DSA joins Houston DSA in endorsing Proposition A for the November 7 general election, which will enable three or more city councilmembers to amend council meeting agendas. The current charter creates a functionally impossible barrier for any elected official other than the mayor to set the agenda.

Greater accountability means minding the details of government process – democracy is in the details!

By the Young Democratic Socialists of America at UW-Madison

We all know the conservative shtick by now. The right-wing organizations on campuses across the nation invite inflammatory, hateful, and reactionary talking heads to promote their bigotry and cry victim each time a student protest is mounted against them.

According to Nick Baker of YAF, our organization is “appalled that someone with different views than their own would be allowed to step foot on campus”. Seems like an inaccurate oversimplification of the situation, but what else would you expect? Because obviously it’s not about a simple difference of opinion. When Matt Walsh spoke a year ago at UW-Madison, Walsh promoted his anti-scientific, anti-trans documentary and YAF inciters took it upon themselves to put up posters advertising the event in spaces of inclusion on campus. Walsh delightfully praised this behavior and suggested the targets of his event ought to be (forcibly) exposed to this material, should it be taxing on their mental health (which, by the way, is not how therapeutic exposure works, but again what can you expect?).

These folks intend to provoke and terrorize. They know they make marginalized people of all backgrounds uncomfortable and unwelcomed with their events. They thrive on people’s fear, yet they have the audacity to condemn us for ensuring their bigotry and lies receive a decided unwelcome from the solidaric union of university students who instead embrace diversity, equality and justice.

Ben Shapiro founded the Daily Wire and has employed other hateful folks, such as Candace Owens, Michael Knowles and Matt Walsh. Owens, like other contemporary conservatives, has tried to redeem nationalist ideology. She sported “White Lives Matter” jackets with Kanye West, who devolved into white supremacist politics. Owens also declared she has a “great contempt” for transgender people. Knowles said transgenderism must be “eradicated” and was panned for promulgating trans genocide. Matt Walsh has echoed several white nationalist talking points, describing diversity as “anti-white”, and entertaining the great replacement theory. Ben Shapiro patronized and vilified trans people in his career, and does not support equal rights for partners of same-sex. Shapiro also virulently advocates for the settler-colonialism of Israel and actively justifies the slaughter of Palestinian people. The matrix system of control that Israel imposed on Palestinian people is inexcusable and indefensible. Occupation is a crime, and Zionism and racial segregation are fascism; it is also not hard to see with the far-right ideologies and alliances with far-right European political parties the Israeli state harbors.

Our point is, conservatives aim to ‘restore and preserve tradition’ and they know that means discrimination and inequality. The banner of conservatism is a masquerade and facade for folks like YAF to propagate and normalize hateful, fascist and white supremacist ideologies into mainstream discourse. We will not let that happen.

We reiterate: the views and values YAF demands you to respect and allow to permeate onto our campus are dangerous and harmful to the UW community. As the Young Democratic Socialists of America at UW-Madison, we will not welcome fascists on our campus. We stand in solidarity with queer, indigenous, people of color, marginalized and oppressed people and victims of hate. We don’t believe their rights are here for debate and we vow that fascism will never win the day. Please join us Monday at 5:30 pm in front of the MemU in solidarity if you support our mission.

The Green New Deal Campaign Commission and Chapters that are Building for Power have been up to a lot the past two months….!

