Across the spectrum, people have been planning, organizing and mobilizing for the USSF. From Chicago to San Antonio to Gary, Indiana and St. Louis and many points in between, we asked individuals and organizations to share some reflections on what their road to Detroit has looked like and what being at the USSF means to them.

Welcome to Detroit!

A few months ago, $13 million dollars was awarded to the activists who were unlawfully arrested on April 15, 2000 in Washington DC as part of the weekend of protests against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. In the next few years a number of other class action lawsuits will probably be settled, where activist defendants are likely to receive large sums of money. Some of us, who were arrested, cuffed, and held for participating in a peaceful protest, may be receiving a lot of cash.

As this magazine goes to press, thousands of us from around the country are preparing to travel to Detroit for the US Social Forum. As we get ready to see many of our old friends at the hundreds of workshops and facilitated discussions, meet some new friends on the dance floor at this year's Leftist Lounge party, and strategically plan on how to also sneak in a few World Cup soccer games, we are reminded that the USSF above all shows us the possibilities of our collective power, even as we come to it from many different backgrounds and a range of local struggles.

The campaigns begin earlier, the war chests grow larger, and just when you thought it had become impossible to do so—the Democratic and Republican platforms on the major issues of the day have become even more blurred. Welcome to the spectacle that is the US presidential elections. As we look towards a more hopeful 2008, one thing is for sure—Bush will be out of office, and that has to be a good thing for all of us.