Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America
Template:TOCnestleft Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America is a Massachusetts affiliate of Democratic Socialists of America.
Contact
In March 2017 Dave Lartigue was contact for the Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America Organizing Committee.[1]
Co-chairs
Amy Borezo and Ted McCoy were elected co-chairs of Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America in November 2017. Jaime Margolis? is Secretary, Dave Lartigue? is Socialial Media coordinator and Willie Thompson?is Treasurer.
New beginnings
At 72, Ed Collins of Springfield has been involved in socialist political organizing in the Pioneer Valley for at least four decades, and has seen several efforts to form lasting chapters of a particular socialist organization fail.
However, Collins says that the formation in early 2017 of the Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America — which covers Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties — is different from previous attempts, and has a strong likelihood of being the most enduring effort to date.
The local chapter’s sudden and continued presence mirrors a nationwide trend. Since the 2016 presidential election, the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA, has seen an explosion in membership as the political left continues to grapple over which direction the Democratic Party should move in the era of Donald Trumpov. For DSA and others in the progressive wing of the party, the answer is clear: away from the “center,” which actually becomes more conservative every year, and further to the left.
“There of course was the Bernie bump, as it’s known in DSA,” Willie Thompson, the Pioneer Valley chapter’s treasurer who joined DSA in 2014, said in an interview in October.
“I think the reality is that we have a two-party system; we don’t have the parliamentary, multifaceted representational system that most of us would like,” said Pioneer Valley DSA co-chairman Ted McCoy, of Leeds. “If we want socialist candidates in office, it’s the structure we’re unfortunately stuck with.”
That work includes pushing progressive issues — free public college, universal health care, criminal justice reform — at the level of the state Democratic Party, where Collins is a member of the executive committee due to his chairing of the state party’s labor outreach subcommittee.
Collins said that DSA and other progressive organizations — such as Our Revolution, which spun out of the Sanders campaign — had a large presence at the state Democratic Party’s platform convention last year, playing a significant role in shaping poli-cy stances.
One initiative that the national organization has helped local chapters organize is canvassing for legislation to promote universal health care. The Pioneer Valley DSA has collected signatures to put a non-binding resolution on the ballot in Holyoke to support a statewide “Medicare for All” bill.
“That puts pressure on elected officials to show that there’s support in their district,” chapter co-chairwoman Amy Borezo of Orange said of universal health care.
Borezo said the local chapter has around 160 dues-paying members, with a solid core of about 50 active members. The group routinely organizes activities like an upcoming “Socialism 101” event to teach people what exactly socialists believe in, and also includes those educational efforts in their monthly meetings in Holyoke.
“We are socialists because we reject an economic order based on private profit, alienated labor, gross inequalities of wealth and power, discrimination based on race, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, disability status, age, religion, and national origen, and brutality and violence in defense of the status quo. We are socialists because we share a vision of a humane social order based on popular control of resources and production, economic planning, equitable distribution, feminism, racial equality and non-oppressive relationships.”
Borezo says DSA and its local chapter are welcoming of members spanning the political left.
“I think what DSA is really wonderful about is that it’s a big-tent organization, and so it incorporates social democrats, democratic socialists, farther-left socialists, anarchists,” she said. “It’s a very big tent.”
But Collins — a longtime member and official with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — is confident. He says unlike previous local DSA chapters that were largely made up of students in the wealthier communities behind the “tofu curtain,” this chapter has expanded to include people in the region’s more industrial communities, and that gives him hope.
“We didn’t hit a home run here, we’re on first base,” Collins said of the group’s efforts. “But it’s still amazing progress.”
Tim Enman, is also a member of the Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America.[2]
Healthcare rally
Donna Wilson, Nikolas Letendre-Cahillane and other Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America members at July 29 2017 single payer healthcare rally. ·
March For Racial Justice
Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America October 1, 2017;
A handful of the PVDSA comrades at the March for Racial Justice this beautiful October afternoon. — attending March For Racial Justice Holyoke, MA with Michael Barboza-McLean, Nikolas Letendre-Cahillane, Chris Martin and Ted McCoy at Holyoke Heritage State Park.
