WMA Social Forum Meeting Notes
April 2 Gathering
Florence Community Center

1. We reviewed the principles of the World Social Forum

2. We revisited the need to be clear about the way we work with
folks involved in political movements. The Social Forum is for
individuals and groups at the grassroots. It cannot be dominated
by a particular political ideology, or by a political candidate.
The people must be at the center of the work.

3. We talked at length about outreach and brainstormed groups of
folks (based on geographic hubs). This list follows. It is by no
means complete. Please feel free to ADD to it. Each of us
volunteered to reach out to these communities of folks BEFORE our
next meeting and invite them to have a conversation with us about
the Social Forum. (more about the next meeting follows).

4. We discussed the outreach area in which we'll focus our
attention: the 4 western MA counties. We will, of course, welcome
allies from Worcester, VT, NH, NY, RI and CT.

5. We reported the folks we had spoken with (who we volunteered to
contact from the previous meeting). Many folks were not able to
attend 4/2. If you were to contact folks, please keep going with
this outreach effort.

6. We had a discussion about some of our goals for pursuing a
Social Forum in WMA:
- To bring people and groups together so that we can work
together more effectively and more strategically.
- To connect us all to something larger.

7. People raised important questions:
- How will we set the agenda?
- How will we work in relationship with / take the lead from the
Global South?
- How will we reach out to young(er) people?
- Are we keeping in mind our responsibility to the larger Social
Forum movement.

North Berkshire
Water Privatization
BCC (student & Peace)
Berkshire Citizens for Peace Wanda UU
Jo will connect

South Berkshire
EF Schumacher*
Berkshire Peace Action Michael Wilcox
Railroad Street Youth
So. Berkshire Friends
Emily will contact Schumacher Society *

West County
Standing Tree
CAN
Cate Woolner will call Kate Stevens

Hilltowns
Ashfield Hardware
CDC
Creamery
Rowe Conference Center
Chester Miniature Theater, Byam Stevens
Jo will call Leni, Leni will connect

Westfield, Agawam, Southwick
West Spfld Justice Group
Westfield Citizens for Peace
Westfield State
Jo will connect

Greenfield
Community Action
Traprock
GCC
TMTC (Mediation)
Valley CDC
Social Workers for Peace and Justice
Literary Project
FHHC
Shira and Abbie will connect

Amherst, Hadley, Easthampton, Noho, Shutesbury
Sirius
Cisa
Hadley Sustainable Action
Casa Latina
Peace Pagoda
New World Theater
Valley Free Radio
Valley Alliance Workers Coop
SAGE
Women's Congress
Interfaith Coalition
MEF
AFSC
Food Bank
Free Higher Ed U Mass
Labor Ctr. U Mass
Indy Media
CPE
Middle East Peace Coalition
Food for Thought
Salvadoran Community
Cambodian Community
SEIU
Youth Action Coalition
Women in Black
Raging Grannies
PDF
BORDC
Class Action
Grow
Class Action
Greensboro Justice
Karuna
VEP
Noho Friends Meeting
Mt. Toby Friends
Real Cost of Prison
Prison Book Project

Holyoke
Neighbor to Neighbor
Nuestras Raices
Nueva Esperanza
Girls, Inc
UAW Local 2322
Care Center
HCC
Jo, Susan and Raul will connect

Springfield
Arise
Anti Displacement Project
Pioneer Valley Project
AFL CIO
Unitarian Society
WENEC
STCC
Springfield College
Ravi and Sara will connect

Chicopee
Elms College

North Quabbin, Wendell
Women in Black
Brick House
Veteran's for Peace
Jo will connect

South Quabbin, Belchertown
Spirit in Action
NESFI
Emily will connect

Worcester
Worcester Action
Carlos will connect

NEXT STEPS

NEXT MEETING: Potluck dinner/BBQ (place TBA) on Friday, 5/12,

Alice Lovelace (Coordinator of the US Social Forum in Atlanta,
2007) is coming to WMA. We will have lunch with Alice on Monday,
April 10 at 1pm at the Blue Wall.

Syhan Khanna will connect with youth groups.

Jo, Carlos and Emily work on Prep materials, Agenda and Video (for
the smaller community meetings to be held PRIOR to 5/12)

Jo will create a listserve (after Susan sends her all the emails
she has)

Joan, Susan and the IFC will work on a location for 5/12's potluck
"Peace is all around us. It is not a matter of faith; it is a
matter of practice." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh