Our Mission

What We Believe

We believe that in order to build a strong movement in Kentucky, we must build strong relationships among the diverse counties of this state.  Kentucky is one of the poorest states in this nation, our voices must be heard, and in order to do this we must be united.  We see the Kentucky Social Forum as an avenue to collaborate and organize around the issues that are pertinent to Kentucky people’s lives.  We believe that we must work together to understand and create an agenda that will affect the state legislature and demand that human rights become a priority.  We see the KY Social Forum as both a platform and a catalyst to bring together diverse populations working to change the political and economic fabric of this state and this nation.  We see the process of this Forum as building bridges between communities that have not previously been in contact. We believe that working across lines of difference and geography are vital to the process of the KY Social Forum.  We believe that the process of organizing for the KY Social Forum should be participatory in workshop designs.

We see the planning of the Social Forum as an organizing tool for the whole state of Kentucky.  We realize that change takes time and so we value the process of this effort by committing to have dialogues around the issues that organizations and people are encountering across the state.  Because we value participatory structures we see the KY Social Forum as being an event that will further align us with each other’s goals and strategies for change.  We want the KY Social Forum to be accessible to the entire state, to value all issues no matter how localized or “small” they may seem. We believe what effects one person affects us all.

We want to create unity and freedom in how we do things and in the action steps that we hope will be inspired and birthed out of this event.  We value ALL voices; young, old, poor communities, LGBTQ, race and gender.  We know that working to build a truthful and multi-perspective event is difficult but we believe if we do so the impact of our efforts will reach beyond the KY Social Forum and will affect all of Kentuckians lives.  We hope to provide skills and tools for Kentucky leadership to grow.  We are determined to communicate across language and culture and invest in and support a movement for change, by and for the people of Kentucky and beyond. We want to make Kentucky a place we can call home, regardless of our race, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, ableness, or nationality.

|| WHY A KY SOCIAL FORUM? ||
To continue building a progressive movement in Kentucky by educating folks about numerous social justice issues using a human rights framework. To bring together folks from rural and urban parts of our state to fight for our basic human rights more collectively. To create strong, grassroots coalitions across the expanse of KY. To become more educated about such issues as:

housing / hunger / homelessness / poverty / environmental justice / workers’ rights / youth advocacy and organizing / mountaintop removal / reproductive justice / immigrant rights / queer advocacy and organizing / media justice / non-partisan political mobilizing / economic justice / and MORE!

|| HOW WILL WE DO THIS? ||
We’ll develop viable communications networks, clear outreach strategies, and we will be intentional about representation, using arts and culture, providing space for healing and spirituality, and more.

More Info on Americas Social Forum can be found here.

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Another Kentucky is Possible.

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