WSF2011: Dakar, Senegal 2011 (February 6-11)
GGJ joined more than 66,000 delegates from across the world, including people from Egypt and Tunisia in the midst of uprising. For the first time, residents from Yemen took part in the forum and shared about their struggles for democracy and a representative parliamentary government.
GGJ co-organized the Social Movement Assembly with Via Campesina and World March of Women where over 3,000 people affirmed a call for two global days of action in solidarity with African and Arab people fighting for self-determination. Find the Declaration of the Social Movements Assembly in English, Spanish and French.
Our objectives included:
- Deepening analysis of the current state of global capitalism and alternatives
- Deepening assessment of the state of social movements globally, particularly in Africa
- Participating in conversation son the future of the social forum
- Further developing our Cancun to Durban climate justice strategy
We participated in the opening march and ceremony, as well as in a roundtable discussion of the World Forum for Alternatives. We also co-sponsored the Assembly of Convergence for Action on Climate Justice on February 11 and participated in the WSF International Council meeting as a US representative organization.
Our delegates to Dakar were:
- Valerie Geaither, AfroEco
- Nikke Alex, Black Mesa Water Coalition
- Angaza Laughinghouse, JR, Black Workers for Justice
- Helena Wong, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities
- Jihan Gearon and Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network
- Jose Bravo, Just Transition Alliance
- Daniel Kim, Labor Community Strategy Center
- Taliban Obuya, Project South and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
- Colin Rajah, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
- Steve Williams, POWER
- Cindy Wiesner, Michael Leon Guerrero and Jen Soriano, GGJ Staff
WSF2013: Tunis, Tunisia (March 23 – 31)
In Tunisia, twenty-six GGJ delegates joined revolutionaries in the midst of social uprisings around the world, from Spain, Greece and the United States to Tunisia and people from the Maghreb-Machrek region. We knew then that another world is not only possible, it is necessary. GGJ participated in the preparatory assembly in July of 2012.
At the WSF, we co-hosted the Climate Space to bring together environmental and social activists to rethink strategies to fight for our future. We also learned from Tunisian revolutionaries how miner strikes and textile worker strikes combined with extreme unemployment and frustration with corruption created the conditions for the eventual uprisings.
WSF2015: Tunis, Tunisia (March 24 – 28)
A delegation of twenty GGJ members returned to Tunisia for another World Social Forum of over 70,000 people from around the globe. We kicked off the Forum with a march to Ban Saadoun Square in the Bardo Museum, where an attack had killed 21 people and wounded 38 more just a week before. We called for peace, democracy and social justice in solidarity with the people of Tunis and all communities impacted by violence worldwide.
We participated in the Climate Space, where we worked to build the “Road to Paris” and leverage global pressure to impact the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change at the COP21. Global feminism emerged as a core theme in the Forum. Tunisian feminists converged a track of workshops about the political, economic, and social conditions of women globally. Leaders from US based grassroots organizations led workshops on the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Our goals were to:
- Gain a deeper understanding of the impact of U.S. foreign policy in Tunis and the region
- Engage with social movement leaders from around the world who have played key roles in fighting harmful policies and practices, while advancing solutions from the ground up
- Play a role in anchoring GGJ’s presence at the WSF 2015 by:
- Co-leading workshops on gender justice and climate justice
- Representing GGJ in activities and meetings, and/or
- Engaging in relationship building activities with members of other World March of Women chapters from around the world
- Work with International social movement allies in shaping global organizing strategies to address the intersecting challenges of militarism and the climate and economic crises
Our delegates were:
- Alvina Wong and Vivian Huang, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)
- Mai-Stella Khantouche and Mustafa Solomon, Causa Justa::Just Cause
- Adofo Minka and Kali Akuno, Cooperation Jackson
- Jessica O. Guerrero, Fuerza Unida
- Cindy Wiesner, Jaron Browne and Daniela Saczek, Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ)
- Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN)
- Janet Redman, Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)
- Maggie Martin, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW)
- Marcia Olivo and Trenise Bryant, Miami Workers Center
- Claire Flanagan, Portland Central America Solidarity Committee (PCASC)
- Juan Reynosa, Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP)
- Anna Gebhardt and Kate Kanelstein, Vermont Workers Center
WSF2016: Montreal, Canada
GGJ delegates participated in the World Social Forum in Canada where we reconvened with comrades for the first time since the Paris COP21. We strengthened our grassroots feminisms work by continuing to build the Justice for Berta campaign and strengthening the World March of Women branch.
Unfortunately, many of our global south comrades could not participate due to the fact that the Canadian government denied them visas to attend. With the World March of Women, we denounced the layered injustices of restrictive migration and the violences in our homelands. We stand in solidarity with women in Brazil, the US, in Palestine, in Quebec and all over.
GGJ Delegates included:
- Kali Akuno & Grandon King, Cooperation Jackson
- Shela Linton & Zenia Muhammad, Vermont Workers Center
- Gitz Derange, Emy Ulloa & Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network
- Emma Sandoval, SouthWest Organizing Project
- Jill Mangaliman, Got Green?
- Rose Brewer, AfroEco
- Martin Eder, Activist San Diego
- Cindy Wiesner, Jaron Browne, Helena Wong, GGJ