Chapter & Campaign Updates

New Chapters are Building for Power

We’re so excited to announced three new chapter campaigns that are Building for Power! Regional membership bodies passed the following Green-New-Deal-style priority campaings at the chapter level:

• Chicago DSA, Fix the CTA: Organizing alongside Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) workers in Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Locals 308 and 241 in their contract fight to not only bring service back to normal but also implement a vision that expands our transit system and transforms current working conditions.
• Charlottesville DSA, Build 4 Power with Cville DSA Land Trust Advocacy: Mount strategic pressure to convince Charlottesville’s City Council & City Manager to commit to increasing their investment in purchasing land and buying multi-family homes for the Piedmont Community Land Trust (PCLT) and other affordable housing partners such as Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA).
• St. Louis DSA, A Green New Deal for St. Louis, Starting with Our Schools: A new GND Working Group will engage with teacher and labor unions, school boards, and PTO groups, to demand investment in public schools: hiring union contractors to electrify and decarbonize school buildings, employ unionized public works employees to maintain and expand green community spaces, provide raises and resources to teachers who have long struggled for them, significantly expand wraparound services for students and their families, and expand the capacity of public schools to offer emergency relief during climate change-related and other disasters.

We’ll be working with these chapters to refine their demands, assess strategy, and provide material resources.

Building and Building for Power

Chapters we’re working with have made huge strides in their work the last few months. On the labor front, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1447 in Kentucky became public-facing partners with Louisville DSA’s transit campaign “Get on the Bus, Fund TARC“! Our commission sees working lock-step with labor as a critical part of DSA’s work:

Meanwhile, Milwaukee DSA is charging ahead with its Power to the People campaign, which the Milwaukee Teacher’s Education Association officially endorsed in October!

#ICYMI MTEA has endorsed our Power To The People campaign! Join us tomorrow at 6pm for the next phone bank! RSVP: https://t.co/AVOsWXq9uu pic.twitter.com/LnXzxyqt2h

— MilwaukeeDSA (@mkedsa) October 18, 2023

In September, we provided funds for Milwaukee to print bi-lingual flyers for a town-hall which got over 100 RSPVs from English and Spanish speaking community members. To date, Milwaukee DSA has collected over 50,000 signatures in support of public power.

Chapter Organizing

Mid-West Regional Organizing Retreat

In October, DSA hosted a Regional Organizing Retreat for mid-western chapters in Milwaukee. GND Steering Committee Member Soleil S. presented on our campaign mandate. A dozen attendees then joined her in a breakout session to discuss winning a green new deal in their cities and states.

Chapter Campaign Huddles

Organizing is a muscle that needs to be exercised like any other. And jumping into campaign mode without learning the right techniques can lead to treading water and burnout. So every month, we host an hour-long “campaign huddle” session where we not only give B4P campaign updates, but also review key organizing strategies.

Last month, we reviewed the Organizing Bullseye and challenged organizers to assess if they have been moving people to the center — turning supporters into activists and activists into core leaders. Some participants came to the conclusion that they are not! As organizers, it’s imperative we take hard looks at our work and change course when things are not working.

If this sounds like the kind of conversation you need to have, join us every last Wednesday of the month at 8pm ET.

Commission Updates

New Steering Committee

Per our 2023 Priority Resolution passed at Convention, we have a new 15-member steering committee for the 2025-2025 term. The body represents a wide cross-section of chapters, including YDSA, and internal and external organizing experience. Meet the new leadership here.

Green New Dues

In October, our body hosted a “Green New Dues” dues drive as part of a convention mandate to “give 1% for the 99%.” We made over 801 calls asking members to pay 1% of their income to DSA dues; 40% of our conversations ended with a yes!

If you’re a member, will you step up to the challenge and help build the powerful mass working class organization we need to win by switching to Solidarity Income-Based Dues today?

Maine Public Power Convening

From October 19-22, more than 60 organizers representing 45 groups from across the country converged in Portland, Maine to learn, strategize, and collaborate on how to win public power. They also textbanked and canvassed for Maine’s upcoming Pine Tree Power ballot initiative.

Steering Committe members Lake L., KC C., and Matt H. went as reps of the Green New Deal Campaign Commission. They handed out brochures and provided a truncated version of our training series for attendees.

What a fall! Sign up for our mailing list to get updates and resources delivered to your inbox.

