We are excited to announce our endorsement of Ayah Al-Zubi of Boston DSA, running for Cambridge City Council! Despite a narrow loss in her council race in 2023, Ayah has remained a tireless organizer for justice in the Cambridge community. When the city announced the closure of a 58-bed homeless shelter, she worked directly with the impacted residents and empowered them to advocate for their needs at several crucial council meetings.

Ayah is a young Muslim woman and renter with a lived experience that uniquely positions her to understand the struggles of immigrants in Cambridge, young people, renters, and more. She does not accept real estate or corporate money because she believes in people over profit.

Ayah is running on an ambitious platform to support the working class in a variety of areas like housing, transportation, climate, education and childcare, and racial and economic justice.

Ayah’s campaign centers mechanisms such as the Affordable Housing Trust, investing in the Community Land Trust, and retaining the 20% inclusionary zoning requirement to build permanently affordable housing. For transportation, Ayah has a focus on making the #1 bus free, as well as improving access to services for elderly in Cambridge. Finally, Ayah’s campaign is dedicated to making food more accessible especially in light of Daily Table closing to create Cambridge’s first city-run grocery store. Everyone deserves to live in this city with dignity and Ayah will work hard to bring this vision to life.

Support Ayah with a donation!

In the coming days, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will end for more than 100,000 Monroe County residents who rely on the program to feed themselves and their families. While local charities are stepping up in an attempt to fill the gaps, it will not be enough to keep many in our community from sinking further into poverty. The result will be more crimes of desperation like theft, more negative health outcomes, and more strain on shelters and other existing resources.

Donald Trump and his agenda of austerity are to blame. This is social violence and financial warfare—the richest elements of society are seeking to destroy any infrastructure that permits average families access to the means for a dignified life. Meanwhile, government resources remain available for weapons and military strikes abroad, alongside the brutal displacement of our immigrant neighbors at home.

Socialism means that caring for people comes FIRST. We cannot tolerate a society that privileges destruction over providing for life; that is willing to sacrifice millions on the altar of profit. Though the circumstances of our immediate situation have been created by Trump, they are the inevitable result of our capitalist system. 

In spite of these attacks, we must find the energy to come forward and fight. We call on our members and the broader community to find ways to care for one another in these trying times, and to bring ourselves closer as an organized class. Together, the working masses will defeat those who aim to further enrich themselves at our expense.

In solidarity,
ROC DSA

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RESOURCES:

Food Assistance Information Food cupboards and eligibility information in Monroe and Livingston County.  Community Pet Care Resources Here are some additional resources for pet owners: food assistance, vaccinations, and low-cost veterinary care. It’s common for people to surrender their pets due to food or housing instability – these resources can help families keep their pets.  Additional Food Pantry Resources: https://foodlinkny.org/program/pop-up-pantries/ https://www.rocsenator.com/foodbanks https://rocmutualaid.com/ https://www.findhelp.org/  NYS OTDA-general SNAP-related questions: https://otda.ny.gov/snap-benefits-shutdown.asp  Info from Monroe County on Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) and Exemptions: https://www.monroecounty.gov/snap-abawd-changes  2-1-1 LIFE LINE: 2-1-1 LIFE LINE is available 24/7 for resource navigation (including food resources) and crisis counseling services. Interpreters in 200+ languages are available 24/7 as well.   Phone – Dial 211 or call 877-356-9211 Text – 898-211 and enter your zip code. Chat – https://211lifeline.org/contact.php

The post Chapter Statement: ROC DSA Stands with SNAP Recipients Against Financial Warfare by the Capitalist Class first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

A reflection on Lotta Comunista's organizing and an interview with an activist.

The post Experience of the Italian Internationalists appeared first on Democratic Left.

Building a union means including everybody. Here are tried and trusted tips for reaching out across language and other cultural barriers.

The post Immigrant workers belong in unions appeared first on EWOC.

Like many concerned workers, community advocates, and neighbors, Buffalo DSA Steering Committee is disgusted by the impending delay of SNAP benefits on Nov. 1. 42 million Americans, including an estimated 200,000 Western New Yorkers, will face unprecedented food insecurity.

This is a public health and safety crisis, and an attack on the working class. Wages have stagnated, and workers face unmitigated exploitation and wage theft, yet the cost of living continues to rise unchecked. Capitalists continue to hoard resources, leaving only scraps for poor and working people. The ruling class then spews baseless propaganda that we should blame each other–immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, or other marginalized workers, in particular–thus engulfing our class in an unending culture war.

We are strongest when we stand together against the true enemy–the capitalist class. We must organize and act, together, as a united working class.

What does this mean? We must implement both short- and long-term approaches to this impending, immoral hunger crisis. In the immediate term, the Buffalo DSA Steering Committee commits to both monetary and material contributions to organizations doing critical work on the ground in Western New York. We will also share resource guides with both chapter members in need and the greater community. Finally, we encourage members who are physically and financially able to contribute to mutual aid initiatives that uplift their local neighborhoods. Beyond this, we must harness the energy we have to aid our neighbors in the short term, by committing to long-term struggle against all who continue to oppress us. Community care and nonprofit support are not enough to defeat the depths of this crisis–only a democratic socialist state with a destigmatized social safety net can tackle issues of this magnitude. When we organize toward this aim in our apartment buildings, at work, and beyond, we outnumber the ruling class and their sinister lobbies. We must use mass, collective power to demand our taxes go toward essential services and food for all, instead of war crimes and authoritarian states abroad. Ultimately, the power we harness through organizing for our demands will help us build a truly democratic political apparatus independent of both capitalist parties, leading us to the effective government we deserve.

