USSF day6 - closing

Sunday, July 1

The People’s Assembly gathered for the last day of the USSF to hear closing comments that tied this overwhelming experience together, as well dozens of resolutions to inspire next steps. Among panelists were awesome Tammy/LCSC who shared that at this closing, our win doesn’t end here, but rather we start here & implement all these great ideas back home in our communities. Tom/IEN added that we are not looking for a reform of these broken systems in the US—we are looking for a transformation. Wild applause.

At the 10th resolution, after proposals for Black-Brown unity, our Right to the City to reverse gentrification, anti-war programs, immigrants rights campaigns, Gulf Coast tribunal for internally displaced people, that another media is possible and poetry calling to “Give me a movement that moves”, 2 native folks came up to the mic with their 2 minutes to share their resolution. In her native tongue, the first woman spoke about Native sovereignty & broken treaties, then repeated in English. Then the other South American indigenous man began reading his proposal, but their combined 2 minutes was up & the USSF moderators had to pass the mic to the many others waiting their turn to give proposals. A tug of war for the mic ensued. The crowd gasped. The indigenous man was escorted off the stage. Unsettled murmur grows in the audience, then chants of “let him speak, let him speak”. 10 more proposals are given. A crowd formed around the indigenous man & crosses the audience to backstage, and a takeover begins…

The indigenous contingent of 50+ swarm the red stage. “In the spirit of Native Homeland Security, our warrior spirits will step up when we see wrong being done to our people. When you took that mic away from our brother, we were hurt and we had to do something about that…” We were all lectured and reminded of what the US has done to the first nations of Turtle Island. The stage was a surreal re-enactment in a way. But the glorious finale was that they took it back. They took back what was theirs. And in the spirit of healing, they turned to the drum for a healing song—that was the drum beat of Mother Earth. Bineshi & the other native women also spoke & reaffirmed that the USSF organizers were not the enemy, nor us in the audience. What happened with the mic was a simple mistake. And later, the woman who played the mic tug of war apologized & also acknowledged that if we think that the movement wasn’t going to make mistakes along the way, we were fooling ourselves. The stage was set for a movement drama act, with resolution. Whew.

Well, round 2 came when a group of women poverty scholars took stage refusing the 2 minute limit. Mic tug of war ensued. Cindy/MWC pulled it back with force, shouting that we needed to stop this. We are full of struggles and we were not going to solve it all on stage today, but that we will do it in our communities. We were not each others enemy. The real enemy is capitalism & US imperialism. Wild applause & steam dissipates. We take deep breaths &… the next proposal makes its way on stage & so on. Flow continues. (Mad props to the USSF organizers for working this through & pulling us together to feel unified & stronger to go back home to continue building this movement.)

Before hopping on the plane to go back West, we had to pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr, born & buried in Atlanta. We walked to his Memorial site and swam in his words, images, courage & inspiration. One of the exhibits documented his death with a recorded sermon he gave played overhead:

“…if any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.

“I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

“Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind.”

Tears flowed easily down my face & I could see Hai Binh & others touched similarly. That was extra fuel to take home for movement work. A journey well worth the effort.