The first thing I want to say about our December 10 defense of the Fall River Pride Committee’s drag story time is that we succeeded.

I wanted to start out that way because between all the various mediocre news stories and online commentaries, you might not realize it. But we succeeded. When neo-Nazi group NSC tried to rush the door, it was our team of volunteers from an ad hoc coalition of local organizations including Boston DSA, that kept them out. We, the team that I coordinated, did keep them out, and we were able to keep attendees safe. And through friendliness and creativity – singing, bells, colorful masks – our volunteers at the side door were able to provide an atmosphere of fun and normalcy for the children as they entered the event, even with NSC outside the front door and Proud Boys across the street. Volunteers were able to escort families to their cars as they left. We did all this not by being some kind of elite strike force, but by showing up, working together well, using our varied skills (tactical situational awareness, first aid, cheery child-friendly charisma, and more), and by keeping our cool.

Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for me, and I suspect there are other people on the team who feel similarly. It’s frightening to be rushed by neo-Nazis who have a lot more muscle mass than you and who outnumber you (because they arrived quite early, only some of our team was there at the time of the rush). I was hit multiple times in the solar plexus, slammed against the doors. I would rather not have been injured, and would rather none of my comrades had been injured either. I heard a whole lot of slurs that morning. I’ve been frustrated at attempts to credit the police for keeping people safe when the cops were not present during the rush on the doors, and who later claimed to not be able to tell the difference between us, in our varied clothing, and neo-Nazis in group merch and quasi-uniform dress). But none of that changes the first sentence in this essay. We succeeded in defending drag story time.

This Saturday, January 14, is the next drag story time in Fall River, and this time it will be a little different – with a community support rally outside to provide fun and safety for all, to celebrate queerness and perseverance and courage. If it isn’t obvious, I’m writing this not simply to share my own experiences or perspective, but to encourage you to attend in support.

I have never been, to use a good friend’s phrase, a “woofing tough.” I have disabilities that impact my ability to build strength or coordinate my own movements. I have chronic pain issues. I avoid militant rhetoric and aesthetic in this kind of work because I don’t believe in raising stakes for nothing, and I don’t believe in making implied promises that I can’t back up. Every time fascists yell in my general direction about how they’d win in a fight, I shrug internally, because I’ve never thought otherwise. And yet over the last few years I’ve worked more action frontlines than I care to recall. A lot of people have been beside me on those lines who didn’t think of themselves before as the kind of people who could do this work. No matter how much groups like NSC want it to be so, we antifascists aren’t their mirror image and we don’t operate on the same terms with only the politics changed. If I have stood for anything in my time organizing against the far right, it is that this work does not belong only to the strong and the powerful.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I want good people to participate in supporting our communities and opposing the intimidation and the organizing of the far right. I don’t want people to think they can’t or shouldn’t do it, or that their contributions aren’t real, because in some way they aren’t the “right” type of person.

So come one, come all, to Fall River this Saturday – whether you’re an old hand or this would be your first action, whether you’re a ninja or regularly trip over your own feet. Dress for the weather (wearing comfortable shoes, wearing hats and masks, minimizing the amount of cotton against your body). Keep your cool, act collectively, and follow the lead of organizers (because this all has a goal and it’s not individualized catharsis). Be aware of what’s happening around you, make sure you have safe ways to enter and exit, and enjoy the performances! Numbers will make us all safer, make it more possible for people who are afraid or uncomfortable or unsure to participate. The numbers we turn out could mean the difference in whether a family feels safe enough to attend the drag story time.

Together we can preserve this queer space, and send a much-needed message to any queer kids (or adults) who may be watching: tomorrow need not be as bleak as neo-Nazis and bro-fascists want them to believe.

On Tuesday, December 13th, 2022, several members of Colorado Springs DSA and the Chinook Center delivered the following public comments during the Colorado Springs City Council 2023 budget meeting. The full text of our statement is below.

Part one: Introduction and Budget Summary

My organization operates out of the Chinook Center, a local community center that provides a safe haven for progressive community organizations. They also offer a free grocery service every Sunday out of their office in southeast Colorado Springs, which is an area that is historically low-income and historically underserved by city resources. The shopping center where they are based is also home to two other food banks by other community organizations. Yet even with three food banks, our community still struggles to meet the demand for food and basic necessities like clothing and personal care items. Our community lacks access to public transportation to get around the city for work and the necessary errands that keep life flowing. In the southeast, we see poverty and homelessness every day, while only a few miles away, people in wealthier, better-funded sides of town enjoy easy access to grocery stores and parks, recreational activities, and well-funded schools. 

I’m here today to advocate for real change in the community, change that benefits the working class in Colorado Springs — not change that caters to the wealthy real estate corporations, nor change that criminalizes poverty. The change we’re looking for is investment in communities, rather than a bloated budget for CSPD. 

