Editor's Blog
Sam Diener, editor of Peacework Magazine, muses on global thought and local action. He will also highlight the online musings of the authors of Peacework Magazine. Please read the guidelines of Peacework's blogs and forums to participate in the discussion.
Posted June 29th, 2007 by jgarcia
By Jordan Garcia, Immigrant Rights Organizer, AFSC in Denver, CO
'¨I started out this morning at the US Social Forum in Atlanta by volunteering to work security. I helped '¨people find the registration area and answered a lot of questions. For not '¨being from Atlanta, I had to figure out this area pretty quick. It was '¨incredibly interesting to get a chance to talk to people and find out where '¨they were from and the type of work they were doing in their communities. '¨And it kept my mind of the heat and humidity!
'¨Then I attended the Black and Brown Unity work shop with the Third World '¨Coalition Members of the AFSC. I found the alliances built in the room '¨exceptional and felt like I gained a deeper understanding of some of the '¨nuances of the issues affecting African American and Latino Folks.
Next I attended a workshop put on by an organization named Smart Meme . '¨They shortened their full-day workshop down into two hours and still spoke '¨incredibly articulately about messaging and the importance of story telling '¨in our work. We discussed the role of the dominant culture' s story and the '¨power analysis that can become a part of any campaign' s strategy. We '¨discussed the ways a good story is at the heart of any compelling campaign and '¨the necessary components of those stories.
The presenters used elements of '¨popular education to make the workshop interactive and each activity gave '¨me ideas and made me think deeper. There wasn't a dull moment and I don't '¨think it was a coincidence that all the presenters and members of the '¨organization were young people.
I left feeling like there was so much I '¨could bring back to my work with Coloradans For Immigrant Rights. Some of '¨the activities I feel I could recreate for our members to further inform the '¨messaging and effectiveness of the stories we use to move people to a more '¨compassionate place with regard to immigrant rights.
While staffing the AFSC table this evening, I got to catch up with Marge '¨Taniwaki, also from Denver, and spend time discussing how we can bring back '¨the skills and energy we're privy to here at the USSF. Then we were able '¨to tag team inviting folks from all over the world over to our table to '¨encourage them to take some of our literature home with them. The No Human '¨Being Is Illegal bumper stickers were of particular interest. '¨Now I'm off to a party for the Ruckus Society and even more events put on by '¨MondoHomo, a queer arts collective here in Atlanta!
'¨I started out this morning at the US Social Forum in Atlanta by volunteering to work security. I helped '¨people find the registration area and answered a lot of questions. For not '¨being from Atlanta, I had to figure out this area pretty quick. It was '¨incredibly interesting to get a chance to talk to people and find out where '¨they were from and the type of work they were doing in their communities. '¨And it kept my mind of the heat and humidity!
'¨Then I attended the Black and Brown Unity work shop with the Third World '¨Coalition Members of the AFSC. I found the alliances built in the room '¨exceptional and felt like I gained a deeper understanding of some of the '¨nuances of the issues affecting African American and Latino Folks.
Next I attended a workshop put on by an organization named Smart Meme . '¨They shortened their full-day workshop down into two hours and still spoke '¨incredibly articulately about messaging and the importance of story telling '¨in our work. We discussed the role of the dominant culture' s story and the '¨power analysis that can become a part of any campaign' s strategy. We '¨discussed the ways a good story is at the heart of any compelling campaign and '¨the necessary components of those stories.
The presenters used elements of '¨popular education to make the workshop interactive and each activity gave '¨me ideas and made me think deeper. There wasn't a dull moment and I don't '¨think it was a coincidence that all the presenters and members of the '¨organization were young people.
I left feeling like there was so much I '¨could bring back to my work with Coloradans For Immigrant Rights. Some of '¨the activities I feel I could recreate for our members to further inform the '¨messaging and effectiveness of the stories we use to move people to a more '¨compassionate place with regard to immigrant rights.
While staffing the AFSC table this evening, I got to catch up with Marge '¨Taniwaki, also from Denver, and spend time discussing how we can bring back '¨the skills and energy we're privy to here at the USSF. Then we were able '¨to tag team inviting folks from all over the world over to our table to '¨encourage them to take some of our literature home with them. The No Human '¨Being Is Illegal bumper stickers were of particular interest. '¨Now I'm off to a party for the Ruckus Society and even more events put on by '¨MondoHomo, a queer arts collective here in Atlanta!
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