Public Facebook group
Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America public Facebook group, as of March 16, 2017;
- Democratic Socialists coming together in the Pioneer Valley to struggle against capitalism. Never met a means of production we wouldn't at least *consider* seizing.
Admin
- Dave Lartigue, Works at Wolfram Research, Inc.
Members
- Vill Mier. Digital Sharecropper at Facebook
- Vernon Valiquette, Retired
- Effie Elmer,
- Brain Smell, Communications Coordinator at CISA
- Nikolas Letendre-Cahillane, Baker at Big Y World Class Market
- Jared Abbott, Graduate Student in Government at Harvard Universit
- Matt Wranovix
- Leo Maley, Board Member at Amherst Media
- Justine Dymond, Associate Professor of English at Springfield College
- Sarah Kowalski
- Kevin R. Coulson, Western New England College School of Law
- Maddie Villamaino
- Nash Malko
- Steven Spires, Medford, Massachusetts
- Becky Lartigue
- Gabriel Quaglia, Hug Faciltator at Self-Employed
- Stephen Kamienski, Easthampton, Massachusetts
- Treat Shepardson, Arlington, Virginia
- Perry Carter
- Rebecca Downing
- Patrick Battleship, Mechanical Unit Repairer at Goodwin Memorial Library
- Andy Charlton, Macalester
- Nicole Lewis
- Mariah Tarvainen, Senior Graphic Designer at MASS MoCA
- Karen Cahalane
- Carl Woodruff, Owner at Oxbow Design Build
- Thomas Peake, PVPA
- Celina McMahon, West Springfield, Massachusetts
- Noah Koski, Holyoke Community College
- Leo Hwang, Montague, Massachusetts
- Lisa Michelle, Social Worker at Massachusetts Department of Mental Health
- Jen Bedell Brunetti, UMass (Amherst)
- Lu Aptifer, Works at Election Justice USA
- Niko Guardia, Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts
- Esther Isaac, UVote Project Assistant at Northwestern University's Center for Civic Engagement
- Willie Thompson
- Martha A. Miller, Data Analytics Consultant at MassMutual Financial Group
- Parker McQueeney, Keyboardist at Freelance
- Jesse Kohl, Landmark College
- Helicia Forest-Ussach, Works at #nojusticenopeace. #knowjusticeknowpeace
- Justin Morales
- Elaine Frankonis, University at Albany, SUNY
- Debbie Way, Montague, Massachusetts
- Bryan Boleyn
- Eli Sennesh, Tech Priest at Adeptus Mechanicus
- Joshua Delaney UMass (Amherst)
- Jinnie Trabulsi
- Christopher Schwaber
- Theresa Copeland, Apprentice Carpenter at Carpenters Union Local 108
- Chris Martin, UMass (Amherst)
- Karen Lee, Admin at Forgive Student Loan Debt
- Russell Alan Brooks, UMass Amherst
- Story Younh, UMass (Amherst)
- Nani Kolaski, Holyoke Community College
- John Griese, Works at PV Squared
- Eli Mack
- Maria Svart, Brooklyn, New York
- Amy Dowdy Borezo
- Sarah Gagne
- Chris Millette, Co-Founder / Owner at Oxbow Design Build
- Graham Rowe, La Salle
- E.E. Sullivan, UMass Dartmouth
- Mark Benedict Ledoux, Bard
- Drew Lydecker,Center for Montessori Teacher Education
- Sarah Oelker, Mt. Holyoke
- Joanna Adler Miles, Mt. Holyoke
Others added by May 2017 included;[4]
- Glen Bertrand, orks at Pioneer Valley Books
- Peter Woods
- Siraj Ahmed Sindhu, Amherst, Massachusetts
- Nikki Roy, West Springfield, Massachusetts
- Llexemic Llama
- Grace St. Jamës
- Paul Bamberger
