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Below is a brief guide to starting up a YSA
chapter.
Most members join
YSA through existing chapters, but since we're still a small
organization, if there isn't a YSA chapter in
your area you'll have to join as an at-large member. As an at-larger we
will try to work with you to come up with a personalized reading list
and education plan, and help you in any way we can to pull together a
new YSA chapter around you.
Here is a check-list we’ve put together of some of the things you can
do to start a YSA chapter in your area:
1. Get in touch with the nearest YSA
branch or the YSA National Office. We can help you in setting up a
local group by doing things such as:
Putting you in touch with other YSA members and contacts who may live in your area.
Helping answer any questions you may have.
Letting you know what actions are coming up and what campaigns YSA is
currently engaged in for you to help organize around and promote.
And, we can send you out an organizers’ package of bulletins from YSA,
and our predecessor, the Young Socialist Alliance, that contain lots of
useful information about organizing and our politics.
2.
Find some people who are willing to help
you:
You may already know some people who are interested in getting active
in with a group like YSA. That's a start.
Call them up, ask them if they're interested in helping, organize a chance to meet them.
Put up a flier saying you’re interested in starting up a YSA chapter with an email address or phone number
for people to contact you.
Set up a literature table with a banner, some YSA & Socialist
Action literature (contact the N.O. for some brochures, etc.) and a
clipboard.
Order a bundle of Socialist Action newspaper to
hawk on campus or at a demonstration. It can be a great way to meet
people as well as introduce them to socialist politics.
Organize a study group on socialism with some friends.
Call a meeting and see who shows up.
3. How to organize a meeting:
At your school/college, pick a convenient time to call a YSA meeting.
Reserve a room or pick a quiet spot where people can sit and talk. Some
schools let students reserve rooms themselves, others require a
teacher. If nothing else meet in a lounge or a part of the cafeteria.
You might even try holding it at someone's house.
Get the word out: tell people that you know and ask them to tell
others; put out a leaflet to post up and hand around. Use every medium
you can, phone, email, bulletin boards, fliers, word of mouth, the U.S.
Post Office, anything and everything.
4. The first meeting:
Tell people why you've called the meeting and a little bit about YSA and
the kind of things we do. Talk about ongoing campaigns or local
activist issues.
Allow time for people to ask questions or raise their own ideas.
Discussion is a good thing.
From there, you can discuss what the group should do and work out how
it can be done. A good collective discussion will leave everyone
excited and with something to do.
If you like, we might be able to send a speaker to come out and answer
questions.
Get everyone’s name and phone number. Set a time and place for the next
meeting.
5. Putting the “action” into Youth for
Socialist Action:
There are all sorts of ways to plug your new group into activism.
The best way is to focus your attention on a particular issue or
upcoming action. Pick something that is of concern to people. Here are
some general tips for promoting an issue or publicizing an event.
Put up posters everywhere you can.
Hand out leaflets or fact sheets to other people at your
school/college, at other nearby schools/colleges, and at public places.
Organize a coalition around specific demands and slogans if one doesn’t
already exist, or plug into the existing coalition.
Try to get a broad array of speakers for any event.
Organize a YSA or school contingent for the
action with its own banner and picket signs.
6. Learning about the “socialism” of Youth
for Socialist Action:
We believe there can be no revolutionary action without revolution theory, therefore YSA places a great deal of
emphasis on education. Each chapter should try to organize study groups
and presentations to educate its members.
Make sure everyone has a subscription to Socialist Action newspaper.
Print out the “ABCs of Socialism” essays from the Theory page on the Socialist
Action website and distribute to all new YSA members.
Find out what issues people are most interested and organize a study
group or class. Materials are available from the Theory page, and from the YSA
National Office.
Encourage members to use the YSA Recommended Reading lists.
Organize presentations at chapter meetings on the positions that YSA
holds (the 10 Point Program or What Socialists Stand For essay
would be good source material).
7. Co-ordinate with the YSA National
Office:
Keep the National Office up to date about your progress.
Find out what YSA & Socialist Action literature is available.
Plug into any national YSA meetings, conferences or campaigns.
Write for and help distribute Socialist Action newspaper, and the YSA
website.
