Opinion: The Socialist Roots of Latino Politics in New York

The beginnings of Latino politics in New York largely embraced a brand of socialism and was principally the domain of Puerto Ricans the author writes This group organized an entire political movement focused on racial and social justice Left Bernardo Vega center with Jesus Colon and Raul Mendez in The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College Right Councilmember Alexa Avil s Gerardo Romo NYC Council Media Unit Councilmember Alexa Avil s is exploring a run for Congress in a bid to take on the current Congressman Dan Goldman That she is doing so recalls the very beginnings of Latino politics in New York Like those early figures Avil s is both Puerto Rican and a socialist Is Avil s rise the continuation of a trend in New York City largely initiated by another Puerto Rican socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez AOC Let me explain why it goes much deeper into our history than that The beginnings of Latino politics in New York largely embraced a brand of socialism and was principally the domain of Puerto Ricans Avil s and AOC are heirs of a politics that goes back over a century The electoral contest of AOC in began a new chapter in what we call Latino politics in New York one that as I am indicating here takes a page whether consciously or not from the embryonic phase of our people s politics in the city function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' The key early figures in Latino politics Jes s Col n Bernardo Vega Matias Nieves among others were socialists through and through They understood the principles of classical socialism as pivotal for the attainment of economic justice particularly for marginalized groups like Puerto Ricans The work of Col n and company followed that of a group of Puerto Rican and Cuban transients in the late th century whom historian Jeffrey Hoffnung-Garskof has called migrant revolutionaries This group organized an entire political movement focused on racial and social justice Their work focused on what we now call Afro-Latinidad and was intentionally coalitional in nature Col n Vega and company continued this work in the late s and s though they particularly sought the amelioration of the economic plight of Puerto Rican Latinos and other impoverished groups Plenty of of these early Puerto Rican socialists and others who were integral members of the New York City labor movement were cigar makers Workers rights fair wages and fair labor practices formed the nucleus of their struggle They organized strikes wrote treatises and in the situation of Vega formed the first Puerto Rican chapter of the Socialist Party of New York in so doing seeking political recognition in addition to economic justice for their people It is pivotal to note that at this point there is no indication that Vega or others were particularly focused on political representation These early organizing efforts emerged from a desire to alleviate poverty improve working conditions and secure more jobs for Puerto Ricans and other impoverished communities For Vega immersion in the socialist politics of the day was not driven merely by an attachment to a particular economic or political philosophy Instead it was shaped by his own impoverished circumstances Vega was a socialist not because it was fashionable but because he saw in it a practical response to economic injustice an injustice he was experiencing firsthand as a Puerto Rican living in New York In his Memoirs of Bernardo Vega he describes specific of the struggles he endured during his early years in the city writing times were very bad There entirely was no work and with every passing day I saw my situation grow bleaker and bleaker Vega and other Puerto Ricans determined a political home in the Socialist Party of New York In his memoir Vega describes a warm reception from a great number of of the members of the party including its leader Morris Hillquit Not only did they offer to help Vega find work and become significant interlocutors but the Socialist Party of New York offered Vega a model and an impetus to think about broader approaches to fight for economic justice on behalf of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos Vega Jes s Col n and others would form the Alianza Obrera Puertorrique a a movement that took on the fight for economic justice while effectively creating a bridge between New York s Socialist Party and Puerto Rico s own socialist party Perhaps unbeknownst to them at the time these pivotal early organizing efforts would pave the way for the poll of the first Latino to win elected office in New York just years later with the poll of Puerto Rican socialist Oscar Garc a Rivera I expand on certain of this history in two of my previously published essays on the topic published here and here The latter particularly shows that the maturation of Latino politics in New York eventually veered away from its early socialist sensibilities And this is why I consider AOC s triumph and continued rise as the insertion of a new chapter in the continued expansion in Latino politics in New York This is also why although it is a new chapter it is a reversion to our earliest roots This new chapter does not end with AOC but rather begins with her The buzz which her electoral success created around the city was not just among those immersed in socialist politics but also among younger Latina o aspiring political and neighborhood leaders Several months after AOC s surprise supremacy Julia Salazar also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America DSA defeated then long-time incumbent State Senator Martin Dilan Salazar is of Colombian descent In just a year after AOC became a national figure Tiffany Cab n another Puerto Rican Latina embarked on what seemed to be a David vs Goliath contest taking on Melinda Katz for the district attorney position in Queens Cab n who had never before run for office and came into the race with virtually no name recognition almost spurred another political earthquake She lost to Katz by a mere votes in a race in which over voters participated In Jessica Gonz lez-Rojas also a DSA member won referendum to the State Assembly She is of Paraguayan and Puerto Rican descent Avil s won in and in Kristen Gonzalez won poll to the State Senate Of Puerto Rican and Colombian descent Gonzalez is likewise a member of the DSA Claire Valdez representing parts of Queens in the State Assembly is another DSA member elected in These socialist elected representatives are all Latinas And there could be another addition to this list provided that Diana Moreno is accomplished in her bid to replace Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Assembly Interestingly enough another DSA member Brian Romero is seeking to replace his former boss Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas in the Assembly He would essentially be the first DSA male Latino to win an elected office provided his bid is productive As we can observe this new era in Latino politics in Gotham has seen the rise and success of Latino in this occurrence all Latinas socialist political leaders with accomplishable additions to the list Will we have a second Puerto Rican socialist woman win a seat in the U S House of Representatives to continue the story Eli Valentin is a former Gotham Gazette contributor and presently serves as assistant dean of graduate and leadership studies at Virginia Union University s Graduate Center in Harlem His forthcoming book Politicking from the Barrio Essays in Latino Politics in New York forthcoming from Wipf and Stock chronicles the maturation of Latino politics in New York over the last decade The post Opinion The Socialist Roots of Latino Politics in New York appeared first on City Limits