CDSA and the Abolitionist Future

Update — 12/04/22: The entire DefundCPD Steering Committee of Chicago DSA resigned in protest. You can read their own explanation in their resignation letter.

Update — 06/20/22: It looks like I spoke too soon when I stated that there was *no* challenge to this right-wing slate. Thankfully, there are two people that are positioned to lead a challenge. However, to my point about the exodus of BIPOC, abolitionist members, this 4 person slate only has two left-wing challengers. While standing by my overall observations about CDSA, I do hope folks vote for Emma Gonzalez for Co-Chair and Mal Burns for Campaigns Coordinator. If this organization has any hope, that hope falls on the shoulders of the abolitionist membership, which includes Emma and Mal.

Image of the two abolitionist challengers to the “mass action”, right-wing slate.

Normally, I would motivate against this slate. But… what’s the point? Sadly, Chicago DSA is a shell of its former self.

Image of Chicago “mass action” officers slate for 2022, consisting of four members from CDSA’s right-wing.

Through a war of attrition, most of the BIPOC leaders that formed the left-wing, abolitionist elements of CDSA have dropped out or are in the process of dropping out after feeling constantly attacked or undermined by CDSA’s right-wing. The right-wing being generally in, and around, Bread and Roses (B&R). The few abolitionists left are watching their backs, waiting for the Defund Campaign to be discontinued. Defund being the last major representation of the 2020 Uprising within CDSA. As one comrade put it when describing CDSA: “I’ve never seen an organization before where every member is ready to slit each other’s throats at the first opportunity.”

As I’ve said before, the polarization that was set off by the pandemic penetrated all aspects of society, including DSA. The right-wing reaction we’ve seen reflected in the attack on abortion rights, two massacres, and the Chicago curfew are all different manifestations of this polarization. With this unopposed, right-wing slate for Chicago DSA officers we’re seeing the reaction within our own organization. This is essentially a slate of the old guard re-asserting itself after a wave of new, predominantly abolitionist members won elections in 2021’s Executive Committee elections.

This B&R slate put together a platform and an article to discuss their vision. The platform and vision are largely uncontroversial. But an election is not simply about platforms. It is about the people expected to execute the platform. Anyone with any meaningful background in CDSA will recognize Sean E and Leonard P. For many BIPOC comrades and abolitionists, these two comrades have been sectarians and routine bullies to overcome. For the right-wing of CDSA to have these comrades run on a slate signals one of three things:

• B&R has done such a poor job of recruiting and developing cadre that there was no one else to step up except for these folks who have been in and out of CDSA leadership for years, in spite of how “large” our chapter is.
• B&R is so out of touch that they didn’t realize what a visceral reaction people would have to seeing this predominantly white, predominantly old-guard slate. We have no reason to trust them to act in good faith and every reason to see them as maneuvering into position to treat the abolitionists of CDSA the same way the NPC treated the BDS Working Group.
• Or, B&R knew exactly what they were doing and considered this their best bet to push out the remaining BIPOC members and abolitionists so that the big tent would finally become the social-democratic tent they’ve been wanting all along, but didn’t dare to say out loud.

These are the same people that fought against transparency and accountability within CDSA, against the disciplining of Bowman when he betrayed Palestinians, defended the NPC when they attempted to purge the BDS WG, and fought against a community approach to LSC work. In other words, all signs point to this slate engaging in the opposite of coalition work and mass action. Which is a shame because that is exactly what CDSA needs and what most members would genuinely benefit from.

So what does this mean for CDSA? Most prominent BIPOC members have been pushed out or left in disgust because of the right-wing of CDSA, as represented by this slate. This war of attrition means that any BIPOC-led, abolitionist challenge to this slate is unlikely.

But this is fine. The abolitionist movement was born out of the largest example of actual mass action that any of us have seen in our lifetimes. It’s time that we, socialist abolitionists, had an organization of our own, just as the social democrats have DSA.

Organizations are like vehicles: they need to answer a particular problem, “how best to cross a particular terrain?” The question any political organization has to answer at a given time is “what need has to be met?”

