Detroit Democracy Coalition
Our vision of Democracy, Education, and Participation in Metro Detroit DSA
Our vision of Democracy, Education, and Participation in Metro Detroit DSA
You joined DSA because you believe regular people, not billionaires, not politicians, not insiders, and not NGOs should have power over the decisions that shape our lives. That same idea applies inside our organization too.
Comrades! Hello. My name is Jon M., and I have been serving as the co-chair of the Black and Brown alliance for the past two years. In that time I have been on picket lines, organized protests and mobilizations, led chapter wide political education segments, led our chapter in its anti-ICE work, organized various mutual aid projects and more. I am running for the co-chair of the chapter because I believe that in order for this organization to meet the current moment, we must double down on what sets DSA and our work apart from various NGOs and the Democratic Party. As co-chair of the chapter I will prioritize transparency within our democratic structure, ensuring that the membership's voice is heard and is a part of the decision making process. I will embrace our chapters' diversity within our members' ideas and tactics so that every member feels like the work they are doing is meaningful and important. I will prioritize political education, making sure that we can all learn from each other to become better socialist organizers. And lastly I will stand principled on my beliefs of class independence and internationalism which should be fundamental to any socialist organization.
I am excited to continue the coalition work that I have been doing with the Peoples Assembly and other Left Wing organizations that are committed to fighting capitalism and fascism. I look forward to organizing more socialist led, anti-imperialist demonstrations and actions that will grow the chapter and spread our message of a better world free from imperialism abroad and fascism at home. I am eager to work on more grassroots community driven projects with BBA so that our work can directly impact the black and brown working class in Detroit. And to continue to seriously engage with our pro-immigrant, pro-palestine, and pro-black work the chapter has been doing. As your co-chair I will empower you, the membership to enable all of us to struggle together for the liberation of the workers, and together we can work towards a future that we all have dreamed of. Solidarity
As your Co-Chair my primary priorities will be:
Working with the Black and Brown Alliance (BBA) to ensure DSA is directly impacting the lives of working class black & brown people in Metro Detroit
Connecting with local grassroots orgs who are engaging with the struggle and building a principled leftist front in Detroit to fight against fascism.
Thanks for taking the time to read about DDC and our slate. My name’s Holly, and I’m running for Administrative Secretary.
As a social worker, I felt discouraged and helpless by the failures of our social welfare, foster care, and mental health systems. I wanted a place where I could actively make a difference— which I found in DSA. I was encouraged to get involved with the Membership Engagement Committee (MEC), as it was the perfect home to channel my passion for relationship-building into committee work. I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with many comrades— brand new and veteran—to help them get plugged into the work they feel passionate about (as my MEC comrades did for me) and to reinforce that DSA is a space for them to feel hopeful in the midst of a world on fire.
I’m running for Steering Committee because I strongly believe in the unified vision of the Detroit Democracy Coalition, as well as my personal drive to be a voice for changes that will strengthen this chapter. I would like to see MDDSA transform into the local epicenter for community and political organizing, continue the work we do across all committees, and encourage our members to find ways to fill the gaps to meet the demands of our ever-intensifying working class struggle.
As your Admin Secretary, my primary priorities will be:
TRANSPARENCY:
Increasing chapter transparency through ease of access to information— democracy isn’t just about having a vote, but making an informed one. You should understand what you’re voting on, why it’s important, and which choice
makes the most sense to you and your political development.
A CHAPTER ROOTED IN COMMUNITY:
Strengthening a chapter culture based in community-building, respect, and trust. As general membership, we should feel connected to the chapter through our sense of shared mutual struggle-- there will be discourse, as any
truly democratically structured group needs, but it needs to be comradely, productive, and in good faith. This is a fight we’re all in together, it should feel that way.
I believe these priorities will complement current administrative processes like our system of email voting, and the newly adopted Unity In Action Committee (UIAC). Increased efforts towards transparency and ease of access to information for general membership undoubtedly leads to more informed voting— decision-making based on what you know, not who you know. Informed participation is a crucial part of democracy, otherwise it’s not truly democratic. Additionally, with my involvement in the Detroit Democracy Coalition (a cross-caucus, cross-tendency team of comrades), as well as my willingness to collaborate in good faith while still advocating for my convictions, my approach on steering will complement the efforts of UIAC by matching that sentiment of unity with leadership behavior that is respectful, approachable, and willing to engage in healthy, open discourse.
In these times we’re more isolated than ever, we’re tired, and we’re hurting. Our bosses are not going to help us, and our government is not going to implement wide-spread change anytime soon. We need to save ourselves now, together. We will not achieve socialist change without comrades committed to the long fight— which we keep in the fold by offering a strong sense of belonging to a community, feeling like we're all part of something we share an informed investment in. As your admin secretary, you can count on me to use my position to promote these ways of being and to deliver information accessibly, concisely, and reliably.
