On January 3rd, 2021, Charlotte Metro DSA held its monthly meeting in the midst of the #ForcetheVote on Medicare for All debate that was raging online amongst the American Left.  While the weeks since that meeting have diverted our attention, it is important for the chapter leadership to revisit what was discussed at the meeting and report on the debates and decisions that the chapter made as a democratic organization in regard to #ForcetheVote. 

Members displayed their passion and commitment to socialism and building working class power in one the longest debates in chapter history. Many fantastic questions were raised about how we build power, the nature of organizing work, and how we can effectively reach our friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors in the working class. Ultimately it was decided to not endorse the #ForcetheVote effort, but instead to use this as an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment as a chapter to Medicare for All organizing.   

Through the debate we were able to reach a consensus as a chapter that healthcare is at the top of everyone’s mind, especially in the midst of a pandemic and economic crisis.  Since healthcare intersects with every aspect of our lives - labor, housing, education, race, and gender, to name a few - it is also one of the easiest ways for us to start talking to and organizing with the people in our lives.  So, instead of simply voting “no” on endorsing the #ForcetheVote effort, we want to use this as an opportunity. An opportunity to recommit to supporting Medicare for All organizing within Charlotte Metro DSA and in the Carolinas, as a way to reach and recruit new members, as a vehicle to building an effective organizing body in the region, and as a way to positively impact the lives of workers in our community and state.

As we launch this renewed effort in Medicare for All organizing, please join us for our Medicare for All Campaign Kickoff on Saturday, February 20th at 1:00 PM.

RSVP here. Campaign news, updates, and actions will be posted on our M4A Campaign launch page.

Medicare for All now. Solidarity forever.

The Charlotte Metro DSA Steering Committee

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Like many of you, our primary feelings right now are those of anger and urgency. We are isolated in our homes, or continuing to work in essential jobs made dangerous, as we watch COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise. Amidst this deadly pandemic we are witnessing a new stage in the emergence of the far right. White supremacists, encouraged by the President and our congressional representative, Elise Stefanik, are beginning to violently challenge our already precarious and frail democracy.

Both of the bourgeois parties have rallied together to protect big business and the political establishment. This could potentially cause a fallout between the Republican party, Trump and his white supremacist supporters, and boost the growth of the radical far-right movement. We will see increased calls for militarization and policing. Calls will be made for “unity,” signalling a rightward turn for the Democratic party as they reach across the aisle to work with conservative colleagues to restore the legitimacy of political institutions. We must be prepared to present an alternative.

High Peaks DSA is vehemently anti-fascist, anti-racist, and anti-capitalist. We believe that building a better society depends on true democracy, representation, economic justice, collaboration and care. Fascism, racism, and capitalism are the antithesis of justice and community care. Cornel West offers inspiration here. He reminds us to “never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.” Fighting for justice is uncomfortable, confrontational and messy, and it is loving. This is the instinct that we organize from.

These past couple weeks have been hard. We are tired, but we can feel energy starting to creep back in. It is tempting to wait it out, and wish against our better instincts that Joe Biden’s inauguration will bring more normalcy, but we know that no such thing will happen. As we wrote in June, after the world erupted in anger at the unjust murder of George Floyd, “the system is not broken, it is working as it was always intended to. Our system was born when colonists brought the first African slaves to work this land for their own financial gain over 300 years ago.”

The same is true of the Capitol Police’s response to the white supremacist spectacle on January 6, 2021. The system that colluded to allow them to ransack the Capitol has been 300+ years in the making and will not disappear overnight. It is imperative that we continue organizing locally, to counter white supremacy and fascism in our community, to organize ourselves as the working class in order to challenge the power structures enabling white supremacy, which cannot exist without our labor, and to build support structures that can care for each other through sustained hardship.

In the spirit of solidarity and organizing during these tumultuous times, we hope you will join us in the following:

1. Our members’ meeting tomorrow, January 20th at 7 PM. We will discuss events of the last few weeks & the local priorities moving forward.
2. Our next Public Meeting will be on Wednesday, February 3rd, and will be focused on how you can get involved in local campaigns for justice as we move into a new political era.
3. The Tempest Collective’s: “Fighting the Far Right in the Biden Era”, featuring speakers from Santa Cruz and Chicago DSA chapters, labor organizers, and more.
4. Advocating for the health and safety of the most vulnerable.  Check out this really big news from our friends at RAPP (Releasing Aging People in Prison)!

The post What’s Next? appeared first on High Peaks DSA.