Before 2016, the most prominent socialist organization was the International Socialist Organization (ISO). At that time, before the explosion around Bernie, the question it answered was “who will defend and develop socialist ideas during the last period of reaction?” Aside from organizing, the ISO did this by establishing Haymarket Books and the annual Socialism Conference. When Bernie came around, the new question became “who will organize the new socialists that want to engage electoral politics?” While the ISO collapsed, DSA met this need and exploded in size after decades of being irrelevant. But now, with the pandemic, the uprising, and the political period of reaction, the new question is “who will organize the new revolutionaries: the abolitionists?”

Just as no one is coming to save us from the pandemic, no one is going to build the socialist abolitionist organization for us, either. We have to build it ourselves. We have to find opportunities to plant the seeds for the abolitionist future we need.

If we look at the political balance of forces during this new period, and we analyze it soberly, we have to admit a few things:

1. We’re deep into a period of reaction. The period of left-wing expansion that opened up around Occupy, grew under BLM, and then exploded with Bernie is over. If Occupy signaled the start of a new, left-wing period, the end of abortion rights will signal the start of a new right-wing period.
2. With the last year and a half seeing major burnout among the masses (i.e. the great resignation) and burnout among organizers from all types of organizations, this means this new period has to be one of regroupment.
3. We probably won’t be able to mount the struggle we need to defend abortion rights. We need to resist this in every way we can, but we also need to build our contingency plans of mutual aid networks to provide funds, transport, and housing for midwesterners looking for abortions. These networks can help provide people with immediate needs while also developing connections for the next reproductive rights movement.
4. We probably won’t defund the police anytime soon. But we need to mount an offense to establish political beachheads like Treatment Not Trauma (TNT). This abolitionist ordinance can serve as a rallying point to canvass Chicagoans, normalize abolitionist demands, and recruit abolitionists so that whether or not we win TNT, we are laying the foundations for the next abolitionist fight.
5. Even if we re-elect all of our socialist alders, and get new ones elected, they will remain a minority in City Council. However, these electoral campaigns still provide an opportunity to meet new people, and organize them into socialist groups, ward organizations, or both. Getting people organized and mobilized to fight for their political rights and economic needs is worth more than all the seats in government as it trains them to become fit for revolution.
6. With the right-wing mobilized and emboldened by the pandemic, the Capitol Riot, and the Supreme Court attack on abortion rights, it will be more important than ever foster public-facing, community-focused, anti-fascism. Most likely, taking the form of counter-protests when the far-right rears its ugly head, and social/cultural events to normalize antifa.
7. The history-making organizing at Amazon and Starbucks has put labor back on everyone’s radar after years of quiet since the Red State Teachers Revolt of 2018. One thing I agree with the “mass action” slate on is that Chicago comrades should help push forward the Worker’s Rights Amendment, while also supporting and amplifying the struggles and voices of all workers struggling against their bosses.

All of these struggles provide the potential foundations for the next organizational vehicle of socialist abolitionists.

So I don’t care to motivate against the B&R slate for Chicago DSA. As a CDSA member, I sincerely wish us good luck as an organization. As someone opposed to sectarianism, I will always welcome opportunities to engage in collective action with any CDSA member, even members of this slate, as long as:

• There is a principled, concrete reason to work together as a united front.
• We are able to publicly criticize each other if/when we feel it is needed both during and after the struggle.

But I’m also tired of pretending we are all getting along. Watching members of SocFem recently call out sexist behavior of PSL members during two abortion rallies reminded me that we can’t move into this new period by papering over differences and slights. We either confront our political differences and past slights, or we move forward in a way that leaves political differences unresolved and enables abusive behavior.

More importantly, I have reasons for hope. In Chicago, the Garden Collective is taking seriously the idea that the future is abolitionist. Last year, we got distracted trying to reform CDSA into an abolitionist vehicle. But CDSA is just like the Democratic Party: conservative in its DNA. DSA was established by Michael Harrington as an anti-communist alternative for socialists. The explosion around Bernie brought in new radicals and temporarily moved DSA to the left of its origins. But the polarization has helped it reset and regain its original form. Now, Garden Collective is interested in answering the question that this historical period is raising: “who will organize the socialist abolitionists?” I hope more socialist abolitionists around the country begin building organizational answers to this question.

If you consider yourself an abolitionist, we look forward to connecting with you.