For the over 10,000 people across the country who have come to the U.S. Social Forum now underway in Atlanta -- the largest U.S. gathering of social change activists in decades -- the event is a chance to build community, share ideas, to feel like they are part of a larger movement.

But the Forum's impact is felt beyond this country's borders. At a time when the U.S.'s image in the world is eroding, the Social Forum is being closely watched by activists abroad who are looking for signs that America's drive to war and empire are being challenged from within.

Dennis Brutus, a South African poet who was imprisoned along with Nelson Mandela in the anti-apartheid struggle, came to the Forum precisely for that reason, as he related in an interview with Democracy Now!:

[F]or many people outside in other countries, they'll talk of the United States as the "belly of the beast." It's where the oppressive process begins. But that's only half the story, because there are so many people in the United States, activists, people in the churches, trade unions, community organizations. There is a different thrust. That thrust is for social justice, of course, in the United States, but also social justice in the other countries, which are part of this global process of repression: the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. We're challenging that.

If the Social Forum succeeds, it will be not only in building a stronger social change movement in the United States -- but in giving hope for change to the world.