Getting Grounded: Plan for a healthy food supply for 2025
by Liz Henderson
In pre-grocery store days, March was the hungry month when people had to rely on the supplies of food they raised and stored themselves. With year-round production of fresh vegetables on area farms (as well as local stores, of course), we no longer have to face a bleak menu of sprouted potatoes and shriveled turnips. With a little planning, we can eat the highest quality locally grown food all year round.
Pick a few local farms, get to know the farmers and buy direct at one of the farmers markets—the Public Market and the Brighton Farmers Market run all winter—a farm’s on-farm market, or by joining a community supported agriculture project (CSA).
In terms of mutual benefit and value, joining a CSA is an excellent way to ensure a steady supply of local farm food. Although fewer exist than in the past, there are several CSAs that you can join and March is a good time to do it. Joining a CSA is like joining a club connected to a farm—you pay in advance for a weekly packet of the produce that the farm has to offer. You agree to share the risks and potential bounty from the farm. Most CSAs offer different size shares with varying amounts of choice, and allow you to pay in a lump sum or by installment. Some accept EBT (food stamps).
CSAs in the Rochester area:
Mud Creek – pick-up at the Abundance Food Coop on South Ave or at farm in Victor, accepts EBT
Growing Family Farms – pick-up at farm in Hilton, or the Brighton Farmers Market or Living Roots Wine & Co. in Rochester, certified organic
Fellenz Family Farm – pick-up at Brighton Farmers Market, Pittsford, Canandaigua, Geneva, and at farm in Phelps, certified organic
Porter Farms – 10 pick-up sites around the Rochester area, certified organic
Sunscape Farms – pick-up at farms in Penfield and Greece
G & S Orchards – pick-up at farm’s market in Walworth, also u-pick berries and tree fruit, June – October
Enka:ri Farm – pick-up at farm in Marion, takes SNAP
Homesteads for Hope – pick-up at farm on Manitou Road or at Richly Blessed Community Market, 1050 East Ave, Asbury First United Methodist Church
Kirby’s Farm Market – pick-up at farm’s market in Brockport
Lagoner Farms – no longer has a CSA but the farm has purchased Amazing Grains Bread Company in Fairport NY and will be selling farm products both at the on-farm market in Williamson and at the Fairport bakery
Small World Food – sells ferments – kimchi, sauerkraut, and others; made from local farm produce at their HQ [936 Exchange Street, Suite A-101, Rochester] and at a stand at the Public Market on Saturdays where they also carry produce and mushrooms from local farms
Grow Your Own
Community gardens like 490 Farmers welcome new members—you can get a 4’ x 8’ bed to use. Or you can take out a permit on one of the many available city-owned lots. There is no deadline for new permits! bit.ly/roccommgarden.
There are many opportunities to learn more about gardening! 490 Farmers offers weekly workshops on Wednesdays at 5. The Taproot Collective (bit.ly/taprootcoll) provides regular workshops in gardening skills and many chances to volunteer. You can reach them at info@taprootcollective.org.
You can borrow the tools you need by joining the SouthEast Area Coalition (SEAC) Tool Shed at 1255 University Ave. For more information email SEAC or call 271-TOOL (8665).
The Cornell Cooperative Extension offers classes, master gardeners to answer your questions, and the website – monroe.cce.cornell.edu/agriculture – has resources for soil testing, garden pest identification, and general garden information as does the website of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York nofany.org/upcoming-events. Blocks In Bloom is a beautification program established by Cornell Cooperative Extension-Monroe County for lower-resourced neighborhoods; a minimum of six homes must participate as a group. For information, email Ashly Piedmont at Cornell Cooperative Extension.
The Rochester Central Library and City Branch Libraries offer gardening books and periodicals as well as gardening programs. For more information visit the Rochester Public Library Program Calendar or email Renée Kendrot.
