DSA San Diego condemns the blatantly unlawful detention of Mahmoud Khalil by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Read our statement. [...]

Read More... from DSA San Diego’s Statement on the Illegal Detention of Mahmoud Khalil

The post DSA San Diego’s Statement on the Illegal Detention of Mahmoud Khalil appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America | San Diego Chapter.

Upcoming Events

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 (Zoom)

Thursday, March 20 (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.): Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialist Working Group (Zoom)

Thursday, March 20 (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Immigration Justice Priority Working Group (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)

Saturday, March 22 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Homelessness Working Group Food Service (In person at Castro & Market Sts)

Monday, March 24 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Tenderloin Healing Circle (In person at Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate)

Monday, March 24 (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.): Ecosocialist Bi-Weekly (Zoom)

Monday, March 24 (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.): Electoral Board Meeting (Zoom)

Monday, March 24 (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Labor Board Meeting (Zoom)

Wednesday, March 26 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.): Intro to Socialism (Zoom)

Thursday, March 27 (5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.): Education Board Open Meeting (Zoom)

Saturday, March 29 (1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.): Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialism Reading Group: Ten Myths About Israel (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister)

Sunday, March 30 (12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.): Spanish for Organizers (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Sunday, March 30 (1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.): Know Your Rights Canvassing (Meet at 1916 McAllister)

Monday, March 31 (6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Homelessness Working Group Regular Meeting (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister)

Check out https://dsasf.org/events for more events and updates.

Events & Actions

Maker Friday: Zine Edition

Join us for Maker Friday on March 21 at 1916 McAllister from 7:00 p.m. to 9 p.m.! We’ll be doing a free zine-making workshop with Tenant Organizing. Come make some art and connect with comrades. All levels are welcome, see you there!

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.

Homelessness Working Group Food Service

Join the DSA HWG for a food service on Saturday, March 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Castro and Market Streets. We’ll be serving food for our unhoused neighbors and the larger community. Sign up here to cook, serve, or otherwise help out! Questions? Email homelessness@dsasf.org.

Spanish for Organizers

Join the Immigrant Justice Working Group for Spanish for Organizers! Come learn and practice basic Spanish phrases for organizing. All skill levels welcome. We’re meeting on Sunday, March 30, at 12:00 p.m. at 1916 McAllister. See you there!

Can’t make it to Spanish for Organizers or are feeling extra inspired to encourage turnout? Come through for our Turnout Tuesday on March 25 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at 1916 McAllister. We’ll be making calls and sending texts to let folks know about the Spanish for Organizers training. RSVP here.

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.

by Lara

Flus, colds, and covid are not the only scourges feverishly flaring up again: fascism and anti-intellectualism are political poxes scarring the soul of our society. While you should not underestimate their potential for devastation and death, know that you are not defenseless and you are not alone. 

Metaphorical contagions and actual contagions are a large concern, particularly now with the appointment of RFK as Secretary of Health and Human Services, layoffs and information suppression at the Center for Disease Control, and withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization. Though not widely reported on by mainstream media, protests against the Trump regime have erupted in all 50 states and abroad. When viral pandemics occur, we isolate ourselves to protect each other, but to achieve the same result with these metaphorical contagions, we must do just the opposite. We need to come together to resist these plagues.

Fortunately and unfortunately, these ailments aren’t new. We have been inoculated against what may be to come throughout history—our body (of people) has learned to fight this fever before. Though the virus has adapted to new circumstances—technology—over the years, so too can we. The infection vector may have mutated but our resiliency remains, though it is likely to be tested in the time to come.

Toxoplasma gondii is a non-viral parasite to many warm-blooded beings, including felines—whose guts are the only known place where T. gondii are able to reproduce. Incredibly, this single-celled microbe is able to alter the brain and behavior of rodents, causing them to be attracted to—rather than afraid of—the scent of cat urine, increasing the odds of the infected rodent being eaten by a cat and thus allowing for the multiplication and spread of T. gondii. 

Many Americans walked towards the mouth of a predatory beast, allowing for the spread and growth of more hateful policy, with little instinct for self or collective preservation, when they voted against their own interests this past national election. 

