Yeah, I know, 

gas has gone up lately. 

Well, I can't afford to 

not go to school because 

I need the loans. 

I know you need the loans too. 

I know, three bankruptcies. 

That must be hard. 

You won't talk to the union rep. 

No, yeah, I'm sure he's incompetent. 

So you quit? 

And your car got repossessed? 

And you need mine? 

And your wife's parents got deported, so they can't help either? 

Yeah, I know. 

Well, you know if you...

Have you eaten? No? 

We can stop at McDonalds. 

No, I know I said we're boycotting them

but I'm too tired to think of

anything else. 

I'm okay. 

Yeah, you're right, if we had communism in America, we wouldn't have Subway anymore. 

Yeah, I see the stuff in Iran. 

Yeah, he's doing okay. Medical care is just expensive. 

You paid for your wife's out of pocket and now you can't afford groceries and she won't get on government sponsored care because she's not sick enough, even though everything is chronic? 

Yeah, I know.

I know. 

I love you too.

The Colorado Democratic Party caucus and assembly process just wrapped, culminating in the state assembly on Saturday, March 28th in Pueblo. Thank you to the hundred-plus comrades who participated. Your presence made a palpable difference.

We learned in Pueblo that Democrats are hungry for material change. Some of the loudest cheers from delegates came when candidates named wealth discrepancies and the purchase that the billionaire class has on Colorado politics. Concrete demands landed with far more force than the vague platitudes so common in stump speeches.

That energy translated into results. DDSA-endorsed Melat Kiros beat Diana DeGette 158-77, nearly locking the fifteen-term incumbent out of the primary ballot entirely. Julie Gonzales won roughly 75% of delegates, not only securing ballot access but preventing Karen Breslin from clearing the 30% threshold. David Seligman closed the gap to within a percentage point of Jena Griswold for Attorney General. Amanda Gonzalez beat out Jessie Danielson for Secretary of State by a nearly two-to-one margin.

It is notable that establishment figures of the Colorado Democratic Party, Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper, were absent from the assembly. They chose to bypass the democratic process rather than face a base that has moved well past them. That choice concedes that the progressive and socialist base now sets the terms of engagement, and it may cost them more in credibility than an expensive signature-gathering campaign ever could.

The platform told the same story. DSA members had fought to defend progressive language against establishment attempts to water it down in the lead-up to the assembly. When that language came before delegates on Saturday, they reinstated it by an overwhelming margin. The platform now includes opposition to the genocide of Palestinians, support for their right to statehood, a call to cut off aid to Israel, and support for 340B drug pricing. The Abolish ICE minority report won 92.4% support. While the platform is both imperfect and non-binding, it represents a clear demand by Democrats to move away from establishment politics, and a real opportunity for DDSA to capitalize on.

Despite these wins, there were hard lessons. In the state treasurer race, two progressive candidates, Brianna Titone and John Mikos, both ran on a public bank of Colorado as part of their platform. They split the vote, each missing the 30% threshold. This allowed Opportunity Caucus-adjacent Jeff Bridges to easily make the ballot and run unopposed in the primary. Mobilizing just fourteen more delegates could have swung that race. When aligned campaigns falter like this, we should study them as organizing blueprints and as the clearest argument yet for Ranked Choice Voting in the caucus and assembly process.

Electoralism is simultaneously a point-in-time checkpoint where we get to see what people are responding to and an opportunity to build a movement that extends beyond any one campaign. This cycle's wins show that progressives are ascending, and we socialists are the clarion call for that work. We should not turn away from the hard work of electoral campaigns and the piecemeal gains that come with it. Nor should we let our vision of a mass movement prepared for a true rupture atrophy. Instead, we double down and use these results to organize harder between elections so that our skills and influence grow while others wait for the next cult of personality to seize them.