Hello Comrades! My name is Reese M. Jr and I’m currently a part of the Membership Engagement Committee. When I first joined DSA, I considered myself a “recovering Democrat”. Seeing people’s material conditions continue to worsen and seeing Democrats not even put up a fight, made me realize I had to do more than just “vote”. Upon joining in January of 2026, I joined the Membership Engagement Committee. Being a part of this committee has allowed me to fully develop my politics, recognize the worth of the work I do and helped me learn what it means to be a socialist organizer. I couldn’t have learned these skills without the guidance of my comrades on the committee and I want to ensure the skills that I developed are learned by our entire membership.
With the Membership Engagement Committee, this committee serves the entire chapter. This is an all hands on deck effort to ensure all members feel welcomed and have the chance to be effective socialist organizers. I am running for Membership Engagement Chair because the revolutionary potential of Metro Detroit is great and I want to help ignite it. I intend to ignite the potential within new and old members in three ways; a concrete recruitment strategy, stronger cohesion between MEC and other committees, and equipping new and old members with tools and knowledge. This chapter needs a strong, effective, and multi-tendency committee. As Chair, I will help guide the ship of this committee, but the real leaders of this committee are every single member in Membership Engagement. Democratic deliberation, discussion, and action, will be what leads this committee and I’m proud to ask membership to rank me #1 for the Membership Engagement Chair position.
Comrades, My name is Rodney, and for about a year now I've called this Metro Detroit chapter my political home. In that time I've moved through many of its rooms: I've marshaled in the streets, organized on the east side, in rooms with unions, and debated on the convention floor. I've seen what we are, and I've seen what we could be.
The times we live in are continuously historical. We are watching the death throes of a capitalist, imperial nation as it lashes out, inward at us and outward at the world. As socialists, we must be at the forefront while the contradictions of capitalism come to a head. That means the campaigns we choose to wage must be tactically sound. They must be resourced. They must be critiqued when they miss the moment.
As a facilitator of the Mobilization Working Group, I’ve come to understand that within MDDSA the muscle of mobilization wasn't atrophied. It had never truly been given the chance to grow. With the help of comrades, I’ve set out to fix that. And when I look at the campaigns this chapter has undertaken, and at the position of Campaigns Coordinator itself, I see a gap between what is and what could be. That gap isn't the fault of anyone who has held the role. They worked within the bylaws and the scope they inherited. This is a critique of structure, not stewardship. But those bylaws, and that scope, were built for a smaller chapter and a narrower conception of what a campaigns coordinator could be. The responsibilities need sharpening. The follow-through on campaigns within and beyond electoral needs building. And the voice of this position, outward toward the world and inward toward our own members, needs to be bolstered into something the moment actually demands.
I run because I believe we can do two things at once: attack the capitalist system and build something greater in its place. Something that divorces our reality from the destitute, despotic one we have been forced to live in our entire lives. To do that, we have to ask the hard questions. Why do campaigns fail? Why do they succeed? What energy moves people to join them? Are they radical enough, and in this moment, do they deliver a socialist outcome or only a reformist dream? These are questions of quality. Questions of process. Questions of how we win for us.
That's the vision. That's the work. And that's the trust I'm asking you for: to carry it onto the Steering Committee as your Campaigns Coordinator.
As your Campaign Coordinator, my primary priorities will be:
Campaign Typology: Knowing What We're Running
Not every campaign makes the same demands on the chapter, and not every campaign is ours to lead. Community-based campaigns, electoral campaigns, national solidarity campaigns, and labor support each require a different posture
and a different level of commitment. The chapter must know which it is running before it runs. The Campaigns Coordinator must ensure every campaign is stratified honestly against local conditions and chapter capacity before a single
comrade is asked to show up.
Campaign Methodology: Research Before Launch, Accountability Throughout
Every campaign must be evaluated before, during, and after. Before launch: capacity assessed, power mapping complete, cross-chapter connections established. During: conditions actively reviewed. After: honest failure review,
every time. Why did it succeed or fail? What assumptions were wrong? What changes? A chapter of our size cannot run campaigns without discipline and call the losses experience.
