Purpose.
Afrosocialists in Los Angeles advocates for and builds power with DSA Los Angeles’ Black membership and the Black community of LA. We pursue this work to help build a multiracial working-class base, the only viable strategy for securing a socialist future.Through public and internal education and agitation, we aim to continue the legacy of the Black Radical Tradition, as well as the radical traditions of other oppressed minorities. Our goal is to act as a network that will support and develop Black DSA-LA members as leaders in the organization and in the community.
Join us.
Afrosocialists in LA has no dues requirement. Anyone is welcome to subscribe to mailing list updates. While we will not police people's identities, some of our events and programming is intended only for those who identify as Black or of the African Diaspora.
Reparations
Who Gets a Check?
Being, "Black in America" takes many forms. One thing that's true is that being black itself presents individuals and communities with multifaceted socio-economic hurdles.Outside of the symbolic "check" that reparations could be, there are more opportunities to employ various programs to promote equitable re-distribution of wealth for all black individuals in this country, not only America Descendants of Slaves. Standing in solidarity with those who are descendants of slaves all across the African Diaspora gives our demands strength and doesn't allow for the right-wing and ruling class agenda to divide and conquer the black community to maintain their power.
A Pan-African Approach
The ultimate demand takes the form of global reparations - a debt owed to all descendants of slaves affected by the atrocities committed by colonialism around the world.
The wealth of world powers is directly connected to the free labor exploited from African and Indigenous slaves globally. The capitalism that colonialism brought with it tried to steal our history, culture, and self-love.
Power to the people and solidarity with our brothers and sisters of the Diaspora!
About Black Capitalism...
From Jay Z to Oprah Winfrey - we're constantly bombarded with the myth of Black Capitalism as a means to undo the damage of capitalism for black America. The exploitative nature of capitalism won't save us, not by a long shot. Gentrifying your own neighborhood sounds harmless, but entrepreneurship and "buying Black" can only get us so far. As the late Fred Hampton once said "We're not going to fight capitalism with black capitalism, but we're going to fight it with socialism."
"...The reasons black neighborhoods are troubled - mass eviction, mass incarceration, double-digit unemployment, redlining - can hardly be blamed on the death of black ownership. Changing them will require political and artistic narratives that extend beyond the scope of black commerce."
- Aaron Ross Coleman of The Nation