In 2015, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) held its biennial national convention at a small Christian retreat center in Western Pennsylvania. The organization’s entire activist core was there, but the total attendance, including staff, official delegates, and observers, couldn’t have been more than two hundred. The most controversial topics were a floor vote on DSA’s affiliation with the Socialist International and reports that someone at the convention was pestering the center’s nuns about atheism. Media coverage was nearly nonexistent.

Five years later, DSA and the broader left have grown into a meaningful presence in American political life. Politicians who call themselves democratic socialists command international media attention. Socialists have been elected to hundreds of offices around the country, and the organization is nearly a hundred thousand strong. For better or worse, you can now watch live coverage of DSA’s national conventions on C-SPAN.

With Joe Biden likely to preside over a weak and ineffective administration, our still small but growing socialist movement has a chance to make a real impact. But what have we learned from our brief period on the national stage to help inform our organizing in this new environment?