2023 LC Candidates

When and why did you join DSA?

2020 election. I agreed with the DSA platform and saw they were winning elections and changing things. Seemed like an organization worth helping.

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

Membership Engagement Coordinator for 2022-2023. Good at talking to new people.

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

2022-2023 Leadership committee. Organizing social events. Managing membership list. Phonebanks, Textbanks, Canvassing.

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

A lot of people already agree with us, they just may not understand our jargon and the way we say things.

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

It is necessary for us to have a positive view among the public as well some campaigns we can point to as successes. Average people need to know about us, like us, and think we can actually do something.

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

Austin DSA needs to share information and coordinate with Texas chapters. Austin DSA should use the national DSA as a platform setter generically and a resource for us to do more localized campaigns.

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

No

When and why did you join DSA?

January 2017; I joined DSA after experiencing the mass feeling of powerlessness in the 2016 presidential election. I was vaguely aware of Bernie at that time, but that was not my real introduction to socialism. Rather, it was having been called a socialist (in a derogatory way) for my advocacy work with folks who have been homeless and folks with disabilities. I didn't think of myself in that light, but it certainly piqued my interest when folks online started red baiting me. Turns out, they were right all along.

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

I have some experience with Roberts Rules as a DSA convention & meeting participant as well as my time spent serving on the Community Development Commission for the City of Austin. I have extensive experience with public speaking. I really enjoy it and find it to be a critical tool in engaging both small and large groups at critical moments. I have helped plan and setup many DSA general body meetings over the years and hope that in serving in the capacity of Vice Chair I can bring together old and new ideas of how to make those lively and welcoming experiences for everyone involved.

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

I've been deeply involved in the following campaigns with Austin DSA: Changing racist street names, Paid Sick Days, Doggett on Medicare for All, Affordable Housing Bond, APD Budget Negotiations, Austin Is Safer When Campaigns, Homes Not Handcuffs Campaigns, Equity Action Ballot Initiatives

I have knocked doors or made phone calls for the following candidates: Lewis Conway Jr, Jose Garza, Dominic Silvera, Andrew Hairston, & Andrew Gonzalez.

I've helped to organize events like: Labor For Reproductive Justice, Paid Sick Days Townhall, Strategic Campaign Trainings & Hosting visiting socialist leaders like Fred Glass, Bhaskar Sunkara, and Alex Vitale.

I've also been involved in the Free Rodney Reed Campaign.

And I ran for Congress with the full backing of Austin DSA.

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

So much. What a question!

I think I've learned a lot about the diversity of the class. That our neighborhoods, schools, job sites, even our grocery stores and commutes look wildly different from one another. Our experiences of the world are not the same. We can't expect each member of the class to be moved by the same rhetoric or even the same fight.

I've also learned that creating any sense of class consciousness requires fostering relationships built on respect and trust. That can look like believing people's experiences who might be coming from a different gender, sexuality, ability, race or immigration status. But belief is not enough. We must stake out shared goals. We must make the material case, over and over again, for mutual liberation.

And, maybe most of all, I've learned that no matter how polished your literature, how cool your mutual aid, how moving your speaker, or what a great idea for a campaign you have, you can't build real relationships in a few brief interactions. That takes a vast network of people. And that takes trusting working class folks with the tools and support they need to fight for themselves. If we aren't dedicated to politically empowering people, I don't think we have a real shot at addressing the class in any meaningful way.

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

The closest answer I can give is Solidarity. When there are enough small fires (metaphorically) burning at job site after job site, school after school, apartment complex, RV park, library, greenspace and hospital we will have begun. But it is when both the leaders and the supporters of those individual struggles are connected to each other: teachers to firefighters to tech workers to electricians to nurses to tenants and can begin to see the overlap of their goals and the consistency of their enemies, I believe then we will begin to understand ourselves as a class.

It is DSA's job to feed and light (metaphorically) those fires. It is also our job to connect labor, reproductive freedom, justice system reform, housing, healthcare, and these other sites of struggle to each other directly, introducing people, fostering relationships and engaging in strong coalitions. We have the opportunity to forge connections that no other group in Austin has the capacity or theory of change to pursue.

While Austin DSA does an excellent job of showing up to support these efforts, I think we must be equipping our own to lead, as well as identify other organic leaders and have organizing conversations with them. I think we should be taking political education as seriously as we do any campaign. I think we should be checking in about the effects of our various projects on our dedicated organizers: what they're learning, how they're growing, where their biggest struggles are. And we should be checking in with allies in other organizations and chapters to learn from their successes and mistakes. DSA as a whole is lacking in institutional wisdom. But DSA members and friends are a ready and largely untapped resource.

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

With the passage of the statewide pre-emption bill, I think it is more important than ever that we consider coordination and cooperation with other Texas chapters. We should be skill sharing (Secrets of a Successful Organizer, Power Mapping, Protest Best Practices). We should be visiting one another, sharing ideas, and amping each other up. We should be broaching that ever looming topic of how to run candidates at the state level (IMO: as a slate).

I think Austin DSA has a relatively healthy relationship with DSA national. Several of our biggest campaigns have been coordinated at the national level. I would like to see us utilizing and promoting more resources from national bodies, like the Strike Solidarity Campaigns. I would also like to see us contributing from our experience to the collective library of ideas. We have a lot to offer and we should be asked and asking to share it.

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

No

When and why did you join DSA?

I joined DSA in the beginning of 2018. For my whole life, I had been appalled at the damage done to our society by low wage labor and corporate greed. This led me to volunteer with the Fight For $15, where I met a lot of young activists who were also involved in Austin DSA. As a huge Bernie Sanders fan, I fit into DSA quickly.

