David Duhalde

David Duhalde

David Duhalde is an activist with Boston Democratic Socialists of America. David Duhalde is the "Senior Electoral Manager" at Our Revolution. Former Deputy Director of Democratic Socialists of America. Member of the Democratic Socialists of America International Committee‎‎ .

Partner of Institute for Policy Studies worker Michelle Marie.

Background

Born and raised in New York City, David Duhalde was interested in politics and history since a young age. He was first exposed to pro-labor/ anti-capitalist activism through the experiences of his parents, both of whom were active in the labor movement and Chile Solidarity.

David Duhalde's family was forced to flee their home-land after a "U.S.-supported military coup overthrew the elected government of Salvador Allende".

David Duhalde Twitter Bio as of January 8 2018

Activism

Primarily involved in anti-sweatshop work in high school, Duhalde organized city-wide demonstrations and delegations to rallies to D.C. and wrote articles for young people’s progressive magazines.

In 2002, he began studying at Bowdoin College in Maine, where he helped found a Young Democratic Socialists chapter. Active in both YDS and the College Democrats, he "helped build bridges within the left" in turning out the vote against President Bush in 2004. The YDS chapter also led successful "social justice" campaigns, such as getting Bowdoin to go sweat-free in its Bookstore apparel.

Duhalde participated in the AFL-CIO’s “Union Summer” at 18, worked in the political department of UNITE, campaigned against Bush with SEIU and America Coming Together, and interned at the Hong Kong based China Labour Bulletin. After graduating, David worked as an assistant director of New York door-to-door fundraising for the Democratic National Committee. In August, 2006 Duhalde became an organizer for Young Democratic Socialists.

Strategic Challenges Facing the Left

TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2021 AT 7 PM EDT – 9 PM EDT.

Democratic Socialists of America: The Strategic Challenges Facing the Left After Convention 2021.

Event by Shelter & Solidarity: A Deep Dive with Artists and Activists, encuentro 5 and 2 others

Following a successful national convention (August 2021), Democratic Socialists of America faces a still pandemic-ridden nation, beset with extractive inequalities, political dysfunction, and the rapid onset of catastrophic climate change. As the largest organized, left wing formation, the moment poses special strategic and organizational challenges, ones surfaced in Bill Fletcher, Jr.’s “The Modern Tecumseh” essay. In this post-convention conversation, we talk with David Duhalde (DSA Fund), Kristian Hernandez (DSA), Matt Nelson (Presente.org), and Bill Fletcher, Jr., Meleiza Figueroa (Campus Antifascist Network) and David Cobb (Cooperation Humboldt), themselves well-known organizers and movement theorists host the conversation.

Foreign friends

David Duhalde May 1 2019·

Spent my May Day in two international meetings.

Met with three delegates from the Brazilian Workers Party at Senator Sanders office then introduced them to the MDC DSA staple of Hunan Dynasty for lunch (also a favorite of the socialist senator).

Later, got to hang with Dutch Socialist MP Sadet Karabulut with some great comrades at the DSA office. We gave her gifts of inauguration posters and a book of Sanders speeches. You could tell her relief in talking to fellow socialists after several days of engagement with the mainstream of American politics.

H/T to Chris Maisano for connecting Karabulut and me.

Pictured Margaret McLaughlin, Sadet Karabulut, Chip Gibbons.

Endorsing Keith Ellison

Millennial Leaders Endorse Keith Ellison for DNC Chair was posted February 2017.

Young people have been at the forefront of every major struggle in our country to make real the promise of democracy. During the last election cycle, our generation played a pivotal role in bringing economic and racial justice to the forefront of political dialogue, and now we are marching in the streets, rallying at airports, and at town halls resisting Donald Trump’s cabinet and his agenda of hatred and greed.

That’s why we endorse Representative Keith Ellison for DNC Chair. We believe he can activate the millennial base of the party by working with the movements we have powered.

Signatories included David Duhalde, Deputy Director, Democratic Socialists of America.

