Chapter & Verse: a summary of chapter news for July and August 2025

The post Breaking 10,000 Members, Progress Against Deportation Flights, and More appeared first on Democratic Left.

by a comrade

On July 8th, chapter members of MADSA met for the monthly general meeting at the First Unitarian Society. While the agenda for every chapter meeting differs, July’s meeting carved out some time for some much needed discussion on how chapter members are feeling about our current political climate. Many members voiced their feelings about what it is like to be a socialist in Madison and how best they can start speaking to members of their community about socialism.

For many MADSA members (and socialists in general), the task of raising class consciousness is a topic that is frequently discussed. Madison has a large population of folks working in academia, tech, and the government. This particular makeup of highly educated individuals presents its own unique challenge in the arena of developing class consciousness. How do we as socialists build class power when a majority of people we speak to don’t have a full grasp on their role as a member of the working class? How do we engage in these conversations with our friends, family, and community members? How do we open the minds of others to the existence of class struggle and the need to be an active participant in the fight against the ruling class?

Some members expressed different points of view on how to tackle these unique issues that socialists are faced with. Comrade Will P, who recently attended the Socialism 2025 conference in Chicago, mentioned how there was discussion about the importance of taking action. Specifically, the idea that action dictates belief. Instead of focusing on talking to community members in order to change their mind, we can also operate in the reverse. Instead of just engaging in debate with someone, we can take them to an action and see how their minds change when they find themselves actively participating. According to Will P, they are much more likely to continue doing actions after they show up to their first one.

Halsey H, co-chair of the MADSA chapter, spoke about the importance of building class power by focusing any discussions we have as socialists on bread and butter issues. Madison is home to many liberal protest movements, and Halsey stressed the need to center class struggle and socialism as an alternative to liberalism. MADSA members (and the general public alike) have been reinvigorated by the Democratic mayoral primary win of Zohran Mamdani, a NYC-DSA member. According to Halsey, one key lesson to take from Zohran’s campaign is the centrality of his class messaging. 

In recent years, DSA electoral work has been focused on participating in Democratic primaries, which traps us in engaging constantly with liberal voters who vote Democrat. Rather than get stuck in this cycle of only trying to appeal to liberals, Zohran’s campaign went beyond to activate new voters. These were voters who had previously not voted at all, and were not aligned with the Democratic party. Firing up this base of former non-voters by focusing on class issues turned out to be a winning strategy.

On August 12th, chapter members of MADSA met again for the next monthly general meeting. August’s meeting agenda was full of report backs from different ongoing efforts from chapter members, including the power mapping committee, the abolitionist working group, and the delegates who traveled to Chicago for the 2025 DSA National Convention. 

The power mapping committee, which was formed after the Doing Politics in Public resolution was passed by the chapter during the yearly chapter convention in March 2025, presented their work on creating different maps that highlight the political makeup of the MADSA chapter. Further, the committee expressed their future goals to challenge certain districts in Madison, with the intention of running independent socialist candidates in the future. This work will involve canvassing, speaking with neighbors, and searching for the right candidates to run or endorse. Electoral efforts within the MADSA chapter have been on hold in recent years, but anyone interested in flexing their campaign skills or working with data are welcome to join the power mapping committee and work to put socialists in office. 

The abolitionist working group presented on the current battle to block Dane County from accepting a new county jail communications contract with Smart Communications, a private business that seeks to generate profit from charging incarcerated individuals and their families for phone calls, video calls, and emails. The abolitionist working group detailed their successful efforts to organize other MADSA members, local abolition activist groups, and concerned community members to show up and express dissent on the contract. This resulted in two county board committees voting to deny the contract! 

Member of the abolitionist working group, comrade Ally B, spoke on their work to fight the contract: “This really is a testament to the ongoing steady work of not only our working group but also all abolitionist organizers who’ve shown up. We began researching this contract and working on our strategies against it last summer so when the county made the contract public only one day before it was supposed to be voted on in committee, we were ready to take action quickly.” 