Don't hesitate to contact us with any questions.
Guide
for YSA Chapter Leaders
Chapter Organizer: Every chapter of Youth for Socialist
Action is required to elect a chapter Organizer. The Organizer is responsible for
overseeing the work of the chapter.
They also serve as the chapter’s voting representative on YSA’s National Committee (our national decision
making body in between conventions).
Chapters have the option of electing more than one Organizer if
they feel it is beneficial to have Co-Organizers. Be sure that elections are fair and
democratic.
Other Officers: YSA’s
National Committee only requires that chapters elect an Organizer. It is up the individual chapters if
they want to have any other officers.
For example, some chapters elect treasures, secretaries (to keep
meeting minutes), forum directors, sales director (to supervise the
selling and distribution of Socialist Action newspaper) or assign
comrades to head up particular campaigns.
Newspaper: Youth for Socialist Action
politically endorses and supports Socialist Action newspaper. Organizers should make sure that
their chapter gets a monthly bundle of the paper to sell at public meetings,
demonstrations and to contacts.
Comrades should always be on the lookout for ways to get SA into
more hands. Comrades should also
take it upon themselves to write articles for the newspaper about local
issues and national current events.
Bundles of SA are available from the Socialist Action Newspaper
Office for $1 a copy. Chapter
Organizers should make sure that money collected from paper sales get
sent in to the Newspaper Office.
Public Meetings: Every chapter is expected to host a
regular series of public meetings that YSA is the listed sponsor of,
and that are open to the public.
Whether they are weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or even quarterly is
up to the chapter, but it is important that YSA have a public face
where people interested in our group and ideas can come to. Public meetings can consist of a presentation
or an open discussion format, depending on what comrades
feel is most beneficial. YSA
public meetings should generally follow current events, since this is
one of the main ways we get our ideas out to the general public, but
feel free to spice things up with presentations on historical figures
and events, cultural events, etc.
Planning Meetings: In addition to public meetings each
chapter is expected to hold planning meetings. This is where chapter members come
together to discuss the group’s work and to vote on any proposals
comrades have on education or organizing projects. Planning meetings can be held at the
end of public meetings (in which case non-members present can’t vote),
or held separately at a different time and place. Whichever format comrades decide to
do it is important that all members of the chapter know well in advance
when and where all meetings will be.
Organizers should also consider holding study groups (like on
the Communist Manifesto) for chapter members from time to time as
well. These can be incorporated
into planning meetings, or held separately and
open to the public.
Chapter Members: All YSA members in a city or rural
area have to join the chapter if there is one in their area. Organizers are expected to keep an up
to date list of all YSA members in their chapter, as well as any
at-large YSA members in their surrounding geographic area that the
National Office assigns to them.
The name and contact info of all new chapter members should be
passed on to the YSA National Coordinator. Organizers are also responsible for
explaining to new members and potential members what the membership
requirements to YSA are (general agreement with our 10 Point Program
and a commitment to try and be active within the organization).
Reports: Organizers are expected to write up
and send in an activity report to the YSA National Office at least
quarterly (spring, summer, winter, fall). Activity reports should contain a
summary of how the chapters public meetings
and campaigns have gone, number of members, and any other info comrades
think the National Office should be aware of.
National Campaigns: Any proposals for campaigns or
projects for Youth for Socialist Action as a whole should be sent to
the YSA National Committee. Once
a YSA National Committee member (every
Organizer is automatically a YSA NC members) has emailed a proposal to
the rest of the Committee, other NC members have one week to vote for it. If the majority of votes cast is for the proposal, it passes. Chapters are expected to participate
and build all national YSA campaigns and projects as best they can,
unless they get special exemption from the YSA National Committee.
Local Campaigns: In addition to national campaigns,
chapters are free to engage in local campaigns and projects – perhaps
in support of a local strike or community issue. Local campaign proposals should be
made and voted on at chapter planning meetings, with a majority of
votes cast needed for it to pass.
It is recommended that chapters elect a comrade to head up
specific campaigns and projects, and for them to notify the YSA National
Office of local campaigns.
Comrades are also encouraged to write articles about local
campaigns and political developments for Socialist Action newspaper.
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