In this episode, Aaron Stauffer (Associate Director, The Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice) joins to discuss faith, the strategies of broad-based community organizing, and the role of sacred values in organizing work. For more on the topic, check out his book: Listening to the Spirit: The Radical Social Gospel, Sacred Value, and Broad-based Community Organizing.

The Democratic Socialists of America rejects all efforts to greenwash genocide including the hosting of the COP29 conference in Azerbaijan. COP29 is the United Nations Climate Change Conference for all signatories of the Paris Climate Accords. This institution should be an opportunity to create international cooperation to combat climate change. As exposed by the devastating impacts of climate change in Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene, it is more important than ever that the world come together to combat climate change. 

This type of collaboration cannot be possible in Azerbaijan, a nation committing ethnic cleansing of the Armenian people and providing Israel with the energy required to commit its genocide of the Palestinian people. 

In September of last year, the Azeri military invaded Artsakh, an ethnically Armenian de facto autonomous region in Azerbaijan, killing and injuring hundreds and displacing thousands after intense shelling. That was the culmination of years of Azerbaijani aggression including its invasion in 2020 and imposition of a blockade in 2022. Since then, with Artsakh lost, Azerbaijan now attacks Armenia itself claiming ownership of Armenian towns. This genocide is enabled by the United States, which provides Azerbaijan with hundreds of millions of dollars in “security assistance.” Further, the US pet state Israel hosts military bases inside of Azerbaijan and provides nearly 70% of Azerbaijan’s weapons. 

As Azerbaijan attempts to complete a second Armenian genocide, they also play a significant role enabling the US and Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. The aforementioned export of Israeli weapons to Azerbaijan bolsters the Israeli economy and military industry, and Azeri oil represents more than a quarter of Israel’s oil imports. This is not to mention the intense environmental damage committed through Israel’s relentless bombing on the entirety of Gaza and across the region. 

Obviously, this does nothing to combat climate change. The U.S. Military-Industrial complex with tentacles around the world is the greatest contributor to climate change humanity has ever seen. The US, Israel, and Azerbaijan’s use of environmentalism is merely a means to cover up the crimes they commit. For centuries colonial projects have established narratives of environmental emptiness to justify colonial expansion and dispossession of indigenous people from their land. The Zionist project’s century-long claim to “make the desert bloom” exemplifies this simultaneously removing Palestinians from their land, justifying the expansion of a settler colonial project, all while committing enormous environmental destruction. 

DSA rejects all attempts at international cooperation against climate change premised on colonialism, disposession, and genocide. We commit ourselves to heed the BDS National Committee and other Palestinian’s call to organize for an energy embargo on Israel and endorse the call to free Armenian political prisoners held by Azerbaijan. Free Palestine. Free Armenia. 

DSA has launched a campaign #StopFuelingGenocide targeting Chevron’s complicity in apartheid and genocide in Palestine. Given Chevron’s status as Israel’s largest natural gas supplier and Azerbaijan’s position as a major oil supplier, this is the most effective way to build the campaign towards an energy embargo on Israel. Use and share these links to sign our petition pledging to boycott Chevron and get involved in the campaign.

The post No Greenwashing Genocide appeared first on DSA International Committee.

The fight against Trump and the Republican Party’s renewed assault on working, marginalized, and oppressed people continues.  The right wing agenda laid out in Project 2025 and supported by Trump […]

The post Houston DSA is ready to continue the fight appeared first on Houston DSA.

COLUMBUS — The Columbus chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) issues the following recommendations to residents of Ohio.

1. In For Issue 1, YES.
2. In For Issue 46, YES.
3. In For Issue 47, YES.
4. In For U.S. President, NO RECOMMENDATION.
5. In For U.S. Senator, NO RECOMMENDATION.
6. In For Justice of the Supreme Court, vote MELODY STEWART.
7. In For Justice of the Supreme Court, vote MICHAEL DONNELLY.
8. In For Justice of the Supreme Court, vote LISA FORBES.

A detailed rationale for each recommendation follows.

