Syracuse DSA Solidarity Statement, May 7, 2021

The Democratic Socialists of America Syracuse chapter stands in solidarity with the
people protesting and striking in Colombia and suffering under the hands of an
oppressive government and, especially, a repressive police force.

The unprecedented protests that started on April 28 against a regressive tax reform bill
eventually led to its withdrawal. The United Nations and human rights organizations are
condemning rampant police brutality after the current government ordered the
militarization of major cities. In Cali, southwest Colombia, almost 20 people are reported
killed, bringing the total estimated number to 31. Citizens have registered over 1400
instances of police abuse, including arbitrary detentions, physical injuries, and sexual
violence. The government continues to push aggressive law and order narratives while
refusing to de-escalate and dialogue and is contemplating declaring a state of internal
disturbance, which would give the military forces extraordinary powers.

Background

In Colombia, a long history of violent armed conflict and decades of neoliberal reforms
have left millions of surviving victims and deepened the gap between the rich and the
poor. Even though in 2016, then-President Juan Manuel Santos signed a peace treaty
with the FARC guerrilla, and laid out an ambitious transitional justice system,
conservatives of the Centro Democrático, the dominant right-wing political party, have
opposed its implementation from the beginning.

Current President Iván Duque, from the Centro Democratico, has made sure to
undermine this agreement, and political violence has risen significantly during his term.
Violent territorial disputes among new paramilitary and dissident guerrilla groups have
increased in several regions, leaving the civilian population vulnerable, particularly in
rural indigenous and Afro-Colombian lands. Right-wing ideologies animate these illegal
military forces, often in alliance with legal ones and local government officials. These
groups continue to target men, women, and LGBT community leaders with nearly total
impunity. Duque’s government has proposed a series of tax reforms to favor extractivist
companies, the entrepreneurial and financial sectors while furthering people’s
precarization.

The United States is a close military ally of the Colombian Government; it has funded
and trained its military and special police forces for decades. This aid peaked during the
repressive government of strong-man Alvaro Uribe Vélez. Many tactics of abuse and
stigmatization of the social movement were recorded at this time and continue trickling
down into the current militarized police (ESMAD). They infiltrate marches to delegitimize
protesters through violent escalation and sabotage.

Today’s Context

In Colombia, as in much of Latin America, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted
extreme social inequalities and made apparent incompetent and corrupt governance.
Duque’s government has failed to create an adequate response and has instead
resorted to disconnected, expensive, and ineffective solutions, increasing the national
deficit. In a country already rife with widespread poverty, high unemployment, massive
foreign debt, and ongoing political violence, the slow rollout of the vaccines and an
unpopular tax reform pushed the citizenry to the edge. The reform significantly sought to
raise the prices on essential items, including basic food staples, while leaving the rich
untouched.

Protests began on April 28th, with multiple groups calling for action but spearheaded by
the opposition, unions, students, indigenous, and feminist groups. Pressed by the
protests, Duque withdrew the tax reform, but the people continued to protest the killings
of protesters and mismanagement from the government. The response of the Duque
administration was military suppression, which has risen in violence as the national
protests continue, leaving dozens dead, and thousands more injured. Most critically, in
Cali, a major city in the southwest, the military commander has ignored the mayor’s
authority, leading to the most civilian deaths in any city and various cases of police-led
arson. Though many local authorities have rejected military intervention, the national
government has incited military personnel to shoot at will in the name of law and order.
Calls for de-escalation and a new social agreement are growing from multiple sides as
the discontent grows into the capital city, Bogotá. Although the mainstream media have
attempted to stigmatize the protesters as responsible for property destruction and covid
spread, it is clear that most protests have remained peaceful but frequently instigated by
the police.

Our Demands

We, as socialists and allies, stand with the demands of our siblings on the streets of
Colombia to call for:

1. Respect for the legitimate right to protest and the de-stigmatization of the
   citizens exercising this right.
2. An economy that works for the people: The Colombian Government must
   altogether remove the proposed neo-liberal tax reform and all of its parts off of
   the legislative agenda and instead engage directly in subsidy and aid for the
   people most impacted by the pandemic and economic crisis to begin the process
   of creating an equal economy
3. Nationwide Police Reform: Starting with an immediate, unilateral
   de-militarization of the streets and commencement of a genuine national dialogue
   with all affected parties, culminating in a complete transformation of policing
   forces in Colombia. This view must directly address cases of sexual violence as
   one common but underreported case of state violence.
4. Implementation of the Peace Process: That the government of Ivan Duque
   reverse its hostility to the peace process with the FARC and recommit to be a
   genuine partner in building a peaceful Colombia
5. International Solidarity: The Government of the United States must cease the
   funding of or provision of supplies and equipment to Colombian police and
   security forces.