This is not the end but the beginning. Now that ballot access has been secured for Melat, the work is just starting. Will you join us in ensuring she wins the June 30th primary and is the Democratic nominee for CO-1? Will you help us build lasting power across the metro area to advance socialist values? There are many ways to get plugged in: join our electoral meetings or the electoral Slack channel to learn more.

how many weapons of mass destruction will our country find –

searching in the burned-out craters where once stood a family’s home

symbols of resistance cooked into the flesh of civilians.

or are they victims or human shields or casualties or puppets of the regime or terrorists?

draw a peace sign on our hellcats so they know it comes with good intentions,

pray they sought the white Christian religion out before meeting an unavoidable death.

we were just following orders from America’s rich and powerful–

please don’t take it personally.

how many war crimes will our country commit

so the girls we killed can go to school,

the people elect a president, one of America’s choosing, 

give their oil rights to the rich?

& how many Iraqis will be denied a funeral–

no bodies for their family to find.

less than a hundred is an accident, more than a million is a statistic

if you’re brown – labelled collateral. 

how many Americans will be sent home in coffins?

their parents bury their kin, 

draped in the flag that sent them to die.

politicians crocodile teary-eyed speeches, lay medals drenched in blood.

called a hero, a martyr, or a symbol of a cause– 

ask not what your country won’t do for you

but what you’ll give for them.

how much of your humanity are you willing to sacrifice 

for a government that doesn’t love you back

“You can just do stuff, you know?” I’m told by Gillian Pasley, one of the organizers of the upcoming Blucifer’s First Rodeo, an artist-run music festival set to take over South Broadway this July 23rd-26th.

“It started with group texts and telling jokes and kind of spiraled into this really big thing.”

This post-ironic approach to making social change seems to be everywhere right now. It perfectly fits our strange moment in time: so much that we once sought feels just out-of-reach and yet so much possibility hangs densely in the air. It’s at once cynical and liberatory; belief in an expert-class whose gatekeeping was a rational expression of their abilities is gone, wholly replaced by a kind of faithless hope that we must – and ultimately can - get it done ourselves.

Gillian and her fellow organizers didn’t set out to start a new music festival, but when the opportunity appeared, they’d already started to lay the groundwork. “It goes back for a long time and being a part of this local music scene, but I would say the big sort of catalyzing event was perhaps our Last-Minute Last Waltz at the Hi-Dive in November.” Gillian explained. “That was like 40 or so musicians from 25 or so local bands kind of banding together over the course of three weeks to do this big show. We ended up raising about $3,000 for Kaizen Food Share. From that I think everyone was sort of feeling like we can do more big things that we want to and just sort of waiting for an opportunity for something else big to come along and feeling like we had the capacity to do something at a larger scale.”

Watching beloved cultural institutions move away from South Broadway has become an all too regular affair of late, so it wasn’t too surprising when Underground Music Showcase decided that last year’s music festival would be the last one, at least “in that form” they coyly added.

The organizers Youth on Record had been signaling for years that it was becoming increasingly untenable, taking too much time away from their non-profit arts outreach, and not long ago they’d partnered with experiential creative agency Two Parts to share the load. When they said it was over, many felt optimistic (or suspicious) that YoR just needed to get out from under its administrative burden and that we’d see UMS again. But when the buyer was announced as the RiNo Business Improvement District, that said more than enough.

The unsung heart of the festival had been cut out of the deal: South Broadway and its vibrant community of artists, venues, and fans. The once warm and airy atmosphere of the late July event had coldly blown across town and the vacuum was palpable.

“I started talking this winter about how there wasn't going to be a local music festival on South Broadway this summer and the vacancy that that created for something that could really be artist run and artist centric felt like a natural move in a lot of ways.”

It's fitting that it was the musicians themselves who stepped up. These local artists are what make South Broadway the kind of stretch you can walk down any random weekday and have a half dozen shows to choose from.

“It's affordable to go to these shows and it happens all year round. I think for a lot of people, you know, they have the idea that every July they might come down to South Broadway and see some local music, but those bands are playing all the time.”

And the dive-bars and lounges of the neighborhood know it. So when this small group of musicians who already knew these venues’ staff and ownership sought a meeting to discuss their bookings for the end of July, the response was supportive and excited. Swiftly, Blucifer’s First Rodeo was putting up a polished website, announcing lineups, and accepting hundreds of applications to perform and to volunteer from across the community.

“This is something that people really, really wanted to see happen. And so somebody just had to move really fast to make it happen.”

