Socialist Action /September 1999
Youth in Action
By BESSY PORTILLO
(S.F. State University YSA)
Socialist Action held its national educational conference from Aug. 19-22
in San Francisco. Activists from all over the country gathered to discuss
a variety of social and political issues, ranging from the struggle to free
Mumia Abu-Jamal to Marxism, class struggle, and the battle for quality education.
The large presence of young people was notable. In fact, the third day
of the four day-long conference was entirely dedicated to the struggles
of youth and was run by Youth for Socialist Action (YSA).
Youth day could not have been more successful. Every young person who
attended the conference demonstrated a sincere desire to become a part of
the socialist movement underway in the United States.
I was once again reminded why I joined Youth for Socialist Action. We
have a lot on our shoulders but the weight won't stop us from reaching our
goals.
The first session of the Youth Day was a discussion of what Youth for
Socialist Action has done over the last year and where we go from here.
Adam Richter, of the Twin Cities YSA chapter, opened up the conference
with a proposal on how YSA can continue to expand nationally.
He proposed that we have a founding convention next summer. YSA representatives
from Boston, Los Angeles, Twin Cities, Wisconsin, and San Francisco reported
on their accomplishments so far.
Asi Somburu, of the San Francisco YSA, filled everyone in on our involvement
with the struggle to free Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Rainy Demerson, from the
UCLA YSA, underscored Mumia's importance through a beautiful poem.
Javier Armas spoke about the fight to save affirmative action and explained
how its removal has decreased minority college enrollment rates
We also discussed our project, as an aspiring national organization,
to organize a delegation of our members to visit Cuba next summer.
After the first session, we had a YSA luncheon with several special guests
who had participated in the educational sessions. Pam Africa, the central
leader in Mumia's defense and co-coordinator of the International Concerned
Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, expressed the importance of collaborative
work among activists struggling to defeat a mutual enemy, in this case the
racist and brutal police force in Pennsylvania.
Jaime Gonzalez, a leader of the Liga de Unidad Socialista (United Socialists
League) in Mexico, spoke about the struggles in Mexico today.
We were also privileged to meet Diana Gonzalez, Jaime's daughter, who
spoke about the student strike taking place at her university in Mexico
City. She shared her experiences in the fight for democracy in her hometown,
Mazatlan de la Villa, where indigenous people are struggling for their democratic
rights.
Peter Jacobs, a member of the African People's Democratic Union of Southern
Africa (ABDUSA), described how he got involved in the revolutionary movement
in his country.
At the afternoon session, Derek Seidman, a founder of YSA at UCLA, gave
a report on the international struggles of youth from Indonesia to the United
States. Paul McKim, a YSA leader from San Francisco, delivered an inspiring
speech, emphasizing the importance of a revolutionary youth organization
to lead our generation in struggle (see excerpts from his talk on the next
page).
This conference brought together a strong group of young dedicated activists,
and you can be one of them by getting in touch with the YSA and attending
our meetings. We look forward to hearing from you.
Call us at (415) 821-0458 or check out our website.
Socialist Action /September 1999 |