Jewish Pacifism & Religious Resistance with Elliot Ratzman
DSA Wins Big + Historic Rent Freeze!
The Thorn is published weekly by the Electoral Working Group of the NYC Democratic Socialists of America. We are looking for new volunteers interested in serving as Editors or Copy Editors. If you are interested:
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Election News
NYC-DSA and Mayor Zohran Mamdani scored massive victories in Tuesday’s primaries. Congressional candidates Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, and Darializa Avila Chevalier all won. NYC-DSA backed 10 candidates for the NY State Assembly and Senate, pulling off projected wins in nine of those districts to expand the DSA wing in Albany. DSA Co-chair Gustavo Gordillo reflected on the results with City and State.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) bucked the institutional labor establishment by betting early on long-shot DSA candidates Valdez and Chevalier, successfully propelling both rank-and-file members to historic wins. UAW also voted to divest from Israel bonds at its recent convention.
The victories are a defining moment for the socialist movement, proving that supporters of Palestine can overcome tens of millions in pro-Israel lobby spending to win key races and shift the balance of power inside the broader Democratic Party.
National Democrats are panicking that the Mamdani coalition signals a permanently altered political landscape for moderates in New York City.
A pro-AI super PAC’s lone congressional win in New York may be short-lived against the progressive tide and may have even backfired.
Local News
Delivering on a signature campaign promise, Mayor Mamdani secured an unprecedented rent freeze from the Rent Guidelines Board for 1 million stabilized apartments, leaving tenants eager to learn exactly how and when they can sign their new 0% lease renewals.
The city budget remains deadlocked over demands to aggressively expand the CityFHEPS housing voucher program to combat skyrocketing homelessness.
Immigrant communities are reeling after a devastating Supreme Court decision abruptly ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti and Syria, paving the way for a major federal deportation crisis in New York’s Haitian communities.
Lawmakers have advanced an ICE mask ban bill to prevent federal immigration officers from concealing their faces during community raids.
After spending five months in federal immigration custody, City Council Data Analyst Rafael Rubio has been freed on bond following aggressive legal intervention by Speaker Julie Menin and the Bronx Defenders, though Rubio continues to face an ongoing deportation appeal from federal authorities.
New York City is allocating $15 million to fund a trio of new gender-affirming care projects specifically tailored for vulnerable LGBTQIA+ youth.
State health officials are scrambling to fix widespread coverage confusion regarding recent eligibility and benefit changes within New York’s low-income Essential Plan.
Infrastructure and emergency services are bracing for an unprecedented summer crunch as a brutal heat wave is expected to coincide with July 4th weekend, the World Cup, and rumors of Taylor Swift’s wedding in the city.
The NYC Local
Our chapter’s labor newsletter, The Local, arrives every other week with a focus on labor organizing, bargaining, and local legislation that impacts NYC’s workers. Give them a follow here.
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Congratulations Adam Bojak – Winner of the AD149 Democratic Primary
The Buffalo Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America congratulates Adam Bojak on his victory in the Democratic primary election for the 149 NY Assembly district, and extends immense gratitude to everyone responsible for making his victory possible.
So, what next? Why join DSA? For a decade, Buffalo DSA has fielded these specific yet important questions. Last Tuesday, with chapter co-founder Adam Bojak’s primary night victory, we received the resounding affirmation that when we fight, we win! 25,000 doors knocked. Thousands of phone calls. Six figures of fundraising from the average person, the worker, those who share the belief, “a better world is possible.”
What does this win mean? We hold the firm belief that electoralism isn’t “the answer,” no matter how exciting or gratifying it is to win, but rather another step along the way. It’s a catalyzing step, a way to draw people in and organize them, but winning an election is never the end goal. We don’t believe in the mentality that you should “just vote.” To be a serious organizer and Buffalonian interested in a more just and equitable society, controlled democratically by the working class, we must do more. An election result is only as good as the power we can build and the priorities we can win.
In this moment, we step onto a much bigger stage for our chapter and broader movement for working people. Ask yourself: what can I do? Then, let’s do it. Nothing is stopping us but ourselves!
The work is an ongoing struggle, and we need you to achieve our vision. If you’ve ever felt ready to take on the establishment, the time to join the largest socialist project in American history is now.
Thank you to the people of the 149th Assembly District. We continue to fight for you, the people of Buffalo, Erie County, and workers of the world.
The Local: June 25, 2026 news roundup
Welcome back to The Local, a publication of NYC-DSA Labor Working Group reporting every two weeks. Send any tips, corrections, and other feedback to thenyclocal@substack.com. In this issue, St. John’s University says it does not have to follow state labor law, ICE contractor GEO Group successfully lobbied to pay incarcerated workers less than $1 per day, and the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection is hiring.
