Report from World Social Forum 2007, Nairobi, Kenya

Dr. Brewer is attending the WSF forum in Nairobi, Kenya as a news correspondent for BlackCommentator.com. She will be reporting on events at the WSF exclusively for BC.

Not only is another world possible, but necessary for Africa. This is the general sentiment expressed by a delegate to the World Social Forum, a long time Black activist from the U.S. So as the 7th World Social Forum officially opened in Nairobi, Kenya on January 20, 2007 it appears that many of the attendees have been feeling the same way. Indeed, the forum in Kenya has not been a straightforward or easy proposition. In fact, the historic opening march was much smaller in numbers in comparison to the people rich event which earmarking earlier forums in Caracas, Venezuela and Porte Alegre, Brazil. Rather than thousands, hundreds led the march in Nairobi. Many delegates were not able to find the march site which ultimately began at Uhuru Park inside of Nairobi. Security kept others away. Diverting people from the march bore the hand of the Kenyan state, according to a number of the delegates.

Nonetheless, the march did occur and the key speaker in the opening march was former Zambia president, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda. He called for the self-determination of African peoples, urging the end to “all forms of exploitation of person by person in any shape or form.” Neo-colonalism must be rejected on the continent, Kaunda asserted.

Security presence throughout the city and the Forum is thick. Global corporations such as Coke have also inserted themselves into the space of the WSF. The incredible wealth divide in the country is evident. About 60 percent of the Kenyan population of approximately 30 million live on about $250.00 a year. On the other hand, an elite lives lavishly. In this context, the struggle space is papable. Youth from the slums of Nairobi have organized a visible forum presence, as have women from the country and the continent. The now world famous Greenbelt Movement, founded by Nobel Laureate, Wangari Mathai, and sustained by poor rural Kenyan women, planting trees for economic and environmental sustainability, has gotten a good deal of press. Nobel Laureate, Wangari Mathai appeared on Tuesday morning with other women Nobel Laureates to push a new project for global change, the Nobel Initiative, given visibility by the few women Nobel Laureates in the world.

While there have been a number of logistical glitches, the mood of the approximately 50,000 attendees and delegates is high. The critique of global capital, free trade rules that favor corporations, and neoliberalism in general remains pervasive. Neoliberalism, a set of policies marked by privatization, the elimination of social supports, and the opening up of so-called free markets to capital has been pointedly singled out in panels, workshops, and discussions. The WSF ends on January 25.