The fight is not finished! The final vote on the contract by the Dane County Board of Supervisors is on September 4th. The abolitionist working group urges everyone to express their dissent via email or by attending the meeting. Further information about the contract, including an email template to send to your local county board supervisor, is included here.

Lastly, MADSA delegates to the 2025 DSA National Convention spoke briefly on their experience at the convention. These delegates, voted on by MADSA members to represent the chapter at the convention, traveled to Chicago and met with over 1,300 other socialists from around the country. They heard a keynote speech by Representative Rashida Tlaib, a member of the Metro Detroit chapter of DSA. Key issues discussed and voted on were related to fighting Zionism, labor organizing, democracy within DSA, and more. MADSA delegates all spoke briefly on their feelings about attending, what they learned, what they wished went differently, and how we should move forward as a chapter based on what passed at Convention.

These discussions at our general meetings serve as a positive way for people to vent in a safe space and engage in proactive conversations that can influence our organizing work going forward. During these tumultuous times, chapter general meetings remain a place where like minded comrades can get together and spend some time in each other’s company, knowing that we are all united in our belief that socialism is the best path forward for this country. How do we get everyone else in Madison on board? We ask for anyone reading this to consider attending the monthly chapter meetings, even if you are not a member. Feel free to discuss politics, the future, and important history with your neighbors in MADSA!

Author: Geoff B

Disclaimer

I am a licensed Mental Health Counselor and will be discussing mental health and potential mitigations for some of neoliberalism’s most insidious impacts on one’s psychological state.  Still, none of what I mention here is medical advice and, if you are struggling, please reach out to the appropriate mental health or crisis services provider.

Additionally, while aspects of neoliberalism can affect and/or exacerbate psychological issues, the reality is that any mental health difficulty is influenced by a multitude of biopsychosocial factors, so even if capitalism falls overnight and tomorrow’s brilliant dawn heralds the beginning of the socialist utopia, you should still definitely talk to your doctor before chucking your Lexapro in the trash.

The Issue

Neoliberal Capitalism is wrecking our mental health and is a major contributor to stress, depression, burnout, and nihilism.  

First, it’s important to lay out what exactly I am talking about when addressing neoliberal capitalism, the driving economic force globally since the tawdry, mid-80s affair between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.  The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “a type of liberalism which favours a global free market without government regulation, with reduction in government spending and businesses and industry controlled and run for profit by private owners.”  On its surface, the definition is dry, boring, and seemingly innocuous.  The most harmful aspects of neoliberalism, however, are seen in what it smuggles in, just under the surface: competition decides what or who is right; government market intervention is inherently destabilizing; humans are consumers; everything should be commodified; inequality is not just fair, but a virtue, as everyone, in the end, gets what they earn.  

The financial and societal impacts of neoliberalism are clear to anyone paying attention. Extreme concentrations of wealth and power and catastrophic levels of inequality are pushing the most people into poverty, marginalization, and disenfranchisement. Just as damaging are the erosion of education systems and the weakening of trade unions.  Then, of course, there are the financial catastrophes:  From the Savings and Loan crisis in the mid-80s (all roads lead back to Ronnie) right through the 2008 Housing Correction to the ongoing post-pandemic inflation, the neoliberal system delivers a regular drumbeat of financial devastation for the common person alongside incredible opportunities for the upward redistribution of wealth.  At this point, it is probably overkill to discuss the details of the numerous neoliberalism-induced wars, famines, and episodes of pestilence during that same period.

What doesn’t get enough press, however, is the psychological toll that all of the above takes on us as individuals.  We struggle to stay financially afloat.  It becomes difficult to envision a bright future for ourselves or our children.  We are algorithmically corralled into isolation, consumerism, and disinformation – all designed to prop up the system.  If one dares point these negative outcomes out, the system responds, “You didn’t grind hard enough, it’s your own fault,” or “You’re just being a snowflake.”  But the truth is, the impact is substantial, measurable, and not grounded in personal failing.  

