By Casey G

If you’re in the mood for pizza, there’s no better place to go than Sicily’s Pizza in Southwest Detroit. This is where MDDSA comrades met on December 8th for a Red Square co-presented with the Political Education and International Solidarity working groups. Peter B. of Brazil’s Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (Socialism and Liberty Party, abbreviated to PSOL) was visiting Detroit and met with us over cheese and pepperoni pizzas to discuss his experiences living and working in Brazil, and answer questions from comrades at MDDSA.

Peter has been an organizer since 2009, starting in Brazil’s student and youth movement. He then moved into electoral, where he was chief of staff for PSOL Congresswoman Sâmia de Souza Bomfim. He is currently living in the United States while reasearching with an American university.

Peter discussed the difference in American and Brazilian party systems. As opposed to our American reality of two parties struggling to hold power on one side of the binary or the other, Brazil has 30 recognized political parties with more than 20 parties holding seats in Congress. New parties are more common in Brazil than in the US, with PSOL forming in 2004 after a split from the Workers Party after President Lula’s proposed pension reform raised the retirement age. PSOL currently holds 12 of the 513 seats in Brazil’s Congress.

Peter gave us a personal anecdote of his experience witnessing the power of the general strike. While he was a student in Sao Paolo in 2017, he witnessed the ripple effects of a general strike through the city. While it affected plenty of sectors, his example was the subway union: the mode of transportation that millions of residents rely on (this year’s strike affected an estimated 3.3 million residents) was unavailable and attention drawn to the needs of those whose undervalued work maintains the system underlying the movement of thousands of citizens daily.

Peter laid out his three guiding principles for a socialist elected. As seen with Lula of the Worker’s Party and then as PSOL gained seats in Congress, the election of a socialist does not miraculously transform the system they operate within. Peter offers foundations to take into these new circumstances.

First, to mobilize society. Success is not achieved in the act of taking office — success is improvements in the material conditions of the working class. These include goals such as Mamdani’s freezing rents, free buses, and universal childcare. [CG1] An elected is not just a representative with a megaphone; true embodiment of the position is organizing and mobilizing constituents to fight for themselves.

Second, to speak the truth of and for the working class. Honesty is its own labyrinth in politics, but as an elected navigates the system, they must be guided by honesty towards their constituents as they face obstacles and compromise.

And last, expanding the horizons. Once we reach goals that have been set, we expand the field and stretch to farther goals. Particularly given DSA’s recent bout of electoral wins (Detroit’s own Denzel McCampbell, and of course, Zohran Mamdami in New York City), it’s time to start thinking about what happens when the North star we’ve been following turns from a spot on the horizon to the ground under our feet. What does socialist governance look like in practice?

We are still operating within a capitalist system and there’s an important balance to strike for American socialists. These electoral wins are indeed achievements to be celebrated; we have not achieved a miraculous change to existing systems and our electeds are going to have rough waters to steer in.

It’s also perpetually invigorating to see people talk about, as material reality, the things we fight for now in the United States. When we’re constantly told how providing medical care to every person is unrealistic, it’s helpful to be reminded that is simply not true. Brazil has a Healthcare for All system. They also removed private money from elections ten years ago. These are not unreasonable pipe dreams; they’re concrete reality elsewhere and worth fighting for here, too. A huge thanks to Peter B. for taking time to discuss with us his experiences in Brazil.

Red Square Recap: An Evening with a PSOL Organizer was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

DSA can make it happen.

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Previous entries — Part One: Introduction; Part Two: Electoral Politics

There were two different approaches to “the labor question” in the 1910s SPA. The first approach was to work within the existing unions. In the early 20th century, the dominant AFL was composed of trade unions representing workers with specific skills, did not stand up for broader working class interests, and was bigoted and exclusionary towards racial minorities and women. Many socialists sought to confront the AFL leadership and push unions in a different direction. This included Clevelander Max Hayes, who would at one point win close to a third of the vote in the AFL leadership race, and is now commemorated in a namesake West Side high school. 