Campaign Terrain: Where We Fight and Why
The chapter's priorities must be rooted in what Metro Detroit's working class is already fighting. DTE accountability is one entry point: utility costs are a material crisis affecting every household, and it is terrain where
MDDSA can lead. Geographic organizing in SIO represented districts connects community campaigns directly to socialist electoral infrastructure, building block by block before expanding outward. Corewell nurses in an active contract
fight and Amazon organizers represent our solidarity commitment to labor. We must move beyond random commitments and focus on a sequence. Win a district. Build the model. Expand it. That is how Metro Detroit becomes a chapter that
builds power that compounds activel
Comrades, My Name is Mohammad Z. I’m a member of The Marxist Unity Group and a Founding Member of The Democracy Coalition, and I’m proud to announce that I’m running for At-Large in our coming Steering Committee elections. Over the past year, as a chapter member, I’ve made every effort to help contribute all I could to our shared project of building democratic socialism in our lifetimes. From writing articles critiquing chapter strategy to forming the International Solidarity Working Group, I hope that I’ve cultivated a reputation for being principled, hardworking, and uncompromising in my belief in Democratic Socialism. It’s exactly these traits I seek to bring to the table if I were to win election to the steering committee. I would like to provide an uncompromising voice that stands resolutely for a path that can best bring us towards a rupture with the capitalist state and the formation of a Democratic Socialist republic.
As a member of the steering committee, I pledge to represent the International Solidarity Working Group and the Political Education Committee so that education and solidarity remain chapter priorities in the coming year. In addition to this, I pledge to stand resolutely against any attempts to obfuscate or water down our socialist ideals and principles. With the current rise of DSA, it is critical to be ever aware of opportunists and hucksters who may want to align themselves with us for cynical purposes of self-promotion. I pledge to never vote for candidates that don’t show a “DSA-First attitude” In their messaging. Finally, I am deeply committed to transparency and good democratic practice. As such, I will make every effort to help democratize the chapter and empower our members whenever possible.
Solidarity Comrades!
Working with the Black and Brown Alliance (BBA) to ensure DSA is directly impacting the lives of working class black & brown people in Metro Detroit
A Pillar of Comrade Jonathan M's vision as Co-Chair.
A Pillar of Comrade Rodney C's vision as Campaigns Coordinator.
A Pillar of Comrade Mohammad Z's vision as your At Large Representative.
A Pillar of Comrade Reese M's vision as Membership Engagement Coordinator.
Campaigns evaluated before, during and after. Capacity assessed, power-mapped, built to win. Honest review and learning of failures to grow our chapter's ability to win.
A Pillar of Comrade Rodney C's vision as Campaigns Coordinator.
Train new members to be effective socialist organizers.
Providing the tools and knowledge necessary, breaking down barriers for all members to flourish in the chapter
A Pillar of Comrade Reese M's vision as Membership Engagement Coordinator.
Campaigns rooted in where and what Metro Detroit's working class is already fighting. Utilizing Geographic Organizing groups to build socialist power block by block.
Strengthening a chapter culture based in community-building, respect, and trust. As general membership, we should feel connected to the chapter through our sense of shared mutual struggle
A Pillar of Comrade Rodney C's vision as Campaigns Coordinator.
A Pillar of Comrade Holly F's vision as Admin Secretary .
Increasing chapter transparency through ease of access to information— democracy isn’t just about having a vote, but making an informed one. You should understand what you’re voting on, why it’s important, and which choice makes the most sense to you and your political development.
A Pillar of Comrade Holly F's vision as Admin Secretary.
Connecting with local grassroots orgs who are engaging with the struggle and building a principled leftist front in Detroit to fight against fascism.
A Pillar of Comrade Jonathan M's vision as Co-Chair.
Create an effective membership engagement strategy that boosts our membership and activates of our membership to get involved in the chapter. Moving to ensure General Meetings are attended well beyond quorum. We champion a bottom up strategy that accounts for individual members as comrades. We will get you plugged into the work you care about.
A Pillar of Comrade Reese M's vision as Membership Engagement Coordinator.
Not just another vote but a voice for international solidarity and political education of all members
Principled voice against opportunism
A Pillar of Comrade Mohammad Z's vision as your At Large representative.
Democratic organizing is more than just casting your ballot, it means taking part in discussion and decision making. We fight for a transparent, bottom up process that lets every voice be heard.
Being open to different ideas and different tactics is how we build a big tent, but not a shapeless one. Every part of our chapter has important work to do and deserves support and resources.
Political education is one of the things that sets DSA apart from other organizations. We’re here to build a membership of organizers, not just followers, and that means learning with and from each other.
We believe the working class needs its own political expression, independent of the Democratic Party establishment and various NGOs. Socialism will come from a well fed, well read and self led working class, not politicians.
The class struggle is global, our politics extend from the picket line to Palestine. An international perspective needs to inform our organizing and decision making at all levels.
| Independents (Uncaucused) | Marxist Unity Group (MUG) | Bread & Roses (BnR) |
|---|---|---|
Independents (Uncaucused)
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Marxist Unity Group (MUG)
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Bread and Roses (BnR)
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