A world of gratitude and solidarity to this year’s slate of federal and state candidates, the majority of whom won their contested primary elections, as well as all the volunteers, donors, and staffers who powered this cycle’s campaigns for working class power. Onward!
Photo credit: Alexandra Chan during Primary Day 06/23.
Organizing
Workers at Broadway Housing Communities voted 14-2 to join AFSCME DC37.
Workers at Catapult LLC voted 14-2 to join UAW Local 2110.
Workers at A&E Factual Productions LLC voted 69-13 to join WGA East.
Workers at the New York Public Library’s Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library and Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations (which are apparently private employers covered by the NLRA) are organizing, and it looks like they are headed to contested elections between AFSCME DC37 and IATSE Local 306.
Workers at Schneps Media are organizing with the Independent Association of Publishers Employees, CWA-TNG Local 1096.
Workers at AG Acquisition 1 LLC, which took over the bankrupt Brooklyn Mirage and built a new venue called Pacha New York, are organizing with IATSE Local 4.
Building service workers at Progressive Maintenance LLC are organizing with Local 2, Building Service Employees & Factory Workers, USWU, IUJAT.
Workers at the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families are organizing with Workers United.
Bargaining & Action
06/17: 1199 SEIU rallied in Foley Square for a fair contract covering 86,000 members at hospitals and nursing homes.
06/24: A week after, 1199SEIU’s unionized staff, 1199 IHSU WBNG, voted down their proposed contract by 92% and rallied on Wednesday.
Photo credit: Alexandra Chan during Primary Day 06/23.
Albany
The most recent state budget expands access to child care throughout the state – but it may leave unaddressed looming questions of low wages in the industry. [New York Focus]
After withdrawing recognition of its faculty union, St. John’s University filed a federal lawsuit claiming that state collective bargaining laws violated the Catholic school’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. [The Chief Leader]
City Hall
A city council intern was fired after organizing for a uniform requirement that city council pay its interns; current practice ranges from central staff interns who earn $32 per hour to interns working for caucuses and individual councilmembers, who may go unpaid. [City and State]
City workers call on City Hall to release its legally required pay disparity report; the last time the report was released two years ago, it found that city workers of color make 84 cents for every dollar paid to white city workers. [Documented NY]
Mayor Mamdani issued a sweeping executive order directing city agencies to pay special attention to heat safety in workplaces. [Documented NY]
Miscellaneous
Unionized Swissport workers at JFK sound the alarm about workplace retaliation and ‘hazardous’ loading conditions. [The Chief]
Before the country’s attention turns to working and living conditions at immigrant detention center Delaney Hall in Newark, private prison contractor GEO Group successfully lobbied ICE to lift requirements that they pay detained workers a minimum of $1 per day and abide by other labor regulations. [The Washington Post]
Many local labor unions endorsed against Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, NYC-DSA’s two new congressional candidates this cycle. The democratic socialist candidates prevailed anyway. [Jacobin]
Jobs
The city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection is hiring for various roles as it prepares to expand!
Organizer – Sinai Postdoctoral Organizing Committee (UAW Local 4100) (Salary: $74,692 – $81,088)
Regional Internal Coordinator – Doctors Council (SEIU) (Salary: $115,000 – $120,000)
A complete list of local union jobs can be found at unionjobs.com, and here is the complete list of New York City’s civil service exams. Additionally, if you’re interested in taking a job in a strategic industry and want to be connected through the Labor Working Group, check out this form here.
Solidarity is Not a Crime
This is an opinion piece written collaboratively by the Immigrant Solidarity Working Group and was not voted on at a general membership meeting. Opinion pieces from sub-bodies do not reflect the opinions of all members and are not chapter approved statements.
It is with no stutter and no hesitation that Salt Lake DSA stands with the 15 defendants facing charges for anti-ICE organizing in Minneapolis. Their stance is part of a proud, long-standing tradition of resistance against law enforcement overreach in this country. Faced with the indiscriminate violence of this winter’s ICE/DHS activity in the Twin Cities, these neighbors banded together in an inspiring and powerful model. After these feral agents murdered two and celebrated their own impunity, the regime attempts to contort law and morality to punish their real enemy: our unwillingness to submit.
There is risk in taking a principled stance. It is in that spirit that we also condemn the charges faced by two former court clerks in Logan that allegedly helped individuals evade ICE agents at the courthouse. When faced with an opportunity to perform the moral, righteous act, these clerks took it—at their own personal risk. They acted against a vindictive and thoughtless regime intent on tearing apart families, and for that we salute them.