[The upside-down Colombian national flag pictured above is used in protests the signify the dead.]

Further Readings

• Colombians Are in the Streets Against a Violent Neoliberal Order (Jacobin)
• In Colombia, 19 Are Killed in Pandemic-Related Protests (New York Times)
• Colombia braces for further unrest after police react violently to mass protests (The Guardian)
• More anti-government protests in Colombia after deadly clashes (France24)

Statement prepared by Carolina Arango-Vargas, Jesse Harasta, and Julian Velandia Arango

Adopted by the Steering Committee, May 7, 2021

Did you know that Coulee DSA has a book club? It started shortly before Covid hit, and currently meets online every Tuesday night at 7 PM. The group discusses books, articles, and essays, as well as podcasts and documentaries. Next Tuesday, 5/11, is a great time to join as the group is starting a new book, Before The Next Bomb Drops: Rising Up from Brooklyn to Palestine by Remi Kanazi.

The group doesn’t require regular attendance, so feel free to stop by or drop in and out as you have time. Reading is strongly encouraged but not required. The discussion often goes off on tangents and covers a broad array of topics, and we would love you add your voice to the discussion! Reply to this email if you are interested in joining, and we will connect you to the group.

The post DSA Book Club’s Next Read – Before The Next Bomb Drops first appeared on Coulee DSA.

It’s our second annual post-May Day labor movement extravaganza! From coast to coast, workers are organizing to win, making gains, and reckoning with disappointments and challenges. On today’s show, we’re joined live by journalist and organizer Chris Brooks and by our radio comrades Jacob and David, hosts of Valley Labor Report -- Alabama’s only union talk radio show! From workers at the heart of New York’s cultural and media worlds to mine workers on strike in Alabama, it’s all on the table for tonight’s show. 

Valley Labor Report broadcasts Saturday mornings from 9:30am-11:00am on 92.5FM/770AM WVNN. Watch from anywhere on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheValleyLaborReport and follow the show on Twitter @LaborReporters. 

If you’re ready to organize your workplace or just get more active in the labor movement, a great place to start is the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (https://workerorganizing.org/) a joint effort between DSA National and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.

Hey, CDSA members, supporters, and awesome community members! Coulee Democratic Socialists of America is revamping our communications stream.

Going forward, our newsletter will be broken up into regular blog posts. We have carried your subscription over from the newsletter to our blog here on the Coulee DSA website.

Posts will include info on our working groups, the DSA as a whole, local campaigns and projects, and more. We are aiming for an email a week or so–and we promise not to spam you with pointless posts.

If you are looking for more info, check out our website, or email us back.

The post CDSA Blog Kickoff first appeared on Coulee DSA.

We believe in a fair society that works for everyone. The spread of COVID-19, and the public narrative around it, is highlighting the ways that our system doesn’t work this way – that it is broken. Even here in Ithaca, where many live comfortable, fulfilled lives, the reality is that we have the same problems as everywhere else – all of which are highlighted and made worse by the crisis at hand.

Here, as anywhere else, we have workers and poor people who cannot lose the scant economic security accessible to them. Isolation is impossible when your life depends on your wages.

We need to:

• Protect the poor from evictions or utility shutoffs and mandate a living wage in Tompkins County.

• Protect the homeless from infection and immediately work to provide equitable and comfortable housing for all.

• Cover the costs of testing and treatment for all affected, and work decisively to enact the NY Health Act.

• Require businesses to provide paid sick leave and penalize those who have used the crisis to deprive wages.

• Provide care for those who are at risk due to incarceration, and develop definite plans to implement alternatives to prisons.

The limited steps that the government has taken to address the economic and social effects of the outbreak show that real change is not impossible. Their shortcomings are the direct result of interference by the wealthiest people in the country. We won’t stand by while others suffer. We demand permanent relief from poverty and injustice.

Ithaca DSA Executive Team

As socialists, we know that healthcare goes beyond direct contact between providers and patients and into issues of budgets, community safety, and long-standing social forces like racism and misogyny. How can we organize for real public health? On tonight's show we're joined by DSA-endorsed Assemblymember, nurse, and organizer Phara Souffrant Forrest of District 57 in Brooklyn to discuss vaccine disparities, Cuomo's austerity baby, and the goals of our movement in Albany. We also hear from NYC-DSA's Healthcare Working Group on our campaign to pass the New York Health Act and the critical importance of universal healthcare to the overall socialist project. 

