If any of y’all have any ideas on talking points we should bring up or some short scripts that we can take to Lodi Pride.
Hopefully we can find some potential Friends and Comrades.
So far I think the ideas were
Lemme know what y’all think!
SUGGESTED SCRIPT:
Hi. My name is (fill in the blank). I’m with Working Class Unity. We’re a new local group dedicated to building a strong and organized working class, so that we can forge a future in which all people can thrive, not just the wealthy and the powerful.
Yeah, that’s a great introduction!
We should prolly include some of this info too
I’d also include something that emphasizes that we have the same goals, wants and needs and having a United front will give us a stronger voice.
Thank you @HipGnosis for starting the thread and everyone for their input!
I expanded on some of your posts and wrote up this short essay that I’m going to post on WCU’s IG and FB. Let me know what you think! I’ll make it a text post so I can edit it after posting based on feedback.
From the inception of the gay liberation movement, activists recognized that true liberation could not be achieved without freedom from capitalism. In the movement’s early years, activists advocated for adequate income, housing, medical care, and guaranteed employment.
John D’Emilio, author of Capitalism and Gay Identity, said in a recent interview, "What was called gay liberation comes into existence on the heels of the left-wing radicalism that existed in the latter part of the 1960s, whether in racial justice movements or a version of radical feminism or the antiwar movement. Because it was of a piece with those movements, it began with an impulse to challenge this thing that was then called “the system.” It shared a revolutionary call to action with a universalist view of freedom.
However, the shift towards identity politics has led to a narrowing of these broader demands. The women’s, black, and gay movements have all retreated from their initial radical goals and adopted more liberal objectives. Today, the focus is on combating discrimination and ensuring integration into the existing system. While we have gained the right to be hired without discrimination based on our identities, we have not even gained the right to be paid at least a living wage.
Universal goals that could liberate us from the constraints of capitalism, like those championed by Bayard Rustin and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, have been relegated to the background. Capitalism has not only failed to overcome homophobia or transphobia or address issues such as housing and healthcare, but it has also exacerbated these problems over time. Establishment politicians who call themselves allies now align with identity groups to shore up support for neoliberalism.
Although socialism may not be able to eradicate bigotry from every individual’s mind, it can eliminate the power of wealthy or influential bigots to oppress others. Socialism would provide LGBT people, and all working people, the security to live their lives to the fullest, without fear of others’ prejudiced thoughts.
This is why Working Class Unity proudly stands with our LGBT siblings today. Despite our varying races, genders, and sexualities, we all share a common enemy. Only through a truly solidaristic and universalistic socialist program can we break free from the shackles of capitalism.
I ended up having to leave early but I talked to a few people and handed out quite a few flyers.
It was nice to get to talk to a couple of y’all but I know I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself to everyone who showed up.
I was encouraged by the relatively positive reception people gave us.
Hopefully occasions like will allow us to grow as a community going into the future!
How did the outreach go?!
Several people signed up, both online and in person, including a few young people we will need to make parental consent forms for. Younger people in general were very receptive to hearing about a socialist organization forming in SJC.
As a note, not everyone in our social media image during Lodi Pride knew it would be posted on our main WCU IG page. I offered to take the post down and they requested we do so, so that’s why it has been archived.