It is not enough to point out the blatant hypocrisy of the Trump regime, as it is not only painfully obvious, it is expected and routine. They decry the “weaponization” of the law while also rewarding loyalist felons with pardons. The hypocrisy and double-dealing are markers of a system in a permanent tailspin. Trump and his cronies find themselves in the criminal trough of our economic system, resorting to merely demanding submission and collecting bribes. They are rapidly running out of distractions, and soon, the lid will tighten yet further.
As the administration criminalizes dissent in America, we implore all Utahns: do not consider yourself exempt from this assault on your civil liberties. Stand with us, or stand beside us, but at least stand up and be seen in opposition to this continued erosion of freedoms. In this capitalist system, law is merely a weapon in the hands of the powerful, completely divorced from morality and righteousness. As a weapon of the powerful, once you stand crosswise to their goals, the law will be used to hammer you back into place. It is time for us to seize the hammer.
We know we stand firmly on the right side of history, because between solidarity and hate, we will always choose the former. In time, we will win; the only question is, for how long will we all need to suffer until we can put an end to this madness? How many of us will be caught up in the gears? When the working class has unified to fight this fight together, we will no longer have to wonder. We will have already won.
The post Solidarity is Not a Crime first appeared on Salt Lake DSA.
River Valley DSA Opposes Rent Control Compromise Legislation
Election Day is Tomorrow – Major Test for NYC-DSA and the New York Left
The Thorn is published weekly by the Electoral Working Group of the NYC Democratic Socialists of America. We are looking for new volunteers interested in serving as Editors or Copy Editors. If you are interested:
Join the Electoral Working Group!
Election News
The Democratic Primary election is tomorrow. NYC-DSA is running its largest ever slate of candidates for Congress, State Senate, and State Assembly:
Claire Valdez is running against Antonio Reynoso and Julie Won in NY-7 (Western Queens and North Brooklyn) to replace Rep. Nydia Velazquez. The race is seen as a battle between NYC-DSA and the Working Families Party, who endorsed Reynoso.
Darializa Avila Chevalier is running against incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in NY-13 (uptown Manhattan and the Bronx). Espaillat has attacked Chevalier and her supporters as “gentrifiers” in the final days of the campaign.
Aber Kawas is running against Assembly Member Steven Raga to replace outgoing Senator Mike Gianaris (District 12, Western Queens).
David Orkin is running against incumbent Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar (District 38, Queens), who was recently challenged for her support for Modi and Hindu nationalism.
Christian Celeste Tate is running against incumbent Assembly Member Erik Dilan (District 54, Brooklyn), whose team appears to be resorting to dirty campaign tactics in the final days.
Eon Huntley is running against incumbent Assembly Member Stefani Zinerman (District 56, Brooklyn), after narrowly losing to her in 2024.
Conrad Blackburn is running against incumbent Assembly Member Jordan Wright (District 70, Harlem), who is the son of Manhattan Democratic Party chair Keith Wright.
Illapa Sairitupac is running against multiple candidates to replace outgoing Assembly Member Grace Lee (District 65, Lower Manhattan), who is running for State Senate.
Samantha Kattan, a former editor of the NYC Thorn, is running against multiple candidates to replace outgoing Assembly Member Claire Valdez (District 37, Western Queens), who is running for Congress.
Incumbent NYC-DSA legislators Diana Moreno, Emily Gallagher, Phara Souffrant Forrest, and Jabari Brisport, are facing challengers.
Adam Bojak is running with the support of Buffalo DSA and NYC-DSA in District 149 in an open seat to replace outgoing Assembly Member Jonathan Rivera.
Other major races in tomorrow’s primary include:
Brad Lander running against incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10. Goldman narrowly won a multi-candidate race in 2022 and had been vulnerable to a challenge from the left since taking office and being openly supportive of Israel.
A multi-candidate race in NY-12 to replace outgoing Rep. Jerry Nadler, featuring Assembly Members Micah Lasher, Alex Bores, and others.
Assembly Member Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas is challenging incumbent State Senator Jessica Ramos (District 13, Queens) following Ramos’ failed mayoral campaign and Cuomo endorsement.
Former Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou running against Assembly Member Grace Lee to replace outgoing Senator Brian Kavanagh (District 27, Lower Manhattan).
Eli Northrup, a progressive public defender endorsed by UAW and Mamdani, running against Stephanie Ruskay on the Upper West Side (District 69).
