Rafael PiRoman

Rafael PiRoman

Template:TOCnestleft Rafael (Raphael) PiRoman...

DSOC

Victoria Cross was in 1982 serving on the National Executive Committee of then Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee , Chair of the Detroit Local and working at the UAW.

Sketch for a poster for the first DSA conference, March 1982. Delegates from DSOC and NAM met in Detroit to form the Democratic Socialists of America.

Victoria Cross Blushing. Just been an active democratic-socialist all my life. And, I tried to do all I could in the "Dee" and I try to do all I might here on the other side of the border. I married a Canadian and am an immigrant in this fair land, and have "done some time" with the New Democrats, too. I am of the Penny Schantz, Miriam Bensman, Joseph Schwartz, Mark Levinson, Rafael PiRoman, Ben Tafoya, David Rathke et al, generation of DSOC peeps. With many mentors of the previous generations, including Roger Robinson and Oscar Pascal. Mike was so right when he used to tell our summer school and winter conferences for the Youth Section to look around and see that "these are your life-comrades; you may argue, you may get angry, you may have differing points of view at one given minute or another, but please, remember that we are all socialists." And yes, I've met Bernie, and Cornel, Barbara, Dorothy Healey, Saul Wellman, and all sorts of trade union activists and leaders and all of "the folks" from all sorts of social movements who have never stopped working. And yes, we still argue, but we are on the Arc Toward Justice. I try to respect them all, and well, when I got "here" I worked as a constituency rep for years and years and had the joy and pleasure of working with many solid New Democrats. I have the joy of having known Howard Pawley well, and continue in the joy of being friends with Adele Pawley and the Pawley family, for example.

Danielle Aubert Victoria Cross Roger Robinson is still very active with the Detroit chapter, and I believe Oscar Pascal started coming to general meetings again the last few months!! amazing this crossed your timeline !

Victoria Cross Roger will never stop. He and Meg Zimmeth are my blood buddies.Oscar will never stop. Once one crosses the Rubicon of "thinking like a socialist" there is never any turning back. Because the world changes before your eyes. The scales fall off and the role of individuals changes. We act in different ways, different arenas, with different coalitions and groups, but we keep trying and striving and picking where and when to intervene and organize to make the world change. I mean, I could get all academic and talk about dialectics and the "fulcrum of the dialectic" but here we are, in various spots and points just trying to do good, advance civilization, despite all the challenges.

Democratic Socialists of America Anti-Racism Commission

In 1982 the Democratic Socialists of America Anti-Racism Commission/Hispanic Commission, was co-chaired by:

• Mel Pritchard San Diego
• Rafael PiRomanNew York
• Jose LaLuz

DSA Conference delegate

In 1983 Rafael PiRoman was a New York delegate to the Democratic Socialists of America conference in New York City, October 14-16, 1983

Hispanic Commission

In 1983 PiRoman was a national co-chair of the DSA Hispanic Commission. He has a master's degree in international affairs, specializing in Latin America.

Labor unionist

In 1983 Rafael PiRoman was business agent for the east coast's Local 15 of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians.

Nicaragua trip

Deborah Meier and Rafael PiRoman visited Nicaragua early in 1983. They went as two of the three co-chairs of a delegation from the Democratic Socialists of America.

Although their trip was brief, they had unusual opportunities to interview numer-ous government officials and Sandinista leaders, as well as independent trade unionists and members of the political opposition...

They were guided by a Sandinista;

Our guide, who was a Sandinista, came into the meetings -the only meetings he joined us for were the meeting with La Prensa and the meeting with the opposition parties

We met for three hours with the secretary-general of the Central de Trabajadores Nicaraguenses (CTN), the central body of the opposition trade unions, and more briefly with the CTN executive committee...

The delegation and the DSA national board did, however, issue strong condemnations of covert American aid to anti-Sandinista military forces...

DSA concert

On April 23, 1991 Democratic Socialists of America brought together a crowd of at least 800 to the Riverside Church in New York City to hear Billy Bragg, Pete Seeger, Gretchen Reed, Robin Holcomb, and Kate McGarrigle and Anna McGarrigle. Amid the stunning atmosphere of the church, the performers entertained and inspired the audience with songs and stories of the struggle for social justice. DSA's Rafael PiRoman served as Master of Ceremonies and Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger introduced the event. The concert was sponsored by Youth For Jobs, Peace and Freedom, a project of the Institute for Democratic Socialism and the DSA Youth Section.

DSA Racial Diversity Task Force

In 1992 Rafael PiRoman was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America Racial Diversity Task Force - charged with finding ways of recruiting (and retaining) more "people of color" into the organization.

DSA’s Cuba Letter

Rafael PiRoman signed an April 2003 Statement on Cuba, initiated and circulated by prominent Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member Leo Casey, calling for the lifting of trade sanctions against Cuba.

“a statement circulating among democratic left/socialist folks, largely by members of Democratic Socialists of America, condemning the recent trials and convictions of non-violent dissenters in Cuba”.

The petition criticized Cuba's poor human rights record, but shared the blame for Cuba's problems with reactionary elements of the U.S. administration...

The democratic left worldwide has opposed the U.S. embargo on Cuba as counterproductive, more harmful to the interests of the Cuban people than helpful to political democratization. The Cuban state's current repression of political dissidents amounts to collaboration with the most reactionary elements of the U.S. administration in their efforts to maintain sanctions and to institute even more punitive measures against Cuba.

Many of the petition's 120 odd signatories were known members of DSA.

Cuban Cultural Center of New York

Rafael PiRoman at the NY Cuban Center, 2007

Rafael PiRoman attended the Annual Congress of the Cuban Cultural Center of New York on Saturday, June 30, 2007.

References

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