This multi-front fight does not happen in solitude, nor does it happen overnight. If SNAP benefits are restored at this moment, we still know the Trump administration will find new games to play with our lives again. We must create organizing networks and durable infrastructures of support as the working class. As a democratic socialist member organization, DSA provides this political home for any and all who wish to learn the essential skills we need in the uncertain times ahead.

–

If you need help in the coming days and weeks, see the following pages for a non-exhaustive list of resources.

Buffalo Community Fridges
A local network of community fridges available to take what you need, and leave what you can. Most food items are accepted here, with the exceptions of raw meat, alcohol, and catering trays. All home cooking should be labeled with ingredients and dietary notes, and packaged separately. Note that the 257 East Ferry fridge has recently closed, but all other fridges remain open.

• Locations:
• Buffalo Love Fridge (45 Jewett Ave)
• Big Herk (167 Herkimer Street)
• Merriweather Library (1324 Jefferson Ave, limited to operating hours)
• Delevan Grider Fridge (877 E. Delevan Ave, limited to operating hours)
• Groundwork Market Garden Fridge (1698 Genesee St.)
• Gloria J. Parks Fridge (3242 Main St.; near UB South)
• Resource Council of WNY (347 E. Ferry)
• ACME Fridge (1848 Clinton St)
• NY4BDMA Fridge (637 Walden Ave)

WSCS Provisions 139 Pantry | 44 Breckenridge, 14213 (entrance faces Niagara St.)
Near West Side/Grant-Lafayette/Black Rock areas. Open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. This pantry is not able to accept fridge or frozen foods from non-commercial sources.

Milligan’s Food Pantry | 4th floor, Campbell Student Union (Buff State) Resource for Buff State students in need of food. Open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Student ID required.

Town Square Food Pantry | 2710 N. Forest Rd (Amherst/Getzville/Williamsville) Pantry near UB North, in the close vicinity of student housing.

Seneca Babcock Food Pantry | 1168 Seneca St. | 716-822-5094
Near South Buffalo/Babcock/Larkin areas.

Buffalo Urban League Pantry | 86 Pine St. | 716-854-7625
Inside the Clemmon H Hodges Community Center. Near Perry/Old First Ward/Downtown areas.

Buffalo River Food Pantry | 62 Republic St. | 716-856-8613
Inside Old First Ward Community Center. Near Old First Ward/Perry/Downtown areas.

Belle Center Food Pantry | 104 Maryland St. | 716-845-0485
Near Lower West Side/Hispanic Heritage District/Allentown areas.

FeedMoreWNY
A county-wide food nonprofit that offers pantry options, including a mobile food pantry, or meal delivery for those with mobility limitations.

Emergent needs? Contact Erie County DSS at 716-858-7239, or dial 2-1-1. Tell the operators you are looking for a pantry, meal delivery, or groceries today; you will then be referred accordingly.

by Lara

Observing Nature is an intermittent love letter to nature and to you (who is also part of nature), with the purpose of highlighting current seasonal phenomena and what we might glean from observing and reflecting on the natural wonders of the world. Though much of this may already be evident to you, sometimes, it’s helpful to be reminded of these things from an outside observer.

The breathtaking exhibition of fall foliage is a source of much celebration this season, but often overlooked beneath the bright, dwindling, crunchy canopy, is the vibrant explosion of fall flowers. Countless shades of yellow, orange, white, blue, and purple flowers—close to home, to the ground, to the Earth—are growing towards the sun and sky that their colors can be so reminiscent of. More than just a stunning sight (and sometimes smell), these flowers are a critical source of shelter and late-season sustenance during migration or before dormancy for many beings.

While birds and invertebrates may rejoice at the sight of such flowers, humans can easily overlook them. Post-industrial revolution systems have disconnected and distanced us from that which we need to survive, including nature. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in our own worlds and lose sight of the one around us. Henry David Thoreau described this phenomenon thusly, “I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit.” Alarming as it may be, it’s understandable—we have many calls on our attention and much to be concerned about.

I will not provide a list of every worrisome thing in this world, but there are a few things I will mention (and grossly oversimplify) because though they’ve been reported on by other outlets, it is essential that they are recorded, disseminated, and addressed as widely as possible. Israel is committing genocide, killing Palestinian civilians seeking famine relief, and creating vile business plans to profit from this unspeakable evil. The United States is disappearing people and putting them into concentration camps; separating families and deporting children without the access to the medical treatments they need to survive. We are careening swiftly towards further climate catastrophe.

