Monday, April 13 at 6:30pm PST (Online)

Join DSA Ventura County’s Mutual Aid Working Group for a planning meeting focused on addressing unmet needs in Ventura County. Bring your big ideas, suggestions for coalition partners, and a desire to stand in solidarity with others. We are cookin’ up some ideas, and will post an agenda on our slack.

Sponsored by

April 2026 Newsletter

Music and the Movement: Sharing Songs

Since the start of the leftist movement, songs have been of paramount importance in lifting spirits and sharing stories of bravery, solidarity, and a better world.

Countless people have been moved in spirit and into action by Which Side are you On, Power in a Union, and the UK Labour Party anthem Bread and Roses. These songs can speak to us still. But many new artists are expressing the spirit of the working class.

So it is my privilege and joy to share my current playlist of modern Folk and Americana inspired songs: DSA Playlist - Recent Americana/Folk‍ ‍If you like Carsie Blanton, she will be performing in Earlville and Naples, NY in June and in Syracuse in October!

New songs that inspire with hip-hop vibes include Cure for Paranoia and DAMAG3.

Please share the songs that inspire you!

Send what inspires you to newsletter@syracusedsa.org for inclusion in next month’s Newsletter.

April 2026 Newsletter

Labor Movement Hero: Mother Jones

by Comrade Alex R

In the midst of a growing nation that was reaching the peak of its industrial development, prosperity, capital gains, and expansion was the projection of American society to the world in the late 19th and early 20th century. Manufacturing, industrialization, and technological advancements characterized the country at this time. However, a vast majority of the country was not benefiting from or living within the prosperity that was advertised. Instead, what was on the forefront of the daily life of workers was the conspicuous wealth inequality, the minimal amount of workers’ rights, unsafe working conditions, and horrid living conditions. In order to be exploited further, many workers were ostracized for organizing, kept largely uneducated, and were purposefully limited in their material possessions to keep them dependent on their employer. 

The time was ripe for an awakening of the working class and for someone to fearlessly lead them in their fight. As Mary Jones stated, “[These] were the days of sacrifice for the cause of labor (Jones, pg. 14).” Mary Harris Jones (well known as Mother Jones) took on this challenge and has become renowned for major contributions to the labor movement. Among her accomplishments are massively expanding the United Mine Workers of America, helping to eliminate child labor, and co-founding the Industrial Workers of the World (Jones). This does not even touch on the vast number of strikes and demonstrations she led or the countless number of workers she helped unionize. Beyond her renowned fiery speech and relentless toughness, her ability to draw from her own experience and her dedication to fighting for her class molded her into the labor hero she has become.

Mother Jones’ background is a major factor as to why she was such a prominent figure in the labor movement. The trials she faced throughout her life prior to work in the labor movement hardened and emboldened her. As a first generation immigrant from Ireland, Jones witnessed the toil and struggle of her people who had to work to earn passage to North America. Upon arriving, she experienced discrimination based on her heritage and witnessed the toil of her father who worked on the railroads. Additionally, soon after marrying, her husband (a member of the Iron Moulders’ Union) and four children died of yellow fever in the epidemic of 1867 (Jones, pg. 13). This was one of the first moments that Jones has noted as stirring her to action. A startling observation she made was that the victims of this epidemic were “mainly among the poor and the workers [as] the rich and well-to-do” had the means to leave the disease ridden city (Jones, pg. 12). This experience riled her to action as a nurse for her sickly neighbors. Following this, in her work as a dressmaker, she was appalled by the gross discrepancy in wealth as she saw the “poor, shivering wretches, jobless and hungry” next to the apathetic “tropical comfort” and “luxury and extravagance” of the upper class (Jones, pg. 13). Soon after much of her life was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire and she found herself in the labor movement as a frustrated, hardworking individual with a rising class consciousness. Mother Jones leaned on the trials and lessons she learned throughout her life and used them to formulate a clear worldview that relied on equity, fairness, and justice for the working class. 

