Featured image: Jon Grant, who is running for Seattle City Council Position 8, speaks to around 600 people in the University of Washington’s Kane Hall for the Seattle Socialism Conference, Sunday, April 2, 2017. Photo by Joanna Magner/Seattle DSA
By Ty and Cora Alexander
Socialism is experiencing a massive resurgence in America in the face of the Trump administration, and nowhere was that more obvious than at the Seattle Socialism Conference held Sunday, April 2 in the University of Washington’s Kane Hall.
20 minutes until doors at the Seattle socialism conference. This is outside the hall pic.twitter.com/hWghKW0IQI
— Joshua Koritz (@ritz135) April 2, 2017
A Socialist World Is Possible! Huge turnout at Seattle Socialism Conference hosted by @SocialistAlt @SeattleDSA @SeattleISO pic.twitter.com/WzGC6XwFl6
— Manuel Carrillo (@ManuelTheCylon) April 2, 2017
Guess there are a few people in Seattle interested in socialism. pic.twitter.com/kSeUMjSxcc
— Heidi Groover (@heidigroover) April 2, 2017
Organized by the Seattle chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, Socialist Alternative and the International Socialist Organization (ISO), the conference brought together around 600 attendees to build solidarity between socialist groups, emphasize the key importance of workers in the fight for social and economic justice, and most important of all, discuss ways to fight back against the devastating policies and proposals put forth by the Trump administration.
Speakers included leaders from the socialist organizations as well as local Seattle activists and politicians. The centerpiece of the conference was a discussion between the editor of Jacobin magazine and Vice-Chair of the DSA Bhaskar Sunkara, Socialist Alternative National Secretary Philip Locker and the audience.
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- Watch Seattle DSA chair Andrej Markovčič open the conference and introduce Socialist Alternative organizer Ty Moore, who explains how “the best recruiter for socialism is capitalist systems”. Photo by David Peters/Seattle DSA
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- Watch Seattle mayoral candidate and longtime community activist Nikkita Oliver discuss race, resistance, and how socialists can “walk our talk”. Photo by David Peters/Seattle DSA
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- Watch Jon Grant, Seattle City Council candidate and tenant’s rights activist, about how he wants to help make Seattle “an equitable place”. Photo by David Peters/Seattle DSA
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- Watch Seattle City Council and Socialist Alternative member Kshama Sawant tell socialists they should “refuse to limit (themselves) to what is acceptable” to the establishment. Photo by David Peters/Seattle DSA