Pollsites are open 6am to 9pm. Find your sample ballot and pollsite here: https://ballot.socialists.nyc/
The NYC Local
Our chapter’s labor newsletter, The Local, arrives every other week with a focus on labor organizing, bargaining, and local legislation that impacts NYC’s workers. Give them a follow here.
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Atlantic Aviation Hosts Twice-Weekly ICE Flights While Catering to the Luxury Jet Set
The private jets, limousines, and tanned vacationers coursing through Atlantic Aviation’s exclusive lot mask a grim reality. Every Tuesday and Friday, the private company facilitates the transportation of residents detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in and out of Las Vegas. They sometimes come, and sometimes go, chained at the wrists, waist, and feet, shuffling single file between white caged-windowed buses and unmarked aircraft supplied by major commercial airlines.
Taylor Swift’s $54M Falcon 7X
Canadair Jet ICE plane by @buffysphotography
The members of Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America (LVDSA) demand that Atlantic Aviation terminate contracts with DHS and immediately end its participation in these flights. With support from the Habeas Flight Watch Network, LVDSA’s Abolish ICE Campaign is taking steps to ensure they do. LVDSA is conducting habeas flight watches and hosting a National Day of Protest against Atlantic Aviation on June 27th.
Located at Harry Reid International Airport, Atlantic Aviation reserves its runways and hangars for the luxury jet set. No doubt, the private company enjoyed a boost in positive press when Taylor Swift chose to park her private jet at Atlantic upon breezing into town to celebrate Travis Kelce’s Super Bowl LVII victory. Today, the company promises to whisk World Cup spectators to games in style, offering gourmet in-flight dining and wrap-around concierge services. Unsurprisingly, it does not flaunt its frequent flying of ICE victims among its first-class services.
While Atlantic Aviation caters to celebrities and sports pros to rake in profits, they are also fattening their bottom line on the injustices our neighbors suffer. People are rounded up based on their skin color, language, and clothing, exploited by the city’s shady 287(g) agreement, and targeted by Flock AI mass-surveillance technology. Denied due process, they are deliberately displaced in the expanding network of concentration camps and the routes that connect them. We are taking action for the victims, their families, and the attorneys who are unable to secure their clients’ habeas rights.
A team of flight watchers from LVDSA and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) meets outside Atlantic’s runways with cameras, documenting the arrival and departure of ICE victims. The goal is to capture footage of the individuals getting on and off buses and planes— their faces, clothing, and shoes—so that their families and lawyers might find them. A Habeas Flight Watch Network volunteer flight dispatcher keeps the team notified of the ETAs for Las Vegas-bound ICE flights, and, just like commercial flights, these schedules are subject to frustrating last-minute changes.
Friday, June 12th, is no exception. At 6:44 am, our Las Vegas flight watch team receives an ETA from the dispatch: today’s flight arrives from Fort Hood via Reno on a Canadair CRJ-200 operated by Air Wisconsin; it’s scheduled to land at 12:22 pm. We set up early in case the plane arrives ahead of schedule, which happens. Stationed outside the Atlantic Aviation fence with cameras and tripods, we learn the flight is delayed until 12:51, then 1:13. It is now over 100 degrees.
Buffy Taylor, a member of PSL, sighs and walks under a tiny tree in the lot’s perimeter for a sliver of shade. She’d arrived on her bike, a duffel bag containing several ice-cold water bottles and her Canon T7 strapped over her shoulder. “I’ve been tracking and photographing planes for years as a hobby, and I figured I could help people find their family or friends and expose the illegal actions of the government,” she explains. “Put my skills to good use.” By the time the team receives their final status update – ETA 1:21 pm – their phones are overheating, and Taylor’s waters are hot to the touch.
As with other Las Vegas ICE-related activity, the arrival of the ICE plane is quiet and understated. Our team learns it has touched down on Atlantic Aviation’s Runway 19, the same one used to welcome visiting celebrities. Moments later, a dull gray aircraft, serial number N455AW, devoid of any colors or logos except a tiny US flag, rolls toward us before turning slightly to let a taxiing private jet by. We can’t believe our luck– we now have a clear view of the plane’s stairway, the white prison bus, and the stretch of pavement between them.
When its doors open, four men in neon vests spring to action, neatly setting about 20 bright orange bundles in a row on the ground. “Prison jump suits?” I ask Taylor.
“Nope, their personal belongings.”
Uncertain whether people are held prisoner on the plane, on the bus, or both, and seeing no movement from either, we focus on the four yellow-vested staff bustling about, bounding up and down the airplane stairs. Are they Atlantic ground crew? ICE agents? They eventually form an assembly line between the bus door and the plane’s stairway. Finally, the victims step off the bus, stooped and resigned, shackled at the wrists and feet, a long chain linking them at the waist.