Follow Phara Souffrant Forrest, Assemblymember for District 57 at @phara4assembly. Follow along with NYC-DSA’s Healthcare Working Group at @NYCDSA_Health or email healthcare@socialists.nyc.

YDS Response to Father Leahy’s Statement

Father Leahy’s statement in response to the report in The Heights concerning Reverend Dziak is disgraceful. He shows no concern for the victims. In fact, he never even mentions or acknowledges them. He exhibits no empathy or regret. Instead he displays stunning arrogance and completely refuses to take responsibility for failing to take action that could have prevented further abuse.

It’s ironic that the man who founded the Church in the 21st Century in response to the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal is now revealed to be the prototypical church official who received complaints of concerning behavior, ushered the perpetrator on to his next job, and then disclaimed any responsibility for the subsequent abuse that took place somewhere else.

First Leahy confirms receiving complaints about Dziak in the fall of 1997. What Leahy doesn’t explain is what concerning behavior was reported to him, information was evidently so problematic that he claims he reported it to the Jesuits. Did Leahy bar Dzaik from interacting with students that fall? If not why? Did Dziak leave BC voluntarily or was his departure related to the complaints Leahy received? This is a crucial question. What was the timeline and context for his eventual departure from BC and who initiated this exit? In an articles in The Heights at the time Dziak repeatedly expressed regret about leaving BC.

Curiously The Heights reported in April 1998 that Dziak would leave his position in June but take a sabbatical at BC until the end of the year. What were the details of this arrangement? Was this some sort of suspension or attempt to keep Dziak away from BC students?

Leahy claims that Dziak didn’t sexually assault any students at BC. The reason he allegedly raped a student while working somewhere else is because Dziak left, or was forced to leave BC, and Leahy did nothing to ensure he was barred from being around students. By his own admission Dziak’s behavior “conflicted with University standards” and Leahy was so troubled by it he reported it to the Jesuits. But he wasn’t troubled enough to care if Dziak left to work at a high school.

Leahy then writes “Second, I was never Fr. Dziak’s religious superior, and was not consulted by the Province about his assignment to Jamaica or any subsequent assignment.” Dziak was an employee of Boston College. Leahy was his boss. More importantly Leahy claims, as if to excuse himself of technical responsibility, that he was not consulted about Dziak’s assignment in Jamaica. Again Leahy, in vague language that would make a defense attorney proud, says Dziak’s behavior “conflicted with university standards.” Leahy was troubled enough by this though to report it to the Jesuits. Dziak left BC either voluntarily or at the direction of Leahy as a result of his inappropriate behavior. Leahy knew Dziak then went to work at a high school in Jamaica where he would be around even younger and more vulnerable students. Asserting that he wasn’t Dziak’s spiritual advisor or that he wasn’t consulted about the move is a cowardly attempt to absolve himself of responsibility. How could he have no regard for the children at the school in Jamaica? How could he not worry about their safety? Even if he wasn’t consulted, Leahy knew there was a problem and knew Dziak could be a danger to the students. Why wouldn’t he take any steps to do anything? His being consulted about the move is actually irrelevant.

In the summer of 1998 Leahy acknowledged that multiple people raised additional concerns. So by his own admission he received repeated warnings about Dziak’s behavior. And he knew Dziak was moving on to high school, it was reported in The Heights in April of that year, but Leahy didn’t do anything else because it was no longer his problem?

The Heights also reported that Dziak, once in his new job in Jamaica, would “help coordinate various American university-sponsored volunteer trips to the island, including those from BC.” So Leahy knew he would be supervising the very same service trips where Dziak had been abusive towards students at BC, prompting the numerous complaints to him that year.

Leahy also conveniently fails to address the letter that Beth Eilers sent him in March of 1999, again raising concerns about Dziak’s behavior and the fact he was still working with students. If a graduate student was that worried Dziak was still around young people, how could Leahy look at her letter, being fully aware of all the previous complaints, and still do nothing?

