N. Raymond for Co-Chair of TCDSA

I joined Democratic Socialists of America on my birthday, only a handful of days before Donald Trump was inaugurated as president. My first Twin Cities DSA meeting was only a couple of days later, in a crowded, dark room at In The Heart of the Beast theatre, surrounded by others who were brand new to the organization. Since then, I’ve taken on more responsibilities in our chapter and eventually took on the title of ‘Interim Co-Chair’ after KJ decided to step down and focus on traveling the Midwest as an organizer. I write today to ask for your vote for me to continue serving as co-chair of our chapter for a full term of two years.
My Background & Experience
I came to socialism through studying immigration as an undergraduate in college. I was an unenthusiastic and apolitical Democrat until my junior year. Immigration advocates recall 2011 and 2012 as some of the darkest days for undocumented people in American history, when the Obama deportation machine was in full swing. Shocked and upset at the stories I was reading about deaths on the border and concentration camps of juvenile immigrants, I found the President I voted for assuring Americans that we were targeting “felons, not families” and keeping his image of the cool, suave intellectual. I was radicalized through a professor who recommended me two books that changed my life- the classic “A Brief History of Neoliberalism” by David Harvey, and an obscure but fascinating study called “Guest Workers And Resistance To U.S. Corporate Despotism” by the labor scholar Immanuel Ness. From these works it wasn’t hard to come to the conclusion that capitalism requires an oppressed underclass to grease its wheels and keep the engine going, and I was reborn as a dirty Red.
The experience I bring to Twin Cities DSA comes from my work in immigrant rights advocacy- research, writing, and lobbying. I have worked closely with an immigrant rights coalition in the Twin Cities that includes legal centers, unions, workers groups, and faith-based organizations. More than technical knowledge of policy and law, my greatest learning experience from this work has been the emotional awareness and deliberation required to work with passionate people in precarious political positions. “Embrace conflict” is a mantra I repeat to myself, and I find that my leadership style works well in the hyper-democratic and emotionally taxing work of DSA.
Our Position & Our Potential
I told a comrade a couple weeks ago that DSA has conquered my cynicism- this is because for all of the growing pains of the organization nationally and locally, people keep joining us. This past year I think I’ve seen a new face at every TCDSA event I’ve been to. Just since the convention, I’ve received 10 or 15 emails from new members eager to get involved. This is nothing short of a miracle. People generally don’t like going to meetings, much less meetings about politics, but they’re coming out of the woodwork and into our circle.
Unfortunately, this is not a sustainable plan for gaining power. The great task that Twin Cities DSA faces is to orient ourselves away from each other and towards the working class. Social and political movements must balance ‘talking to ourselves’ (social events, group readings, theoretical discussions) with actual action (canvassing, organizing, political campaigns). Anticapitalist organizations are especially prone to what Harrington called ‘righteous irrelevance’- as individuals alienated first by capitalism then again by taking on a struggle against capitalism, it can be all too tempting to prioritize comfort, camaraderie, and esoteric debate over the brutal but necessary work of getting the goods.
The good news is that our chapter is now primed to win. Core members of TCDSA have done the unsexy and thankless work of internal organizing and capacity building since January, and the result is a chapter that has the potential to be a powerful force in local and state politics.
My Vision for TCDSA
- Radical politics and radical strategy. The political environment of the Twin Cities is overwhelmingly liberal, and the progressive wing of the DFL enjoys popularity in the Metro. It is not strategic for our chapter to consider itself a left-wing of the Democrats in a city dominated by the left-wing of the Democrats. With the success of the Green Party and Socialist Alternative here relative to the rest of the county, we must be not be afraid to carry an unabashedly anticapitalist message. This does not preclude us from coalition work or alliances- rather, we advance socialism through showing that we are just as serious about the here and now as we are about the post-capitalist future. The strategy of 15NOW locally holds a valuable lesson- despite being a relatively small organization with a outside-of-mainstream socialist message, strategic and authentic alliances with unions and social movements led to victory.
- Getting serious about engagement. The ‘mobilizer model’ of the New York City chapter for member onboarding should be practiced in our chapter, where a team of volunteers schedules meetings with brand-new members in small conversations. Our chapter should begin organizing ‘low-investment’ events for members without the time or energy to engage in socialist politics, such as sign-making parties. For members eager to get involved deeper in our work, we can hold ‘office hours’ for internal organizing and data management.
- Solidarity with Racial Justice Movements. Twin Cities DSA, with the aid of our Political Action Director, should be mobilized and visible in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, native activists, and immigrant rights groups. As members of an organization that adopted prison abolition as a political goal, we must confront the fact that the Twin Cities is one of the most highly segregated metros in America and our police harass and brutalize people of color.
If you have any questions for me, feel free to find me at N_JRay on Twitter or shoot me a message on Facebook.
Solidarity,
Nic James Raymond
