In February, the Democratic National Committee will vote to elect the next DNC Chair. Keith Ellison, the current front runner, is the favorite of the progressive wing of the Party having garnered endorsements from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, the AFL-CIO and Democracy for America. However, rumors are flying that Obama’s Labor Secretary Thomas Perez will soon announce a challenging bid.
A group of progressive organizers in San Antonio is planning an event that they hope will make it loud and clear who the DNC should select. Scheduled for January 14, the event is called The March for A Better Democratic Party. However, this march will employ an organized and targeted social media action not normally seen at your typical gathering of sign-carrying protesters. Organizer Sean Omar Rivera says, “The march is not our endgame but instead a tool to add weight to our primary instrument: tweets, posts, messages, emails, and all other methods of contacting party leaders.”
At various times throughout the event, attendees will be prompted to take out their devices, post about Ellison and fill up the feeds of Democratic leaders by tagging them. Rivera went on to say, “Individuals can spend every day contacting party leaders on their own, but their messages only carry so much weight. Delivering those same words wrapped in a package of live streams, recordings, and photographs of a large crowd of fellow activists reinforcing that message will pack a much harder punch and catch the attention of DNC leaders.”
With the ability to inspire millennials to engage in this kind of creative grassroots organizing, Ellison is just what the Democratic Party needs. Let’s hope they are ready to listen.
Learn more about the event here.
