On September 25, 1957 nine Black students started classes at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, beginning the school’s process of integration. On June 16, 1976 in Soweto, South Africa, thousands of young people gathered in their schools for a student-run demonstration against apartheid. In 1989 hundreds of street youth in Brazil took over the Brazilian National Congress to fight for the passing of laws that favored young people. Throughout history, youth have been at the forefront of social movements. When the 2010 United States Social Forum arrives in Detroit, youth will again rise to the occasion. Youth are already organizing across the country for the USSF, holding community forums and meetings and spreading the word to get more people involved.

At the hands of Israel, the Gaza Strip has become the world’s largest open-air prison, trapping 1.5 million Palestinians inside its borders. The Israeli blockade of Gaza began in June 2007, after Hamas defeated US-backed Fatah forces who were attempting to carry out a coup in Gaza. The blockade was an extension of the economic sanctions that began in March 2006 in response to Hamas winning parliamentary elections, and has essentially closed Gaza off to the outside world.

In the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Police Officer Johannes Mehserle shot Oscar Grant in the back as he lay face down on the ground in front of a train car filled with people. He died several hours later. Uprisings in Oakland—including the killing of four cops by 26-year-old Lovelle Mixon—led the Alameda County District Attorney’s office to argue that while an impartial jury couldn’t be found in Oakland, one can be found in Los Angeles.

When Mehserle goes on trial this May, Los Angeles will once again be the central location for a fight involving police brutality against communities of color.

These days people are scared. Whether it’s fear of big government or job loss, immigration raids or foreclosure, socialism or fascism, police violence or terrorist attacks, cap and trade or ecological collapse, one thing we all hold in common is an undeniable sense of insecurity.  Which direction the country goes to resolve these fears is largely up to us. Times of crisis hand us all with the responsibility to answer the question, “How shall we be together as a people?” One of the key sites for resolving that question is the migrant rights movement and the resolution of who is and who is not considered part of the body-politic.