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RELEASE: Something is Happening in Atlanta June 27, 2007 Social Forum’s first day draws over 10,000 (Atlanta) – Something new, possibly historic, is happening in Atlanta. The first 10,000 participants in the first ever U.S. Social Forum have already arrived here from across the country, shattering predictions that the Forum would draw that number over its entire five days of events. The early size of the Social Forum suggests that this gathering, inspired by the World Social Forums initiated by the South American left, will mark a period of increased mobilization and militancy on the part of U.S. progressives. “Something big is beginning here; its total end result is hard to see, but already it’s clear that a major movement for democracy has begun,” said Ben Manski, Executive Director of the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution. The U.S. Social Forum launched yesterday with a march that stretched for eight city blocks, drawing upwards of 7,000 into the streets to deliver the message that if, in the words of the World Social Forum, another world is to be possible, another U.S.A. is necessary. Buses from around the country, from Minneapolis and Milwaukee to New Orleans and New York, arrived throughout the march, adding hundreds to the thousands already on hand. Visitors from around the world, notably including South America, were also present to show their support. As remarkable as its size is the youth and racial diversity of this gathering. Although participants range in age from the small children and preteens at their own Children’s Social Forum to octogenarians entering their seventh decade of movement work, the bulk of those here are younger organizers in their 20s and 30s. Also remarkable is the multiracial character of this crowd, the first mass national progressive forum in memory in which African, Latino, Native, Asian, and European Americans are participating in significant numbers, with perhaps a majority of participants hailing from communities of color. A major component of the U.S. Social Forum, the Democracy Track, began this morning. The track features over 70 sessions assembled by over forty organizations, and is serving as the first major gathering of the new U.S. democracy movement. # # # More info: See the daily Democracy Track Video Report at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbFTQ1mH20U Areas of Focus: Global Democracy (Liberty Tree) Tags: Social Forum User Comments No Comments. Please login at the top of the page or register as a Democracy Square member if you would like to comment.

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The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires change of heart.
~ Mohandas Gandhi