People were sweating as they waited in line. The air was thick with humidity. Warm bodies were forced intimately close against the wall leading up to the entrance level.

To the superficial observer, it may have looked like any other warehouse party worth a couple bucks- but this one was for a cause.

It was a Friday night at the Leftist Lounge in West Oakland, and the difference was that all party profits were donated to progressive community organizations, while at the same time permitting people to party freely.

Some of the organizations that benefited from the $5-$10 admission price include Critical Resistance, Left Turn publication, and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.

“The Leftist Lounge was started by some revolutionaries in Boston, who were inspired to bring it out here to the Bay. There’s lots of political work out here, but also divergent sectors that, at times work apart. It’s not always a politically fruitful type of arrangement,” said Rishi Awatramani, who was one of the facilitators of the event on the West Coast.

Awatramani is also a member of Just Cause in Oakland, a mass-based organization that works with the economically-disadvantaged for social justice. Just Cause was one of the organizations that benefited from the success of the event.

Since the first Leftist Lounge, which hit Beantown in June of 2003, there have been six more, and people have started to wonder how this event would fare nationwide.

So how would partying help leftist political objectives? Overtly, it didn’t fulfill specific mainstays or beliefs, but used culture to bring people together in unity.

“We feel like a lot of folks spend a good amount of time trying to build politically through organizational context, to advance the struggle. "

But we also believe that the struggle needs to be rooted in culture as well as politics,” said Awatramani. “That’s one step that’s not being accomplished in a large organizational context.”

That night was one of the biggest gathering of revolutionaries living in the Bay, with over 1000 people attending.

Local 1200 was one of the DJ crews who donated their time, and vinyl expertise. There couldn’t have been a better union, since the crew’s establishing mission was to have fun parties with positivity for young people of color.

“We formed when hip-hop was taken over by corporations.

Working with groups such as the Underground Railroad and Young Comrades, we’ve always been involved in the arts activist community,” said DJ Sake 1, a household name on the Bay Area music scene.

Every member of Local 1200 has a background rooted in activism; Willie Maze (TDK), Tim D (Youth Chorus), Namane, and Theo Rodriguez, grew up in the subcultures of hip-hop that promoted progressive standpoints.

“The difference between this party and others is that it’s overtly political and conscious, and brings people together under the banner of political power and unity. If you go to other revolutionary countries, the culture is integrated into the movement. With President Bush being in power, it’s going to be real hard to express ourselves since there’s more government censorship. Culture has the ability to avoid censorship since it’s seen as less threatening," said Sake 1.

On the cement walls, graphic posters of Stephen Biko and Albert Einstein jump out from the dim corners.

Although maneuvering through the diverse crowd is harrowing at times, the turnout was successful, especially for the groups benefiting.

“We raised $2,500 before expenses last year, and this year we made $8000 before expenses.

There’s always a feeling that we want to be gratified, because we keep getting bigger and bigger,” said Awatramani.