AFL-CIO convention

Socialist International

US delegates to the Socialist International 13th Congress, Athens, Greece June 30th 2008 included Carol Browner, a delegation from Democratic Socialists of America; Frank Llewellyn, Corey Walker, George Roberts, David Duhalde and Alejandro Duhalde plus another DSA member Andrew Hammer attending with the International League of Religious Socialists, former New American Movement radical Jeremy Rifkin representing the Foundation on Economic Trends and Puerto Rican Independence Party, Ruben Berrios Martinez and Maria Jose Cisneros.

At the Meeting of the Council of the Socialist International, United Nations, New York, 21-22 June 2010, delegates included Puerto Rican Independence Party members Ruben Berrios Martinez and Fernando Martin Garcia and from Democratic Socialists of America, Frank Llewellyn, Joseph Schwartz, David Sasha Duhalde-Wine, George D. Roberts, Luis Alejandro Duhalde.

Participants included representatives of the Socialist Party of Albania, MPLA (Angola), Bulgarian Socialist Party, Socialist Party of Chile, Sandinista National Liberation Front (Nicaragua), Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, Democratic Left Alliance (Poland), African National Congress (South Africa), Movement for Socialism (Venezuela) Observer parties included Polisario (Western Sahara) Consultative parties present included Fatah (Palestine), All-Nation Social Democratic Party (Kazakhstan).

YDS National Organizer

In 2008, David Duhalde was Young Democratic Socialists national organizer.

YDS Winter Conference: Growing the Movement

In an article posted at the Spring 2008 edition of Democratic Left titled "YDS Winter Conference: Growing the Movement," David Duhalde wrote (verbatim):

"On the heels of a strong Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) turnout at DSA’s 2007 national convention, its winter outreach conference’s success represents another stepping stone for a revived YDS. The conference title, “Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible: Reviving Democratic, Socialist, and Youth Activism,” honored the spirit of the young radicals of 1968 and reflected similar hopes and dreams that continue to motivate young activists forty years later. On Friday evening February 15, the conference opened with a panel discussion: “2013 Isn’t Soon Enough: The Anti-War Movement Post-Bush.” The gathering of close to one hundred young activists served both as conference opener and an Iraq Moratorium event. YDS has participated in numerous Iraq Moratorium events (monthly actions to raise awareness against the war in Iraq) since September, and the panel showcased our grassroots work on a national stage. Veteran African-American and trade union activist Bill Fletcher, Jr., radical theorist Stephen Eric Bronner (both members of DSA), and DSA Honorary Chair and prominent sociologist and grassroots activist Frances Fox Piven led a broad-ranging group discussion, addressing issues ranging from U.S. policy toward Iran to changing conditions for the anti-war movement under different future presidential scenarios and the role young socialists can play in ending the conflict. All the speakers emphasized that activists should not place great faith in the expectation that any Democratic president (including Barack Obama) will end the war without substantial grassroots pressure from a militant anti-war movement. The plenary set a positive and interactive tone that characterized the entire conference.

"The following morning, YDS chapter activists, progressive young people, and friends from across the United States gradually swelled the conference ranks to over 125 active participants. The recent growth of YDS chapters and activism has brought a more racially, class, and culturally diverse membership to our ranks.

"Participants included not only many individuals who came to learn about YDS, but also many YDS chapter delegations of five to eight students from campuses as diverse as elite Brown University to small liberal arts Wooster College of Ohio to the working-class and commuter campuses of the University of Central Arkansas and Wichita State University. The variety of activists reflected what a strong social justice movement could look like; the positive and enthusiastic social life of the conference demonstrated the growing potential for YDS as an increasingly strong and diverse presence on the student Left. Weekend plenaries featured a range of speakers, ideas, and topics – from racial justice to immigrant rights to the relevance of democratic socialism to the future of the youth and student movement. Saturday’s opening plenary, “The Struggle for Racial Justice Under Capitalism,” moderated by YDS Anti-Racism Coordinator Emahunn Campbell, featured Columbia University professor Manning Marable, immigrant rights organizer Monami Maulik, and DSA National Political Committee member and Brown University Professor of Africana Studies Corey Walker.