Make no mistake, all Trump voters voted against their own interests, for when one individual is oppressed, all are negatively impacted because the oppressed individual will not be able to freely and fully participate in society. Though billionaires are benefitting from the current regime, more people seem to be recognizing the dangers of a system that allows for the accumulation of such inordinate, concentrated amounts wealth-–and it may ultimately lead to changes in societal structures that advance such inequality and the exploitation that makes it possible (which is in its own way parasitic).

“Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world for indeed, that’s all who ever had,” has been attributed to author and anthropologist Margaret Mead. Dr. Mead purportedly considered the first sign of civilization to be a 15,000 year old healed broken femur, which would have required six months’ rest to mend and protection from others to survive the process. 

Part of being a part of a functioning society is caring for your fellow beings, which can take many forms. It may be calling out bigoted behavior. It may be wearing a mask to protect others. It may be bringing a meal to a lonely or hungry neighbor or treating the unhoused like what they are: human beings, deserving of dignity and compassion, as we all are. 

It may be many things but at the heart of them all is our imperative to hold fast and care for each other and protect the vulnerable. With the potential for AI to become conscious (and few regulations limiting data being used to train it and the stealing of data by DOGE) and necrotic tendrils of fascism seeping through rich soils, it is critically important that we retain what makes us compassionate. 

Parasitic capitalism needs to feed on people to survive. Viruses require host cells to replicate. Don’t be a host cell for hatred. Push back against authoritarian and exploitative systems. We are the immune system. Let us overwhelm the forces of evil, the ways bees might swarm around an enemy, extinguishing it with our collective power, warmth, and energy (Note: I am not advocating for violence against individuals, but rather the abatement of ideas and policies that violate human rights). Though the rodent cannot be uneaten, we can work to prevent future rodent consumption, predators from taking office, and parasites from propagating. 

Viruses have fundamentally altered evolutionary history, accounting for ~8% of our genome. Though they have undoubtedly had detrimental and sometimes fatal consequences, often overlooked are impacts that have ultimately been favorable. Indeed, a virus gave rise to the formation of the mammalian placenta, allowing for greater nutrient transfer from mother to progeny. We cannot overlook the devastation viruses have caused nor should we gloss over the good they’ve given rise to. How will you resist this pestilence? What goodness will you grow in its wake?

Love always, 

Lara

The post Inoculation first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

Press release from UW-Madison YDSA

We are so pleased and proud to announce that three of our candidates have won in the ASM elections Wednesday night — Gabo Samoff for College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and Student Finance Services Committee, Bobby Gronert for College of Letters and Science and Student Finance Services Committee and Tristan Englemann for College of Engineering (five seats total).

These wins signal that students are dissatisfied with the university and Trump crackdowns on free speech on our campus, that students will not settle for university complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine or any other attacks on marginalized students, faculty or workers by the Trump administration — attacks on undocumented and foreign students, trans and reproductive healthcare, layoffs and cuts to university workers. We say socialism beats fascism.

We want to thank everyone who chose to support us in the elections and let you know we are here to fight for and with you. We will do everything in our power to resist repression and encroachments upon ALL students and faculty, fight for justice on our campus and everywhere and are excited to work with you very soon. Let this be a reminder that we are not powerless, and we still win in the darkest of times; a better world is possible. We are only getting started, let’s celebrate this win and keep up the fight!

“My vote today reflects my commitment to making tough choices and doing my job for the people of Maine,” wrote Maine District 2 Rep. Jared Golden (D) after casting the lone Democratic vote in favor of the Republican House budget bill this week. The budget calls for $485 million additional funding for ICE to feed Trump’s deportation machine—which Golden highlighted affirmatively—and another $6 billion in Pentagon spending. Meanwhile, the bill erases earmarks—making it easier for Trump and Musk to turn appropriations into slush funds—and cuts $13 billion from non-military spending in health, clean water, tribal assistance, FEMA, and more. Pulling a reverse Susan Collins, Golden voted in favor of Trump’s budget, knowing his vote would not be decisive. Trump wasn’t thinking about Golden when he demanded “NO DISSENT” from House Republicans, but Golden answered the call regardless. If it were not for the Speaker Mike Johnson’s razor thin majority, one could be tempted to dismiss Golden’s posturing. And Golden’s vote, which seemed like an anomaly just a couple days ago, has now been endorsed by the most powerful elected Democrat in the country, Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