Another central tenet of Mother Jones’ work was acknowledging the difference in the experiences of the socioeconomic classes of the time. Rather than turning a blind eye, she embraced these differences and approached the burgeoning labor movement from this lens. Her contempt and vitriol for the wealthy and their government lackeys was inherent to her approach. Speaking largely to groups with limited education and limited social safety nets (including health care, child care, social services, etc.), she was ruthless in calling out career politicians who were clearly bought by the wealthy and passed legislation for their causes. At one demonstration, she expounded about the “prosperity of the rich” being “wrung from the poor and helpless” all while chastising the “legislators [who] in one hour pass three bills the relief of the railways” while bills on labor go untouched (Jones, pg. 80-81). Jones attacked the newspapers who limited coverage of the movement because “mill owners had stock in the papers (Jones, pg. 70).” Intimidation was not an option for Jones and loudly proclaiming her criticisms of the upper class helped to fuel the class solidarity necessary for labor movements to succeed. Beyond this, she confronted many of the top politicians in the country, confronted mine owners, police officials, and every proxy of the upper class without trepidation. All the while, she injected a class consciousness and educated the working class on how to succeed through solidarity.

The principles and beliefs that Mother Jones proclaimed to the masses were essential to her role as a prominent figure in labor history; however, her true impact was not her speeches. It was that she lived her beliefs, fortified the labor movement with more class consciousness, and built solidarity among workers. She engaged in the very labor struggles she spoke passionately about, fought side by side with striking workers, organized all that were willing (and many who were hesitant and reluctant), and wore her label as an “agitator” proudly. The model of Mother Jones is one that teaches us to live our struggle, get our hands dirty, fight in the name of class solidarity, and to stand with our fellow worker in the face of adversity. She reminds us that “there are no limits to which powers of privilege will not go to keep the workers in slavery (Jones, pg. 27)” and to be “not afraid to face any thing if facing it may bring relief to the class that [you] belong to (Jones, pg. 87).”

Jones, Mother. The Autobiography of Mother Jones. Edited by Mary Field Parton, Charles H. Kerr & Company, 1925.

The entirety of Mother Jones’ Autobiography can be read for free here. Thanks Alex!

Send your creative work to newsletter@syracusedsa.org for inclusion in next month’s Newsletter.

April 2026 Newsletter

Socialism in the News

Democratic Socialism has been in the news this year like never before. With the success of the Mamdani campaign national and local news organizations have taken notice of the DSA and our aims. We’re glad to have the attention!

Protest Coverage

Syracuse DSA and allied organizations taking part in protests in Syracuse. Keep showing up and making your voices heard, comrades!

Protesters gather in Syracuse to oppose U.S. strikes and capture of Venezuela’s president Syracuse.com - January 4, 2026

Dozens of protesters gather in downtown Syracuse to condemn U.S. actions against VenezuelaWAER Syracuse Public Media - January 8, 2026

Syracuse citizen groups plan large protest Monday against ICE raids after Minnesota killing WAER Syracuse Public Media - January 11, 2026

Syracuse activists plan anti-ICE protest and march on Monday Syracuse.com - January 11, 2026

More than 1,200 rally in Syracuse against Trump immigration crackdown, killing of Renee Good Syracuse.com - January 12, 2026

Hundreds of people protest ICE and Trump administration immigration policy in Syracuse WAER Syracuse Public Media - January 13, 2026

‘Ice Out of Everywhere’ protest draws crowd in Downtown Syracuse LocalSYR.com - January 30, 2026

Melt the Contracts/Mass Surveillance

Melt the Contracts is an initiative of the Syracuse DSA International Solidarity Committee. It seeks to ban the city from establishing new contracts with vendors that have direct involvement in illegal detainment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This issue came to a head when the city switched from Flock to Axon for their license plate reading surveillance software.

