D2D s an initiative that has brought together Africa-focused organizations from around the U.S, to coordinate activities and enhance participation at the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit June 22 – 26, 2010. The goal of D2D is to promote issues related to Africa and the African Diaspora, at the U.S Social Forum in Detroit while also making strategic links towards the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal in early 2011.
The U.S. Social Forum will be held in the city of Detroit to highlight the massive economic downturn the city has suffered over the past few years. The World Social Forum will be taking place in Dakar, Senegal and hosted for the second time in an African country. D2D is showing the parallels of the economic downturn across the U.S. and Africa by making strategic links between these two cities, Detroit and Dakar, which will move us toward global concepts for solutions. In Detroit, U.S.-based organizations are collaborating, along with many African partners, to dialogue and strategize for grassroots-led change under the vision “Another World is Possible.”
Coordination for D2D is facilitated by Priority Africa Network in Oakland, CA and the ongoing meetings of the D2D partners have identified the following themes under which workshops and activities are planned:
* Global economic crisis – impact & responses from our communities from Detroit to Dakar
* Global climate crisis – solutions and alternatives from Detroit to Dakar
* HIV/AIDS and other health challenges – leadership from those living with the disease
* Militarism and our communities – from AFRICOM to Police brutality
* Migration – root causes of migration & impact on our families and communities
* Democracy and Governance
* Media
* Food, Water Rights, Land Rights and local economies
* Women, Power, and Politics
* Celebrating our culture – films, poems, music, theater for social change
TransAfrica Forum is organizing a information table and two workshops during the Forum: a) Cuba, Venezuela, and Colombia: Afro-descendants and the Struggle for Racial Justice and Economic Equality; and b) The Battle for Haiti: Reconstruction or Re-colonization? Click here for details.
A select group of organizations is helping to move this important effort forward:
U.S-based groups: Africa Action, African Services Committee, American Friends Service Committee, Association of Concerned Africa Scholars, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, California Newsreel, Food First, Inst. for Policy Studies/Foreign Policy in Focus, Friends of the Congo, Global Fund for Women, Health Global Access Project, International Development Exchange, International Labor Rights Forum, Jubilee USA, Justice In Nigeria Now, National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, Priority Africa Network, TransAfrica Forum, United African Organization, USA for Africa, and United Methodist Women.
Africa-based groups: Women Development & Resource Center, Nigeria, Due Process and e-Governance Bureau, Nigeria; Sahara Reporters, Nigeria; Reseau des femmes pour le developpement durable en Afrique, Senegal; Fahamu – Network for Social Justice, Senegal; Institute for Research and the Promotion of Alternatives in Development, Mali; Abahlali baseMjondolo, South Africa; Institute for Security Studies, South Africa; Biowatch, South Africa; Gender & Trade Network, South Africa; ZIMCODD – Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development, Zimbabwe; Lungujja Community Health Caring Organization, Uganda; and Groots, Kenya.
| 