Taylor abandons her tripod and darts around on foot, zooming in on captives, as I dictate a physical description of each man boarding the plane after he is frisked from head to toe. Twenty-two in all, mostly young, 20s and 30s, though one man appears to be old, perhaps in his 70s. Once the last has boarded, a pilot inspects the plane’s exterior as the caged-windowed bus slowly drives off the tarmac. We wonder about the victims, whether they’ve eaten or used the bathroom, and what they must be thinking.
As we spot the white bus exiting Atlantic’s parking lot, Taylor sprints, zigzagging through parked cars, and snaps photos of the bus’s driver and license plate. “It’s astonishing how many people have to be complicit for this to happen,” observes Audrey Hines, a co-steward for LVDSA’s Abolish ICE Campaign.
Not all habeas flight watches are this successful. Some sessions have yielded pictures of the plane or bus—still helpful—but no people. Other times, planes and utility vehicles have arrived unexpectedly, suddenly blocking the view. Organizers leave hot and exhausted, but determined to catch useful images on the next one. “Each new flight watch has the potential to help even one person, help one family be reunited, so it is so worth it,” says Hines.
“Even if we don’t have the best shot, we keep trying— you kind of feel like a spy,” adds 19-year-old Mikey LaFrambois, a lead organizer in UNLV’s Young Democratic Socialists of America.
Hopefully, these ICE flight watches won’t last too long. On Saturday, June 27th, at 6 pm, LVDSA is joining the National Day of Protest against Atlantic Aviation and other airlines abetting ICE activity. We are hosting a protest outside Atlantic Aviation, in a united demand that they cancel their contracts with DHS and the federal government. We stand in solidarity with cities around the country that are speaking up. We salute Dallas, a World Cup host city whose organizers and faith leaders are taking Atlantic Aviation to task for courting wealthy ticket holders while preying on the powerless. As Rev. Neil Thomas, lead pastor of Cathedral of Hope, noted on June 10, 2026:
As people arrive for the World Cup and other major events, we will proudly showcase our city as a place of hospitality and opportunity. Yet, at the very same time, through these very same airports, on these very same streets, within sight of celebrations, immigrant members of our community are being removed from their homes and families. This contradiction forces us to ask difficult but necessary questions about who we are as a city.
Atlantic Aviation caters to the indulgences and excesses of billionaires while actively participating in and profiting from the crimes against our neighbors. All professional athletes, celebrities, and customers using Atlantic Aviation’s services are part of the problem. Pilots transporting victims of ICE arrests, ground staff loading cargo —all are agents in perpetuating this nightmare.
In solidarity with local immigrant rights efforts, we urge readers to demand that Atlantic Aviation terminate these inhumane flights. This company will be held accountable for its actions.
By Jill Glass, LVDSA Abolish ICE Campaign Co-Steward
Images by Buffy Taylor @buffysphotographs
References
American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada. (2026, April 8). ACLU of Nevada files notice of appeal to continue challenge of LVMPD 287(g) agreement with ICE. https://www.aclunv.org/press-releases/aclu-of-nevada-files-notice-of-appeal-to-continue-challenge-of-lvmpd-287g-agreement-with-ice/
American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin. (2026, April 2). Racial profiling rampant after Supreme Court ruling. https://www.aclu-wi.org/news/racial-profiling-rampant-after-supreme-court-ruling/
Atlantic Aviation. (2026, June). World Cup. https://www.atlanticaviation.com/world-cup/
Balas, R. (2026, January 17). Inside Taylor Swift’s $54M Dassault Falcon 7X: 2026 Eras Tour & flight tracking controversy. The Flying Engineer. https://theflyingengineer.com/taylor-swifts-private-jet-inside-look/
Immigration Policy Tracking Project. (2025, April 8). Reported: ICE contracts with commercial airlines to facilitate deportation flights. https://immpolicytracking.org/policies/reported-ice-contracts-with-commercial-airlines-to-facilitate-deportation-flights/
Instagram. (2025). Post by @habeasflightwatch [Instagram post]. https://www.instagram.com/p/DYXLGP7AI7E/
Lexington Alarm. (2026). Habeas Flight Watch. https://lexingtonalarm.org/habeas-flight-watch/
Schilken, C. (2024, February 9). Will Taylor Swift be able to park a private jet for Super Bowl? Vegas airports are full. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2024-02-09/super-bowl-private-jets-parking-las-vegas-airports-49ers-chiefs-taylor-swift
Velotta, R. N. (2016, May 18). Jet Suite to offer luxury travel between California and Las Vegas. Las Vegas Review-Journal. https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/jet-suite-to-offer-luxury-travel-between-california-and-las-vegas/
ICE takes 240 from Clark County jail under new pact; ACLU fights deal. (2026, March 11). Las Vegas Review-Journal. https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/ice-takes-240-from-clark-county-jail-under-new-pact-aclu-fights-deal-372339
Your National Political Committee Newsletter — Hot Socialist Summer
Enjoy your June National Political Committee (NPC) newsletter! Our NPC is an elected 27-person body (including both YDSA Co-Chairs) which functions as the board of directors of DSA. This month, get involved with labor organizing, learn how you can fight data centers, sign up for trainings, and more!
