Sofia Baker argues for R22: "For Coalitions that Strengthen YDSA" to help YDSA chapters build coalitions
to strengthen campaigns.

The post For R22: The Importance of United Front Coalitions appeared first on YDSA.

James Hernández argues for R10: “Building an International Student Movement” and building connections with student organizers fighting imperialism and capitalism around the globe. Around the world, billions of people are exploited under the boot of capitalism and imperialism. Despite this, U.S. internationalist socialist movements remain nascent and plagued by factional debate. U.S. foreign policy has…

The post For R10: Building an International Student Movement appeared first on YDSA.

Addison G. and Steven R. make the case for R7 to approve a new program and set a clear political vision for YDSA. Why a Program? Over the past two years, YDSA conventions have voted to move towards adopting a program to unify our organizing work. In 2023, delegates passed A5: “Programmatic Unity for YDSA,”…

The post For R7: A Program for YDSA appeared first on YDSA.

Entering YDSA Convention 2025, the authors make the case for YDSA's continued commitment to the student labor movement and against the expansions of broader student union organizing on campus.

The post For R13, Against R23: We Must Stay Committed to Labor appeared first on YDSA.

Note: posts by individual GMDSA members do not necessarily reflect the views of the broader membership or of its leadership and should not be regarded as official statements by the chapter.

GMDSA Electoral Committee Chair Adam Franz delivered the following speech at our chapter’s summer barbecue on July 22.

It’s great to see so many people here today, and I thank you all for coming to support our chapter’s delegation to Chicago for the national convention.

I am going into my fifth year as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and many of the people here have been in the organization longer than I have. In my time in this org, and in all of our lifetimes, “socialism” and the left have been mostly an experience of defeat. The rollback of the New Deal in favor of neoliberalism, the defeat of the labor movement, the rise of the new right, Bernie’s two defeats, and a second Trump administration. Often, socialists have looked to small wins, like mutual aid, or the lack of a defeat, as a victory.

Zohran’s win changes all of that. Since 2020, socialists have been told, and in many cases accepted, a narrative that our beliefs are unpopular, that a majority of the American people are not with us. When the New York assemblymember, a cadre DSA member, announced his campaign last fall, he was a joke. Polling at just 1%, his platform read to the mainstream media like an ultra-left Twitter bio. Free buses? Rent freeze? Publicly owned grocery stores? No, these were not the talking points they had decided the election would be about. A moral panic about crime, a debate between different forms of centrism—that was what the mayoral election would be about. Zohran’s message would not breach the borders of the already existing base of democratic socialism in New York.

New York City DSA did not, however, just play to its base. After Trump’s victory, Zohran took to the street, talking to voters in neighborhoods that swung hard against Harris in November. He found that voters were motivated by a sense that the country was not working for ordinary people, and that even the lives they had been living four years before were no longer affordable to them. Now, price caps on rent and free, universal public services don’t sound so radical. They sound like the kind of materialist demands that the socialist left has that connect with working class voters.

Zohran’s message took off, propelling him into second place against disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo. And the more voters saw of Zohran, the more they liked him. The socialist assemblymember seemed like the first politician in a long time that genuinely cared about the struggles of the working class, and had solutions for them. Zohran did not just win the primary by 12 percent; he won neighborhoods nobody expected, and even in the neighborhoods where he lost, he far exceeded expectations, like in the more conservative Staten Island, where he landed only 9% below Cuomo. 

If Zohran wins in November, DSA will be in a position to be governing America’s biggest city. Like Bernie 40 years ago in Burlington, we have the opportunity to demonstrate that socialist government is good government. That public ownership is more efficient than private dictatorship. We can realize the slogan that Lenin beautifully gifted us a century ago: “Bolshevism equals soviet power plus electrification.” Socialists recognize that we must radically transform the state to empower ordinary people and deliver a better form of administration of government services that puts to bed the notion that socialism means ineffective government.

The easy thing to do, and you already see this in Democrats’ chosen media outlets like CNN and the New York Crimes, is to say, “This is a New York phenomenon, it can’t be repeated in cities and towns across America. Small-town America doesn’t have the media presence,  the right demographics, whatever, to allow such a victory in Anywhere, USA.” 

The truth is, New York is not an easy place to win elections for the left. It’s a city with a media ecosystem run by billionaires like Rupert Murdoch, where politics is driven by machines hostile to the left, and where the ultra-wealthy have seemingly unlimited resources to defeat insurgents like us. NYC-DSA won not because of these conditions, but in spite of them. It totally transformed the terrain on which the election was fought, because it had built up its own working-class institutions that could compete with the capitalist class on its terms, not those set by the 1%. The chapter has methodically built up its presence around the city. Zohran could capitalize on 50 thousand volunteers, knocking on doors in every borough and neighborhood to spread the message, leading to record-breaking turnout. 