However, it’s one thing to be first, but it’s quite another to keep that goodwill through the festival. The organizers knew that to support a community of musicians that they would have to meet the material needs of working artists.

“We have a very equitable floor for bands and solo acts and DJs who are playing the official festival. And yeah, it's just all coming from the idea that we as working musicians should learn to value the work that we do in the community as truly valuable.”

Looking to your friends, saying to each other “why not?”, and then just putting in maximum effort is perhaps the only current strategy we can rely on. The spiritual clarion call of the down-but-not-out, looking to each other because the cost of doing nothing is just too high.

“Someone just needed to step up to the plate to organize something that now we're all going to do together.”

Hard to believe that this is the sentiment behind the first great Denver cultural victory of 2026 - but would you really believe it could happen any other way? 

If you still want there to be an organic artist-supporting musical culture in your city, visit bluciferfest.com to get tickets and get involved. Blucifer rides for you and me.

Insights from a Democratic Socialist

When a fellow comrade first mentioned the People’s Movement Assembly (PMAs) to me I was curious, but never expected the groundbreaking impact that would resonate through me, all the Atlanta DSA members, and the broader community that engaged with the idea. Done frequently enough with the goal of connecting different social activists and their groups they can become something akin to a mobilized and organized social movement against fascism, beginning in our backyard and local communities. Literature reflecting the organizational ideas made it clear that the PMA is not just about fighting fascism; it is about a whole range of different survivability tactics against ecological devastation and economic exploitation particularly affecting historically marginalized communities 

As an attendee of the March 14 PMA, one had the opportunity to engage in two sessions with the opportunity to choose from around ten breakout groups. Each group had one to three facilitators who were tasked with moderating the discussions.

​The radical, revolutionary nature of PMAs is that they bring community members together. However, true revolution happens when we involve the full extent and power of working class people. The organization that coordinated with other grassroots orgs and spearheaded this event was Project South; an org dedicated to an abolitionist approach to ending poverty so as to put people over profit. DSA runs on the same logic, but has mainly seen progress through electoral, mutual aid, and other collaborative organizational means; Even if we disagree, the very act of opening dialogue, bringing people together, and connecting different orgs breeds the political dissent not against each other but against fascism that is becoming increasingly central to American citizens in the current era.

Many participants understood proper conduct even if it was not directly outlined at the  PMA because there is a deep seated frustration with politics today. For example, diverse backgrounds breed diverse perspectives that we must acknowledge, participants should allow space for others to contribute but also honor their unique voice, even if groups do not find complete consensus there must be an effort to unify under certain values, principles, or actions, and finally cooperation over debate should be encouraged. These are all PMA rules that even if not stated are self-evident. The central theme of these PMAs is to inquire into what issues concern which citizens. 

​When the Olympics came to town in 1996, organizers formed Project South and the Hunger Coalition to react to the changing city. Project South coordinators for the PMA emphasized the generational nature of the social justice project and noted that formerly enslaved populations built the Atlanta community over 150 years ago. Some of our major goals as activists and organizers is fostering real public safety, ensuring basic needs, and fostering some semblance of equality in decision making especially during times of authoritarianism. The PMA goals are fourfold: Spreading knowledge, skills, and connections, and cultivating community building. Every PMA had a major community oriented priority: The first Atlanta PMA on March 22, 2025, sought public safety on community terms through the building of third party organizations. The second Atlanta PMA on September 6, 2025 set goals of stronger hyperlocal institutions and challenging misinformation from AI. The third PMA voted to share skills and coordinate for power, reaching beyond the assembly.

​After a second breakout session, the groups came together, appointing a representative to report back the group’s discussion on their issues. I joined participants young and old in the “Know Your Rights” breakout group, including an attorney as one of the main coordinators. We discussed how to be more aware of several legal realities in America: differences in laws between states, the importance of de-escalation work, policy changes on multiple levels, and advocacy against the most inhumane deportation laws on the books. Someone even mentioned the importance of knowing the hotline number for mentally ill crises situations that could avoid unnecessary violence. When the groups came together I was also struck by the value in having the phone number of representative state organizations like the Georgia Latino Association for Human Rights (GLAHR) to vouch for targeted citizens, and having talking points for organizers when speaking with law enforcement and other commercial bodies. I wanted to know: Is there a potential for any real social, cultural, or political power through such PMAs?