Disclaimer: No recommendations made here are endorsements. Columbus DSA has not endorsed any candidate in this upcoming election. These recommendations are tactical considerations meant to minimize the harm likely to occur to the working class here and abroad as a result of this election.

Do you lament the lack of socialist, abolitionist, and pro-BDS candidates running for office? You can be a part of changing that, whether by running for office yourself or helping us to discover and cultivate future socialists-in-office. To advance the democratic socialist movement in Central Ohio, join DSA today: www.columbusdsa.org/join/.

Endorsed “YES” vote for Issue 1

Issue 1, the Citizens-Not-Politicians anti-gerrymandering ballot initiative, is an absolutely vital step to increase democratic representation in Ohio. We are proud to have overwhelmingly voted to endorse a YES vote for Issue 1 at our September General Meeting. 

Gerrymandering will always be a problem in politics: entrenched power has a habit of working to stay entrenched. Although Issue 1 is unlikely to eliminate the threat of gerrymandering, and we must always stay vigilant, the protections provided by the amendment and the constitutional body it creates to draw districts are much better than the politician-ran redistricting body we are currently oppressed by. Instead of having politicians draw their own districts and keeping power in the hands of political parties, Issue 1 would create a redistricting body made up of representatives from the two largest parties AND political independents (those who do not vote in partisan primaries). 

Issue 1 provides an opportunity for political voices outside entrenched parties – like us – to have a role in shaping the future of the state by creating a more realistic legislature that actually aligns with how Ohioans vote. This would be an incredible blow against the GOP-dominated state legislature, which has entrenched their supermajority not through the power of their politics (which are unpopular and not supported by Ohioans), but through bureaucratic rule-making such as redistricting. Fairer districts would also provide more opportunities for us to run our own socialist candidates in the future, creating additional pathways for us to build the power of the working class and begin to create the foundations of a party that actually serves working people instead of simply using them as an electoral base for liberal half-measures. 

It is absolutely vital that we pass Issue 1, and we strongly endorse a YES vote. Columbus DSA is also hosting canvasses in support of Issue 1 each Sunday at 1:30pm. Visit our calendar at columbusdsa.org/calendar to join one of our canvases.

Recommended “YES” vote for Issue 46

Issue 46 is a property tax levy to fund Franklin County Children Services (FCCS). Columbus DSA supports programs that help both children and families and strive for them to be robust. This is what taxes are supposed to be for: direct, material services to the people. FCCS provides a variety of important services including an abuse hotline, mental health counseling, adoption and foster care, and mentorship services. Columbus DSA has not officially endorsed Issue 46, but we recommend a YES vote to provide funding to FCCS. 

Recommended “YES” vote for Issue 47

Issue 47 is a sales tax levy providing funds to improve public transportation in the Columbus area with the Central Ohio Transport Authority (COTA) and LINKUS. More accessible and widespread public transportation is vital to driving demand away from automobiles. This would reduce pollution, help the climate, make roads and sidewalks safer. Too many of our neighbors have died while simply walking or biking city streets due to cars. The proposed funds would also be used for sidewalks, greenways, and bike paths, making our city more accessible and providing alternatives to personal cars. Columbus DSA wants to see our city thrive, and this is one way to do that while helping the world too. While we have not officially endorsed Issue 47, we recommend a YES vote on Issue 47 to fund COTA/LINKUS.  

No endorsement for President

There are no candidates for President who are fighting for working-class power on Ohio’s ballot. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris; at the end of the day, these are our options for the presidential election. These are also two candidates Columbus DSA cannot and will not endorse. We have already seen the disastrous consequences of a Trump presidency, and while a Harris White House may be less disastrous than another Trump term, Harris has not done nearly enough to earn Columbus DSA’s endorsement. She refuses to end weapon shipments to Israel despite their ongoing genocide of Palestinians and violent invasion of Lebanon. She has withdrawn support for Medicare For All – which she supported in her 2020 presidential run – and has recommitted to increased oil drilling and supporting fracking. Harris has made no commitment to ending the massive wealth disparity between rich and poor, and she has done little to fight corporate power in her time in office. 