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

I have handled finances for several electoral campaigns in my day job. I am currently on LC as Secretary, and have been an officer in the Young Active Labor Leaders and have had a handful of informal leadership roles in projects like the Texas Poor People’s Campaign.

I have learned a lot about how to help a volunteer-led organization function efficiently, such as by setting clear norms for communication and staying organized.

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

My first big activism endeavor was with the Fight For $15 in Austin. I talked to fast food workers in their workplace and encouraged them to learn about unions and participate in rallies for a higher minimum wage. I also led media outreach for a rally.

Through the Fight For $15, I got deeply involved in the Paid Sick Days campaign in Austin in late 2017. I helped plan events and drive turnout. In 2018, I helped coordinate the Poor People’s Campaign in Texas as one of 3 main coordinators in Austin.

When I was a state employee for 2.5 years, I was a very active member in the Texas State Employees Union. I attended every meeting and urged all my coworkers to join the union. Later, in 2021, I worked for TSEU during the legislative session as a Legislative Aide.

In DSA, I was active in the Medicare For All pressure campaign on Rep. Doggett, the Paid Sick Days Campaign, the Green New Deal for Public Schools campaign, and others.

In 2019 and 2020, I was a core volunteer leader for Heidi Sloan’s campaign for Congress. I led the fundraising efforts for the campaign, and discovered a love for electoral politics that led to a career change.

More recently, I have served on Austin DSA’s Leadership Committee and have supported DSA’s campaigns by blockwalking. 

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

I learned that getting non-politically involved people to see the merits of DSA or unions can be very hard if you don’t meet them where they are at. Many people do not initially see themselves as someone who can be a political actor. People won’t just believe in something because of my enthusiasm—they have to come around to class consciousness on their own terms.

That being said, class consciousness is on the rise with many people in the United States, especially young people. Sometimes a strong degree of class consciousness already exists, but people don’t know about DSA or their local union yet. We can do a lot to grow our movement by simply connecting people to DSA and/or a union.

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

We must have many conversations with regular people about the things that keep them up at night, and then tie those concerns to the idea of class. I think that knocking on doors for whatever campaigns we are working on is a great tactic. Talking to people at other activism events is also a good tactic.

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

Austin DSA should exchange ideas with other Texas chapters. We should definitely build relationships with other chapters’ members in case we need to work together on any electoral or statewide-policy initiatives someday.

Austin DSA should pay attention to projects in other chapters around the country. We can learn from their successes and failures. We should fully participate in the DSA National Convention and strongly consider participating in other DSA national campaigns. However, Austin DSA generally should have a large degree of autonomy to choose what our campaigns and priorities are in our local chapter.

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

I am a campaign staffer for Democratic candidates as my day job. I make sure to disclose this whenever I am taking about my candidates/clients in DSA spaces. 

When and why did you join DSA?

I joined in 2018 after being outraged by the cruelty of how our country handles immigration. I knew that I could only make a difference if I worked with a mass organization.

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

I have served on the LC twice already and am familiar with the bylaws and standards. I also am interested in bringing my experience as a librarian to this role and improving our data retention and accessibility.

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

Since 2020, I have been participating in DSA events and campaigns on a weekly basis. I cut my teeth on defunding the police in 2020, with canvassing, testifying, phonebanking, and textbanking. As member coordinator, I helped get campaigns the tools that they need and onboarded new members via welcome emails, orientation, and one-on-ones. Over the last year, as co-chair I've been facilitating GBMs and LC meetings and new member onboarding via orientation.

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

Nothing can substitute for forming relationships through one-on-one conversations. Direct asks, such as asking someone to attend a meeting, gets the goods. Most people in Austin agree at least theoretically with our goals, so I learned to approach conversations with strangers optimistically and with vulnerability, even when it takes me out of my comfort zone.

I have grown a lot as a person by engaging with the political work of DSA. That makes me confident that my neighbors that I approach, who might not yet see themselves as part of the working class, also have the power to change with comradely support.

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

Austin DSA has made great improvements in being ready to mobilize for organic events such as strikes and protests. I think we should continue this work, and further engage in fighting for the material needs of the community. We should especially focus on critical domains such as healthcare and education by partnering with unions in those areas.

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

As a larger chapter, I hope that we can support smaller chapters through online political education events and media and fundraising for union activities in their area. I would like us to form closer ties with Houston and San Antonio as well in order to pressure state officials.

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

No

When and why did you join DSA?

2021, because I had just moved to Texas and wanted to be part of an active political formation dedicated to the fight against fascism and racism in our time without being beholden to the compromises and half-measures enforced by the Democratic Party establishment.

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

15 years canvassing experience (Obama 2008; Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. 2009–2010; Bernie 2016; Bernie 2020; Yes on A, No on B 2023)

Public speaking (incl. Hyperreal Film Club PSA 4/26 re early voting on the Yes on A, No on B ballot measure)

Recording secretary, Helping Hands for the Disabled of NYC, 2021–2023 (mutual aid group by/for blind & disabled residents of NYC)—managed communications to a list of 100+ members, volunteers and stakeholders; kept minutes for monthly meetings; analyzed and improved onboarding for new volunteers during the pandemic.

Volunteer with Hyperreal Film Club and Texas State Library & Archive Commission’s Talking Book Library

Experienced with miniVAN, field management, database-driven volunteer recruitment and retention

Experienced with peer mediation/deescalation

Real down for the cause

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

Dues-paying since 2021, active since January 2023. Canvassed with Equity Action’s landslide victory coalition for Yes on A, No on B March–May 2023. Hosted AM poll greeting at Southpark Meadows 5/6, incl. successful deescalation with hostile driver. Hosted poll greeting sessions at George Morales Dove Springs Recreation Center throughout early voting, incl. successful 1-to-1s with multiple new & prospective DSA members. Textbanked throughout early voting. Crowd canvassed live podcast show 4/15 at Far Out Lounge. Introduced Hyperreal Film Club’s 4/26 feature presentation of Inspector Ike (2020) with Yes on A, No on B PSA. 

