YDSA at SJSU
YDSA at SJSU is a San Jose State University affiliate of Young Democratic Socialists of America.
San Jose State students say no to US intervention
Students for Democratic Society SJSU is dedicated to progressive issues, according to its Instagram account page.
The student group was answering a call to action raised by the United National Antiwar Coalition, an organization dedicated to anti-war movements and unifying “collective action against a major perpetrator of war and injustice: U.S. government,” according to its website.
David Almeida, history senior and the Students for Democratic Society SJSU first secretary – a term coined to stray from a title that establishes executive power and pursues a more collective leadership – said one of the group’s founding principles is opposition against any U.S. war.
“Look at Cuba right now,” said John Duroyan, history junior and Students for Democratic Society SJSU member. “It's facing these economic difficulties despite their great strides in social programs because of this blockade and it's utterly ludicrous.”
Duroyan said he was tasked as a speaker of the event, in which he shared the history of the trade embargo and advocated for the removal of U.S. military involvement in Cuba and other countries.
He was joined by members of YDSA at SJSU, including Sam Bigelow, the group’s president, who came out to support Students for Democratic Society SJSU because of their shared beliefs.[1]
Rally in defense of Roe v. Wade
On May 16 2022, about 50 students gathered at the Olympic Black Power Statue, at San José State University, to rally in defense of Roe v. Wade.
This rally was led by members of New Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), along with Student Homeless Alliance (SHA), Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).
David Almeida from SDS reminded the crowd about the decades long struggle of blood, sweat and tears that the women’s movement faced in the 1960s and 1970s to win these rights.
Muskan Parashar from YDSA at SJSU identified it as a working-class issue. “Abortion rights are something 70% of Americans agree on; it’s a working-class issue, it’s a race issue, it’s a gender issue.” Parashar added, “We all know that banning abortions will not stop abortions, they will simply stop safe abortions.”
Irom Thockchom of PSL spoke to the failures of the Democrat Party. “The Democratic Party is in control of two of the three houses of government. [They] had the chance to codify Roe v. Wade, prove to us that we should vote for them and that they actually care about our rights, and the Women’s Health Protection Act lost 49-51, with our old friend, Joe Manchin, deciding that this is not a right that deserves to be protected.”
Tiffany Yep, from Student Homeless Alliance, spoke about her mother’s difficult pregnancy with her, and her other two twin siblings. Her mother had to abort the fourth fetus in her womb due to health complications.[2] [[Category:YDSA at SJSU