We are so proud of all of our candidates and the many SV DSA members who organized for one of our endorsed campaigns. Two of our endorsed candidates won:

• In an upset, Lissette Espinoza-Garnica has won election to City Council in Redwood City! Read our press release.
• After a landslide win, Alex Lee is heading to the State Assembly. Alex will fight for single-payer healthcare, stronger tenant protections, and tuition-free college.

Unfortunately, any election is bound to come with a few disappointments. We want to acknowledge these incredible candidates ran with our support:

• Jake Tonkel came close to unseating incumbent Dev Davis in San Jose District 6 despite police and business interests spending more than half a million dollars on (in some cases, blatantly racist) attack ads against him.
• John Lashlee would have made an excellent addition to the Mountain View City Council, running on housing, renter protections, pandemic relief, and defunding the police.
• Tiffany Vuong ran for Milpitas City Council on a platform of low-income housing and community control of the police.
• Basil Saleh was our pick for Campbell Union High School District 4 Trustee, running to end the school-to-prison pipeline and eliminate disparities that minority students and their families experience.

Congratulations to all SV DSA candidates. The act of running alone is an important step towards furthering our socialist mission.

Plus, Measure RR passed with SV DSA’s endorsement! Killing an agency that was beginning to implement equity reforms is counterproductive, and public transportation is a must if we want to get out of the climate crisis.

The establishment politicians say that leftist policies don’t win so we shouldn’t try, but this election proved otherwise in a lot of ways:

• 20 out of 29 nationally-endorsed candidates won their race.
• 8 out of 11 nationally-endorsed ballot measures passed, including a $15 minimum wage measure in Florida
• Every swing-seat House Democrat that endorsed Medicare For All won re-election or is on track to win re-election.

While we celebrate Trump’s departure, as is appropriate with a fascist leaving office, we know that Biden is not the silver bullet that Democrats portray him as. Trump’s actions will not be erased overnight, and Biden has more in common with him than media narratives will admit. One of Biden’s picks for his transition team is Cecilia Muñoz, who defended family separations and other horrors of the “immigration system” under the Obama administration. We cannot rely on establishment politicians to do the right thing – we must organize to create equity for the working class and dismantle white supremacy.

Elections aren’t the be-all-end-all of our work. We will be as busy as ever until the next election, and we need you as part of this movement. Join DSA!

In Solidarity,
Your SV DSA Newsletter Team

The post Special Newsletter: Election Update appeared first on Silicon Valley DSA.

We have another weekend full of events leading us toward a socialist future!

We hope to see our comrades at the Chapter Meeting this Sunday at 2pm. New to DSA? Our Chapter Meeting is a great place to start.

SV DSA November Chapter Meeting
Sun, Nov 15. 2-4pm.
Register here to join the call.
See here for our draft agenda.

Other weekend events:

Saturday, 11/14

• 12-1:30pm. Fremont #DefundThePolice 
• 1-3pm. November Political Education Working Group Mtg
• 4:30-5:30pm. Mutual Aid Fundraiser: Learn to Compose Music

Sunday, 11/15

• 11-12:30pm. Mutual Aid Check-In Call
• 12-1:30pm. San Jose & Santa Clara County #DefundThePolice
• 2-4pm. November Chapter Meeting
• 7-8pm. AMP Committee Meeting

For more events, see our calendar.

The post November 14, 2020 – Weekend Events appeared first on Silicon Valley DSA.

Our latest episode of ‘Heart of a Heartless World’ is a recording of a webinar DSA’s NYC chapter hosted with faith leaders on how American apocalyptic thinking gets in the way building a better future, how to decolonize the apocalypse, and the potential for societal transformation through a just transition towards ecosocialism. On October 13th Ryan Felder (3rd Year MDiv at Union Theological Seminary) facilitated the panel which included Rev. Chelsea MacMillan (interfaith minister, Extinction Rebellion Activist, and co-founder Brooklyn Center for Sacred Activism), Shay O’Reily (Lutheran lay leader and climate organizer), and Nathan Albright (writer with The Flood and Catholic Worker). 
 Our next webinar discussion will feature Rev. Andrew Wilkes and Rev. Sekou, artist, author, and public theologian, in conversation about the ethical and religious streams of the Black radical tradition on Thursday, November 19th. For more information and to register: https://www.religioussocialism.org/next_religious_socialism_webinar_the_spirit_of_black_radical_traditions

On Saturday, major news networks called the Presidential election for Joe Biden after it became clear he had won the State of Pennsylvania. New Yorkers took to the streets to celebrate the defeat of President Donald Trump as much as to celebrate Biden’s victory. On tonight’s show, we’ll talk with NYC-DSA co-chair Chi Anunwa about Saturday's march as well as DSA’s organizing strategy under a Biden administration. 