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

Together we win! We were able to hold the moral high ground in Yes on A, No on B AND benefited from message discipline, as well: our opponents were divided even among themselves because of their bad faith efforts to undermine democracy and dodge accountability. Conversely, our reasonable, candid efforts to name precisely what we were asking for and explain why we were asking for it were key to motivating and retaining volunteers to spread the message to interested voters on a one-to-one basis.

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

Our opponents in the state legislature have dropped every last pretense of respecting human rights, basic dignity, and local autonomy. Their intransigence and open commitment to grotesque spectacles of abuse have presented a wealth of opportunities to demonstrate (as we did in Yes on A, No on B) that DSA can be part of the vanguard of a durable popular front to oppose the consolidation of now openly fascist powers here in Texas.

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

DSA’s wins in Texas can help build democratic socialism in the US by demonstrating the durability and ubiquity of the appeal of democratic socialism. By scoring victories here, we not only materially improve the lives of our neighbors, but show fence-sitters within the squishy democratic left that 1) these wins are possible, 2) they are people-powered, and 3) they are a necessary part of opposing open fascism nationwide.

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

No, I am employed by a nonprofit organization based in New York State but it is nonpolitical. As an editor, I would like to continue to separate my public/professional identity from my personal/political organizing work (hence, Jay P.)

Any other information that you would like to share with the chapter?

I don’t have much in terms of theory or socialist political education but I am an avid reader and a happy learner. I consider myself a group-first person, and seek consensus and equity in decision making. I pursue a service leadership style and do my best to understand each component of an operation before suggesting ways to run it.

When and why did you join DSA?

Fall 2020. Because that's where most of the socialists are and a couple of old friends and comrades from years past are active in DSA and urged to me to join.

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

I am a writer and editor for Red Fault, the Austin DSA news publication site and copy editor for Against the Current, a publication of Solidarity, a small socialist organization that for many years has been the primary source of thinking about the rank and file strategy.

I planned and presented a four-part weekly series of workshops as an introduction to unions and the the realities of the US labor movement for DSA members. I also presented a few more sessions for Red Square, Austin DSA's low-pressure discussion session.

As a bus driver, I published the newspaper in ATU Local 1549 (Austin) and ATU Local 1005 (Twin Cities, MN) as well as the newspaper for the TDU, the Teamster reform caucus. I have contributed periodically to Labor Notes and helped found The Working Stiff Journal, a local Austin labor paper with a similar vision.

I was an editor and writer at two leftist student newspapers in Austin and one in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

I've spent most of the last 35 years as a labor union rank and filer, local officer and organizer in ATU (transit), AFA (flight attendants), TDU (Teamsters reformers) and others. I entered the left in the anti-apartheid movement when I was in high school and fairly quickly got involved with Latin American solidarity and radical environmentalist movements and a little later, with Palestinian solidarity. My first job after moving out on my own was as a union bus driver and I did that for many years.

In DSA, I have helped organize support for Via313 and Starbucks workers, and more recently for Seton nurses.

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

Class consciousness is raised through struggle. It has come through the fight for unions, in the women's movement, in the civil rights movement, the struggle for LGBTQ rights and through environmentalism. As a labor union activist and leader, I saw members become far more open to radical ideas during and after a contract fight or a strike than they were before.

When people discover the severe limits this system places on possible gains and over time see the tendency for those wins to be reversed, only then will most see the need for systemic change. It can help to have radicals around during this mental transition, but ONLY if the radicals' goal is to bring other working-class activists into leadership.

Substituting one's self or one's socialist organization is a common mistake that will at best fail and at worst, alienate the very people we most need. Only the working class can organize working class revolution. Those of us who have trod the road of Marx and company can help but we can't walk the road for them.

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

At the risk of being facetious, only the working class can unite the working class. Having said that, our chapter can grease the wheels by joining organized (or organizing) working class formations. Mostly that means labor unions, but membership in a union is not enough. As our members in the electrical workers union have recently seen when they had a crappy contract forced down their throats with the collusion of their union leadership from the local level to the top, the US labor movement's problem is not only that it is too small.

It is also that it lacks vision. This lack contributed significantly to the shrinking of the number of union members over the last decades. The labor movement must become a movement again. It must return to the days when unionists understood that the goal is not simply a pay raise but must be the fundamental inversion of our economy by putting workers' democracy at the center.

If we expect change on a large scale, we have to rebuild the lost ties in both directions between unions and socialist organization.

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

Texas: I think Austin DSA generally is larger and better organized than other branches in Texas. If we are not arrogant about it, I think we might be able to them advance their struggles in useful ways. Putting together a statewide event and inviting other cities to send members not only to learn but also to help us understand their situation could bring all of us forward. I don't know the financial situation of other Texas branches, but if necessary, Austin could help fund some of their costs of attending.

National: I see a lot of problems with DSA national. I think we should spend most of our time focused on Austin and Texas, but I also know it would help DSA to have more functional, responsive and accountable national leadership and staff. Perhaps once every month or two, we could have a discussion of something about the national organization to educate ourselves and develop methods with which we can help improve it.

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

No

Any other information that you would like to share with the chapter?

I have several plans if I am political education coordinator.

1. I think it's important to have a regular event that is easy to attend and requires little background to participate in, like Red Square. I will plan that event with the intent of holding at least two per month.