I’m not asking you to overlook the evil in the world—in fact, I absolutely implore you not to—but I am begging you not to drown. Just as capitalism attempts to disconnect us from nature and each other, compartmentalizing us into nothing more than workers to keep the wheels of corporate profit turning, they deny us what it means to be human and what it means to be whole. With all that is going on, it can feel wrong to be joyful, but you’re allowed to feel joy, even though there are terrible things happening in this world. Nor must you force yourself to be falsely cheerful, even if you’re someone who carries an expectation from others of being sunny. You need not let the powers that are in place take your mind as well as your body, your labor, and your time. Don’t exhaust yourself trying to fight your own feelings; you can let them pass through you, and spend your energy more fruitfully. Allowing yourself to embrace the whole range of human emotion makes it easier to bop darkness on its head.

Evil is not all encompassing; good continues to abound (though it may not be as splashy or obvious). Just as we should not ignore the evil, we should also not ignore the good. Despair suffocates progress, which in turn can breed more despair. Should you find yourself in those dark waters of despair, strap on a snorkel and look for who—or what—you love. Lifeboats come in more than just the shape of friends or communities; capitalism can sever us from what is essential for our soul—our greatest passions— if they are not profitable for the machine but those passions can save us—you may just have to find them again first. The sight of a sunset once broke through more than just the sky, it pierced the dense clouds in my soul, causing me to realize that as long as I have nature, and my love for it, I’ll be alright. My love for nature is more than a lifeboat, it is the constant current running through the water. Love is the waters all around us; for what is despair, if not fear of losing what you love and feeling impotent to stop it? What is the current running through your waters? What’s your nature? How will you get through?

If you’re exhausted, you’re not alone. The harrowing gales of cruelty, selfishness, dishonesty, and hypocrisy have been unyielding enough to winnow out even the staunchest of stalks. Be gentle on yourself as the soft autumn rains are on the earth and know that it’s okay to take a break from the news or society. In autumn, our deciduous trees are resorbing nutrients from their leaves, drawing them down to their roots. As we navigate a new season, shed that which no longer serves you. Gather your energy to stand tall for the short days and rough weather ahead; and amid the chaotic barrage on your senses and psyche, take a minute to notice what is going right, not just everything that is going wrong. While there are those who would destroy all around you if it meant enriching their wallets while impoverishing their souls, you’ve (hopefully) found a caring community in DSA who are dedicated to protecting nature and each other. 

Fall flowers may look small and delicate, and yet they return. They’ve overcome so much to exist, from lack or overabundance of sun, water, and nutrients to pesticides and predation. So too, have we. In the face of many and such massive pervasive problems, we may underestimate our personal and collective ability to be impactful. Everyday actions have the power to change and save lives; extraordinary actions even more so. This past month, people dropped what they were doing and came together to protect some of our neighbors from being taken by ICE.

The colors of the fall flowers can be announcements—invitations to pollinators and seed dispersers—while some butterflies, such as our monarchs, have vivid coloration to warn predators of their toxicity (which they are able to acquire as caterpillars through cardenolides in their host plants. However, if the cardenolide concentration is too high or if the latex is too strong, caterpillars are fatally poisoned or their mandibles get stuck shut, respectively. Isn’t it strange and terrible that sometimes that which we need to survive can also be the death of us?). We passively and actively send out signals too—of safety, acceptance, and inclusivity—else warnings that we won’t be complicit—through the flags we fly, the badges we wear, the smiles or glares we give. Some may make their feelings known as loudly as the defiant dandelion, while others may be more like the dwarf mallow—there and supportive but more subtly so than the screamingly bright dandelion. 

Some plants may be reluctant to flower at all, with all the unconscionable weather there has been. It may not be safe for them to speak, and while it’s not okay that we live in a society where that is true, it’s okay to flower strategically to keep people (including yourself) safe. Leaf litter on the ground is not super noticeable but supports a huge amount of overwintering life, as do the stems of plants after flowering. You can help others and depending on what you are doing, it may be most helpful to do so quietly. Other times, it’s important to be as outspoken as the monarch. However you choose to act in these times of intense polarization and censorship, it’s understandable to be anxious. I’m afraid of the repercussions I might face for the things I say and do to stand up against the evils before us, but that fear is raindrop compared to the oceanic fear of doing nothing. There are many fates far worse than death, including one’s conscience pre-deceasing their body, compromising their morals through inaction against atrocities. Don’t live your life in such a way that you can’t live with yourself.

Every plant has its place in the community. Sugar beet farmers aren’t blue at the sight of chicory, an excellent agricultural associate of sugar beets, reducing the soil roundworms that predate upon them.  Though reviled by roundworms, chicory is a valuable food source for many other invertebrates, such as lizard beetles, slugs, buckeye butterflies, and a variety of bees. Chicory root may also be a prebiotic for humans, promoting the growth of helpful bacteria in the colon and hindering harmful bacteria, a source of inulin (which decreases the caloric load of food while increasing their bulk), and a possible potential treatment for heart irregularities. For some plants, roots can also be an important means of vegetative spread: despite being unable to produce seed in the subarctic, yellow toadflax populations went from being scarce to frequent there in 30 years. In autumn, yellow toadflax stems dieback to the root—though small shoots remain observable throughout winter. We are inundated with bad news, but good things are happening all the time that we may not be able to see or feel. Life can persist in the harshest conditions and that life can even be good.

