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5 PM to7 PM
Check-in and Dinner
7 to 8:30 PM
Made in L.A. (documentary film showing and discussion)
8:30 PM to bedtime
Organized Fun (board Games, movies, cards, guitar, etc.)/Working-class Caucus
9 to 10 AM
Breakfast - People of Color Caucus
10 to 11:45 AM
Plenary: What is Democratic Socialism (with break-out small group discussions)
11:45 AM to 12 PM
Break
12 to 1:30 PM
Workshops
a) Our Neighbor’s Socialism: What the Democratic Anti-Capitalist Movements in Latin American Mean for the US Left
b) YDS & the Labor Movement Today
c) Building a YDS chapter
1:30 to 3 PM
Lunch and play time/Student’s caucus
3 to 4:30 PM
Workshops
a) Immigration and Capitalism
b) The Quagmire Continues: YDS and Anti-Iraq War Movement
c) Education is a Right
4:30 to 4:45 PM
Break
4:45 to 6:15 PM
Understanding Oppression and Privilege Bloc
a) Capitalist Patriarchy and Socialism Feminism (two breakouts)
b) Racism and Capitalism (two breakouts)
6:15 to 6:30 PM B
Break
6:30 to 8 PM
Dinner/Women’s Caucus
8 to 9:30 PM
Plenary: “YDS and Realities of the Hope”: The Obama v. McCain presidential campaign and building towards and after election day
9:30 PM to 1 AM
PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9 to 10 AM
Breakfast - Queer Caucus
10 to 11:15 AM
Workshops
a) Green Socialism
b) The Housing Crisis
c) Understanding the Capitalist System
11:15 to 11:30 AM
Break
11:30 AM to 1 PM
Constitutional Amendments, Activist Agenda, and Election of Coordinating Committee
1 PM to 2 PM
Working lunch if prior discussion not finished
2 PM onward
Continue discussion if necessary, if not free time
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Wichita State University (Kansas): WSU YDS members helped registered nearly 500 new voters at the largest Wichita Democratic caucus. The chapter also co-hosted a talk with Wichita’s mayor. They’ll end the semester with a movie showing and a panel with national speakers on the issue of student debt as part of YDS’s “Education is a Right - Not a Privilege: Campaign Against Student Debt.
William Paterson YDS (NJ): This new YDS chapter’s rally for education was one of it’s the most successful activities. The event featured students, professors, and YDS organizer David Duhalde speaking about the need to prioritize education and end the crisis in student debt. The gathering was featured on the local news. Check the YouTube here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=16qr3WMWFjQ
New York City YDS: NYC YDS is working with Socialist Alternative to bring socialist education and activism to New York University. A joint club, Socialists at NYU, has done several events. One featured a debate, entitled “What Kind of Change Do We Really Need?” between Socialist Alternative, YDS, and the College Democrats on the 2008 Presidential election.
Stuyvesant High School (NYC): As part of the Student Labor Week of Action (SLWoA) the Stuyvesant H.S. YDS Chapter held a viewing of a PBS Point Of View episode titled “Waging A Living.” The mini-documentary highlighted the struggles of America’s working poor, chronicling the stories of five real men and women who live paycheck to paycheck. After the viewing, they held a small discussion about the lessons to be learned from “Waging A Living,” each rhetorically wondering why such conditions exist in the richest nation on Earth.
University of Central Arkansas: UCA YDS held its third annual Tent State. Tent State is a whole week of workshops and cultural activities ranging from feminist theory to do-it-yourself living to student union building. Tent State was created by Rutgers students as a response to administrative cuts and attacks on education. They organized a counter-week to celebrate education that is about empowerment, not just job training.
Emporia State University (Kansas): The ESU YDS chapter cosponsored Women’s Day, The Vagina Monologues, and a panel on feminism. They are preparing for Earth Week and a debate on the merits of Wal-Mart.