We also have Ariadna Phillips from NYC-DSA’s Bronx Upper Manhattan Branch live with us to talk about DSA’s mutual aid work to feed South Bronx community members. The New York Times recently published an interview with Bronx and Queens congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after centrist democrats claimed leftist demands such as Medicare for All, a Green New Deal and defunding the police had caused the Democrats to lose races in swing states. We’ll talk with Ariadna about the necessity of such policies in her South Bronx community and more.   

To support South Bronx Mutual Aid and Undocumented Women’s Fund by volunteering, donating, or requesting assistance, please click here: 

https://linktr.ee/SouthBronxMutualAid

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REDWOOD CITY, CA – November 11, 2020 – The Silicon Valley chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (SV DSA) is proud to announce that Lissette Espinoza-Garnica, active member of our chapter and co-chair of SV DSA’s socialist feminist working group, was elected to the city council seat for the 3rd District of Redwood City. Lissette has been a core member of SV DSA’s local Redwood City organizing group and shares DSA’s vision to abolish capitalism and other oppressive systems, and to strive for a better and more equitable world.

“I’m so proud of what we have been able to accomplish, especially in just a few months,” said Lissette Espinoza-Garnica. “Previously, I was practically unknown, but our campaign’s message resonated with not just voters, but the community at large. This campaign was also about creating a precedent for the future of local activism and politics to center marginalized groups and provide essentials, such as housing for all and investing in more community resources, rather than catering to developers.”

Lissette continued: “I believe we won because of our strong multiethnic, working class, feminist, socialist platform. I hope many people from marginalized communities are inspired to organize for change in their local community, regardless of their means or credentials. I am successful because of the volunteers who believed in our message and because we were able to speak on issues like racism, gentrification, and climate change from an anti-colonial lens and provide real solutions.”

Lissette ran on a socialist and abolitionist platform that resonated with the working class and immigrant community in their district. As the new Councilmember of Redwood City’s 3rd District, Lissette is committed to seeking out marginalized voices and making sure all members of the community are represented in city decisions. Lissette’s platform includes initiatives to protect renters, defund the police and fight back against gentrification in Redwood City, as well as to secure an eviction moratorium for the length of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facts about Lissette:

• People powered campaign. Lissette refused to accept donations from corporations, developers, police unions and lobbyists. Their all-volunteer campaign was run entirely by grassroots activists.
• Historic representation. Born and raised in Redwood City, Lissette is the first openly non-binary Chicanx member to serve on the City Council.
• A new vision for Redwood City. Lissette’s election sends a strong message that the people of Redwood City are ready for a socialist, community-centered direction.

“Socialists believe that ordinary people must be the ones making the decisions that affect them, and across Silicon Valley, the working class has been disenfranchised,” said Johannes Muenzel, co-chair of SV DSA. “Landlords, developers and homeowners dare to speak for renters and unhoused people; corporations like Uber and Lyft dare to speak for the workers they exploit; and cynical politicians continually ignore the communities impacted by racist policing. Our chapter of DSA sees Lissette’s win as a victory for the multiracial working class in Redwood City. We look forward to working with Councilmember Espinoza-Garnica, and we invite everyone in the community to join us in organizing for change.”

To learn more and join SV DSA’s Redwood City organizing group, please visit:

https://siliconvalleydsa.org/join/

About Silicon Valley DSA

We are the Silicon Valley chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). We believe our economy and society should be run democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few. We are not a political party; we are a community organization building working class power and fighting for radical change.

