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SDS Mission Statement

SDS is an education and social action organization dedicated to increasing democracy in all phases of our common life. We promote the active participation of students in the formation of a movement to build a society free from poverty, ignorance, war, exploitation, racism, homophobia and sexism.
Social Justice

We strive to replace the worldwide system of poverty and injustice with a world free of all oppression based on class, gender, race, citizenship, age, or sexual orientation. We oppose colonialism: the war of terror committed against indigenous communities.
Decentralization

SDS is a grassroots democratic organization with all major decisions made by the membership at weekly meetings. We practice consensus decision making that allows all voices to be heard.

Cultural Diversity

We honor the biological diversity of the Earth and the cultural, sexual, and spiritual diversity of Earth's people.

Sustainability

We are committed to global sustainability and international justice

Movement Building

As Students for a Democratic Society, we want to remake a movement where our struggles can build and sustain a society of justice-making, solidarity, equality, peace and freedom. This demands a broad-based, deep-rooted, and revolutionary transformation of our society. It demands that we build ..ments that have come before, and alongside other people’s struggles & movements for liberation.Together, we affirm that another world is possible: A world beyond oppression, beyond domination, beyond war and empire. A world where people have power over their own lives. We believe we stand on the cusp of something new in our generation. We have the potential to take action, organize, and relate to other movements in ways that many of us have never seen before. Something new is also happening in our society: the organized Left, after decades of decline and crisis, is reinventing itself. People in many places and communities are building movements committed to long-haul, revolutionary change. SDS can play a vital role by redefining the student and youth movement and how it relates to others. Yet we have a choice ahead of us: We can do what has been done before – reinvent the wheel with the same old cycles – or we can build something new together, something informed by our past and grounded in a vision of what the future might look like. We envision the new SDS in the light of the second alternative. SDS will forge itself through its actions and speak for itself with its own collective voice. In this statement of organizational vision, we want to highlight the most hopeful ideas and practices in SDS, offering a sense of what our organization might be and what it can offer others. The concepts below are building blocks for our organization. Here, we begin to evoke our visions for the movement we want to make, but that is not enough: As Students for a Democratic Society, we will work to actually bring it about.

We are here to win

We really believe we can create a more just society. It is possible, and we can do it –therefore we have a responsibility to do it. Our activism is not simply a matter of “fighting the good fight,” or of insularity or purity, but instead is grounded in the day-today reality of what it takes to build a movement that can win concrete objectives and ultimately transform society.

We are in it for the long haul

Realizing that we can win, we think about what it means to be involved in long-haul struggle, and what it really means to do this for life. We believe there is more to a movement than taking to the streets for a day. We are building our power over the long haul. This helps give perspective on our goals and how we achieve them. We think about how we want the movement – and SDS – to look in five years, in ten years, in twenty years. We think about what we need to do now to get there. We will keep our eyes on the prize.

We are organizers

As Students for a Democratic Society, we will dedicate ourselves not just to activism, but to organizing. Activists are people who take action to make change in society. Organizers are activists who also work to bring many other people into movements. They help build organizations and spaces that engage and activate new people.

For More Information Visit us on the web: myspace.com/lccsds or contact SDS via email: lccsds at yahoo dot com

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