Out of the City’s overall 2023 budget of $420,306,552, CSPD is proposed to receive a total of $132,216,218. This gigantic proposed 2023 budget makes up 31% of the total city budget and represents an increase of almost $7 million dollars from 2022.

When salaries are compared across the departments in the proposed budget, CSPD is receiving 43% of the salaries, compared to 9% going to Public Works, 4% to Parks and Recreation, and a meager 3% to Planning and Community Development.

This lopsided budget reflects the upside-down priorities of this city council. For our communities to flourish, the communities themselves must receive the necessary funding for strong social safety nets. There are no excuses for the hunger and poverty that exist in this city, especially in Southeast Colorado Springs. When working class families and individuals have their basic needs met, they’re able to live the dignified lives that all Colorado Springs residents deserve.

Part Two: Addressing Homelessness

The covid-19 pandemic not only had a detrimental impact on our economy, but on our collective mental health. This has led to more bad outcomes for those suffering with mental illness and substance use disorder. Colorado currently has some of the lowest funding for mental health in the nation. These issues factor heavily into the rates of homelessness in our state and locally.

From 2007-2021, homelessness rose 266% in Colorado, more than any other state in the country.

Nationwide, we rank 5th for the number of sheltered, chronically homeless individuals, and 11th for the number of people who are unhoused. Statewide, officials estimate that over 9,000 people are currently experiencing homelessness.

In El Paso County, the most recent point-in-time survey found that more than 1,400 people are unhoused, with over a quarter of those being teenagers and young adults aged 15-24.

The city wants to give CSPD 31% of the city budget. Politicians say that crime is on the rise here due to police reforms. While crime is on the rise nationally, crime in Colorado Springs has overwhelmingly decreased from 2019-2021 according to a recent study that was reported on in CPR in March of this year. We also have seen nothing in the way of true police reforms, so it is difficult to understand why politicians are crediting something that never happened for statistics that don’t exist. We must put people above inflammatory politics to give our people the lives of safety and dignity that they deserve, but our city continues to push homelessness farther and farther out of the city with the Pedestrian Access Act, to criminalize our most vulnerable, and to put money into police and business interests. 

Meanwhile, our crisis of homelessness is deepening as inflation rises. Fentanyl deaths are also on the rise. Contrary to how conservative state and city leaders prefer to frame the issues of homelessness, substance use disorder, and mental illness, these are not problems that can be solved with sweeps, jobs, and more willpower from the people affected. These are public health emergencies that desperately need funding to provide people with homes and care. 

Recently, a U.S. News & World Report ranked Colorado Springs as one of the best places in the country to live, but this is not true for those who struggle to make ends meet as housing prices continue to skyrocket. In 2021, the National Low Income Housing Coalition reported that people working full time would need to earn $22 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Colorado Springs, yet our state minimum wage will only go up to $13.65 per hour next year. We have people experiencing homelessness when they are fully employed. This is not a crisis of laziness, it is a crisis of low wages and exorbitant corporate greed. We should not be enabling predatory housing practices in our city. 

And when it comes to those who are unhoused due to severe mental illness, disability, and substance use disorder, these issues are public health issues and we must care for our most vulnerable. It is a shameful and cowardly act for those who occupy positions of power to punch down at those with no power. Our people deserve better, and we expect better of you. 

Housing first with supportive wraparound services is the only policy proven to end homelessness and effectively treat the substance use and mental illness of the people that suffer from them, in addition to being proven as the more economical choice. In other words, we must fund compassion and meet people where they are, NOT fund measures that contribute to a culture of victim-blaming people for their own illnesses. Housing and healthcare are human rights. We don’t want excuses. We want housing for all, and we want you, our City Council, to give this issue the funding it deserves. 

Part Three: Mass Incarceration and the Criminal Injustice System

In theory, police are here to stop crime, but they do nothing to address crime at its roots, because police only respond once a crime has taken place. In fact, our policies of mass incarceration are directly linked to rises in crime. When you punish people who are victims of poverty and trauma with the traumatic experience of incarceration, where they are subject to strip searches and the loss of all their basic rights, you do not set these people up to be rehabilitated members of society upon their release. 

According to The Compassion Prison Project, 64% of the U.S. population has experienced at least one adverse childhood experience of violence, abuse, or trauma. In comparison, 98% of the U.S. prison population has experienced an adverse childhood experience. The more adverse childhood experiences that people have, the more likely they are to end up incarcerated. It is estimated that 20-25% of people in jails and prisons have mental illness, meaning that they are overrepresented in carceral detention compared to the rest of the population. Another study has found that formerly incarcerated people are 62% more likely to die by suicide. Prisons and jails are not mental health treatment facilities, yet we use them to imprison those amongst us who need the most help. While prisons fall under the state domain and the jail is in the jurisdiction of the county, CSPD, as the point of arrest, serves as the gateway to the mass incarceration of our community members that don’t need to be in jail or prison, but need to be treated by medical and behavioral specialists. 

