Black Socialists in America (BSA) is an American
political group
A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...
whose stated goal is to create a national platform and network for those who identify as
Black American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
Socialists.
Since its foundation, the group has worked on
grassroots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...
initiatives with organizations across the country, received national media coverage, and an endorsement from
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...
.
The group has also hosted a number of public panels and online discussions featuring Black organizers from both the
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
and
Black power
Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...
eras such as
Jamal Joseph and
Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, as well as political organizations like
Kongreya Star.
Software development
Black Socialists in America raised funds to develop software that has not yet been finalized as of 2023: $25,616.18 for a social organizing platform called the "Dual Power App," $1,738.43 for a democratic meeting application called "Stack," and $10,798.40 for an informational application based upon their own website.
The Dual Power App and Stack were designed and developed open source through a spinoff organization, Open Tech Development (OTD), which, as of December 2023, is in hibernation. The projects, which were explored through a public design and development process that utilized feedback from local organizers and followers of the organization, are also suspended indefinitely as of 2023. The Dual Power App X account last tweeted on December 19, 2023.
See also
*
African-American socialism
*
American Left
The American Left refers to the groups or ideas on the left of the political spectrum in the United States. It is occasionally used as a shorthand for groups aligned with the Democratic Party. At other times, it refers to groups that have soug ...
*
Labor history of the United States
The nature and power of organized labor in the United States is the outcome of historical tensions among counter-acting forces involving workplace rights, wages, working hours, political expression, US labor law, labor laws, and other working co ...
Notes
References
{{Reflist, refs=
[{{Cite web, url=https://blacksocialists.us/features/principles, title=Core Principles and Objectives 2018, website=blacksocialists.us, language=en, access-date=April 7, 2019]
2018 establishments in the United States
African-American socialism
Anti-racist organizations in the United States
Democratic socialist organizations in the United States