Full Day Gardening Conference – March 22, 2025
The 2025 Rochester Urban Agriculture Conference & Seed Swap, hosted by the Rochester Urban Agriculture Working Group/UAWG is happening on Saturday, March 22nd, from 9am-4pm at East High School, 1801 E Main Street. The conference features a seed swap where you can get the seeds you need for your garden for free, interactive workshops—some in Spanish—and booths and display tables of local horticultural/agricultural organizations, products, and services. The event is free and includes lunch
UAWG Conference English 2025.pdf
UAWG Conference Spanish 2025.pdf
The post Getting Grounded: Plan for a healthy food supply for 2025 first appeared on Rochester Red Star.
Free Mahmoud Khalil – Protect Student Activists
Mahmoud Khalil, Columbia University activist, was unjustly arrested by ICE on March 8th in what is a clear attack for his pro-Palestinian work on campus in the spring of 2024.
Mahmoud was forcibly abducted from his New York apartment and now detained in Louisiana. ICE even threatened his wife with arrest, a US citizen who is 8 months pregnant. The Trump admin is attempting to revoke Mahmoud’s green card and deport him without criminal charges and without providing evidence.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump applauded ICE for this arrest and promised more to come. In an earlier post, he claims they will freeze all federal funding for any school, colleges, or universities that allow so-called “illegal protest.” Coming from the guy that pardoned even the most violent of the January 6th Insurrectionists, we know this isn’t about legality but simply silencing speech he disagrees with.
First they came for Mahmoud Khalil and I’m gonna fucking say something!
Our comrades in NYC DSA have set up a few ways for you to take action now!
Call your members of Congress – using the provided script, demand action to secure Mahmoud’s release and protect the rights of activists.
Email your elected officials – urge them to take immediate action to stop the targeting of student activists and immigrants.
Let’s make one thing clear: we will not allow our communities to be silenced or terrorized. The fascists in the White House are hoping this will have a chilling effect on political speech and protest. And that’s why we need to be fired up!
The post Free Mahmoud Khalil – Protect Student Activists appeared first on Grand Rapids Democratic Socialists of America.
Chapter Statement on the Detention of Mahmoud Khalil
On March 8, two plainclothes agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) entered a Columbia University apartment building and arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate. Khalil was a prominent leader of the Gaza solidarity encampment protesting the genocide in Gaza and the university’s ties to Israel. Initially, the agents informed Khalil that the State Department was revoking his student visa. Khalil is, in fact, a green card holder. In a clear violation of due process, the State Department under Marco Rubio is now saying it will revoke green cards for those who speak out in favor of Palestinian liberation. This development is part of a larger pattern where DHS is disappearing people regardless of the facts. When Khalil’s wife, eight months pregnant, attempted to visit him at an ICE detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, she was told he was not there. While a judge has temporarily blocked his deportation, Khalil is currently being held incommunicado in Louisiana, half a continent away from his home and family.
The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil is a brazen and extralegal assault by the Trump administration on immigrant rights and the Palestinian liberation movement. Our chapter condemns the actions of DHS, ICE, and the Trump administration, and demands the immediate release of Khalil from detention. After the wave of protests last year, Columbia University created the Office of Institutional Equity, which weaponizes the Civil Rights Act to suppress criticism of Israel. In doing so, Columbia has paved a path for escalated government suppression of our right to protest.
Here in the Bay Area, we have seen a climate of fear take hold as ICE has built a new detention center nearby and sent agents into our communities–all this while Berkeley, UCSF, and other local institutions have cracked down on protest. Bay Area tech companies like Google and Facebook have systematically suppressed any criticism of their contracts with ICE and Israel, censoring social media and firing their own workers.
As socialists, we understand that the cause of liberation abroad is inextricably linked to the cause of liberation at home. The tragic and chilling case of Mahmoud Khalil makes these connections between immigrant justice and Palestinian liberation viscerally obvious. As Israel has dropped American bombs on Palestinians whom Israel continues to imprison inside the Gaza Strip, the U.S. government has contracted with Israeli weapons manufacturers like Elbit Systems and spyware and hacking outfits like Paragon and Cellebrite to build its wall with Mexico and terrorize immigrant communities throughout the United States.
