Chicagoan socialists fight for affordable housing, immigration rights

Former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had slammed the progressive Democrats and their ‘way left’ policies while giving an interview to CNN that aired on Friday morning. He also suggested that New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist, isn’t representative of the Democratic Party’s base or its path to victory in 2020.

In all this criticism from the vice-president, thousands of socialists from all over the world have gathered in Chicago for the four-day Socialism Conference and there was much to celebrate on this occasion. Over the past two years, America has seen a lot of change in the politics aspects as there is a resurgence of socialist politics. This could be seen from the most consequential political upset in recent times in which Ocasio-Cortez’s toppled of 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley.

The change in dynamics can also be seen in Chicago as well as six democratic socialists had been elected in the Chicago City Council. The most recent example is the case of Tiffany Caban, a public defender backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, challenged the establishment-backed candidate in the Queens, New York, district attorney race.

These representatives have embedded in social movements and community organizing. This activism shows that there is a desire among the people for a left-wing alternative to the Democratic Party. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa said to a roaring audience on Friday. “We know it is barbarism or socialism — and we choose the latter.”

Chicago’s city council constitutes to about 12 percent of democratic socialists. This figure is the highest in any major American city in more than a century. The growing number of movements and representative-ratio indicates a big change in the landscape of American politics.