Our slate is proud to endorse Ajmal Alami and Michelle Denise Fisher for YDS Co-Chairs! With our endorsement of Ajmal and Michelle, we aim to keep building a stronger relationship with YDS and develop its leaders.

Why the YDS/DSA Relationship Matters:

Momentum is endorsing Ajmal Alami and Michelle Fisher for YDS Co-Chairs because they represent the interests of YDS to DSA through a shared NPC vote. With our endorsement of Ajmal and Michelle, we show our commitment to maintaining and building a strong relationship with YDS. We view YDS not as a separate organization from DSA, but as a vital branch of both the national organization and local chapters. Without YDS, DSA would lose out on radicalizing and training the most potent leaders in the movement. But YDS isn’t just a place to put the kids (and young adults) until they graduate–YDS is the fastest growing section of DSA, and can make a real impact on the future of the organization. We are aligned with the goals of YDS, including the upcoming YDS Fall Member Drive, which aims to double the number of YDS chapters from 50 to 100 and recruit 1000 new dues-paying members to YDS/DSA. This is a vital step in making DSA a mass socialist movement that has the potential to transform American society.

Ajmal and Michelle’s platform outlines the ways in which they will fight for our platform planks especially:

• Forging a new internationalism, which is central to fighting economic nationalism at home and learning from socialist movements abroad
• Deepening the internal democracy of DSA to empower new members and invest them in DSA’s political future
• A political education program that arms every member with a strong sense of what we’re fighting for and why

With a Momentum NPC and Ajmal and Michelle’s shared NPC seat, we hope to work together to radically transform the way DSA and YDS relate to one another as we build a new era of socialism.

Their Platform:

Ajmal Alami

Chapter: Virginia Tech Young Democratic Socialists (Blacksburg, VA)

Hometown: Sterling, VA

Website: ajmalyds.wordpress.com

Michelle Fisher

Chapter: Wesleyan Democratic Socialists (Middletown, CT)

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

Website: yds-michelle.tumblr.com

As co-chairs we commit to:

• building a framework for in-person mentorships between YDS and DSA chapters (with provisions made for YDS chapters without DSA chapters nearby)
• developing frequent regional YDS organizing trainings
• creating a step-by-step organizing guide for running a successful campaign around the Activist Agenda, including the creation of a body that would assist YDS chapters in helping coordinate their respective campaigns
• restructuring monthly YDS leadership calls and including skills instruction and political education/debate

These structures (outlined in more detail in our proposed YDS resolution will provide even the newest chapters with everything they need to build socialism on their campuses while creating a pipeline of strong YDS organizers who will go out and build their DSA chapters after they graduate.

In addition we will work toward:

• Building strong international ties to boost transnational solidarity with all those oppressed by capitalism, including other left youth wings that we currently have informal connections with, such as Momentum, Scottish Labour Young Socialists, and Die Linke’s youth wing. We also hope to expand our international connections outside of Europe to the global south.
• Organizing not only around the idea of collective liberation, but also specifically how Marxism and socialism fit into it. The basis for collective liberation is how all oppression is linked to one another, and that nobody is free until everybody is. We hope to accomplish this through meaningful political education and outreach.