While both major parties have instituted the current regime of repression, a different future is possible. Instead of building walls, we need to tear them down and build socialism instead. We need to take on our struggles locally and globally, and realize that they are one and the same. Our chapter stands strong in its commitment to justice for immigrants here at home, for the people of Palestine, and for all marginalized groups suffering under the yoke of capitalist oppression and imperialist aggression. We demand an end to their repression by university administrations across the country. We demand an end to American universities’ complicity in Israeli apartheid, occupation, and genocide. We also demand an end to that apartheid, occupation, and genocide. Finally, we demand the abolition of ICE and an end to the assault on immigrants.
Free Palestine. Abolish ICE.
Solidarity,
DSA SF 
Weekly Roundup: March 11, 2025
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, March 12 (6:45 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.): March General Meeting (In person at Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate)
Thursday, March 13 (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.): Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialist Working Group (Zoom)
Friday, March 14 (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.): 
Education Board Open Meeting (Zoom)
Sunday, March 16 (1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.): DSA SF Socialist Job Fair (In person at 215 Golden Gate)
Monday, March 17 (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.): Electoral Board Meeting (Zoom)
Monday, March 17 (6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Homelessness Working Group Regular Meeting (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister)
Monday, March 17 (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Labor Board Meeting (Zoom)
Tuesday, March 18 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.): Abolish Rent Reading Group – Session 2 (In person at 1916 McAllister)
Wednesday, March 19 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.): What Is DSA? (In person at 1916 McAllister)
Wednesday, March 19 (6:45 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Tenant Organizing Working Group Meeting (In person at 1916 McAllister)
Thursday, March 20 (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Immigration Justice Priority Working Group Meeting (Zoom)
Friday, March 21 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.): Maker Friday (In person at 1916 McAllister)
Saturday, March 22 (10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.): No Appetite for Apartheid Training and Outreach (522 Valencia)
Check out https://dsasf.org/events for more events and updates.
Events & Actions
No Appetite for Apartheid Training and Outreach
Come and canvass local businesses with the Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialist Working Group! No Appetite for Apartheid is a campaign aimed at reducing economic support for Israeli apartheid by canvassing local businesses to boycott Israeli goods. On Saturday, March 22, we’ll be doing a training on how to talk to stores in the neighborhood, then going out and talking with stores together. Meet at 522 Valencia at 10:00 a.m. and we’ll debrief after canvassing at 2:00 p.m.
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 newsletter, etc. Members can view current CCC rotations.
To help with the day-to-day tasks that keep the chapter running, fill out the CCC help form.
What is the NLRA?
The right to unionize is protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA, also known as the Wagner Act).
The post What is the NLRA? appeared first on EWOC.
3/10/25 Newsletter
Hey Comrade,
The last few weeks, DSA Cincy has turned out at multiple protests alongside working class people in Cincinnati to oppose the Trump administration and its policies. In the past week alone, DSA Cincy members have shown out in solidarity to a protest by the organization 50501 on March 4th, an action by UC workers on March 7th, an event for International Working Women's Day on March 8th, and a protest to oppose white supremacy on March 9th. DSA has spoken and/or tabled at all these events, built strong relationships with organizers across our city, and have made sure to continue circulating our petition to protect immigrant and trans communities in Cincinnati. Needless to say, it's been a busy time for the chapter!
We're going to continue to be part of the fight for a better world. Democratic socialists are ready to fight for a socialist future, and for a movement that can defeat the forces of billionaires and fascists we've seen coalesce in this administration. We hope to see you join the fight with us at some of the opportunities we've got ahead of us. And, please sign our petition to show Cincinnati is ready to fight back as well!