The spirit of black radical traditions, at their best, can turn the world upside down and help usher in a political economy of dignity, voice, and decision-making power for working-class communities. Liberationist streams of black radical spirituality are as contemporary as Alice Walker’s call for democratic socialist womanism, as old as Reverend George Washington Woodbey’s Black Baptist socialism and beyond. This discussion between Rev. Andrew Wilkes and Rev. Sekou, artist, author, and public theologian, is part of an ongoing series on faith and socialism. In this conversation, Rev. Wilkes and Rev. Sekou talk about the ethical and religious streams within black radical traditions and the implications for our times

Metro Atlanta DSA forcefully condemns the coup attempt by supporters of Donald Trump that occurred in the United States Capitol building on January 6th. We echo the calls for Trump to resign or be removed from office as soon as possible. We call for the expulsion from Congress of all GOP politicians who encouraged this attack and we urge all our members and supporters to pressure their legislators to support Representative Cori Bush’s resolution to do so.

Since announcing his candidacy for president in 2015, Trump has organized a campaign of hatred, violence, and terror against working people. We saw this throughout his campaign, at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, and in the repression of the Black Lives Matter protests of summer 2020. We saw further escalation in this week’s attack on the Capitol building by a mob of white supremacists and far-right terrorists.

This attack was a convening of far-right activists and militants from across the country, called to D.C. by Trump himself. The crowd was made up of professional internet personalities, small business owners, neo-nazi militias, and even a Republican legislator from West Virginia. Despite aesthetic appeals to “liberty,” this movement is fundamentally opposed to the constitutionalism and rule of law of modern liberal democracy. 

Trump’s presidency is an extension of a wider neofascist movement fueled by the decay of capitalism in a dwindling empire. Squeezed between the pandemic, the climate crisis, and the declining rate of profit, the small capitalists and fascist militias are on track to grow increasingly hostile to both the liberal democratic state and the working class at large. Appeasement is not an option – the only effective counter is a mass movement of the working class fighting for truly democratic control of our society. Metro Atlanta DSA is committed to building this movement to defeat the fascists and the wealthy elites.

David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have been defeated in Georgia. Working people showed up and voted in record numbers to reject the GOP and their cruel agenda. With Democrats on the cusp of taking power in the White House and both houses of Congress, our immediate task as socialists is to demand that the new Democratic Party government take bold action to empower working people and isolate the forces of reaction. If President-Elect Biden and Democratic Leaders Schumer and Pelosi truly intend to oppose fascism, they must tear it out at the root. We demand they pass a People’s Bailout for working people and that they move to swiftly expel the far-right coup instigators from Congress. Anything less will effectively enable the fascists to regroup and begin planning to take the House in 2022 and elect a Trump 2.0 in 2024.

This election was a referendum on COVID Relief. Congress must send all USA residents $2000 survival checks, in addition to retroactive compensation of $2000 per month for the entire span of this pandemic. To both address the immediate unemployment crisis and avert the worst of the climate catastrophe, we demand a Green New Deal to put Americans back to work and achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030. We can create good paying union jobs for all building green infrastructure for a clean and habitable planet for future generations. Finally, we must pass the Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act and establish a single-payer Medicare for All system, so that people are never forced to choose between their healthcare and their rent.

The dramatic upset in the Georgia Senate election can in large part be credited to an unprecedented electoral mobilization by organized labor. The hospitality workers’ union UNITE HERE, with support from other unions across the country, knocked 1,500,000 doors in the Senate election. Without their intervention, the Republican Party would still control the US Senate. Joe Biden owes it to the trade union movement to pass bold pro-labor reforms. Congress must establish a $15 minimum wage tied to inflation, pass the PRO Act, repeal Taft-Hartley, ban right-to-work laws at the federal level, and permit unions to organize through card-check.

We are under no illusions about the Democratic Party. Their neoliberal elite leadership has betrayed working people to serve wealthy corporate interests over and over again, and they will do it again as soon as the opportunity arises. Neoliberal rule from 2008-2016 is what gave us Trump in the first place. Our only recourse is to organize ourselves as working class people in a mass movement for justice and equality. We now have an opportunity for bold federal action, and we must seize this moment to build a vibrant movement for socialism that can overwhelm the forces of reaction. Join us in this fight – a better world is possible.

Join Metro Atlanta DSA today.

When the capitalist media finally pronounced the resounding defeat of fascist Donald Trump, workers around the world breathed a sigh of relief – but only for a moment. Millions continue to suffer through the COVID crisis despite the changing leadership. Workers face mass evictions and unemployment, police repression, and intensifying climate change. The working class must demand that Biden and Harris make real change and break from the neoliberal status quo that brought us Trump and his neofascist movement in the first place.

If the US government can afford to bail out corporations with hundreds of billions of dollars in support, it can afford to bail out the working class. We demand COVID relief now in the form of a $15/hr minimum wage and $2000 monthly survival checks. We demand a safe, livable planet for all, and a Green Jobs Guarantee that puts millions of people to work building the green infrastructure necessary to halt climate change and achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030. We demand the passage of the Emergency Healthcare Guarantee Act and a Medicare For All single-payer healthcare system that guarantees healthcare as a right, not a privilege. We demand a People’s Bailout!

