[Imc-africa] wsf reportback in Philly

[Jay]

Hi imc-africa (and philadelphia frineds by cc, just in case you're 
not still on the imc-africa list),

Last night there was a really thoughtful and inspiring reportback 
about the Nairobi IMC convergergence/Prometheus radio-building/World 
Social Forum, in which the six Philadelphia folks who went to Kenya 
to be part of that process discussed their experiences and developing 
thoughts about the adventure with a bunch of us who hadn't been 
there.  We didn't record audio but the Philly IMC is planning to do 
some kind of feature and will nag them all until each writes 
something about his/her reflections, which I'm sure will make it to 
this list as well.

As all of you who were there know, and as most of us on this list 
have figured out, there were such both such monumental successes and 
failures at the Kenya/WSF IMC.  Clearly there were tremendous 
breakthroughs made between individuals, and incredible work was done 
while building the radio stations.  I especially get the sense the 
positive connections built between the Kenya IMC/Maseno/Koch FM etc. 
will be amazing, and I really hope they'll be long-lasting and only 
grow from here.

Also, clearly, the non-radio "IMC convergence" part of the adventure 
was, let's say, to be kind, "troubled."  There are many many reasons 
for this, some in our control, some outside of it.  Would it have 
gone 180 degrees differently had Sphinx been able to come, and had 
the other delegates from Africa had been able to get their visas?  Or 
would it have just been as much of a mess because of lack of 
forethought and planning?

I, for one, when I realized for sure I wasn't going to be able to be 
in Nairobi, consciously held back from most of the public organizing 
discussions about the structure of the convergence itself, because I 
was wary of the potential harm of my dominating disuccsions and 
imposing my ideas on people who were actually going to be 
there.  Looking back, I still don't think my active involvement would 
have made much of a difference, and my suggesting timetables and 
workshop structures would proabably have done as much harm as good, 
but I definitely could have been more engaged in a hundred 
ways.  Again, I think we're all really sad Sphinx couldn't make it, 
though we clearly shouldn't have relied so heavily on the presence of 
one person.

Ah, all the hard lessons learned.

Clearly, dispite the all the ways we resoundingly messed up, 
conversations about building independent media in Africa, both inside 
and outside of the indymedia network, continue on this list and 
elsewhere with such fervor that I hope most of us sense that we're 
just at the very beginning.  Something I've learned from my few times 
in Africa, and most places outside of the U.S., is that here in the 
U.S. too many of us often feel the need to make things happen now Now 
NOW!  Not only is that often not realistic when working toward actual 
long-lasting social change, but that kind of pressured, 
immediate-payoff-oriented anxiety can actually work against our 
taking the time to allow truly grassroots, organic organizing 
grow.  Also, things that seem in the moment to be successes can come 
to nothing if not nurtured, and apparent failures can have long term 
benefits if we are truly committed to learning from them.  These have 
always been hard lessons for me to learn personally, but last night's 
reportback, and the discussions we've had all along here, are helping 
me remember them.

Enough words from me.  I don't know if I'll have time to respond to 
the discussion about the Nigeria IMC right now, but I'll try soon.

With much respect for your hard and mindful work,
Jay