Local advocates want to ‘melt’ Syracuse’s links to ICE. Will lawmakers listen? Central Current - January 14, 2026

Syracuse looks to a familiar company for replacing controversial license plate readers Syracuse.com - January 21, 2026

Syracuse lawmakers to urge governor, state legislature to enact ‘New York For All’Central Current - January 21, 2026

Activists want Ryan McMahon to stop ‘colluding’ with ICE. What’s that mean? Syracuse.com - January 23, 2026

Syracuse police to pitch lawmakers on switching license plate reader provider Central Current - February 5, 2026

ICE protesters removed from Syracuse council meeting amid vote on license plate readers Syracuse.com - February 9, 2026

Why Syracuse lawmakers’ voting session became a meltdown between activists and lawmakers Central Current - February 9, 2026

Syracuse lawmakers approve contract for Axon license plate readers, plan to block Flock Safety from city streets Central Current - February 9, 2026

Syracuse drivers are under corporate surveillance. Where’s the outrage? (Your Letters) Syracuse.com - February 14, 2026

Syracuse lawmakers ice out Flock Safety in favor of company contracting with ICECentral Current - March 23, 2026

Endorsed Candidates

Syracuse Democratic Socialists of America have endorsed Tammy Honeywell (County Legislative District 8), Maurice Brown (State Assembly District 129), and Jo Bennett (County Legislative District 15) as our Affordability Slate for Syracuse and Onondaga County!

Onondaga County legislator launches primary challenge to longtime state Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli for CNY seat Spectrum News 1 - February 20, 2026

Mo Brown launches primary bid to unseat Bill Magnarelli for NY Assembly seat in Syracuse Syracuse.com - February 20, 2026

Mo Brown launches primary campaign against Bill Magnarelli, a fixture of Syracuse politicsCentral Current - February 9, 2026

Onondaga County Legislature candidate trio launches Affordability Slate The Daily Orange - February 21, 2026

Democratic Socialist to primary ex-lawmaker in race for Mo Brown’s county legislature seat Syracuse.com - February 24, 2026

Other Stories

Syracuse Democratic Socialists say election wins by Mamdani & Ehrenreich can improve public policyWAER Syracuse Public Media - January 14, 2026 (scroll down for the full 25 minute interview)

Africa Initiative, SU’s Young Democratic Socialists denounce Project 2025 The Daily Orange - March 28, 2026

More views of Good Cause Eviction (Your Letters) Syracuse.com - February 18, 2026 (See second letter by Jo Bennett)

Did we miss anything? Please send any additions, corrections or updates to newsletter@syracusedsa.org

April 2026 Newsletter

April 1st - Wednesday - Mutual Aid Committee meeting at 601 Allen and on Zoom. See #mutual-aid-committee on Slack

April 4th and 5th - Saturday & Sunday - Affordability Slate Canvassing - Sign up here

April 6th - Monday - Organizing Committee meeting on Zoom. See #organizing-committee on Slack

April 8th - Wednesday - International Solidarity Committee meeting at 601 Allen and Zoom. See #international-solidarity-committee on Slack

April 11th and 12th - Saturday & Sunday - Affordability Slate Canvassing - Sign up here

April 12th - Sunday - Syracuse DSA Reading Group - Topic: Municipal Socialism - See details here

April 15th - Wednesday - Mutual Aid Committee meeting at 601 Allen and on Zoom. See #mutual-aid-committee on Slack

April 18th - Allied Event - Building Beloved Community Beyond the Binary Conference

April 18th and 19th - Saturday & Sunday - Affordability Slate Canvassing - Sign up here

April 20th - Monday - Organizing Committee meeting on Zoom. See #organizing-committee on Slack

April 22nd - Wednesday - International Solidarity Committee meeting at 601 Allen and Zoom. See #international-solidarity-committee on Slack

April 25th and 26th - Saturday & Sunday - Affordability Slate Canvassing - Sign up here

April 26th - Sunday - First Socialist Sunday Social at TBD - 6 to 8 PM (Request to RSVP coming soon!)

April 28th - Tuesday - Steering Committee Meeting

Did we miss anything? Please send any additions, corrections or updates to newsletter@syracusedsa.org

April 2026 Newsletter

International Solidarity (ISC)

The International Solidarity Committee has been busy! We have multiple projects working currently.

We are continuing to put pressure on the Syracuse Common Council to introduce our Melt the Contracts resolution. It is looking very likely that we will have an update this month. We will be putting out calls for members to show solidarity at Council meetings as more details solidify.

