Now in its 22 year, what started as an annual gathering of radical scholars in the midwestern United States and more recently has been called RadFest is transforming itself into a social forum. About five hundred activists and academics from the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison area gathered the first weekend of June for discussions that revolved around issues of peace and global justice, youth organizing, racial justice, and building democracy. Two overarching themes defined many of the discussions at this year’s RadFest/Midwest Social Forum. The first was grappling with what is often the unacknowledged problem of racism within the white left, and second is the ongoing discussion concerning the role of electoral politics in attempts to change the world. Racism within the white left In regards to the first issue, Patrick Barrett from the Havens Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who organizes the meeting observed that social forums tend to reproduce dominant society’s racism and sexism, and that it is important to struggle against that. Of 52 panels during the weekend, about 20 dealt with themes of race, indicating its central importance in the Midwest Social Forum’s discussions. In a plenary panel on building a multi-racial movement, Adrienne Maree Brown from the League of Pissed-off Voters wondered whether it was worth the effort to build cross-racial alliances. Would it not be better to put energy into her own community? Sonia Peña of the Applied Research Center countered that to her multi-racial organizing does not mean African-Americans working with whites, but people of color getting together. Particularly with issues such as immigration and low wage labor, it is important for Blacks and Hispanics to work together. If whites want to join in, Peña noted, that would be fine with her. Jerome Scott of Project South noted that the right’s use of strategies of divide and conquer has become a powerful enemy to the movement. There is a growing problem of employers exploiting immigrants more than Blacks. It is important, Scott argued, for Blacks to reach out to Latinos. “White supremacy is intertwined with capitalism; it is the backbone of imperialism.” Walda Katz-Fishman, also from Project South, added that “we have to change the system,” and in doing that it is important that “the movement model what we are trying to win.” Electoral politics In regards to the second issue of electoral politics, Barrett noted that a less than helpful division exists between those who argue that voting rights do not matter and others who contend that this is all that is important in a struggle for social justice. Although in social forum circles the role of state power has recently acquired an increased amount of interest, this is not a new issue and is worthy of deeper reflection and understanding. Reflecting the importance of these issues, the weekend opened with a plenary panel on the new voting rights movement. David Cobb of the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution and 2004 Green Party presidential candidate began the discussion with the observation that democracy is an unfulfilled promise in the United States. He criticized the Democratic Party as the place where progressive movements go to die. He pressed for a coalition between greens and progressive democrats, and pointed to Instant Run-off Voting (IRV) as the answer to this problem. Alysia Fischer from the Progressive Democrats of America noted that social movements do not come together though the work of political parties but from common convictions and via historical events. She pointed to the importance of building on these openings. Adrienne Maree Brown from the League of Pissed-off Voters described how the party system has failed young people. Political parties court the youth during elections, but then ignore their concerns afterwards. It is important, Brown observed, to work on accountability for elected officials. Project South’s Jerome Scott criticized the Democratic Party for giving up on a southern strategy in the 2004 presidential election. No U.S. president has ever won without the south, Scott noted. With 60 percent of the country’s African-Americans living in the south, the party needs to mobilize that base if it wants to win. “When a powerful movement is built,” Scott concluded, “we can do whatever we want.” Strategy sessions New this year were four concurrent strategy sessions at the end of the forum that were designed to foster greater coordination and collaboration among participating organizations and individuals. A goal was to build strategies and networks that could be used to carry out actions in home communities beyond the end of the forum. The strategy sessions were organized around the principal themes that participants had defined in their panel proposals: peace and global justice, youth organizing, racial justice, and building democracy. This is one way that the forum is becoming more participatory and more accountable to the needs of the broader community. Towards a more inclusive forum Many participants left the forum feeling encouraged and empowered, but also challenged with how much work remains to be done. Some activists argued that the christian right does not have a corner on spirituality, and that it is important for the left to work with churches and religious centers. Furthermore, race will continue to be a central issue in the Midwest Social Forum. While this was the largest and most diverse meeting in the history of this event, some communities (such as Native Americans) were still largely missing. One person argued that white people also needed to return to their own communities to wake them up to the importance of social struggles. As RadFest continues to grow and expand, other changes are sure to take place. For the past five years it has met in a retreat setting at Lake Geneva is southern Wisconsin. The isolated and idyllic setting, however, tends to limit the participation of the poor and from communities of color. There is discussion of moving it to an urban setting (such as the student union at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) that would allow for a more accessible (and hence more inclusive) gathering, but while giving up the retreat aspects of the gathering. RadFest is positioned to become more of a social forum that draws on, and responds to, the needs and concerns of diverse communities of the upper midwest of the North American continent. This year’s meeting was an important step in that direction. Source: NIGD http://www.nigd.org/docs/Radfest2005MarcBecker