There is much we can learn from goldenrod. This plant is oft unfairly maligned by allergy sufferers—for its contemporary, ragweed, is often the culprit—goldenrod’s heavy, sticky pollen is not often airborne. (Bad news: the allergy season is getting longer. Good news: you can help track it and better our understanding of the biological impacts of climate change in the process!) Unlike goldenrod pollen, goldenrod seedheads are primarily wind-dispersed. Referring to goldenrod seedheads, Thoreau described, “richly and exuberantly downy… so fine that when we jar the plant and set free a thousand… No wonder they spread all over the fields and far into the woods.” As society reveals itself while making increasingly heavy-handed attempts to subdue the oppressed, perhaps it will release the disillusioned from their prisons of comfort by the thousands. When fields are overgrazed, goldenrods often become more abundant. The current administration may intend to sow the seeds of division, only to reap an enormously unified working class. The family name of goldenrods, Solidago, is derived from Latin meaning “to make whole.” 

We must stand with those who are also opposed to bigotry and fascism, though we may disagree on other essentials, and form a dense thorny thicket to protect our most vulnerable and our rights. It may be uncomfortable and feel wrong, but we don’t need to hold hands and make blood vows or sacrifice our beliefs in the process. We can argue about which direction we want the ship to turn in after we’ve collectively steered it out of the whirlpool and patched the gaping holes where water is gushing in. Even invasive plants that disrupt pre-existing communities, that compete against the way we think things are supposed to be, have something to offer. Autumn olive displaces native plant species in the Northeast by altering the nitrogen balance of the soil, outshading others, and promoting the spread of other invasives (particularly buckthorn). However, this plant also provides ample nectar for bees, butterflies, wasps, and flies, and its seeds are eaten by humans and several species of birds. It is also planted in some states as a crash barrier along highways, due to its reflective silvery foliage. 

While we benefit from a diverse community of plants and people, arguments based on how individuals or the community benefit (like the one I just made) overlook something even more important: the intrinsic value that individual beings possess; whether they are human or not, regardless of what perceived purpose they serve. You are not separate from all things; you are a part of all the wonders that this season brings. Misty mornings, golden afternoons, bounding dogs, burrowing toads, orange moons, shimmering choirs of crickets and cicadas giving way to the calls of migrating birds and the bare-branched creaks of trees moving the way of the wind. The days may be short and the nights long, but they are filled with more than just darkness. The fogs and frosts have returned, but there is brightness all around and within you. Let not the fall frosts cool your passion or harden your heart. 

I don’t know how long autumn and the winter it gives way to will last or what it may bring, but I do know that together we can fill barren fields with color and life and that good is not gone from this world. The temptation to think that everything that is happening and will happen is terrible is a powerful but inaccurate assumption. We can change more than just our mindsets though. Like chicory, we can nourish and energize each other for the long journey ahead and (metaphorically) help with irregularities of the heart. Like yellow toadflax, we can grow and withstand harsh conditions by reaching our roots, garnering strength and support, and taking breaks when we need to. Like goldenrod, we can present a unified front against the forces of fascism and capitalism. Anyone who has tried to make a monoculture lawn knows the power, tenacity, and pervasiveness of these three (and other) so-called weeds. Despite the cataclysms and catastrophes, I hope we can see the beauty and wonder that continues to flourish, no matter the odds and awfulness. 

Reference:

“The Book of Field and Roadside Open-Country Weeds, Trees, and Wildflowers of Eastern North America” by John Eastman, illustrated by Amelia Hansen

The post Observing Nature: Fallowers first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

By Lexi J

(DSA members march for Medicare for All outside the capitol at the Cesar Chavez Day March)

Health care is a human right. Gallup polls show that Americans support comprehensive reform to the US health care system, yet little has changed in recent years to adequately address the significant flaws that create confusion, unnecessary costs, and inadequate care. Bernie Sanders brought the idea of Medicare for All to the national stage during his presidential campaigns: a single-payer health care system that would deliver consistent care to all Americans. As we look at our national politics today, achieving this goal feels like a distant dream.

As we navigate a second Trump presidency, many leftists have encouraged folks to turn towards their local politics, working to enact change in our communities. As the capital of California, Sacramento offers the opportunity to engage with both city and statewide movements. National Nurses United—the country’s largest union of registered nurses—has been working for years to push forward the movement for universal health care. They have worked on a variety of campaigns to champion this cause, including the national Medicare for All campaign. But did you know there has also been action towards establishing CalCare, a push to guarantee universal health care for all Californians?

In February 2024, California Assemblymember Ash Kalra introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 2200, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act. National Nurses United states that AB 2200 “would enact a comprehensive framework of governance, benefits, program standards, and health care cost controls for a single-payer health care coverage system in California.”.

Studies show that a single-payer system would reduce overall health care costs, as spending tied to upholding the administrative complexity of our current system would be drastically decreased when you consider that health insurance administrative costs are often tied to finding reasons to reject care to maximize profits. This bill envisions a California where everyone is guaranteed comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and mental health care regardless of income or employment status.