We are looking for volunteers for 4th Amendment Workplace trainings, please contact committee co-chairs if you are interested.

A chapter-wide ICE Watch training will be taking place in April. Details will follow but a Know Your Rights training must be completed first along with filling out the SIRDN interest form here.

We are still in the process of getting our CNY-BDS coalition off the ground. We are looking for members willing to initiate conversations with businesses, help with designing materials, and help participating businesses determine products on the BDS list.

Mutual Aid

The Mutual Aid Committee this month reviewed the success of the free store hosted with Muslim Mosaic at the Ramadan Festival. We discussed improvements that can be made to ensure cultural sensitivity and community support.

We are working on a Event/Project proposal form to be utilized for projects so we can better organize and see them through to completion!

We hosted a Marshaling training to educate community members on police abolitionist aligned tactics that ensure safety at protests, demonstrations, and other events. This will help support increased community actions and marshal capacity.

We are also looking to do other skill shares in the future regarding a variety of topics so be on the look-out for those!

Overall, we are set up to continue our outreach and involvement in providing community support and to build the presence of mutual aid in Syracuse and surrounding areas.

Engagement

After a brief hiatus the Engagement Committee is taking shape as a working group until we are ready to launch again as a fully-fledged committee.

Engagement will lean into contributing to the Newsletter and making an audio version of the Newsletter for the Podcast.

New projects include planning more social events and starting a DSA 101 course in May.

Electoral & Labor

Electoral and Labor committees are on a brief hiatus due to membership becoming engaged in the campaigns of our endorsed candidates. These committees will be revamped and relaunched during the Spring as social and networking groups and will reform into committees as participation requires. Please contact Mike P on Slack or labor@syracusedsa.org if you'd like to be a part of this effort.

Did we miss anything? Please send any additions, corrections or updates to newsletter@syracusedsa.org

The unfairness and absurdity of modern homelessness can be summed up in a single number: there are 28 vacant homes for every homeless person. Although this fact diminishes the complexity of homelessness, its simple cruelty reveals America’s greatest contradiction: a nation of abundance and a nation of destitution. Society holds in its hands the ability to provide for all, yet chooses not to. The inherent inequality of the economy only deepens its inhumanity as prices rise, real wages stagnate, and social services are cut. Homelessness is growing at record rates, mostly among the youth and elderly, and disproportionately affecting racial and sexual minorities. Government services often fail to address the root issue of the problem, if it exists at all. It is not enough that capitalism should subject one part of society to be without a place to stay; governments viciously criminalize homelessness and maniacally inflict pain through anti-homeless architecture. Why does capitalism force one part of the population into abject poverty at their most needed? And why does this unignorable inequality not anger society more and more every day? The answer is rooted in capitalism’s need for a reserve army of labor and dominance as the base for society, including our thoughts and feelings about the world around us.

Homelessness and unemployment are not solely symptoms of capitalism but a necessary element in order to further exploit workers and lower wages through the immiseration of the lowest strata of society. The underhoused and unhoused are part of a group Marx termed the reserve army of labor. This reserve army acts as a potential replacement for employed wage workers, forcing them to accept worse working conditions and lower wages in fear of losing their jobs. The largest supply of workers with the lowest demand for labor allows employers to increase exploitation of workers, as people become desperate for any job at all. Increased competition between those needing employment divides the working class, making them fight over the scraps instead of banding together to bring about change. This supply grows ever larger as capital concentrates in fewer hands and more people are pushed into the proletariat, seen in the record high rates of homelessness and wealth inequality in the U.S. Capitalism and bourgeois society have no desire or reason to end homelessness as it needs the reserve army to be so large and conditions for the unemployed so miserable to keep workers subservient to wages. As Marx said, “accumulation of wealth is at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole.”

