AFROSOC advocates for and builds power with DSA’s Black/POC membership and their communities. We pursue this work to help build a multiracial working-class base, the only viable strategy for securing a socialist future.
Through public and internal education and agitation, we aim to continue the legacy of the Black radical tradition, as well as the radical traditions of other oppressed minorities. Our goal is to act as a network that will support and develop non-white DSA members as leaders in the organization.
AFROSOC’s most recent efforts include:
- Afrosocialists Training: Generously funded by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, the caucus hosted its first training in NYC for 45 DSA members nationwide in 2017. Members of DSA’s national training team led modules focused on socialist organizing, leadership development and campaign strategy.
- A presentation for the students at NYC’s City as a School, “Walk It Like We Talk It: The Lifecycle of a Jordan Sneaker.” We facilitated a discussion about sneaker production under capitalism and worker co-ops.
- Black History Month 2018: In celebration of Black History Month, AFROSOC assembled a public education program for fellow DSA members and the general public. The caucus put on one event per week. These included: a discussion on decolonization and immigration featuring Wendi Muse (Left POCket Project) and Kazembe Balagun (Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung); a screening of the Lorraine Hansberry documentary Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart; and a panel on gentrification featuring tenant organizers Wanda Salaman, Anderson Fils-Aime, Robert Robinson, and Chris Colon.
- Happy Hours: We created the caucus as a result of the first AFROSOC happy hour. We believed that such an event would combat the discomfort and frustration Black/POC members were facing in our majority-white organization. The caucus encourages all DSA’s chapters to organize their own AFROSOC happy hours. So far AFROSOC Happy hours have taken place in: New York City, Atlanta, LA, Boston and New Orleans.
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