Imagine a racism workshop--not a touchy-feely "prejudice reduction" workshop but an all-out emotional and cathartic conversation on race. Now imagine a church service--not a solemn devotion but the kind of rocking, joyous communion that shakes the floorboards. Now imagine, lofted above the congregation, a sea of protest banners. The orations are secular; the pulpit is political.

This pretty much captures the spirit that dominated the first US Social Forum, held in Atlanta June 27-July 1. Having appropriately fine-tuned the World Social Forum motto to fit the host country ("Another World Is Possible, Another US Is Necessary"), this gathering-- with more than 900 workshops conducted in the Atlanta Civic Center, local hotels and theaters, and drawing some 12,000 registered attendees--made only partial concession to dry political strategy; it was a locus of progressive dreams and activist chutzpah.

"Our national dilemma today is not technological retardation but moral deficiency. We have a moral deficiency in establishing priorities when putting our technological advances to work for the common good," said iconic civil rights activist Joseph Lowery at the opening-day march. The crowd left from the State Capitol and wound down Peachtree Street, the main business thoroughfare of the city, as bankers, clerks and secretaries gathered on steps and watched in wonder. A crowd of a couple thousand was a rare display, even in a city accustomed to conferences and rallies. Lowery had positioned the spirit of the marchers vis-à-vis the American Republic to a T: The problem was the need for an America less stingy, less conceited and altogether less thuggish.

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