Capitalism was built and continues to be supported by the forced unhousing of sectors of society and the creation of the reserve army. British industrialism exploded rapidly in urban areas due to the enclosure of farming and grazing land. Peasants were kicked off the soil to create privately owned land, and forced off in droves to the cities. Vagrancy and homelessness became criminalized, and former peasants had to take the worst possible jobs. The reserve army helped keep the plantation system and the exploitation of black labor alive in the post-Reconstruction South. By arresting unemployed freed slaves, the black population was given a choice between quasi-slavery in sharecropping or legal slavery in the prison system. And in modern times, legislation and government policy criminalizes homelessness in order to sweep away the issue and punish the victims without any concern for the root cause.The landmark Grants Pass v Johnson SCOTUS case in 2024 overturned protections for homeless encampments even if the unhoused had nowhere else to go, combining with other statues and ordinances that make it illegal to sleep in public. As affordability and welfare cuts make permanent housing harder and harder to obtain, the state punishes those caught in these unavoidable situations with nowhere else to turn. Cemented is the rule of capitalism: work or suffer.

The reserve army of labor explains why capitalism impoverishes the most needy. But the system permeates deeper: into societal thoughts and feelings towards the unhoused. Certainly, hateful, hyper-exaggerated, and largely false stereotypes play their role, but what lies deeper? Societal attitudes towards the homeless, ideas of who they are in relation to the employed, and theories on how to confront the issue cannot be boiled down to malicious disparagement or apathetic pity. Instead, they are shaped by the foundations of capitalism and bourgeois society.

First, the unhoused lie outside the capitalist system of production. They are not laboring in order to create surplus-value or profit. Capitalism defines people as wage-workers who live solely to create capital; therefore, the non-worker lives for nothing, a burden that “provides” nothing. Production of capital, as the foundation of society, becomes the measure of human “value.” We can see this exemplified in current unhoused aid practices and social services. With the prevalence of employment dependent help or simple job training, help comes only if people engage in, or are seeking to engage in, producing surplus-value. Aid without concern for how much the person contributed to capital is reserved for those who can’t work at all. While the right parrots the idea of laziness being the cause of poverty more and more as a justification for policy, these ideas remain in the minds of all. The connection between labor and human value lies at the core of our species. Marx writes, “it is just in his work upon, the objective world, therefore, that man first really proves himself to be a species being”. Labor is humanity’s purpose, what separates man from animal, and defines us as a species. But under capitalism, labor comes under the harsh master of capital, as the only form labor can take. The worker is alienated from his labor, his species-being, his humanity. Since the unhoused are not laboring for capital, they are viewed to not contribute to society, viewed as not to be fulfilling our greater purpose. Capital defines society, and the unhoused are not in its service, viewed to be not in its society. Humans define themselves and others through labor and work. However, as labor is dominated by the tyranny of capital, our ideas of humanity and human value are dominated by the tyranny of capital.

Secondly, the unhoused not only buck capitalist production but it’s necessary counterpart-consumption. The existence of a dominant consumer society is widely known. But modern adoration for commodities is more than a want for better and more stuff. Not only does capitalism alienate people from their labor but also the products of that labor. When we make something, we are impressing part of ourselves into the material world. In the object we pour our sweat, effort, ideas, feeling, and being. Yet capitalism takes us from the fruit of our work- we don’t own what we make. Instead, we receive wages, which in turn buy commodities- the replacement for our stolen, objectified labor. Mass modern economies hide the relations of production from the common eye, so we do not see the relationship between labor and commodity hidden by the chaotic world encompassing scale of modern industry. Value is believed to be inherent in the commodity itself and not a result of the labor congealed in it. Commodities as value become personal power, social power, and a mark of value presentable to the larger society. We become what we own, we can choose who we are by buying back the lost objectification of our labor through commodities. The less commodities owned, the less you are, the less you can express yourself, the less you can be. Commodity fetishism runs deep. The desire for commodities innate in our economic system, in the base of society, directly supervenes on not only politics or religion but into our conceptions of the world around us, other people, and even morality and philosophy. While we might not realize it, the base mechanics of capitalism- the need for commodities to be used to make profit- makes it seem that this is one the base mechanics of human society as a whole. The unhoused, as non consumers, become social pariahs, outside the value system. This goes hand in hand with their status as non-producers. Commodities become the value we create in our labor. The unhoused neither produce value nor own value in the eyes of capital. Property is the highest form of social power and ownership-based value. To have privacy, a place to call your own, is to have a false objective self in the physical and social world. Commodities start to gain power over us, the ability to “own” us as the physical realization of self through labor. Those who lack commodities are the ones cast aside by society and only helped again if they work to create and own more. Capitalism and its unending want for more stuff makes ownership of commodities a key part of day to day life. By being unable or limited to join this system of commodity fetishism, the unhoused appear to stand separate from the rest of capitalist society. They are the ones who force society to look reality in the eye and listen- “look what you have done.”

