What is Democratic Socialism
News
The Return of the Democratic Left:
Building a Youth Movement
for the 21st Century
Join The Student Fight Back
Against Austerity Now!
February 17-19th, 2012
Saint Frances College, Brooklyn NY
Join Cornel West, Frances Fox Piven, Michael Walzer, and many other great speakers at St. Francis College in New York City to learn more about how to fight back against the neo-liberal agenda.
Our main focus will be student debt and rising tuition costs.
At the conference you will:
Meet youth from across the country to share insights, tips, and ideas about organizing on your campus.
Explore the root causes of rising tuition and skyrocketing student debt, why students of color consistently face more barriers to accessing higher education, and how the neoliberal capitalist economy screws young workers (those that are lucky enough to even find jobs).
Discuss strategies for how to fight back against further state budget cuts to education.
The website for the Winter Confernce is now live. At the website you can register for the conference, learn more about speakers, or see the tentative schedule.
As a bonus the first 50 people to register and pay online will receive a free DSA bumper sticker, so make sure you register today!
Update on Occupy Philly
From Temple YDS
Early on Wednesday, November 30th, around 1:00 am, the Philadelphia Police Department raided Occupy Philly. Many Temple Democratic Socialists (TDS) members and Temple allies rushed to City Hall to aid the occupiers. Several were caught up in the middle of the ensuing police brutality and waves of arrests. Five TDS members were arrested along with several other comrades from allied Temple organizations and brought to jail. No Miranda rights were read, and many were in areas that the police indicated would not warrant arrests. They waited in the police vans for up to two hours before being brought to jail, where they were separated and denied phone calls. They were all released about twelve hours after arriving. But that's not all - Wednesday afternoon, an ally group staged a rally and sit-in in a campus PNC bank to protest the Board of Trustee's flat-out denial to activist requests to speak to the Board about Temple and PNC's financial connections to Mountain Top Removal coal mining practices in Appalachia.
YDS Endorses Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) has been heating up in New York City and around the country. Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Honorary Chair Cornel West was arrested on the steps of the Supreme Court. This was part of an Occupy D.C. protest against the Supreme Court's complicity in unfettered corporate financing of politicians. The New York Times quoted DSA vice-chair and National Political Committee member Joseph Schwartz and Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) Northeast Regional Organizer Cecily McMillan about Occupy Philadelphia and #Occupy Wall Street respectively.
YDS and DSA groups have been building the protests since they started a month ago, but YDS has how formally issued a statement endorsing the Occupy Wall Street movement. YDS stands with the occupiers who are working to create a better society. We are excited, since this movements shows that people know the real enemy is Wall Street and Corporate power, not deficit spending. Click here to read YDS's Statement.
We need to continue to build this movement and shift the narrative to make sure the real culprits of the economic crisis are brought to justice.
If you want to get more involved in building the movement click here!
Volunteer for a YDS Committee
At the YDS Summer Conference the organization adopted an amendment to the constitution that created five new committees. Any dues paying member of YDS can participate and are encouraged to volunteer.
Media: This committee will be focused on developing materials to aid chapters with media work. It will also be working with the national to promote YDS's work.
Program: This committee will be focused on the program of YDS. This includes work on our campaigns, conventions, and other national events.
Electronic Communications: This committee will focus on building a YDS web strategy. It will focus on using new media to raise awareness about the organization and socialism.
Chapter Development: This committee will focus on recruiting new members and starting new chapters at schools. Anyone who is interested in building YDS should join.
Fundraising: This committee will be focused on helping chapters and the national organization fundraise.
Click here to volunteer for a committee.