It is well-known that the root causes of both non-violent and violent crime are often found in economic stressors such as housing insecurity, food insecurity, lack of access to medical and mental healthcare, and lack of access to childcare. Yet the city and the nation as a whole refuse to put money towards helping people with these issues and instead put money into militarized police, jails and prisons, and for-profit halfway homes. 

It is also well-evidenced that the entire criminal injustice system economically burdens those who enter it, from court and attorney fees to fees for drug testing and court-mandated classes, to halfway house and sober living fees, and more. All together, the criminal injustice system punishes those who are most vulnerable and works to make it more likely that people will return to jail and prison, rather than supporting them to lead better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities in the future. 

Colorado Springs is one of the top three cities alongside Denver and Aurora that send people to state prisons, with most of the Colorado Springs prison population coming from Southeast Colorado Springs, the community that the Chinook Center and its member organizations serve. Our incarcerated are disproportionately people of color, especially Black and Latinx people. This is also the area of town where people are most likely to be low-income, to live in food deserts and experience food insecurity, to lack health insurance and access to medical and mental healthcare, to lack adequate transportation, and to be overlooked by city resources. 

We must also call attention to the recent deaths in El Paso County CJC. At least nine people have died in CJC custody in 2022 alone, with the most recent one passing away just this past Sunday. Again, CSPD serves as one of the main points of arrest in our city and a gateway to CJC. We should be putting our city dollars towards helping people and giving them the resources they need to live healthy, safe, and dignified lives, not signing them up for a death sentence at the hands of the carceral state before they are even found to be guilty of a crime. 

When we put our city, state, and federal dollars into supporting people, it builds a healthier, friendlier, and safer place for all to live. The failures of our local police and criminal injustice policies only serve to make us less safe, and our community deserves better.

Part Four: Club Q

Less than a month ago, an armed gunman put Colorado Springs in the national eye with a mass shooting in one of the few safe spaces for the LGBTQ+ community in a city that has historically marginalized them. There are no words for the depth of the pain and trauma that this has inflicted on members of our city, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community, and especially our youth that are still trying to understand themselves and their place in a world that tolerates hatred and violent rhetoric towards people on the basis of who they love and how they identify.

The anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric comes from all corners of Colorado and Colorado Springs. Our House Representative Doug Lamborn wrote a statement on December 5th, 2017 defending the rights of business owners to discriminate against potential customers on the basis of their sexual orientation. That statement remains on his website to this day. Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert has also regularly posted anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric on her social media, characterizing members of the LGBTQ+ community as groomers seeking to harm our children. For a long time, Colorado Springs has been known as the home of Focus on the Family and other anti-LGBTQ+ evangelical churches that regularly encourage their members to condemn queerness as a sin. The problem is also growing in local Colorado Springs school districts, where parent groups like Advocates for D20 Kids, FEC United, Moms for Liberty, the deceitfully named FAIR organization, and others have lobbied for the dissolving of the equity and inclusion department at D-11, for segregation of LGBTQ+ students onto a separate campus in D-20, and for the squashing of the Social and Emotional Learning program at D-49, which school board member Ivy Liu, who openly posts Hitler quotes on her social media, has characterized as “indoctrination.” All of these organizations and politicians have the blood of our community and LGBTQ+ people throughout the nation on their hands. We ourselves came terrifyingly close to losing people that we love and value deeply, and we have mourned the losses of those who were taken from us with our friends that knew the victims. This tragedy was extremely personal, and we will never stop fighting for the agenda of queer liberation as members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community.

Meanwhile, Colorado Springs District Attorney Michael Allen and the court he works for want us to believe that they could not do more to prevent the bloodshed. They want us to believe that because they could not subpoena the shooter’s families, that they could not prosecute a terrorist who had a three-hour armed standoff with a SWAT team while the terrorist live-streamed the encounter on Facebook and threatened to blow the place up. They expect us to believe that they could not prosecute someone who had over 100 pounds of explosive material, guns, and ammunition in a basement. They expect us to believe that with all the police witnesses who faced the danger posed by this individual, that they could not bring a strong prosecution against a terrorist that even the FBI knew about. We do not accept this excuse, and we cannot make sense of the fact that an armed terrorist was allowed to walk free while so many of those who are suffering from poverty, substance use disorder, and severe mental illness are prosecuted and incarcerated by the very courts that botched the opportunity to prevent an act of terror and hatred. 

