In the aftermath of hosting our national convention, MADSA members met Aug. 24 to plan for future actions and new leadership, while CWA staff handled strike business in their offices next to the union hall where we meet. (The strike has since been settled)
We voted to hold an Atlanta action to “stop the war on immigrants” Oct. 12, in response to a call from national DSA’s Immigrant Rights committee. Sign up with José Perez if you want to join the planning group.
MADSA working groups reported on their plans: Eco-Socialism — Green New Deal town hall watch party at the Ga. Beer Garden Sept. 4; Electoral — Cabbagetown Canvass for Bernie Sept. 8; Immigrant Justice — in addition to Oct. 12 planning, on Sept. 7 MADSA will again visit detainees at Stewart Detention Center, hosted by El Refugio; Education — will soon start another ABCs of Socialism study series; Mutual Aid — supplies snacks for meetings and will no doubt hold more brake light clinics, TBA; Housing Justice — is supporting the Housing Justice League’s citywide tenants’ union organizing.
In other news: We are working with groups planning support for the local response to a Nazi/KKK gathering coming to Dahlonega Sept. 14; a MADSA Afro-Socialist working group is forming; and the Douglass-Debs awards dinner committee is asking for donations of seed money from “patrons” to cover initial expenses for this popular annual networking event, planned for Nov. 9 at Paschal’s restaurant (details TBA).
Finally, to strengthen our officer team’s capacity we voted to begin the process of modifying our bylaws to add a co-chair, to be included provisionally in the September (online) election for new MADSA officers.
This week we discuss the importance of political education, with suggested readings for your personal socialist literacy, and talk with three guests from North Brooklyn's political education committee who just finished their inaugural year of Brooklyn Socialist Night School.
MADSA and YDSA joined a march against racism hosted by the Alliance for Black Lives. We marched with our banners, flag and signs together with 200-300 people representing 34 organizations. Speakers addressed many aspects of the struggle, from mass incarceration and police murders to immigrant justice, expressing hope that “together we can end the structural racism that contributes to police brutality, mass incarceration, injustice, economic oppression, and inequities.”
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Photo: Reid Freeman Jenkins Reid photogrphing. Photo: Steve Eberhardt
EXCLUSIVE WEB-ONLY EPISODE! Fascism is not abstract and neither is anti-fascism. Contrary to what Senator Ted Cruz and his reactionary colleagues would have us believe, anti-fascism is not domestic terrorism but a set of tactics and activities designed to prevent the rise of white supremacist, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic hate and violence. Join us on RPM to hear from anti-fascist organizers from NYC-DSA and Outlive Them NYC, a group of anti-fascist Jews and allies. What is fascism? What is anti-fascism? And how can you get involved?
ICE’s reign of terror is tearing families apart as concentration camps of asylum seekers proliferate along the border. Trump has intensified the war on immigrants, but state violence directed against the workers of the world is a deeply rooted tradition of the American ruling class. Today we’re joined by Marvin Gonzalez, Elijah Stevens, and Britt Stern from the Immigrant Justice Working Group to discuss the collective struggle against the deportation apparatus and how we organize for the socialist horizon of a world with no borders.
Sixteen of us attended the DSA national convention in downtown Atlanta Aug. 2-4 as elected MADSA delegates, and a slew more volunteered to help make the event a success. We came from many different perspectives but shared a common goal: To continue the momentum that grew our organization from a brave remnant of about 7,000 members a few years ago to about 56,000 today, including 29 federal, state and local elected officials. We are fighting for social justice and economic democracy – can’t have one without the other we socialists say – and changing the political dialogue in this country. Our City of South Fulton comrade Councilman khalid gave both an opening and a closing speech, and several of us were quoted by the New York Times, the Atlanta Constitution, the Guardian (UK), CNN and other news outlets. We passed too many resolutions to summarize easily here; come to our monthly meeting Aug 24 for a report. Photo: Steve Eberhardt
You’re listening to Revolutions Per Minute on WBAI, a socialist radio show and podcast from members of New York City Democratic Socialists of America.The Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist organization in the United States, with 56,000 members nationwide. Every two years we have a national convention to decide important questions about the direction of our organization and vote for our sixteen-member National Political Committee, who serve as our nationwide leadership.
Last weekend our special correspondent Michael Carter was down in Atlanta with our 1,056 delegates from around the country met to democratically decide these questions and meet their comrades from throughout the country and the world.
Michael: In this episode, we hear from organizers and activists around the country as well as from members of the NYC-DSA delegation to the convention about their experience and about what it means to run an organization democratically.
We have on-the-ground interviews with elected socialists Maryland House Rep Gabriel Acevero, Chicago City Council Member Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Peekskill City Councilwoman Vanessa Agudelo, North Dakota state legislator Ruth Buffalo, Oregon school board member Brandy Fortsen, who is the first nonbinary person elected to public office in the United States, and several delegates to the convention.
We also spoke with delegates organizing for socialism in other spheres of struggle. We’ll share with you their experience participating in organizational democracy in order to build a multi-racial workers’ democracy across the world.
Last but definitely not least, we will be hearing from newly elected National Political Committee member Tawny Tidwell.
The American political establishment has a long history of cynical attacks based on race, gender, national origin, sexuality and more to divide working people against each other. President Trump’s recent statements are the latest chapter in that shameful history. While the animus dividing our society didn’t begin with President Trump, we are seeing from him now a dangerous escalation in targeting both specific elected officials and entire communities, such as the recent ICE raids on undocumented persons. The President, clearly unbothered by the humanitarian disaster he’s created at the border and many other crises, has taken time to attack Representatives Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, and Ayanna Pressley.
While President Trump has gleefully had TV sparring matches with many prominent Democrats, these women and their agenda clearly pose an existential threat for him and his political establishment. His attacks this week included telling these women to “go back” to the country they came from. All of them are American citizens and three were born here.
Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America makes clear our full support for Reps. Omar, Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortes, and Pressley and our opposition to these attacks by Trump and the Republican Party. Most Republican party officials and Republican media outlets have sadly and predictably either joined with Trump or excused his actions.
We also denounce statements by Democratic Party members drawing false equivalence between Trump and these representatives, or implying that their anti-capitalist or anti-imperialist positions warrant such attacks. We also encourage the progressive caucus to stand united in solidarity, and not cave to any pressure to denounce each other.
This kind of dehumanizing language doesn’t belong in a locker room, let alone the halls of power. We would defend anyone against attacks like these, but the political and personal courage of these representatives deserves particular acknowledgement. They are at the forefront of the struggle to democratize the economy, rebuild and strengthen our safety net, and protect the vulnerable.
We invite people disgusted by these attacks to not just work towards President Trump’s removal next fall, but to also join us right now — organizing against facism, racism, neoliberalism, xenophobia, and every other form of oppression that has empowered him and his accomplices.
Georgia organizations wishing to co-sign this statement can send an email to info@madsa.ga.
You’re listening to Revolutions Per Minute on WBAI, a socialist radio show and podcast from members of New York City Democratic Socialists of America. NYC-DSA is the biggest chapter of the largest socialist organization in the United States. We are run by our 5,500+ members and organizers who are working together to build democratic socialism in all five boroughs.
You’re listening to Revolutions Per Minute on WBAI, a socialist radio show and podcast from members of New York City Democratic Socialists of America. NYC-DSA is the biggest chapter of the largest socialist organization in the United States. We are run by our 5,500+ members and organizers who are working together to build democratic socialism in all five boroughs