The so-called deaths of despair – suicide, drug and alcohol overdoses, and alcohol-related liver and coronary disease – have doubled in the US since the 1980s and tripled since the post-war 1940s.  The World Health Organization reports a 13% increase in reported mental health disorders over the past decade, indicating that domestic and global mental health trends coincide.  

Some of the most worrisome examples of the damage done by a capitalistic system supercharged by neoliberal policy are the impacts on young people and children.  For example, Jonathan Haidt, in his book The Anxious Generation, lays out a compelling argument that unregulated social media algorithms are directly responsible for the rapid increase in rates of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders in teens.  (It would be dialectically biased for me to not mention, in their defense, that the algorithms monetizing our kids have driven some very healthy returns for investors.) 

The Solution

Recognizing the impact of the Neoliberal Capitalist system can be overwhelming.  There are, however, viable methods of engaging with the system in healthy, purposeful, and self-preserving ways.  While perhaps not a panacea that guarantees bliss in an oppressive system, we can use practices and tactics found in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to reclaim some peace of mind.  

ACT, in a nutshell, is the idea that: 1) the current situation is, the feelings arising from one’s existence in the situation are, and that one can accept those realities and the associated emotions without needing to endorse them; and 2) one can make a commitment to values-driven action to drive change.  In practical terms, this can be understood in three overarching action items:  Mindful Participation, Solidarity/Mutual Aid Building, and Efforts towards Change.

Mindful Participation

Despite our misgivings, despite seeing the injustices and the ugliness of the current system, our participation in it is (nearly) unavoidable.  (I say “nearly” because while becoming a cave-dwelling hermit is still technically possible, it seems unnecessarily extreme and the WiFi sucks.)  We live, mostly through no fault or choice of our own, in a world where the rent has to be paid, shopping has to be done, and, if you want to hedge against starving in your senior years, saving for retirement in an IRA or 401k is unavoidable.  

We can, however, participate in ways that are mindful of our impact and as aligned as possible with our ethical values.  Employers can be found that are more ethically tolerable than others.  Mortgage payments, rent, and banking are unavoidable, but we do have some level of choice in who we do business with.  And, despite still being embedded in an oppressive system, ethically focused investments can have fewer negative impacts on our world than purely profit/return-driven investing.  We may not be able to step out of the system, but we can certainly be mindful of how we participate and evaluate our actions through the lens of our ethical and moral framework.  Consider it behavioral harm reduction.

There can be a sense that participation is inherently collaboration, making the acceptance part of ACT a bitter pill to swallow.  We can string together two ideas from Michel Foucault (don’t mistake respect for his philosophy as an endorsement of his alleged – ahem –  unsavory behavior in his personal life).  First, he wrote, “Power is exercised through networks, and individuals do not simply circulate in those networks; they are in a position to both submit to and exercise this power,”  and in a related quote, “Where there is power, there is resistance.”  That is to say, resistance can only exist within a system of power.  

Our aforementioned hermit may have avoided the ethical pitfalls of participating in a corrupt system, but fails to take advantage of the power for resistance that is intrinsic to the system itself. (For example, the message of this essay is much more effectively delivered using a MacBook and the internet than it would be sending it via smoke signal from an ideologically-pure cave.)

Creating Solidarity/Mutual Aid

Nearly 1200 words into this and I haven’t brought out the big guns of theory, so let’s rectify that.  Karl Marx, posits in The German Ideology, “Only in community [with others has each] individual the means of cultivating his gifts in all directions; only in the community, therefore, is personal freedom possible.”  Herein lies the first of the two aspects of commitment that we can examine: the recognition that not only are we not alone in our suffering under this system, but that we will only emerge victorious by combining forces and assisting one another.  (After all, as they say, you can’t do socialism without being social, baby!)