The task for us is to bring the momentum to Vermont. Our chapter clearly is not as big as NYC-DSA, which has over 10,000 members. Yet we have the potential to be just as organized and mobilized. 

Working Vermonters are sick of the Democratic Party. Democrats have no answers for working people to address their concerns of an unaffordable state and out-of-control housing crisis. We do. The question is, will Vermont continue to slide back into the Republican camp, or will Vermont follow the “Zohmentum” and elect socialists in 2026?

Clearly, we have our work cut out for us. The Electoral Committee has set a goal to run four candidates for the legislature next year, in winnable seats where we can build a strong presence under the golden dome, and in hopes of building our presence statewide for future campaigns. We do this because we believe that our politics are popular and we can win. It is also because we believe that running for office is not an opportunity to rabble-rouse and talk down to the masses, but to govern as socialists. 

To do this, we need candidates. If you have ever thought to yourself, “I wish someone would do something about these problems,” that person is you! If you are interested in running for office, for the state house or selectboard or city council, come find me or another organizer today. There is a place for everybody to play.

If we are going to win, we need a chapter with a fighting capacity. We need to rely on an army of volunteers, like Zohran did. If you haven’t yet, join DSA today! While the capitalist class relies on their money, there are more of us than there are of them. Build the movement, build a fighting DSA, because I believe that we will win in 2026. 

And if you want to build on this major win, sign up to get involved with the Electoral Committee.  The next meeting is July 20 at 6.

Every month we meet to discuss books with powerful socialist and progressive messages. After each book we finish, we vote on our next book. To cast your vote or join our upcoming meeting, be sure to check the events calendar and connect with us on Slack. The candidates for our next book include: Upcoming Our [...]

Read More... from DSA Book Club

The post DSA Book Club appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America | San Diego Chapter.

Facing austerity and repression, Virginia Tech YDSA built a student union and brought over a thousand students out to march against the university board.

The post The Case for Student Unionism: Theory and the Virginia Tech Experience appeared first on YDSA.

Next week, five members of the Green Mountain Democratic Socialists of America will set out for Chicago, where they'll represent our chapter at the DSA National Convention, the biennial event that determines our organization's nationwide priorities and leadership.

We elected them as our delegates, and now we need to make sure that they can get there and back and still be able to pay rent next month. Here's one last call for our fundraiser – if you're a member of our chapter and haven't already contributed, please consider it. If you're not a member, we recommend joining DSA.

Here at home, we've started planning for Labor Day, joining a coalition that has begun organizing a rally and march for workers in Burlington. You may want to mark your calendar now for 1 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 1 – we'll follow up before then to confirm the details.

Lastly, before we get to our usual list of meetings – have you heard that the nation's most successful third party needs a new executive director? You can learn more about the position on the Vermont Progressive Party's website. To apply, "send a cover letter, resume and 3 references to: Anthony Pollina, Chair, Vermont Progressive Party at apollinavt@gmail.com."

We hope you've enjoyed the summer so far. See you out there!

GMDSA MEETINGS AND EVENTS
🚲 GMDSA's Urbanism Committee will meet on Monday, August 4, at 6 p.m. on Zoom.

🔨 Our Labor Committee will hold its next meeting on Monday, August 11, at 6 p.m. on Zoom.

🧑‍🏭 Talk about your job and learn about shop-floor organizing from peers at Workers' Circle (co-hosted by the Green Mountain IWW) on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, including August 13, at 6 p.m. at Migrant Justice (179 S. Winooski Ave., Burlington).

⬅️ GMDSA's West Branch will meet on Saturday, August 16, at 11 a.m. at Burlington's Fletcher Free Library (235 College St.), with an optional orientation for newcomers at 10 a.m.

➡️ GMDSA's East Branch will meet on Saturday, August 16, at 11 a.m. at Montpelier's Christ Episcopal Church (64 State St.), with an optional orientation for newcomers at 10 a.m.

🗳️ The next meeting of our Electoral Committee will take place on Wednesday, August 20, at 6 p.m. on Zoom.

🎥 Socialist Film Club will organize a screening in Burlington on Friday, August 22. Keep an eye on our calendar for a time and location.

👋 Find out how you can help our Membership Committee improve recruitment and involvement in our chapter on Tuesday, August 26, at 6 p.m. on Zoom.

🤝 GMDSA's East Branch and West Branch will come together for a general meeting on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 11 a.m. at Montpelier's Christ Episcopal Church (64 State St.), with an optional orientation for newcomers at 10 a.m.

STATE AND LOCAL NEWS
📰 Unsheltered homelessness is on the rise in Vermont.