Comrade, sign on to our petition
- Our regular general meeting is this Sunday, March 23rd 2 PM, at the Downtown Library, the address of which is 800 Vine Street. Join us in the 3 South Huenefeld Tower Suite! Childcare will also be provided. RSVP for the general meeting here!
- Are you a tenant nervous your landlord will find a reason to take away your security deposit? Our Community Support and Direct Action Working Group is holding an information session called Tips and Tricks to Get Your Deposit Back this Friday, March 14th 6:00 PM, at 4216 Montgomery Road in Norwood.
- DSA Cincy is hosting a movie night with Topia Coffee Cooperative! Join us for a showing of Judas and the Black Messiah this Saturday, March 15th at 6:00 PM, at Topia Coffee Cooperative! Space is limited to just 20 people, so make sure to RSVP above so your spot is reserved!
- Worried what to do if ICE raids your workplace? Join DSA Cincy's Labor Working Group for a training session on what to do in just such a scenario. Trainings will be hosted at multiple times to fit different work schedules, all at the Newport Library at 901 E 6th St. Time slots include:
The Antonio Gramsci Reader: Selected Writings 1916-1935
We need to free ourselves from the habit of seeing culture as encyclopedia knowledge, and men as mere receptacles to be stuffed full of empirical data and a mass of unconnected raw facts, which have to be filed in the brain as in the columns of a dictionary, enabling their owner to respond to the various stimuli from the outside world. This form of culture really is harmful, particularly for the proletariat. It serves only to create maladjusted people, people who believe they are superior to the rest of humanity because they have memorized a certain number of facts and dates and who rattle them off at every opportunity, so turning them almost into a barrier between themselves and others.
-Antonio Gramsci
Statement Regarding the Abduction of Mahmoud Khalil
North New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America (NNJ DSA) condemns in the strongest possible terms the flagrantly illegal abduction by ICE of recent Columbia University graduate and green card holder, Mahmoud Khalil, from his university housing. Furthermore, we demand his immediate release.
Mahmoud was targeted for his leadership in the movement for Palestinian liberation, a movement which imperialist elites of both the Democratic and Republican parties have ruthlessly targeted.This response to punish student protests is a clear sign that the Trump administration is continuing down the road of fascism.
Early news reports stated that Mahmoud was taken to Elizabeth Detention Center (EDC), although it is currently unclear where ICE has taken him. EDC, a notorious private prison operated by Core Civic, should by all rights be closed. The state of New Jersey passed a law prohibiting ICE detention in the state and closed three of its four immigrant detention centers after a massive popular uprising against ICE in which DSA played a significant role.
Two facts are laid bare by ICE’s actions:
- The distinction between a person who is in the United States legally, and a person who is not, is a political one, not a matter of procedure or of following the rules. Anyone who poses a challenge to the regime can be made ‘illegal’ at the convenience of the ruling class.
- The struggle for freedom for immigrants in the United States and the struggle for freedom of Palestinians in their own land are interconnected. As long as we fail to see that we are fighting against one unified army of reaction, we will not be able to advance a single inch.
NNJ DSA is committed to finishing the job and closing all immigrant detention centers in the state. We are further committed to resisting ICE and supporting our immigrant neighbors during this crackdown and in the future. We unequivocally and unapologetically support the movement for Palestinian liberation and will fight the continued persecution of Palestinian solidarity.
Freedom for Mahmoud!
Freedom for Palestine!
Abolish ICE!
Solidarity forever!
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The post Statement Regarding the Abduction of Mahmoud Khalil first appeared on North NJ DSA.
Long Live International Women’s Day!
Let’s celebrate and pay tribute to International Women’s Day — a day of resistance, formed by the militant struggles of working-class women. From the 1909 garment workers’ strike in New York to the Petrograd protests that ignited the Russian Revolution, International Women’s Day has always been a call to action against exploitation and oppression. Now, as reactionary forces try to erase the successes of this radical history by dismantling our hard-won rights, we must reclaim its true spirit in the ongoing fight for socialism.