College of Wooster (Ohio): Wooster Democratic Socialists have kept busy with socialist education and traditions. This semester they held socialist game nights and will end with May Day celebrations. They’ll carol with an IWW song book and have a panel on the history of May Day with union organizers and professors. In addition to the SLWoA, they are co-hosting a talk with a Colombian flower picker about the poor working conditions in the industry. Lastly, they are also placing attention on the American Health Care industry in their Relay for Life fundraising.
CU-Boulder (Colorado): Boulder YDS is working on a campus newsletter featuring student-workers, workers, and student-labor activism, and highlight different union formations in the local areas. The bulletin will also focus on YDS’s local work with the Coalition of the Immokalee Workers concerning Chipotle’s policy towards its tomato pickers.
Butler YDS (Indiana): This new YDS chapter held its first event, “Universal Health Care: How to Do it Right,” featuring professor emeritus of philosophy at Indiana University-Bloomington Milton Fisk. Fisk is author of Toward a Healthy Society: The Morality and Politics of American Health Care Reform. The event was cosponsored by the Philosophy Club and Department.
Hampshire College (Massachusetts): Hampshire College YDS hosted an event with Democratic Socialists of America National Political Committee member David Knuttunen on our Economic Justice Agenda and did voter registration for the upcoming elections.
Redlands High School (California): Despite residing in one of the most conservative counties in America and facing stiff opposition from the administration, the new Redlands YDS received unanimous approval from the student governing body for recognition as a student group.
UVA-Wise (Virginia): UVA-Wise YDS, as part of their ongoing campaign against the war in Iraq, laid out trash bags to read “Five Years Too Many” on the hill of their campus.
Michigan State University: MSU YDS hosted two important topical forums. One panel discussed the housing crisis with speakers from Michigan Emergency Network Against War and Injustice. The latter, as part of the national “Education is a Right - Not a Privilege” campaign, featured DSA member David Heck, president of American Federation of Teachers-Michigan, liberal lobbyist Darrel Tennis, and YDS organizer David Duhalde.
The grim milestones of both the fifth anniversary of the US -led invasion of Iraq and the death of the 4000th American soldier coincided in March. Increasingly, our country appears stuck in a military quagmire, yet new hope comes from the anti-war movement. A great sense of urgency springs new unity. The Young Democratic Socialists continue to oppose the war both in the form of events remembering the war’s fifth anniversary and the monthly actions for the Iraq Moratorium Project.
Wichita State YDS (WSU YDS) remains one of the most active chapters working against the Iraq War. WSU YDSer and veteran Marco Fernandez spoke at a 5th anniversary protest in Wichita with his chapter mates in the crowd. He addressed how defense industry privatization is making a few people wealthy while the vast majority suffer. The group spent a week getting hundreds of signatures on a banner titled “Shockers for Peace.” On March 25th, they held a flash protest with the names and showed the documentary “Baghdad ER.” WSU YDS’s anti-war activism in both the local and campus communities keeps alive the need to address causes of the war and demand its end.
Michigan State YDS’s (MSU YDS) fifth anniversary actions exemplified our belief in building broad-based coalitions. MSU YDS worked with progressive campus clubs such as Students for Economic Justice, Chicanos y Latinos Unidos, W.E.B. DuBois Society, and the Muslim Student Association alongside local community groups to mobilize a large protest. Four-hundred and fifty people (to the eight reactionary counter protesters) marched from the administration building to city hall. YDS Co-Chair Nicole Iaquinto told the local television news about the importance of not just ending the Iraqi suffering, but that the occupation is used as an excuse to cut domestic social programs. YDS actions against the war were also national. YDSers joined together in Washington
Please check out The Activist, our online magazine, for more detailed stories about our anti-war activism. Our work is based upon the socialist principle that imperialism is a destructive force here and abroad. We must work to defeat the forces that keep us at war and limit our freedoms and quality of life at home. Only by curtailing the right-wing’s power can we begin to push for a progressive, better future.