For more information, please visit:

https://siliconvalleydsa.org/

Lissette Espinoza-Garnica, miembro de SV DSA, gana un puesto en el Concejo Municipal de Redwood City

REDWOOD CITY, CA – 11 de noviembre de 2020 – El capítulo de Silicon Valley de los Socialistas Democráticos de América (SV DSA) se enorgullece en anunciar que Lissette Espinoza-Garnica, miembro activo de nuestro capítulo y copresidente del grupo de trabajo feminista socialista de SV DSA, fue elegida a la sede del consejo municipal para el 3er distrito de Redwood City. Lissette ha sido un miembro central del grupo organizador local de Redwood City de SV DSA y comparte la visión de DSA de abolir el capitalismo y otros sistemas opresivos y luchar por un mundo mejor y más equitativo.

“Estoy muy orgullosa de lo que hemos logrado, especialmente en tan solo unos meses”, dijo Lissette Espinoza-Garnica. “Antes de las elecciones, era prácticamente una desconocida, pero el mensaje de nuestra campaña resonó no sólo con los votantes sino también con la comunidad en general. Esta campaña también tuvo la meta de establecer un precedente para el futuro del activismo y la política local de centrar a los grupos marginados y proporcionar elementos esenciales, como viviendas para todos y la mayor inversión en recursos comunitarios, en lugar de atender a los desarrolladores.

Lissette continuó: “Creo que ganamos gracias a nuestra sólida plataforma multiétnica, de clase trabajadora, feminista y socialista. Espero que muchas personas de comunidades marginadas se sientan inspiradas a organizarse para promover los cambios necesarios en su comunidad, independiente de sus medios o credenciales. Tuve éxito gracias a los voluntarios y voluntarias que creyeron en nuestro mensaje y porque pudimos hablar sobre temas como el racismo, la gentrificación y el cambio climático desde una perspectiva anticolonial y brindar soluciones reales.”

Lissette se postuló con una plataforma socialista y abolicionista que resonó entre la clase trabajadora y la comunidad inmigrante en su distrito. Como nueva concejal del 3er distrito de Redwood City, Lissette se compromete a buscar voces marginadas y asegurarse de que todos los miembros de la comunidad estén representados en las decisiones de la ciudad. La plataforma de Lissette incluye iniciativas para proteger a los inquilinos, retirar fondos de la policía y luchar contra la gentrificación en Redwood City, además de asegurar una moratoria de desalojo durante la pandemia de COVID-19.

Datos sobre Lissette:

• Campaña impulsada por el pueblo. Lissette se negó aceptar donaciones de corporaciones, desarrolladores, sindicatos policiales y cabilderos. Su campaña de voluntarios fue dirigida íntegramente por activistas de base.
• Representación histórica. Nacidx y criadx en Redwood City, Lissette es la primera miembro Chicanx abiertamente no binaria en servir en el Concejo Municipal.
• Una nueva visión para Redwood City. La elección de Lissette envía un fuerte mensaje de que la gente de Redwood City está lista para una dirección socialista centrada en la comunidad.

“Los socialistas creen que la gente común debe ser la que tome las decisiones que afecten su comunidad y en todo Silicon Valley, la clase trabajadora ha sido privada de sus derechos”, dijo Johannes Muenzel, copresidente de SV DSA. “Los arrendadores, desarrolladores y propietarios de viviendas se atreven a hablar por los inquilinos y las personas sin vivienda; corporaciones como Uber y Lyft se atreven a hablar por los trabajadores de quienes se aprovechan; y los políticos cínicos ignoran continuamente a las comunidades afectadas por el racismo policial. Nuestro capítulo de DSA ve la victoria de Lissette como una victoria para la clase trabajadora multirracial de Redwood City. Esperamos trabajar con la concejal Espinoza-Garnica e invitamos a todos en la comunidad a unirse a nosotros para organizarnos hacia el cambio que necesitamos.”

Para obtener más información y unirse al grupo organizador de Redwood City de SV DSA, visite: https://siliconvalleydsa.org/join/

Acerca de Silicon Valley DSA

Somos el capítulo de Silicon Valley de los Socialistas Democráticos de América (DSA). Creemos que nuestra economía y nuestra sociedad deben funcionar democráticamente para satisfacer las necesidades humanas, no para obtener ganancias para unos pocos. No somos un partido político; somos una organización comunitaria que fortalece el poder de la clase trabajadora y luchamos por un cambio radical.

