes trying to find the "Media Summit" in the library. This event was well publicized on multi-colored brochures (where do they get their money?). Finally I traversed the maze of hallways and stairwells and found a reception table where I was asked to fill out a long questionnaire to enter. Beyond lay something much more desirable than rhetoric about media: FOOD. This Social Forum event actually provided nuts, popcorn, chips and water to those willing to fill out the form. (Who is paying for this?)
Once inside with my plate of goodies, I was surrounded by all sorts of high tech media, projectors, shotgun microphones and various recorders and laptops. (Who is paying for this?)
Some of my white male colleagues who had been invited to be 'on the panel" whispered to me that they had been told they only had 60 seconds to speak, but that the person talking had been going on for over 15 minutes. Who was the person talking? A guy who works for Harry Thomasson and who has helped to make a film about Bill Clinton and how he has been slandered by the media. He shows an elaborate trailer which extolls Clinton and disses Jennifer Flowers. It is full of violin crescendos and very fancy video wipes. The lights come on and the discussion veers into the virtue or venality of Clinton. Wait a minute, I scream, I thought this was supposed to be a summit about alternative media?
A slick professional facilitator quickly grabs the mike. She introduces herself as someone who began as a teacher and learned that education is not just pouring information into the heads of young people. (Oh great, I think, is she going to talk about Freire, and education as social activism, as action, as process?) No, she says, education is a science and needs specialists who are trained in the techniques of modern (sic) communication skills. Which is why (and now I understand where the money for this "summit is coming from) we need Al Gore and his network, which will hire the skilled technicians who can make media for our causes. It's not enough to tell the truth, she says, we need to know HOW to convince people it is true.

The paper put out for this event listed thirteen media makers and activists who were supposed to speak-- I guess for 60 seconds when the Clinton and Gore people finished.

One of the problems with these events is that they are there for the coopting. What the hell is are shills for Bill Clinton and Al Gore doing at an event like this?

At this point I walked out.

See you in Seattle.
DeeDee Halleck
See also:
www.deedeehalleck.org
www.deepdishtv.org