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By David Duhalde, YDS organizer
On the heels of an excellent Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) turn out at the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) 2007 convention in Atlanta, YDS’s winter outreach conference’s success seems to be another stepping stone for a fantastic new YDS. In Georgia, YDS sent a diverse delegation of fifteen young activists from across the country (Texas and Kansas to Miami and southwestern Virginia) to the gathering. At the meeting, a point was made for young cadre to caucus in order to prepare for the coming annual national outreach conference. Collectively, it was decided to name the event “Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible: Reviving Democratic, Socialist, and Youth Activism.” The title was chosen to pay homage to the spirit of young radicals in 1968 - as a reflection of the hopes and dreams of the past 40 years and the tasks that still remain for left-wing youth and student activists. We all left Atlanta set on bringing not only ourselves to New York City on President’s Weekend but many more comrades and friends as well.
On Friday February 15th, we opened the event with a panel discussion called “2013 Isn’t Soon Enough: The Anti-War Movement Post-Bush.” The plenary served both as a conference opener and an Iraq Moratorium event. YDS has participated in Iraq Moratorium events (monthly actions to raise awareness against the war in Iraq) since September. The panel served as an excellent way to showcase our grassroots work on a national stage. DSA members Bill Fletcher Jr., Stephen Eric Bronner, and Frances Fox Piven answered individual and group questions. Each had a chance to personally reflect on other panelist’s thoughts and opinions. The excellent discourse covered a range of pertinent topics such as U.S. policy towards Iran, changing political conditions for the anti-war movement due to the presidential race, the role of young socialists in ending the war, and much more. The plenary set a positive and proactive tone that held throughout the conference.
The following Saturday morning YDS members, chapter activists, progressive young people, and friends from across the country began to trickle in. Even before the program began, it was clear that a new YDS had arrived both physically and organizationally. One visible element to the new YDS was diversity. This was one of the widest ranges of people, places, and ideas ever to appear at a YDS conference. The representation came not only from those who came to learn about YDS but also from the chapter activists. The conference saw delegations of eight people (respectively) from campuses ranging from the elite Brown University, small liberal arts Wooster College of Ohio, to the working-class and commuter campuses of University of Central Arkansas and Wichita State University. In all, over 125 students and youth came to the event. The variety of activists symbolized what a strong social justice movement could look like; the positive mixture of different people showed the growing potential for YDS as a force on the student left.
Weekend plenaries featured an excellent range of speakers, ideas, and topics on issues ranging from racial justice, immigrant rights, the relevance of democratic socialism, and the future of the youth and student movement. Saturday’s opening plenary, “The Struggle for Racial Justice Under Capitalism,” was moderated by YDS Anti-Racism coordinator Emahunn Campbell and featured Manning Marable, Monami Maulik, and DSA National Political Committee member Corey D.B. Walker. The speakers touched upon the need to connect the struggle for socialism to the fight against racism. The closing plenary on Saturday saw DSA veterans Joseph Schwartz, Nancy Fraser, and Jose LaLuz discuss the continued importance and relevance of democratic socialist values. LaLuz concluded the panel with a standing chant of “Si, Se Puede.” The energy revived the crowd which we carried with us afterwards into a fun and bonding get together in Brooklyn.
The conference workshops touched upon a range of subjects of great importance to the democratic left. The discussion on Latin America featured a well-received presentation by the Bolivian United Nations ambassador Hugo Siles Alvarado. DSA Honorary Chairs Maxine Philips and Steve Max each held discussions, the prior on faith and the left and the later on healthcare. All workshops presented a democratic socialist viewpoint on the issue and explained how students can incorporate socialist politics into their activism.
A late night did not stop these new young Jimmy and Jannie Higgins from starting the conference on time Sunday. The Sunday crowd took full advantage of the day, asking great questions and bonding over lunch sponsored by AFSCME. The afternoon plenary featured voices from the immigrant rights movement, including DSA member Rabbi Michael Feinberg. Rabbi Feinberg made the critical connection for students that they should understand how capitalist globalization has created such conditions that desperate people are forced to make risky migrations without documentation. The role of socialists is therefore to fight for the rights of all to insure economic security for both domestic and immigrant labor.