2. We also should have events that dig deeper into some aspect of radical theory and action. These can be reading groups or lecture/discussion groups that are several sessions long and have a somewhat higher expectation of participants' involvement.

3. A more challenging but important task I'd like to work on is reviving the tradition of public speeches from earlier socialist movements. This has two parts. One is developing a speakers bureau of members who are developing their skills in public speaking. The other is figuring out how to hold successful and well-attended events where we draw people from outside our current active base and ideally outside our membership.

4. Increase the number of writers and frequency of articles in Red Fault, Austin DSA's online publication. If successful, explore the idea of a print version.

5. I have developed the broad outline of a publicity campaign around our the importance of unions, both broadly and on concrete issues. This could include local newspapers, radio, flyering neighborhoods, local unions, etc. This would probably necessitate helping to build the local capacity of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee as well as the Restaurant Workers Union. We would also need to talk to existing unions in the area about whether they are willing to take on new organizing.

When and why did you join DSA?

Feb 2018, when i came to testify on the Paid Sick Leave ordinance and saw a sea of red shirts, realized that DSA was the reason that vote was happening

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

A lot of campaign experience, formal training in organizing (Midwest Academy, Empower Relational organizing, Organizing for power), successful coordination on previous electoral and pressure campaigns 

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

I've basically been the ACAB campaign guy in Austin DSA since 2018. Lead Homes not Handcuffs with Heidi and Marina, took point on the Jose campaign, worked on our electoral research group, worked on our defund campaign, been a point person for multiple coalitions. 

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

People mostly dont' believe that they can effect change in the world, and raising their sense of self-efficacy is the key task, particularly collective self-efficacy. The other pieces such as casting villains, acting as a class etc are important, but without showing people that they have a path to act collectively to make change, it remains mostly subcultural

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

A combination of slow-burn structure-based organizing (new shopfloor unions, new tenant unions, rank and file expansion) with high-profile electoral and issue campaign wins. 

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

This is still I think an exploratory phase, as the physical size of Texas has interfered with our efforts. I think Austin should play a larger role in training and mentoring developing organizers, as well as trying ot amplify and support local wins, and building toward the capacity to run legeslative campaigns and multi-city labor actions

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

Yes. I currently work part-time for equity action, and will likely be taking on contractor roles locally in the near future. Because Equity's board consists of abolitionists, it's very likely that I would be working on electoral and pressure campaigns that DSA would look at in the near future, and have had to navigate that on previous campaigns such as Yes on A No on B and Defund APD. Professionally I am aiming to get employment through national entities that would de-conflict, but in the short-term I anticipate that to continue. 

Any other information that you would like to share with the chapter?

I have more flexible schedule during the day, so i'll be available to help do consulting calls with campaign chairs, help write campaign plans, and generally have good relationships with large swathes of our most frequent coalition partners. I largely think i'm pretty good at this work, and want to make sure that I continue to contribute to the growth of the chapter 

When and why did you join DSA?

I joined back in 2021 because I believe that the current political and economic system isn't working for the majority of people but rather for a select few. After being politically activated during the 2020 Bernie Sanders campaign, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the BLM movement, I learned to recognize that real transformational change isn't going to come from the top down but from the bottom up. If we want to build a better future and a more equitable and just society, we as a working class need to get organized. We need take power from the capital owners weilding it by organizing our workplaces, our homes, and our government. Income inequality is getting worse, fascism is on the rise, and our planet is dying. We can't afford to compromise with the billionaire class any longer; we need to address the root of the problem: capitalism.

I became an active member after a ton of Austin DSA members turned out to our protest at Via 313 in January 2022 in response to management suspending four workers who turned in a cross-store petition demanding sick pay. The protest was successful and resulted in the suspended workers winning their jobs back with backpay. My coworkers and I were incredibly grateful for the support and solidarity from local comrades, and I decided that I would pay it forward by engaging in organizing support around local labor struggles through the Austin DSA Labor Committee.

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

I've spent the last year and a half developing my organizing skills through in-person and online trainings and hands-on union organizing. I volunteer as an external organizer with Restaurant Workers United and help take in leads from restaurant workers all across the country (in collaboration with EWOC). During my time organizing, I have learned how to build lists, map workplaces, organize around issues, and most importantly, how to have in-depth organizing conversations to move people past fear.

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

Throughout my time in the DSA, I've engaged in a number of different campaigns. I've phone banked for the PRO Act, canvassed for the Austin Police Oversight Act (yes on A, no on B), and tabled at the May Day Job fair, fostering a rank-and-file pipeline into UNITE HERE. I've also helped organize local solidarity support for labor struggles around the city, including SBWU, RWU, NNU, AWU, and Education Austin.

I was previously a worker-organizer at Via 313, where my coworkers and I launched Restaurant Workers United, an independent union with the goal of fighting to create better standards in the service industry. I was elected Vice President and organized multiple labor actions, rallies, and protests before being fired in retaliation last October. Soon after, I got a job at the Austin airport and joined ongoing efforts to organize the last non-union food and beverage contractor. Eventually, I was brought on as a full-time external organizer for UNITE HERE Local 23 and am now actively organizing food service and hospitality workers across Central Texas.

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

It isn't easy. The odds are stacked against us, and there are many barriers we have to overcome to unite the working class, including race, age, gender, and language. To do this, we have to recognize our common interests and shared struggles and work together to find effective solutions. The boss wants us to be divided and will do everything they can to pit us against each other, but we have something they don't. Solidarity 💪🏽. What we have to do is show them that when working people stand together, there isn't anything we can't accomplish.

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

A strong labor movement. Our chapter should continue to promote union organizing and dedicate time and resources towards political education and labor-oriented Red Squares. Most importantly, Austin DSA needs to continue to support local labor struggles. Whether that means manning picket lines, feeding striking workers, or raising money, if workers are engaging in class struggle, we need to stand behind them and support their fight.