Colorado ranks among the worst states for mental health funding. We need money to go to mental health services for the community that has been so deeply traumatized by this catastrophe. We need funding for LGBTQ+ specific resources and more safe spaces, pro-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric from all corners of our city, violence prevention and equity and inclusion programs to teach acceptance and love to our youth. City officials should condemn anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from churches, parent groups, school boards, and local and state politicians. You all should be advocating for the IRS to amend the tax-exempt status of churches and organizations that are engaging in dangerous hate speech that amplifies and accelerates violence. We should have a Pride flag hanging from city hall and all city buildings year-round, not just when the eye of the nation is on our city. City Council must make sure LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities are prioritized to receive the services we need to keep us safe. We need justice, not excuses. We will not stop until the legacy of anti-LGBTQ+ hatred in Colorado Springs is ancient history, and neither should you. 

Part Five: Police Brutality by CSPD

CSPD has shown repeatedly that they have a culture which produces violent language and actions. This manifests in unjustifiable harm to members of our community.

Just this past October, CSPD pulled over a 29-year-old black veteran who was living out of his car for failing to produce a license plate. Officers claimed to smell marijuana and proceeded to pull the man from his car while repeatedly punching and kicking him in the head and back. This attack caused eye injuries and a ruptured eardrum. The DUI charge, which was the stated reason for arrest, was later dropped. As far as I’m aware, CSPD has yet to even comment on this incident.

Let us not forget that in 2019, CSPD officers murdered Devon Bailey after they claimed he “matched the description” of an assault suspect. They shot him 3 times in the back as he fled. The officers involved received 3 days paid administrative leave and were returned to active duty.

In 2020, police were called to the scene where a 17-year-old girl was having a panic attack. The girl in question was also a survivor of sexual assault. As she was sitting on the curb crying, how did CSPD respond to this situation? They threw her to the ground, cuffed her, and put her in the back of a cop car. Surely when the supervising Sergeant Gregory Wilhelmi arrived on scene, he was able to de-escalate the situation, right? Wrong. He thought the best course of action would be to pepper spray this teenage girl twice in the face then close the door on her, effectively sealing her in with the pepper spray. But hey, at least they cracked the window after several minutes of agonizing pain. Currently, zero consequences have been given to the officers responsible.

In the summer of 2020 as nationwide uprisings were fighting for the defense of black lives, officer Keith Wrede watched a Facebook live of a local protest. In the comments, Keith decided to comment “KILL THEM ALL.” What was his punishment? Suspended. With pay. Must be nice to get paid vacation after calling for the murders of peaceful protestors.

On July 31st, 2021, the Colorado Springs Housing 4 All Coalition held a march to advocate for affordable housing within the city. CSPD decided to disrupt this peaceful protest by attacking and arresting demonstrators who were occupying one lane of Tejon due to the narrow sidewalks near Dorchester Park. Prior to these violent arrests, CSPD officers were recorded on their bodycams speaking freely about the violence they wish to unleash on protestors who, to be clear, just wanted rents in the city to be lower. One officer expressed wanting to encourage onlookers to “stone them to death.” Another officer said that they should launch “stingers,” a nickname for flash grenades, at demonstrators. Furthermore, officers can be seen in this bodycam footage looking over a piece of paper which had names and photographs of central organizers of the march. 

For nearly a full year leading up to the housing march, CSPD embedded an undercover operative in multiple leftist community organizations. These included the Chinook Center who organizes a food bank with delivery, Colorado Springs Tenants Union who advocates on behalf of renters, Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America who seek to advocate for working class interests, and the Colorado Springs Mutual Aid and Solidarity Union who distribute food and supplies weekly to our unhoused neighbors. This undercover officer attempted to entrap activists into illegally purchasing firearms, and yet after over a year of investigation, no illegal activity was found by any of the organizations. 

A month after the Club Q shooter had a 3-hour standoff with the SWAT team, CSPD thought a more important priority would be to surveil community organizers who were advocating for affordable housing. These actions of infiltration, surveillance, and outright violence have traumatized members of the community and caused them to feel unsafe going about their daily lives. How can we possibly stand to give CSPD 44% of salaries in the city budget while they routinely demonstrate a pattern of violent behavior, targeting people for their political beliefs?

It is beyond time for the City of Colorado Springs to prioritize the well-being of our communities and the necessary services to support them. CSPD’s overinflated budget needs to be redistributed to focus on fixing the systemic issues that prevent our neighbors from living dignified lives. Housing first. Mental health. Drug addiction treatment. Infrastructure. Funding these, not CSPD and the criminalization of poverty, is how our communities will thrive.

Members of Colorado Springs City Council, you have a unique opportunity with the 2023 city budget to make a historic impact in our city by funding the resources we actually need, resources that make us safer, healthier, and happier. Fund communities and services, not corporations and the police. We’ve had two politically-motivated mass shootings in our city in less than a decade — first the Planned Parenthood shooting in 2015 and then the Club Q shooting last month. We need real solutions, not inaction and excuses. The whole country is looking at us right now, and what we do matters. Stop funding the problem and start funding real solutions. Our lives depend on it. 