Capitalism’s influence on the material base on society leads to an influence in the ideological base- in the core evaluations and appreciations of humanity, the purpose of human life, and the value of human life. Because current society revolves around the creation of surplus-value through labor and the exchange of wages for commodities, dominant ideas about people revolve around these same poles. This is not the immediate, interpersonal feelings one might have or not have about the homelessness. This ideological base is the subconscious building block of beliefs about people that guides larger ideas about the world and our place in it, leading to real-world opinions and justifications that play back into the capitalist system. Understanding where attitudes about this issue stem from allows us to undermine these infiltrations. By realizing where capitalism thwarts ideas towards inequality and cruelty, we can build new ideas of equity, compassion, and humanity that will help us grow towards a new society.

Since Pres. Donald Trump took office, the federal government and many states have rapidly escalated attacks on the trans community seeking to erode rights, block access to health care, and exclude these Americans from accessing services and fully participating in our society. 

Maine, thankfully, has mostly resisted this wave. Our legislators have defeated numerous efforts by GOP anti-trans legislators to persecute trans people and almost all of our school boards have resisted the efforts by out-of-state far right organizations to hurt the  children they are entrusted to protect.

Unfortunately, this fall, these national forces of hate are trying again to bring Maine into their transphobic fold. They have placed a “citizen” initiative on the ballot forcing us to vote to kick trans kids out of bathrooms and trans girls off of school sports. I put “citizen” in quotes, because this effort was solely funded by one very, very, very rich Wisconsin oligarch – Richard Uihlein, the heir to the company that makes the worst beer on the planet, Schlitz, who attempted to roll back the ERA in New York and has spread conspiracy theories about Sharpies being used to disqualify Trump votes in Arizona.

But while these forces are certainly hateful toward those they see as outside their preferred version of a white, straight, patriarchal America, it’s important to understand that these attacks are not simply a backlash to America’s commitment to equality. It is the result of a well-funded movement that has weaponized hate to distract from issues that might actually improve the conditions of working-class people.

Graham Platner said it best a couple weeks ago in an interview with Slate: 

“The anti-trans campaign in Maine is funded by an out-of-state billionaire to make sure we have this discussion and we don’t talk about raising his taxes. That’s why it exists. I think there are like two trans kids that compete in high school sports in Maine? There are 40K Mainers who are going to lose healthcare because of the lack of the ACA extension.” 

Platner goes on to say, “One of those things seems very important and real to me,” and he’s not talking about the fictional threat of trans kids playing sports. When you think about it, it’s very clear that as well as being morally disgusting, going after trans kids is a showy distraction that Uihlein and his far-right billionaire friends are using to keep us from having bigger conversations about the economic divide.

This is not a new tactic. Today’s attacks on immigrants are the same. Scare everyone into believing that people they have never met are the ones undermining their pursuit of happiness and economic security. When, in fact, those very same people are the ones making their lives better through the work they do, and the community they build.

It is the same with trans kids and adults who are almost always, literally, the ones bullied, ostracized, discriminated against, and/or killed for just being who they are – not the other way around. And if this bill passes, it will just make it worse.

Because this bill is being used to distract, or perhaps to turn out certain voters, is not a reason to ignore this attack on Maine’s values. In fact, it is a reason to double down on our resistance, without losing sight of our bigger purpose. 

We can both tax the rich, provide health care, and beat back transphobic attacks meant to distract. And we will, because we must.

***

This story was originally published by The Beacon, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from the Beacon, sign up for the free Beacon newsletter here.

The post Don’t be fooled – anti-trans referendum is just a distraction while they pick your pocket appeared first on Pine & Roses.