Benjamin Gilbert

Benjamin Gilbert is a co-founder of the Savannah Democratic Socialists of America. He is a member of the Portland Democratic Socialists of America.

Open Letter from RWU to the President

In November 2022 Benjamin Gilbert signed the Open Letter from RWU to the President .

2023 PDSA Convention Delegate Nomination List

Benjamin Gilbert is a 2023 Portland Democratic Socialists of America delegate nominee for the biennial DSA national convention to be held in Chicago, Illinois August 4-6, 2023.

DSA is the largest socialist organization in the United States, and our growth has been rapid these past couple years. However the rate of this growth varies regionally and chapter by chapter. I’ve seen firsthand how different DSA chapters look across the country. When I co-founded the Savannah Georgia Chapter of DSA I realized that discourse and debates at the national level of DSA often overlooked small chapters, specifically those chapters operating in republican dominated states. The tactics of chapters must be able to adapt to the material conditions of their regions. Larger chapters like ours are in a position to contest local and statewide elections and mobilize our large membership to achieve our ends. For example, Portland DSA Labor is an inspiring example of a chapter labor working group, but what does a labor working group look like in a city with a tiny labor movement, worse labor laws, and without the dedicated experienced labor organizers in our chapter. DSA is the largest socialist organization in the United States, but not every city has a Portland DSA, NYC DSA, DSA LA, etc. If we want our growth to be sustainable, we need strong chapters across the country. That will require many things, but I will provide three examples. First, we need a stronger national infrastructure to facilitate training, list work, and the other systems that are maintained by chapters but take up critical capacity from smaller chapters and hinder chapters ability to coordinate. The second is a national policy direction that recognizes that different regions require different strategies, but that doesn’t compromise our socialist principles. Finally we will need to be internationalists. There are socialists all around the world and we must not only learn from them, but coordinate with them. Both in the domains of combating imperialism, and in international solidarity. I am not currently in and have not been affiliated with any caucus.