Para mayor información, por favor visite: https://siliconvalleydsa.org/

The post SV DSA Member Lissette Espinoza-Garnica Wins City Council Seat in Redwood City appeared first on Silicon Valley DSA.

Note: this post is written by our members to generate debate and discussion and is not an official branch statement. Want to be part of the conversation? Join our mailing list.

Over the past few months we’ve noticed that some folks are using the phrase “systemic change” to talk about the changes they want to see, and, well

Spurred to debate, the Marin DSA branch had a good conversation about how we understood systemic change. 

Folks pointed out it can be understood both as “changes to the system” as well as “changing the system at the root”. In the first sense, the phrase gets used by liberals to signal they want to change the laws to be fairer. The second sense calls into question the system itself, and asks what would be required for the system to be completely different. Both definitions are technically correct, but our intent with the phrase is important.

One member used the metaphor of seats at a table to explore systemic change. If your system has a certain amount of seats at a table for decision making, reforms can change the amount of seats at the table, who gets to sit in the seats, even the shape of the table, but ultimately, without a change of system, it’s only the people who have seats at the table that make decisions. 

Systemic change wouldn’t just affect our economy, but transform our work and groups as well – how do we value time and the labor that gets done? Do we acknowledge the need for rest and relationship building? Is the growth of our group more important than the health and personal values of our group? Members brought up the parallels to conversations about decolonization. That just saying “decolonization” doesn’t make it so.

We are democratic socialists because we realize that reforming capitalism (redistributing capitalist wealth while keeping the capitalist for-profit value system) does not ensure actual freedom. These reforms can make space for exploring alternate systems, but because they depend on capitalism to generate the wealth needed to implement them, they do not inherently pose a threat to it. 

If we want to make sure that everyone’s voice gets heard, we have to get rid of the table, and come up with something new.

Trump and the Far Right are doing everything they can to subvert the will of the people. We must be prepared to fight any effort to subvert the democratic will of the working class. We cannot allow the Republican party to disenfranchise people with the same Jim Crow playbook they've been using for generations in order to continue their deadly authoritarian agenda on every level of government.

Sign the pledge now to show your support for counting every vote and are willing to mobilize if any attempts are made to steal the election. Add your name now to pledge your commitment to take action to ensure that every vote is counted.

No matter what happens, we will continue to fight for democracy, Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and more. A better world is possible.

The Democratic Socialist of America Chapters of North Carolina
Asheville DSA
Charlotte Metro DSA
Greensboro DSA
Piedmont DSA
Wilmington DSA
Winston Salem DSA

Welcome to the Void. As Americans hit the streets to demand the vote be counted, Michael Carter and I will be discussing what looks to be a close electoral college victory for Joe Biden as Trump falsely claims to have won the election and attempts to stop the count. Later we’ll dive into DSA’s successes at the ballot box across the country and what socialists need to do under this new political terrain. In the first half of our show you’ll hear from Lee Ziesche as she interviews Democratic Socialist Cambridge City Councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler as they talk about their ideological journey since working together on Obama 2012. Later we’ll hear from Claire about DSA’s 100k recruitment drive. https://act.dsausa.org/donate/membership2020/ https://100k.dsausa.org/login

Two weeks ago passersby observed a BCPD patrol car parked outside of Hotel Boston. By itself this is not newsworthy. The school is using the hotel to quarantine students. It was the image displayed on the car’s computer screen that is cause for alarm. The onlookers were taken aback by the thin blue line Punisher skull logo visible for all to see.

This is alarming for a number of reasons. Blue lives matter is a reactionary message created specifically in opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement. The thin blue line “is a term that typically refers to the concept of the police as the line which keeps society from descending into violent chaos.” The thin blue line flag is a black and white version of the American flag with a blue line running through the middle. The combination of these symbols with the Punisher skull logo is extremely problematic.

Across the country military and police have embraced this symbol in recent years. The co-creator of the Punisher Gary Conway has pushed back against this appropriation and strenuously rejected any connections between his creation and law enforcement and white supremacy. Officers in a number of departments have been investigated or disciplined for using the symbol on uniforms or police vehicles. It should also be noted that in 2018 BCPD officers mocked the Black Lives Matter slogan during an incident with two students.

