Harold Meyerson

Harold Meyerson

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Harold Meyerson (born 1950) is an op-ed columnist for the Washington Post and long-time Vice-Chair of Democratic Socialists of America.

Executive Editor and Political Editor of the LA Weekly from 1989 to 2001, Meyerson is considered one of the most astute commentators on Los Angeles politics. Meyerson is Editor at Large of The American Prospect, an op-ed columnist for the Washington Post, and continues as Editor At Large for the LA Weekly.

Leaving DSA

November 9, 2023 Twenty-four longtime members of the Democratic Socialists of America published an open letter in The New Republic to explain why they’re leaving the organization.

Our hopes for a better world—more egalitarian, more just, more humane—once found expression in the Democratic Socialists of America.

Many of us have been members of DSA since its founding in 1982—some of us in leadership positions—as well as activists in the organizations and movements from which DSA emerged...

We were elated by the explosive growth of DSA that began in 2016, followed by the election of more than 100 DSA members to elective office. In such figures as Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Summer Lee, and Greg Casar, we cheered a new generation of progressive political leadership in the United States. It seemed that we could finally join other nations in having a meaningful democratic socialist presence in our political mainstream.

In recent years, however, we have been deeply troubled by the emergence of isolating, purist, and self-destructive tendencies inside DSA that have undermined its promise. The very strength of the regenerated DSA is in its electoral work and its high-profile, politically astute elected officials, and yet they came under attack from within. Ocasio-Cortez was condemned for stating that Israel had a right to exist, and Bowman was subjected to a vicious campaign for his expulsion from DSA because of his refusal to endorse the boycott, divestment, and sanctions, or BDS, movement, as well as for his connections with Jewish peace organizations in the U.S. and Israel.

The campaigns against DSA members of Congress garnered high-profile, public attention, but they were only the tip of the iceberg. There were several attacks on DSA-member and DSA-endorsed state and local officials. Purist litmus tests were increasingly imposed on candidates for elected office as the price of DSA endorsements.

In our judgment, a moment of truth has arrived. The events of the last weeks in Israel and Palestine, and the responses of national DSA and many of its local chapters, bring us to the painful conclusion that today’s DSA has driven itself beyond redemption....

We are beginning discussions amongst ourselves, to which we will invite other signatories to this letter, on how to keep the true vision of democratic socialism alive and how we can work together to develop an organizational framework that supports our educational and political work.

Leo Casey, Harold Meyerson, Richard Healey, Peter Dreier, Ruth Jordan, Mark Levinson, Nathan Newman, Maurice Isserman, Ingrid Goldstrom, Larry Mishel, David Kusnet, Aaron Greenberg, Randall Brink, Janette Brink, Jules Bernstein, Jeff Isaac, Tom Canel, James Berger, Robert Feldman, Jennifer Klein, Ed Collins, Raymond Barglow, John Zuraw, Bill Mosley.

Background

In 1968, at the Democratic Convention, Meyerson worked as a young aide to Senator Eugene McCarthy.

Meyerson, whose parents belonged to the Socialist Party USA of Norman Thomas, is a self-described social democrat and a passionate pro-labor activist. His writing has appeared in almost every left-of-center publication, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New Republic, The Nation, The New Statesman, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Dissent.

DSA panel

On April 1, 2023, as part of its 15th Annual Convention, the Platypus Affiliated Society held a panel on the politics of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), at the University of Chicago. The speakers were Jamal Abed-Rabbo (Class Unity), D. L. Jacobs (Platypus), Harold Meyerson (Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee, DSA), and Matthew Strupp (Marxist Unity Group, a faction of the DSA). Platypus member Erin Hagood moderated the panel.

"Set the night on fire"

Harold Meyerson, Mike Davis and Jon Wiener.

"LA model"

As executive editor and chief political columnist for the L.A. Weekly, Meyerson has argued that the new "L.A. model" of progressive politics, centered on a powerful labor-Latino alliance, offers a blueprint for reviving a sluggish U.S. liberalism. Even this month's defeat of mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa, whom he roundly endorsed, hasn't shaken Meyerson's conviction that the Golden State is rapidly shifting leftward, with L.A. at its tectonic midpoint.