While universal health care in the US may feel distant, the infrastructure that is needed to create these systems has already been thought through. As we continue to feel abandoned by centrist Democrats with empty promises, motivated by donor dollars rather than their constituents, now is the time to envision the society we want to live in. We know that health care reform is an issue that people are passionate about; one that expands beyond political divides. A compassionate government program like universal health care is possible as long as we keep the conversation going. Check out National Nurses United to learn more about both CalCare and Medicare for All legislation, join Sacramento DSA and our Healthcare Committee, call on your elected officials to keep pushing for reform in our health care system, and never stop believing in a society that collectively cares for its people.

DSA is proud to endorse Danny Nowell, running for Carrboro Town Council.

Danny is an incumbent seeking re-election to continue leading the region by example. During his first term, council convened a Community Safety Task Force, began revising their Land Use Ordinance, and brought a suit against Duke Energy for its role in climate deception.

Danny is hoping to continue increasing housing supply, improving connectivity, and re-imagining public safety.

Danny is a member of the NC Triangle Democratic Socialists of America.

As this dreadful police state bears down on us, there are still faint glimmers of hope. One of the most promising is the Democratic primary win for New York City’s mayoral race by long-time DSA member Zohran Mamdani. This victory, somewhat surprising given his low polling early in the race, has put explicit democratic socialist executive power on the table for the first time in decades, in a central hub of Wall Street capital and a center for international finance. Simultaneously, massive crowds have rallied  behind Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, demanding a future worth living in. As Bernie’s clear protege, it is quite possible that AOC will run for president in 2028, inspiring millions who view her as the last best chance for social progress in America. Now, DSA’s task is to make sure that this popular energy is channeled into a lasting political project—not crushed or coopted as it was in 2020 and 2024 for a decrepit Democratic establishment.

At our recent 2025 convention, DSA passed two separate resolutions that commit the organization to  exploring a run for president in 2028. It also committed us to the task of building an independent socialist party. If we want to make these dreams a reality, however, we have two strategic imperatives: first, we need to draft a democratic socialist presidential platform –  DSA’s vision for how to use the presidency to fight for socialism in our lifetime. Second, we must begin our intervention in the 2028 presidential primary by running our own candidate, a bold DSA cadre candidate, even if that candidate eventually drops out and backs a figure like AOC for the general. 

Are we up to the task? Have faith, comrades! It’s reasonable to feel small next to the scale of the problems that haunt us. Yet in DSA, we have real strengths that we can continue to develop: vision, commitment, and continuity. When elections end and the cameras leave, we are the ones who keep the struggle alive, who stay rooted in our communities and refuse to bow down to Democratic elites. They may have the name recognition, but we have a lasting organization that can inspire a new kind of mass movement and hopefully, a broader national presidential agenda to go along with that sense of commitment.

Rallying the Masses

This isn’t about winning the first time we run our own independent candidate for the highest elected office in the country. It’s about preparing the US working class for a revolutionary conquest of state power. The crucial reality is that the U.S. Constitution is already dead under Trump’s autocracy, which itself is a result of decades of creeping oligarchy. With the extreme disparities in Senate representation, the hideous influence of money in politics, and all the chaos and confusion ahead, it’s very unlikely that we’ll ever win a clean trifecta of the presidency, House, and Senate. Even Lincoln wasn’t that lucky when his insurgent Republican Party first took the presidency in 1860.

Rather, we’ll sweep to power using presidential politics to help trigger an avalanche of working class struggle, and rip up the old rulebook. It’s about using electoral campaigns for political office to attract support and to agitate the working class. Alongside the electoral realm, we will use every other tool available: strikes, demonstrations, mutual aid associations, and so on. Our “organizer in chief” presidential campaign will also encourage socialists to build up their own media, like the mass livestreams that Bernie Sanders pioneered or Zohran Mamdani’s masterful TikTok videos. We can be certain the cable news pundits won’t be kind to us, and it’s high time we found ways to counter their propaganda, and to cultivate peoples’ questioning of the status quo into something more enduring and focused!

Imagine our candidates throwing down on the picket line with striking workers; holding listening sessions outside VA hospitals and rail yards, organizing militant public health initiatives to subvert abortion bans and defend transgender care. Wherever we find organic working class leaders, we funnel them right into the pipeline to our People’s Cabinet. In our movement, today’s train conductor is tomorrow’s presidential nominee! The presidential election is just an audition for power—a way to build the muscle, the vision, and the network that the working class needs to actually govern when the time comes.

A Platform of Revolution

Before we even begin to select a potential candidate, we would need to determine what we’re running them for. Steps and patience are still necessary. We start by drafting a “Democratic Socialist Presidential Platform”: a prepared list of tasks that we would initiate on day one of a socialist presidency. Through rapid executive action, our intent would be to mobilize the working class to dismantle the capitalist state as it currently exists and win peace, homes, and healthcare for all.

