Welcome to Dispatch #29! The Left got some much needed victories over the past couple weeks, so let’s talk about why. We’ll dive into some key lessons from Zohran’s campaign, the real ways compromise can actually hold us back, and why we should stay unwavering in our vision for the future.
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Easy Actions to Take
Why: Amazon has the resources and scale to redefine what it means to be a responsible company in the era of the climate crisis, but it’s not going to do it without pressure. Join Amazon workers as they try to pressure the company for more ethical scaling of AI technology. If you are an Amazon employee, sign this letter too! Organized by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice
Why: ICE has a hiring problem, and Salesforce is trying to help. A new report in the New York Times exposed that CEO Marc Benioff pitched ICE on using Salesforce AI tools to help hire 10,000 more agents. ICE has flooded the streets of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Portland, and is now gearing up in the San Francisco Bay Area to execute violent raids, round up immigrants, and brutalize protesters. No tech company should be doubling down and proposing deals that will help ICE hire more officers to escalate these horrors. Organized by MPower For Change
Why: British Muslim journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi was detained at San Francisco International Airport on October 26th, due to his criticism of Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza. This campaign demands his immediate release and accountability from ICE officials. Organized by Words of Justice
Little (Movement) Wins
Looking for ways to improve your conflict-resolution building skills? Shareable is hosting a free workshop, Navigating Conflict with Dean Spade, to help you more confidently confront conflicts and navigate group dynamics in mutual aid organizing.
It's a 90-minute, beginner-friendly workshop designed to give anyone ready to get serious about coalition and community building, because authoritarianism doesn’t stand a chance against a connected and emotionally mature community.
🗓 Thu, Nov 25 @ 3pm US Eastern Time on Zoom
Why Socialism Won in NYC (and How To Do It Again)
Activist History
Mayoral elections don’t often make global headlines, but the recent election in New York City on November 4th certainly did. In an unprecedented upset, Zohran Mamdani, a proud Democratic Socialist candidate, ran on an unapologetically socialist platform and defeated Andrew Cuomo, a deeply entrenched politician backed by the political elite and corporate establishment. The idea that a Muslim socialist could become the leader of the center of capitalism of the world, where so many billionaires made their riches, in a post-9/11 America consumed by Islamaphobic narratives, was unheard of. In many ways this was a more than just an election, it was a loud rejection of Zionism, unrestricted capitalism, and billionaire complicity that’s symbolic of the crossroads the world is at. It’s a sign of a deepening working class consciousness forming, and a growing cry for real change.
Zohran’s campaign is a reminder that strong grassroots organization can topple even the most entrenched political powers. Many consultants and analysts will say it was Zohran’s social media presence that shot him to victory. We think it goes deeper:
- POLICIES ROOTED IN MATERIAL NEEDS
Zohran’s campaign featured clear and easily understandable policy demands that addressed the real material needs of New Yorkers. From the beginning the goal was to make “New York City more affordable” and his platform supported that mission with policies that everyone could understand and get behind such as “Fast & Free Buses,” “Universal Childcare,” “Freeze the Rent,” and “City-Run Grocery Stores.” These are practical policies not rooted in ideology; they are rooted in working-class reality. - A STRONG GROUND GAME
Social media is invaluable for getting the word out, but it is no replacement for knocking on doors and talking to people directly. In today’s world, people’s perceptions are influenced heavily by the media (most of which is owned by billionaires). That means false narratives and fearmongering are easily spread through our media, which is exactly what the ruling class tried to do to Zohran. The cure is direct interaction. Zohran knocked on thousands of doors in all 5 boroughs of the city, directly combating false narratives with face-to-face conversation. - RUN FOR SOMETHING, NOT AGAINST SOMEONE
Zohran’s campaign focused solely on a clear vision for the future - a city that working-class New Yorkers can afford. He wasn’t running against Cuomo, but for a better future. Too often in party politics, the message is “I’m not the other guy.” This doesn’t inspire hope or a willingness to fight. A clear vision of the future that others can see themselves in provides the fuel to grow a campaign into a movement. - IDENTITY AS A FEATURE, NOT A PLATFORM
Zohran is a Muslim immigrant, born in Uganda, but it was never the sole focus of his campaign and it wasn’t the main reason to vote for him. His identity informed his campaign messaging and was weaved throughout, but it wasn’t the main reason why he should get people’s votes. When pressed by the media, he opened up about the difficulty of being Muslim in a post 9/11 America, but it was a human moment, not a PR stunt.
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Necropolitics
The Conscious Citizens Dictionary
Necropolitics is a sociopolitical theory developed by philosopher Achille Mbembe that examines how social and political power is used to determine who may live and who must die. The use of necropolitics creates what Mbembe calls “deathworlds” or forms of social existence where large populations are subjected to conditions that reduce them to the status of "the living dead." While necropolitics does include various forms of political violence such as the right to impose social or civil death, and the right to enslave others, it is also about the right to restrict resources from people (including a country's own citizens) to impose a “slow death.”