We, the Steering Committee of the Buffalo Democratic Socialists of America, reflect on the aftermath of the Blizzard of ‘22, as we mourn the lives of at least 40 of our fellow citizens with many more wounded. Some, including children, are left permanently crippled from frostbite induced amputations. 

A devastating blizzard brought our region to a standstill, forcing us to barricade ourselves in our homes for the entirety of the Christmas weekend. If we were lucky, we were trapped with food, electricity, heat, and our loved ones. The less fortunate among us endured blackouts, freezing indoor temperatures, and depleted supplies – some alone, many without help. For days we looked out our windows, shocked that we could not see our neighbor’s house forty feet away. During the storm we were told search and rescue efforts had been suspended; those of us in danger were on our own. 

As we consider the complete collapse of municipal society, there is surely blame to go around. However, we are not naive to think that some other leader could have magically done much more to ameliorate the worst effects of the blizzard, given the priorities of this city over the years and the infrastructure and municipal services produced by those priorities. 

For decades, we’ve prioritized car infrastructure over all other modes of transportation. Many Buffalonians will tell you that the reason everyone needs to drive and own a car is because of the snow, but the truth is, every personal automobile is a massive liability during extreme snowfall. Dozens died in their cars when they got stuck, more when they ventured out on foot without functioning public transit or reliable warming centers. Thousands of vehicles, including three quarters of all emergency vehicles deployed during the storm, were abandoned. This blocked roads and further complicated search and rescue operations. Even in the storm’s aftermath, a pedestrian was hit and seriously injured by a motorist on Dec. 30 while walking in the street, as many sidewalks were still completely impassable because the city and county only care about snow removal for cars.

For public safety and first responders, we’ve prioritized the militarization of police over disaster preparedness. Police had to ask people with snow mobiles to help, since we’ve let them spend their money on SWAT trucks and riot gear instead of track vehicles and emergency response equipment. We spend 20% of our city’s annual budget on police, but a small fraction of that on the Department of Public Works; as a result, the city of Buffalo was last in the county in lifting our travel ban, forcing those of us living paycheck to paycheck to potentially go another day without work and those of us low on supplies to go another day without. 

This disaster further laid bare the unequal investment in Buffalo. Maps showing power outages are the same as every other map of Buffalo – a city divided by decades of racial and class segregation, resulting in huge swaths of our city facing poorly maintained infrastructure. Power lines are buried in the rich parts of town, but in poor neighborhoods, we still rely on century-old overhead wires that left thousands in the dark. Slumlords let apartments rot, while elected officials and city hall turn a blind eye and accept their campaign donations. 

As a result, many of our homes lacked sufficient insulation and heating capacity to keep us warm throughout the days-long blizzard. In areas where the city has failed to invest in our pipes, people lost water.  And while neighborhoods with surviving local businesses that have owners and workers living within walking distance could keep their residents supplied, areas with only discount national chains found themselves without, and saw widespread looting.

These challenges are complex, connected, and vast, but they are not insurmountable. They require not just a change in leadership (although one is long overdue), but a fundamental change in our priorities. 

Take, for instance, reliable public transportation. Had we spent the last 60 years expanding our subway network instead of building and maintaining highways which stayed closed throughout the storm, we’d have a reliable way for people to travel to safety, and lifesaving refuge from the elements spread throughout the city. We’re spending $100 million to bring cars back to Main St. downtown, meaning our lone light rail line can be rendered useless by a single stranded motorist. Plus, our city doesn’t have a written plan for keeping sidewalks clear, much less dedicated transit infrastructure that can’t be blocked by abandoned cars. This hardly seems like preparedness for “normal snowfall,” as City Hall claims it’s prepared for.

If we had public safety that was accountable to the needs and demands of our citizens, then maybe the police would be prepared better for severe weather than they are for protests against their own brutality. Maybe we wouldn’t have to hear cries for help go unanswered on police scanners, then hear those calls go hauntingly quiet as the night wore on. 

If we recognized each other’s shared humanity and prioritized all our citizens regardless of their ability to buy into our most exclusive and expensive neighborhoods, then perhaps the poorest among us wouldn’t suffer the most when disaster strikes, and all of us would be able to lead safe, dignified lives. 

Make no mistake, we have not seen the last of storms like the one we just witnessed. Lake Erie still hasn’t frozen over, leading to over 100” of snowfall, and we’ve hardly entered January. This is the second deadly storm that has brought our city to halt in the past six weeks. We cannot afford to wait preparing for the next one. 

If you’re ready to do the hard, thankless work of changing the priorities and the mindset of our city, join Buffalo DSA as we organize our class to bring the change we all know we need and deserve.

