BY MEG NOVAK
CHICAGO - As of May 23, more than 300 applications have been sent in to the U.S. Organizing Committee for the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students taking place in Cuba July 27 - August 5. The festival will be an opportunity for young people from around the globe to discuss issues that are central to world politics today.

Local organizing committees continue their efforts to build delegations from their cities by getting endorsements for the U.S. Organizing Committee from political organizations, and asking them to send representatives to the festival. Local committees are also discussing proposals for representatives to speak on panels for workshops at the festival. Workshops include: peace, security, nuclear weapon- free world; anti-imperialist struggle, solidarity, national liberation, sovereignty and self-determination; democracy and participation; environment and sustainable development; employment; young women; health; and discrimination, racism and neo-fascism.

In Pittsburgh, the local organizing committee has been working with members of the Campus Coalition for Peace and Justice, which has helped lead the fight to demand the prosecution of the cops who killed Jonny Gammage, a young Black man who was fatally assaulted during a routine traffic stop. Jennifer Belden England, an activist in the Campus Coalition for Peace and Justice, is working with other activists to prepare a presentation on the Gammage case for the festival. The Pittsburgh committee has raised $270 so far to get local activists to the festival, including at a potluck dinner where the movie Gay Cuba was shown.

"I think it's important to meet people who are involved in different forms of struggle globally," stated Charlene Crooms, a student and activist with Hmong and Somali youth. She plans to attend the festival as a part of the delegation from Minneapolis. "I'm going to learn new ways and methods of dealing with social and economic injustices, and to network with other organizations," she added. Crooms is a part of an outreach committee in Minneapolis that is building the festival at local political events, including at a Chicana/Latina conference titled the Women of Nations Celebration, as well as at a recent community forum on affirmative action. The outreach committee has also set up tables on local campuses.

May 30 is the deadline for local committees to submit proposals on participants to give presentations on political topics, such as the fight for women's liberation or the fight for Puerto Rican independence, or cultural presentations at the festival. These will be turned over to the International Preparatory Committee, which is meeting in Havana in early June. Another national meeting of the U.S. Organizing Committee will take place June 22 in New York City.

The total cost for the festival is $625. This covers all expenses for the trip except airfare from the United States to Nassau, Bahamas, or Cancun, Mexico - the meeting points for U.S. participants. Applications must be accompanied by a $50 deposit and full payment is due by June 30.  
 
 
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