Madison Area DSA’s Executive Committee condemns in the strongest possible terms the National Political Committee of DSA’s decision to de-charter the BDS & Palestine Solidarity Working Group. That the NPC would take this dramatic action to discipline an official working group composed of dedicated DSA members, while refusing to discipline a sitting Congressman with enormous power and a tenuous commitment to DSA, speaks volumes about their politics and priorities. 

The BDSWG was established by DSA’s National Convention, its highest decision-making body, in 2019. Numerous chapters and DSA members reiterated their support for the BDS & Palestine Solidarity Working Group throughout the fall and winter of 2021 and early 2022. The NPC didn’t acknowledge this outpouring as it was happening and continues to ignore the will of numerous chapters and DSA members with its actions now. The NPC reveals its total disdain for the will of the membership at large by de-chartering this working group with the smallest possible majority in a 9-8 vote. As socialists whose hopes for a better world lie in the self-activity of the grassroots and the rank and file, we find this profoundly despicable. 

The NPC claims to have made its decision out of a desire to uphold democratic norms and enforce accountability. But it is clear that de-chartering the working group was a politically motivated attack on a dissenting group through procedural means. We are deeply concerned about the precedent set by this decision. For a democratic, socialist organization to thrive, discussion, debate, and disagreement must be allowed. When dissent from leadership is met with harassment, discipline, and dissolution, the only purpose can be to stifle the very openness that produces the best politics. Similar tactics have destroyed other socialist organizations. 

We fear that there will be serious repercussions to the organization as a result of this decision. It is likely that the NPC’s decision will cause irreparable harm to our organization’s relationship to other Palestine liberation and solidarity organizations and activists, including activists in our own ranks. We also anticipate that many DSA members will choose to leave the organization, unwilling to continue under its banner after this. While this might be a happy byproduct for those interested in cultivating a more politically homogeneous group, we find it deeply regrettable. Over the course of the last five years, members of Madison Area DSA have worked hard to rebuild a thriving, active chapter, full of dedicated activists. It is frustrating that the NPC’s conduct might cost us members.

Finally, while this conduct from the NPC would be distressing in any context, the timing of this particular decision is especially upsetting. Israeli Apartheid Week – a global week of action denouncing apartheid – begins today, Monday, March 21, just three days after the NPC announced its elimination of our organization’s BDS & Palestine Solidarity Working Group. This decision also comes at a moment when the world’s response to Ukrainian suffering and struggle to defend its self-determination has so many of us reflecting on how differently the world responds to Palestinian pain and resistance. At precisely the moment when our organization should be coming together to resist imperialism everywhere and raise consciousness around these inconsistencies, the NPC divides us and attempts to fold a working group that was already engaged in that work.   

We call on the NPC to reverse this decision and lift its ban on leaders of the BDSWG holding other leadership positions. 

We offer our solidarity to the members of the BDSWG.

The Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America condemn the actions of the Colorado Springs Police Department for their undercover surveillance of Colorado Springs DSA members and actions, along with other local leftist organizations. Such surveillance is anti-democratic and is intended to intimidate left-leaning individuals in an effort to prevent organizing efforts that promote equity and justice and threaten the current distribution of power.

We call on all democratically elected city leaders to join us in publicly condemning the unwarranted undercover surveillance of above-ground democratic organizations. It is vital that our leadership sets a precedent for the city that any threats to our democratic process will not be tolerated. We citizens of Colorado Springs deserve to live in a city where we are free to exercise our democratic rights to organize peacefully for policies that reflect our values. Regardless of political orientation, all city leaders must come out against actions that undermine the very democratic process that got them elected so that we can continue to have free and fair elections for people of all political affiliations. A threat to one is a threat to all.

We also call on all leftist organizers, including Colorado Springs DSA members and others targeted by CSPD, to publicly condemn the actions of CSPD. In the face of aggression and intimidation, it is more important than ever for us to take a stand and let CSPD know that we will not back down from organizing for the change we want to see in the city. 

In addition to undercover surveillance, there have been allegations of attempts by CSPD to manufacture crime where there is none. Recently some leftists have reported attempts by the undercover officer, April Rogers (alias Chelsie Kurti), to entrap members of the leftist community into helping her acquire illegal firearms, as well as to lay the foundation for the organization of an armed left-wing militia. While we applaud the integrity of our leftist comrades in declining to cooperate, we must also take a stand against the efforts of CSPD to manufacture crime that could then be used to entrap naturally law-abiding members of the leftist community. 

We also call out the dishonesty in CSPD’s official media statement on their actions. Their insistence that, “CSPD does not target groups or organizations based upon political affiliation or ideology. We are committed to safeguarding our citizens’ constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and the right to assemble. CSPD does however investigate criminal activity or allegations of criminal activity even if that person is a member of a political organization,” is not only misleading to the public, but is also false. In addition to attempts to instigate criminal activity, officer April Rogers also committed a misdemeanor crime under Colorado State law for registering to vote under her false identity. These actions are not only hypocritical and indicative of police corruption, but are further signs of an abuse of power meant to oppress a left political movement.

As an official chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, we value the preservation and expansion of democracy to create a more just and equitable world for all. We will continue to organize for the realization of our values unabashed and unafraid, and we are dedicated to peacefully pushing back against any efforts to silence or intimidate our organization and our individual members. We stand together as proud champions of justice and democracy, now and always. 