I have no special insight into Golden as a person. He’s obviously a very smart, likeable, hardworking man, and has about as much Mainer cred as a person can muster. Moreover, he can be surprisingly progressive on important issues. For instance, while Gov. Janet Mills—generally considered several steps to his left—has vetoed bills expanding Wabanaki sovereignty, Golden has supported important tribal priorities. Golden also vocally supports abortion rights and took a lot of heat for changing his position on banning assault rifles after the mass shooting in Lewiston. Credit where credit is due.

On the other hand, Golden famously split his vote during Trump’s impeachment, claiming he “voted his heart.” The pattern continued when he declared he was “OK” with Trump winning in 2024, even as he ridiculed people worried about Trump’s threats to democracy as “pearl clutching.” While condemning Republican State Rep. Laura Libby’s doxxing of a trans athlete, Golden repeated the right-wing trope that “biological males shouldn’t compete in sports against biological girls.” And when small farmers in Maine faced devastating cuts to USDA support, all Golden could muster was that he was “awaiting more legal clarity.”

[Read next: We’ll need popular resistance to defend trans rights in Maine – Pine & Roses]

Golden clearly wants Mainers to believe that he stands virtually alone in willing to make “tough choices.” Whatever you think of Golden the man, his method of trying to bridge left and right is the problem. After all, Golden won reelection by a whisker. His shrinking majority in District 2 and growing appetite for Manchinite posturing in Washington have led to speculation that he is considering a run for the Blaine House in November of 2026. Although it’s tempting to dismiss his chances in a left-leaning Democratic primary, Democratic leaders—and fundraising behemoths—demonstrated their willingness to pull out all the stops to prevent Bernie taking up the banner in 2016 and 2020. Furthermore, Trump has apparently picked Libby to conquer the state for MAGA in 2026 so the potential for the governor’s race to become “national” is real enough. Is Golden hoping he can serve as a rallying point for centrist and Blue Dog Democrats in the party apparatus? Perhaps. And that’s the problem with Golden’s method. Even if he wins, we lose.

So far I’ve stressed the uniqueness of Golden’s political positioning, but he also shares at least one trait in common with Gov. Mills, Sen. Angus King, and the bulk of the most powerful party leaders. That is, for all the latter’s references to Trump as a threat to democracy, they’re still willing to play by the rules. Mills rightfully won accolades for telling Trump she’d “see him in court.” Yet leaving our rights up to the Roberts Court leaves an awful lot up to chance. 

What’s the alternative? When Mills threatened to strip cost of living raises, direct care workers struck and took their message to the legislature, securing a vote in committee to restore the raise. When University of Maine administrators refused to protect international students, unionized graduate students organized a sit in. When Bowdoin administrators refused to honor a student referendum calling for the college to take action to support the people of Gaza, Students for Justice in Palestine organized an encampment. Actions like these are not yet powerful enough on their own to turn the tide, but they do point in another direction.

[Listen to next: Bowdoin College encampment for Gaza.]

Trump will continue his blitzkrieg for the coming months at least. He’s no pushover and we best prepare for a long series of confrontations. There’s no shame in recognizing we are on the defensive for the time being. But the initiatives we take now, be they organizing for May Day in Maine, standing up for our trans siblings, fighting for social housing, defending local farms or nominating candidates who’ve demonstrated they will fight for us in office, will be all the stronger if we take the time to cement relationships, practice open organizing democracy, and welcome new people into our movements.

So what is Jared Golden thinking? It turns out it’s the same thing as Schumer. In their estimation, sacrificing trans people, immigrants, civil liberties, and federal workers unions are just the cost of doing a certain kind of business in American politics. We need something entirely different. 

[Read next: The future of housing is public.]

The post Jared Golden leads, Schumer follows, Trump wins. appeared first on Pine & Roses.

The post Internationalism Working Group appeared first on Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America.