On Nov. 13 and 14 in Los Angeles, hundreds of people from all over the country and the world will converge on the University of Southern California campus for a National Conference on Socialism.
 2008 Conference on Socialism |
The Party for Socialism and Liberation has worked tirelessly for months to promote the 2010 conference. It will be the second National Conference on Socialism organized by the PSL. The first was in 2008. This year’s conference will illustrate a growth of interest in socialism as an alternative to capitalism’s destructive course. It will also highlight the PSL’s growth over the past two years.
New PSL organizing centers have sprung up around the country in places like New Mexico, Texas, Pennsylvania and Louisiana, just to name a few. PSL leaders and supporters from more than 20 states will attend the upcoming conference.
Sabrina Carollo, a Chicago area community college student, told PSLweb.org why she is coming to the conference in L.A.: “Community college budget cuts and tuition hikes are outrageous—especially when so many are struggling. As a young person from a working-class family, I’m ready to organize for the future we need—where jobs and education are rights. I’m coming to the PSL conference to fight for people’s rights.”
Rob Sayers, a student and IT worker in Austin, Tex., told PSLweb.org: “I’m going to the National Conference on Socialism because I feel it will be a great way to learn more about the role I can play in the working-class struggle. It will also be a chance to network with other revolutionary activists outside of my local area. Only with solidarity will we achieve change, so joining with others to exchange ideas and information will be a powerful tool in our fight for liberation and equality.”
A weekend to discuss socialism
The two-day conference will feature exciting speakers, panels, organizing sessions and discussion, along with art displays, films and music. Topics will include: resisting U.S. imperialism, the class struggle in Africa, building a new workers movement, defending immigrant workers, confronting racism and bigotry, fighting the expanding police state, why socialism is necessary, the role of a revolutionary party, how to fight the bankers and billionaires for workers’ justice and more.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark will be a featured speaker. Clark will host a special awards ceremony to honor political prisoners, radical lawyers and activists who have long histories of self-sacrifice in the struggle for social justice.
The conference will also feature community leaders and activists throughout the United States, and international solidarity speakers from the Filipino, Salvadoran, and Palestinian movements.
Other sessions of the conference will focus on expanding the reach of socialist media, sharing the experiences of organizing and building the socialist movement across the United States, developing the PSL’s Spanish-language work and more. There will also be a revolutionary writers’ clinic.
In preparation, organizers have already passed out 30,000 palm cards and flyers, 15,000 stickers, and put up 3,000 posters that have lead to hundreds of pre-registrations for the conference.
When asked why she was organizing people to attend the conference, Michelle Woody, a college student, said: “I want to raise consciousness about how socialism is more vital to our society today than ever. The capitalist system has failed to provide even the most basic necessities of life such as food and shelter to the vast majority of workers. This is becoming more apparent in the most recent economic crisis. Only under socialism can we solve the problems we see around us each day.”
The National Conference on Socialism hosted by the PSL will be a truly historic event in the socialist movement. The PSL will continue to organize for the upcoming conference and hopes to connect with hundreds of workers and students from throughout the country who are ready to stand up and fight back. There is no better time for socialism than right now!
Click here to register for the National Conference on Socialism.
