The same night a billionaire-backed supervisor was trounced in a recall vote, members of the Democratic Socialists of America's San Francisco chapter held a gathering with a sizable crowd at Ingleside Library.
More than two dozen San Franciscans attended Tuesday night’s meeting, filling the library’s community room with people from across the city. Organizers said they usually see five to six attendees. But global events ranging from the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, Trump’s reelection and ICE raids cause spikes in attendance.
“We’ve definitely seen this surge in interest whenever times are bad,” Matt R. told participants.
The chapter’s membership has grown by 16% since Trump’s reelection, a representative told The Light. As of September, the local chapter had nearly 3,000 dues-paying members.
Zohran Momdani, a DSA member, has been making headlines since overtaking former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the democratic primary for New York City’s mayoral race.
In San Francisco, DSA members have held seats on the Board of Supervisors. While DSA member Dean Preston lost his seat to District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood in November, DSA candidate Jackie Fielder was elected to represent District 9.
Only blocks away from the library on Frida Kahlo Way is the Harry Britt Building, a City College of San Francisco facility named in honor of the former supervisor who was one of the founding members of the DSA SF.
Event organizers Volo K. and Matt R., both of whom declined to give last names, led a presentation and small group discussions about the definitions of capitalism, democracy and socialism.
“I’ve been trying to find ways to get more involved in a community, and find more ways to take action, so coming here was kind of killing two birds with one stone,” said 26-year-old Bernal Heights resident Ryan Bradford. “The sense of optimism here is really refreshing.”
The group buzzed with talk about how capitalism had benefited their own families during the small-group discussions. One attendee explained to his group how his parents had immigrated to the United States from Bangladesh and become successful through hard work and the opportunities provided to them through capitalism. However, it wasn’t until later in life that he realized the poverty in his parents’ home country was a result of the capitalist greed of other countries.
A copy of the DSA SF orientation zine was handed out on Tuesday night. | John R. Adkins/Ingleside Light
Some people came back from their discussions to relate their experience of capitalism to working in the tech industry in San Francisco, where their ability to survive in the city was reliant on serving a large corporation whose actions were beyond their control.
Volo joked about how the goals and efforts of the organization do not amount to the election of politicians like Mamdani, but instead aspire to gain freedom and democratic control over all aspects of our society.
The organizers also cited the inability to “vote with your dollar” when there is a large disparity of wealth, and how the hunger for wealth in a capitalist society is largely motivated by the lack of social safety nets for individuals, like health care and affordable housing.
Lucas Wylie, 23, lives in the Mission District but was on his way home from a teachers’ union meeting at City College of San Francisco when he saw a flyer taped to a telephone pole that advertised the event. Wylie stated it was his first meeting since Trump’s reelection.
“The last meeting I went to was packed, so people are definitely responding to the moment and turning out,” Wylie said. “The number of times Zohran’s name has been mentioned in the media recently has been a bit of a motivator for me to get back involved.”
Matt R. said his role on the group’s education board involved consulting the chapter on political education and facilitating resources for public events.
“I think a lot of the people who join DSA all have a lot of love for San Francisco,” Matt R. said. “A certain class of people complain about the city a lot, even our last mayor was a bit of an SF hater. This group is invested in transforming the city; it’s a loving act.”
The audience eventually filed out and headed down the street to Beep’s Burgers to continue their discourse, each of them carrying a folded-up DSA SF orientation zine.
John R. Adkins is a San Francisco-based journalist and storyteller living in Ingleside. He is editor-in-chief of City College's student-run publication The Guardsman and reports on higher education, politics and the arts.
