Uploaded May 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
We find ourselves in an exciting time. In 2016, socialism is no longer the taboo word it once was. More and more people are joining social movements and demanding a better world. This renewed discussion has led us to the question of what socialism looks like today; what it is, what it isn't, what it could be. In that spirit, our opening panel is titled "Socialism in the 21st Century". The idea behind this is that while we must look to history to guide us we often get caught up in arguments of the past and lose sight of our common goal; a future society based on human need and not based on the unending drive for profit. Our speakers have been invited to present on why socialism is relevant today and why it is our way forward.
Vijay Prashad
Trinity College
Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, journalist, commentator and a Marxist intellectual. He is the George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and Professor of International Studies at Trinity College. Prashad is the author of seventeen books. In 2012, he published five books, including Arab Spring, Libyan Winter (AK Press) and Uncle Swami: South Asians in America Today (The New Press). Two of his most well-known books, Karma of Brown Folk (2000) and Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting (2002), were chosen by the Village Voice as books of the year.
Jorge Marin
Venezuela Solidarity Committee
Jorge Marin has been very active over many years in the Martin Luther King Boston
Bolivarian Circle and currently one of the Co-chairs of the Boston Venezuelan Solidity Committee. Boston-area activists founded the Venezuela Solidarity Committee on March 5, 2016. The new group will support self-determination and the rights of all historically oppressed peoples in Venezuela and oppose any form of US intervention. In addition to serving as a media resource, activities will include education, lobbying, sister-city programs and campaigns such as supporting the CITGO Heating Oil Assistance Program. The group aims to expose and refute attacks on Venezuela’s programs for social justice, support human rights and advocate strict constitutional processes for political change in the country.
Cynthia Peters
Left Roots
Cynthia Peters is long-time community activist and leftist. Her current organizing home is with City Life/Vida Urbana (clvu.org) and The City School (thecityschool.org), and she does her left-building work with LeftRoots (leftroots.net). For many years, she helped organize the Boston-area Radical Organizing Conference, which was designed to bring activists together to think together about how to do our reform work in a way that forwards radical social change. She is also a writer and editor of a social justice magazine for adult learners (changeagent.nelrc.org), and mother of two adult daughters.
To learn more about the Boston Socialist Unity Project: bostonsocialistunity.org
We find ourselves in an exciting time. In 2016, socialism is no longer the taboo word it once was. More and more people are joining social movements and demanding a better world. This renewed discussion has led us to the question of what socialism looks like today; what it is, what it isn't, what it could be. In that spirit, our opening panel is titled "Socialism in the 21st Century". The idea behind this is that while we must look to history to guide us we often get caught up in arguments of the past and lose sight of our common goal; a future society based on human need and not based on the unending drive for profit. Our speakers have been invited to present on why socialism is relevant today and why it is our way forward.
Vijay Prashad
Trinity College
Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, journalist, commentator and a Marxist intellectual. He is the George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and Professor of International Studies at Trinity College. Prashad is the author of seventeen books. In 2012, he published five books, including Arab Spring, Libyan Winter (AK Press) and Uncle Swami: South Asians in America Today (The New Press). Two of his most well-known books, Karma of Brown Folk (2000) and Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting (2002), were chosen by the Village Voice as books of the year.
Jorge Marin
Venezuela Solidarity Committee
Jorge Marin has been very active over many years in the Martin Luther King Boston
Bolivarian Circle and currently one of the Co-chairs of the Boston Venezuelan Solidity Committee. Boston-area activists founded the Venezuela Solidarity Committee on March 5, 2016. The new group will support self-determination and the rights of all historically oppressed peoples in Venezuela and oppose any form of US intervention. In addition to serving as a media resource, activities will include education, lobbying, sister-city programs and campaigns such as supporting the CITGO Heating Oil Assistance Program. The group aims to expose and refute attacks on Venezuela’s programs for social justice, support human rights and advocate strict constitutional processes for political change in the country.
Cynthia Peters
Left Roots
Cynthia Peters is long-time community activist and leftist. Her current organizing home is with City Life/Vida Urbana (clvu.org) and The City School (thecityschool.org), and she does her left-building work with LeftRoots (leftroots.net). For many years, she helped organize the Boston-area Radical Organizing Conference, which was designed to bring activists together to think together about how to do our reform work in a way that forwards radical social change. She is also a writer and editor of a social justice magazine for adult learners (changeagent.nelrc.org), and mother of two adult daughters.
To learn more about the Boston Socialist Unity Project: bostonsocialistunity.org