Others sought to follow the path of dual unionism, which was advocated by the SLP, and organized on a mass scale following the founding of the International Workers of the World (IWW) in 1905. Wobblies, as IWW members were at times known, favored industrial unions, which represented sectors or workplaces, rather than workers with specific skills. This advocacy for industrial unionism was shared by others in the SPA (including some in the AFL), but was not reflected within the party’s platform for most of the 1910s.

Labor organizing was another topic where Ruthenberg demonstrated a commitment to unity, despite the bitter divides among SPA members. As his biographer stated, “his primary interest was in labor’s struggle, whether led by a craft union or industrial union.” This principle of solidarity came to the forefront as worker organizing escalated. In 1911, Cleveland saw the historic International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union strike, with thousands of workers participating. In his mayoral campaign of that year, Ruthenberg argued that the power of the state should be wielded in favor of the workers through the swearing in “a hundred of the coolest heads among the strikers” as special police. Three years later, Cleveland teachers organized a union, working in solidarity with a group of mothers from the school districts. Ruthenberg again supported this organizing, which was ultimately derailed by the administration’s firing of pro-union teachers. This repression of worker organizing was upheld by a frequent enemy of workers – District Judge David Westenhaver, who effectively delayed the unionization of Cleveland teachers until 1934. The same year, Ohio miners were locked out of their workplace following the passage of a new labor law, which the mine owners hoped to appeal as unconstitutional. In response, Ruthenberg called on the Ohio Socialist Party to push for immediate state ownership and worker operation of the coal mines. Later on, Ruthenberg would unionize his own white-collar workplace, and lead mass rallies of workers including IWW and AFL members.

The unity practiced by Ruthenberg and the Cleveland local is admirable, and carried on within DSA’s labor organizing approach today. While there are still contentious debates to be had within DSA regarding our approach to labor organizing, the disagreement is over narrower territory.  This is largely a reaction to the changes in the labor movement within the past century, shifting predominantly towards industrial unions which are much more willing to embrace the entire working class. This has eliminated a considerable portion of the impetus for dual unionism. Instead, DSA labor work now focuses on organizing new workplaces into unions, and bringing existing unions towards a more militant posture and political unity with our aims. As we undertake this work, as I am honored to do as Cleveland DSA’s elected Union Liaison, we should strive for the same levels of mass organizing as the SPA, bringing thousands of workers towards a socialist vision.

Please return tomorrow for Part Four: Diversity in the SPA

The post History of the Cleveland SPA, Part Three: Labor appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.

Previous entries — Part One: Introduction

It was in this context that the SPA emerged in 1901, with union leader Eugene Debs serving as a unifying figurehead and recurring presidential candidate. The party united socialists who believed in working within existing union formations and dual unionists, many of whom initially split from the SLP. As the party grew, it attracted many who felt the Progressives of the time did not do enough to meet the political moment. This included Charles Emil Ruthenberg, who is arguably the most important figure of the Cleveland SPA.

Ruthenberg  was originally a strong supporter of Progressive Cleveland mayor Tom Johnson, viewing his advocacy for municipal ownership as a step towards socialism. When Johnson opposed the demands of workers who ran those municipal enterprises, Ruthenberg defended him, and was critiqued by socialist Robert Bandlow. Through these debates with socialists and his own intellectual curiosity, Ruthenberg would move to the left, joining the SPA in January of 1909. Within months, he would be elected as recording secretary of the local, and soon thereafter he would become their English-language spokesperson and a perennial candidate for office. 

Ruthenberg’s electoral campaigns would succeed in growing party membership. During his run for mayor of Cleveland in 1911, the local grew its membership by 50%, totaling around 1,600 members in that year. The following year, Ruthenberg would launch a campaign for Governor of Ohio, visiting every county and more than 100 cities in the state. Many SPA statewide campaigns failed to match presidential candidate Eugene Debs, as the Progressives (running on a platform with many policies taken from the SPA) absorbed many of their votes. In Ohio, however, Ruthenberg received a similar margin to Debs, a little over 8% of the vote. This was the highest of any socialist party gubernatorial candidate throughout the country. At this time, Cleveland had become by far the largest Socialist Party local in Ohio, growing to 2,950 members. While Ruthenberg and other Cleveland socialists were successful at building membership, they would not win any office prior to 1917. However, the same was not true for other parts of the so-called “Red State”.  As put by Richard Judd in Socialist Cities, Ohio socialists were able to “elect more mayors to office in small and medium-sized cities than any other state.” In bigger cities, including Columbus, Akron, Dayton and Toledo, one or more city councilors were also elected. 

