By A socialist political organization with ties to a major donor based in Shanghai is expanding a network of neighborhood organizing spaces across the United States, establishing local hubs for recruitment, demonstrations, and political activism.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation has opened or is preparing at least 28 venues, often called “Liberation Centers,” since 2021, according to a review of the group’s public online activity and local media reports. The centers serve as meeting spaces for advancing “revolutionary” politics, training supporters, and organizing campaigns focused on policing, foreign policy, and other left-wing causes, explained The Daily Caller.
Neville Singham, a former technology executive who now lives in Shanghai, has provided tens of millions of dollars to left-wing organizations with leadership overlaps with the PSL. The group has echoed pro-Chinese Communist Party positions online, including favorable depictions of Mao Zedong’s role in the Chinese revolution and skepticism toward accounts of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
According to the Atlanta Liberation Center’s website, PSL members describe their work in the United States as part of “a movement against racism, poverty and war.”
Stu Smith, an investigative analyst at the Manhattan Institute who studies left-wing networks, said the centers should draw scrutiny from local communities.
“Their model is simple; find a local grievance, radicalize it, and turn it into movement infrastructure,” Smith said. “These centers are often staffed by semi-local organizers who cut their teeth elsewhere, then parachute into new communities.”
“They reach out to teenagers, encourage school disruptions and walkouts, and help create mini-PSL pipelines disguised as harmless ‘student unions,’” Smith added.
In one February Instagram post, the PSL’s Columbus, Ohio, chapter called on students and parents to organize “walk outs” targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The post stated: “Join the PSL at the Columbus Liberation Center this Sunday for a student & parent organizing meeting to build connection between highschool organizers, discuss strategies for building the movement, and plan together on our next steps!”
Other social media posts from the group promote events involving “Trans Liberation,” displays honoring Che Guevara, and sessions such as “Prison Abolition — Marxist Perspective.”
“If you want a foreign-maligned influence operation in your backyard, targeting your community and your children, then ignore the Liberation Centers,” Smith said.
The PSL has also announced grand openings scheduled for June in Houston and Washington, D.C., while raising money for a center in Louisville, Kentucky, since at least 2024.
The planned D.C. Liberation Center website calls for cutting the Metropolitan Police Department budget by 90 percent, adopting cashless bail, providing “access to gender affirming care” for “trans youth,” establishing “Guaranteed Income,” and pursuing other progressive policies.
Two of the identified locations function more like event spaces: a PSL-linked cafe in Durham, North Carolina, and the Lancaster People’s Center in Pennsylvania. The centers have appeared in both progressive cities and more conservative areas, from Portland, Oregon, to the West Virginia panhandle.
Pennsylvania has the largest identified concentration, with seven locations in Lancaster, Pittsburgh, Reading, Phoenixville, Philadelphia, York, and West Chester.
The PSL is not required to publicly disclose its donors. Several centers say they rely on volunteer labor and community fundraising, while the Albuquerque location describes itself as “the fiscal sponsor of activists building working-class power in” the region.
“It is not just one group or one campaign,” Smith said of the PSL and affiliated organizations supported by Singham. “It is an ecosystem of overlapping organizations, causes, and front-facing projects that all reinforce each other locally.”
Singham sold his Illinois-based technology company for $785 million in 2017 and has since directed substantial funding into advocacy networks. Reports have also highlighted his participation in Chinese Communist Party-related events and prior advisory ties to Huawei, the China-backed technology firm.
Smith said his own community, outside a major activist hub, acquired a nearby PSL space after unrest in 2020.
“My guess is we ended up with one because the local radicals got especially rowdy during the [2020 Black Lives Matter] ‘Summer of Love,’ and PSL saw an opportunity to plant a flag.”
In a recent national Instagram post, the PSL urged supporters to convert political frustration into organized action.
“It’s not enough to be angry – we must be organized!” the post declared.