American Prospect

In 2001 Meyerson, age 51, headed for Washington, D.C., to take up a new role as executive editor of The American Prospect, an 11-year-old, left-leaning biweekly magazine of politics and culture.

DSA Contact

Circa early 1980s Harold Meyerson was listed as an at large Los Angeles Council member for the Democratic Socialists of America. At the bottom of the list was the statement, "Change the USA, work with DSA!".

Tribute to Ben Dobbs

On Sunday, June 7, 1981, the Los Angeles Chapter of the New American Movement sponsored a Tribute to Ben Dobbs for "His lifelong commitment to socialism". The event was held at the Miramar-Sheraton Hotel, Santa Monica, California. Sponsors of the event included Harold Meyerson.

Socialist Community School

In 1982 Harold Meyerson was a committee member of the Socialist Community School in Los Angeles.

DSA Conference delegate

In 1983 Harold Meyerson was a Los Angeles, California delegate to the Democratic Socialists of America conference in New York City, October 14-16, 1983

DSA National Convention

Speakers at the Democratic Socialists of America 2nd National Convention, in Berkeley California, included: Nicaraguan Foreign Minister, Fr. Miguel D'Escoto, Mpho Tutu, daughter of SA Anglican Bishop, Desmond Tutu, Marta Petrusewicz, Barbara Ehrenreich, Rep. Ron Dellums, Elinor Glenn, Michael Harrington, Harold Meyerson, Paulette Pierce, David Plotke, Jim Shoch, Beverly Stein, Mel Pritchard, Jim Jacobs, Dolores Delgado Campbell, Guy Molyneux, Cornel West, Gail Radford.

Los Angeles DSA Executive Board 1989

According to Los Angeles Left October 1989, Los Angeles Democratic Socialists of America's Executive Board consisted of Ben Dobbs, Brad Jones, Barbara Hooper, Claire Kaplan, Bob Niemann, Paul Schimek, Harold Meyerson, Steve Tarzynski.

Tribute to Michael Harrington

In September 1989 Derek Shearer, Dolores Huerta, Dick Flacks, Harold Meyerson, Penny Schantz, paid tribute to the late Michael Harrington, at a Democratic Socialists of America event in Los Angeles.

California DSA “Key” list

In 1993 Harold Meyerson of Sunland, California was on a list of “Key’ California Democratic Socialists of America contacts.

Campaign for America's Future

In 1996 Harold Meyerson, LA Weekly was one of the original 130 founders of Campaign for America's Future.

Socialists organize to "challenge for power" in Los Angeles

On March 11, 1998, Los Angeles Democratic Socialists of America leader Steve Tarzynski wrote an email to another Los Angeles DSA leader Harold Meyerson.

Tarzynski listed 25 people he thought should be on an "A-list" of "25 or so leaders/activists/intellectuals and/or "eminent persons" who would gather periodically to theorize/strategize about how to rebuild a progressive movement in our metropolitan area that could challenge for power."

Tarzynski listed himself, Harold Meyerson, Karen Bass, Sylvia Castillo, Gary Phillips, Joe Hicks, Richard Rothstein, Steve Cancian, Larry Frank, Torie Osborn, Rudy Acuna, Aris Anagnos, Abby Arnold, Carl Boggs, Blase Bonpane, Rick Brown, Stanley Sheinbaum, Alice Callahan, Jim Conn, Peter Dreier, Maria Elena Durazo, Miguel Contreras, Mike Davis, Bill Gallegos, Bob Gottlieb, Kent Wong, Russell Jacoby, Bong Hwan Kim, Paula Litt (and Barry Litt, with a question mark), Peter Olney, Derek Shearer, Clancy Sigal and Anthony Thigpenn.

Included in a suggested elected officials sub-group were Mark Ridley-Thomas, Gloria Romero, Jackie Goldberg, Gil Cedillo, Tom Hayden, Antonio Villaraigosa, Paul Rosenstein and Congressmen Xavier Becerra, Henry Waxman and Maxine Waters.

