Introduction

During the Sac DSA Local Convention, we engaged in an open forum discussing the direction of our chapter. This forum allowed all present Sac DSA members to hear and voice their thoughts about our chapter’s priorities for the next year. To continue our dedication as an antifascist organization and organizing all intersections of the working class, Sac DSA pledges this to be our mission:

We Pledge A Chapter-Wide Dedication To Anti-Racist Organizing And Internationally Oriented Socialism

We believe that Israel is an apartheid state and Palestinian liberation is essential to the anti-capitalist fight, period. As we confirm our dedication to a free Palestine, so do we dedicate our chapter’s time, energy, and resources to stand with other organizations to support Palestine’s liberation.

Thus, Sac DSA fully commits to the Boycott/Divest/Sanction (BDS) movement. We will dedicate chapter resources in 2025 to the Boycott Chevron campaign, ending their fueling of genocide. Sacramento is one of the most ethnically diverse and international cities in California. We in Sac DSA believe our chapter should reflect that.

Also, as an anti-capitalist organization, we acknowledge that the tentacles of the capitalist beast reach across borders, and this beast thrives on the division that comes from imperialism, colonialism, and white supremacy. One cannot be an anti-capitalist without committing themselves to the end of imperialist, colonialist white supremacy and the myriad of ways it indoctrinates us all into harmful patterns of movement.

Thus, Sac DSA commits to activating our Racial Solidarity Committee, to dedicating what resources we can to mutual aid for undocumented immigrants and refugees, to the abolition of ICE, and to free Palestine from the Israeli government’s apartheid and ethnic cleansing. This is only a fraction of what we can and shall do as an anti-racist organization.

Sac DSA also acknowledges that the United States of America is unceded indigenous land that is still occupied and is a nation that was built by enslaved Africans. This nation is still dependent on the slavery of the millions currently incarcerated and the oppression of our indigenous comrades. America’s imperialist yoke still smothers nations around the world.

Thus Sac DSA unapologetically supports reparations for slavery, the land back movement, and freeing Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and other so-called “territories” from U.S. imperialism.

We Will Expand Our Mutual Aid Project

The capitalist state fails daily to meet people’s material needs. The number of unhoused neighbors grows daily, and ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, resources routinely fail to reach the communities most in need of protection and support. Sac DSA is committed to working with unions and all aligned organizations on mutual aid projects to address these failures of the capitalist state. We work daily to see that our Mutual Aid Committee thrives and that our community is supported and protected.

Thus, Sac DSA will continue our bi-weekly meal and resource distributions and look for ways to expand our mutual aid efforts as much as possible. This includes–but is not limited to–more meal distributions, running cooling and warming centers during extreme weather conditions, and referring struggling neighbors to organizations with proper resources. We also will work toward revitalizing our Housing Committee to better organize us to support existing and future tenant unions in Sacramento.

We Will Fight To Expand Our Electoral Power, Our State Power, And The Social Welfare Of Sacramento

Electoral politics alone will not save us, especially when the only “left” alternative to the fascist GOP is a liberal Democratic Party that creeps further and further right. However, to let the capitalist powers go unchallenged is to bend the knee to their whim. Electoralism is a means to educate the public about our politics, agitate state powers, and organize the mass movement needed for a socialist future. We also acknowledge that electoral politics affect not just who sits in office, but also laws such as rent control, tenants’ rights, housing policy, civil rights, workplace protections, and collective bargaining rights, to list only a few.

Thus, Sac DSA commits to continuing our efforts to elect socialists to public office, to push for laws and ballot measures that increase social welfare (i.e., improved public transit, increase public housing, etc.), to reignite the political energy of the socialist movement brought on by candidates like Bernie Sanders, and to embrace the clear desire for change demonstrated by the working class’s rejection of candidates who come from the Democratic Party’s elite.

We Pledge A Communal Commitment To Anti-Fascism

The fight to end capitalism and fully destroy fascism is a fight much bigger than Sac DSA. We cannot win this fight alone. Fascism thrives where solidarity is weakest, and solidarity is about community. The voices of our members are not the only voices that can do justice to working class struggles.

Thus, Sac DSA will work hand in hand with the broader scope of leftist, intersectional, working class organizations throughout the city, county, and state. The Democratic Party failed to beat Trump because they scoffed at working class organization; this chapter will do the opposite.