"The speakers addressed the need to connect the struggle for socialism to the fight against racism. Marable analyzed how the origins of capitalism depended on racist ideology; he further contended that a prerequisite for the elimination of racism would be the abolition of capitalism. In the closing plenary on Saturday, Temple University political theory professor and DSA ViceChair Joseph Schwartz, prominent socialist-feminist theorist Nancy Fraser, and veteran trade union leader and DSA Vice Chair Jose LaLuz addressed the continued importance and relevance of democratic socialist values to building mass social movements for racial, economic, and gender justice.

"The conference workshops covered a range of topics of considerable relevance to a diverse, contemporary Left. Bolivian United Nations ambassador Hugo Siles Alvarado spoke on the centrality of movements of indigenous peoples to the revitalized Latin American Left, and DSA Vice-Chairs Maxine Phillips and Steve Max led discussions on the role of people of faith within the Left and on the need for singlepayer healthcare, respectively. Philips told students that they should open their minds to new potential allies when organizing for social justice, noting that evangelical Christians will work on fighting poverty and environmental destruction.

"Late night carousing did not stop these new young Jimmy Higgins and Janie Higginses from starting the conference on time Sunday. The afternoon plenary featured voices from the immigrant rights movement, including DSA member Rabbi Michael Feinberg, who emphasized the need for students to understand how capitalist globalization has accentuated inequality and poverty in the developing world. He stressed that people do not risk undocumented migration to a strange country unless they are fleeing desperate conditions. The role of socialists is therefore to fight for social justice for both domestic and immigrant labor, as well as for labor rights around the globe.

"Sunday concluded with a group dialogue called “Have We Reached a Revival in Democratic and Anti-Capitalist Youth Activism?” Conference participants resoundingly concluded “yes,” but we all agreed that a great deal of work lies ahead of us. Professor Christine Kelly of William Paterson University, who led the discussion with me, expressed the importance of this generation learning from past youth movements while forging our own identity. I emphasized the importance of YDS relating to other left-wing young people, especially those working on the upcoming presidential election. YDS’s immediate relevance depends greatly on how we connect to people in motion on the ground. I have high hopes and aspirations for a revived YDS. This conference marked the best gathering – in terms of quality of the participants, organizers, panels, and speakers – in many years, certainly since I first joined YDS in 2003. More than anything, though, it demonstrated that a new generation of talented, diverse activists has taken ownership of YDS and that its leadership will continue to reshape and build a socialist youth group capable of playing a significant role within a broader, multigenerational U.S. Left.

Democratic Socialists of America

DSA Renegotiate NAFTA petition

In 2009 David Duhalde, Young Democratic Socialists, signed a petition calling on President Barack Obama to Renegotiate NAFTA. The petition was initiated and circulated by Democratic Socialists of America.

DSA Labor Committee

In February 2009 Boston Democratic Socialists of America sponsored a forum on the Employee Free Choice Act with DSA Vice-Chair Elaine Bernard, MA SEIU Political Director Harris Gruman and Steve Schnapp from United for a Fair Economy before about 40 people. Out of that meeting a DSA Labor Committee emerged, organized by David Duhalde with several non-members, working to build support for EFCA. The group has been joining with Jobs with Justice and tenant groups to publicize other issues related to the economic crisis.

DSA NPC member

At the Democratic Socialists of America 2009 National Convention Evanston, Illinois November 13-15, 2009, a new National Political Committee was elected;

• Theresa Alt
• David Duhalde
• Stuart Elliott
• Virginia Franco
• Paul Garver
• David Green
• Seth Hutchinson
• Barbara Joye
• Simone Morgen
• Michele Rossi
• Jason Schulman
• Joseph Schwartz
• Herb Shore
• Maria Svart
• Rannfrid Thelle

Debs-Thomas-Bernstein Awards Reception

On June 30, 2009, Boston Democratic Socialists of America presented its annual Debs-Thomas-Bernstein Award to Professor, author, and health care reformer Rashi Fein, along with the winners of a union election at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, accepted by Sonia Marshall, the key organizer of the campaign. Sheila Decter of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action presented the award to Rashi Fein. The event was held at the home of Marcia Peters and David Karaus. Mike Fadel of SEIU Local 1199 (formerly Boston DSA staff person) and the AFSCME-affiliated New England Organizing Project were benefactors of the event.

