by Gregory Lebens-Higgins As socialists, we offer an alternative vision, with the needs of all people at its center. I know you are all here today because you care. Because you believe that if we work together, we can change the circumstances that have led to those outcomes that I have just described.

The following remarks were made at the No Reawaken America Tour (“RAT”) Teach-In, held August 13, 2022 at Austin Park in Batavia, NY. The RAT was a christian nationalist propaganda tour featuring Michael Flynn, Eric Trump, and other reactionaries and conspiracists. After public pressure from groups like ROC DSA, the event moved from Rochester to the Cornerstone Church in Batavia, where it was met by the continued resistance of the newly-formed Genesee County DSA and allies.

These were my first public remarks as a socialist (a “coming out,” if you will)—acting upon my beliefs as part of an organized mass working-class movement. It was an empowering experience, and one that we try to recreate for others in the pages of Rochester Red Star. Although much has changed over the intervening three years, the themes expressed here continue to ring true. A recording of these remarks is available here: bit.ly/norat-wny.