Our agitation around this document would be more than a protest campaign. It’s a platform campaign spanning countless election cycles, not just one, in a nationwide struggle for power. Instead of beginning with a personality, we can start by revisiting DSA’s existing program, refining it together through democratic deliberation. The following could be inspiring commitments for our platform:

• Appoint a People’s Cabinet of working class organizers, prepared to take power as a revolutionary workers’ government. Such organizers would be recruited from across the country.
• Redeploy federal resources toward massive climate resiliency projects, housing, and healthcare for all, regardless of locality
• Cut all federal support for genocide and the Israeli war machine, instead supporting Palestine’s freedom
• Arrest all war criminals and genocide collaborators in the US for prosecution in international courts. 
• Arrest all collaborators in Jeffrey Epstein’s pedophile network.
• Recognize the self-determination of all colonized and indigenous nations fighting global capitalism and U.S. imperialism
• Declare a public health emergency to restore abortion rights and gender-affirming care nationwide, deploying federal resources to ensure universal access.
• Nationalize public infrastructure, from railways to energy grids, under democratic control
• Welcome climate refugees and declare universal amnesty for immigrants 
• Liberate political prisoners from both federal and state incarceration
• Reorganize the armed forces into a democratic people’s army
• Convene a Popular Assembly, elected by nationwide proportional representation, to rewrite the US Constitution and declare a democratic socialist republic

The agenda will lead, not a personality. Our socialist vision will be spearheaded by charismatic people with a strong sense of responsibility to the movement, ready to build a permanent constituency for socialism. As we boldly articulate DSA’s vision for the country and the world, we will become infinitely more powerful.

The DSA Presidential Convention

With a platform agreed upon, we’ll be ready for the next step of nominating our ticket. Those who will be responsible for using electoral politics to spread our socialist movement across the country won’t be nominated through a backroom negotiation. Instead, we can hold a DSA presidential nominating convention. Anyone would be free to run for the nomination, as long as they pledge to implement the DSA Presidential Platform. DSA could develop democratic procedures for selecting a nominee and hold livestreamed in-person debates for all declared candidates to earn the DSA endorsement and full backing. Such debates will encourage healthy discourse in our organization and push all of us forward politically 

But how do we find good candidates? We can do this by thinking outside the box! We don’t necessarily need a governor, a member of Congress, or even an existing DSA elected. It would be amazing to win over a national politician like Rashida Tlaib or Cori Bush, but we could also pick a DSA chapter leader, a national co-chair, or a rank and file union activist. We could draft a local elected like Richie Floyd, a socialist schoolteacher like Jeremy Gong, or even a plain-spoken left wing academic like Matt Karp. The nomination process will give us ample opportunity to observe the candidates in action, picking one who is up to the task of building a socialist constituency.

Then, we could bring in other figures to boost the ticket. Imagine Zohran Mamdani, running for Congress on a nationwide slate of democratic socialist firebrands. These candidates will be backed by the strong campaigns that are necessary to win, build DSA and spread consciousness about our program. Downballot campaigns will get a boost when the presidential candidate barnstorms their district to help get their name out, and local elected officials will in turn have a part to play in boosting the presidential ticket. 

Running for a collective presidency would give us incredible resilience. If we spread name recognition across the movement, we can avoid getting trapped with a single perennial candidate like Bernie, Corbyn, or Melénchon. Instead, we can learn from figures like former Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and his successor Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico, who have used their groundbreaking electoral campaigns to build up permanent institutions like Morena, a mass party of the Mexican left. Bernie and AOC seem to be building support for their progressive vision through their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, but their distance from DSA limits their ability to cohere an organized mass base for their political program. Their instinct has always been to center their personalities instead of trying to create a new voter identity or a partylike organization.

If we nominate our candidates early—perhaps in 2026—we’ll have plenty of time to start forging a socialist voter identity as 2028 approaches. We can begin by running in the national Democratic primary with a stridently independent campaign, making it clear that we will never endorse the establishment if they steal the nomination or continue to ignore working class grievances. Our candidate’s orientation would still be to antagonize masses of typical voters, including the many Democratic party voters who have become increasingly frustrated with the party, and to offer them a true alternative to the GOP. If the time seems ideal, we can continue to the general election as an independent, on a third-party ballot line, or perhaps even as a write-in candidate, taking with us support from inside the primary. Every step of the way, we will assess support for socialism and continue the long overdue process of cultivating a pro-socialist constituency.

If AOC enters the primary, many comrades will feel that the only responsible choice is to rally behind her immediately. For many Americans, she is the most familiar figure to emerge from Bernie Sanders’ movement, their entry point to “democratic socialism.” Yet there is a hard truth that DSA sometimes struggles to address: AOC’s approach is rarely insurgent and has in fact become increasingly conciliatory in recent years. In 2024, she went so far as to go on the DNC stage and claim with a straight face that Kamala Harris“[works] tirelessly for a ceasefire in Gaza”—all while Harris groveled to Biden’s killing spree and promised the “most lethal” military in the world. More recently, AOC voted against a measure to slash funding for Israel’s Iron Dome, followed by reasoning that itself sounded contorted and unclear.

AOC’s strategy is compromised by her commitment, however well-intentioned in some circumstances, to staying in the good graces of a party leadership that is utterly hostile to progress and its own voter base. That is not a personal attack, but a political reality with consequences. If DSA plays “follow the leader” and tails a left-Democratic presidential candidate, we will forfeit any ability to push beyond the limits they accept. We should never forget what happened in 2020: when Bernie Sanders capitulated to Biden early on in the name of “party unity,” his massive volunteer army was left in despair and disunity. When summer came, millions rose up in the George Floyd rebellion, but they had no real political leadership—no defiant presidential agitator who could guide their righteous fury into a permanent resistance. That tragedy could repeat itself in 2028 if AOC surrenders to the establishment, all while ICE tramples more families into the ground. 

