I came to Santa Cruz for the trees, the ocean, and the Language program.

A friend of mine told me that when he got here four years ago everything looked different. He told me that there used to be trees where the “Porter Apartments� now are. The Language program, once strong, has been cut significantly in the last two years, with a rumor that a quarter more is to be cut over the next year. The forty students waiting at the door of each of the Spanish classrooms at the beginning of every quarter will be met with fewer teachers and fewer doors of which to wait outside.

The World Social Forum (WSF) is a space to freedom dream: to talk with others about your particular struggles and to struggle in solidarity with people from across the world. The U.S. has not been well represented in the WSF. We as U.S. residents must be a part of this process to promote dialogue and question that which is taken for granted in our cultural political context. We cannot simply denounce global power structures and institutions. We must believe that another world is possible and actively struggle to make it so.

03-19-05

The Killing of Rachel Corrie
Amnesty International Press Release
Wed. 16 March 2005