Another world is possible

In early February of this year, thousands of people from around the globe gathered in the historic city of Dakar, Senegal for the 2011 World Social Forum. Grassroots activists, community leaders, indigenous people, students and leftist politicians came together to celebrate the peoples' movements that are creating a new world and discuss strategies for moving forward. Particularly in light of the then-emerging social movements in Tunisia and Egypt that have now spread across North Africa and the Middle East, the World Social Forum in Dakar represented the energy, hope and determination of the African continent to challenge the neoliberal paradigm and declare that 'another world is possible'. are scenes from the opening March where President Evo Morales of Bolivia delivered a rousing opening statement to the people gathered and leaders from the African Social Forum council welcomed the marchers to Dakar. Dakar is of particular significance as one of the last African ports where slave ships stopped before crossing the Atlantic on their way to the Americas. Goree Island, with its door of no return through which millions of slaves passed during the transatlantic slave trade, is a reminder of that history. The World Social Forum is a symbol of the historic resistance to injustices that once took the form of slavery and today have many different faces.