We can welcome AOC into the field. We may even consider forming a united front of some kind with her as the primaries unfold—if she makes significant concessions to the DSA platform, and we retain our own independent voice. Even from a position of “critical support for AOC,” we could continue to build a constituency around DSA’s unique vision and stay completely hostile to establishment Democrats. If she drops out and endorses an establishment primary winner, we must not follow her. A revolutionary campaign must be prepared to go much further than AOC will, because the US working class deserves more than a fleeting populist resistance: it demands an enduring socialist opposition. 

With a boldly independent socialist campaign, we will answer working people’s hunger for a real alternative. We’ll be putting forward our own agenda, unfiltered by the expectations of the Democratic party establishment. This strengthens our leverage and puts pressure on the entire political system. Ironically, this may even bolster AOC’s position within her party by showing the establishment that there’s a far more dangerous option than her. In the short term, that too would be in our favor, with AOC forced to concede to some of our more liberatory demands, all the while we carry on developing our independent sources of power, electoral or otherwise. DSA’s strength lies not in our proximity to progressive celebrities, but in our capacity to organize working-class people around a shared vision for a better society. All strategies, including the electoral, proceed over from this principle. 

The Hard Road Ahead

As our new National Political Committee builds on our commitment to building a socialist party, it should begin planning for a groundbreaking presidential campaign to fight for “socialism in our lifetime.” Across the country, DSA members increasingly understand that contesting the presidency is vital to our success as a movement. The greatest challenge ahead is making sure our presidential intervention is bold, inspiring, and courageously independent.

If DSA can come together around this vision, we will be taking a considerable leap of faith. It requires confidence in socialism as a movement, as an organization, as a concrete project worth fighting for. Is it actually possible for socialists to rise to power in the United States? If we don’t start to believe it ourselves, no one else ever will. 

If there’s one thing we can draw hope from, it’s the fact that all the old release valves are breaking apart. The Democratic Party has never been weaker and more decrepit. If we seize this moment with unrelenting ferocity, we can emerge with the independent movement of our dreams. The key to all of it is developing our vision through a presidential platform, and then running a candidate who is willing to speak to it. It is a message of confidence to the entire world that we can achieve socialism in our lifetime, in the United States: the center of global capitalism and empire.

Our time will come. Our time is now. 

Image: Photo of the Oval Office during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s time as U.S. President. (Public Domain)

Events & Actions

Events with a are especially new-member-friendly!

Tuesday, October 28 (8:00 AM – 4:30 PM): ICE out of SF courts! (in person at 100 Montgomery St)

Tuesday, October 28 (6:00 PM – 7:30 PM): “Stop the Threat of US War on Venezuela!”: A History of US-Venezuela Relations (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Wednesday, October 29 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Tech Reading Group: Empire of AI by Karen Hao (zoom and in person at 518 Valencia St)

Wednesday, October 29 (6:45 PM – 8:30 PM): Tenant Organizing Working Group Meeting (zoom and in at person at Radical Reading Room, 438 Haight St)

Thursday, October 30 (7:30 PM – 9:30 PM): “Housing the City by the Bay: Tenant Activism, Civil Rights, and Class Politics in San Francisco” – TOWG Reading Group (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Friday, October 31 (2:30 PM – 4:00 PM): Keep Market St. Moving! Roundtable with Drivers (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Saturday, November 1 (1:00 PM – 5:00 PM): Growing Community: Urban Food Production at Alemany Farm (in person at Alemany Farm, 700 Alemany Blvd)

Sunday, November 2 (1:00 PM – 2:00 PM): SF EWOC Lead Generation Strategy Session (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, November 2 (5:30 PM – 7:15 PM): HWG Reads  “Capitalism & Disability…” (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday, November 3 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board x SF EWOC Local Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Tuesday, November 4 (6:00 PM – 7:30 PM): Ecosocialist Bi-Weekly Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Thursday, November 6 (5:30 PM – 6:30 PM): Education Board Open Meeting (zoom)

Thursday, November 6 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Immigrant Justice Court Action Orientation (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Friday, November 7 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM):  Comrade Karaoke (in person at the Roar Shack, 34 7th St)

Sunday, November 9 (11:00 AM – 1:00 PM): Physical Education + Self Defense Training (in person at the William McKinley Monument)

Sunday, November 9 (2:00 PM – 4:00 PM): Palestine Study: There is No Socialist Israel  (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, November 9 (5:00 PM – 7:00 PM): Capital Reading Group (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday, November 10 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Tenderloin Healing Circle (in person at Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Monday, November 10 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Homelessness Working Group Regular Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday, November 10 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board Meeting (zoom)

Check out https://dsasf.org/events for more events and updates.

