TAKING A STEP TOWARDS JOINING LEFTROOTS
This application is for social movement leftists in the United State who are interested in potentially becoming a core member of LeftRoots – the members we call the cadre. After successfully launching the first in-person cadre Branch in the Bay Area in 2014, we are now ready to build a national cadre, but in a way that responds to the needs of comrades around the country, many of whom are not yet in a position to build an in-person LeftRoots Branch. We are excited about your interest in LeftRoots!
The process of joining LeftRoots involves completing the Bootcamp and then identifying if there is mutual understanding and political alignment between you & LeftRoots – so it’s actually a good fit, and so that LeftRoots remains a Left organization of primarily oppressed & exploited people. The composition of the LR Bootcamps is shaped by quotas around race, class and gender to ensure that the super-majority of the candidates are women and/or transgendered people, people of color and working class people. This means that even if someone expresses interest in joining LeftRoots as Cadre, she may not be invited into a class of the Bootcamp. She would, however, be invited to participate as a Compa and would be considered for participation in a following Bootcamp.
KEY INFO about LEFTROOTS.
LeftRoots is a national organization of Leftists engaged in mass organizing in the United States, committed to developing the individual and collective skills necessary to formulate, evaluate and carry out strategy to build 21st century socialism.
As organizers and activists in different mass movements, we recognize that we need more than our reform and resistance struggles. The members of LeftRoots have come together to build relationships across regions, sectors, and revolutionary traditions; strengthen our efforts to challenge capitalism, imperialism, white supremacy, and hetero-patriarchy in the mass work we do everyday; and to create strategies for cultivating democratic, protagonist-lead, and transformative social movements.
For more information on what we believe, you can read:
There are two forms of individual participation: Cadre & Compa : http://leftroots.net/cadre-and-compas/
The 2015-16 Plan: LeftRoots is growing beyond the founding Bay Area membership into a national cadre, organized into Branches. Based on interest so far, over the next two years we plan to develop 5-10 new Branches; some will become In-Person Branches, others At-Large Branches. To launch this process, LR will begin a National Bootcamp at the end of May, and invite new cadre members this Spring/Summer. Cadre will begin meeting in 2 kinds of Branches in July/August:
- At-Large Branches, starting in July/August, will be Branches for members spread across geography, who don’t have the capacity or density to start an in-person Branch in the next year but who are aligned politically and want to participate in LeftRoots’ work. We will be experimenting with interactive on-line and person-to-person tools to organize strong ‘virtual’ Branches.
- Seedling Branches, also starting in July/August, will be temporary At-Large Branches that will support cadre who are organizing In-Person Branches for 2016.
Activists who are interested in being a member of an At-Large or Seedling Branch in 2015, or are interested in helping to start a new In-Person regional Branch in 2016, are encouraged to apply for the national Bootcamp now.
The NATIONAL General Baker Boot-Camp
Named for the Black revolutionary General Baker who once famously said “we need to turn fighters into thinkers and thinkers into fighters,” the Boot-Camp will be a six-week online series of interactive political education and discussion with social movement leftists across the country. The first session will be on Sunday, May 31st, and will include sessions that share LeftRoots’ politics, purpose and strategic orientation, and that build relationships amongst us. Topics include Transcending Pessimism; 20th and 21st Century Socialism; Capitalist Exploitation & Alienation; Oppression & the Capitalist System; Reformism, Revolution, and Strategy; theory & history of Left organization & new political instruments.
This special National Bootcamp will be on-line, using technology that allows for small group discussions, live video and participant exchange. We are still finalizing the tech platform, but we do know that participation will require access to a computer with stable internet, and webcam.
KEY STEPS IN THE PROCESS
May 14: Deadline to Apply
May 17: Notification of Invitation
May 24: Confirm Participation
May 27: Tech Support Session
May 31-July 5: General Baker BootCamp
- May 31 Session 1
- June 7 Session 2
- June 14 Session 3
- June 21 Session 4
- June 28 Session 5
- July 5 Session 6
- Other sessions will be scheduled if a critical mass cannot make these dates.
July 5-20: Membership One-on-One’s & Decisions
July 21: Notification of Membership & Branch Assignment
Week of July 26: Orientation for New CC Members
Week of July 26: Orientation for New At-Large Cadre
August: At-Large Branch Meetings
Questions? If you have any questions about the LeftRoots National General Baker Boot-Camp, please check out these answers to some Frequently Asked Questions. If your question isn’t answered there, please email us at 411@LeftRoots.net.
Apply Here!
* Note that after submitting your application you will receive a confirmation email stating that we’ve receive your application successfully. If you do not receive that confirmation email, please email us at 411@leftroots.net in case there was a technical problem with submitting the form. Thank you!
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