Runal D.
Please describe your past and current involvement in DSA. This may include your involvement in the metro D.C. chapter, another chapter, and/or work at the national level.
I was involved in the early stages of the Jackson, Mississippi DSA chapter where I recruited several people to join the chapter when it was both a Pre-Organizing Committee and Organizing Committee. While I was in Mississippi, I also worked alongside several DSA members when I was a Mississippi Bernie Victory Captain for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 Presidential Campaign. These were my earliest involvements with DSA. I joined the Metro DC DSA chapter in April, 2020. I am an Internal Organizing Subgroup Coordinator of the Defund MPD Working Group where I play a role in recruiting and onboarding new members, database management – setting up mass texts (on Spoke) and emails, letter-writing campaigns and meeting reminders (on Action Network), and targeted communications, and coordinating with other subgroups. I train members of the onboarding team and I’ve done a Red Desk training for the working group’s leadership. I was the Mobilization Lead for the recent “Fight For Our Lives” direct action organized by the chapter’s Ecosocialist Caucus. I created and launched a mobilization plan, set up a Spoke textbank and also trained volunteers in Spoke, and utilized chapter resources to recruit and mobilize volunteers for the action. I was a Campaign Organizer of the chapter’s 2020 D.C. Elections Working Group. As a campaign organizer, I recruited volunteers through the use of peer-to-peer textbanking, and trained them to phonebank. The volunteers made more than 35,000 calls to voters which was the most calls ever made for a Washington D.C. Council political campaign. I was recognized as the top caller of the week with 700 conversations made in 18 hours. I also regularly moderated our call team dedicated Slack channel for questions, maintained the master textbanking list, took minutes for working group meetings, helped fill out endorsement dossiers, electioneered at polling locations, and distributed campaign literature. I am also a member of the chapter’s Montgomery Country branch, EcoSocialist Caucus, and AfroSocialist Caucus.
Why do you believe that you are a good fit for this position?
I am a socialist and I am dedicated to racial and economic justice, progressive values, and deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. I am dedicated towards building this chapter’s power and the power of our movement in general. I am great at developing good, healthy relationships with chapter members quickly. I am extroverted and friendly and I am good at warming up people and making them feel comfortable. This will make me a great addition to the Steering Committee and it will help new members feel like they have someone who they can always connect with to get involved. I am great at maintaining camaraderie in groups, and I have been appreciated for the same. A co-chair of the 2020 D.C. Elections Working Group even called me a “working group wild card” in appreciation of all that I brought to the working group. I am a well involved member of the chapter and I have a good awareness of available chapter resources, a large majority of which I have utilized with working groups and caucuses. I am a quick and efficient learner and this will greatly assist me in learning all that I can to benefit this chapter and our movement. I have relevant leadership experience, as aforementioned, which will be a great asset to this Steering Committee At-large position.
What do you hope to accomplish for the chapter if elected to this position?
I want to ensure that more leadership opportunities are available to new people. I don’t believe that these opportunities should be just given to folks who are well known by chapter members in leadership positions. I want to do this for new members while also making them feel more welcome in our chapter, in general. I want to make this chapter truly diverse. It isn’t enough to just say that we believe in a diversity of voices. We must represent it in our membership too. I will work hard to grow our diversity, while working extra hard to make sure the voices of members of marginalized communities are heard including members who identify as BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+. I want to increase collaboration between chapter working groups, caucuses, committees, and other chapter formations. Socialists aren’t single-issue people and this needs to be demonstrated more in the work that we do in this chapter. For example: since neoliberal politics is a barrier on the path towards both prison abolition and a Green New Deal, I’d like to see the Ecosocialist Caucus show up in solidarity at Defund MPD events, and vice versa. Each working group can achieve more with the full backing of the others. I want to build transparency in our chapter. I also want to build and strengthen relationships between chapter members, while maintaining camaraderie within the chapter. I will help with the creation of more social, COVID-safe events for chapter members. I will also work on making sure that our chapter members have a high morale and sense of involvement so that we can operate as a very efficient volunteer-led organization.
What pronouns do you use?
He/his/him
Would you describe yourself as a person of color?
Yes.