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| Socialist
Party USA: Commissions |
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The
Party's work is not only done on the state and local level, it is also
done within various social movements. For this work, the Party's
National Committee established Commissions. All members in good
standing are encouraged to get involved in Commission work.
Join a Party Commission On-Line here
Faith and Socialism
Chair: Paul Werner
Website: http://faithandsocialism.org/
Statement of Purpose:
The Faith and
Socialism Commission affirms peace, equality, justice, inclusion, and
ecological integrity. We link the wisdom of our spirituality with
political activism. We come from many religious and spiritual
traditions, but we are united in rejecting an exploitative capitalist
economic system and embracing a socialist vision. Guided by the
religious and spiritual beliefs that nurture us, we honor the
sacredness found in people of all races, ages, abilities, sexual
orientations, nationalities, faiths, and gender identities. We
lift up a society free of all forms of exploitation and
discrimination. Our commission serves as a source of information
and education for and on behalf of the Socialist Party on faith issues.
website
International
Commission
Chair: Eric Chester
Statement of Purpose: The International
Commission develops relations with democratic socialist parties in
other countries. We also seek to initiate relations with
anti-authoritarian radicals in other countries. The International
Commission hopes to work on joint projects that cross national
boundaries. The International Commission also issues statements for the
Socialist Party in support of socialist and left-wing movements around
the world.
Labor Commission
Chair: Dan Jakopovich
Website: http://socialistparty-usa.org/labor/
Statement of
Purpose: We are union members
and labor activists from across the country, both experienced and new,
using the Labor Commission to coordinate our activism. The
Socialist Party has a strong pro-worker stance laid out by our
Statement of Principles, Platform, 2001 National Convention resolution:
"Socialists and the Labor Movement." To truly aid the cause of
organized labor, however, we must go beyond occasional proclamations
and provide leadership in the daily struggles of working people.
We believe that the working class must be organized to re-conceptualize
production for human need, not profit, and manage that production based
on democratic principles rather than property rights. This transfer of
economic power is the keystone to building a new democratic
socialist society.
Native American
Commission
Chair: William Stubbs
People of Color
Commission
Chair: Erik Toren
Statement of Purpose: The People of Color
Commission is for members who are committed to organizing our Party to
further the representation and participation of ethnic/people of color
communities in all levels of our organizational structure. We
believe that the struggle for socialism is intertwined with the fight
to end the present economic order, to end racism and the oppression of
people of color, and that the end of capitalism does not necessarily
end racism. We recognize the function of institutional bigotry
and discrimination used by the ruling class to divide, exploit, and
abuse workers in the US and in the Third World. We also recognize
the right of self-defense of oppressed minorities in the face of such
attacks and support non-violent direct action in combating
oppression. We seek to be the educational, organizational, and
information source for the SP-USA regarding people of color communities
by using all avenues and resources available to the commission.
Queer Commission
Chair: Amber Clifford
Statement of Purpose: The Queer Commission
of the Socialist Party USA believes that heteronormativity, cloaked in
both homophobia and the illusion of heterosexuality as natural, is a
function of the capitalist system that leaves hatred and discrimination
in its wake. To bring an end to this homophobic system, the Queer
Commission supports specific actions including a Federal Queer Bill of
Rights, the repeal of all discriminatory laws, the defense and support
of queer youth, and a new emphasis on education that teaches the equal
validity of queer people everywhere. In order to bring an end to
this inequity, the Queer Commission also recognizes the importance of
working together and internally with our comrades in the Commissions of
Women, Youth, and People of Color. The Queer Commission also vows
to reach out to queers in other queer liberation organizations, in
working class communities, and in schools across the country that also
live in the oppressive regime of homophobic capitalism. As the
Socialist Party USA platform states, we demand liberation.
Women's Commission
Chair: Susan Dorazio
Statement of Purpose: Our work is directed
at helping build an international socialist feminist movement that will
replace capitalism with a democratic socialist society that ensures
full economic, political, personal, and interpersonal rights for all
women. This will require such structural provisions as gender
balance and feminist process within our socialist organizations; such
programmatic demands as pay equity and the right to abortion on demand
within our Socialist Party platform; and ongoing efforts to recruit and
retain women in our Party and in our movement through personal
contacts, political candidacies, literature, public events, radical
caucuses within our labor unions, and coalition work. We believe
that those who would dare to push the clock back on the discoveries
women have made regarding their personal and political selves do the
entire democratic socialist movement a monumental disservice.
Young People's
Socialist League
Website: www.ypsl.org
Statement of Purpose: For nearly a
century, the Young People's Socialist League (YPSL) has been the home
of radical youth who believe in a better world, based upon cooperation,
not competition; where human life is respected and valued; where
everyone's basic needs are met; and where people are free to live to
their fullest potential. Membership in YPSL is open to any
comrade, inside or outside the Socialist Party USA, under the age of 30
who agrees with our principles. Our members are workers and
students at all levels. We believe that all activists should
organize where they are. As a D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) league,
YPSL will help with any local campaign our members decide to carry
out. Our organization is democratically run and open and
accessible to all members.
Commission Guidelines:
* All Party members are strongly encouraged to join a Party Commission
* If it finds merit in the proposal, the National Committee may issue a
conditional six month charter and appoint the motivator of the proposal
"Interim Convener/Chair"
* Commissions must maintain membership rolls, elect officers and submit
minutes of meetings or mail votes to the National Office. The National
Committee directs the National Secretary to solicit reports from all
existing Commissions. Commissions who do not respond will be
de-chartered.
* The National Committee shall review a conditional charter at the end
of a 6 months. If the new commission has met the National Committee's
guidelines, the commission shall be chartered outright. If it has not,
the NC is empowered to renew the conditional charter for 6 more months.
The NC may continue to renew conditional charters as many times as it
wishes, but if the National Committee ever fails to renew a conditional
charter at the end of a 6 month period, the charter shall be null and
void.
* All Commissions shall accept YPSL members as voting members at YPSL's
request.
Commission conveners/chairs are official Party spokespeople on topics
related to their commissions
Commission Report Forms (pdf)
For a listing the
Party State & Local Organizations click
here
For a listing of the
Party's unofficial groupings click here
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