A Little Bit About Us . . .

The Northwoods Socialist Collective is a motley crew of revolutionary socialists based in northern Minnesota & Wisconsin.  Below is a little bit about us - out mission statement, a list of our goals, as well as our current projects.  If you have any questions you can contact us at northwoods.socialists@gmail.com

MISSION STATEMENT: The Northwoods Socialist Collective is a group of working class activists based in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.  We believe everyone should have a say in the matters that affect their lives.  That is why we are socialists.  We advocate for a socialism that is revolutionary, internationalist and feminist, as well as being anti-racist, anti-ableist, anti-imperialist, environmentally sustainable and fully committed to LGBTQAI+ liberation.  We invite you to join us in the struggle to make our communities and world a better place! 

OUR PROJECTS: We are involved in a variety of coalitions and projects, but these are the specific ones that we are currently trying to prioritize.  Contact us if you'd like to plug into any of these projects.

• Abortion Rights: We encourage folks to support reproductive freedom, and in particular to help support and defend the WE Health Clinic - our region's only abortion clinic.  We are involved in the patient escort program, and the HOTDISH Militia.
• Union Organizing: We meet with anyone interested in unionizing their workplace to walk them through what an organizing drive usually consists of, and then to help pair them with a union.  We then assist in any way in helping with the organizing drive.
• Palestine Solidarity: We are active with the Palestine Solidarity Working Group, which is a Duluth based group consisted of Twin Ports DSA, Grandmothers for Peace, Anti-Imperialist Action, Twin Ports Against Weapons Trade, Veterans for Peace and us.  The Working Group organizes everything from protests, teach-ins, film showings and fundraisers.
• Immigrant Rights: We work with the Interfaith Committee for Migrant Justice and other local immigrant rights groups.  We help promote the immigrant solidarity protests that happen every Wednesday at noon in both Duluth and Superior.  We help local migrant families in need of aid, and participate in rapid response actions when ICE carries out raids in our community.
• Trans Solidarity: We support the work of existing local groups like Trans Northland and the Trans Solidarity Working Group.  We've organized actions from a protest march through Target to "shit-ins", where we post us trans affirming leaflets in public bathrooms.  

OUR GOALS:  Here is a list of our goals, which is basically the framework that we have for trying to achieve the goals listed is our Mission Statement.

• Political Education: We feel that a crucial part of building a socialist movement is political education.  Towards that end we put on monthly Socialism and a Slice public discussion meetings.  We organize Marxist study groups from time to time.  And we also host a library of socialist books, publish a quarterly newsletter, set up political literature tables at community events, distribute leaflets and try to connect workers and activists with educational tools.
• Social Movement Building: We seek to be an ally, partner and constructive participant in the movements for social change in our region - from abortion rights to Black Lives Matter.  We believe that social movements are one of the main drivers of change.  They have power by collectively mobilizing people independent of the power structure.  It is crucial that the people directly effected by issues are the ones who come together to come up with demands, tactics and organizations for their liberation.  We are big believers in the tactic of the united front (the bringing together working class groups into coalitions around the issues where we agree), and believe that it is a vital tool in social movement building. 
• Mass & Direct Action: While ultimately the power of the working class lies in its ability to shut down production through political and general strikes, we have a lot of work to do before those kind of tactics are possible.  We put a lot of time into encouraging unions and social movements to adopt the tactics of mass action and direct action.  These are tactics that encourage working people to take matters into their own hands and act collectively - instead of relying on lobbyist or politicians to do things for them.  Informational pickets, marches and even simple things like getting all of your co-workers to wear a union sticker on the same day, are crucial first steps in normalizing collective action.  We have to make it easy for folks to take that first step into opposition to the status quo, but it also has to be in a way that empowers them, provides them with valuable experience, and points in the direction of more militant, and more powerful forms of collective action.  We embrace all tactics that give working people a sense of the power that they have when they act collectively.
• Building Union Power: We put a lot of time and energy into the labor movement.  We walk EVERY picket line.  We engage in strike support work, and help non-union workers to unionize their workplaces.  And withing unions we are working to build a class struggle left wing.  Our goal is to revitalize the labor movement into a democratic, militant and effective vehicle for social change.  We have set up a separate Labor Activism page to help facilitate this.
• Campus Activism: We seek to connect student activists with labor, social movement and community activists to facilitate better cross pollination of ideas and projects.  We have set up a separate Campus Activism page to help facilitate this. 
• Coordination & Organization: We believe that it's very important for revolutionaries to be part of an organization - where we can support one another and coordinate our education and political work.  Without organization it's all too easy to get burned out and/or succumb to the enormous pressures that the status quo can bring to bear on its opponents.  Our Collective is a modest attempt at providing our members a vehicle for coordinating our political work.  We hold monthly membership meetings, along with socials and an online discussion forum.  Through these mediums we report on the work we are doing, network with other activists, plan future campaigns and provide feedback and support.
  

OUR HISTORY: The Northwoods Socialist Collective was founded in the Fall of 2020.  The initiative came out of a proposal from Carl Sack (an amazing local activist who tragically passed away in the Spring of 2024) to create an organization where local revolutionary socialists could come together and coordinate their work.  While the founding core were former members of Socialist Action (a national group which was active in this region from 1997 to 2019), the Collective has members who come from a variety of different political traditions (including the IWW, DSA, Communist Party, Socialist Resurgence, Workers' Voice and Tempest).

JOIN US: If you are interested in  joining the Northwoods Socialist Collective, fill out this membership application.  All applicants are voted on by the Collective before becoming members.  We have a zero tolerance policy towards violence and sexual harassment.  And FYI, as a group we do not take a position on elections or candidates, so that is not an arena that our group is involved with.  We look forward to fighting shoulder to shoulder with you in the struggle for a better world!