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

In Texas, it's easy to be pessimistic about our future because for every hard fought organizing win, the state legislature pushes us back in the opposite direction (Ex. Death Star bill). It's critical for DSA chapters all around Texas to collaborate, share experiences, and get involved in statewide efforts to elect socialists and progressives to state office in order to combat this right wing extremism. Last year I helped plan statewide educational calls for TX DSA Labor, an unofficial body of DSA Labor Committee's around the state. On a national level, we should to engage in initiatives like the STRIKE READY, Solidarity is Brewing, Pass the PRO Act, and Green New Deal campaigns. When chapters from all throughout the state and the nation join together to unite behind a single campaign, we hold far more power to enact transformational change.

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

I'm a full time labor organizer with UNITE HERE Local 23

Any other information that you would like to share with the chapter?

When we fight, we win!

When and why did you join DSA?

2021. I was a student at UT looking for a leftest organization to join. I knew I was firmly an anti/capitalist, I just didn’t know where I fit in. I came across the YDSA table and been a member since. 

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

Being a recent member of YDSA I still have a relationships with the current and recent steering committee. Additionally, as an organizer at the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance I can help mentor the current YDSA body on what organizing is and help foster growth within their chapter. 

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

While I help in placing prop A, police accountability, on the ballot. The vast majority of my work had been in alignment with but adjacent to DSA. As an organizer at THRA I have mobilized Austin’s unhoused community, drug users, and recently incarcerated individuals-many who have overlapping struggles-to fight together against the city for real wins in material needs. For example permanent free fares for CapMetro, the removal of a doctor at the 2nd street methadone clinic and ending their THC testing requirement, and pushing back the date the downtown Salvation Army’s closure, while requiring the city to reshelter the individuals staying there. These are just the prominent few issues we have recently succeeded with our organizing project. 

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

The very nature of capitalism dictates the requirements of a underclass. The people I organize are those folks at the very bottom. In my time at THRA I have made it my personal goal to teach people these class distinctions and breathe new vigor into those who see it, that they’re more of us than there are them and together as a solidified force, we can demand and win the things we need to thrive not just survive. 

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

I believe that organizing around specific issues that effect all of Austin's working class is what will unite people. As we move forward issues like the I35 expansion can be focal points on which we using to build a stronger feeling of community. What DSA can do is hold community information sessions, outreach in public spaces to bring awareness to sessions, and build community around the issues without primarily recruiting for DSA. As we build these sessions out and empower the community to fight for victories in the city, we can then work in what the DSA is and how liberal democrats (mostly Austin residents) are not actually working for their best interest. 

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

Austin DSA should be in regular contact with all chapters in Texas. With the new preemption bill that has just passed this session, the state now has the power to uproot many of our goals as socialist in Texas. In order to successfully strengthen the socialist movement, there must be a state strategy to combat the growing fascist wing of capitalism. In order to do that we must be in communication with our comrades across the state. When it comes to our national comrades we should always have open lines of communication but I believe our main focus should be here in Texas. 

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

Yes, paid organizer at the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance 

Any other information that you would like to share with the chapter?

I really appreciate those who have nominated me for this position and if elected I look forward to helping strengthening the bonds between our local YDSA chapter and Austin DSA. 

When and why did you join DSA?

I joined the DSA when I moved back to austin in 2022. I had already been politically active in sunrise movement before and was looking to find a very active socialist organization that was doing more than just climate issues. Austin DSA stood out to me as an org that was openly socialist and dedicated to getting work done.

My first DSA event was one of the queer socialist happy hours. Evoryone was so welcoming and friendly but also dedicated to the cause. I knew I had found an org I could get passionate about. 

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

In almost a year I have been involved in as many events and campaigns as I could manage. I have taken on many different roles like counter-canvassing fake police petitioners and knocking on doors for the Andrew Gonzales campaign. The diverse roles I have taken on in our chapter enables me to understand how it operates

My current career is as a software engineer. I have lead projects with many engineers. Doing so requires a high degree of attention to detail and persistence and flexibility when problems arise. Issues in coordinating DSA members across the state will face many issues that Attention to detail and persistence will help resolve.

At the end of the day I know don't have all the answers, and I'm always ready to listen and learn from my comrades. As I step into the role of state coordinator, I'll be leaning on you - your feedback and ideas will drive how to perform on LC and as state coordinator. 

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

I joined the sunrise movement Dallas in 2021 where I jumped in quickly and got involved helping research and plan future campaigns. Since then I have been organizing constantly around ecosocialist, union and criminal justice issues. I have knocked on hundreds of doors between Texas Climate Jobs Actions push for worker protections at AISD, getting Andrew Gonzales elected to the school board, Yes on A, No on B and unionizing efforts with Unite Here.

I have spoken in front of large bodies, Austin DSA GBMs, AISD school board of trustees, city council and Texas legislature committees.

I have hosted events, organized multi-day retreats, given organizing seminars and other administrative roles.

Through the finish the five campaign I have seen how we can use our influence on the state legislature despite the cards being stacked against us. 

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

People are ready for change. Across Texas people see that wealth is settling at the top at the cost of the working class. Socialism is becoming less and less of a dirty word. Before I had experience canvassing I would have thought that most of our "radical" ideas would have fallen on deaf ears, but now I know that people are more receptive now than ever. 

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

Many of the problems faced by Austinites are those created by capitalism's failures. People are struggling to make a living wage, and getting pushed outside of the city. When talking with people in austin we must help people frame the issue in a socialist perspective. The owning class is extracting working class wealth at record rates and the only way to fight back is organizing. 