On its own, the blue lives matter message is cause for concern. There is no such thing as blue lives. Blue lives matter is a movement that developed in response and in opposition to the Black lives matter movement. Black lives matter is anti-racist. It began in response to the continued murder of Black people by police in America. Quite literally it simply affirms the most basic idea that Black lives actually do matter. That any group would not simply affirm and support this idea, and instead feel the need to counter it is revealing. If police are offended at the notion that Black lives do matter or have a problem with people protesting racism and the murders of Black Americans by police then they are revealing a great deal about their attitudes and beliefs.

The blue lives matter message has not only been propagated by police. Donald Trump has increasingly embraced the logo as part of his racist law and order messaging in recent weeks. He called the Black Lives Matter slogan a painted on a street in New York City a “symbol of hate.” He routinely tells white women voters Democrats will bring low income housing to the suburbs and that American cities and police are under attack by Antifa and Black Lives Matter activists.

Brooklyn public defender Scott Hechinger wrote of Trump’s embrace of the flag “There are few things as ominous to me as the Thin Blue Line flag. It’s not about ‘supporting police.’ It is a worship of power, oppression, & violence. It is the privilege of wanting to perpetuate racist, brutal state control over Black & brown people. It is also anti-American.”

It has also been embraced by white supremacist groups and been displayed at places like Charlottesville in 2017. As USA Today reported “A black-and-white American flag with a thin blue line across its center appeared among the Confederate flags toted by the white supremacists and neo-Nazis during the violent protests.”

At a flea market in Pennsylvania last month a vendor sold Blue lives matter flags next to Confederate and Nazi flags.

The blue lives matter Punisher logo represents an even more disturbing idea. The Punisher character first appeared in 1974. He is a vigilante who uses violence, torture, and murder to extract revenge on his enemies. Instead of upholding the law he acts as the judge, jury, and executioner. He has killed more people than any Marvel character in the comic book company’s history, killing 48,502 people since his introduction 46 years ago. From George Floyd to Breonna Taylor to Eric Garner and the endless list of Black people killed by police it is clear why the embrace of this symbol by police is so disturbing, especially as it has grown in prominence at the exact moment that people across the country are demanding an end to police violence and to these murders.

Joseph Darda, an English professor at Texas Christian University explained “If you look at the 200 year history of U.S. policing, it becomes apparent that every time white people turn to a defense of police and start associating their identities with police, it’s often occurring at the same time as heightened Black activism.” He continued “This idea of ‘blueness’ is a thin veil to throw over one’s white racial interest. It’s a convenient deniability if you don’t want to be lumped in with the David Dukes of the world.”

The co-creator of the Punisher logo Gary Conway is a vocal critic of the embrace of this image by police. In September of this year he bluntly stated “Said it before, say it again: Wearing a ‘Punisher’ skull symbol on a police uniform or vehicle should be cause for immediate dismissal of the officer. Ditto for any symbol that’s come to represent white supremacy. In an interview in July of 2019 Conway compared the use of the symbol by police to putting a Confederate flag on a government building.

Conway went further than just objecting to law enforcement’s adoption of the logo. He set out to partner with comic book artists of color to raise money for Black Lives Matter and “reclaim the Punisher skull as a symbol of justice rather than lawless police oppression.”

Conway did not mince words about the link between racism and law enforcement’s embrace of the Punisher logo.

“For too long, symbols associated with a character I co-created have been co-opted by forces of oppression and to intimidate black Americans. This character and symbol was never intended as a symbol of oppression. This is a symbol of a systematic failure of equal justice. It’s time to claim this symbol for the cause of equal justice and Black Lives Matter.”

Comic book artists submitted dozens of designs helping raise over $70,000 for Black Lives Matter Los Angeles.

The writers at Marvel disapprove of police’s use of the logo as well. In July 2019’s The Punisher #13 the Punisher, Frank Castle, encounters two NYPD officers. The officers tell Castle how much they admire him, ask to take cell phone pictures with him, and show him the Punisher logo they placed on their squad car. To their surprise Castle rejects their adulation and rips the logo off the car and tears it to shreds.

