Brian Escobar
Brian Escobar is a Peruvian-American activist from Central New York. He became a socialist in the wake of participating in the Occupy Movement. He joined DSA during the summer of 2016 after supporting Bernie Sanders’ first presidential run and being elected as a delegate for Sanders to the DNC. He was a founding member of Syracuse DSA and currently serves on the chapter’s Steering Committee as chapter co-chair. He is a former staff organizer with the Syracuse Peace Council and has served on the coordinating committees of Syracuse for Sanders and the Central New York Solidarity Coalition. He believes in the necessity of a transformative mass movement for socialism that develops a strategy for our present and future situation.[1]
Statement on Anti Blackness in the DSA
Statement on Anti Blackness in the DSA was released in February 2021:
We as the AfroSocialist and Socialists of Color Caucus stand in solidarity with the Black woman in DSA North Texas who was wrongfully suspended by DSA North Texas Co-chairs. This action by the DSA North Texas Co-chairs is racist and in particular anti-Black. This is not an isolated incident of racism but represents a pattern of anti-black and white supremacist actions within DSA which must be acknowledged, held accountable and systematically rooted out. There is a pattern of anti-black behavior that stems from the founding of DSA North Texas that has led to each generation of Co-chairs either perpetuating or being complicit in anti-black racism.
Signatories included Brian Escobar Syracuse Democratic Socialists of America.[2]
Socialist Majority Caucus
DSA's Socialist Majority Caucus signatories list as of April 25 2019 included Brian Escobar of Syracuse Democratic Socialists of America.
Albany DSA training
Anna Bonomo March 6 209·
Great weekend in Albany at the NY state pre-convention DSA conference! Nothing gives me more hope than being in a room with 100 socialists from across the state strategizing together and debating the pressing questions facing our org - and keeping it comradely the whole time! Can't wait to keep building DSA with you all. Biggest thanks ever to Capital District DSA, especially Jamie Munro, Dan Lyles, Peter Warren and Sean for making this conference possible. Now on to DC!
Everybody tag yourselves! — with Jamie Munro, Maria Svart, Ryan Bruckenthal, Chris Maisano, Zyad Hammad, Peter Warren, Nina Svirsky, Richard Chandonnet, Andrew Dobbyn, Sasha Hammad, Brian Escobar, Jeanette Zoeckler and Andrew Thomas.
CNY Solidarity Coalition Coordinating Committee
Members of the CNY Solidarity Coalition Coordinating Committee (Jan 1, 2017 – July 31, 2017), included Brian Escobar .
Beneficiaries of white privilege must speak out against racism
Brian Escobar signed a letter titled Beneficiaries of white privilege must speak out against racism, which was published by Syracuse.com on October 4, 2016.[3]
Letter
- "To the Editor:
- "This letter is from people who benefit from white privilege in Syracuse and Central New York. We are strongly opposed to the pervasive white supremacy and racism in our society that allow the commonplace murders of African-American men, women and children by police officers. "Serve and protect" has too often become "intimidate and shoot." Overwhelmingly, people of color in the U.S. fear and mistrust police and a judicial system that is stacked against them.
- "The commercial media frequently suggests that it is only people of color who oppose these injustices. We want to make it absolutely clear that the undersigned and millions of other white Americans stand with the Black Lives Matter movement and protest-actions by others in Central New York and across the United States.
- "We specifically support the recent protests by athletes at Nottingham and Jamesville-DeWitt high schools. Acting against injustice is always difficult, and these young people are to be applauded for representing the values our country is supposed to stand for.
- "We urge white people to step outside the comfort of white privilege and, for example, try to imagine how it feels to be a parent explaining to your 10-year old son the special police rules he must understand and follow if he is to survive.
- "Keith L. Scott was murdered Sept. 20, 2016 in Charlotte N.C., while waiting to pick up his child at a bus stop. A few days earlier, a man with his hands raised was murdered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a few days before that, a teenager carrying a BB gun was murdered in Columbus, Ohio. All were African-Americans, all were murdered by police.
- "This epidemic of "legal" killings reflects a resurgence of white supremacist attitudes that must be addressed by all fair-minded white people. We urge you to speak and act against racism in your daily lives.
- "We want justice now!
DSA Disability Caucus/Working Group
Members of the DSA Disability Caucus/Working Group, closed Facebook group. as of July 16, 2017 included Brian Escobar .[4]
Disability Caucus
During the weekend of August 4-6, 2017 nearly 1000 people took part in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) 2017’s national convention, where we deal with issues large and small.
On Sunday, the DSA Disability Caucus/Working Group wanted to insert phrasing referencing disabled comrades in the national priorities resolution, a document that articulates the political and social focus of DSA’s work in the next two years. Specifically, we wanted to have our disabled comrades recognized as an important identity group within DSA, alongside our comrades of color and our comrades in the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Disability Caucus and Working Group members at the convention decided to make a series of motions on the floor of the convention, including the aforementioned motion to add reference to disabled comrades to the national priorities resolution.
Signers of this post included Brian Escobar, Syracuse Democratic Socialists of America.
"Wholesome Meme Stash"
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America Wholesome Meme Stash closed Facebook group, accessed November 14, 2017 included Brian Escobar.[5]
Conference delegates
Syracuse Democratic Socialists of America July 9 2019:
The 2019 DSA National Convention will be held August 1st-4th in Atlanta, Georgia. As an official chapter, we are able to send delegates to the convention to represent our chapter.
In May and June, we held an election to choose these delegates, with dues paying members participating through a ranked-choice voting system.
Our delegates will be: Brian Escobar, Matt Huber, Jeanette Zoeckler