Chant Your Comrade’s Name

The setting is Silicon Valley DSA’s 2026 Annual Convention. And on April 18th in San Jose, California, something special can be heard emanating from the SEIU 521 event hall.

“Little T! Little T! Little T!” 

That something special is a chorus of voices chanting in approval of one of the chapter’s most beloved members, the affectionately monikered “Lil’ T.”

Today, this sort of chanting is common in our chapter. If you are a DSA member reading this, that might be a bit foreign to you. However, it should not be. For the good of your chapter and this movement, you should be chanting all the time. Now is the time to turn the volume up.

“Okay, but how?” Good question. In this article, I will outline how SVDSA transformed itself in about a year – from feeble and feckless to a chapter with booming growth, exciting wins, and a glorious member experience. It all culminated in our “Strategic Convention,” as our current pinnacle. I’ll focus on how we used tight infrastructural management and intentional tactics to create a joyful, supportive environment where members flourish, and where building Socialism is a damn good time.

Phase One

In 2024 (my first term on the Steering Committee), SVDSA faced the same challenges that plague many other chapters. We had steady attrition and minimal presence in the community. We were aimless and struggled to articulate chapter priorities, never mind execute them. In November, we lost a re-election bid for Redwood City Council by 13 votes. That loss was devastating and avoidable. Our approach had to change. 

The first serious change came that Summer, when we began holding most of our in-person meetings at the local SEIU union hall. This location has been reliable, easy to access (it’s where I work), and spacious for large gatherings. It has allowed many of our members their first opportunity to step foot in a house of labor, lending historicity and gravity to our organizing. It’s a major upgrade from scavenging for meeting space in libraries and Unitarian churches, all varying in levels of tech and wifi, cost, and comfort. The union hall has given us a stable and familiar home base. For your chapter meetings, I strongly recommend securing access to one of these routinely empty buildings.

Now, after decades of red scare tactics, many Socialists understandably feel shy publicly sharing their beliefs. The momentum behind our presence in the new union hall overcame this bashfulness. We began literally declaring our presence. Whether at chapter meetings, late night socials, or celebrating at an electoral watch party, we’d inevitably break into a raucous chant of, “DSA! DSA! DSA!” It's fun, it's loud, and projects our shameless joy in being Socialists.

Leveling Up

The early months of 2025 were spent mining our membership, seeking fresh faces to recruit for leadership candidacy at our April Convention. When the day came, we also introduced the chapter’s first-ever “Strategic Plan.” This new framework was critical. Finally, we had direction, but staying the course required focus. We created clear priorities and monitored them weekly. The payoff? During our campaign for Santa Clara County Ballot Measure A, we phonebanked and knocked on more doors than any organization besides the largest union on the Central Labor Council. These efforts surged our visibility. And of course, earning a victory made our members feel accomplished. 

If the Mamdani moment has taught us anything, it’s that the best political experiences reflect the best human experiences. It's part of what made me fly to New York City to canvas for him. No doubt, it would have been nice to watch his win at home from my living room. However, at a Brooklyn DSA election party surrounded by hundreds of comrades, it became one of the most memorable nights of my life. Nothing could erase what I felt in that building.

Despite what the purveyors of SeclusionChatBot2000 might have you believe, humans yearn for a shared purpose. We will go the distance for a worthy cause. Conversely, we give up quickly when we feel alone, especially when attempting something new. For most people, political organizing will be a very new ‘something’. To ease that anxiety, DSA members need to feel supported, and they need time to build confidence. Your DSA chapter should be your safe place to wade into uncharted waters. Yes, the ocean is deep, but together, we can all learn to swim.

In the wake of the Measure A triumph, a few strong chapter leaders set in motion the plan for a full-fledged “Strategic Convention.” Conventions are where most of the proposals for our chapter’s long-term vision, heretofore referred to as resolutions, are raised. They are then deliberated and voted upon by the membership. Resolutions tend to be drafted by a handful of highly active and politically conscious members. Our goal this time was to foster strategic planning as a tool for mass member development and engagement.

Leading up to our 2026 Convention, we set up working sessions for members to brainstorm “Strategic Resolutions.” This was a benefit in multiple ways: 1) it helped our leaders guide new members proactively, 2) it elevated the stakes of the convention, and 3) it created a shared sense of vision in the chapter. In the past, we struggled to make this democratic element of the chapter accessible. Most members had simply not engaged with DSA’s internal processes to this degree.

Chapter leaders created templates to help members develop their own resolutions. Regular leadership check-ins encouraged members who were working on their resolutions, even when it was not their primary focus. Effective organizing requires regular reminders; neglecting them threatens the goal. Resolutions deemed ‘Strategic’ were placed in a special compendium. Other resolutions were separated out. All were made accessible for members to review in advance of the Convention, publicized on our chapter Slack and Linktree.

The Big Day

When the highly anticipated moment of Convention finally arrived, our Strategic Compendium bore the marks of nearly all our most active members. This created investment in and focus on the essential business of our six-hour meeting. Long meetings can be quite challenging. If people don’t see themselves reflected in what is happening, interest will fade.

Walking into the convention space, it was obvious: this was special. Decorations abounded; the room was festooned in red and white tablecloths, balloons, streamers, flags, banners, and welcome signs. Music was jamming during the one-hour lunch session. One comrade created ice-breaker bingo cards. Another constructed a “Who’s that Socialist?” trivia game, offering winning contestants my favorite variety of prize — merch from other DSA chapters.

Our Steering Committee kicked off convention by giving out Recognition Awards. Members received them for specific contributions to our chapter throughout the year. Intentionally, more were given out at each break. This kept the excitement up throughout the long day. A veteran member who re-engaged after some dormancy received “Generational Talent”; another won “Friendliest Comrade,” and the member who booked our catering received “Chapter Chef.” Besides being a cute photo op, giving out actual awards, graduation-style, provided the chance for members to have their name chanted as approached the podium. 

As chapter co-chair, I was honored to give the “State of the Chapter” address. I devoted my ten minutes to naming and recognizing as many chapter leaders as I could muster. I closed out with a call-and-response style chant developed from picket lines:

Are you ready to fight for trans folks?
“Yes!”
To fight for immigrants?
“Yes!”

To fight for socialism?
“Yes!”

The collective “Yes,” binds members’ voices together. It is intended to both affirm the question itself and answer the deeper question, “Are we all in this together?”

That day, at every opportunity, we gave out big choral hugs to one another. When former San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston made his way to the podium for the keynote speech, he too was showered with chants of, “Dean! Dean! Dean!” which I think he appreciated.

If you’re excited by what’s been written so far, that’s awesome. But I wish stories like this weren’t so rare. Perhaps you’ve heard the refrain about DSA being an unwelcoming, or even hostile space. I know I’ve heard it. Though with so much variety from chapter to chapter, I have not experienced it myself. If the warm and inviting culture at our chapter is an outlier, it need not be.

The practices I am recommending may not come naturally. Maybe you feel silly chanting and getting all “ra-ra.” Or maybe voices raised to the sky evoke unpleasant memories of involuntary church attendance. No doubt, DSA is a big tent, so you might feel awkward cheering for people you often disagree with. But reader, I urge you: have a little faith and give it a try. What do you have to lose?

No one will do anything for long if it feels like shit. The same goes for if it’s exhausting, lonely, or boring. Those of us who love DSA cannot afford losing people for easily avoidable reasons. The creativity and color you give to your chapter will make the difference. If we want to grow, we need to make sure people have a good time being here. So go ahead and chant your comrade’s name. Maybe one day they’ll chant yours too.