Introducing The Socialist Tribune
We are proud to introduce to you The Socialist Tribune, a monthly publication by Marxist Unity NYC, a local formation of the Marxist Unity Group caucus in the Democratic Socialists of America.
We draw our name from two sources. The first is the infamous New York Tribune, founded by abolitionist Horace Greeley and on whose pages Marx wrote his correspondence on the American Civil War. The second is a political argument. In What is to be Done?, Vladimir Lenin emphasizes the distinction between the economistic and apolitical “trade union secretary” and the tribune of the people, to which he believed every party activist and elected official of the revolutionary Social Democratic movement should aspire:
“It cannot be too strongly maintained…that the Social-Democrat’s ideal should not be the trade union secretary, but the tribune of the people, who is able to react to every manifestation of tyranny and oppression, no matter where it appears, no matter what stratum or class of the people it affects; who is able to generalize all these manifestations and produce a single picture of police violence and capitalist exploitation; who is able to take advantage of every event, however small, in order to set forth before all his socialist convictions and his democratic demands, in order to clarify for all and everyone the world-historic significance of the struggle for the emancipation of the proletariat.”
We believe DSA should take up this mantle, advancing tribunes on the local and national stage, from the trade unions to the streets, and into the halls of power. As a factional publication, the Socialist Tribune is more inward-facing than this aspirational image, oriented towards the existing Left and its party activists. But we hope to play a small part in the construction of a constellation of publications that spread the message of democracy and socialism across the country. To this end, we support any effort within DSA to expand its outward-facing publication presence, especially in New York.
Within the Democratic Socialists of America, Marxist Unity Group struggles for DSA to adopt unity around a revolutionary political program for radical democracy and socialism that can serve as a guide for our work: a program that can orient a principled electoral and labor strategy around true opposition to the existing undemocratic state and the capitalist class. Our political project is fundamentally based on the transformation of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America into a principled, democratic, local organ for a nationwide socialist party, revolutionary in its outlook, and representative of the independent political organization of the working class.
The Left in New York City is divided among competing political sects, the world of progressive NGOs and nonprofits, and, at the center of this political universe, DSA. We believe that the DSA is the true home for any revolutionary socialist, but we recognize the unique problems of our chapter. It isn’t easy for political minorities to have a voice, which has caused talented would-be party-builders to either retreat to isolated areas of organization free from interference or to flee to the “greener" pastures of the sects. The result is not only disunity but also political underdevelopment. To decide our collective direction, the socialist movement needs spaces for open and deliberative political discussion. As committed communists and committed DSA members, we have a responsibility to transform our chapter into a space where the left wing of our party can freely organize around its vision for the organization. As a publication, we are dedicated to playing a role in this process by fostering vibrant discourse across the socialist political spectrum, both to win over long-time DSA activists and to recruit outsiders to a vision of unique optimism for DSA’s political project.
We believe that DSA can and must be at the forefront of today’s political struggles, indicting the undemocratic and violent nature of our political system and organizing an opposition around a program for democratic and socialist transformation. In doing so we will win more and more people over to DSA, transforming it into the mass party that it must become to advance revolutionary social change in the US and beyond. We will always make space in this publication and in our organizing work to fight for DSA to meet the political moment as we struggle for revolutionary democratic socialism and a red New York City.
As our editorial efforts grow, we hope to include expanded coverage of the socialist movement in NYC, including submitted responses from across the organization in our Letters column, as well as original reviews and re-publications highlighting the past and present of socialist art and culture, hosted in our Art and Culture column. To make a pitch for submission, whether it be a letter in response to one of our articles or an original piece, reach out to us at marxistunitynyc@gmail.com. Thanks for reading, and we hope you’ll join us in contributing, too! If you are not already a member, consider joining the Democratic Socialists of America.
Warmly,
The Marxist Unity NYC Editorial Committee