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

Austin DSA should form tight bonds with all other chapters in the state. As Austin is the capital city our chapter can help other chapters run state legislative campaigns. And even help fight when the state lege preempts a local chapter's local win. At the least, regular communication between chapters will help spread novel and successful strategy and tactic ideas.

We should join with national campaigns like supporting the strike ready initiative, there are many things other chapters are doing across the country that we can borrow to make our own campaigns more successful. 

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

None

When and why did you join DSA?

I joined DSA in October 2019 when we were starting an organizing committee in North Louisiana. That OC then morphed into a YDSA chapter at Louisiana Tech, which I co-chaired for two years before moving to Austin in July 2021. I joined DSA because, being from the Gulf South, I have lived through the horrors of climate catastrophe and comrades in DSA helped me put those experiences into a wider context. It was DSA that first taught me what it actually means to live under capitalism and that socialism is not the dirty word I grew up learning it to be. It was DSA that exposed me to union organizing and gave me the tools I needed to analyze my conditions in rural North Louisiana and organize others. Even when my activity in DSA has waned in the past, I have remained a member for four uninterrupted years because this is the largest socialist organization in many generations and it is the best vehicle we have for delivering wins for the working class writ large. I used to feel nothing but anxiety about the future, but now in DSA I hold great hope in my heart that the cause of labor shall win because we will fight for it. 

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

I have years of experience organizing social events, both in DSA and in other organizations in college. I have been organizing monthly (with exceptions) hikes in Austin DSA for comrades to get out, stretch their legs, and walk around with each other talking and socializing in a lower-stakes environment than our meetings can sometimes be.

In my YDSA chapter, I brought comrades together over our weekly food program. We would gather every Monday at someone's house or dorm to cook a hot meal and deliver it to around 30 people across the campus/college town. The program served as a way for members to get involved quickly and easily after joining the chapter and it gave us a shared stake in what we were doing.

I served on the national DSA Mutual Aid Working Group from March 2021 to March 2022, during which time I organized social zoom meetings, experimented with methods of engaging comrades in disaster relief work, and co-facilitated DSA's response to Hurricane Ian outside of Florida. The disaster relief work included creating virtual training materials for volunteers, providing space for grief, and connecting comrades from nearby chapters together so they could respond as a single group. 

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

I have been on the picket line with Starbucks workers in Austin and kept in touch with their organizers so that DSA organizers could follow up with them. I make it a point to show up to every labor action in the city that I am able to. I canvassed for the Prop A/Prop B ballot measures and for the No Way on Prop A ballot measure under Austin DSA's Defund-Decrim Campaign. I have also contributed to an abolition view of safety in Austin DSA work, notably the Organized Labor for Reporductive Justice rally in July 2022, by cementing a relationship with Street Medics Austin, working with various comrades to hold first aid trainings, and inquiring about what makes our people safe without the involvement of the cops.

Presently, I am engaged in organizing more of my coworkers into our union, AFSCME 1624, in light of the interim city manager's major change to our telework policy at the expense of both office and field staff. I am focused on taking those folks from being agitated to being organizers, because a militant union is far more than just an email list of angry people. We are experimenting with how to bridge the divide between office and field staff, a divide which has long been used to bust unions and attack working conditions. It is hard work, but it is work worth doing. 

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

Raising class consciousness is a marathon, not a sprint. It's cliche, yes, but it is cliche for a reason. I know some coworkers who I have been working on moving more towards the union and to the Left for months, while others are more than ready to take action tomorrow. The same goes for DSA work, it takes time, patience, and a willingness to be persistent and disciplined in one's organizing. I take what Jane McAlevey wrote to heart and I ask myself every day: what did I do today to build class consciousness? The answer is often as small as having a meaningful discussion with someone about a ballot proposition or a current strike being waged. I also feel that I've gotten far better at this since I stopped being quite So Online on Twitter. Sometimes you just gotta touch grass bruh. 

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

I think that one of major issues which we continue to face in the 21st century is that of working class disorganization. So many of the weathered, old bastions of working class organization and social cohesion have been eroded. Unions were gutted throughout the neoliberal years, socialist organizations and leftist sects have risen and fallen and none have been able to give people the thing that seems to be consistently lacking in our capitalist society: genuine human connection. This is an area where I think DSA would do well to learn from the churches. We must become a beacon and a hub for working class organization by giving our comrades the tools to go forth and organize where they are. We must become an organization of organizers who are equipped to canvass our own neighborhoods, apartment complexes, workplaces, or social groups and uplift class consciousness across our many networks.

I think Austin DSA specifically can accomplish this by building on what we already have. We have bustling general meetings each month and would only need to incorporate a little more structure to make them truly moving. Having dedicated greeters, making sure that we are facilitating 1:1s between leadership and members and from member to member, and training people in how to have effective organizing 1:1 conversations are all easy strategies we can employ to deepen our cadres. I also think we could make even better use of our office space, hosting smaller workshops and giving rank-and-file Austin DSA members a method of reserving the office space via LC so that they can host neighborhood meetings, tenant meetings, organizing sessions, and so on. We can expand our social activities by finding shared interests among comrades and giving them the tools necessary to self-organize events and projects. We can pull on the immense musical talent in the chapter to hold solidarity shows and raise money for strike funds or abortion funds (as many have already been doing). We are in a time ripe for experimentation and we should keep throwing socialist spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. 