Like in our evaluation of mindful participation, we need to parse this through our ethical framework, as well as our individual capacity.  What counts as helping or community building is nearly endless.  If you’re outdoorsy, organize a hiking group; if you’re proud of those baking skills honed during lockdown, bring some cookies to your neighbors; if you can swing it, donate to a worthy local cause.  One of my personal commitments to community building, as a further example, is to always engage the numerous people with whom I have micro-interactions (think cashiers, Uber drivers, receptionists) in a way that shows I see them as a person, not just as a robot performing a public-facing task.  (Sometimes, they look at me like I’m a weirdo.  Sometimes they spend five minutes giving me the down-and-dirty details as to why they’re having a bad day.  So, if I am ever late to a meeting, it’s probably the latter, and certainly not my predilection for losing track of time.)

Additionally, it’s worth pointing out that community building and helping are two-way streets.  None of us are in the position to always be the helper.  Solidarity is likewise strengthened when one reaches out and asks for needed help.  

A common sight, in the early morning hours, in many Southeast Asian countries, are the columns of orange-clad Buddhist monks, winding their way through dense Bangkok neighborhoods or remote Laotian villages.  The faithful line the road, waiting their turn to fill the alms bowls, so as to generate good karma. But, according to Buddhist philosophy, you know who is really racking up the karmic merit points…the monks, by providing those villagers with an opportunity for giving and generosity.

Efforts towards Change

The final leg of the ACT stool we’re crafting is a commitment to collective action aimed at systemic change.  There can be some overlap here with our community building, but these acts are more overtly political; more intentionally designed to upset, alter, or rework the system itself.  

Constructing a new society demands focused, strategic, and coordinated effort.  Plenty of hard work is required. Something as revolutionary as a just and democratic society won’t materialize from thoughts and good vibes.  Luckily, the range of activities that qualify and move us forward is wide and deep.  

-Have you gone to a general meeting and voted on something?  You are a change agent and absolutely pushing us towards a better future.  

-Have you worked a phone bank or marched in a protest rally?  You are a legitimate paradigm-shifting Rock Star.  

-Have you logged in to a DSA meeting via Zoom, listening and learning, trying to find where you can plug in to the organization?  Well, my friend, you are a warrior for humaneness and should regard yourself as such!   

As a warrior, you should certainly become familiar with the sage advice from everyone’s favorite Prussian General, Carl von Clausewitz, “Wearing down the enemy in a conflict means using the duration of the war to bring about a gradual exhaustion of his physical and moral resistance.”  Every action that chips away at neoliberalism, no matter how small, matters.

The Wrap-Up

I am of the opinion that there is plenty in this world to inspire wonder and amazement, but concede that it sometimes feels like we are living through the worst timeline.  We have borne witness to a steady decline in fairness, equality and the political agency of the common person.  We have seen and experienced financial exploitation, social oppression, and the continued concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands.  The modern age has driven a sense of psychological brutalism and strategic isolation.  

Dogged, collective action is the singular means by which a more just and humane future society can be won.  But, the strength required to carry out this action cannot exist without individual psychological resilience.  Our ability to protest, organize, or lead is directly tied to our capacity to keep ourselves from succumbing to the immediate pressures of a brutal system.  The coping skills and survivor mindset that can be cultivated with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy tools can not only make the day-to-day more bearable but also increase our ability to stay in the fight.  

None of the actions suggested by the ACT framework are momentous.  They can be executed in small chunks, step-by-step, inch-by-inch.  Even if we’re moving an inch at a time, we’re still gaining ground, and, in good time, will arrive at a better place, personally and as a society.  I am truly optimistic about that.

The post Acceptance, Commitment, and Class Struggle: Maintaining Resilience During Late-Stage Neoliberal Capitalism appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.