Unlike most successful socialist candidates today, the SPA would run its candidates on their own independent ballot line, competing directly with Democrats, Republicans and third parties (primarily the Progressive Party). This historical practice was borne out of the conditions surrounding the Civil War, which brought the Republican Party into prominence. In the following decades, the party system began to consolidate towards the modern system, with Democrats and Republicans being the sole presidential contenders ever since. Today, socialists have adapted to this system by focusing on Democratic primaries or non-partisan local races with primarily Democratic voter bases. However, In the 1910s, many Progressives and Socialists pursued the development of an independent third party, in part because of the newer and less developed nature of the two party regime, and, even more so than today, the lack of a distinction between Republican and Democratic policies towards workers.

While many of the fundamental challenges remain the same, the different socialist ballot line provided certain strengths and weaknesses for the SPA. Across Ohio, Democratic and Republican establishments would work together as fusion candidates to run against socialists. 

Today, we do see similar consolidation from conservative and liberal opposition, such as Andrew Cuomo’s general election campaign against Zohran Mamdani. However, these efforts are less likely to succeed when socialists win the Democratic Party’s official nomination. This typically splits the existing Democratic establishment, with some willing to embrace more left wing figures, and others refusing to do so. On the other hand, in the heyday of the socialist party, there was no such split, and the Republican and Democratic establishments were both firmly in opposition to socialist candidates. An independent socialist ballot line would also not prevent socialist electeds from betraying their party. The mayors of Ohio cities Lima and Lorain, for instance, while elected under the SPA, later switched to a mainstream party. Additionally, party officials nationwide would regularly be expelled for disagreement with the party platform.

As Emerson Bodde argues in Until Victory is Achieved, the distinction between socialist success in big cities and smaller ones was largely due to the differing political environments. Smaller cities often had competing Republican and Democratic candidates, which made it possible for socialist candidates focusing on affordability and municipal reform to take power. On the other hand, major cities were more likely to have developed political machines, capable of absorbing Progressive policies and presenting themselves as the logical option for municipal change.  Bodde argues that being forced to the sidelines in mainstream electoral politics led to the radicalization and diversification of socialist organizing in Cleveland. 

Meanwhile, socialists in Milwaukee (or in smaller Ohio cities with SPA mayors), focused primarily on good municipal governance, attracting the “middle-class Progressive milieu”. Ruthenberg himself would also emphasize immediate municipal reforms and critique the corruption of the existing machine, while always keeping in mind the end goal of societal transformation. As SPA members in different cities charted different paths, Ruthenberg showed his principled commitment to party unity in approaching their political differences. As Oakley Johnson’s biography of Ruthenberg articulates:

“While reformist in character, the Socialist Milwaukee administration performed many valuable social services and benefited the people. But the Milwaukee Administration received vicious attacks from old-party politicians, and Ruthenberg, who carefully watched the situation, defended it.” 

Today, DSA members should take note from Ruthenberg, understanding the different political contexts of our comrades throughout the country, and standing in solidarity with them as they strive to fight for something new. We should seek to analyze and understand the conditions of the two-party system as they exist today, and identify how we can run electoral campaigns that truly engage the masses and build party membership, as organizers did in “Red Ohio” over a century ago. This assessment can learn from the Milwaukee approach – that genuine commitments to improving the lives of working class people can be an effective mechanism for building a socialist electoral constituency. But it should also learn from the Cleveland experience outlined in this piece, which demonstrates that organizing workers while maintaining clear socialist and anti-war principles prepares an organization to reach the masses in times of crisis.

Please return tomorrow for Part Three: Labor

The post History of the Cleveland SPA, Part Two: Electoral Politics appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.

Before we start, we’re asking everyone to write to your elected officials to support H.794 and S.282. Tell them that you want to tax the rich for healthcare and schools!