Leahy’s most offensive and cowardly assertion comes in his conclusion. “At that time I had no authority or administrative responsibility regarding Fr. Dziak, and that has been true in the 23 years since.” That is stunning – I had no administrative responsibility. The fact is after Dziak left BC Leahy had MORAL responsibility to do something. He had a moral responsibility to every potential future victim, to every student at the high school in Jamaica, to every student who would go on a service trip under Dziak’s supervision. He had by his own admission received numerous complaints from members of the BC community warning of Dziak’s behavior, raising the alarm that he should not be supervising young people. Yet Leahy did nothing while knowing he was at another school and still in a position of authority over young people. And his answer is to say he had no administrative responsibility to do anything?

What an absolute coward.

This response by Leahy is wholly inadequate. Leahy has forfeited all moral authority to lead BC and must resign or be fired by the board of trustees. An independent investigation must be done, and not one that will whitewash BC’s responsibility in service to salvaging the school’s image. It must be a thorough and honest investigation into what happened.

YDS of BC calls for Father Leahy’s removal as President of Boston College. The reports in The Heights and The TImes Picayune demonstrate Leahy has no moral authority to continue as the President of the school. Multiple members of the BC community made complaints to Leahy about Reverend Dziak’s abusive behavior and warned he should not be allowed to supervise students and young adults. Leahy, like so many others in the Catholic Church, failed to ensure this behavior would be stopped, enabling Dziak to prey on countless others in the future. In 2004 Dziak allegedly raped a student from DePaul during a service trip.

During Father Leahy’s tenure Boston College has expanded by almost 150 acres, its endowment has grown to over $2.5 billion, and new athletic facilities and academic buildings dot the campus.

To this we say who cares.

Throughout his career Leahy has shown little interest in the well being of students at his own school. For years he refused to speak out in the face of hate crimes, to confront institutional racism at BC, or to provide adequate support to LGBTQ+ students. If students don’t feel safe or welcome on their own campus, who cares about rankings or or expansion? Does it matter how many new buildings there are, what the average SAT score of the incoming class is, or how much the endowment earned last year, if your actions contribute to the harming of others? It’s all meaningless.

In 2017 he did not attend the Silence is Still Violence march on campus but attended fundraising meetings in Los Angeles. In 2018 in response to another hate crime he did not show up to a community wide meeting instead choosing to attend a fundraiser in New York.

These latest revelations show he failed to protect young people outside of the BC community. The details in these reports should trouble us all. This news confirms our belief that Father Leahy is not fit to lead BC. He must resign or be removed as the President.

Link to petition here.

Much of conventional labor organizing is centered around a shared physical location for workers, like a shop floor or a break room. But what about those who work in cars, on bikes, or in others' homes? Our labor movement stands in solidarity with all workers because an injury to one is an injury to all. On tonight's show, we'll talk to NYC-DSA endorsed candidate for City Council Jaslin Kaur about organizing for justice for taxi workers and why her home district in Eastern Queens is ready for democratic socialism. We also speak to Margaret of the Ain't I A Woman? campaign of home health care workers organizing for control over their time. Finally, we hear an update from our Defund NYPD campaign, which has launched a new pledge for City Council candidates to affirm their commitment to defunding NYPD and investing in social services. 

To learn more and get involved with Jaslin Kaur’s campaign for City Council, please visit jaslinkaur.nyc.

The Ain’t I A Woman? campaign is calling for community support at a picket outside Chinese-American Planning Council in Manhattan Chinatown on April 28th. Learn more and RSVP at tinyurl.com/APR28CPC or visit aintiawoman.org.

To learn more about the Defund NYPD campaign and its pledge for City Council candidates, go to defundnypd.com

Hello, this is the May 1st, 2021 San Antonio Democratic Socialists of America Voters Guide.

There are six San Antonio DSA endorsed candidates on this guide: Jalen McKee-Rodriguez in City Council District 2, Teri Castillo in City Council District 5, Sarah Sorensen in SAISD District 1, Judit Vega in SAISD District 3, Luke Amphlett in SAISD District 4, and Yasmín Parra Codina in SAISD District 7.

Other candidates/propositions named in this guide are recommended by San Antonio DSA’s Local Council, but were not endorsed. Candidates/propositions must seek the endorsement of SADSA and our general membership votes on the decision to endorse. Several community members have reached out to SADSA for a voter guide, so we have created one. It is by no means expansive and does not cover every race in our area, but we hope this can help inform your decisions if you’re looking to a socialist organization for electoral advice.

Our struggles go beyond the ballot box, but it is a site of struggle that we cannot withdraw from, we can take it back if we fight together. Join San Antonio DSA.

If you have any questions or comments, please email SanAntonioDSA@gmail.com.

Click here to view full voter guide