The revolutionary origins of International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day (IWD) has its roots in the struggle of working-class women. In 1909, 20,000 female garment workers, the majority young immigrants, staged a mass strike in New York City, demanding better wages and safer working conditions. This collective action inspired the Socialist Party of America to declare February 28, 1909, as the first “National Women’s Day,” and committed the Party to the demand for women’s suffrage.
A year later, at the 1910 International Socialist Women’s Conference, German socialist Clara Zetkin proposed an annual, global day of action, an “International Working Women’s Day”. This was first observed March 19, 1911, with mass demonstrations across Europe, where women demanded the right to vote and for social security for mother and child, including maternity leave and health insurance.
The significance of March 8 was cemented in 1917, when Russian women textile workers in Petrograd took to the streets demanding “bread and peace.” This became the catalyst for the movement leading to the October Revolution, and in 1921, the Second International Conference of Communist Women officially declared March 8 as International Women’s Day; a date finally adopted by the United States in 1994 thanks to a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles).
International Women’s Day is now celebrated worldwide, a testament to the revolutionary potential of working women and their fight for liberation. Unlike bourgeois feminists that seek reforms within capitalism, as socialists we view International Women’s Day as part of the broader struggle to overthrow capitalism itself, and the abolition of both wage slavery and domestic oppression through the socialization of education and care work.
The struggle continues
Women remain at the forefront of the anti-capitalist struggle, resisting the ruling class’s attempts to maintain power through culture wars and the marginalization of vulnerable communities.
It’s clear that neither the Democratic nor Republican Party are in the struggle for women’s liberation. Since 2020, both Democratic and Republican administrations have seen over 1,500 anti-trans bills introduced nationwide. Trans women face ongoing attacks on their health, safety, and well-being, including restrictions on sports participation, travel, and access to gender-affirming care. The Supreme Court’s striking down of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, during the Biden administration, came after a deliberate multi-decade campaign of negligence by the Democratic Party. We can see what the Republicans accomplish when they hold 50 senate seats, but when the Democrats under Barack Obama held 59? Nothing. When you strip away all their cynical rhetoric, we see the predictable result of Obama’s choice was a severe blow to reproductive justice and bodily autonomy. In so doing, Democrats collaborated in removing federal abortion protections and in leaving marginalized communities even more vulnerable. And once again, Trump’s current cruel and harsh immigration policies disproportionately harm women and children.
Though these attacks often claim to protect “women’s rights,” the same forces restrict bodily autonomy, deny abortion access, and deny the rights of trans people to exist, all while ignoring domestic abuse and sexual violence in a capitalist system in crisis.
As socialists, we know this struggle is part of a larger fight — not just for women’s rights, but for the liberation of all people from the chains of capitalism. Winning women’s liberation requires unity among people of all genders, and the fight for gender equality is not solely women’s responsibility; it serves the interests of the entire working class. Everyone, regardless of gender, must actively participate by keeping these issues central in our organizing, discussions, and education. And we must resist the ruling class’s divisive tactics, meant to pit men against women, in our fight for collective freedom.
Further Reading
As the far-right seeks to erase history and liberals water down the legacy of progressive and socialist movements in the U.S., it is crucial we honor and elevate the contributions of women in the fight for justice. In the face of efforts to dismantle hard-won rights for women and gender-diverse people, restrict bodily autonomy, and erase the contributions of Black women and other women of color, we wanted to share this reading list curated by Lux Magazine and the DSA AfroSocialist and Socialists of Color Caucus for their Socialist Legacy of Black Feminism course.