David Duhalde was a supporter of the event.

2013 DSA leadership

National Political Committee

• Jared Abbott, Philadelphia
• Theresa Alt, Ithaca
• David Duhalde, Boston
• Stuart Elliott, Wichita
• Amber A’Lee Frost, New York City
• Paul Garver, Boston
• David Green, Detroit
• Jose Gutierrez, Washington, D.C.
• Barbara Joye, Atlanta
• Simone Morgen, Columbus
• Maxine Phillips, New York City
• David Roddy, Sacramento
• Joseph Schwartz, Philadelphia
• Peg Strobel, Chicago
• Alex Deane and Matthew Porter, as co-chairs of the Young Democratic Socialists share a vote on the NPC.

Beyond Shell Shock

Beyond Shell Shock: Labor after the Trump disaster was hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Sunday, February 26 at 8 PM - 9:30 PM.

Hosts Bill Fletcher, Jr.; Erica Smiley; Bob Master; Neidi Dominguez; Bryan Proffitt; and Jeff Crosby;

Join us in this webcast to take a hard look at the place we're in as a labor movement - and consider how we can make the labor movement be a leading force in the resistance to Trump and the fight for a better world.

What's our strategy? What kinds of alliances do we need? Do we just play defense?

In the face of National Right to Work, vicious attacks on workers of color in and out of the workplace, escalating divisions in the AFLCIO and the Democratic Party, and more we've got our work cut out for us. Let's figure out how to win.

Those invited included David Duhalde.

Metro DC DSA Public Facbook group

Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America, public Facebook group, as of March 12, 2017;

ADMINS

• David Duhalde, Deputy Director at Democratic Socialists of America
• Allen Firouz, University of South Florida
• Woody Woodruff, Works at Self Deployed
• Evan Williams Ottenfeld, Indiana University (Bloomington)
• Austin Kendall, Education assistant at Transportation Communications International Union
• Jose Gutierrez, Washington, District of Columbia
• Gareth Sparks, Works at Leadership Directories

Insoumise visit

Labor for Our Revolution leaders

Labor for Our Revolution April 6 2018;

More than 50 union leaders participated in the Labor for Our Revolution national meeting in Chicago. — with Clem Balanoff, Gene Bruskin, Matthew Graham, David W. Campbell, David Duhalde, Peter Hart, Tony Flora, Brenda Bosworth Rodrigues, Carey Dall, Penelope Jennewein, Joe Lawrence, Gene Elk, Dana Simon, Mark Dudzic, Kenneth Zinn, Zachary Pattin, Mike Parker, Kyle Machado, Peter Knowlton, Donna DeWitt, Brian Skiffington, Peter Olney, Jared Hicks, Marcelle Grair, Steve Early, Al Cholger and Erin McKee.

Father and son, 2018

David Duhalde and Alejandro Duhalde

Toward Radical Democracy

Toward Radical Democracy was a 2018 "Proposal for Internal Voting Reform in Boston DSA".

If you would like to sign on in support of this proposal, please click here. To date, over 100 members of Boston DSA have endorsed it. We also welcome support from DSA comrades in other chapters.

Signatories also included non Boston comrades such as David Duhalde.

Dispatches from the US left

Thursday, 04 April 2019 14:30 - 18:30 Venue: European Parliament:

Compilation: European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) discussion with American Socialists 2019

Public conversation with leaders from the US left, including Maria Svart, David Duhalde, Alan Minsky, Alexandra Rojas, and Matt Duss (tbc) about the common challenges during the upcoming election cycle 2019/2020.

"On the eve of the elections to the European Parliament, and at the beginning of the race to the US Presidential elections in November 2020, Western Democracy is at a crossroads. While we are facing an organised roll-back of libertarian achievements, there is a need to unite in our defence, and to win this struggle together in order to be in the position to prevent climate change, build prosperous post-growth economies, and organise inclusive and rights-based societies in a new technological environment.

"This event will provide information about the progressive candidates, including Bernie Sanders, who will successfully challenge Donald Trump, and the campaign techniques applied. The discussion will analyse the state of play of new political camps being constructed in Europe in the context of the elections for the European Parliament, and the diversity of the struggle inside and outside of Parliaments on both sides of the Atlantic.