Wheareas,

1. The labor movement has long been recognized as the most important engine for socialist change in society due to its power to halt the flow of goods and services the capitalist class depends on.
2. Socialists recognize that the right to strike or threat thereof is the primary and most powerful instrument of the labor movement and should never be surrendered under any circumstances.
3. Railroad workers have been working under inhumane Dickensian conditions where their employers will not grant them even a single sick day during a pandemic in order to disgustingly benefit themselves by extracting larger profits from their labor.
4. A central demand of the rail worker’s unions has been to be granted a reasonable period of sick leave.
5. Rail workers died at more than twice the rate of other workers from Jan. 2020 to May 2022 and more than three times other workers in 2021 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s MMWR.
6. The United States shifted to a service economy model, which reduced reliance on domestic production for the stuff of everyday life. This reduced the power of domestic factory workers, but wildly enhanced the potential power of logistics workers in airline, shipping, trucking, and rail industries that are situated between a global production system and a domestic consumption system.
7. Threatened by this potential halt to critical infrastructure, the capitalist government is attempting to declare the strike illegal via the passage of legislation. This in effect would make railroad workers involuntary labor, banned under the 13th amendment (except for its racist loophole for people convicted of a crime). Presumably, such a law will be eventually backed with force of arms if workers disobey.
8. DSA National put out a statement calling for a NO vote on H.J. 100 at 10:41am, about two hours before roll call at 1:02pm. While not ideal, this is sufficient time for DSA federal representatives to be made aware of it.
9. Three DSA elected officials, Reps. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortes (AOC), Jamaal Bowman, and Cori Bush voted for a bill that would make the railroad strike illegal. We applaud the fact that Rep. Rashida Tlaib did vote no.
10. AOC tweeted that the union asked her to vote this way to protect a sick days amendment that would obviously die in the Senate (and did).
11. The DSA has long had issues with our federal elected officials deviating from our political platform.
12. We must call our representatives to explain themselves to the DSA National Political Committee. While we are encouraged by DSA National releasing a statement that denounces the vote to break the strike and which calls for a town hall to discuss this, this statement does not meet all of our demands, which include a meeting with the wayward electeds to demand an explanation.
13. It is critical that DSA state in the clearest terms that we did not endorse H.J. 100 and do endorse workers’ right to strike. To do otherwise will perhaps irreparably damage our ability to support striking workers. Why would they trust an organization whose representatives actively attacked them from the heights of federal power?

Therefore be it resolved,

1. Central Jersey DSA endorses the “Railroad Workers United Open Letter to Congress and the President”.
2. Central Jersey DSA endorses the letter authored by Seattle DSA Local Council “3 DSA Members in Congress Vote to Ban Railroad Strike — They Don’t Speak For Us”.
3. If a railroad strike actually develops, Central Jersey DSA will do its part to support the strike.
4. Central Jersey DSA will publish this resolution on social media to educate our constituency and the broader public on our position.

The post Endorsing & Enforcing Railroad Workers’ Right to Strike appeared first on Central NJ DSA.

The rail freight carriers that employ approximately 125,000 unionized employees have spent years prioritizing shareholders and executives, making record profits for the railroad industry. At the same time, the carriers have downsized the rail workforce by furloughing approximately 30% of rail workers, increasing the workload for those who remain. Workers do not receive paid sick time and are expected to be available to work any time of day or night at short notice. On top of this, workers have received a 0% pay increase over the last three years. 

The Biden administration brokered a tentative agreement that excluded a substantial amount of the unions’ demands. In a vote of the rail union membership, over half the rail workforce and four of the 12 unions representing those employees voted down this proposal. If there is a strike by the rail workers, any damaging effect on the economy will have been caused by the greed and intransigence of the rail companies, and the failure of Congress and the Biden administration to broker a decent agreement that addresses the workers’ demands.  

Boston DSA fully and adamantly supports the democratic right of the rail union workers to vote down any proposed agreement, including the tentative agreement brokered by the Biden administration. Boston DSA opposes any legislation that would impose terms and conditions of employment on the rail unions and thereby take away the workers’ right to strike. The National DSA has also recognized the rail workers right to strike and has put out a statement in support of the rail workers, and Boston DSA concurs with the statement issued by the National DSA.

Most importantly, if and when Congress and President Biden enact legislation taking away the right to strike by the railway workers, Boston DSA will support the actions of the rail workers, including any decision to strike. Boston DSA will be there to support the workers, including joining them on the picket lines. Solidarity now, solidarity forever.

It is hard to find the words to express the depth of the trauma and grief that our chapter and community are experiencing in the wake of the mass shooting at Club Q. That we are issuing this statement a few days after the event is a testament to the fact that we have been in deep mourning as we attend multiple community vigils and spend time supporting one another. We all understand how close this act of hatred brought us to losing chapter members who are deeply loved and valued, and our hearts break for our comrades who lost friends and loved ones to this tragedy. 