WEEK 1
- Introduction to How We Get Free Black Feminism and The Combahee River Collective (2012) edited and Introduced by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
- “Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s Ideas, Unifying Socialist and Identity Politics, Are Suddenly in the Spotlight” (2021) by E. Tammy Kim in Lux Magazine
- “Mapping Gender in African American Political Strategies” by Leith Mullings in The Socialist Feminist Project: A Contemporary Reader in Theory and Politics
WEEK 2
- “Identity Politics and Class Struggle” (Abridged) (1997) by Robin D. G. Kelley in New Politics
- The Master‘s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master‘s House (1979) by Audre Lorde
- “Nothing Short of Liberation” (2015) by Khury Petersen-Smith and Brian Bean in Jacobin
- “Looting for Our Lives” (2021) by Marian Jones in Lux Magazine
SUGGESTED READINGS
- “A History of Black American Feminism” from Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Clinton by Duchess Harris
- Claudia Jones and Ending the Neglect of Black Women
- “The Two Faces of Kamala Harris” (2017) by Branko Marcetic in Jacobin
- “No Time for Despair” (2017) by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor in Jacobin
- “Sisterhood: Political Solidarity Among Women” Chapter 4 of Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (1984) by bell hooks
- “Intersectionality and Marxism: a Critical Historiography” (2018) by Ashley J. Bohrer in Historical Materialism Issue 26(2): Identity Politics
- “Unite and Rebel: Challenges and Strategies in Building Alliances” (2006) by Elizabeth (Betita) Martínez in Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology
- Coalition Building Among People of Color: A Discussion with Angela Y. Davis and Elizabeth Martinez (1994)
Scathing Audit of Homelessness Spending Released + LA Times Owner Introduces AI to Editorial Page
Thorn West: Issue No. 227
City Politics
- The Charter Reform Commission, which is expected to consider municipal reforms including a potential increase to the size of city council, has not been able to begin meeting, because Mayor Bass has not yet appointed anyone to the four seats designated to the mayor to fill. This week, after the delay received media coverage, applications for the positions were posted to the public.
- Recent reports on the city budget from both the City Controller and Chief Administrative Officer have projected a larger than expected budget gap.
- Two weeks ago, Mayor Karen Bass fired LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley. Crowley appealed the decision to the City Council, but the termination was upheld by a vote of 13–2. An after-action report on the city’s preparedness for and reaction to the wildfires is still being drafted.
- As the mayor faces sustained criticism over her handling of the wildfires, a group of right wing opponents, including RFK Jr’s running-mate, Nicole Shanahan, has initiated a recall effort.
Labor
- It’s been one year since California law raised the minimum wage for fast food workers and created the Fast Food Council to oversee labor conditions in large chains. CalMatters summarizes year one of the council. Capital & Main has more, including a recent study indicating that so far, the wage increase has had a minimal effect on either the number of jobs, or the price of fast food.
- A package of protections for fast food workers, authored by Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez and Katy Yaroslavksy, passed unanimously out of the city’s Economic Development committee.
- The Original Pantry Cafe has survived as an institution for over a century, but new owners, the heirs of former mayor Richard Riordan, are closing the restaurant for good after its workforce refused to negotiate its union contract.
- Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order requiring that most state employees work from the office at least four days a week – echoing a similar effort from the Trump administration. SEIU Local 1000, which represents 100,000 state workers, has filed an Unfair Practice Charge with the Public Employment Relations Board.
Housing Rights
- An audit has concluded that the city and county’s homelessness response programs are disorganized and lack adequate financial oversight. At both the city and county level, plans to restructure homelessness around newly created organizations have already been proposed..
- In Pacific Palisades, plans to use the opportunity of the rebuilding effort to increase affordable housing stock have met with pushback from local homeowners.
Local Media
- This week, Patrick Soon-Shiong, the Los Angeles Times’ billionaire owner, announced “Insight,” a new AI program that will chart the paper’s opinion columns on a left-right spectrum, while automatically generating the “opposing view.” Within a day of its launch, the program drew controversy by offering a defense of the KKK.
- Governor Newsom has launched a podcast. His first guest was hard right podcaster and political operative Charlie Kirk, to whom Newsom capitulated on a variety of issues. Newsom drew the most criticism for agreeing with Kirk that Democrats were too supportive of trans rights. Statement from Equality California here.