"Moderated by Barbara Spinelli, MEP and Ethan Earle.

Reportback from Brussels

In a "Reportback" article about the event, David Duhalde writes (verbatim):

May 10, 2019

With the new far-right threat a reality in most European capitals, DSA stands with Left parties against what Bernie Sanders has called the continent’ s “authoritarian axis.” We’re thrilled with this report from a visit to the European Parliament, just as we’re about to publish our Summer issue on creating a socialist internationalism. — Ed.

"At the invitation of the Party of the European Left, a delegation from some of the most prominent left-wing US organizations visited the European Parliament from April 4 to 5, 2019. The attendees were all representatives of membership-based organizations backing Senator Bernie Sanders’ run for president: Maria Svart, National Director of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Alan Minsky, Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and myself, David Duhalde, from Our Revolution. Our delegation was inspired by Sanders’ call for more international collaboration against the growing “authoritarian axis.” (All three are DSA members.) Over the course of our visit, we held two talks and numerous meetings with our European left-wing peers.

"This exchange comes at a unique time. In a rare moment, the United States is viewed as a beacon of hope among the European Left. Bernie Sanders is the firmly established frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, and the American left is growing in strength, both from an electoral and social movement perspective. It seems that the US could be poised for a genuine, and nationwide, progressive leap forward. If the Bernie Sanders team can successfully wrest control of the White House from the Trump administration, it could inspire millions across the world to believe that the neoliberal consensus is ending and being replaced with a more just and humane future.

"Across the Atlantic, however, we see progressives, social democrats, and socialists anxiously anticipating May’s elections in the European Parliament. There is an expectation that the far right will make serious electoral gains. Neoliberalism in Europe remains in crisis, but the far right has gained much more from this upheaval, with few signs that the left is gaining traction against Europe’s reactionaries. While more radical formations have seen more success than their center-left counterparts, neither appears able to combat burgeoning right-wing dominance.

"The Party of the European Left (EL) was the formal host of the event with assistance from GUE-NGL (European United Left-Nordic Green Left). The latter is a political grouping of socialist and Green parties in the European Parliament. Our meetings included an introductory conversation led by Paolo Ferrero, who serves as an EL Vice-President. We also had a private meeting with Members of the European Parliament (MEP), Gabi Zimmer and Helmut Scholz, both of Germany’s Die Linke. In between, we had discussions with left-wing party leaders from Belgium, Greece, Finland, Slovenia, and Spain. All expressed concerns about losing voters to the right and wanting to build more exchanges following Sanders international call. The Finns and Belgians in particular desired to learn more about electioneering and organizing techniques. As loyalty to the political party weakens in Europe, seeing how American activists engage and mobilize their bases is of serious interest to global comrades.

"For our part, we held one public community event and one private parliamentary plenary. On April 4, the Party of the European Left held “Dispatches from the US Left” moderated by Nico Cue, an EL candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission. Cue, a Belgian trade union leader of Spanish descent, gave each American delegate a pin with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade’s symbol. To our delegation, this emblem was an important reminder of the need, past and present, for better European-North American socialist solidarity. The three members of our US delegation, along with Alexandra Rojas, the Executive Director of Justice Democrats, via Skype, explained the origins of our activist organizations, our strategies, and current political and movement work. The audience questions reflected popular support for Bernie Sanders, some decent knowledge of US politics and media, and a concern with Washington-led militarism and war.

"On the 5th, we met for three hours with MEPs and EU parliament staffers. Ethan Earle, co-chair of DSA’s International Committee (IC), asked a set of questions similar in tone to those of the previous night, after which we spent two hours taking questions from the audience. Barbara Spinelli, an independent Italian MEP, questioning on if the Democratic establishment would try to stop Sanders again stood out. I happily recounted that the Sanders movement, led particularly by Our Revolution with Progressive Democrats of America and DSAA, had made significant gains towards resolving problems from the 2016 US presidential primary, including superdelegate reform. It was also clear that the audience has a distinct interest in trade issues and the stances and concerns of the AFL-CIO and other US unions. To my understanding, there are no longer AFL-CIO representatives in Europe, which hampers cross-Atlantic organized labor solidarity.

