TALKING SOCIALISM | Catching up with AOC AOC interviewed by Don McIntosh, Democratic Left, Spring 2021 https://democraticleft.dsausa.org/issues/spring-2021/talking-socialism-catching-up-with-aoc/ . . . What initially drew me to DSA was the fact that they showed up everywhere that I showed up. I started my work as a community organizer before I even knew about the existence of DSA, and I was busy doing work in my community, working with children, working with families, advocating for educational equity. A friend of mine invited me to a DSA meeting in the Bronx/Upper Manhattan Branch. We were in the basement of a church uptown, in Washington Heights I believe. It was my first time being exposed to DSA, and to me it was like, ‘Okay, we’re hearing all this rhetoric and having discussions.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, another group of folks talking.’ Like this is great, this is encouraging.
This was around the time when DSA was picketing one of the major camera companies in New York City, trying to call attention to the warehouse workers. And they brought undocumented warehouse workers to the meeting, and translated their testimony. And on top of that, the chapter had free childcare provided to anyone who wanted to show up. And that to me … at the end of that meeting, I was like, ‘Okay, this is real.’ . . . ... And so when I would see DSA showing up providing real structural support at BLM rallies, or support for abolishing ICE, where we felt like there wasn’t this class essentialism, but that this really was a multiracial class struggle that didn’t de-prioritize human rights, frankly, I was really impressed. And I felt like it was something worth being part of. My run for Congress, so much of it was based in coalition building. In the New York City context, I wasn’t a DSA candidate that was homegrown from the start. I went through a process of earning the DSA endorsement. And that was in addition to stitching a collective together of the movement for Black lives and the movement for immigrant rights... . . . ... So it really shows what their strategy was, which is “we’re gonna throw the book at her,” and we’re gonna try to wound her so badly that she doesn’t win re-election and this just becomes a flash-in-the-pan thing. I mean, in the general election it was the second most expensive congressional race in America. DM: I did not realize that. Yeah, in the United States, it was the second most expensive race in the country. And so their strategy was to make quick work of us. And they threw everything that they could, and it didn’t work. And now I think they have a problem on their hands. [LAUGHS] DM: Yeah, because you got re-elected. In fact you absolutely crushed. And not only that, but we also expanded our presence with the election of Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush. It’s really showing that this is not going away. On Sat, Feb 13, 2021 at 8:51 PM Dayne Goodwin <[email protected]> wrote: > > afaik AOC pays her membership dues to DSA so she is a socialist. I > understand that when DSA members helped with her first Democrat > election campaign she decided to become a member. On balance, imo, > AOC expands popular support and credibility for socialism. > > DSA is not a revolutionary socialist organization and does not require > members to actively participate; it's more like getting a membership > card with the ACLU or the Sierra Club. I don't think AOC has actively > participated in DSA. Did anyone really think that she was a > revolutionary socialist? > Dayne On Sat, Feb 13, 2021 at 1:55 PM greene.douglas via groups.io <[email protected]> wrote: > > https://www.leftvoice.org/the-politics-of-aoc?fbclid=IwAR3RMwiKKePhIFHpoTgbuaVn67PfW5GyG0Kf-721hSe2v9Y-56APgLxECs0 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#7570): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/7570 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/80617982/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