Ohio is not even considered a “battleground” state anymore due to the abject failure of the Ohio Democrats to offer Ohio workers anything of value, so considerations of “tactical voting” are entirely worthless. Besides, we are not blind to the fact that Democrats are not working to save us from the corporate-fascist alliance that is building to take power. In many ways, they have aided and abetted it, and this nation is now at a point where half-measures are no longer good enough. 

Therefore, we offer no recommendations for the Presidential race. Members should choose for themselves the best course of action in this race. 

No endorsement in the Senate race

As with the presidential race, we cannot extend an endorsement to either of Ohio’s Senate candidates. Bernie Moreno has been involved in several lawsuits from former employees for discrimination and wage theft. Despite being an immigrant himself, he supports the mass deportation of immigrants, who are just working people just trying to make a living. He has also spoken against bodily autonomy, complaining that women over 50 should not care whether or not we have a right to an abortion. Sherrod Brown has a long history of support for working people and unions, but the majority of his policy focus is on trade, which often favors business owners over workers. These policies often harm working people in other countries for the profit of American big business. While he did vote to send humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza, he has failed to call for a ceasefire to end the genocide, voting again and again to send Israel military funding instead. While Brown may do less harm than Moreno in the long run, Columbus DSA cannot endorse lukewarm support for working people and failure to stand up against genocide. We offer no recommendations for the Senate race, and members should choose for themselves the best course of action in this race. Furthermore, the Senate should be abolished.

Recommendation for Supreme Court Candidates

Melody Stewart, Michael Donnelly, & Lisa Forbes 

The Ohio Supreme Court has been held under a Republican stranglehold for 40 over years. While many decisions over this time have shown that they are inadequate to be in such a position of power, there have been a few over the past 2 years and some coming up that are why we are recommending Melody Stewart, Michael Donnelly, & Lisa Forbes. One, we endorsed Issue 1(reasoning above), the Republicans on the Supreme Court have shown that they will do nothing to stop their friends, like Frank LaRose, Mike Dewine and other Republicans officials in the state from drawing unconstitutional maps, putting incorrect language on the ballot, to confuse voters and blatant voter suppression tactics, like allowing someone to drop off your ballot at a Dropbox. The Ohio Reproductive Freedom Amendment established a clear framework protecting everyone’s right to access abortion, but it is up to our court system to make sure that this amendment doesn’t just become a meaningless piece of paper. We need justices that will enforce the amendment, not ignore it like they have with anti-gerrymandering legislation. We would also like to have Supreme Court justices that do not change the definitions of words to benefit corporate America. 

NPEC is excited to announce that Democratic Socialists of America: A Graphic History is here and ready for chapters to be used in their political education. This comic, completed with financial support from the DSA Fund plus research and input from many generations of DSA members, was written and penned by Paul Buhle and Raymond Tyler with illustrations by Noah Van Sciver. This is a 24-page online graphic history of DSA that can be used to give members a quick overview of our origins and campaigns. This is a fantastic and fun tool for new and experienced people to learn about DSA’s history and development and the dynamic force it is today. 

View the Democratic Socialists of America: A Graphic History here

Important links for DSA’s National Capital Reading Group. RSVP’s links via our Action Network for all the sessions, Slides and the Recording of the opening night event and a link to join our discussion category on the DSA discussion board.

• SLIDES FROM 10/01 CALL and Recording of the 10/1 Call
• 10/29–FIRST Mass Discussion of Parts I + II tinyurl.com/NPECCRG1 
• 11/24–LABOR Supplemental discussion tinyurl.com/NPECCRGLABOR 
• 12/17–SECOND Mass Discussion of Parts III + IV tinyurl.com/NPECCRG2 
• 01/21–THIRD Mass Discussion of Parts V, VI, and (part of) VII tinyurl.com/NPECCRG3 
• 02/25–LAST Mass Discussion to the End…of Capital tinyurl.com/NPECCRG4 
• Link to Capital Reading Group Category on the Discussion Board