And to make sure you get our newsletters in your inbox, sign up here! Each one features action alerts, upcoming events, political education, and more.
- From the National Political Committee — Hot Socialist Summer
- Volunteer for the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC)!
- Learn New Skills! Sign Up for a Growth and Development Committee Training Starting Saturday 6/20
- Sign Up for Housing Justice Commission General Meeting Saturday 6/20
- Sunday 6/21 — RSVP for “Whose Power? The Ecosocialist Fight Over Data Centers and Corporate Power”
- Religion and Socialism Working Group Meeting Monday 6/22 — and Sign Up for Our Black Liberation Theology Book Study Group!
- RSVP for Strategic Mutual Aid Training Monday 6/29
- Help Support DSA — RSVP for Growth and Development Phonebanks Starting Thursday 7/2
- Saturday 7/11 — Sign Up for Fundraising Committee Training
- Labor, Labor, Read All About It! New Labor Herald June Issue Out Now!
- National Political Education Commission Applications are Open!
- Congratulations to New DSA Chapters and Organizing Committees — Plus New YDSA Chapters
From the National Political Committee — Hot Socialist Summer
This June, another hot socialist summer is underway, and the contradictions are high as ever. Janeese Lewis George’s win in Washington DC’s primary election this week puts us on track to win a democratic socialist mayor of our nation’s political capital, joining Zohran Mamdani as mayor of the economic capital of capitalism in New York City and adding to our scoreboard in a breakout year for the left. In the same week, Elon Musk just became the world’s first trillionaire. The median American family would take 12,000,000 years to accrue that much wealth.
Trillionaires should not exist, and workers deserve so much more! We have a massive opening to show millions of people what democratic socialism means, and how we can organize to win it together.
On this Juneteenth weekend, we reflect on the enormous struggle it took to achieve the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States after the Civil War — and how the project of Reconstruction was suppressed and remains unfinished to this day. The far right and ruling class have a long-term plan to roll back hard-won civil rights victories like the Voting Rights Act, with recent Supreme Court decisions like Louisiana v. Callais aiming to take us back to the days of Jim Crow and worse.
They’re working this hard to suppress organized people because we’re building so much momentum on our side. Socialists have a long history of organizing to build Black political power. And the stakes are high for us to defend democracy and deepen our power at every level we can. All across the country, DSA is demonstrating how to organize solidarity across identity differences, around our shared class interests — and win!
Janeese’s win is a breakthrough in DC because she won every part of the district, except affluent white homeowners, and ran up the numbers in majority black working class neighborhoods. That’s a major shift away from decades of racial polarization fueled by the ruling class, and toward a left mass politics that’s based on the reality of class conflict, as Metro DC DSA helped lay bare. In Atlanta, Mathewos Samson won State House District 58 as a Black DSA cadre candidate in a majority Black district in the heart of the political establishment’s base. That builds on last month’s exciting wins, when Chris Rabb won the deepest blue Democratic district in the country in Philadelphia with unapologetic socialist demands for Black power, and Louisville DSA’s Robert Bell won a Kentucky state house primary. In the weeks ahead, DSA chapters from NYC to St Louis are throwing down to keep racking up big wins and expand working class power against AIPAC, ICE and corporate control of our society.
This month also marks one year of ICE raids since June 6, 2025, when ICE began terrorizing Los Angeles. From LA to Minneapolis to Delaney Hall in New Jersey, in cities across the country, DSA chapters have been among the many grassroots organizations mobilizing everyday people in our communities to stand with our neighbors and keep ICE out. Support for abolishing ICE hit record highs over the past year, and we must keep organizing to make it happen.
Our greatest tool to win the world we all deserve is organized labor — and on that front, DSA is organizing to rebuild a strong and vibrant labor movement in the United States. At the Labor Notes conference in Chicago last weekend, DSA showed up powerfully with hundreds of members who are organizing their workplaces. DSA members led over 100 panels and workshops. The building trades meetup was led by DSA members leading their reform project, and DSA members participated in the largest gathering of Amazon workers organizing to date.