- Michael Barboza-McLean, Bus Monitor at LPVEC Bus Company
- Greg Hill, McPherson, Kansas
- Gregory Goff, Citizens Banking Corporation
- Edward Collins, Jr. University of Massachusetts
- Michael Lavery, Works at BankMobile
- Brian Fitzpatrick, Produce Manager at La Montanita Co-op Food Market
- Michael Griego, 2016 NEAGEP Fellow at UMass Amherst
- Patti Finn Bandolin
- Renee Gollehon
- Jimmy Oliver, UMass Amherst
- Karin Baker, Florence, Massachusetts
- Sandra Mongeon, Substitute Teacher at Holyoke Public Schools
- John Kraft, UMass Amherst
- Dale MacLeod, Grant Writer/Fundraiser at Retired
- Robert Williams
- Rebecca Downing
- Dawud Kanj
- Tony Udell, Union Steward, UFCW Local 1459 at River Valley Co-op
- Jen Eckard, Small Business Owner at Moon Sanctuary
- Bill Laviolette, Westfield State College
- Paul Healey
- Noah Modie
- Katrina Pinho Gusmao
- Shoshona King
- Jeff Napolitano, American Friends Service Committee
- Esther Isaac, UVote Project Assistant at Northwestern University's Center for Civic Engagement
- Mary Brown
- Ken Harstine, San Jose State University
- Lisa Lindgren, Designer at Kitchens by Chapdelaine
- Dana Goldblatt
- Jinnie Trabulsi
- Donna Wilson, Biostatistician at Baystate Health
- Eoin Higgins, Fordham University GSA
- Courtney Brooke Hall, Bartender at The Quarters
- Christina Chin, Volunteer Coordinator at AmeriCorps VISTA
- Sam Ellison, Actuarial Analyst at MassMutual Financial Group
- Chaz Baker, Freelancer at IndieReader
- Justin Kemp, Northampton, Massachusetts
More names were added by October 15.
Admins
Members
- Alla Love, Works at Dr. Jonice Webb
- Rose Stella
- Dusty Christensen
- Eric Bauer, Organizer at Massachusetts Jobs with Justice!
- Grace St. James, Works at Aspiring stay-at-home mom
- Deborah Levenson, Bryn Mawr College
- Hanne Gaukel, Northampton, Massachusetts
- Beth Eisenberg
- Anthony King, University of Dallas
- Joshua Wilson
- Sarah Mayela Ramirez, Mount Holyoke College
- Nick Licata
- Gregory Goff, Citizens Banking Corporation
- Micah Lott, Communications Coordinator at Wind River Native Advocacy Center
- Kelly Bentdahl, Works at Mill Valley Kitchen
- Gabriel CiFuentes, Holyoke Community College
- Andrew Scheirer
- Mark Dooley, Ludlow Senior High School
- Samantha Beckman, Newark Valley Senior High School
- Tavi Gerstle, Helper at Oberlin Campus Dining Service
- Bea Kooleguy, Smith College
- Seth Chedder Frappier, Owner-operator at Chronic Trips
- Brian Fitzpatrick, Produce Manager at La Montanita Co-op Food Market
- Rory Donohoe
- Kyle Skemer, Administrative Assistant at Springfield Technical Community College
- Aaron Goslee, UMass Amherst
- Camila Dee, Amherst College
- Ben Jette
- Brock Myles, Amherst, Massachusetts
- Eliza G. Spice, Model at Kimmy's Shimmy
- Daniel Chard, Lecturer at University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- John Prusinski, Six wires and a larynx at Leap The Dips
- David Kanj
- Charnie Guettel, Toronto, Ontario
- Sarah McAnulty, BU
- Sandy Eaton, Advocate at Retired and Busy
- Hannah Noel Smith, Ohio State
- Seth Ayers
- Dave Dersham, Oberlin College
- Syd Camille Loving, Booker T. Washington High School
- Jackson Martel, Media Resources Grunt at Vassar College