Tarzynski went on to write "I think we should limit the group to 25 max, otherwise group dynamics begins to break down....As i said, I would like this to take place in a nice place with good food and drink...it should properly be an all day event."

2001 DSA Convention

The Democratic Socialists of America 2001 National Convention took place in Philadelphia Nov. 8-11, beginning with the traditional Friday night outreach event, in this case a “public dialogue” on 9-11 with DSA Vice Chair (and American Prospect Washington editor) Harold Meyerson, Bill Fletcher (in absentia) from the AFL-CIO and Black Radical Congress, and Linda Panetta from School of the Americas Watch.

"WAKE UP DEMOCRATS! Take Back the Country"

"WAKE UP DEMOCRATS! Take Back the Country" Conference, with Rob Reiner, Robert Reich, Robert Rosendahl, Rep. Hilda Solis, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Ed Begley, Jr., Robert Borosage, Vincent Bugliosi, Warren Beatty, Susan Lerner, Rep. Maxine Waters, Roy Ulrich, Medea Benjamin, S. David Freeman, Peter Navarro, Hon. Jackie Goldberg, Harold Meyerson, Hon. Antonio Villaraigosa, Amy Wakeland, Bob Erlenbush, Hon. Eric Garcetti, Tom Hayden, Aqella Sherrills, Parke Skelton, & Lila Garrett. Sponsored by SCADA. L.A., CA, 6/24/01.

The Next Agenda Conference

Progressive LA: The Next Agenda Conference was held On October 20, 2001 in Los Angeles at the California Science Center.

The Progressive Los Angeles Network (PLAN) and the Institute for America’s Future "will co-sponsor an important conference -- the Next Agenda Conference -- designed to celebrate recent victories, build upon Los Angeles’ progressive momentum, and link local issues with a national progressive agenda. The conference will also help solidify a more strategic and integrated progressive movement in Los Angeles".

Speakers included Harold Meyerson, LA Weekly

Progressive Los Angeles Network

Circa 2002 , Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect, served on the Advisory board of the Democratic Socialists of America dominated Progressive Los Angeles Network.

Democratic Socialists of America

In 2000 Meyerson wasExecutive Editor of the L.A. Weekly and a Vice-Chair of Democratic Socialists of America.

In 2003 Holly Sklar addressed a Democratic Socialists of America Conference in Berkeley, California, along with Gus Newport, Harold Meyerson and Bob Wing.

LA DSA conference

An "insurgent" Hilda Solis was a keynote speaker at the 2005 Democratic Socialists of America national conference "Twenty-First Century Socialism" in Los Angeles, with DSA leaders Peter Dreier and Harold Meyerson.

Saturday evening delegates recognized the contributions of DSA vice chair and Washington Post]columnist Harold Meyerson, Occidental College sociologist and longtime DSAer Peter Dreier and insurgent California Congress member Hilda Solis (D) who in turn provided in-depth perspectives of the political scene.

Other speakers included ACORN chief organizer Wade Rathke, Kent Wong of the UCLA Labor Center and Roxana Tynan of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy.

"Third generation Menshivik"

At the Los Angeles conference DSA Vice Chair Harold Myerson, describing himself as a “third generation Menshivik”, discussed the continuing relevance of certain parts of the Communist Manifesto to understanding today’s “shareholder capitalism”.

Agenda for Shared Prosperity

from left: Harold Meyerson, Janet Gornick and Heidi Hartmann

On May 24, 2007, Agenda for Shared Prosperity, a project of the Democratic Socialists of America-dominated Economic Policy Institute, sponsored an event entitled "Getting Real About Families". Speaking at the event were Rep. Rosa DeLauro, introduced by Lawrence Mishel, Heidi Hartmann, introduced by Harold Meyerson, and Janet Gornick.

