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What is to be done (at my DSA chapter?) (hexbear.net)

submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm writing this as a response to the linked thread and realized it should be it's own post.

I'll be brief: My DSA chapter is in the planning stages of what we will focus on next year. We are a smaller chapter so we are working to pick programs that we can realistically do with a handful of people.

I read a lot on here about how orgs such as this one are doing everything wrong... so is there a step-by-step guide to doing the "right" thing?

Potential programs we may pursue next year (these are being put up to a vote in a few weeks):

A internal membership development program. Lots of political education including a reading group for the new translation of Capital Vol. 1
An agitprop program. We will teach each other how to work Canva/GIMP, design flyers, posters and other media and start being more outgoing around the area with our advertising.
A "mass line" project where we plan to hold community "listening sessions" in the more impoverished parts of town.
A Crisis Pregnancy Center awareness campaign. We would point out these centers around town, agitate against them through awareness campaigns and maybe lobby to get them banned in our area?

What would you pick and why?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Apologies for getting back to everyone a few days late. Since I put this post up we had another chapter meeting and there's been some internal things I had to focus on. Organizing is fun...

I think political education is usually a good idea and even better if you can tie it to action of some kind. Can you think of a way in which a local project could be informed or framed by a Marxist perspective? Or maybe just ask that question during the reading session. The best way to prevent reading groups from only being reading groups is to use them to forward a practical goal.

I will forward this feedback on. Theory and Practice need to go hand-in-hand or else the lessons aren't going to "stick."

I think an agitprop program would be infinitely better if there were specific campaigns for which to make agitprop. The "agit" part of agitprop is for agitation. For what are you agitating and why? If this is something that someone has particular interest in I would not shoot them down, but I would help with grounding it in a campaign or two.

There are a lot of potential messaging campaigns in this proposal. One example:

Jesus Was A Socialist - Spread messages highlighting specific Bible passages to show Christians that Jesus would be aligned with us and not the Capitalist class. Co-opt the existing pro-Christianity messages that cover our city.

I would 100% scrap this. Instead, you should do research and practical projects in that part of town (which will also lead to insights) so that you can identify a better project. A mass line requires already being embedded with that population, knowing how to gain trust, having that trust, and pulling in a strategic direction. Do you have members from that part of town? Do they have strong community ties already? Think about how you could authentically create trust and ties. Think of reasons you should be present in that community and how you could support it. And rely on gathering real-world experience to answer that question.

"Think about how you could authentically create trust and ties" is the million dollar question for me. We've tried hard to do this and failed. I think a big part of it is our member demographics don't match the class nor racial background of the people we are trying to organize. Basically, how do a bunch of college-educated white labor aristocrats make authentic connections to people who may not have the same education, be much poorer, and come from different minority groups?

A Crisis Pregnancy Center campaign sounds great and topical. Have you identified your target audiences, how you will reach them, and how you will follow up with people interested in helping your campaign? Have you considered holding a rally and inviting speakers from organizations with which you might want to work in coalition?

I like the rally idea. We have coalition partners that are much better at organizing rallies than us, but we can learn and do our own. I'm thinking this one is going to be merged into the agitprop proposal.