​The Step-by-Step Guide to Making your own Neighborhood Assembly emphasizes that: We must grapple with what democracy means to us, when our politicians no longer represent us, we’ve expanded the surveillance system and have an operational Cop City, seen the city privatize decisions away from democratic control, and allowed a continued housing crisis that’s forcing people onto the streets. The value of the PMAs is that they seek to transcend political partisanship in favor of true cultural and social transformation by bringing together diverse groups of people with diverse perspectives and skills to find solutions to problems in their neighborhoods. As the guide concludes: Food, housing, healthcare, education, self-determination, self-defense, resistance are all human rights, but they can only be achieved when communities organize to build real lasting change. The final ask was for individuals to connect with each other, with the sponsoring orgs, and mobilize  as many of these groups as possible for the planned May Day protest.

For DSA’s other projects, like electoral strategy, deeply democratic bodies like peoples’ assemblies are pathways to organize mass action and rally the people to our side.

The post Atlanta People’s Movement III appeared first on Red Clay Comrade.

Read more at Memphis-Midsouth

By: Siobhan McDonough

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the official position of Working Mass.

CAMBRIDGE — Last Monday, community members crowded into Cambridge City Hall to voice our support for a proposed resolution calling for an end to the U.S.’s devastating Cuba blockade. Cambridge City Councillors and democratic socialists Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and Ayah Al-Zubi, along with Councillor Marc McGovern, proposed the resolution.

In opposition to her colleagues, Councillor Patty Nolan cut off discussion using her “charter right” authority, which postpones further debate to the Council’s next meeting on May 11, 2026. Councillor Nolan argued the Council had no business addressing foreign policy:

I do not believe that the City Council should deliberate or use time during regular business meetings on foreign policy issues, which I see this as.

Councillor Nolan is correct that the Cuba blockade, in a very narrow sense, is about foreign policy. Cambridge’s action on this resolution is, by itself, insufficient to force the Trump administration to change its posture toward Cuba. The people of Cambridge, like most people in the United States, have almost no say in our federal government’s aggression toward other countries. The president dictates U.S. foreign policy in practice. Trump, without Congressional approval, kidnapped Venezuelan President Maduro and started a catastrophic war with Iran. Just last week, he unilaterally issued an executive order expanding international sanctions on those participating in the Cuban economy. 

The U.S. awards its globe-spanning military and economic apparatus to the winner of the Electoral College, a system which makes most U.S. citizens’ presidential votes essentially meaningless. Through the anti-democratic Electoral College, both Republican presidents this century first came into office with fewer votes than their opponent. Winning that non-democratic institution also authorizes presidents to pick lifetime appointees to the Supreme Court. The Court gave itself the power of judicial review to strike down acts of Congress, but on foreign policy, courts allow presidents free rein by consistently refusing to enforce laws that limit presidential acts of war.

Nominally, Congress should be able to represent popular will and thwart presidential warmongering. However, both chambers of Congress—the Senate and the House—have their own barriers to popular input. The Senate prioritizes the representation of land over the representation of people and protects its members from voters with six year terms. Thanks in part to the Supreme Court’s rulings in Rucho and Callais, the House is an ever-worsening mess of gerrymandered safe seats designed to entrench the status quo and disenfranchise non-white voters. Corporations and elite interest groups flood the Senate and House with campaign contributions to offset popular pressure. Altogether, it’s no wonder that popular will has almost no impact on federal policy compared to the preferences of economic elites.

But that’s exactly why we must act. When the state of U.S. democracy itself is so woeful, representative governing bodies like the Cambridge City Council must use their democratic legitimacy to serve as a voice for the community’s values on such crucial issues as the lives and freedom of the Cuban people facing the deep violence and social murder of the blockade. The democratic structures of the Cambridge City Council are relatively strong, compared to the non-democratic ones above. Instead of gerrymandered single-member districts, we have a proportional City Council that represents the ideological diversity of Cambridge voters and open, public council meetings that begin with an opportunity for residents to be heard. 