📰 Vermont's largest community mental health center announced that it would eliminate 57 jobs and cut services.

COMMUNITY FLYERS

A sponsor of the "Locals First" national resolution explains how national DSA can itself become stronger as our locals grow into community anchors

This year Portland DSA joined Portland’s Pride parade for the first time. We decided as a chapter that we wanted to show up at the annual event in solidarity with struggles for working-class queer and trans justice, and to give our members an opportunity to gather together, to march and to show the city what it is that we are fighting for, and not just what we are fighting against. As an organization we believe that the right of people to live their own lives, and to both love who they want and be who they desire, is paramount. In our daily organizing in the city of Portland, we affirm our debt to the struggles or queer and trans people throughout history, and we celebrate the legacy of queer organizers and activists who have fought for all forms of justice. Those organizers showed solidarity with people facing every kind of oppression and exploitation, from gender to sexuality, through race and ethnicity and national origin, to where all exploitation comes together in the fight for economic and class justice against the toxic priorities of the rich and their servants. The members of Portland DSA take inspiration from those struggles in our efforts to imagine and build a better world. This year we wanted to make that inspiration more public than we have in the past- and to show Portland that there are people out there willing to fight.

In the contemporary climate of political disaster, and with a triumphalist right-wing energy in full control of federal power, what is sorely lacking is any kind of coherent opposition. Everyone not part of the grim authoritarian structures of power feels that lack, as they watch the structures of civil society erode and see the marginal guarantees that this society has offered its citizens crumbling in front of them. People feel powerless in the face of cataclysm, and in large part that is because there seems to be nobody with any power who is willing to take the fight to where it is needed.The Democratic Party at both national and state levels has abdicated its role as opposition to the Trump administration, and has shown itself fully captured by the priorities of the rich. Unable to resist a galling complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people, the Democratic establishment is drifting rudderless in the turmoil of a political system tearing itself apart. Nationally we see this in the failure of Democratic leaders to offer any resistance to the trashing of federal systems by Elon Musk’s DOGE, nor to the decimation of social services or the unleashing of a militarized deportation infrastructure intent on ethnically cleansing the nation. Locally it appears in the form of a Governor who seeks to overturn democratically won victories like Preschool For All, simply because the tax it levies on her rich friends forces them to acknowledge the debt they owe to this society. The fact that Governor Kotek identifies as queer shows that there is nothing inherently radical about the identities that Pride celebrates, and that without a commitment to justice across the spectrum, including economic justice, there is nothing truly progressive about queer people in power. The rich think they owe us nothing, and that they can wave concessions to queer and trans justice in front of us to get us to shut up, go away and go home. But we will never shut up. And we will never forget what they owe us. It was us, after all, who made them rich. 

 In the months leading up the event, the chapter’s Art Department organized several events to create a suite of visual tools to represent the organization in the Parade, with the goal of making the DSA presence at the parade one of the largest contingents. We used slogans that have been employed at the national level within DSA and in the struggles of our allies in the union movement (shoutout to Starbucks Workers United!) to create banners that read “Be Gay and Organize” and a stack of fifty screen-printed signs reading “No Trans Bans, No Abortion Bans, No Genocide”. Members printed the images on fabric, assembled the signs, and painted the banners- we also created 6 oversized cardboard and papermaché fists, painted in the rainbow colors of queer struggle. 

On the day of the event we gathered at our assigned spot, and waited for our signal to start. We counted more than 120 members in our block, and as the parade got rolling three of the 4 DSA City Councilors showed up to jump in the bed of the small Kei truck leading the contingent- Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo, and Sameer Kanal were joined by Tammy Carpenter of the Beaverton School District, all members in good standing of the largest Socialist organization in the country (the fourth DSA councilor, Mitch Green, had to sit this one out with an injury).

We were loud, and we were large. We were one of the most numerous contingents in the parade, far outnumbering the Multnomah County Democrats; and as we marched, we chanted, and we yelled our commitment to justice for queer and trans lives, and for all the ways in which the fight for the future connects. We saw the crowd chanting with us as we passed along the street, waving our oversized fists and with DSA and Palestine flags fluttering overhead. “Gay Straight Trans Bi- all our hearts are Red Inside” “One Struggle, One Fight- Workers of the World Unite” and a surprise favorite celebrating the things that bottoms and tops can agree on. It was a joyful spectacle, and having our members who have been elected to city government leading the chants showed the crowds lining the avenue that there is in fact someone willing to stand up and fight for them, for us, for everyone. It is time for queer and trans justice, and it is time to get organized. The fight is on, and DSA is here to win it.

The post Be Gay and Organize! Portland DSA in the Pride Parade 2025 appeared first on Portland DSA.