GREEN MOUNTAIN DSA MONTH IN REVIEW

February was a month of incredible momentum for Green Mountain DSA, bookended by electoral victory and direct action. We are thrilled to open this newsletter by congratulating our endorsed Burlington City Council candidate, Marek Broderick, on their decisive Town Meeting Day win! Marek defeated a Democratic opponent with a strong tally of 301 to 187, securing a second term representing Ward 8. In the weeks leading up to the vote, our members made phone calls and knocked doors (again and again) across the entire ward to ensure voters had a plan. We are proud to stand behind a proven champion for renters, UVM students, and working-class Burlingtonians. Marek's leadership in passing a resolution to address deteriorating student housing is just one example of the socialist leadership we are building in Chittenden County.

At our February General Membership Meeting in Montpelier, members discussed our growing chapter-wide priority campaign, "Tax the Rich," supporting H.794 and S.282—legislation championed by our own State Senator Tanya Vyhovsky and Rep. Kate Logan that would generate hundreds of millions in revenue by making the wealthiest Vermonters pay their fair share. Green Mountain DSA organized a press conference at the State House in February and coverage by WCAX features Rep. Kate Logan detailing just how much working Vermonters stand to win by taxing the rich. The February General Membership Meeting also featured updates on our Palestine solidarity work (“No Appetite for Apartheid” campaign), and local ballot initiatives (“Proposition Zero” in Burlington). Alongside these campaigns, our chapter is deepening its foundation by launching weekly Saturday-Sunday socials to build comradeship and expanding our reach to southern counties through our “Statewide Expansion Working Group”. From electoral wins to anti-war action in coalition, your Green Mountain DSA is proving that another Vermont—one centered on working-class power and solidarity—is not only possible, but already being built. In solidarity, and see you at a meeting, social, or on the streets some time soon!

WE’RE BUILDING A FAMILY-FRIENDLY GMDSA

Green Mountain Democratic Socialists of America is working towards making our organization more accessible to parents and guardians. You can help us by letting us know if you would benefit from childcare being offered at our general meetings.

Please fill out our Childcare Needs Survey: https://forms.gle/6Mq1KHWGrc3QgLGv8 

GREEN MOUNTAIN DSA MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Our Labor Committee meets on the second Monday of every month at 6:00pm on Zoom, including Monday March 9th. 

  Our Electoral Committee will meet on Tuesday March 10. The electoral committee meets at 6:00pm on Zoom. 

🌹The next May Day Coalition meeting is Tuesday March 10 at 6:00pm at Migrant Justice (179 S. Winooski Ave., Burlington) and on Zoom. 

Talk about your job and learn about shop-floor organizing from peers at Workers' Circle (co-hosted with the Green Mountain IWW) on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, including Wednesday March 11 at 6:00pm at Migrant Justice (179 S. Winooski Ave., Burlington).

💰Our Tax the Rich Working Group will meet on every Sunday, including March 15 at 6:00pm on Zoom..

Find out how you can help our Membership Committee improve recruitment and involvement in our chapter on Monday, March 16. The Membership Committee meets on the 3rd Monday of every month at 6:00pm on Zoom. 

GMDSA's East and West branches will come together for another general meeting on Saturday March 21 at 11:30 a.m. at TBD (Most likely the Public Library in South Burlington). Newcomers are encouraged to show up at 10:30 a.m. for an optional “DSA 101” orientation. Everyone is welcome to join for coffee hour with snacks and discussion at 11:00 a.m. prior to the start of the general meeting.

🇵🇸 Our Palestine Solidarity Committee will meet on Monday March 23. The Palestine solidarity committee meets on the 4th Monday of every month at 6:00pm on Zoom. 

📱Our Communications Committee will meet on Monday March 23. The communications committee meets on the 4th Monday of every month at 7:00pm on Zoom. 

