The Tempest Collective launched in 2020 at a real crossroads for left-wing politics. At that time—early in the COVID-19 emergency—the Bernie Sanders campaign had been defeated for a second time with too little self-reflection on its causes and implications. Meanwhile, a historic anti-racist movement was making its mark in the U.S. but with deepening social and political crises facing working-class communities. While the movement (temporarily) receded and a strategic impasse took hold, the conditions of crisis internationally only deepened.
Nearly four years later, there remains an existential need to build a mass socialist alternative. At the moment, this is most critically felt in the face of the unapologetic support – political and material – being provided by the United States government to the ongoing slaughter and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. It is also felt in the threat of a virulent and violent far-right politics coming to state power and further enacting violence on all of its favorite scapegoats (migrants, minorities, the LGBTQI, the left, etc.).
In the midst of these dynamics, the Tempest Collective strives to put forward a revolutionary vision that is clear and understandable, that weighs in on strategic and tactical questions, that offers concrete guidance as well as political theory, and that presents a consistent set of working-class politics “from below” while recognizing – and fighting for – new forms of organization. This means building a revolutionary organization that can win and train a new generation to our politics. It also means helping build trade unions, social movements, and community-based organizations that can contribute to building independent working class power and help renew an infrastructure of resistance necessary to cultivate and support our fights.
In the day-to-day and month-to-month, we have built our website (Tempestmag.org); held regular, on-line national educational and organizing events with an impressive constellation of activists, agitators, organizers, and intellectuals; actively contributed to supporting the annual Socialism Conference in Chicago; helped build networks of rank and file labor activists; supported our membership in their existing work in the full breadth of local and national political organizing; and have started building local collectives throughout the country.
Our membership has been the sole material base of support for these efforts but there is much more to be done and we need the financial help of everyone who sees their importance.
In particular, we are holding our second Tempest Collective convention in February 2024 to democratically strengthen our path forward. We continue to contribute to the movement for Palestinian liberation and hope to undertake a national tour to bring important activists and thinkers to your communities. And we hope to expand and deepen our media and educational efforts through our website, on-line events, and an expanded social media effort. We want to make sure that all of our members can equally contribute to this work, to the best of their abilities, despite whatever financial constraints each face.
We know resources are tight but to accomplish our tasks we very much need your financial support. We thank you in advance for donating to this fundraiser and look forward to seeing you all in our collective efforts to navigate the fight for a better world.