It's a presidential election year! What's a radical to do other than decide to vote or not vote? Many radical groups avoid electoral politics, suspicious of giving a mandate to office holders who rarely share their transformative values. But sometimes we have no choice but to engage with politicians and politics, especially at the local level, in order to advocate for ourselves and our communities. How do we do this meaningfully without compromising our core values? 

Gender JUST explored strategies for electoral politics based upon three assumptions with regards to radical engagement: 1) A refusal to engage or refusal to participate in electoral politics is a form of reclaiming stolen mandates; 2) The capacity of office holders to implement radical policies is not dependent on the extent to which they as individuals espouse radical values; 3) Not all elections are created equally - some elections and office holders are more available to accountability to marginalized values and communities than others. We explored these principles through discussion of historical examples such as the work of W.E.B. DuBois and recent local work, including the #ByeAnita campaign and BLM.