"Dissent" magazine

In 2009 the Democratic Socialists of America aligned Dissent Magazine masthead Editorial Board members were;

Bernard Avishai, Joanne Barkan, David Bensman, Marshall Berman, Paul Berman , H Brand, David Bromwich, Luther Carpenter , Jean L Cohen, Mitchell Cohen, Bogdan Denitch , Jeff Faux, Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, Todd Gitlin, Murray Hausknecht, Agnes Heller, Jeffrey Isaac, Michael Kazin , Martin Kilson, Erazim Kohak, William Kornblum, Jeremy Larner, Susie Linfield, Kevin Mattson, Deborah Meier, Harold Meyerson, Nicolaus Mills , Jo-Ann Mort, Brian Morton, Carol O'Cleireacain, George Packer, Martin Peretz, Anson Rabinbach, Ruth Rosen, James Rule, Alan Ryan, Patricia Cayo Sexton, Jim Sleeper, Ann Snitow, Cornel West, Sean Wilentz, Dennis Wrong.

The American Prospect

In 2009 Harold Meyerson was listed as the Editor-at-Large of The American Prospect.

DSA vice-chair

Democratic Socialists of America Vice-Chairs in 2009 were;

Elaine Bernard, Edward Clark, Jose LaLuz, Steve Max, Harold Meyerson, Maxine Phillips, Christine Riddiough, Rosemary Ruether, Joseph Schwartz, Ruth Spitz, Motl Zelmanowicz.

DSA National Executive Committee

In 1987 the Democratic Socialists of America National Executive Committee consisted of Laila Atallah (Baltimore), Joanne Barkan (New York), Pat Belcon (New York), Bogdan Denitch (New York), Mary Dunn (Lexington, KY), Angie Fa (San Francisco), Gerry Hudson (New York), Nancy Kleniewski (Rochester, NY), Mark Levinson (Detroit), Joan Mandle (Philadelphia), Marshall Mayer (Helena), Harold Meyerson (Los Angele), Guy Molyneux (Boston), Jo-Ann Mort (Brooklyn, NY), Marjorie Phyfe (Peaks Island, ME), Frances Fox Piven (Millerton, NY), Skip Roberts Rockville, MD), Jan Rosenberg (Brooklyn, NY), Joseph Schwartz (Cambridge, MA), Sylvia Sepulveda (San Antonio, TX), Jim Shoch (Cambridge, MA), Bill Spencer (Washington, D.C.), Ed Vargas (Hartford, CT), Cornel West (Hamden, CT).

Labor, the Left, and Progressives in the Obama Era

April 6, 2010 at the McShain Lounge in McCarthy Hall Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. a seminar "Labor, the Left, and Progressives in the Obama Era" was held.

After the success of health care reform, what’s next on labor’s agenda? How can the labor movement grow and engage with a progressive movement that speaks to the Obama era? What is the role of younger workers, workers of color, and women? Is there a new “New Deal” on the horizon?

Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed, Christopher Hayes, Washington editor of The Nation, Gerry Hudson, executive vice-president of the SEIU, Michael Kazin, co-editor of Dissent, Harold Meyerson, columnist for the Washington Post, and Liz Shuler, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO will speak.

Georgetown labor historian Joseph McCartin moderated.

The event was sponsored by Dissent magazine.

Stand with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

We Stand with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a 2018 letter signed by several Democratic Socialists of America members mainly from the DSA North Star in response to attacks on Ocasio-Cortez over remarks she made on Palestine.

A recent petition circulated by some DSA members criticizes Ocasio-Cortez for supporting a two state solution to the Palestine-Israel question and not aligning with a long list of demands regarding Palestine and Israel. Should Ocasio-Cortez fail to agree with this list of demands, the petitioners are calling for DSA to revoke her endorsement. These attacks on Ocasio-Cortez have come despite the fact that she has staked out positions which will make her one of the strongest advocates of Palestinian rights and self-determination in Congress.

We stand with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The position she has taken on Israel and Palestine are principled stances, worthy of a democratic socialist, in its recognition of both Palestinian humanity and rights and Israeli humanity and rights. On this issue, as many, she will be a voice for the voiceless in Congress.

Signatures included Harold Meyerson.

DSA North Star

In 2018 Harold Meyerson was an original signatory of the DSA North Star founding principles statement.

References

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