Our democracy in Cambridge is far from perfect. We do not allow non-citizens to vote, we do not have automatic or same-day voter registration, and our unelected City Manager retains far too much power over the budget and city operations. Wealthy donors and corporate interests hold too much sway in the political process. Still, the City Council remains the best institutional voice Cambridge residents collectively have.

Our city’s residents overwhelmingly oppose the oppressive U.S. blockade of Cuba. As Trump ratchets up sanctions while openly threatening that “Cuba is next,” we demand our institutions push back on the violence done in our names. With Congress non-responsive, that duty falls to the representative Cambridge City Council.

Cambridge community members should show up in force at City Hall once again on May 11 at 5:30pm to demand Cambridge City Council affirms our city’s anti-imperialist values.

Siobhan McDonough is the treasurer for Boston Democratic Socialists of America, the trustee chair for the National Organization of Legal Services Workers (UAW 2320), and a civil rights attorney for working-class people.

The post OPINION: Cambridge, Take Action To Oppose the Cuba Blockade appeared first on Working Mass.

[[{“value”:”

By: Siobhan McDonough

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the official position of Working Mass.

CAMBRIDGE — Last Monday, community members crowded into Cambridge City Hall to voice our support for a proposed resolution calling for an end to the U.S.’s devastating Cuba blockade. Cambridge City Councillors and democratic socialists Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and Ayah Al-Zubi, along with Councillor Marc McGovern, proposed the resolution.

In opposition to her colleagues, Councillor Patty Nolan cut off discussion using her “charter right” authority, which postpones further debate to the Council’s next meeting on May 11, 2026. Councillor Nolan argued the Council had no business addressing foreign policy:

I do not believe that the City Council should deliberate or use time during regular business meetings on foreign policy issues, which I see this as.

Councillor Nolan is correct that the Cuba blockade, in a very narrow sense, is about foreign policy. Cambridge’s action on this resolution is, by itself, insufficient to force the Trump administration to change its posture toward Cuba. The people of Cambridge, like most people in the United States, have almost no say in our federal government’s aggression toward other countries. The president dictates U.S. foreign policy in practice. Trump, without Congressional approval, kidnapped Venezuelan President Maduro and started a catastrophic war with Iran. Just last week, he unilaterally issued an executive order expanding international sanctions on those participating in the Cuban economy. 

The U.S. awards its globe-spanning military and economic apparatus to the winner of the Electoral College, a system which makes most U.S. citizens’ presidential votes essentially meaningless. Through the anti-democratic Electoral College, both Republican presidents this century first came into office with fewer votes than their opponent. Winning that non-democratic institution also authorizes presidents to pick lifetime appointees to the Supreme Court. The Court gave itself the power of judicial review to strike down acts of Congress, but on foreign policy, courts allow presidents free rein by consistently refusing to enforce laws that limit presidential acts of war.

Nominally, Congress should be able to represent popular will and thwart presidential warmongering. However, both chambers of Congress—the Senate and the House—have their own barriers to popular input. The Senate prioritizes the representation of land over the representation of people and protects its members from voters with six year terms. Thanks in part to the Supreme Court’s rulings in Rucho and Callais, the House is an ever-worsening mess of gerrymandered safe seats designed to entrench the status quo and disenfranchise non-white voters. Corporations and elite interest groups flood the Senate and House with campaign contributions to offset popular pressure. Altogether, it’s no wonder that popular will has almost no impact on federal policy compared to the preferences of economic elites.

But that’s exactly why we must act. When the state of U.S. democracy itself is so woeful, representative governing bodies like the Cambridge City Council must use their democratic legitimacy to serve as a voice for the community’s values on such crucial issues as the lives and freedom of the Cuban people facing the deep violence and social murder of the blockade. The democratic structures of the Cambridge City Council are relatively strong, compared to the non-democratic ones above. Instead of gerrymandered single-member districts, we have a proportional City Council that represents the ideological diversity of Cambridge voters and open, public council meetings that begin with an opportunity for residents to be heard. 

Our democracy in Cambridge is far from perfect. We do not allow non-citizens to vote, we do not have automatic or same-day voter registration, and our unelected City Manager retains far too much power over the budget and city operations. Wealthy donors and corporate interests hold too much sway in the political process. Still, the City Council remains the best institutional voice Cambridge residents collectively have.

