by Vicki P
Providence, RI
I suppose you could say I was a typical liberal when I first started to become politically engaged; I understood that “voting is important,” but I didn’t really try to understand how politics touches our everyday lives beyond that. For example, I was a black kid growing up in Warwick, Rhode Island, which, while it perhaps may have changed in the past few years, was virtually all-white in the 2000s. It never dawned on me to ask why it was that very few of my classmates looked like me; meanwhile, a lot of my family and family friends lived in parts of Providence that were considered “rough.”
The events surrounding the 2016 election and the Trump presidency seem to have been a catalyst for many young people eschewing the typical, two-party politics that’s got a stranglehold on the country, and I am no exception. My family’s living situation became untenable, and by the end of 2018, we were homeless, living in a hotel, and I was working up to 12 hours stocking shelves just to help make ends meet. It was then that I found online content that opened my eyes to concepts like socialism and class consciousness, an entirely new world of politics I’d never really given much thought to. I realized that a world where capitalism is literally killing millions shouldn’t exist and doesn’t have to. I was fortunate to find the Independent Socialist Group (ISG), where I can help contribute my time and resources to try and improve things.
In short, I am a socialist because, as someone who has been without things like food, heat, electricity, a stable place of residence, etc., I believe that it’s barbaric that those in need are allowed to go without the basic necessities required to live, and we cannot truly call ourselves a civilized society until that doesn’t happen.
Independent Socialist Group 