Democratic Socialists of America Unity

Democratic Socialists of America Unity Through Diversity Network is a faction of Democratic Socialists of America organized to maintain unity at the organization's 2017 national convention in Chicago and beyond.

The signers of this document hope other delegates will join us in building a loose network (i.e., not a disciplined caucus) at the 2017 DSA convention that will support DSA’s multi-tendency nature and an emphasis on achieving unity around organizing projects despite our diverse ideological views.

We believe that there is great potential for recruitment from people that are not yet self-identified socialists, and that working in movements broader than DSA, such as the Sanders campaign, will help DSA continue to grow.

We believe that such recruitment can occur through a national project around Medicare For All (and against cuts in the existing Medicaid and Medicare programs) and other priorities adopted at the convention. But we also recognize that vibrant chapters may also work in a coordinated manner in compelling local or state struggles for labor rights, voting rights and other racial and gender justice concerns.

Looking back at terrain the organization faced at the last convention and the commitment we made to work wholeheartedly around the Sanders campaign, we see much that is still relevant but also some that has changed. We believe that this combination of continuity and change provides the best guidance to where DSA is today and what DSA should be doing going forward.

The Unity Through Diversity Network is not proposing a slate of NPC candidates. Instead we ask that all delegates keep in mind the need to continue to work together and leverage diversity, one of our best assets.

Supporters

John Adams, WA; Bill Barclay, IL; Ned Burke, OR; Susan Chacin, CA; Travis Donoho, TN; Danny Fetonte, TX; Bill Fletcher, Jr.; Daniel Hanley, GA; Jose Gutierrez, DC; Gregory Laynor, PA; Charles Lenchner, NY: David Littman, GA: Jessie Mannisto, DC; Steve Max, NY; Mo Menon, CA; Sam Miemczewski, IL; Shelby Murphy, TX; Chau Ngo, TX; Michael Nye, CA; Brandon Peyton-Carrillo, IL; Hope Payton-Carrillo, IL; Maxine Phillips, NY; Ben Pope, AR; Christine Riddiough, DC; Eric Robertson, GA; Joseph Schwartz, PA; Glenn Scott, TX; Peg Strobel, IL; Jack Suria Linares, CA; Daniel Adkins, VA; Tom Tilden, NE; Mark Schaeffer, NY; Rachel Ochs-Mejia, FL; Duane Campbell, CA; Bill Yates, WA; Dave Anderson, CO: Kathryn Eskew NY; John Heppen, MN; Ingrid Goldstrom, MD; Thomas Wells, CA: Richard Schultz, IL; Rima Lunin Schultz, IL; Bradly McGarr, MN; Dylan Parker, IL; Justine Medina, NY; David Knuttunen, MA; Marshall Mayer, MT; Bob Feldman, MD; Harlan Baker, ME; Gordon Davis IL; Leonard Pierce, IL; Merrill Miller, MD/DC; Kyle Kern, FL; Aleta Alston-Toure, CA; Joshua Tuccio, GA; Matthew Wolfsen, GA; Connor Lewis, PA; Adam Chaikof, MA; Larry Cafiero, CA; Adam Wasserman, FL; Anand Perala, FL; Randy Ramirez, NJ; Barbara Joye, GA; Milt Tambor, GA; John Hieronymus, IL; Tim Mills, IL; Jim Tourtelott, TX; Caleb White, TX; Randy Shannon, PA; PJ Peterson, OH; Maurice Isserman, NY; Sitina Gutierrez, TX; Jim Albers, OH; Winnie Wong, NY; Claire Kaplan, VA; Ron Nelson, TX; Gary Yarus, KY; Erin Peck, NE; Albert Herter, NY; Sara Mae Williams, AZ; Catherine Liu, CA; Steve Compton, SC; Bria Cole, NY; Jamie McGurk, CA; James Hare, NY; Jack Clark, DC; Tom Canel, MA; Andrew Costigan, TX; Bob Cash, TX; Sharon Alkalay, NY; Ted Auerbach, NY; Noah Baron, CA; Gabe Kramer, PA; Carl Davidson, PA; Bob Caine, GA; Jeff Lacher, MN; Michele Rossi, PA; Maxwell Ruppersburg, PA; Hannah Zimmerman, NY; Nathan Newman, NY; Mark Watson, GA; Dana Steer, NY; J. Hughes, CT; Bonnie Lambert, MT; Lori Challberg, PA; Jim Williams, WA; Arthur Fretheim, MT; Seth Kulick, PA; Penny Schantz, France; Esha Krishnaswamy, CA; Philip Bradford, WA; Maria Garth, IL; Timothy Roberts, TX; Louis Marti, NY; Michael Bennett, NY; Kevin Johnson, Jr., MD; Timothy Sears, WA; Itzhak Epstein, NY; Katherin I, MA; Raymond Franklin, GA; Eamonn Caddigan, PA; Travis Reid, GA; Eric Fink, NC; Ron Whitehorne, PA; Artemis Langford, WY; Luke Adams, CA; Alex Dotson, PA; Tom Broderick, IL; Paul Garver, MA; David Lundeen, IL; Bob Reilly, IL; John Johnson, IL; Hilda Schlatter, IL; Natasha Abner, NJ; Marjorie Phyfe, ME; Carrol Smith, IL; Herb Shore, CA; Joel Sipress, MN; John Krumm, MN; Barbara Fetonte, TX; Mickey Fetonte, TX; Virginia Franco, CA; Theresa Alt, NY; Karl Knobler, CA; Kim William Jones, MN; Amanda Klein, PA; Lizzy Brady, IL; Paul Sakol, IL; Adrian Calderon, IL; Ben Kreider, MA; Jeff May, CA; Chris Lowe, OR; Meg Welch, IL; Dari Smith, FL; Ken Quam, MD; Sam Smucker, IL; Nathan Helsabeck, IL; Andrew Burke, NJ; Kathryn Eskew, NY; Adrian Bleifuss Prados, IL; Ron Nelson, TX; Jackie Bailey, TX; Ron Garner, NY; Jack Deskins, WV; Ethan Young, NY; James Kelleher, NY; Jacob Walkinshaw, FL; Dan DiMaggio, NY; Danya Lagos, NY; Hamer Rodriguez, PA; Bryan LaVergne, TX; Richard Hughes, MA; John Magisano, NY; Chase Burghgrave, IL; Zach Denney, CA; Ted Glomski, WI; Jake Bell, AZ; Bobby Hayden, OR; Kara Nowakowski, NY; Dan Pozzie, RI; Michael Zavor, IN; Scott Plant, IL; Parker Haile, CO;