Member Spotlight: Rogelio

We often say DSA is a “big tent”. It’s true that we all come from different backgrounds, but every one of our unique experiences has brought us to the same conclusion: A better world is possible, and it is ours to build. The following is the first in a series of stories told by our members about the events and experiences that led them to the Left.

My parents met as teenagers picking turnips in Indiana after they left Mexico. By the time my sister and I came along, my mother had advanced to working as a housekeeper for a well-off family in Buckhead, earning $200 a week. Despite her hard work to get ahead, we still relied on aid from others, especially our Catholic church in Chamblee. One of the nuns made sure we always received the gifts we wanted at Christmas time. She loved my sister and I as if we were her own – I think because of everything my mother did for the church.

My mother did a lot for all of us. One day when I was six years old, I was getting off the bus at the house where my mother worked as a housekeeper (we used their address because the schools there were better), and she announced to me, “Rogelio, from now on, you will go by Roger.” For my mother, she was doing me a favor. She felt she was giving me a chance at a better life in America. So why did it feel like something was being taken from me?

Read the rest of Rogelio's story on our website.

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📚 Media recs from the Left 🎥

We asked our comrades - what was the last Leftist artwork, film, book, essay or podcast that really made you think?

🍿  Snowpiercer (or literally anything by Bong Joon-ho)

🎵  Drone Bomb Me by ANOHNI

🎧  Antifada "History Is a Weapon" podcast series

📕  Malcolm X, Black Liberation & the Road to Workers Power

🎨  Lenin in Smolny

Find many more great recommendations from your comrades on Slack.

Looking for more Leftist education? Join the #education channel on Slack or get connected to your local DSA Block!

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