Here is a statement for our upcoming special election to select a new at-large council member for the chapter. Only one person, Jordan F., has been nominated for to run in this election. The election will be held Monday, January 7th, 2019.
Jordan F
Our chapter has grown incredibly in the past year! We’ve sharpened our skills, built up our committees, developed new leaders, and given new members a place to plug in. The space in this chapter for members to incubate different projects is one of our greatest strengths. What we need to do next is synthesize all this work into a cohesive political vision and concrete demands. Let’s leverage these projects in a way that escalates campaigns and builds victories. I will focus on this through building a strong chapter program process and by building up the capacity of committees. I’m running for this position because I want to be part of a chapter everyone can be proud of and because I want everyone to feel like they own the work we collectively do. The only way we can build this future is if we build it together.
Over the past year our chapter has seen incredible growth. Not only in membership, but
the scope of our projects and the vastness of our socialist vision.
We’ve sharpened our skills. We’ve built up our committees, developed new leaders, and
given new members a place to plug in. We’ve taken on new work. The creation of new
committees and caucuses has amplified our existing campaigns and opened up new
space to confront capitalism. We’ve shown, especially to new organizers, that politics
isn’t just something that happens at elections. Successful political organizing must
constantly build momentum in order for movements to actually effect change.
We’ve begun the process of centering our work around building a base. We’ve done this
by expanding our network of coalition partners, becoming a regional leader working to
elevate the work of other socialists in our area, and by practicing the core organizing
skills that produce success: having good conversations, building relationships, and
providing space for organizers to take ownership of work.
What our chapter needs now is to put all the pieces together. We’ve started a number of
really great projects. The space in this chapter for members to incubate different
projects that imagine and build socialist future is one of our greatest strengths. It’s time
to look seriously at how these projects can support each other. Let’s leverage these
projects against each other in a way that escalates campaigns and builds short and
medium-term victories into the process of building our base.
There are a couple of ideas and projects that I want to focus on in this role. I want the
chapter as a whole to understand our capacity. Let’s find ways to grow it. Let’s learn
each other’s skills and strengths. I want to see the chapter think about vision. In a
political sense, let’s learn to articulate what we want our world to look like and apply that
vision at every level of our work. In an organizational sense, let’s grow our membership
to better reflect the New Orleans working class, and constantly develop new leaders
and organizers with ownership in the chapter’s work. Let’s challenge what we think we
are capable of.
I plan to focus on a few projects: the chapter program process, the mobilizer program,
and building up the work of new committees. The chapter program process will help us
structure our work and define the terms of our success while centering it in our
collective political vision. I encourage everyone to join in on this process. The mobilizer
program has had a lot of success in the past year and expanding its membership and
scope will continue to turn paper members into organizers. This is vital if we want to
avoid running up against a wall of capacity limitations. Building the work of new
committees will give more ways for members to plug in to work that is meaningful to
them. This will get some paper members off the sidelines and expand the visibility and
footprint of our organization.
I’m running for this position because I want to be part of a chapter everyone here can be
proud of and because I want everyone here to feel like they own the work we
collectively do. The only way we can build this future is if we build it together.