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

Austin DSA is in an interesting position as relates to other Texas chapters. Of the big Texas cities, Austin is the smallest, though perhaps with more developed contradictions between the forces of capital and labor due to our proximity to the state capitol and to the city's reputation as a bastion of progressivism. We are within a few hours drive from the other major hubs of DSA activity in the state, and should use that position to augment struggles in those places where possible. We are also well-suited to be a first line of relief when hurricanes strike the Texas Gulf Coast or when tornadoes rip through the north Texas plains, and so we should be prepared to offer our help to comrades in need. I also believe that DSA does not do enough rural organizing, though frankly I am still unsure how to expand that type or work in Austin DSA as yet.

I view national DSA as a grout that keeps the many locals held together in an intricate, if complex, mosaic. National DSA has immense resources and the utility of a socialist banner to unite under. I was a leader of a national DSA working group for a year, and I am proud of that, but Austin DSA has always done our best work when we have focused on local issues. It is for that reason I even stepped down from MAWG to run for Austin DSA LC. I think Austin should strive to engage our members with the national body's work where possible, but ultimately we are strongest when improving the working conditions of folks in our own backyard. 

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

No

Any other information that you would like to share with the chapter?

I see myself in DSA, as much as I see each and every one of you, my comrades. The road to socialism is long and winding and much of it is yet untraveled, but we WILL win because the alternative is barbarism, fascism, and hell on earth. 

When and why did you join DSA?

I joined Austin DSA in 2020 following the protests against police brutality. After the marches were over, I often had a feeling "Is this enough? What else can we do?" These questions turned into frustration as establishment progressives and Democrats coopted that energy without addressing any of the material demands of the protests.

I had also started my own video production company in 2019 and the experience of being a small business owner, in a weird way, radicalized me to the realities of capitalism. In my early days of seeking advice anywhere I could find it, someone laid it out plainly to me: in a market, someone has to lose. They're exclusionary by nature, not just in terms of access, but also in success. Having to "succeed" to survive is a repulsive indignity that no one should be subject to.

Through 2019-2020, I experienced the most difficult financial hardships of my life via the start of my business and then into the pandemic, where I and my partner were living month to month for the first time in my life. In hindsight, it's clear why this developed my consciousness in a more radical way. It really crystallized thoughts and feelings I'd been having for a long time but was able to ignore because of the way my previous jobs had insulated me.

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

My specific skillset is in visual storytelling, editing, and project management. In truth, I don't consider myself someone who is "good" at social media or maintaining an online presence. But I know there are many talented comrades in DSA that want to contribute and can help fill the gaps and create a strong Comms Committee with me. I have a vision of an active Comms Committee that regularly creates amazing agitprop, but I want to surround myself with people who can make this a reality. I want to engage with all members who desire to work together to create a communication strategy that can reach socialists and non-socialists alike.

I've always liked the idea that movies, or video, can work as an "empathy machine" and think there is great power in that, but I know that ideas are not what change the world. Agitation is not the same as organizing, but it can be a powerful tool to communicate and explain the contradictions of the society we live in. We can use video, social media, writing, podcasts, etc. to agitate and connect with working people to explain the roots of suffering in a capitalist society. I think, not just at a local level but even for DSA as a national organization, communication/media is not used to its fullest potential and it leaves a large gap in our ability to connect with people who align with our values.

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

While I joined in 2020, I wasn't really active until 2021. Over the past 2 years, I've worked on the GND committee to develop video content for the PRO Act and Green New Deal 4 Public Schools campaigns (in coordination with DSA national), as well as our local campaign for GND4PS. These campaigns involved phone banking state senators for support, pressuring local school board members, providing video services for DSA events/rallies, and canvassing neighborhoods to have conversations with affected residents/families and build support for our campaign goals.

In addition, the GND committee was stacked with knowledgeable comrades who helped me to understand, really, how the city works, how the public school system interacts with the system, as well as develop an understanding of our labor unions. They encouraged me to attend EWOC and Labor Notes organizing trainings and helped me understand forces behind many of the conflicts in our city.

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

That people are complicated bundles of conflicting ideology that don't always make "sense"--and that explaining why they're "wrong" is ineffective. Talking to people, listening to them, and taking their concerns seriously, or talking through with them enough to find out what they're really concerned about, relating to them--these are effective. I think connecting with someone in a genuine way is the kernel that leads to solidarity, and solidarity is what can help someone see beyond themselves in a way that isn't horse trading. The people opposed to my ideology don't deserve to be exploited by capitalists, they don't deserve to be unhoused, they don't deserve to die because they can't afford healthcare. I truly think that talking to others and making them feel like that moment of time is important to you is better than any debate tactic or making them feel ashamed. Because you don't just get to learn about them, but they get to learn about you and maybe know that you aren't that different from them. If you have to work to survive, you already have one thing in common with them and that one thing dominates most of your lives. If consciousness is a reflection of someone's social being, the reality they've lived, then you can work to understand how their ideological contradictions came to exist and the forces that got them to that point.

Don't forget the coercive forces that exert their ideology on working people and turn us against each other. "Be kind to people--be ruthless to systems." This does not apply to Elon Musk, however.

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

Shared struggle builds solidarity. I think that principle is one of the keys to uniting working people. Solidarity unites people with different and often contradictory beliefs and backgrounds. I can't remember off the top of my head who Staughton Lynd quoted as saying "sometimes all you can do is stand next to someone in the rain" but there is power in that.

It won't be easy. Living in capitalism means our very society is designed to atomize us and decay any bonds we have to each other unless they serve the profit motive. It won't come just by saying "here are our ideas for changing the world" but for actively fighting for them, day in and day out, to change our reality. It means supporting and rebuilding the labor movement in the US, and pushing the current labor movement towards more militancy. Not just as an exercise in dogma, but to unite working people and realize that we are the only ones who have the power to change the system that regularly preys on us. When local labor unions decide to take an action or organize a campaign against capitalist exploitation, I want them to think of Austin DSA as an automatic part of their coalition. The Comms Committee should be the voice of this action, to explain why we fight for worker power and, ultimately, worker control of productive forces.