We Will Never Abandon Organizing The Labor Of The Working Class

Socialism is the politics of organized labor, and if we are not organizing labor, we are not socialists.
Thus, Sac DSA will commit its energy to supporting chapter members who agitate for greater transparency and democracy within existing unions, supporting the creation of new unions in underrepresented fields and workplaces (e.g., Amazon and Starbucks), and turning our members into capable workplace organizers.

Sac DSA also commits to making our chapter more engaged with the DSA national project to organize frontline healthcare workers, cashiers, food servers, and all those who keep the economy alive throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Thus, Sac DSA will organize to coordinate more with the Emergency Worker Organizing Committee (EWOC). We also recognize that “working class” is an all inclusive term, not just specific to people who work traditional jobs. Disabled people who cannot themselves work or need accommodations to work will not be forsaken in our efforts.

Thus, Sac DSA will commit to making our meetings as accessible as possible through a hybrid use of online-and in-person access whenever possible, and we shall not hold chapter events in spaces inaccessible to those with any kind of mobility issue. We also commit to having N95 and KN95 masks readily available at meetings whenever possible.

Further, we want to make it known we are explicitly a socialist feminist organization, and that socialist feminism is often forsaken in conversations about organizing labor. Thus, Sac DSA believes to its core that 1. domestic labor is just that, LABOR, 2. that sexist discrimination and misogyny are still horrific problems in workspaces, 3. that sexism and misogyny can exist in organizing spaces and must be routinely addressed, and 4. sex work is work.

We Are Dedicated To Protecting Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy

As a socialist feminist organization, we acknowledge that if it ain’t intersectional, it’s bullshit, and that the term “feminism” does not just apply to protecting cis-gendered people. As such, Sac DSA shall double down on our efforts to end the stigma against our trans comrades, and we dedicate ourselves to protecting queer comrades from the anti-LGBTQIA+ hatred inherent in the fascist program. We also believe that abortion, no matter whom it applies to or who needs the service, is healthcare.

Thus, Sac DSA will continue to fully support the work of our Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy committee. In 2024, our TRBA committee successfully wrote an ordinance protecting abortion rights and trans rights in the city of Sacramento that passed unanimously in the City Council. We will dedicate ourselves to making sure this ordinance is enforced as we continue to closely scrutinize Sac City Council and Sacramento officials.

We Will Recruit More Members Into DSA And Enhance Democracy In Our Chapter Infrastructure

DSA is the largest forward-facing socialist organization in the country. Our strongest resource is our membership and the numbers we bring to all fights, be they electoral, acts of mutual aid, direct actions, or union solidarity.

Thus, Sac DSA will dedicate energy to more community outreach, improved listwork and recruitment, and commit to flexing our power through education and agitation using all means at our disposal.

We Will Never Abandon The Fight For Medicare For All

The fight to give every living being the healthcare they need is central to our fight as a chapter. Be it abortion access, surgery, home healthcare assistance, vaccinations, or anything else, Sac DSA is never going to give up until every living being gets the healthcare they deserve.

Thus, Sac DSA will continue to engage in public and unapologetic support for Medicare for All, and our chapter shall participate in and support organizing to pass a Medicare for All bill in California (e.g. CalCare) until the fight is won.

We Will Thrive In The Field of Socialist Political Education

Socialist education, i.e. political education or educating the public about socialism, is core to Sac DSA’s culture and has been for several years. Through night schools, movie screenings, and book talks with accomplished authors like Jane McAlevey or Silvia Federici, we have recruited members into our chapter and taught our members the extent of their working class power. These events also build and reinforce the community that is our chapter.

Thus, SacDSA commits to continuing this culture of socialist education. We also commit to making these educational events forward-facing, community-oriented, and as accessible as possible to people with disabilities and older comrades. We also commit to teaching the public about all aspects of the socialist program, including racial solidarity, their housing rights and rights as renters, intersectional socialist feminism, workplace organizing, and general socialist theory. We also will routinely ensure our membership is educated on the myriad ways capitalism and western indoctrination can undermine our efforts and work to disabuse all members of such insidious efforts that seek to drive us apart.

In Conclusion…

This is the mission of the Sacramento DSA. We encourage all members to refer to this statement as they brainstorm, recruit, and organize in our chapter. We are only one DSA chapter, but we know damn well we have a world to win. Thus, we will never surrender.