People always say, “all politics are local” –which Shana sincerely believed until just recently. In September, she was invited by the Party of the European Left to travel to Finland to present at a seminar, conduct a workshop, and tour to various cities to do a presentation and lead a group discussion about campaigns like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent upset in NY’s 14th District, and movements like the #FightFor15, Poor People’s Campaign, and Occupy Wall Street. The entire trip was eye opening for Shana, as she got to talk to comrades overseas about what they were experiencing and how it compared to the struggles back home. She got to learn about their electoral and healthcare systems, and about how they approach gun control, and that there were better ways of doing things actually working for the most part despite the popular narratives we hear in the US, via mainstream media and even our own electeds.
Shana and her new Finnish friends began discussing the need for an international left network, to exchange ideas, share strategies and tactics, and simply to share information about events as they unfold in our home countries.
Just three months after its conception, and already X amount of people have joined this network from Y amount of countries. They have curated and produced 5 international issue-based zoom conferences, all of which have truly informed the organizing work of those who participated.
As a result of this work, Shana was invited by the Party of the European Left to participate in the Bilbao European Forum, which was a 3 day conference in Spain (Basque Country) with the intention of promoting international collaboration and solidarity between dozens of parties, organizations and movements. The forum was attended by over 400 delegates from Europe, Latin America, North America, South America, the Middle East and Africa.
The Bilbao European Forum only further reinforced the importance of ongoing international organization and solidarity, and has inspired Shana to forge ahead with her efforts. She has been invited to participate next in the 2019 Left Forum and São Paulo Forum.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & SPEAKING EVENTS
November 2018
Bilbao European Forum | Bilbao, Basque Country
Became non-member observer to the Party of the European Left
September 2018
‘Eyes to the West’ seminar and press event | Helsinki, Finland
Organizing Workshop, Left Alliance Party | Helsinki, Finland
Left Campaigns and Movements, Left Alliance Party | Jyväskylä, Finland
Left Campaigns and Movements, Left Alliance Party | Tampere, Finland