In 2019 22 officers in St. Louis were investigated for posting racist messages on facebook. The city’s Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner moved to block the officers from submitting cases to her office due to their conduct. In response to officers facing consequences for posting racist messages, the head of the St. Louis police union Ed Clark defended the officers and called other officers to make the thin blue line Punisher logo their profile picture in a show of solidarity. In a facebook post Clark wrote:

“The fact is, there will always be someone who finds fault with any symbol we identify with or person we choose to carry our message. The Blue Line symbol and the Blue Line Punisher symbol have been widely embraced by the law enforcement community as a symbol for the war against those who hate law enforcement. It’s how we show the world that we hold the line between good and evil.”

The fact Clark would defend officers for posting racist messages is alarming. The fact that his response to this is to call on officers to embrace the Punisher logo and declare that police are at war with those who hate them is deeply disturbing. Everything about this mentality and the embrace of the logo should frighten us.

In October 2019 the Dallas Community Police Oversight Board met for the first time. As Gizmodo reported tensions flared when the board attempted to end the meeting without letting members of the public speak. Confrontations broke out between police and audience members, and news footage shows one officer wearing a Dallas PD hat with a Punisher logo stitched onto the back confronting a Black elected official.

The Dallas police told reporters that “Internal Affairs Unit is actively investigating this incident as a violation of the uniform policy, General Order 802.1.” Because the logo was embroidered on  the hat, it raised questions whether it was custom made by the officer or issued by the department.

In response to the incident in Dallas Gary Conway reiterated his objection to law enforcement’s use of the logo, tweeting “Any ‘cop’  who wears a Punisher logo in his official capacity is identifying law enforcement with an outlaw. These ‘cops’ are a disgrace to serious police officers everywhere. They show an imbecilic level of irresponsibility and should be fired immediately.”

In September of this year a Toronto officer was observed wearing a Punisher skull logo patch on his uniform emblazoned with the words “Make no mistake, I am the sheepdog.” Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray told the Toronto Star “The officer wearing the patch has been identified and he has been directed to remove it immediately.” She continued “It is not approved, nor appropriate, for him to be wearing it on his uniform. This is now a matter of internal discipline, and as a result I am unable to offer anything further.”

The entire ideology behind blue lives matter, the thin blue line, and the use of the Punisher logo by police is problematic. There is a clear hostility on the part of many in law enforcement to the Black Lives Matter movement or to any accountability for police violence towards the Black community. The embrace of these symbols and ideologies is indicative of a belief in an us versus them mentality where police see themselves as vigilantes dispensing justice against hostile members of society. The violent and often times out of control response by police to peaceful protests over the summer in response to the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others is indicative of this mentality. At the same time though they also uphold themselves as victims. In August 2017 a New York City police union put out a video on blue racism.

“The average person doesn’t see those things that make me human. They don’t even label me based on being African American, Latino, Asian, Caucasian, and so on. They tend to see an even broader stereotype through an even more racist lens. When they look at me, they see blue.”

The absurd idea that blue racism exists and is worse than racism against Black Americans is too idiotic to take seriously. But this is what one of the largest police unions in the country is propagating. 

The hostility to Black Lives Matter and embrace of vigilantism and violence represented by the blue line Punisher logo is not simply an academic concern. Just this week The Guardian reported that in the last five months there has been 950 acts of police brutality against civilians and journalists during anti-racism protests sweeping the United States. At the same time police have been friendly or accommodating to racist alt-right or right-wing extremists who come to counter protest and oppose Black Lives Matter protests. “Nineteen incidents show police being permissive to far-right members and treating white supremacists favorably at protests.”

Alexander Reid Ross, a professor at Portland State University and researcher at the Center for Analysis of the Radical Right stated “This is vigilante activity, that the anti-Black Lives Matter protesters believe is an extension of police – and in some cases the police agree… It’s sort of one hand washes the other here, where the police are unable to come in and beat down the protesters in this way sometimes, and so the far right, which absolutely supports the police, does it for them.”

In discussing the symbol in displayed by BCPD it is relevant to point out this is the same BC police department whose officers mocked the Black Lives Matter slogan back in 2018. When Climate Justice Boston College members Mathew Barad and James Mazareas were detained by BCPD in March of that year for writing in sidewalk chalk as part of a free speech protest, an officer retorted “all lives matter” upon seeing “Black Lives Matter” written on the ground. Barad described the incident in an article.

