Collective Action Against Cynicism

On learning at Socialism 2025, commemorating my 34th birthday, and building the party.

I turned 34 on the final day of Socialism 2025 in Chicago, and the alignment remains exceptionally poignant.

In my previous post, I mentioned my dear friend and comrade, Dr. Charles Holm. Across the years, Charles and I discussed the possibility of attending the conference together; in 2025, everything came together.

Along my professional journey, I frequently find myself in Chicago in the summer. In 2022, I attended a gathering of the National Campaign for Police Free Schools; in 2023, I joined twenty other comrades from Austin at the national biennial convention of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Earlier this year, I went to one of the best conferences I’ve found with Amber Abundance, hosted by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP). Socialism and AWP served as powerful complements to each other, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to convene and create with comrades in this moment of austerity & repression across the globe.

With that background in mind, the substantive conversations from Socialism deserve a great deal of attention. On the first day, I listened to Dr. Eve L. Ewing discuss her latest book, Original Sins, and later received a copy as a gift from Charles. Bill Ayers moderated the talk, and he frequently uplifted my Justice of the Peace campaign slogan: no one is disposable. During the Q&A, I mentioned my work to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline in Texas, with a nod to a particularly egregious bill, House Bill 6, that became law in the state after the 89th legislative session. She acknowledged my work and also turned my attention to the writings of Dr. Erica Meiners, who more aptly describes this pernicious, oppressive system as the school-to-prison nexus. Given the foundations of American education, namely Indigenous genocide and Black enslavement, schools can most accurately be described as prisons themselves in 2025.

With that discussion as a launching pad, I continued through the conference with an earnest and eager zeal. In a panel called The Family and the Left, comrades conversed about the challenges presented by having the nuclear family as the primary economic unit of American society. Over the past seven months, I have been fortunate to deepen my ties with the reproductive justice movement by joining the Frontera Fund Board of Directors in January; in this memorable panel, the comrades inspired me to think more expansively of pushing back against the very harmful hegemony of American individualism and extend benefits that are often reserved for particular families to everyone.

In a passionate debate, comrades examined our present strategies that involve engagement with the Democratic Party, with a recognition that it continues to fail the multi-racial, multi-gender, multi-national working class. Comrades discussed the recent victory of Zohran Mamdani in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary. On one hand, Zohran inspired millions of people with his clear messages rooted in economic justice; on the other, as astutely pointed out by comrades from New York, Zohran will be called upon to be the administrator of the City of New York as the mayor; such an obligation entails selecting the police chief and maintaining various carceral structures. Comrades also pointed to the deflated feeling among socialists in Chicago about Brandon Johnson, a progressive candidate who won the mayoral contest in that city in 2023.

Given that I’m currently running in Austin, I listened intently during this talk. A common thread that emerged between comrades with different opinions about socialists & elections was the importance of local work. In a nod to August Nimtz & his work, which I mentioned in my last piece, I believe that our efforts are best suited toward building hyper-local parties, with a dues-paying membership base, and deepening our organizing in specific jurisdictions. From there, across the next fifty years, we can build the power to transform state legislatures and other critical halls of power. As Lenin outlined, I am committed to using the ballots and the streets to build the party for workers.

In keynote addresses, various comrades shared deep wisdom. Stacy Davis Gates, the president of the Chicago Teachers’ Union, pushed us to think about expanding the reach of our organizing; she basically asked us - how are you constantly seeking to bring in working-class parents - perhaps based on the south side of Chicago - who can’t afford to get to this nice hotel and book rooms here? Dr. Robin D.G. Kelley intently walked us through the interconnected histories of colonialism and capitalism. He pointed out that, in the twentieth century, social democrats in Italy were responsible for mass murder in Ethiopia and Libya. Without offering an explicit answer, he urged us to be very deliberate in how we engage in efforts to reform old power structures that have been intent on killing us the entire time.

In the closing panel, comrades connected the dots. From our efforts to free Palestine, abolish borders, achieve true living wages for all of our comrades, and fortify our communities in this era of climate collapse, five comrades implored us to lean on each other and never forget the wisdom that we must do this work together. We sang together, cried together, and laughed together. At Socialism 2025, we saw clear visions, albeit brief, of the world we’re laboring toward. I leaned over to Charles and assured him that, schedule permitting, I would be at every subsequent gathering for the rest of my days.

As the conference concluded, Charles and I hopped in a cab to the Art Institute of Chicago. We walked through an exhibit that detailed Frida Kahlo’s month in Paris and observed breathtaking art from across the world. We walked to Navy Pier through light rain and ate delicious seafood while young brothers happily played one table over. We laughed as someone offered to take our picture for money at the restaurant and speculated if cupcake shops will exist after the socialist revolution comes.

As a result, in the first week of my 34th year, I feel so spiritually full. Charles and I, alongside the thousands of comrades at the largest Socialism Conference to date, are well aware of the immense challenges we face as we labor toward a better world. Through the pain, we find opportunities to gather, to preserve memory, and plan for the future; that necessary work is so nourishing to me. Our grief and our hope inform our organizing; they always must.