Name: Amber A’Lee Frost

Age: 25

Hometown: Pittsboro, Indiana

Chapter: Bloomington Indiana/ Indiana University

Member Since: 2008

 

How did you become interested in Democratic Socialism?

 

It just all came together. I had relatives in unions, and I got interested in feminism and antiracist activism early. Mostly, I felt frustrated by America’s inability to acknowledge our own poverty epidemic, and the rut that poor people couldn’t escape. As I started to analyze these problems in college, I found the root of them all was grounded in capitalism. I did some quick googling for pragmatic but radical Socialist groups, and YDS was clearly the best option.

 

If you were in an elevator and somebody asked you, “What is Democratic Socialism,” how would you explain?  

 

Democratic Socialism is simply the extension of democracy towards wealth. While this has many interpretations and avenues of execution, I am a Democratic Socialist because I believe that all people deserve to have their most basic needs met and that mere survival should not be a luxury or privilege. There are lots of leftists out there, but our unique role as Democratic Socialists is to recognize the patterns of oppression, and enlighten to public to their relationship with capitalism. All human suffering is connected, and in a country where the myth of the “American Dream” still persists, Democratic Socialists of America provide the educated voice of dissent.

 

What sort of activism have you done as a YDS activist? 

 

There wasn’t a chapter on campus [Indian University at Bloomington] in 2008 when I got interested, so I started one. I did various reach-outs and call-out meetings, until I had regular members attending weekly. During our first year, we had current-event related discussions and forums and tables on student debt and health care.

My second year, we did a letter-writing and tabling campaign for SAFRA, countered Israel Awareness Week (a largely right-wing “awareness”) with a presentation on Israeli Nationalism and Israeli Leftist Dissent, did in-depth theory workshops, and we counter-protested a Tea Party Tax Day rally. We also focused a lot more on press, and we managed to make it in the local and school newspapers on multiple occasions.

What motivates your activism with YDS? 

 

I’m motivated by the possibility of a more just and sustainable world.

 

 

Tell us a funny experience you’ve had as a YDS activist.

Probably any of the run-ins we’ve had with campus Libertarians. Comments have ranged everywhere from “Have you been to Europe?!? Children in Germany are taking food from the trash can because they’re going hungry!” to “Hunger is impossible in the free market.” My favorite might have been “Sweden is successful because they have an absolutely free market! People in England are dying in the streets every day from curable diseases!” At that point, you just shake your head and, in your most diplomatic tone of voice, tell them, “I’m sorry, but you clearly have no idea what you’re talking about”

 

Anything else you would like to add? 

 

We’re faced with very large problems right now, but not getting discouraged is essential to our success. It will take generations, but we have so much history to learn from, and so many people joining and working alongside us. This is our battle, and we are going to win.