Solidarity with organized workers is the backbone of all the great social movement gains of the past century. We reflect on this as part of Pride month. Many DSA chapters celebrate by watching the excellent 2014 film “Pride,” about gay and lesbian activists organizing common cause with striking mineworkers against neoliberalism in the UK in the 1980s. This year, miners in Durham County, England stood in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community when Reform UK threatened local pride celebrations’ funding. This has powerful resonance for us here as trans and queer rights are under attack. DSA is proud to be the one of the largest organizations of transgender people in the country, and we’re organizing solidarity everywhere for a world where all of us are free to be ourselves and take care of each other.
All this and more is why DSA chapters are growing quickly everywhere from Kansas City, Missouri, to Sonoma County, California. People all over the country want to protect ourselves, our families, and our neighbors. We can do that through the power of our democratic mass organization. We must keep organizing to bring more of our friends, coworkers, and neighbors as DSA members, scale up our work, and build the power to win what we all deserve!
Solidarity,
Ashik Siddique and Megan Romer
DSA National Co-Chairs
Volunteer for the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC)!
Do you have workplace organizing experience? Do you want to help workers connect with their coworkers, build power, fight the boss, and unionize? Well, the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) needs YOU!
Every summer EWOC hears from hundreds of workers who are fed up with the status quo. We need organizers who can coach them as they build relationships, organizing committees, and campaigns. Is that you? Sign up today!
Learn New Skills! Sign Up for a Growth and Development Committee Training Starting Saturday 6/20
Check out the Growth and Development Committee’s upcoming trainings! Our core curriculum of trainings spans topics from meeting facilitation to membership engagement.
And are you interested in taking on a leadership role in your DSA chapter? Already in a position of leadership. but looking to up your game? Attend the June Leadership Intensive Saturday 9/12–Sunday 9/13. RSVP today.
Sign Up for Housing Justice Commission General Meeting Saturday 6/20
RSVP for the Housing Justice Commission (HJC) General Meeting Saturday 6/20 at 2pm ET/1pm CT/12pm MT/11am PT! In this meeting, we’ll cover the HJC Steering Committee elections, the HJC Liaisons program, and the Summer Emergency Tenant Organizing Committee (ETOC) training. Join us!
Sunday 6/21 — RSVP for “Whose Power? The Ecosocialist Fight Over Data Centers & Corporate Power”
This call will address the deeply felt and growing opposition to data centers, and DSA’s current chapter work on the issue. Hear speakers and a panel of chapter organizers on the common roadblocks, tactics, and strategies this work shares with other vital areas of DSA’s Ecosocialist chapter work — like resistance to polluting and community-destroying industries, base-building initiatives, and building green infrastructure under the ongoing Building For Power Campaign!
And in July, we’ll have a discussion-based call on the broad sweep of DSA’s Ecosocialist work, the formation and goals of the Ecosocialism Commission, and becoming a member. Stay tuned for more details!
Religion and Socialism Working Group Meeting Monday 6/22 — and Sign Up for Our Black Liberation Theology Book Study Group!
The monthly meet-up of the DSA Religion and Socialism Working Group will be Monday 6/22 at 8:30pm ET/7:30pm CT/6:30pm MT/5:30pm PT. Sign up here to find out what your comrades of faith are doing and how you can be part of our project.
Starting in July, the Black Liberation Theologians group will launch an 8-session study of “Sisters in the Wilderness” by womanist theologian Delores Williams. This text centers the story of Hagar as a lens for Black women’s survival, God-talk, and liberation.
Because this text speaks from and to a particular community, this space is being held specifically for Black members. We’ll wrestle with questions such as: What does the cross mean for people who have been forced to carry it for others? Who is God to the woman in the wilderness? What does survival demand of us theologically? Fill out the form here to sign up.
RSVP for Strategic Mutual Aid Training Monday 6/29
Join DSA’s Mutual Aid Working Group (MAWG) Monday 6/29 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT for a strategic mutual aid training. Hear answers to questions like:
- What makes a mutual aid project strategic for a chapter?
- How does mutual aid put socialist ideas into practice?
- How can we use mutual aid to integrate into our communities?
RSVP for our training and learn from the experience of the Mutual Aid Working Group!
Help Support DSA — RSVP for Growth and Development Phonebanks Starting Thursday 7/2
Join the Growth and Development Committee (GDC) for a July phonebank!
