Over the past four years The People United has gathered throughout Virginia to bring together activists and organizers from across the region - from different issue focuses, and across the lines of race and class that have kept us working separately. From monthly potlucks where personal relationships are prioritized, to movement building workshops, to anti-war sit-ins and rallies to stop mountain-top-removal coal mining and prison expansion, The People United has continued to learn from, and grow with Virginia’s committed activists. Whether you’re coming from Blacksburg, Norfolk, Charlottesville, the Shenandoah Valley, or beyond - Join us again or for the first time at our fourth annual gathering in Central Virginia! Responding to a call from the World Social Forum that over the past seven years has brought together grassroots organizers and non-profits, youth, longtime activists and cultural workers all under the banner of “Another World is Possible!” - there will be the first ever US Social Forum this June 27-July 1 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Along with other regions across the country, The People United is using this opportunity to build on the great work to be done in Georgia by creating space for activists across the state to start planning to make another Virginia possible. If you want to gain a regional perspective before heading off to Atlanta or want to participate in local movement building for social justice, we need you at the Virginia Social Forum!
Immigration. War. Prisons. These will be our three issue focuses for the weekend. As immigrants face increased repression and scapegoating, as the war takes its toll on Iraqi and Virginian communities and continues to divert resources from social programs, and as more prisons are being proposed as solutions for complex social problems, join us to listen, learn, and strategize together to address these issues closest to home in our struggles for justice.
Over the course of three days you will have the chance to join a working-group asking questions key to effective struggle. How do these issues affect our communities? How does racism influence these issues and our activism? What is our ideal vision for change? What action can we take in the near future to move us closer to this vision?
Help shape the coming year for The People United and gain resources, skills and knowledge for your regional organizing!
