In This Issue  

 Young Democratic Socialists Update: January 15, 2008

Winter Conference: Register Now!
 
 
 
 


 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible!
Upcoming National YDS Conference in New York City this February 15-17th 
 
During the weekend of February 15-17th, 2008 in New York City, the Young Democratic Socialists will host our annual winter conference: "Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible: Reviving Democratic, Socialist, and Youth Activism." The weekend-long event is a unique opportunity to hear great speakers, attend informative workshops on a broad range of critical issues, and connect with other activists working for long-term radical social change. Keynote speakers include renowned academic Manning Marable, trade unionists Bill Fletcher Jr. and Jose LaLuz, and scholar/activists Frances Fox Piven, Nancy Fraser, and Stephen Eric Bronner. 
  
You can register here and save ten dollars on the at-the-door fee. At the on-line registration site you can also indicate if you want travel scholarships assistance and/or housing.  January 28th is the deadline for both.  Priority goes to YDS members and those interested in starting chapters.  So, register as soon as possible.  For conference fundraising tips, click here.
  
Here are directions to the conference site, Bayard Rustin High School, and a selection of affordable hostels.  RSVP at our Facebook event here.
  
For more information, email yds@dsausa.org.
  
The Red Letter - Winter 2008
Special Anti-War Double Issue
 
Check out the latest issue of The Red Letter ? the YDS activist newsletter.  This edition is a special double issue with great coverage of much of our anti-war activities from last year.  The winter issue also reports on our national solidarity work around the Jena Six, debt relief activism, School of the Americas protest, Mid-South YDS Regional Conference, and the 2007 Democratic Socialists of America convention.  If you would like a hard copy or copies to distribute, please email yds@dsausa.org.  The Red Letter is sent to all dues-paying YDS members and chapters.
 
Check on the Winter 2008 Democratic Left (DSA?s magazine) for full 2007 convention coverage including speeches by democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and trade unionist and DSA member Bill Fletcher Jr.   Fletcher is one of the many great speakers lined up for the upcoming YDS national conference, ?Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible: Reviving Democratic, Socialist, and Youth Activism."
 
YDS members with Sen. Sanders (left) and Bill Fletcher Jr. (right)
 
 
The Race to Replace Bush
Democratic Socialist Perspectives on Electoral Politics
 
The 2008 presidential election will soon be upon us.  Although the political action committee of YDS?s parent organization, the Democratic Socialists of America, has not yet endorsed any candidate, DSAers and YDSers are taking this election very seriously.  Whichever presidential hopeful replaces President Bush will offer drastically changed conditions under which radical and social movements will operate.  DSA and YDS reject an either-or approach to electoral politics, focused solely on building a new party or pushing the Democratic Party to the left.  To learn more about our views on using elections as a tactic for social change, please read the following pieces:
 
 
Former YDS organizer Daraka Larimore-Hall?s Taking Sides on moving past the false dictomy of ?reform or revolution.?
 
DSA National Political Committee, member Michael Hirsch?s Socialists, Democrats, and Political Action: It?s the Movements that Matter on the importance of social movements affecting electoral politics.
 
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Celebrate the Legacy of an American Hero and Democratic Socialist 
 
YDS has produced a special poster for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, highlighting King's commitment to racial justice, his critique of capitalism, and his desire for a democratic socialist alternative. We encourage our activists and chapters to use this flyer to continue MLK Jr.'s radical legacy while attracting new youth and students to YDS.
 
VIEW / PRINT / DISTRIBUTE:  http://www.ydsusa.org/flyers/mlk.pdf
 
 
 
JOIN YDS!  
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