Hello from your 2023 CA-DSA State Committee!
Our nine-member California DSA State Committee, elected at the May State Council meeting, is responsible for organizing and steering the statewide organization between Council meetings. We’re a diverse set of organizers from up and down California, and we’re excited to be shepherding California DSA for the next year!
The last year has been a worrying time to be a socialist in the United States. For many liberal Californians, the urgency of political organizing waned with the ascension of Joe Biden to the presidency. But conservative and reactionary forces have not stopped, and have even become more vicious, targeting our most vulnerable neighbors. Republican attacks on queer and trans people have reached even the most liberal cities in California and have conveniently combined with pre-existing interests to launch renewed attacks on teachers’ unions and public education.
Meanwhile, the allowed expiration of pandemic housing protections by liberals eager to placate real estate & landlord capitalists has accelerated the homelessness and housing affordability crisis. Rather than attacking those capitalist interests head on, many politicians are doubling down on policing and blaming our unhoused neighbors for being victimized. California’s rainy spring combined with climate change trends mean 2023 is likely to bring another intense wildfire season that has already started in Canada. Meanwhile, Governor Newsom has flagrantly disregarded his transformative campaign promises and focused on performative actions to grow his national profile and ambitions, rather than improving the material conditions of working Californians.
Despite these conditions, opportunities for the working class to fight back and grow the left are still abundant. Massive, transformative strikes are kicking off across California and the nation. Earlier this year, California DSA hosted a retrospective on the historic UC UAW strike, and DSA chapters organized support for teachers’ and public school workers’ unions in Oakland and Los Angeles. In Hollywood, WGA workers have been on strike for over two months and have organized an unprecedented level of solidarity from other Hollywood unions and the city at-large. Across Southern California, tens of thousands of hospitality workers with UNITE HERE Local 11 just launched a historic strike against some of the country’s wealthiest hotel corporations, Starbucks workers continue to organize new unions at historic rates, while nationally, DSA members and chapters are preparing for a historic potential Teamsters strike against UPS.
With the formation of California DSA, we have a huge opportunity to begin to win and demonstrate socialist power in the California legislature. While most people are preparing for the 2024 Presidential elections, which promise to be an uninspiring re-election of Joe Biden at best, Democratic Socialists have already demonstrated significant success in winning transformative reforms in favor of the working class through local and state elections – most notably with the passing of the Build Public Renewables Act championed by New York DSA’s For The Many legislators. Here in California, we’re preparing to mobilize our membership for state legislative and statewide ballot measure elections in 2024, where we have an opportunity to shake up the single-party Democratic state that California has become.
So we need you to get involved! In addition to the projects of our Labor and Electoral committees, your State Committee is preparing to launch a new series of listening sessions with chapters across the state, and will be facilitating new opportunities for cross-chapter work, leader development, and mentorship. Please fill out our get involved with California DSA form, and stay on the lookout for new opportunities to get involved ahead of the September 16 State Council Meeting.
In solidarity,
California DSA State Committee
Cailyn N (they/she) Treasurer
In addition to their role as treasurer, Cailyn is also an organizer in the Eastside/San Gabriel Valley branch of DSA-LA, where they have lived for almost a decade.
Tal Levy (he/him) co-chair
Tal has been an active organizer with DSA Los Angeles since 2017, most recently chairing the chapter’s Electoral Committee during its successful 2022 electoral cycle.
Hazel W (she/they) co-chair
Hazel has been organizing with DSA San Francisco for 5 years, driving forward the chapter’s mutual aid and tenant organizing work, serving as chapter co-chair, and developing its priority system and leadership development program.
Alex Beltran (she/her)
Alex is a community organizer from the Inland Empire and Secretary for Inland Empire DSA’s Labor Working Group.
Fred Glass (he/him)
Fred, East Bay DSA and AFT 2121 member, is an author, filmmaker, retired union communications director and labor educator.
Renée Paradis (she/her)
Renée is a native of Sonoma County who lives and works in the East Bay as a civil rights lawyer. She originally joined NYC-DSA in 2017 and has been active in the organization’s electoral work since then. She helped build CA-DSA as East Bay’s representative to the CA-DSA exploratory committee and served as one of its inaugural cochairs.
Andre Arguelles (he/him)
Andre is a member of the San Fernando Valley branch of DSA Los Angeles, where he serves as the chapter's Recording Secretary.
Michael “Misha” Kesselman (he/him)
Michael is a member of Peninsula DSA and is a Society and Environment major at UC Berkeley. In California DSA, Michael focuses on YDSA and electoral organizing. Michael was also a student for Bernie campus organizer.
Paul Zappia (he/him) Secretary
Paul is a member of DSA Los Angeles and a member of the California and National Electoral Committees. He has been active in design and electoral organizing since the Bernie and Prop 15 campaigns in 2020.