Racism is a primary driver for necropolitics, as seen in the food deserts across Black-majority neighborhoods, the apartheid in Palestine and South Africa, or the construction of infrastructure through immigrant communities.
The theory provides a critical lens for understanding how power operates not just through fostering life, but through determining whose deaths matter and whose suffering is normalized or ignored.
Why Compromise Holds Back Progress
Connecting the Dots
Whenever there is a major political upset, the consultants and analysts start working in overtime. Why did this happen? Why did voter X vote for issue Y? How can we reach more people? How can we keep this from happening again? Trying to think strategically about the future, and analyzing what has happened in the past, can easily make politics feel incredibly convoluted and lock us in intellectual sparring matches that ultimately don’t make much impact in the real world. We can try to all be political consultants trying to figure out what specific combination of words or policy positions will win the most votes - but let’s be honest, this isn’t an enjoyable or realistic way to engage with politics for most people. At best, it waters down our demands. Political analysts will tell candidates that “Universal healthcare is not realistic” but the net result is that millions still do not have healthcare. When we pull our punches, our enemies are the ones who win.
Hamilton Nolan, independent journalist and former staff writer at Gawker, has a simpler suggestion: “Think about what you want to happen. Then fight for that thing.” In this article, Nolan reflects on two recent events - the election of Zohran Mamdani and the death of Dick Cheney (the architect behind the disastrous Iraq War) - to explore this simple but liberating idea.
History is shaped by those who fight uncompromisingly for what they believe.
“When the Bolsheviks wanted communism, they fought for communism. When the revolutionaries wanted revolution, they made revolutions. When the capitalists wanted capitalism, they killed everyone who stood in their way. When the religious people wanted to spread their religions, they preached those religions, and also killed everyone who stood in their way.”
The lesson: As we rally around the world to force change, we must be clear-eyed and uncompromising in our vision. Looking at “the electorate” and trying to shape yourself in order to get on their good side is not the way to do politics. Even when it wins, it achieves less than it should. It produces, in the long run, the stagnation lack of progress that makes people cynical about politics. We can’t be mired by analysis or political maneuvering that pushes us to reduce our goal to the lowest common denominator. We have already lost too much by doing so for too long.
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“When art stops asking for permission and starts building systems, it becomes policy. Art isn’t just expression, it’s infrastructure. Culture is how we build nations.”
-Theophilus Atuahene Adu
Conscious Creatives: Rand Jarallah
Rand Jarallah is a Palestinian artist, activist, and human rights advocate who uses makeup and performance art to raise awareness for global crises. Born and raised in Palestine, she grew up with conflict as a daily experience and found her outlet in art from an early age. She chose makeup as her medium specifically for its juxtaposition with activism, challenging the perception that makeup is disempowering to women by instead using it as an artistic tool to deliver messages about human rights and mental health. Using her face as a canvas to draw attention to social issues, her goal is to break stereotypes and demonstrate that makeup can be a form of empowerment and a powerful creative tool for raising collective consciousness. Through her work, she gives a voice (and face) to issues that aren't being addressed as urgently as they should, and is an example of how we don't need much to speak up for the causes we believe in.
Resources & Tools
Please share these links with anyone that might find them helpful:
- 💝 DORA NYC | (US Only) A community-powered map and directory connecting New Yorkers to essential resources across all five boroughs.
- 🤝 Find Help | (US Only) A web tool to find free or reduced-cost resources like food, housing, financial assistance, health care, and more.
- 🛍 Ethical Brand Directories | If you're shopping for the holiday season, find alternative brands to support that have good working conditions, fair pay, give-back initiatives, use high-quality materials, natural and low-waste products.
- 📓 How to: Volunteer Remotely During a Climate Disaster | Learn impactful ways to share your skills, resources, time, materials, and more.
- 📓 Blueprints for Revolution | A practical study guide of Srdja Popovic’s book of the same name for anyone looking to better understand the mindset, strategies, and actions needed to uphold democracy.
- 🌍 Appropedia | A sustainability Wikipedia for anyone looking to add more sustainable practices into their life.
- 📚 Anna's Archive | The largest open source library of books, scientific papers, articles, comics, library records, and more. This is an incredible gem for anyone who likes to preview books before buying hard copies or cannot afford to purchase but still wants to learn.
SUBMIT A RESOURCE!
Know of a great helpful resource you think others should know about? SUBMIT IT HERE.
Till next time, do your best and take it one day at a time. Care for yourself and the people around you. Believe that the world can be better than it is now. Never give up. And remember, you're not alone. We always have each other.
Onward to the World We Deserve,
Elisa & Ray
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