Another Workshop is Possible : Houston Indymedia

With 3 workshop slots each day and a hundred workshops per slot (give or take), I suppose it should be embarising that I made it to only 3 workshops out of around a thousand offered durring the US Social Forum. But it feels like an accomplishment, because they were all really well convieved and brought together a slew of wonderful folks. On Saturday I went to see Jericho Movements workshop/pannel on political prisoners in the US, which was very inspiration an an honor to see so many freedom fighters together.

The other 2 workshops I attended were part of a track of workshops called Another Politics is Possible. This was a grouping of around 25 workshops by a number groups all over the US, many from NYC, that looked at non-hierarchical and collective organizing, the "intersectionality" of different forms of oppression, and connecting our local work to global movements for social transformation.

I caught the second half of the central workshop of this track; Another Politics Is Possible: Living the Vision from Below and to the Left where a number of diverse groups talked about the importance of this politics "from below and to the left" to their organizing. The whole confrence room in this hotel had turned into a giant circle, and the facilitators would introduce the topics of disscussion and pass the mic across the room from groups like to Coalition of Immokalee Workers, LA Garment Workers Center, Center for Immigrant Families, INCITE! Women of Color against Violence and Sista II Sista.

All of these groups chimed in on the importance of this kind of politics and structures to their work. This was very neat to see, I feel these same principles are very relevant to me and the way I try to organize. It was great to see this really diverse groups of folks talk about how they used these principles on the ground and the obstacles they come up against in the process. It's also great to see that these groups that have very different constituencies and issues (from farmworkers to urban women of color, address labor, immigration and violence against women) talking together and learning from each others struggles.

The sheer size and format made it difficult for much of an open disscussion to take place, but overall, it was a fantastic presentation, and props to all the organizers and participants for pulling together all these different groups.

The other workshop I attended Allies at Intersections: Radical Solidarity, was much smaller and well structured to encourage lots of participations from it's participants. It was facilitated by a fearless chicken and supporters from The Immigrant Justice Solidarity Project and the Regeneracion Childcare Collective both of New York City.

Upon entering the small conference room in the Westin, we were given 'tickets to another world' that guided us into thinking about Solidarity and Ally Work. This workshop used one on one conversations, small group discussions, time machines, drawing diagrams and other daring tactics to look at how we can be allies to each other and to other groups.

This workshop came off really well, there was a lot of thought put into how to structure it, though the time constraits were somewhat overwhelming, I feel like it gave me space to reflect on in what capacity I do political work in solidarity with other groups in Houston and how I can be an ally. It has me thinking strategically about how to be a better ally to the immigrant rights movement as well as how to organize other white folks to be responsible and accountable allies as well.

Another Politics is Possible, and I'm glad many folks were articulating what it can look like at the US Social Forum.

In the year 2012, we explored how we have become better allies to groups we are supporting