At our September 2024 Chapter Convention, Pittsburgh DSA voted to adopt five chapter priorities to focus our organizing. Organizers are urged to keep the chapter priorities in mind when planning chapter projects and campaigns.
The full text of the passed priorities can be read here, but summaries are provided below.
Deep Base-building
As socialists, we know that we need to build a mass movement for large-scale systemic change. To do this, we must challenge ourselves to go beyond organizing just with those who currently share our beliefs. Members will organize across tendencies in a welcoming way while challenging thoughts informed by colonialism, capitalism, and neoliberalism.
Leadership Development
To continue socialist organizing, we need leaders who are capable, trained, and connected to help our base grow. Members will encourage one another to step into leadership, not based on credentials, but based on vision and dedication. Members will run trainings, share resources, and document knowledge for the betterment of the chapter.
Localized Organizing, Including Outside Pittsburgh
Our organizers will remember that as the Pittsburgh DSA, we represent not just the city of Pittsburgh, but the greater Pittsburgh region, including the counties bordering Allegheny. Although we cannot overcome geography, we can work to make resources accessible remotely. We can support fellow socialists and leftist organizers in suburban and rural areas in southwestern Pennsylvania, in southeastern Ohio, and in West Virginia.
Palestine and International Solidarity
A genocide is unfolding in real-time before our eyes–funded by US tax dollars, armed by US weapons, aided by US military support, and protected by US political power. This demands action and resistance. Our chapter will strengthen our coalition work with other local organizations and support activities and campaigns led by Palestinian organizers and Palestine solidarity organizations. We will link Palestinian liberation to greater liberation through various lenses.
Poverty Solidarity
We must stand in solidarity with the poorest ranks of the working class. Nearly everyone is much closer to being in poverty than being a member of the ruling class, whether they recognize this truth or not. Our efforts must alleviate the conditions of the poor in the short-term and work toward liberating the poor in the long-term.