"Our European counterparts expressed a keen interest in the kinds of organizing tools and strategies that we use in the US. Progressive Europeans are observing their reactionary rivals studying under the tutelage of Steve Bannon. Many parties were curious about our approach to field organizing and the other ways that we engage our base. It was clear that European left parties could benefit from studying the tactics that many left-of-center nonprofits use in the US, including database management, distributed organizing, and technological mobilization.

"Of the groups present, the Belgian Workers’ Party (PTB) appeared to have the best grasp of these new organizing strategies. Maoist in origin, the PTB moved away from its cadre roots to become a more grassroots and community-based organization. Without changing ideologically, the PTB has adopted distributed organizing tactics like those outlined in Becky Bond’s Rules for Revolutionaries. (Bond was a senior advisor to the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016 and is also served Beto O’Rourke’s presidential team.) Using these distributed organizing techniques, the party has grown its share of the vote from one or two percent to potentially as high as ten percent.

Guest of the European Left

After Bernie Sanders launched his campaign for Presidential candidacy last Saturday, we as Party of the European Left would like to point out, that we had invited leaders from the US left to Brussels.

03 April 2019 6:00 pm European Left Public Event in Brussels: DISPATCHES FROM THE US LEFT

A conversation with leaders from the US left about upcoming elections, Bernie Sanders, and the need for a new progressive internationalism.

Salle “L’Aurore” de l’Association Culturelle Joseph Jacquemotte, 162 Rue du Midi, 1000 Bruxelles / Belgique

Our Guests:

• Matt Duss, Foreign Policy Advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders.
• Maria Svart, National Director of Democratic Socialists of America.
• David Duhalde, Political Director of Our Revolution.
• Alan Minsky, Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America.

Additional to this public event there will be on 4th April 2018 a Seminar in the European Parliament organized by representatives of GUE-NGL in co-operation with the EL. If you want to take part in the GUE-NGL seminar, that is held in the premises of the European Parliament, you must register at the GUE site as soon as the seminar is announced in order to get a pass for entering the parliament.

Beyond Bernie

Beyond Bernie: Electoral Strategy for an Independent Left

April 2019 Organizing Upgrade pulled together leaders and activists from many of the most important movements of the left electoral upsurge to discuss both short- and long-term electoral strategy. The recent resurgence of electoral engagement amongst the social movement and party left in the US is inspiring and full of potential, but still lacks a shared strategy across the groups leading the charge. Moving past the mainstream media focus on the presidential horserace, we talk to organizers on the front lines about the current state of this movement sector, and critical interventions that independent left organizers can make to move this work forward.

The strategy session included*:

• Maurice Moe Mitchell, Working Families Party
• David Duhalde, Our Revolution
• Kayla Reed, M4BL
• Andrea Mercado, New Florida Majority
• Luke Elliott-Negri, DSA
• Ash-Lee Henderson, Highlander Center, M4BL, and Southern Movement Assembly
• Jon Liss, New Virginia Majority
• Beth Huang, Boston DSA

The discussion was moderated by Rishi Awatramani and Linda Burnham.

In the spirit of Bernie Sanders’ recent call to begin building an “international progressive front”, the European Left invited leaders from the US Left to Brussels to develop concrete working relationships.

Over two productive days, Maria Svart, National Director of the Democratic Socialists of America, David Duhalde, Political Director of Our Revolution and Alan Minsky, Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America, met with leaders of the European Left and GUE/NGL, as well as with representatives from civil society, ETUC, and national parties across Europe.

We look forward to working together to combat the domination of the 1% and the rise of what Sanders calls the “new authoritarian axis”, and to developing positive alternatives together.

Maite Mola & Paolo Ferrero

Vice-Presidents of the Party of the European Left.

Socialist Majority Caucus

DSA's Socialist Majority Caucus signatories list as of April 25 2019 included David Duhalde of Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America.

Caban campaign

Rapi Castillo June 23 2019·

Ready to knock doors this beautiful Sunday morning with David Duhalde and 40+ friends! bit.ly/cabangotv

References

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