- Solidarity Dues phonebank Thursday 7/2 at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT
- Recommitment phonebank on Thursday 7/16 at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT
- Solidarity Dues phonebank on Sunday 7/19 at 5pm ET/4pm CT/3pm MT/2pm PT
Saturday 7/11 — Sign Up for Fundraising Committee Training
Labor, Labor, Read All About It! New Labor Herald June Issue Out Now!
The June issue of the New Labor Herald, DSA’s National Labor Commission (NLC) bulletin, is out NOW!
In this issue, you’ll find a Q&A from two labor council delegates; a Democratic Left article on DSA’s Strike Ready campaign; a college professor’s breakdown of AI in the classroom; a reportback from the May Day Strong conference in St. Louis; and a book review of Walda Katz-Fishman and Jerome Scott’s Motown and the Making of Working-Class Revolutionaries. And get updates from NLC subcommittees and how you can get involved!
Please print and share the New Labor Herald in your chapter labor formations! And email nlc@dsacommittees.org, subject line “Bulletin Submissions,” to contribute as a writer or share comments with us.
National Political Education Commission Applications are Open!
DSA’s National Political Education Commission is becoming an open commission, which means all members in good standing can apply to join. If you educate, research, or write, apply NOW to help grow and improve DSA’s political education!
We’re aiming for a diverse commission, so we especially encourage non-men and comrades of color to join us. To participate in our first meeting and nominate or run for the steering committee, you must apply by Saturday, August 15.
Congratulations to New DSA Chapters and Organizing Committees — Plus New YDSA Chapters
A warm welcome to the latest DSA chapters and Organizing Committees!
New DSA Chapters
- Shasta County, California
- Fort Wayne, Indiana
New DSA Organizing Committees:
- North Mississippi, Mississippi
- Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
- Bowling Green, Ohio
- Skagit County, Washington
- Heart of Iowa, Iowa
- Evansville Riverbend, Indiana
New YDSA Chapters
- University of Texas Austin
- University of Tennessee Knoxville
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts
- Cerritos College, California
- Evanston Township High School, Illinois
- North Dakota State University
The post Your National Political Committee Newsletter — Hot Socialist Summer appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Cleveland Safety Committee Denies Renewal of Flock “Safety” Contract
by Serge S
(Note: This is a corrected version of a previous post.)
Cleveland joined several communities nationwide who are changing their stance on Flock surveillance technology.
During the Cleveland City Council Public Safety Committee’s June 17 meeting, members voted 3 to 1 against renewing their Flock “Safety” surveillance contract which expires on June 29.
Voting against were Stephanie Howse-Jones, Niki Hudson, and Kevin Conwell, leaving Committee Chair Mike Polensek as the sole member to vote for the agreement.
According to News 5 Cleveland, council members, police administrators, Public Safety Director Wayne Drummond, fifteen community members and more than two dozen people from Flock No were involved in the discussion, which lasted nearly two hours.
Flock cameras were first installed in Cleveland during the summer of 2023 and have spread to nearby communities including Euclid, Richmond Heights, Willoughby Hills.
The $250,000 contract would have extended the system for another year.
The fight isn’t over. Although the safety committee declined to renew the contract this time, another council committee may take up the legislation, although no date has been set.
Flock isn’t the only surveillance system in Cleveland. The city also operates 3,400 video surveillance cameras, most of which have AI tracking capabilities.
This isn’t the first time that Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration has tried to sneak funding for surveillance technology through backroom channels. In the past he has bypassed the Safety Committee by extending contracts through the city’s Board of Control which effectively sidesteps council’s ability to review, approve, or deny them.
In one such instance Bibb extended the city’s $850,000 contract with SoundThinking, the vendor of their gunshot-detection technology ShotSpotter in April of 2026.
Several organizations have risen in response to Flock and other tracking systems which have flooded Cleveland in recent years as city’s including Dayton have cancelled or declined to renew contracts with Flock.
One of them, “Flock No CLE” formed last year when the city tried to push an emergency proposal to expand Flock systems and replace their ShotSpotter system in 2025. The legislation would have authorized a $2 million three-year contract with Flock’s version of the “shot spotting” technology by using microphones in their already existing automated license plate readers, according to Signal Cleveland.
According to Axios Cleveland the Cleveland Clergy Coalition spoke in favor of the contract on safety grounds while police argued the technology improves response times and claimed that there has been no misuse of data by Cleveland officers – although there is no way to verify these claims as officers can use a login system that does not always have two-factor authentication – meaning that logins could be shared to avoid tracking.
Sources in order of use:
https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/06/18/cleveland-council-flock-contract-renewal-vote
https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/05/19/flock-cleveland-bibb-council
The post Cleveland Safety Committee Denies Renewal of Flock “Safety” Contract appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.