People’s Congress of Resistance

By: Danielle Corcione

How can the resistance sustain itself through grassroots organizing? Unity through democratic resistance.

“The two major parties have proven to be unwilling to make significant changes, socially and economically, that would benefit regular working class people,” says Adiah Hicks, member of the local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “I believe that the People’s Congress of Resistance will give more agency to working class people who have to deal with the fallout from out of touch politicians making policies that only serve the wealthy. It will also allow people to organize a national resistance to the onslaught of terrible policies put forth by the current administration.”

The People’s Congress of Resistance, a two-day conference dedicated to real and authentic representation in organizing, hopes to bring together our country’s underrepresented leaders, such as those within immigrant families vulnerable to ICE raids; Native, Black, Muslim-American, and LGBTQ communities; the environmental, feminist, and anti-war movements; the healthcare and education industries; and impoverished Midwestern and Appalachian communities.

The conference will take place on Saturday, September 16 and Sunday, September 17 at Howard University in Washington, DC. Local organizers and activists hope to bring back better strategies and new ideas to Philadelphia after the weekend of democratic unity.

“We know that the state and billionaires’ congress will never represent the people, so winning concessions from it can’t be the only goal, or the primary goal,” explains Timour Kamran, candidate member also for PSL Philly. “We undertake [the People’s Congress of Resistance] not to change them, i.e., the ruling class, but to change ourselves. In putting together the People’s Congress, and creating a space where people can exercise their political power, we will re-create ourselves a people capable of making good on that power we already have. The People’s Congress will be a vehicle of expression for the people’s struggle, and it will allow us to see our own power reflected back, multiplied.”

Kamran adds PSL plans to host regular meetings in Philadelphia to serve a local People’s Congress: “here organizers and individuals in Philadelphia can come to be heard and collaborate, offering assistance in the struggles of others and receiving assistance in their own.”