The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) held its National Convention in Atlanta last weekend, August 2–4. This was the second convention of the newly reborn, post-Trump DSA, drawing nearly 1,100 delegates from throughout the country.

The 2017 convention celebrated DSA as the home of the budding socialist movement in the United States and signaled the organization’s desire to turn left, leaving behind much of its past conservative positions on issues like foreign policy. As a new organization, DSA’s enthusiasm was clear, but the group did not have enough shared history among new members to share a common language about the state of the organization, the work DSA should do, or how it should navigate the contemporary political waters.

Now in 2019, DSA has grown from a reported 25,000 members two years ago to nearly 60,000 today, with approximately 175 chapters across the United States. I attended as a delegate from the Madison, Wisconsin chapter, independent of any of the several caucuses or formations in DSA.