Events & Actions

Tuesday, September 2 (8:00 AM – 4:30 PM) ICE Out of SF Courts! (In person at 100 Montgomery)

Wednesday, September 3 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Court Action Orientation (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Wednesday, September 3 (6:30 PM – 9:00 PM): New Member Happy Hour at Zeitgeist! (In person at Zeitgeist, 199 Valencia)

Friday, September 5 (8:00 AM – 4:30 PM) ICE Out of SF Courts! (In person at 100 Montgomery)

Saturday, September 6 (11:00 AM – 1:30 PM) Emergency Tenant Organizing Committee Fall Cohort Training Party (In person at the Radical Reading Room, 438 Haight)

Sunday, September 7 (5:00 PM – 6:45 PM): Homelessness Working Group Reads “Capitalism & Disability – Selected Writings by Marta Russell” (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister)

Monday, September 8 (5:00 PM – 6:30 PM): EWOC Fundamentals of Workplace Organizing Training (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister)

Monday, September 8 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Tenderloin Healing Circle  (in person at Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate)

Monday, September 8 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board x SF EWOC Local Meeting (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister)

Tuesday, September 9 (6:00 PM – 7:30 PM): Ecosocialist Bi-Weekly Meeting (Zoom and in person at Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate)

Wednesday, September 10 (6:45 PM – 9:00 PM): September General Meeting (Zoom and in person at Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate)

Thursday, September 11 (5:30 PM – 6:30 PM): Education Board Open Meeting (Zoom)

Thursday, September 11 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Immigrant Justice Office Hour  (Zoom)

Saturday, September 13 (12:45 PM – 4:00 PM): Homelessness Working Group Outreach and Outreach Training (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Sunday, September 14 (11:00 AM – 1:00 PM): Physical Education + Self Defense Training (In person at William McKinley Monument)

Monday, September 15 (6:30 PM – 8:00 PM): Homelessness Working Group Regular Meeting (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister)

Monday, September 15 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board Meeting (Zoom)

Check out https://dsasf.org/events for more events and updates. Events with a are especially new-member-friendly!

ICE Out of SF Courts!

Join neighbors, activists, grassroots organizations in resisting ICE abductions happening at immigration court hearings! ICE is taking anyone indiscriminately in order to meet their daily quotas. Many of those taken include people with no removal proceedings.

We’ll be meeting every Tuesday and Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM at Immigration Court at 100 Montgomery. We need all hands on deck. The 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM window is when we most need to boost turnout, but if you can’t make that please come whenever works for you. 1 or 2 hours or the entire time! 

Court Action Orientation

Come out to the office at 1916 McAllister every Wednesday at 6:00 PM to help us make signs, learn about how we are resisting ICE, and discover how you can help. It’s a great time to meet like-minded people and ask any questions you might have before court actions!

Say NO to AB 715! 

SAY NO TO AB 715! The California Senate Education Committee will be holding a hearing on AB 715, a very dangerous bill that aims to censor criticism of Israel from K-12 public education across the state. This bill comes straight out of the Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther playbook. Scott Wiener has been pushing this bill for several months now, and it is essential for comrades and allies in the pro-Palestine movement to turn out to oppose this draconian measure.

The hearing will now take place on the week of September 8 at 1021 O St, Sacramento with exact date TBD (note that the original tentative date of September 2nd or 3rd has been postponed). We still need to be ready to mobilize in large numbers to say NO. Please be ready to mobilize! If you are able to make this hearing to voice your opposition, please reply to this RSVP.

DSA SF Homelessness Working Group Reads: Capitalism & Disability: Selected Writings by Marta Russell

Join DSA SF’s Homelessness Working Group as we read through Capitalism & Disability: Selected Writings by Marta Russell. We’ll be meeting at 1916 McAllister starting September 7th at 5:30 PM and running every other week for 4 or 5 sessions. For more info, register here: bit.ly/martacd

EWOC: Fundamentals of Workplace Organizing

The Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) is running a Fundamentals of Workplace Organizing course weekly in September (see below for schedule). Just like we did back in May, we’re getting a group to take the course together and benefit from in-person discussions and activities (at 1916 McAllister). If you’re interested, fill out the form here! The goal is to have more people learn organizing skills, both for your own projects and for organizing with EWOC. Sessions run every week from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM on:

• Monday, September 8
• Monday, September 15
• Monday, September 22
• Monday, September 29

If you have any questions, reach out to labor@dsasf.org.