In order to win the COVID relief we deserve, we must overpower the billionaire class. We, the Metro Atlanta DSA, know that this struggle must begin with the immediate defeat of the Republican candidates in the January 5th runoff elections. Control of the US Senate hinges on Georgia, and a Republican-held Senate would be a massive barrier to passing even the most modest reforms. We recommend voting against all Republican candidates on the ballot, in order to make progress possible. However, we do not endorse or support any candidates running in the election. If the Republicans lose the election, our next immediate task will be campaigning against the incoming neoliberal capitalist senators to pass real COVID relief for workers.

Throughout this election cycle, we are organizing to combat racist voter suppression, and to help working Georgians cast their votes in the runoff elections. We are holding socially distanced canvasses and lit drops every weekend, making phone calls and sending texts to voters, and raising awareness about the January 5th election while building support for key socialist issues such as the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and a living wage. 

If you would like to get involved in our campaign, please join DSA, join our chapter, and check our calendar for upcoming events. We are a volunteer-led organization and we rely on dues and donations from working people to fund our activities. Please consider donating to support our campaign. You can email jan5runoffs@madsa.ga for more information.

Workers will fight for the dignity we deserve. Workers will win. Solidarity.

After exit polls from the November election showed 72% of voters wanted Medicare for All, Medicare for All Indiana and the Religious Socialism Committee of Central Indiana DSA convened on November 24th a Multifaith Forum on Medicare for All, recorded and available as our podcast episode. Panelists discussing their faith’s shared commitment to universal healthcare as a moral imperative included: Rabbi Jordana Chernow-Reader, Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation; Rev. David W. Greene, Sr., Purpose of Life Ministries (Second Baptist) and President, Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis; Hebah Kassem, Muslim Medicare for All Activist and DSA member; and Fr. Charles Allen, Episcopal Priest and Member, Religious Socialism Committee of Central Indiana DSA. The moderator was Fran Quigley, director of the Health and Human Rights Clinic at Indiana University McKinney School of Law and member of the Religious Socialism Working Group and Central Indiana DSA.

On January 5th, Georgia will be at the center of national attention for runoff races that will decide the party leadership of the United States Senate. While Metro Atlanta DSA holds no allegiance to any capitalist political party, we recognize the significance of these races and the issues at stake.

In addition to the US Senate, there is also a closely contested election for Public Service Commission, an agency which oversees utility rates, power company regulations, and access to broadband across the state.

Metro Atlanta DSA believes the working class should be informed about the workings of government, and the issues at stake in elections. Our members have worked to put together the following voter guide that discusses the races on the ballot, the significance of the offices being decided, and provides information about how to reliably and safely vote in this election.

Over the course of this runoff campaign, Metro Atlanta DSA plans to be actively organized in supporting voting rights, as well canvassing and phone banking voters about key working class issues at stake. Join MADSA if you want to be involved!

Jewish Traditions of Socialism Our latest episode of ‘Heart of a Heartless World’ is a recording of our October 26th webinar conversation between Rev. Andrew Wilkes and Rabbi Andy Bachman, Executive Director of the Jewish Community Project and former senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim, about how Jewish traditions of socialism, from Martin Buber’s reflections on Utopia to the labor organizing and organic intellectuals of the early twentieth century, have helped create a political economy where workers’ dignity and decision making power is prioritized and can, going forward, inform and inspire contemporary movements of religious socialism.

John D'Emilio joins "Heart of a Heartless World" to discuss the history of Bayard Rustin, a Quaker and democratic socialist who introduced nonviolent tactics to the civil rights movement and organized the March on Washington. After years of organizing protests, Rustin argued after Lyndon B. Johnson's election that the left needed to move "from protest to politics" and engage directly with the political system while building broad-based coalitions. In this episode John D'Emilio charts the similarities between Rustin's engagement with LBJ's administration and the left's challenge with an incoming Biden administration. John D’Emilio is a pioneer in the field of gay and lesbian studies and is professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he taught in the Gender and Women’s Studies Program and the Department of History. He is currently president of the board of the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, a Chicago community-based LGBTQ history archives and cultural center. Resources: John D'Emilio, Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin (2003): https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo3644370.html Interview with John D'Emilio with Meagan Day, "Capitalism made gay identity possible. Now we must destroy capitalism." (2020): https://jacobinmag.com/2020/08/gay-identity-capitalism-lgbt John D'Emilio, "Capitalism and Gay Identity" (1983): https://sites.middlebury.edu/sexandsociety/files/2015/01/DEmilio-Capitalism-and-Gay-Identity.pdf John D'Emilio, Queer Legacies: Stories from Chicago's LGBTQ Archives, (2020): https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/Q/bo44312771.html