After three long weeks, Putin’s war with Ukraine has devastated the region with mass shellings of Ukrainian towns and villages, and bombings that have included hospitals and kindergartens. All of this has been under the banal guise of a [quote] “special military operation”, words which ring hollow to any Leftist familiar with the lies of Imperial Powers. This assault has taken thousands of Ukrainian lives and made tens of thousands more into refugees. With lines of Russian tanks that stretch for miles, marching onward to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, it can be easy to forget that this war carries the weight of history. To explore some of the deeper, historical complexities that led to this war, covering past, present, and future, we talked with Volodymyr Ishchenko, a Ukrainian sociologist and scholar of Eastern European history. Meanwhile back here in New York City, tens of thousands suffer under the regime of mass incarceration. Starting at the age of 15, Prakash Churaman lost six years of his life in pretrial detention after being forced into a false confession by the NYPD. Authorities claim he murdered his best friend, but there is no physical or forensic evidence linking him to the crime. Only the words of a scared, young kid locked in a room. Prakash proclaims his innocence and refuses to take any plea deal. Despite limited access to the outside world, Prakash organized to gather bail money for his release. Last week we spoke with Prakash and his lawyer Jose Nieves about his story and the Free Prakash Alliance.

3/13/22 Paul Fleckenstein, DSA, and Tempest Collective Hello sisters, brothers, and siblings. First, thank you to the organizers of this rally. This is important work.  The many anti-war protests I have attended on this lawn involve standing in solidarity with the victims of war, with those who resist occupation, understanding how we got here, andContinue reading "Remarks to “Vermont Stands With Ukraine” Solidarity Rally"

The city of Lakeland is in talks about further criminalizing homelessness and poverty as well as cracking down on the organizations who step in to help their neighbors.
Private citizens and organizations have been handing out food to anyone in need for years in public parks like Munn Park, Webster Park and Dobbins Park with the support of the community. These organizations are providing hundreds of meals and drinks, free clothing, hygiene and personal supplies, books and art supplies, and more to anyone in need in Lakeland.
People will often walk up to tables and give kind words and even offer to come back with donations. Community members support these programs and it’s their encouragement that keeps them going. These organizations are led by local citizens who got started because everyday people are coming up and asking for help.
It’s a misconception that the only people who need help are unhoused. There are working people who can’t afford lunch, elderly people on fixed income, families and children who have run out of benefits for the month, people with disabilities, and people who just find themselves needing some extra help that day.
All of the groups who are providing mutual aid and services to their community are well within their rights to do so. As noted by the city attorney in the linked Ledger article, public sharing of food is legally considered a protected First Amendment right that’s strongly protected in places like public parks and sidewalks. There’s been many court cases establishing that limiting the ability to provide free meals to the public is a violation of free speech and free association.
If you support this kind of work and enjoy living in a community that is made up of active and compassionate people, please use the QR code in the graphic or follow the link below to send a letter to the Lakeland City Commission and the Mayor telling them that you do not want further criminalization of homelessness and you do not want laws passed preventing churches, organizations, or private citizens from helping their neighbors and community.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-anti-homeless-measures-in-lakeland

Ukrainians are waging a heroic resistance against Russia’s invasion. Forced to regroup by the resistance, Putin and his generals have turned to the scorched earth strategy they used in their wars in Chechnya and Syria, putting millions of people’s lives in jeopardy. Putin probably intends to permanently occupy much greater areas in eastern Ukraine thanContinue reading "Russia Out of Ukraine — Solidarity with Ukraine’s People! "

 

The rise of China in the early twenty-first century has unsettled the geopolitical status quo and raised the prospect of a multipolar world order after three decades of unchecked US imperialist hegemony. While some socialists welcome this challenge as a boon for anti-imperialism, others insist (or fear) that the rising China intends to become an imperialist power rather than combat imperialism worldwide. Such disagreements are often underwritten by differing diagnoses of whether China is a socialist or capitalist state and differing assessments of China’s real impact on the world’s peoples, which give rise to a range of orientations from “Neither Washington Nor Beijing” to “Critical Support for Beijing.”

Our final module of our Imperialism Study Series presents various socialist perspectives on the questions of imperialism in China, Chinese imperialism abroad (if such a thing exists), and the US-China rivalry.

At play in the module’s readings are a complex set of factors: (1) the relationship between China and the Global North; (2) the relationship between China and the Global South; (3) the impact of China’s rise on the historically exploitative relationship between Global North and Global South. We can provide no easy answers, but there is undoubtedly much to learn and discuss.

Recommended Reading

This module was compiled by NTDSA as a supplement to the DSA-LA Imperialism Reader used for the first four modules of this study series, and it revolves around five readings, which you can access in the Google Doc “Module 5: Imperialism and China: Socialist Perspectives.” The readings are:

1. “The US-China Rivalry Is About Capitalist Competition,” Ho-Fung Hung
2. “China: Imperialism or Semi-Periphery?,” Minqi Li
3. “Neither Washington Nor Beijing,” Ashely Smith and Kevin Lin
4. “Neither Washington Nor Beijing?,” Carlos Martinez
5. “Can the Chinese Diaspora Speak?,” The Qiao Collective

Were you unable to attend the first four sessions? No problem! You can review the content from Module 1: Is Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism?, Module 2: America’s Ascent as an Imperial Power, Module 3: The National Question, and Module 4: Imperialism Today.

Interested in attending our Socialist Night School sessions? Check our calendar for upcoming session dates.