Tech Reading Group with Kickstarter Union Founder Clarissa Redwine

Come join DSA SF, TWC, BAL4P, and RDU tech workers on Wednesday, September 24th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM for our monthly tech reading group. We’ll be reading an article by Clarissa Redwine about the Kickstarter Union Campaign that started in 2016. Clarissa will also be making an appearance on Zoom to answer questions about her experience. This is a hybrid event, with in-person attendance at 1916 McAllister and remote attendance on Zoom. 

Behind the Scenes

The Chapter Coordination Committee (CCC) regularly rotates duties among chapter members. This allows us to train new members in key duties that help keep the chapter running like organizing chapter meetings, keeping records updated, office cleanup, updating the DSA SF website and publishing the weekly newsletter. Members can view current CCC rotations.

Interested in helping with the newsletter or other day-to-day tasks that keep the chapter running? Fill out the CCC help form.

The post Chapter Printed Issues – Convention 2025 (Vol. 51 Iss. 2) appeared first on Democratic Left.

The following is an article first published on August 10th on Lisa’s substack.

Hundreds of cars, many from out of state, crept past [on August 9th] in Brunswick, Maine as 43 of us held our monthly statewide coalition protest on Route 1 covering all four corners of a sprawling intersection. Some banged or just held empty pots; one held a shrouded baby to represent all those killed or starved by the U.S.-Israel’s genocide in Gaza. A musician just departed from a summer program at nearby Bowdoin College had passed on his signboard reading: IF YOU’VE WONDERED WHAT YOU’D DO IN A GENOCIDE, YOU’RE DOING IT NOW. A fierce messenger, he will be missed.

People had come from as far away as New York and in Maine from Bass Harbor. Most were boomers but there were young people, too, including two cute kids that waved Palestinian flags and a cute dog named Raffi who’s an old hand at protesting. We made some new friends and greeted some old friends we hadn’t seen in a while.

Bannermeister Lou was out with another of his high impact messages but was told by the owner of the laundromat on the corner that she “agreed” with us but if he didn’t untie it from their sign pole she would call the police. Also that his car would be towed if he was parked there (he wasn’t). Lou and I agreed we think of snappy comebacks after it’s too late e.g. As a young student of history the essential question was: how could the German people have allowed the Nazis to do the Holocaust? Now I know how that happened.

It was a great day to use the banner my husband and I created this week using materials and methods from the Backbone Campaign. With 15 inch high orange letters held aloft by painters’ extension poles, it made for a message highly visible even to the most distant cars in line waiting for the light to change.

For legibility we’d added a black sheet behind the message STOP ARMING GENOCIDE and that made holding the banner in a light breeze something like sailing. Ever mindful of the wind direction, we leaned into it with our bodies to keep the thing aloft. It’s meant to be used without the sheet on freeway overpasses where the sky is the background. We’ll try that soon, too.

Some images of resistance are new while others are sadly still relevant 80 years on from the Nakba. Handala on this man’s shirt is the cartoon character of an impoverished Palestinian child who keeps his back turned on Zionist occupiers.

The police kept a close eye on us but never approached, though at one point a Palestinian flag flew from the tree outside their station.

By contrast, in the UK, 400+ people were being arrested in Parliament Square holding signs that said I OPPOSE GENOCIDE – I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION — a proscribed group that takes direct action targeting weapons manufacturers. I not only support them, I try to emulate them every chance I get.

In Brunswick we were standing about four blocks from General Dynamics with our big banner facing that direction. Did they get the message? Hundreds of motorists honked, waved, cheered, and flashed us peace signs while passing by. A handful yelled “Israel” or gave thumbs down or middle fingers. Every outing shows us how much the tide of public opinion is turning against the Zionist genocide in Palestine.

