BY GAETAN WHISTON AND ANA CHÁVEZ
LOS ANGELES-Youth interested in the Young Socialists had the
opportunity to attend the YS Third National Convention and
Socialist Conference here December 4-6. Of the 91 young people
who attended, more than 30 were not yet members of the Young
Socialists or Socialist Workers Party. Among these were five
students from UC Santa Cruz - Mireya Gómez, David Arguello,
Luis Gutiérrez, Benjamin D'Harlingue, and Benjamin Frost - who
talked to these reporters over dinner. They all remarked on the
respect that exists among the different generations in the YS
and the Socialist Workers Party. "I was taken back when I saw
how close the YS and the SWP work together... something I have
never seen in another organization," commented Arguello.
Most of the youth from Santa Cruz have some background in political activism. The political positions that the YS and SWP have taken on and their willingness to answer questions or offer clarification on them attracted them towards the movement. Gómez said that after visiting Cuba last summer with the Venceremos Brigade, the Cuban revolution has been her main interest. Along with the experience came many questions that needed answers. She expressed that the YS Convention created an environment where she "felt comfortable asking questions" about Cuba. This sentiment seemed to be shared by all who were there.
The Santa Cruz students are currently working with UC Students for Affirmative Action to help form a campus-wide coalition to fight for affirmative action. After the convention, participants from Santa Cruz not in the Young Socialists expressed interest in joining.
Several other convention participants told the Militant how they first learned about the Young Socialists. Migdalia Jiménez, an 18-year-old student at De Paul University in Chicago, met the YS at a Pathfinder literature table on campus. "The books were eye-catching, and my friend and I had to stop," she said. Jiménez is involved with the Puerto Rican Student Association and the De Paul Alliance for Latino Empowerment on her campus. "I have been interested in socialism for a long time," she said. "I don't feel like an invitee; inside I feel like a Young Socialist."
Maritza Raos, a 27-year-old secretary in Chicago, is a member of the National Committee to free the Puerto Rican Prisoners of War and Political Prisoners. She came to the convention after meeting the Young Socialists at the Pathfinder Bookstore. Raos took part in a recent protest outside the federal prison in Levenworth, Kansas, where Puerto Rican political prisoner Luis Rosa is jailed. She also went with the Young Socialists to an October 11 rally in Virden, Illinois, to support the Freeman coal miners strike and commemorate the Battle of Virden, where the coal bosses massacred striking miners in 1898.
Brent Sanders, 21, is a laborer from Nashville, Tennessee. He met the Young Socialists at a protest against the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. The highlight of the convention for him was the panel "Bringing alive the changing face of US politics." The youth and working-class fighters "spoke from the heart. They are at the front lines of the revolution today," he said. Sanders plans to set up classes with the Young Socialists on the Communist Manifesto when he gets back.
Three members of the Young Socialists from England spoke to the Militant about their new chapter and the activities they have been involved in. "Leading up to the convention we had been getting to the Jubilee Line pickets" of electricians demanding safer working conditions, said Edward Shine. He described the recent Militant sales team he was on to the coal fields of West Yorkshire and Nottingham.
Angela Stewart, also a YS member in England, said the best thing about the convention was meeting other YS members from all over. "The convention made me want to go back and read more," she added.