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Take Action: Support a Green Public Bank for San Francisco

San Francisco has the chance to make history by creating a green bank: a publicly-owned institution that invests in affordable housing, small businesses, and clean energy instead of Wall Street profits. A Green Bank Resolution was recently introduced by our Socialist in Office Jackie Fielder, and we need to show the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Lurie that San Franciscans support it.

A public bank would keep our money circulating in our communities, fund climate solutions, and help build a city that works for everyone — not just the wealthy.

Take two minutes to send an email to the Mayor and Supervisors using our email tool.

Want to help build the campaign? Join the #public-bank channel in Slack or email ecosocialist@dsasf.org to get plugged into organizing efforts and stay updated on next steps.

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Stop The Threat Of US War On Venezuela!

Wondering how we got here? Want to understand why Trump is attacking Venezuela? Need to deepen your understanding of US-Venezuela relations? And most importantly: want to discuss how we can fight back?

Join the Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialism working group at 1916 McAllister on Tuesday, October 28th, 6:00-7:30PM in an educational forum on the history of Venezuela and the struggle against US imperialism. RSVP HERE!

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ICE Out of SF Courts!

Join neighbors, activists, grassroots organizations in resisting ICE abductions happening at immigration court hearings! ICE is taking anyone indiscriminately in order to meet their daily quotas. Many of those taken include people with no removal proceedings.

We’ll be meeting every Tuesday and Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM at Immigration Court at 100 Montgomery. We need all hands on deck. The 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM window is when we most need to boost turnout, but if you can’t make that please come whenever works for you. 1 or 2 hours or the entire time! We’re also holding orientation sessions for folks, but that is not required to attend. See the Immigrant Justice Court Action Orientation event for more details.

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DSA SF Tenant Organizing Reading Group – “Housing the City by the Bay: Tenant Activism, Civil Rights, and Class Politics in San Francisco” 

San Francisco has always had an affordable housing shortage, but solutions outside of the private sector have long been neglected or overlooked. Join us as we learn about the history of one proposed solution: public housing.

Our four-part reading group will meet every other Thursday at 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM hybrid in person at 1916 McAllister and Zoom with RSVP to discuss John Baranski’s book “Housing the City by the Bay”. The next meeting will be Thursday, October 30.

If you wish to join please RSVP here!

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Growing Community: Urban Food Production at Alemany Farm

Come join DSA SF’s Ecosocialist working group Saturday, November 1st, 2025 1:00 – 5:00PM  as we get our hands dirty gardening at one of SF’s community gems, Alemany Farm.

First, we will tour the farm and learn about its history as a community gathering place and food source. Next, we will be doing volunteer gardening tasks (planting seedlings, harvesting weeds, flipping compost, building paths, etc.). Midway through our volunteer work, we’ll take a break to discuss the farm’s mission and how it relates to DSA’s values and goals, covering topics including environmentalism, anti-capitalist food production, and shared public space. We’ll finish with a bit more volunteer work and a harvest, where we’ll collect some crops from around the farm and take some home! RSVP here!

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Join SF EWOC to Organize the Unorganized!

The SF local of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) needs to get more workplace organizing leads so we can increase union density! Our strategy sessions (held at the DSA SF office, 1916 McAllister) will determine what neighborhoods and tactics to use at the next flyering event. You don’t need to be a volunteer or organizer with EWOC to attend! Our next strategy session will be Sunday, November 2nd at 1:00PM at 1916 McAllister. RSVP here!

We will have monthly regular strategizing and flyering events on the first and third Sundays of every month at 1PM. Our next flyering event will be  Sunday, November 16th at 1:00PM – location TBD! RSVP here!

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Organizing Mindset Training

Organizing is at the core of what we do as socialists — and it’s a skill that can be developed and practiced. Come join fellow comrades as we learn and discuss how we can incorporate organizing fundamentals into our day-to-day actions so that we can build stronger, more cohesive, and more active communities that can rally together against the unjust capitalist system. Whether it’s our neighbors, coworkers, friend groups, fellow transit-riders, or any other communities we interact with daily, we will always be stronger when we are organized, aligned on the most critical issues we are facing, and ready to act in unison and put our collective people power behind our demands.

Join us at 1916 McAllister St on Sunday, November 16th from 3:00 – 6:00PM for the first iteration in what we hope will become a recurring, multi-part Organizing Mindset training.   All are invited and encouraged to attend, whether you are new to DSA, new to organizing, or a more seasoned member/organizer. This first session in particular is a great one to attend if you are interested in helping shape future iterations of this training. RSVP here!

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DSA SF Homelessness Working Group Reads: Capitalism & Disability: Selected Writings by Marta Russell

Join DSA SF’s Homelessness Working Group as we read through Capitalism & Disability: Selected Writings by Marta Russell. We’ll be meeting every other Sunday evening starting in September for 4 or 5 sessions at 1916 McAllister. The next session is Sunday, November 2nd. For more info, register here: bit.ly/martacd and check the events calendar for latest details.

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Immigrant Justice Court Action Orientation

Come one, come all to 1916 McAllister St for our court watch orientation! You’ll learn how we are resisting ICE , how you can help, and participate in a biweekly art build. Bring questions and anti-ICE slogans! This event will take place every other week on Thursdays starting at 7:00 PM and the next one is November 6th!