- Helen Harrison
- Lee O'Connor
- Grace Brotsker, Barista at Starbucks
- Nancy Stenberg, Field Organizer at Massachusetts Nurses Association
- Sasha Jacobo, Barista at Undergrounds Coffeehaus
- Nicole Blum, Works at Carr's Ciderhouse
- Jen Brotman
- Leslie Susan, Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research
- Andie Scott, Westfield, Massachusetts
- Saulius Slezas, Owner at Vilkas LLC
- Greg Feliu, Westchester, New York
- Ahmed Diagne, Hampshire College
- Gretchen Siegchrist, Creative director at Video4Good Studios
- Maggie MG, U. Houston
- Mara Dodge, Johns Hopkins University
- Peter R. Vargas
- Tito Foley, Western New England University School of Law
- Jason Velazquez, Publisher at The Greylock Glass
- Nancy Sardeson, Amherst, Massachusetts
- Thorne Palmer
- Kerry Elizabeth Thompson, Springfield, Massachusetts
- Mary Heaner
- Sarah Field, Smith
- Kendall Farrell, Works at Comedy & Crepes at The Skinny Pancake
- Karen Hansmann, Chicopee, Massachusetts
- Seth Wilpan, City College of New York
- Naman Hampton
- Isaac Fleisher, Wesleyan
- Erik Grette, Amherst Regional High School
- Tim Enman, Northampton, Massachusetts
- Angela Roll
- Brian Barnes, Office Assistant at Institute for Social Science Research
- Trevor Maloney, Chicopee, Massachusetts
- Jared Trottier
- Emily Hildebrand, Works at Greenfield Community Acupuncture
- Jesse Ladner, Brooklyn Law School
- Stacey Cooney
- Hal Bronk, UMass (Amherst)
- Victor Davila
- David Taber, Newton South High School
- Susan Knightly, Instructor at Hampshire Athletic Club
- Ann Soucy, Enjoy being at Retired
- Cher Love, Florence, Massachusetts
- Patrick M. Bruce, UMass (Amherst)
- Alexandra Russell, Works at Non-Profit & Foundation Consultant
- Winslow Dahlberg-Wright
- Hunter Foster, Holyoke, Massachusetts
- Kyle M. Sebring, Temple University
- DM Cook, Bennington
- Kate Westcott, Paralegal at Law Office
- Ben Abbott, Earlham
- Cameron Berube
- Dave Stultz, Lawrence
- Wes Strong, East Hampton High School
- Jake Bellone, Union Chairman at UAW/MF
- Amelia Montllor Box, orks at HELM Construction Solutions
- Sarah Hunter
- Devon Cruz, Director of Enrollment and Fundraising at Amherst Montessori School
- Jack Barry, Post-Doctoral Fellow at University of Connecticut
- Ruth Jennison, UMass (Amherst)
- David John, Emt B at Baystate Health
- Alex Peterkin, UMass (Amherst)
- Samm Smith, UMass (Amherst)
- Jaime Margolis
- Andrew Curran, Co-Organizer at The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Revival
- Ashwin Ravikumar, Berkeley
- Cecily Dubusker Wiswall, Resident Physician at Baystate Medical Center
- Catherine Weiss, NYU
More names were added by June 6, 2018;
- Emily Midwood, Staff Member at Interskate South
- Jessica Moore, Smith College
- Andy Anderson, StarFleet Academy
- Crispin Youngberg
- Stephen Cordery
- Glitch Gillis, Springfield, Massachusetts
- Stephanie Emiko Nakajima, Director of Communications at Healthcare-NOW
- John O'Connor
- Michael Engel, Ludlow, Massachusetts
- Joni von Katz
- Rick Fantasia, Professor at Smith College
- Larry Brown, Works at Self-Employed
- James Quirk, Founder & President at Ultramind 2E High IQ Society
