Christina Jones
April 27, 2020
Field Notes on AfroSoc + Socialists of Color Zoom Meeting
I join the meeting at 8:02 p.m. - I’m internally making fun of myself for operating on C.P. Time even under quarantine.
I invited a friend of mine to join the Zoom call and he and I are kind of texting about what is being said privately, over iMessage, and it’s quite funny because I see his face on camera laughing at what is being said as we write to each other back and forth.
At 8:05 p.m., someone cuts into the very random banter that was happening about some movie (I’m still confused as to which movie they were talking about) and says sort of sharply, “Sorry to cut in, but can we please get the conversation going? I have another call at 8:45.”
People look very surprised to hear this.
“Our revolution is and should continue to be the collective effort of revolutionaries to transform the realities of the masses in our country.” - one of the people speaking in the meeting.
A conversation about rent strikes: “I feel like rent strikes are the most direct way to push back against the capitalist class in a lot of ways.” - another person speaking in the meeting.
The organizer, Jasson, says to this, “That’s wassup. Okay, cool.”
“Amazon tried to keep everybody and everybody in the dark… they shut the warehouse down for about two hours and ran some Lysol wipes over some stuff, but really they weren’t trying to do anything… there was just a ton of bullshit with that… Amazon obviously doesn’t give a fuck about any of our lives… The only way that we’re going to be safe is if we can act together, quickly, to keep ourselves safe.” - a member of the organization who is an employee of Amazon based out of Queens, NY
This person makes a point of highlighting the fact that the warehouse is constituted primarily of Black and Brown people.
This person asks to have Amazon warehouse issues added to the caucus’s agenda for the meeting in the month of May.
“We currently have a plan to have people donate their stimulus checks to homeless folx and to the undocumented immigrant community,” says a member of the organization, speaking about plans being formed among Black DSA members in Los Angeles.
Someone says something very vague about engaging in escalation demonstrations to get attention from unresponsive elected officials, and they say, “These next ones might get us arrested…”
Someone looks up and raises their eyebrows, visibly shocked by this.
The organizer, Jasson, says calmly again, “That’s wassup.” →How is he so unbothered and so calm and collected, even at the mention of getting arrested?
!!!*** Black Socialists of America are calling for a May Day 2020 “Fight For Our Lives”
My first thought is, How many people will get sick with Covid-19 from these rallies and demonstrations?!
Some “next steps” on how to address anti-Asian and anti-Black racism in this current moment of pandemic (in terms of the acts of violence against people who are “Asian-presenting,” and the disproportionate number of deaths in the Black community):
A series of calls from the National Afro Socialists Caucus specifically addressing how to engage in anti-racist action from the left.
“Electeds call on May 5 with AOC and a number of other folx”
!!! “We wanna make sure that we’re strengthening our existing infrastructure.”
“We recently approved a campaign around solidarity with the postal service.” - a representative from the GDC
hbcus/ydsa/afrosocialistnetwork
“We’ve been having pretty good success with people attending these calls and then joining DSA” - a representative from the Growth and Development Committee
AfroSoc has been thinking about what it would look like to engage in socialist education on HBCU campuses.
“I had a call with comrades from Morehouse and I’m trying to get this started.”
!! Interesting to hear the word “comrades” within the context of this conversation about Afro Socialism.
“We also don’t have Black organizers on staff, and there’s a whole range of things we could talk about off of that as well…” - a comment made sort of off-handedly that I found to be poignant.
Oooh… I really want to learn more about the Black and Brown Alliance from Detroit..!
“What do folx think about fostering your own Afro Socialist branches?” - a member thinking about the work being done by BBA in Detroit.
“Even if you have an Afro Socialist caucus, it’s still going to end up being a majority-white space.” - a representative. → !!Woah. This is so discouraging!
The Black and Brown Alliance feels uncomfortable taking on the “Afro” label, according to the Detroit representative.
Fascinating.
People are taking issue with separating the Black and Brown Alliance from the national umbrella of AfroSoc.
My friend and I left the meeting after listening for 57 minutes.