Sunday concluded with a group dialogue called “Have We Reached a Revival in Democratic and Anti-Capitalist Youth Activism?” The resounding conclusion was “yes, but we have a great deal of work ahead of us.” Professor Christine Kelly of William Paterson University, who led the discussion with myself, expressed the importance of learning from past youth movements and making your own identity. I emphasized the importance of YDS relating to other left-wing young people, especially those dedicated to working on the upcoming presidential election. Our relevance depends greatly on how well we connect to such movements on the ground.
I have high hopes and aspirations for the new YDS. This conference was the best in terms of quality of the participants, organizers, panels, and speakers in many years - certainly since I first joined in 2003. Paul Collins, who has served with me on the YDS elected leadership and is currently an 1199 SEIU organizer, reflected on how impressed he was with the ownership young cadre had in YDS. No longer, he contended, was YDS merely the youth organizer’s show. On Monday, Beth Garton of Wichita State YDS expressed to my family the feeling that encapsulated some of the most important successes of the conference. She told me and my parents how nice YDSers were, how the workshops had helped her understand anti-capitalism better against the conservative arguments she heard growing up, and that she looked forward to the summer conference. The first comment was especially touching for me as it was the reason I stayed with YDS and DSA. I felt that this was an organization that focused on fighting for social justice, not upon holding moral “superiority” over others; a home where comrades wanted to share in the struggle with you, not judge the quality of your participation in it.
I remain as optimistic as ever about the future of the progressive movement, here and abroad, and YDS’s contributions to making the world a more democratic and humane place. New YDS leaders will continue to reshape and build this socialist youth group as a positive force. I feel comfortable knowing that while I would trade almost anything to be a young chapter activist again, I and other graduating YDS veterans can happily look forward to dedicating our energy to DSA. We have a solid group of younger YDS cadre who will carry on the tradition of building the left-wing of the possible through out the United States.
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PLENARIES OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Plenary Friday Evening/Feb 15 7:00 - 9:00
2013 Isn’t Soon Enough: The Anti-War Movement Post-Bush
—with—
Bill Fletcher Jr. - Former President of TransAfrica Forum, founder of the Black Radical Congress, former AFL-CIO Education Director, and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (YDS’s parent organization).
Frances Fox Piven - Distinguished Sociologist at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, author The War At Home: Domestic Costs of Bush’s Militarism, Poor People’s Movements, Why Americans Don’t Vote, The New Class War, and Honorary Co-Chair of Democratic Socialists of America.
Stephen Eric Bronner - Professor of Political Science and Comparative Literature at Rutgers University and author of the new book: Peace Out of Reach: Middle Eastern Travels and the Search for Reconciliation, Socialism Unbound, and a member of Democratic Socialists of America.
Facilitator: Noel Camara, YDS Coordinating Committee member and Iraq War veteran
Plenary Saturday Afternoon/Feb 16 12:00 - 1:30
The Struggle for Racial Justice Under Capitalism
—with—
Manning Marable - Professor of Public Affairs, Political Science and History at Columbia University, where he founded and directed the Institute for Research in African-American Studies. His current book project is entitled Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention. He sits on the board of directors for the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, a non-profit coalition of prominent public figures dedicated to utilizing hip-hop as an agent for social change.
Corey D.B. Walker - Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University, author of the forthcoming book, Between Transcendence and History: Theology, Critical Theory, and the Politics of Liberation. He is a member of the National Political Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Monami Maulik - Co-founder of DRUM, Desis Rising Up & Moving, one of the first working class South Asian base-building organizations for social justice in the U.S. Monami has worked with the NY Taxi Workers Alliance, the Women Workers Project at CAAAV (Organizing Asian Communities), Training Institute for Careers in Organizing, and served on various city-wide coalitions and campaigns around prison abolition, youth, and People of Color organizing. She is now a board member of National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, an Advisory Board member of the North Star Fund, and a Steering Committee member of Immigrant Communities in Action.