BCPD is run by former Boston Police Chief Bill Evans. Evans collaborated with ICE during his tenure as chief as his department cooperated and shared data with ICE helping the agency track down and detain immigrant residents. His department also engaged in racially discriminatory policing against Black and brown residents and maintained a racially biased gang database. In 2016 Black residents made up 70% of stops, interrogations, and observations by police despite accounting for only 25% of Boston’s population. This was actually an increase over the 63% of encounters that involved Black residents from 2007 to 2010. As the diagram below reveals Boston Police target the city’s Black and brown neighborhoods over other areas of the city.

Just this past summer, on the same day that Father Leahy sent an email to the entire BC community asking members to pray for George Floyd, BCPD sent it’s officers to a Black Lives Matter protest in Dorchester’s Franklin Park to police a protest against his murder. Evans actually defended this outrageous decision in a statement to The Gavel.

The use of this logo by BCPD is unacceptable. It is not just the appearance of the logo that is concerning. It is what the image represents, the beliefs and ideology behind it that have been embraced by law enforcement across the country. How many BCPD officers share in these beliefs? How widespread is the use of this imagery by BCPD? Is this image loaded onto multiple computers in the department? What other imagery do BC officers embrace? Since officers share patrol vehicles it’s hard to believe this is something multiple members are not aware of, especially since it is visible in plain view to those outside the vehicle. Does BCPD feel like police officers are at war with those who hate them? Do they agree with the head of the St. Louis police union who said the blue line and blue line Punisher logo have been widely embraced by the law enforcement community as symbols of that war? Does BCPD feel they are disrespected by the public or BC community or that that blue racism is real and worse than other forms of racism? In light of BCPD’s use of this image these are all legitimate questions that need to be answered by Boston College and by the Boston College Police Department.

The 2020 election represents an important moment in our fight for a better world, even as it has revealed the limitations of a presidential election to change our society. 

We do not stand in coalition with Joe Biden or his politics; at the same time, we recognize the grave threat that a second Trump term poses to marginalized workers. The Trump administration’s violent white nationalist policy and rhetoric, combined with its genocidal mishandling of the COVID crisis, has led to mass immiseration and death, disproportionately affecting Black and Brown populations. Fearing massive backlash, Trump has attacked voting rights and threatened to dispute the results of a fair election. In the face of these threats, we see the necessity of working in solidarity with marginalized communities to build the power necessary to protect all of us.

As socialists, we understand that to build a just society, workers must take power from the ruling class: our bosses, our landlords, and the politicians who serve them. Without power built through direct action -- organizing people in their communities and workplaces to fight back against the people who oppress them directly -- power at the ballot box is difficult to build and act on. Throughout modern history, progressive legislative gains have always relied on pressure from a militant, organized working class in the form of tenants’ and workers’ unions: minimum wage, Medicaid expansion, and abortion access have all been made possible only through the power and demands of workers. These gains are notably absent in the Southeast, where capitalism and white supremacy have historically worked together to disrupt and disperse such community power. NC Piedmont DSA is engaged in multiple projects to build that community power through direct action. We are organizing Triangle area renters to challenge their landlords’ power, and we have raised over $60,000 through our Mutual Aid Fund, all of which has gone directly to local workers affected by COVID.

In the past several election cycles, DSA-backed candidates have demonstrated the power of a worker-first politics, bringing into the political mainstream issues like Medicare For All, wealth redistribution, and a Green New Deal. While the establishment Democrats who govern the national party structure may be doing their best to ignore it, we know that the movement sustaining candidates like Bernie Sanders, Jabari Brisport, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush and others is not a passing fad.

Our members have joined with local allies for months in actions to demand that local governments defund police departments, and have played an active role in specific initiatives like ending civil asset forfeiture and ICE collaboration in local law enforcement agencies. And we are members of the North Carolina Medicare For All Coalition, a statewide initiative to mobilize North Carolinians in the fight for health care for all. 

If you’re just finding us, welcome - we need you. Join us to help build a better world. And please sign up for our newsletter to get information about our next meeting.