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

Texas is one of the most difficult places for a socialist organization to exist. It's not going to be easy and won't be, for a long time. However, other Texas cities have had victories or made progress in areas where we have not. Part of this is because of the "unique" position that Austin occupies in the GOP's head, but I would like to see us collaborate more often with our other statewide chapters so we can learn from their mistakes and their successes.

Between other TX chapters, as well as national DSA, building the infrastructure between these organization levels is new territory and I think one thing that we need is flexibility, the ability to react quickly to change and not be slowed down by ineffective organizational structures or processes. Austin is not Houston is not Dallas, and none of them are Texas as a whole.

I think this also speaks to the larger discussion in DSA in general the past few years and some of the frustrations that membership has felt at the national-local relationships. I'm very hopeful that we will inject new strategy into the organization at this year's convention.

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

No

YDSA Coordinator

When and why did you join DSA?

Fall ‘22, because it was my first year of college and was looking to be more involved! 

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

I’ve been on steering since last year and I’ve tried my best to go to ATXDSA meetings and stay involved with what they have going on there. I will also have a car this upcoming semester which will make it much easier. I’ve already been trying to build relationships with members of Austin DSA and their leadership using communication skills I’ve already obtained throughout college/high school organizing. I also run the YDSA Instagram and have been since I’ve been on steering. 

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

-Finish the Five: I personally have been very involved with finish the five by attending legislative events, testifying, joining meetings, and building relationships with ALYM members

-YDSA: I’ve been working with YDSA on various different projects since being in steering including finish the five and also Hong Seng Solidarity, a campaign we are on with Pay Your Workers to put pressure on UT Austin and Nike to give back pay to UT apparel sewers in Thailand who were not paid for their labor during the pandemic.

Police Oversight: I did a lot of counter canvassing work when the fraudulent petitions were being spread around and we continue to fight for police oversight this semester!

YDSA has also been adjacently or directly involved with many different smaller projects including police brutality protests, working with Palestine Solidarity Committee, mutual aid fundraising, teach-ins, and much more! 

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

Political education is extremely important to me, my biggest goal for YDSA is for us to always be on top of what is happening around Austin! A politically aware working class is the most conscious one. Other than that, inter-group solidarity with other leftist communities in Austin is more important than things we might disagree on. We are all one working class! 

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

For YDSA, one of the main things I wanted to work on was directly collaborating with other leftist groups on campus to build solidarity with them rather than forcing all left-curious students to pick between one group or the other. Not only is this better for organizers, but also better for people who are very new to the socialist cause and are not sure where they fit but what to be involved. 

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

I think currently, our fellow Texas chapters are most important. I think that appealing to college students who go back and forth between austin and other parts of Texas is a great place to start! I know that as someone who goes to the Dallas area for breaks, i would really love to get more involved with the DSA in north Texas during times I’m not available for ATX events. I think that national relations are most important when dealing with international affairs. What international policies does DSA want to stand with? On a more local level, DSA is stronger when fighting for local causes. On a national level, I believe that we would be strongest fighting for oppression that the US is complicit in that does not directly affect us, such as Palestine, Puerto Rico, etc. 

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

No

Co-Chair (of 2)

When and why did you join DSA?

I joined DSA in 2019. I had previously done organizing around abortion rights and wanted to get more involved in organizing and I wanted to meet new friends.I was slow to become an active member though. In 2021 I decided to become more active, I spent the previous year navigating our cruel healthcare system for my dad before he ultimately passed. Seeing for myself how capitalism destroys lives convinced me I needed to be committed to fighting it. 

Please provide a short description of your qualifications for this position.

I have experience with conflict resolution both as an HGO and as a mediator at housing cooperatives I've lived at. I have a lot of canvassing experience and really enjoy getting to talk to people in Austin about the work DSA does. I have more to learn about Roberts Rules, but I'm working on that! 

Describe your involvement in Austin DSA's campaigns or other co-op/socialist/union organizing efforts. 

Over the last year I was involved in the Defund/Decrim campaign which involved lots of crowd canvassing, speaking at city council and the lege, making social media posts and chasing off fraud canvassers with my comrades. I was also employed by Collective Campaigns to canvass and then later in the year Equity Action. I'm a proud union member, I joined the United Professional Organizers Union this year and took part in contract negotiations. I have also been our chapters HGO. And I serve on the board of North American Students for Cooperatives on their grievance committee and external affairs committee. 

What did you learn about raising class consciousness from doing this work?

People really do want change! Spending the last year talking to people about police oversight showed me that as much as people want change they feel like its hopeless. People are pretty isolated and lack strong communities. Raising class consciousness has to include community. DSA can help by empowering people to become organizers in their communities, support worker organizing and maintaining strong relationships with other progressive groups. 

What what will unite the working class in Austin?

I think our chapter should continue our focus on labor. Supporting workers and encouraging unionization is critical! I've been so proud of the work our chapter has been doing recently to support workers. We should be creative about the events and meetings we have so we can bring more workers and families into our org! Events like our recent May Day job fair are great opportunities to get people involved and engaged. 

How should Austin DSA relate to other Texas chapters? How should Austin DSA relate to DSA nationally?

Austin DSA should absolutely be coordinating with other chapters. We should create and maintain open lines of communication with the Texas chapters so we are ready to mobilize against the state lege, right wing extremist and all the shit we collectively deal with in Texas. It would also be incredible to have a regional events or at least regular meetings with LC's. 

Do you have any conflicts of interest regarding a professional affiliation

I'm on the board of North American Students of Cooperation (a housing co-op group).