Activists in southern Maine reported that the sign in front of GD’s Saco bomb factory is now missing. Evidence of attempts at cleaning off red paint seem to have damaged the granite marker and its surround. How will people find this popular protest spot now?

Before the summer is out we will definitely be bringing our new banner to the regular Friday afternoon protests there.

As summer concludes you can join us in Unity, Maine to share your message with hundreds of people on their way to the Common Ground Fair on Saturday, September 20. We’ll start at noon rather than our customary 1:30pm so protestors have time to go to the fair after if so desired. Here’s a link to coverage of our outing there in 2024.

The post New Banner, New Location, New Friends appeared first on Pine & Roses.

Delegates from around the country gathered for DSA's 2025 convention in August.

The post Red Atlas: A National Convention appeared first on Democratic Left.

Before DSA, I was a socialist without an organizing home. We have a responsibility to strengthen the institutions that give our organizing staying power.

The post We Need to Build DSA as an Institution appeared first on Democratic Left.

Monthly Newsletter of the Rochester Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America

Welcome to the September issue of Red Star. In this issue, check out coverage of DSA’s recent National Convention, Rochester’s sanctuary city ordinance, Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado’s visit, and more. You’ll also discover upcoming events, along with “Notes of the Month” from August.

Want to contribute? Submit to bit.ly/SubmitRedStar, or get involved with our Communications Committee. Reach out to steering@rocdsa.org and join DSA today!

The post Rochester Red Star | September 2025 | (Issue 17) first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

By Stephen Valley

We are now six months into the second Trump administration. We’re all familiar with its onslaught on immigrants, citizens, anyone and everyone it finds objectionable. Victims caught in the crosshairs are spirited away without due process, often being sent to newly constructed concentration camps within and outside of the country. Fear mongering over “invasions from violent gangs” and “white genocide” are not new to conservatism and are reaching a fever pitch at a time when public sentiment is becoming strongly divided on the current administration’s immigration actions.

On July 1st, 2025 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a painting by the late artist Thomas Kinkade titled “Morning Pledge” to X, accompanied by the text “Protect the Homeland.” The painting depicts a quiet morning, a rain-slicked street in a bucolic small town in America, cars slowly drifting down the narrow street. Children are raising the flag on the front lawn of a tiny schoolhouse, wreathed by flowers in bloom. Kinkade Studios provides a description of this painting, stating that “He [Thomas Kinkade] absolutely knew that the United States was a beacon of hope for the world, promising fundamental justice and dignity for all those living here and help for those not allowed their basic human rights no matter where they might be.” It struck me as particularly disturbing that the agency facilitating the process of abusing those living here—stripping them of their dignity, their fundamental justice and forbidding them from pursuing the beacon of hope that is a better life in this country, would choose a work by this artist in particular to support their ideology.

It’s noteworthy that the DHS did not have the rights to share this painting, especially considering its actions are directly counter to the values of its creator. In response to the post The Kinkade Family Foundation wrote: 

“On July 1st, the United States [DHS] posted a photo on their social media accounts accompanied by a Thomas Kinkade Studios painting. The use of his artwork was unauthorized, and we have requested that DHS remove the post, and we are consulting with our counsel on our options. 

At The Kinkade Family Foundation, we strongly condemn the sentiment expressed in the post and the deplorable actions that DHS continues to carry out. Like many of you, we were deeply troubled to see this image used to promote division and xenophobia associated with the ideals of DHS, as this is antithetical to our mission. We stand firmly with our communities who have been threatened and targeted by DHS, especially our immigrant, BIPOC, undocumented, LGBTQ+, and disabled relatives and neighbors.” 

At the time of writing this article, the post is still visible on the DHS X account, with 16.7 million views. I was left contemplating what “the homeland” is that the DHS is envisioning. I didn’t have long to wait before they followed up with more clues as to who was welcome in this homeland that “needed protecting.”