Our city’s residents overwhelmingly oppose the oppressive U.S. blockade of Cuba. As Trump ratchets up sanctions while openly threatening that “Cuba is next,” we demand our institutions push back on the violence done in our names. With Congress non-responsive, that duty falls to the representative Cambridge City Council.

Cambridge community members should show up in force at City Hall once again on May 11 at 5:30pm to demand Cambridge City Council affirms our city’s anti-imperialist values.

Siobhan McDonough is the treasurer for Boston Democratic Socialists of America, the trustee chair for the National Organization of Legal Services Workers (UAW 2320), and a civil rights attorney for working-class people.

The post OPINION: Cambridge Can and Must Take Action To Oppose the Cuba Blockade on May 11 appeared first on Working Mass.

“}]] 

By: W.J.

I found my way to a Metro Detroit DSA meeting through my work with one of the ballot initiatives the chapter endorsed last year. Another volunteer and I were there to give our pitch and try to recruit MDDSA members as petition gatherers. What struck me when I opened the door to Ant Hall was how packed it was — all the seats were full. It was standing room only. I’m a bigger guy, so I had to “ope” and “pardon me” my way from the front door to a tight corner off to the side, navigating around to the counter space where we’d set up our computer to record new volunteers and set out our clipboards and petitions.

As we got ourselves ready before the start of the general meeting, we were approached by one of the many leaders of the chapter, Jess Newman. Jess came to check in with us, made sure we had everything we needed, and gave us a rundown of how the meeting would go and when we’d be beckoned forward to make our pitch.

We were all set. Jess told us that we’d be called up front near the end of the meeting, before members would be released for the post-meeting social. With nothing to do for a bit, I decided to putz around Ant Hall and check out the meeting, not quite sure what to expect. I walked in right after the emcee got done asking new members to stand and ask what got them interested in DSA. The answers I heard were about what I’d expected: Some “recovering” Democrats, others who were unaffiliated with the two parties had just had enough and wanted to be productive, and a few who weren’t quite sure but wanted to come see what the Democratic Socialists of America were all about. Regardless of the passion or certainty in their responses, all received fervent applause and smiles from their new comrades.

I went back to the main hall after a few minutes and noticed that they’d started a panel to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Their discussion sat with me for a good long while. I’d paid some attention to what was going on over there, passively looking at the news and reading the occasional article that made it into my feed. Listening to the panelists describe the history of the occupation and the atrocities committed after the October 7th attack left me angry. Angry at my country for enabling it and angry with myself for being powerless to do anything about it.

Then the conversation changed. They talked about various humanitarian organizations on the ground, and how we, an assembly sitting in Hamtramck, could support them. There was some relief at the mention of direct action we could take, but a mix of anger and dread remained.There was a look of quiet defiance on the faces of the membership that I noticed during this panel, and I realized that I was in a space filled with people that weren’t just going to sit quietly and listen about atrocities happening and go on about their day afterwards. With that realization came some reassurance and a lingering curiosity: what would I do next?

The meeting continued. As it neared the end, Jess returned to the front with a few others to talk about the on-going petition drives within Michigan For The Many. I think the meeting had gone over time, because she proceeded to give a quick overview of each one herself instead of calling up reps to go over them (which I didn’t mind at all). What did catch me off guard was Jess calling the group’s attention to me as not only an organizer for my group, but also a future DSA member, which received a small applause. I was feeling a bit mischievous, so I smiled and said, “We’ll see.” I actually already had the membership page up on my phone and was just going back and forth on the pledge amount for a sustaining member. Afterwards, I joined my partner at the counter and signed up about a dozen comrades to carry our petition. It was not a bad day at all.

After the meeting, we packed up, and I was hungry. At Jess’s recommendation, we went to Yemen Cafe down the street, where I ate entirely too much. While I was waiting for my check, I unlocked my phone, set my pledge amount, and skimmed the page welcoming me to DSA.

So why did I join? It was being in community with others. Sharing a space that made me believe that a better world is possible, and knowing there’s over a thousand Metro Detroiters organizing to make it so.

Why I Joined DSA: To be on the Right Side of History was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.