Environmental Justice
- The cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre, along with LA County, are suing Southern California Edison, alleging that the utility company’s equipment is responsible for starting the Eaton fire.
The post Scathing Audit of Homelessness Spending Released + LA Times Owner Introduces AI to Editorial Page appeared first on The Thorn West.
The Politics of Pretending in Progressive Portland
DSA’s city council victories draw out true face of ‘progressive’ corporate agenda.
Written by Brian D.
In a recent interview in the Rose City Reform Podcast, two reporters were asked about the Democratic Socialists of America, and the significance of three DSA members on a newly elected Portland City Council. The host quoted this Instagram message from Portland DSA after DSA candidates won their election:
“The socialist movement is in City Hall. CEOs, developers, landlords, union-busters, billionaires and their puppets are now on notice…”
Neither reporter spoke of the landlords, developers, billionaires, CEOs, or union-busters in their response; nor are they discussed much at all in describing local political stories. In describing “special interest groups” having influence in City Hall, the capitalist media often omits the key players who are also their advertisers, bankrollers, corporate partners.
The interview demonstrated three clear points. First: reporters can struggle to report issues centered in class, and centered in the power of ordinary people. Secondly, local media feeds into false narratives about the political spectrum in Portland, just like the media does in other “progressive” cities, like San Francisco, and at the national level. And third, reporters and their corporate media outlets have clear political agendas, even when they pretend otherwise.
Reporters struggle to parse socialists because solidarity is an alien concept under capitalism, and class as a concept is stripped from public discourse in America. Socialism and the power of regular people to come together confuses reporters also because the media industry is actually the media and entertainment industry, worth about $570 billion in the United States. The profit incentives under capitalism define how our media functions- as entertainment or an algorithm designed to stimulate outrage and clicks on your device- and what is allowed to be a story. Under capitalism the incentive is to pretend that exploitation in society has nothing to do with class, nothing to do with being intentionally divided and conquered so that the passive incomes of the wealthy shall not be disturbed.
There is irony here; from camera operators and photographers, to journalists, reporters, and copy editors- the actual workers in the media industry have been devastated by the capitalist pressures of financialization and the gutting of news rooms.
Socialized health care, free or low-cost secondary education, paid family leave, effective and safe free public transit, robust infrastructure, social housing, and much lower rates of child poverty are conditions the majority of countries choose when given the opportunity, and much more the norm across the world. They are possible here- but one would not know it from any capitalist media in Oregon.
“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” ― Dom Helder Camara
Many of the reporters interviewed on Rose City Reform, and in the Portland City Cast, consistently describe Portland politics as a spectrum: from “moderate,” to “progressive,” to “far left”. This is false, and pretends that there is not a right wing. By omission or downplaying, reporters maintain the pretense that powerful interests aren’t right wing, and pit “moderates,” and “progressives”, against a “far left,” purposefully obscuring the field and players.
The Portland Metro Chamber bankrolled their servant Sam Adams for Multnomah County Commissioner; but local reporters never describe Sam Adams as right wing; despite his clear agenda and masters. Portland Metro Chamber and the powerful developer and real estate lobby are rarely identified as critical players in local politics; the local media obscures reality. This is an example of the political agenda behind the local capitalist publications and their editorial biases.
Developers are the fourth branch of City Hall, but reporters are busy framing the fights between the “far left”, and “progressives” who just aren’t realists like those moderates. The powerful class interests in operation are whistled away; nothing to see. Wealthy developers threaten to sue the city when they don’t like the policies or reforms presented, guaranteeing a lose-lose scenario as the issue crawls through the courts for years. Too often, the city attorney lays out how it is in the cities’ best interest to capitulate. Reporting on this is not robust; instead the framing is how unions and DSA have more power in City Hall relative to the past.
In San Francisco, wealthy property owners coalesced to express how they want to make their city better; using the language of progressivism to make their case, and framing the discussion as if there was no right wing politics in San Francisco, no politics of class. That public relations campaign, led by local wealthy business interests, quickly pivoted to criticizing politicians and a campaign to remove the progressive District Attorney, who was falsely made the scapegoat for the homeless crisis and the crime spike during the pandemic.
