Join us at any of the following activities during the USSF.
Thursday, June 24
10:00 am-12 pm
Workshop on Climate Justice
"Reparations for Climate Debt: Linking the Local and the Global"
TWW 2 151 West Fort Street Detroit, MI 48226
In the name of economic “progress” wealthy countries, and the wealthy elite in impoverished countries, have trashed the planet – wracking up an ecological debt to everyone else. This debt is a result of the environmental destruction impacting communities worldwide. Reparations must be made, in part, by a transfer of wealth from the rich to those living in poverty as part of a community and worker transition to a green economy and to build climate-resilient communities. This workshop will highlight U.S. and international voices outlining the concepts of climate and ecological debt. Panelists will also provide multiple perspectives on how reparations can be made, and what proposals are already being discussed – including a tax on financial speculation to raise ecological debt payments and a Global Climate Fund to channel the payments. Participants will work in small groups to identify who is most responsible for ecological crises and envision how they can make reparations and what that would mean in communities in the U.S. and globally. The whole group will come back to together to share and debate the results of these conversations, looking for potential synergy in moving an ecological reparations agenda forward in the U.S.
Thursday, June 24
1 pm-5:30 pm
Interfaith People's Movement Assembly
"From Internal Reflection to External Action"
Cobo Hall D2-08 1 Washington Blvd. Detroit, MI 48226
This People's Movement Assembly will focus on taking what is taught in our faith and spiritual communities and working towards integrating the our internal reflections into external actions for greater good in our communities.
Sponsored by Jubilee USA, Tikkun/Network of Spiritual Progressives/Buddhist Peace Fellowship and the Poverty Initiative
Thursday, June 24
1 pm-5:30 pm
Workshop on Sabbath Economics
"Sabbath Economics and the Jubilee Movement"
Christ Church 960 E Jefferson Street, Detroit, MI
This workshop, led by Word & World and Jubilee USA, interrelates the global debt relief movement with the biblical vision of Sabbath/jubilee economics, which calls for regular release of alienated labor, restoration of land tenure, and dismantling of debt, as the practical meaning of spirituality. Hundreds of millions of people living in poverty in impoverished countries are enslaved by a debt they can never repay. Debt costs lives, health, education and hope. The responses to the debt crisis thus far are a far cry from the biblical vision of release and restoration. Wealthy creditors have refused to give up the power they currently exercise over poor countries through the maintenance of coercive debt obligations. Restoration of right relationships among nations cannot be achieved until the burden of unjust debt is wiped away. Jubilee campaigns around the world have shown that concerned citizens working together can have a huge impact on international economic policies. Come learn about the Jubilee Movement through inspiring speakers from the global south, innovative presentations, and discussion of the kind of solutions possible to create justice for the world’s poorest.