As difficult as it is to move forward, our solidarity with one another and the greater LGBTQ+ community is helping us find the strength to begin the organizing work that must follow. It has not been lost upon us that while CSPD was busy surveilling our chapter last summer and arresting our comrades who were marching for affordable housing in our community, the District Attorney was busy dropping charges against the right-wing terrorist that perpetrated this weekend’s armed attack. It is not lost upon us that this terrorist is the grandson of a fascist MAGA politician in California. It is not lost upon us that Colorado Representatives Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn have boosted anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric while supporting the gun lobby that made this weekend’s tragedy possible. It is not lost upon us that evangelical churches in our city operate as political actors to create a climate of intolerance where bigotry and zealous hatred are incubated. And it is not lost upon us that all these fascist bad faith actors ultimately work together to silence and oppress our community, especially those amongst us who are the most marginalized. 

Colorado Springs DSA and the community we serve will not be silenced. We will not submit to the fear that right-wing politicians and their followers try to instill in us. This moment makes it clearer than ever how urgent it is for us to stand up for our community and fight for our rights, to stand against hatred and violent state oppression, to stand against the cold and calculated sacrifice of our BIPOC and LGBTQ+ siblings by fascist capitalists seeking a scapegoat for the inhumane inequality that their greed creates, and we take that stand now, together. 

We’ve got us. We stand strong in solidarity, carrying those who are wounded, and march on.  

Atlanta DSA Statement on December 6th Senate Runoff Elections

The Senate Runoff Election in Georgia will have important consequences for working-class people across the country. Although Democrats have lost control of the House of Representatives for now, the winner of this runoff will hold a critical Senate seat for 6 years—the entire duration of the next Presidential term. Herschel Walker is a millionaire capitalist and far-right extremist. If elected, he could be the deciding vote that blocks moves to abolish the filibuster and pass other critical legislation. For these reasons we encourage our members, supporters, and the public to vote to defeat Herschel Walker and his far-right agenda.

The 2024 elections will present a huge opportunity for the growing socialist movement to shift the balance of power in the United States. The Left could lead the charge to abolish the filibuster and clear the path for historic gains for the working class by legalizing abortion nationwide and passing the PRO Act. Expanding voting rights could permanently alter the political battlefield and make it impossible for the minoritarian neo-fascists in the GOP to capture the federal government again. Herschel Walker’s election to the US Senate could rule out all of these possibilities for six years.

Make no mistake: working-class people have fundamentally different interests from the neoliberal elites in the Democratic Party establishment. DSA remains committed to advancing our democratic socialist perspective by building a democratic working-class organization. In this election, we are building independent working-class power by making sure that young workers and people of color know how to vote. We are getting out the vote by helping the public navigate barriers to voting, and promoting political issues like abortion rights from a socialist perspective. We encourage everyone to make a plan to vote as early as possible, to join us in continuing to fight for abortion rights no matter who wins the runoff, and to join DSA to help build an economy and society that works for the many, not the few.

Find your polling place and make a plan to vote early at atldsa.org/vote

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For decades, America’s water infrastructure has rusted under the negligent eye of politicians who have put politics and dollar signs above their constituents. The water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi reminds us of how racism and capitalist greed can threaten the supply of even the most basic human necessity.

Central New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America calls upon the Biden administration, the state of Mississippi, and state and local governments both in NJ and nationwide to put their money where their mouth is by funding safe and robust water infrastructure as a public utility. Access to water, necessary to sustain human life, should not depend on the profit margins available to private companies for delivering it, nor on emergency funding that is only available once a crisis point is reached. Given the vast wealth of our nation we can easily provide safe and reliable water to everyone as a public utility. This should not be in question, either in Mississippi nor in New Jersey.

The crisis of Jackson Mississippi’s water system is not merely a crisis of underfunding but is also a direct result of the profound ecological crisis wrought on humanity by climate change. Although decades of underfunding from both the federal government and the state government of Mississippi precipitated the failure of the Jackson Water System, notably the need for an additional $4.8 billion to maintain safe drinking water, two events in particular caused the system to fail as catastrophically as it did this september. While the media was largely focused on the failure of the Texas power grid that resulted from the February 2021 cold snap, the lower than usual temperatures also froze the pipes that supplied the water to Jackson Mississippi and damaged them irreparably. The situation was made worse this summer as the system endured damage from the massive floods that swept through Mississippi this summer.

At this point in the climate crisis there can be no debate between adapting to climate change or preventing it; we need to do both. An eco-socialist transition away from carbon intensive production and extraction needs to occur simultaneously with a reworking of our infrastructure to withstand the stress that will be put on it as a result of climate catastrophe or else we will see more cities struggle with the issues that Jackson Mississippi is currently facing.

