Meet Dylan "Sky" MacAdams
Community Organizer
Sky MacAdams has always been someone who cares about their local community and bringing people together. In September of 2021, when he was a Sophomore at the University of Texas, Sky founded and was voted in as Chairman of the "Coalition Austin." This organization was inspired by the original Rainbow Coalition started by Chairman Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party, in Chicago in 1969. It was founded with the principles of working together for causes outside one's own so that positive change could happen for everyone. This idea of collective action was so revolutionary that the director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, labeled him the "most dangerous man in America." In an attempt to recreate the core principles of the original Rainbow Coalition, Chairman MacAdams fought and advocated for an organization that inspired people on the individual level to create the change they wanted to see in the world. This was done by creating an organization that sought to uplift the ideas of individual people through collective action, and never say no to any opportunity for positive change.
Over the span of 9 months Chairman MacAdams grew the organization from a rag tag team of 3 individuals to an organization that was able to put together multiple protests which were attended by upwards of ten thousand individuals. During this time the organization also raised roughly 10,000 for various causes ranging from helping the local unhoused population, to providing individuals with access to abortion care, to helping struggling community members with monetary assistance.
Activist
Throughout his career in activism, Chairman MacAdams has consistently stood up for the little guy regardless of personal gain or connection. In the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022, Sky organized day and night for abortion rights. He organized a range of events targeting different groups to get the word out and inspire individuals to get involved. These events included an educational festival featuring bands, charities and artists, a walkout across multiple high schools in the district, and multiple protests which occupied everything from the Capitol to the Courthouse.
Around this same time period, the Uvalde Massacre occurred. This event shook Sky to the core. He sprung into action and by the next day had organized a candlelit vigil and community gathering to take place on the steps of the Capitol. The vigil was scheduled for 6 pm and was designed to offer a safe space for individuals in mourning to speak from their heart and cry together. The event was scheduled to end at 8 pm, but due to the overwhelming mass of people gathering to share their grief Chairman MacAdams and the Coalition Austin stayed until midnight to allow everyone time to speak and console each other.
More recently, in the wake of the unconscionable violence and destruction in Gaza, Sky has been fighting for an end to unconditional arms sales to a rogue state. This has been an incredibly controversial fight in America as individuals who are opposed to Israels war and the wanton destruction that comes with are unfairly labeled antisemitic. During the spring of 2024, Chairman MacAdams was unjustly arrested and injured while peacefully protesting for the right of Palestinians to exist. He was forced to stay in jail over 40 hours despite being arrested on trumped-up charges, which were later dropped as the DA found nothing to prosecute. The illegitimacy of his arrest did not stop radical conservatives from attacking him and those around him as representing a new wave of antisemitism. This was despite the fact that Sky is himself, a Jewish man. These events directly inspired Chairman MacAdams to get involved in electoral politics so that he could have a real voice to stand up for the oppressed and the voiceless.
Roots in Education
Before Sky was organizing in the streets for our rights, he was taught the importance of education and educators. He was raised by a family of teachers. His mom has been a public school teacher for over 20 years, and his grandmother retired as superintendent of her school district after working in education for decades. He was shown first hand how difficult and under appreciated the job of teaching can be, as well as how far educators go for their students. Sky MacAdams learned that to increase educational outcomes, we must increase the care we show to our educators. When his mother was teaching special ed, she would come home every day with bruises and trauma from her work, and yet her school did nothing to try and alleviate the pressure that was being put on her. The amount of care she felt for her students and her work despite the lack of reciprocation was awe inspiring and showed Sky both how much teachers care, as well as how much must still be done to help them out.
Chairman MacAdams is running for AISD school board to act as a breath of fresh air for our stagnant education system that prioritizes profit over productivity. He believes that change is possible if we're willing to fight for it and nothing could ever shake that conviction. Or, rephrased in the immortal words of Fred Hampton, "If you dare to struggle, you dare to win. If you dare not struggle then goddamnit you don't deserve to win."