15,000 of us in Detroit

If you're looking for lots of energy and hope for the future, the US Social Forum in Detroit is the place to be. 15,000 registered, the woman at the registration desk tells me. And there's many more without orange wrist bands.

Lots of educators and school activists. Ed workshops (some 50) line up bumper to bumper. Our's bumps heads with some of my favorite folks. Then there's the big assemblies that break down into smaller discussion groups. One today was introduced by Bill Ayers and featured the venerable Grace Lee Boggs and Vincint Harding. Wow!

The Detroit Free Press runs an interesting piece today about the increased participation of religious groups in USSF.

"Faith is about justice," said the Rev. Ed Rowe, pastor of Central United. "Without justice, faith is living a lie. If your faith is just about helping only the people who are inside stained glass windows, we ought to quit." The US Social Forum is attracting thousands of activists from across the U.S., mostly leftists and progressives. But can the far left and religious groups get along? Referring to a biblical verse in Acts about the distribution of wealth, Rowe said: "That's not a communist plot. That's a Christian principle."

One more note from Motown. It has to do with Arne Duncan's mantra about mayor control of the schools. The problem here is that the old mayor Kilpatrick has just been indicted while the newt Mayor (what's up with these former NBA stars) Dave Bing is crying for control of the schools.