📑 Our Steering Committee meets on the first Monday of every month at 7:30pm on Zoom, including Monday April 6. All members are welcome to participate in the meeting discussion, only members of the steering committee can vote. We will have a hybrid meeting this month. We will be meeting at the Queen City Lodge Oddfellows Hall. The address is 1416 North Ave in Burlington. Email hello@greenmountaindsa.org for the Zoom link if you would prefer to join online

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IMPORTANT DATES THIS YEAR

• International Workers’ Day: May 1, 2026

• 2026 Labor Notes Conference: June 12-14

• Vermont Primary Election: August 11, 2026

• Labor Day: September 7, 2026

• General Election: November 3, 2026

• Next GMDSA Convention: November 2026

• Next DSA National Convention: August 2027

To build an organized working class capable of taking on the billionaires and defeating Trump, the labor movement must bring in more motivated people.

The post Workers need more paths to join the labor movement appeared first on EWOC.

Introduction / Background

So far, 2026 has been a huge year for the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). We have reached over 100,000 DSA members, the highest ever, and have seen heightened electoral success, most prominently with the election of Zohran Mamdani as Mayor of New York City. As organizers within DSA grapple with the contradictions of this success, Eric Blanc and Steven R have made comparisons to the municipal socialism of the early 20th century Socialist Party of America (SPA), with a specific focus on Milwaukee’s sewer socialists which occupied their city hall for decades.

While DSA has not reached the SPA’s peak of 112,000 dues-paying socialists (or anywhere close when adjusted for population), Mamdani’s victory and our membership growth shows that we may be approaching similar political relevance. As argued by longtime DSA member David Duhalde in a piece comparing DSA to the SPA: “The U.S. socialist movement has returned, in some ways via a long reroute, to its original structures and impact.” As we continue to grow this movement, we have and will continue to face similar challenges to those of the 1910s SPA. For this reason, it is important to continue our study of socialism’s history.  

As many DSA members acknowledge this, the focus on Milwaukee, a city with many years of socialist governance, is understandable. However, as a member of Cleveland DSA, I am particularly interested in examining the vibrant socialist history in this part of the country, which saw its own share of socialist victories. As a result of the SPA’s electoral success in various municipalities early in the 1910s, this state was dubbed “Red Ohio”. By the end of the decade, Ohioan mass socialist organizing had arguably reached its all-time peak, as Cleveland’s SPA local led 30,000+ workers into the streets in the 1919 May Day demonstration.

This growth was predicated on the historical context of the early 20th century, when Cleveland had taken its place as the heart of an industrial empire, represented quintessentially in the monopolistic trusts of Clevelander John D. Rockefeller. As industrialization pushed more workers into the mines, steel mills and garment factories, Cleveland would also become the site of increased working class organizing. This would only escalate as economic conditions worsened and the United States would enter World War One, sending workers to their deaths as the ruling class grew even more wealthy. These changing material conditions, alongside the organizing of the SPA detailed throughout this piece, led to unprecedented support for socialism. This strength was met with violent repression from the state, which, alongside internal party conflict and purges, led to a sharp downfall in SPA membership and activity nationwide. 

The widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo was also channeled by more mainstream political organizations. The late 1800s and early 1900s saw the Progressive and Populist movements gain heightened support in national elections. This included repeat Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan and Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, who would later found a third party (the Progressive Party a.k.a. the Bull Moose Party). Some figures of the Progressive movement, like Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld, were praised by socialists, but many of them strongly opposed socialism. Ultimately, the two largest political parties, despite flirtations with Progressivism and Populism, were largely beholden to the capitalist class, and no sizable third party would emerge. Additionally, the largest union confederation, the American Federation of Labor (AFL), was led by anti-socialist Samuel Gompers and avoided political advocacy until aligning with the Democratic Party in the late 1910s. At the turn of the century, the largest socialist organization in the country was the Socialist Labor Party (SLP), which remained marginal in size and had little engagement with mainstream politics.

Please return tomorrow for Part Two, “Electoral Politics”

The post The Past is Prologue: The History of the Cleveland Socialist Party of America (Pt 1) appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.

The right reforms can help the working class win transformational changes. These non-reformist reforms are a necessary step in the democratic road to socialism. 

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A coalition of tech industry workers, labor organizers, community organizers, and friends cultivating solidarity among all workers in tech.

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