Portland follows the same trend. People for Portland, a front group for wealthy business interests, coalesced to express how they want to make the city better for everyone, using the language of progressivism to make that case. That public relations campaign quickly pivoted to criticizing politicians and a campaign to remove the progressive District Attorney, who they made the scapegoat for the homeless crisis and fentanyl drug use. People for Portland violated Oregon election law in 2022, and disbanded in 2024, after the attention on the group made it clear they were no longer an effective front for the business interests and wealthy.
Pretending that politics here is just moderates, progressives, and the far left gives cover to the moves of the powerful in Portland and Oregon, and leaves journalists in a blind spot. Phil Knight funded the Republican Party of Oregon outright not that many years ago; Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle helped fund People for Portland. The previous City Council established numerous “Enterprise Zones” that also come with massive tax incentives that pauperize the City in the years to come. Clear analysis of the massive transfer of wealth out of the hands of the working class and permanently into the accounts of the owning class is required to address the real struggles of Portlanders and Oregonians, not false narratives that omit the key players.
Pretending that the class, corporate, and Right-wing interests who have influenced, profited from, and largely controlled Oregon for decades aren’t factors then makes it hard to address homelessness, quality of life issues, and the need for public goods and services. When you can’t analyze the causes for your current crisis, you fail to address the issue and fail to lastingly improve conditions.
Willamette Week for example, has a massive and obvious editorial bias: Oregon and Portland taxes are too high, Portland spends too much, is the subtext, if not the main text, of every third article produced. Divide and conquer narratives straight from the comfortable and wealthy. Here’s a stellar example of what might have been written by Portland Metro Chamber staff:
From the article:
“High taxes are hurting job growth in Portland and chasing wealthy people out of town. Despite those aggressive levies, many government services are poor, in part because specialized taxes aimed at girding for climate change, getting kids into preschool, and helping the homeless have, at various times, gone unspent. In June 2024, the unspent hoard totaled $1.26 billion.”
The tactic on display in the article quoted above: these identified funds are to compete against each other to see who can fend off cuts, while “moderates” demand that progressives and the left divide the baby.
Because what is required, according to the wealthy and powerful, is austerity for working class people and socialized risk for the wealthy, just like in the last Gilded Age, and the beginning of the Great Depression. By their lights it only makes sense to take from homeless funds, preschool funds, funds to address climate change, or all three.
Willamette Week quotes extensively from reports from business interests assessing Oregon and Portland as having too high taxes and wealthy fleeing the state; no opposition to this was interviewed nor quoted, despite the fact that this argument is trotted out over and over and usually debunked as skewed and inaccurate. The peoples of Oregon deserve better- better reporting for sure; but more crucially, better quality of life generally, struggling under huge rent, utility, and grocery cost increases, without the wages to match.
The Oregonian unsurprisingly has decades more experience burying the lead, for example regarding Zenith Oil in Portland. The opposition to Zenith is framed as ‘activists’- not entire neighborhoods of working people and families living in a liquefaction zone next to massive oil storage tanks- who see Big Oil in Portland has no plan when the big earthquake comes, except maybe mass funerals.
Austerity will ill prepare this generation, and the next to contribute, support, and be supported within a community. Austerity means instead of services to keep families in housing, they are unhoused. Austerity means instead of a tree canopy, you get more heat deaths in East Portland. Austerity means instead of access to education you get crowded, underserved classrooms. Austerity means less investment in infrastructure that makes Portland livable and functional.
The interests of the wealthy are not the interests of the working class. It’s time to cut through the false media and right-wing narratives, and time to stop pretending. Let’s invest in the working families, the working peoples of Oregon and Portland. Let’s talk about a jobs program and a social housing program, not how regular folk must make due with less. Workers really do deserve more!