Brazilian Socialist Leaders in Conversation

Meet four visiting leaders and federal congresspeople from Brazil’s Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSOL) to discuss their experience building a mass working-class movement in Brazil. A rank-and-file teacher leader from the Oakland Education Association will join in conversation about movement-building lessons for the possible Oakland teachers’ strike.

Recent elections in Brazil brought a far-right leader to the presidency, but at the same time the democratic socialist party PSOL won inspiring gains across the country. The party has become a political center for popular movements for working-class feminism, racial justice, and public education. Mass strikes last year in São Paulo drew hundreds of thousands of students and teachers into action, with one of these PSOL leaders playing a key public role in the fight. PSOL’s programs for popular education in working-class neighborhoods have played a key role in their movement’s growth.

Come join Sâmia Bomfim, Jô Cavalcanti, Fernanda Melchionna, and Talíria Petrone to learn about their movement-building successes in Brazil, and the lessons for organizing in the East Bay.