In addition, the recent water main break in the Belleville area shows alarming parallels to what has happened in Jackson. In August of 2022, more than 100,000 households were affected with reduced water access after a 142-year-old water main ruptured. Like in Jackson, neglected infrastructure was the immediate cause. Contrary to what many would like to believe, New Jersey isn’t immune to images of bottled water packages and closed schools. New Jersey as of this year still has 186,830 discovered lead lines, and potentially up to 350000 from some estimates. Even outside of more momentous events like ruptures, many are forced to choose between risking unsafe water or paying for bottled water. Organizations like Newark Water Coalition still organize to bring to light continued concerns of poor infrastructure and insufficient fixes, especially in Newark where two years ago there was still estimated 24% lead piping.

Further, water privatization is rampant in New Jersey, increasing the cost of water as well as the risk of disasters like what happened in Jackson. For-profit water companies make no sense in a rational world- When a water system is given over to a for-profit company, as is currently planned to happen next year in Somerville here in Central Jersey, that company can make money (its sole objective) from that water system compared to a cost-neutral government-run system in one of two ways: Increasing the price of water for residents, or decreasing the amount spent maintaining the system (risking a Jackson-like disaster). Yet sadly some see it as the only way to fund necessary expansions to supply new houses and rising populations due to the lack of funding available to local governments for water projects.

The defunding of municipal water projects has not only occurred on the state level but was precipitated by cuts in funding on the federal level that occurred during the Reagan Administration as a result of the 1987 Water Quality Act. Republican lead efforts to “shrink government” and “lower the deficit” are not merely philosophical statements on the role of the state in private life or simple adjustments to the accounting on the federal ledger. The “Reagan Revolution” and the ideological justifications for austerity that came with it have had an immensely negative impact on the lives of the most vulnerable members of the working class who often have to shoulder the cost of republican tax cuts for the rich and the decimation of public services that result from them.

We must work within our communities and then expand outwards to recognize how much more needs to be done to repair the situation we are dealing with. Addressing poor piping in general, lead piping especially, fighting back against privatization and the usage of these crises to further increase exploitation are all incredibly necessary. As with many concerns, the solution is to build the power and organization of the working class, so we can address our social interests and concerns in ways capitalists will not. Groups like Newark Water Coalition, Food and Water Watch, and ecosocialist caucuses within DSA are working to build a movement for a more sustainable and environmentally sound world and organizing for water justice is an essential part of making the urban areas where most working class people live safer and healthier.

The post Jackson Water Statement appeared first on Central NJ DSA.

In the last decade, Somerville, NJ has experienced significant growth and economic revitalization. Somerville spent the 90’s and the early 2000’s under the shadow of the Bridgewater Mall; yet another town littered with shuttered storefronts and young people eager to leave. Today’s Somerville is almost unrecognizable with its new abundant apartment towers and downtown shops. Even the New York Times called Somerville a “Walkable Suburban Alternative” so even the most obnoxious New York expats have taken note of this small New Jersey town.

Despite Somerville’s success story, the city government proposed selling Somerville’s sewage system to American Water for $8 million. The town warns of an inability to pay for upcoming maintenance costs and has sold the decision as inevitable due to town finances. This sale of water utility systems will lead to higher utility costs for Somerville residents in the long term. Far from being inevitable, the combination of generous tax giveaways to developers and financially irresponsible bond offerings by the government of Somerville have put the town in a situation that was entirely avoidable and still could be avoided if residents vote “No” this November 8th on the proposed sale of the wastewater system.

The current push to privatize the sewer system in Somerville is emblematic of the structural issues with Somerville’s urban renewal. From financing luxury apartment developments with PILOT schemes that required a $5.2 million bond sale to financing a massive parking deck to the tune of a $7.2 million bond sale; it’s clear that there is a capacity to finance the $9 million dollars needed for long-term maintenance on the sewer system, and that the issue is a lack of political will.

Somerville already spends about $3 million operating and maintaining their sewer system annually, and runs a surplus of about $150,000 on their sewer budget annually, per the town’s 2022 budget. An extra $1 million annually for 9 years (as the for-profit company New Jersey American Water proposes to spend) is reasonably in budget for the township without blowing out the deficit, and can easily be paid off with long-term revenue from the sewer system and by tapping into budget surpluses elsewhere. NJAW’s fearmongering proposal claims that household sewer bills will have to rise dramatically to pay for maintenance, but this ignores the ability of the town to use general funds and issue bonds to amortize the cost over time. Even a direct tax increase to pay for the project without debt (an unnecessary worst-case) would only require total municipal tax revenue (from all sources) to go up about 4%, a light burden for Somerville taxpayers. In comparison, NJAW plans to raise sewer rates permanently (on an operation that already runs a positive balance) in order to extract more profit from Somerville’s population.

Fortunately, there is still time to stop this unnecessary and misguided sale, which will only serve to increase the cost of sewer service for residents of Somerville. Vote NO on November 8th and stop this greedy company from getting its hooks into the wallets of Somerville’s people!

The post Somerville Water Statement appeared first on Central NJ DSA.