Facilitator: Emahunn Campbell, YDS Anti-Racist Coordinator and President of UVA-Wise YDS and Black Student Union.
Plenary Saturday/Feb 16 4:00 - 5:30
Towards Freedom: How Democratic Socialist Theory and Practice is Relevant Today
—with—
Nancy Fraser - Professor of Political Science at the New School University in New York. A noted feminist thinker concerned with concepts of justice. Her previous books include Unruly Practices, Justice Interruptus and Feminist Contentions(co-authored with Judith Bulter, Drucilla Cornell and Seyla Benhabib). In addition to her many publications and lectures, Fraser is also the editor Constellations, an international journal of critical and democratic theory.
Jose LaLuz - Vice Chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. While at AFSCME, a union for public sector employees, LaLuz led one of the largest organizing drives in the trade union movement and is regarded as the principal strategist in the fight for passage of public sector collective bargaining legislation in Puerto Rico, which paved the way for the unionization of more than 120,000 public employees.
Joseph Schwartz - Chair, department of Political Science, Temple University, author of The Future of Democratic Equality and DSA National Political Committee member.
Facilitator: Paul Collins, 1199 SEIU Organizer and former YDS Anti-Racist Coordinator.
Plenary Sunday/Feb 17 11:45 - 1:15
The Struggle Has No Borders: Organizing Locally for Immigrant Rights in the Age of Global Capitalism
—with—
David Jimenez - Organizer with the Restaurant Opportunity Center of New York and COLORS, a cooperative immigrant worker-owned restaurant. He has coordinated with major labor unions to organize the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride.
Aarti Shahani - founding Board Member of Families for Freedom (FFF). FFF is New York’s first multi-ethnic defense network by and for immigrants facing deportation.
Michael Feinberg - Executive Director, Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition and active in New Sanctuary Movement, member of the Democratic Socialists of America
Facilitator: Maria Svart, YDS National Co-Chair and SEIU/CIR Healthcare Organizer
WORKING CONFERENCE SCHEDULE (subject to change)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15 - Bayard Rustin HS (see “locations & directions”)
Registration opens 6:00 PM
Opening Plenary 7:00 - 9:00
2013 Isn’t Soon Enough: Anti-War Movement Post-Bush
(see plenary details above)
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 16 - Bayard Rustin HS (see “locations & directions”)
Breakfast/Registration 8:30 - 9:30
Opening Welcome 9:30 - 10:15
Workshop Block A 10:15 - 11:45
1) Coffee Tawk - I’ll Give you Two Words: Democratic. Socialism. Democratic Socialism? Discuss! (Beginners Introduction)
William Emmons - YDS Coalitions Coordinator
Emahunn Campbell - YDS Anti-Racist Coordinator
Moderator: Christina Huizar - YDS Coordinating Committee, Industrial Workers of the World
2) El Pueblo Unido: Left Politics in Latin America
Corey D.B. Walker -Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University and member of DSA’s National Political Committee
Shelia Collins - Professor of Political Science at William Paterson University
Moderator: Mark Major - PHD Student in Political Science at Rutgers University and YDS member
3) Faith and Freedom: Religious Movements and the Left
Maxine Philips - Editor of Dissent Magazine and Religious Socialism, former DSA National Director
Elliot Ratzman - PhD candidate at Princeton’s Department of Religion, DSA member.
