BY CARLOS HERNÁNDEZ
LOS ANGELES - With 30 days left, the Young Socialists have
started a countdown to the Third National Convention of the
organization, taking place in Los Angeles, December 4-6.
Chapters of the YS are starting to discuss day-to-day plans to take advantage of political opportunities to bring members and interested youth to the convention.
Olympia Newton, organizer of the Washington D.C. chapter, reports that the YS "will intensify its weekly, consistent presence on area campuses: already we do weekly literature tables at George Washington University and American University. We plan on doing consistent sales at University of Maryland and Howard University," which is mainly Black in composition.
The YS is organizing a meeting about the Young Socialists at Howard University. Recently, the Socialist Workers candidate for the House of Representatives, Mary Martin, was invited to speak at a class there. In addition, the Washington D.C. chapter is organizing a Thanksgiving dinner to raise money for travel expenses.
Many YS members have participated in protests against the killing of Dr. Barnett Slepian in Amherst, New York, and the murder of gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. This included a demonstration of 5,000 people in New York on October 19 following the killing of Shepard.
Elena Tate, from Boston reports that "one YS contact called the Pathfinder bookstore after the murder of the doctor to find out what kind of action was being organized to protest. This person took the initiative to make flyers to post on her campus at Boston University and brought five students to a demonstration."
The YS in Des Moines, Iowa, organized a speak-out at Drake campus on Thursday October 29 to protest these killings.
"Young Socialists members at the University of California at Santa Cruz [UCSC] have pushed their goals for the YS convention to the front of their activities" reports Jacob Perasso, UCSC chapter organizer.
"All four YS members are planning ahead by carefully calculating the funds needed for expenses and preparing for the time commitments that the convention will demand. The chapter has decided to raise all the needed travel expenses and an additional $300 for the overall costs of the convention," Perasso added.
The "YS Manifesto" and "YS Organizer" in issue no. 11 of New International are the initial basis for the preconvention discussion. Studying and using that issue of the Marxist magazine in the coming weeks will help politically prepare the gathering.