Less than two weeks after the Thomas Kinkade post, DHS posted “Remember your Homeland’s Heritage,” with a painting by Morgan Weistling, incorrectly titled “New Life in a New Land.” The correct title of this piece is “A Prayer for a New Life,” which the artist describes as “about two parents out on the trail in a covered wagon and on their journey with a baby. They are depicted here praying to God for his fragile life on their perilous journey.” Journalists were quick to point out the timing of the post coincides with violent and racist sweeps across the country, frequently splitting up families. The painting’s use with DHS’s language speaks to who they believe should be included in their ideal homeland, who is deserving of a life here, and who is not.

Unsurprisingly, Weistling clarified on his site that the painting was used without his permission, stating “ATTENTION: THE RECENT DHS POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA USING A PAINTING OF MINE THAT I PAINTED A FEW YEARS AGO WAS USED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.”

Neither Kinkade nor Weistling’s work is unfamiliar to conservatives, but Weistling in particular has been a featured artist through the U.S Department of State’s Artist in Embassies program, and is a partner with Focus on the Family, an Evangelical Christian organization notorious for its work legislating against LGBTQ+ rights which has been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a hate group just this past May. In light of that fact, it’s important to note that Weistling still lists in his biography that he holds the honored position of “official annual print artist” with Focus on the Family. You can receive a signed special edition of his print as a puzzle with a minimum $300 donation. 

Religious fundamentalism and historical revisionism are uniquely intertwined. There is a belief that America is a singularly covenanted nation, and the perspective of American exceptionalism allows pundits to begin with these conclusions and work backwards, ignoring contemporary historiography. 

PragerU consistently espouses this narrative—that the country is unfairly maligned and that criticisms against posts like those by the DHS are hurtful and unpatriotic. If PragerU had their way these views would be appropriate teaching materials all across the country.

As James Grieg wrote in an insightful Dazed Digital article, “by comparing modern art with conventional depictions of rural scenes and able-bodied white people, this digital subculture is expressing a specific hierarchy of values. It’s about returning to a lost halcyon age of (implicitly white) western civilisation […]. It expresses a desire to return to ‘the natural order of things,’ which has been degraded by modernity and multiculturalism, and conceptualises beauty as something which is eternal and objective.” 

Make no mistake, the Trump administration’s desire for a “return to ‘the natural order of things,’” is an existential threat and our tactics for resistance must consider not only the horrifying capabilities the DHS has at its disposal but also its willingness to use those capabilities to bring about its vision for a racist, exclusionary American future. Attempting to craft these fictions into reality comes only with the violent exclusion of others. This vision of a bleak future can be glimpsed, in part, not only through these idealized, historical revisionist images but also in the administration’s messaging. When the Trump administration consistently calls for investigations into “foreign invasions,” it’s wise to seek insight into what prompts these sudden concerns. Frequently cited when Trump first came into office, Umberto Eco’s “Ur-Fascism,” or “Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt” delineates fourteen commonly understood characteristics of fascist movements. One in particular points to exactly the situation unfolding in front of us.

As Umberto Eco wrote: “To people who feel deprived of a clear social identity, Ur-Fascism says that their only privilege is the most common one, to be born in the same country. This is the origin of nationalism. Besides, the only ones who can provide an identity to the nation are its enemies. Thus at the root of the Ur-Fascist psychology there is the obsession with a plot, possibly an international one. The followers must feel besieged. The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia.” 

Fascism produces only idealized, gaudy, unrealistic forms of social identity. This identity is forged through conditions which, in reality, necessitates the exclusion of others, often the most vulnerable amongst us. It is unavoidable to recognize this pseudo-historical messaging from DHS for what it is: xenophobia. It’s crucial for us, then, to reject the social identities presented to us by an ascendant fascism and instead establish a social identity of our own—of a working class which performs labor for its own benefit; overcoming the alienation of capitalism. 

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