When I was a kid, politics and civics never really registered for me. I thought those things were only for old people. Or losers. Or both. I grew up an NPR backseat baby, and my very Egyptian immigrant dad would quiz me and my younger brother on current events as he drove us to and from school. I wouldn’t care, I just wanted him to put on Jay-Z. Jay didn’t give a shit about Bush v. Gore. That shit’s for boring old losers.
It wasn’t until 2007 and 2008, when I was in college, that a guy by the name of Barack Obama started running for President of the United States. It was something about him — his calm demeanor combined with his deep intellect — that drew me to his message. Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann (anyone remember him?) became my must-watch news shows every evening after school. I subscribed to the Obama campaign’s YouTube videos — at a time when it was cool and edgy for politicians to use YouTube and the internet — and I even contributed posts to Daily Kos (anyone remember that site?), offering my perspective as a college kid. My personal political awakening had begun.
Fast forward around a decade and I’m making stupid money as a software engineer, blowing it on privileged shit like season tickets for floor seats at musicals and visiting 10 national parks in a year. (Both those things represented in the picture above. And brownie points if you know the musical and national park.) I still voted, for sure, and even though I wanted to become more involved, I knew it was only going to be on a volunteer basis or for much less money than I had been making. One day, however, a friend invited me to a local Democratic club, and I immediately realized how important activism was. One thing led to another, I started volunteering on campaigns, then became precinct chair, then election judge, then field director for a campaign (all while working my software engineering job), before I finally said “fuck it.” I was becoming more bored with software and less fulfilled, and I decided to make a full transition to local politics and community organizing in 2024.
The following year, I started a consulting company aimed at connecting the seemingly disparate progressive organizations in Dallas County. Most of our work is campaign management and helping communities form their own political action committees to gain more equity within the Democratic Party power structure. I’ve never been happier in my career.
This publication is really my personal journey on this relatively new career switch of mine. You might agree with my takes or you might disagree, but I’m always going to give you my side. Feel free to bash me in the comments. But it’s more importantly an attempt to answer this question: What can progressives do at the local level in order to build a more robust Democratic Party? Do you want to help me out? Then let’s fucking go.