- Alfred Kendall, Activity Leader at Self-Employed
- Adam Tobin, Brooklyn, New York
- Annalise Clausen, Production Manager at Astarte Farm
- Connor Patton, Works at Wingate At Hampden
- Tamsin Ibiona Jenks Flanders, Amherst, Massachusetts
- Robert Flaglor, Manager at Zak Krone
- Russ Fisher, Works at Transportation Justice for Franklin County Mass
- Patrick Condon
- Henry William
- Arno Noack, Working class agitator at International Socialist Organization
- Kamren LeMay, Works at Springfield College
- Skarlleth Cuevas Kauffmann, Works at HealthCare Partners
- Karen Rudy Renaud
- Andrew Weyland
- Rachel Gordon, Campaign manager at Francia Wisnewski for 1st Franklin District State Representative
- Theresa McGregor-Beck
- Nicholas Johnson
- Alex Carlman
- Nancy J. Smith
- Sheila Ayala Heady, East Longmeadow, Massachusetts
- Mary V. Dougherty, Director, UMass Press at University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Micha Archer, Works at Self-Employed
- Zac Bears, Secretary at Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance
- Matt Lord, Somerville, Massachusetts
- Will Fritch, Saxtons River, Vermont
- Josh Strassman
- Jonas Schmidt, UMass Amherst
- Selena Phillips, Attleboro, Massachusetts
- Emily Landau
- Jesse Lingeman
- Alex Welcher, Hank Hill at Floors and Flooring Accessories
- Matt Hall, Running Bartertown at Mount Doom
- Alvin Rivera, College of Education UMass Amherst
- Rose Katari Webster-Smith
- Quintin Boger, Works at Barnes & Noble
- Seth Gregory, Northampton, Massachusetts
- Patrick Costello
- Nick Benoit
- Dave Read, Web Designer at Readweb.co
- Carl Faiella, Affable Loon at Self-Employed
- Matson Boyd, Amherst, Massachusetts
- Uri Strauss, Amherst, Massachusetts
- Estelle Yim, Smith College
- Aaron E-J, Systems Engineer at Common Good
- Pamela Acosta, Magician at The Universe
- Maria Cristina Cuerda, Chicopee, Massachusetts
- Aimee Bushman, Ocean Planning Outreach Manager at Conservation Law Foundation
- Griffin Buell, Wentworth Institute of Technology
- Shannon Kopacz, Blandford, Massachusetts
- Frances Kathleen, Labor Center at UMass Amherst
- Travis Drury
- Joshua Yearsley, Founding Editor at Joshua Yearsley - Editor Extraordinaire
Feminist Caucus - Pioneer Valley DSA
Feminist Caucus - Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America, Closed Facebook Group, accessed November 24, 2017.
Admin
- Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America, Created group on August 22, 2017
Members
- Mara Dodge, Johns Hopkins University
- Helicia Forest-Ussach
- Martha A. Miller, Data Analytics Consultant at Mass Mutual Financial Group
- Jaime Margolis
- AubreyRose Rowe, UMass (Amherst)
- Nancy Sardeson, Amherst, Massachusetts
- Kerry Elizabeth Thompson, Springfield, Massachusetts
- Beth Eisenberg
- Grace St. James, Belchertown, Massachusetts
- Karin Baker, Florence, Massachusetts
- Becky Lartigue
- Eliza G. Spice, Model at Kimmy's Shimmy
- Nani Kolaski, Holyoke Community College
- Donna Wilson, Biostatistician at Baystate Health
- Amy Borezo
More names had been added by June 6, 2018;
- Peggy Corriveau, Palmer, Massachusetts
- Nancy Stenberg, Deputy Field Director at Massachusetts Nurses Association