A Socialist on the San Antonio City Council
Jalen McKee-Rodriguez was elected to the San Antonio City Council last year. Since then, he’s worked for greater public investment in his working-class, historically black district. We spoke to him about his work as a socialist elected official in Texas.
Jalen McKee-Rodriguez is a socialist member of the San Antonio City Council and Texas’s first openly gay black man to hold office. (Jalen McKee-Rodriguez Campaign)
In 2021, Jalen McKee-Rodriguez was elected to the San Antonio City Council as a socialist and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). He also became the first openly gay black man to hold office in the state of Texas, representing San Antonio’s working-class and historically majority-black East Side.
Working as a math teacher in one of San Antonio’s most impoverished high schools motivated McKee-Rodriguez to fight for a government that puts working-class residents first, an agenda he has pursued on the San Antonio City Council for the last year. He sat down with Alex Birnel for an interview with Jacobin.
Alex Birnel
You represent District 2 on San Antonio’s East Side. How would you describe your district, its history, and its current struggles?
Jalen McKee-Rodriguez
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