Community Engagement Wrap-Up: Events, Activism, and Educational Recruiting

Concluding the community BBQ, what I learned from protests and activism over the last few days, and the importance of educational recruitment.

Lessons from the BBQ:

Rae and Arianna (A new member!) were very helpful in setting up the event before we got there. Many thanks to them.

There was a great turnout for the event!

This was the first event we hosted (under the Really Really Free Market and with monetary help from the Youth Action Fund), and it was really fun! We learned a lot from it. We learned how to become better prepared, how to organize and distribute food, and experience converting people to JSF. Michael and I were about an hour and a half late for the food; Fortunately, we set up pretty early for the event, and they hadn’t even started on tables yet. This taught us to be more disciplined when setting up a food distribution event.

We were able to distribute food to around 40 people, which made Michael, Rae, and me, along with others who helped set up and hand out food, very happy to be giving back to the community in this way. We hope to host another food distribution event in the near future, but until then...

Election Party!

On November 2nd, we will be hosting an election game night party! (Click the link to sign up) The location is still being chosen, so be on the lookout for that. While I don’t believe reform will benefit us in the long run, it can definitely pave the way for Socialist change, eventually leading to Marxist or even Anarchist revolution. We have seen great progress in Socialist reform, from Zohran Mamdani in New York to Katie Wilson in Washington. However, remember that reform can only go so far. We have tried to reform this country for the past 160 years, with little to no progress since the “Emancipation” Proclamation. There are more people in slavery TODAY than in 1865. This has been a failure on a global scale to stop imperialism and embrace each other as fellow humans. The billionaire and epstein class doesn’t believe in a future with worker’s rights. The billionaire and epstein class doesn’t believe in class solidarity. The billionaire and epstein class don’t believe in a future for humankind itself. The only way to stop the bourgeois society is a workers’ revolution. Don’t forget to vote!

Protests and Fundraising:

October 12th March flyer!

Protesters and I marching in the streets of Lake Worth Beach.

This protest was the first (orchestrated) protest I had attended. Unfortunately, none of JSF’s comrades could attend, but there was a good turnout. We waved flags, shouted chants, and delivered speeches. It was a real show of how protest is possible in Amerikkka. We had little police interference, besides them telling us to get off the median (which was legal).

However, our protest remained peaceful, and hopefully was a powerful reminder to any spectators that ICE, the trump administration, and the slave catchers (police) will not stand in our way of speaking up against foreign interference, as well as local interference.

October 6th Budget Hearing:

As you can see, this man was wearing an israel jacket, along with his comrade, who wore a “proud zionist” shirt. While we were going to defend the rights of Americans and Palestinians alike, these agitators showed themselves and spoke in favor of the terrorist state of israel. It was a joke. They laughed when we spoke of the genocide going on in Palestine. These people have no morals. These people are trash beneath our feet; We are forced to walk beside them. Who knows how much they were paid by israeli lobbyists. We do this for free because we are true Americans. We do this for free because we want to see an end to the genocide in Gaza. We do this for free because we want to give money back to the people of Palm Beach County. And yet, there’s resistance. As long as people like this exist, Palm Beach County Commissioners feel free to do as they please with OUR money. This is why we need revolution and not reform. Some people are irredeemable. Change is coming, and it will come fast. As for the hearing itself, we did the best we could. We defended our rights to our tax dollars. In the end, there’s only so much you can do peacefully.

Educational Recruitment:

This section will be brief, as we have not yet implemented this for our membership. However, educational recruitment is crucial to a revolutionary organization. It helps keep prospective members informed, streamlines the vetting process, and teaches discipline to eager recruits. I plan to start an introductory reading program, inspired by my time with the Socialist Alternative organization, to help new prospects decide whether organizing is something they would like to pursue. Knowledge is power, as I am often known to say, and the powerful are the winners. Let us take hold of the power and redistribute it to the people.

Final Thoughts:

Well, comrades, this took me all night. But it was worth it. Worth it to maybe inspire one person to create change. Worth it to make one person a little more educated. It’s worth it to potentially bring one new member into JSF. While in the short run things may seem futile, the future has a lot in store. A future we can still take hold of and mold to be ours. Don’t forget this: as things may seem bleak, hope is the one thing many of us have left. If we take all the hope we have and put it together, that makes community. Community change is easier than we think. We have to let it exist.

-Zi, leader & founder of JSF