Organizing for a Multiracial DSA
Inaugural MROC Institute attendees, Milwaukee, October 2022
How can DSA build an organization that reflects the multiracial working class in both its membership and leadership? More than 40 leaders from chapters across the country met in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this fall to build skills and explore this very question. This Organizing Institute was the first in-person event hosted by DSA’s National Multiracial Organizing Committee (MROC).
At the institute, participants discussed the challenges of, and opportunities for, multiracial organizing in DSA. Participants attended trainings around recruitment, building a mass organization, and coalition building. These trainings not only allowed participants space to discuss important issues around multiracial organizing but also to build skills.
We discussed the ways that members of color can sometimes be pushed into leadership positions when they are not ready. Many feel tokenized in their chapters. Instead of pushing leaders of color into the spotlight too soon, we explored ways to develop their skills through mentoring, training, and support systems.
Following from this inaugural institute, our goal is to have an ongoing series of events and trainings, some in-person and some online, conducted by MROC committee members.
Kevin Richardson is a member of the National Political Committee and chair of DSA's National Multiracial Organizing Committee (MROC). For more information about MROC, please email mroc@dsacommittees.org.
This piece first appeared in Democratic Left, a Publication of Democratic Socialists of America.