Juanita Webster - Co-Chair DSA’s Religion & Socialism Commission
Moderator: Paul Collins - 1199 SEIU Organizer and former YDS Anti-Racist Coordinator
Plenary 2 12:00 - 1:30
The Struggle For Racial Justice Under Capitalism
(see plenary details above)
Lunch 1:30 - 2:30
Workshop Block B 2:30 - 4:00
1) Global Capitalism and its Impact on Immigration
Robyn Rodriguez - Rutgers Professor, author of the upcoming book Global Workers, Migrant Citizens: Philippine Labor and the Brokerage State
Maria Svart - YDS National Co-Chair and SEIU/CIR Healthcare Organizer
Moderator: Christina Huizar - YDS Coordinating Committee, Industrial Workers of the World
2) Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: An Agenda for the Queer Left
Joseph DeFilippis - Executive Director, Queers for Economic Justice
Trystan Angel Reese - Field Organizer, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Richard Kim - The Nation magazine writer
Moderator: Lucas Shapiro - former National Organizer for the Young Democratic Socialists
3) A Sick System: The Growing Healthcare Crisis
Steve Max - DSA Vice-Chair, longtime activist in civil rights, labor and community movements and Midwest Academy trainer and designer of its economic education program
4) The Working Class Kicking Ass: The Labor Movement Today
Carlos Jimenez - National Coordinator, Student Labor Action Project (a joint effort of the United States Students Association and Jobs with Justice)
Sherry Wright - AFSCME
Moderator: Will Emmons - YDS Coalitions Coordinator and Brown Student-Labor Alliance
Plenary 3 4:00 - 5:30
Towards Freedom: How Democratic Socialist Theory and Practice is Relevant Today
(see plenary details above)
Wrap Up and Directions to Party 5:30 - 6:00
Dinner & Party! 6:00 to 12:00
(directions and details available at the conference)
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 17
Breakfast 9:30 - 10:15
Workshop Block C 10:15-11:30
1) Allies in Struggle: Building the Movement for Racial Justice
Emahunn Campbell - YDS Anti-Racism Coordinator
Brandon King - UNITE-HERE
Moderator: Nicole Iaquinto - YDS Co-Chair, MSU YDS Coordinating Committee, and MSU W.E.B DuBois Society Education Committee member
2) Building YDS: How to Effectively Use Democratic Socialist Politics in Your Campus Activism (1 YDS member per chapter/organizing committee must attend)
Kat Braush - President, College of Wooster Democratic Socialists
Flavio Hickel Jr. - William Paterson University YDS and The Activist Editor
Moderator: Kenny Grand - YDS National Organizing Committee Facilitator
3) Socialist-Feminist Perspectives
Michele Rossi - member of the DSA National Political Committee, teaching assistant at University of California-Berkeley
Eliyanna Kaiser - former YDS National Organizer who now works in public policy at a state level. She is also an Executive Editor for $pread Magazine which is produced by and for sex workers and their allies
4) Education is a Right, Not a Privilege! The Fight for College Affordability
David Duhalde - YDS National Organizer
Rebecca Thompson - Legislative Director, United States Students Association
Pedro de la Torre - Issues of Organizing Associate Manager, Campus Progress
Moderator: Andrew Bowe, UC-Boulder YDS
Break 11:30-11:45
Plenary 4 11:45 - 1:15
Injury to One is An Injury to All: Organizing Locally for Immigrant Rights in the Age of Global Capitalism
(see plenary details above)
Lunch 1:15 - 2:15
Workshop Block D 2:15 - 3:45
1) The Color of Wealth - Race and Class in America
Amaad Rivera - Director of United for a Fair Economy’s Racial Wealth Divide Program
Moderator: Nicole Iaquinto - YDS Co-Chair, MSU YDS Coordinating Committee, and MSU W.E.B DuBois Society Education Committee member
2) The Madness of the Market: Understanding What’s Wrong With Capitalism
William K. Tabb - Author of Economic Governance in the Age of Globalization, Unequal Partners: A Primer on Globalizations
Moderator: Kat Brausch, President of Wooster Democratic Socialists
3) Progressive Change and Electoral Politics: Building Movements to Win Beyond Election Day
Frank Llewellyn - DSA National Director
Rachel Haut - Students for a Democratic Society, Queens College
Break 3:45 - 4:00
Group Dialogue 4:00 - 5:00
Have We Reached a Revival in Democratic and Anti-Capitalist Youth Activism?
Facilitators: David Duhalde, YDS National Organizer and Christine Kelly, Professor of Political Science at William Paterson University, author of forthcoming Chimes of Freedom: Student Protest and the Changing American University
Closing 5:00 - 5:30
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