Regular listeners of Revolutions per Minute will be familiar with our coverage of Palestine solidarity work within the Democratic Socialists of America. We recognize that the struggle for Palestinian liberation and the violence of settler colonial displacement are both ongoing. Tonight, our coverage continues with a live conversation with Sumaya and Daphna, two NYC-DSA members and organizers with deep experience in Palestine solidarity work.

We discuss this month’s outbreak of violence in Palestine and Israel, which has led to the genocidal and illegal bombardment of Gaza happening as we speak. Socialists in New York and across the country have joined forces with the multi-cultural, international movement for Palestine solidarity, with hundreds of thousands flooding the streets of major cities, conducting civil disobedience, and calling on the country’s leadership to end United States support for Israel and a ceasefire now. Join us to learn more about why Palestine liberation is a priority for socialists. 

Visit https://socialists.nyc/no-money-for-massacres/ to find an upcoming NYC-DSA-endorsed solidarity phone bank or action. Visit gazaispalestine.com to find or post an upcoming protest in your city anywhere in the United States.

by Gumbo

The DSA international Committee (IC) sent a delegation to Cuba in October 2023. Austin DSA member and former Justice of the Peace candidate, Andrew Hairston, went. Gumbo discussed the trip with Andrew before they left.

Gumbo: Why were you interested in going with the Cuba delegation?

Hairston: I’ve been to Mexico and to Jamaica and I have always been fascinated by the way that Cuba and Cubans have sustained themselves under U.S. embargo. I applied on a whim after the IC announced the trip at the DSA convention and I really wanted to go not just as a tourist, but as an organizer and as someone with so much to learn about the struggle of the Cuban people to build and preserve socialism.

Gumbo: So you’ve been outside the U.S. before – what about the Cuba trip makes this different for you?

Hairston: I don’t speak much Spanish, so I’m going to be building the plan as we fly it on that front. I’m excited to be going as a socialist, as a member of DSA, and as an organizer. There was a point in my life where I think I would’ve been a socialist organizer sooner but after my experience running for office as a socialist and now as a rank-and-file member of the organization, that’s really come full circle for me.

At one point in law school, I was reading about socialism and having these conversations with my classmates. “Maybe capitalism is the problem. Maybe we need to build socialism or just something different,” and a classmate from Miami with Cuban ancestry, rebuffed me and told me how it was a horrible ideology and how Fidel Castro and Che Guevara murdered thousands of people and so I just tucked that political awakening away. There is another comrade in the delegation who I organized with years ago, so in many ways this trip feels like coming full circle for me in my political journey.

Gumbo: What are you most looking forward to on the Cuba delegation?

Hairston: First and foremost, just being among the people. I think that we’re going to see just how wrong all of the U.S. propaganda about Cuba really is. I’ve heard we’ll be touring a vaccine manufacturing plant and I know Cuba was key to creating and distributing a vaccine that was available to U.S. foes. We are also touring an elementary school and we were encouraged to bring school supplies. To me, that’s the best part of this trip: we aren’t just going to be tourists, we’re going to learn and to build relationships and to practice that solidarity that we are always talking about at home.

There’s another element to it too, an emotional and familial element. I pray with my family every Thursday over FaceTime and it’s a way for me to stay close with my mom and my sister and niece. When I broke the news a few weeks ago about going to Cuba, it launched a wider conversation with my family about socialism and my political views. My family lives in a rural part of a deeply conservative state. They’ve been so deeply harmed by this system of private property in the United States. My aunt has perennially dirty water, and she  has had to fight to keep her house. They stand to gain so much from a politics rooted in the land that they live on and the work that they do, and I’m really excited to come back from the delegation with even more to talk to them about.

Gumbo: Speaking of your family and your position as a Black comrade in the Southern U.S., how do you feel that your relationship to race and religion and region has played into your expectations for the trip?

Hairston: For starters, I think if this opportunity had come up for me just a year ago, I would have tried to push boundaries a little harder: try to bring more supplies through the embargo, or bring more goods back, some cigars or something. But now, I am just a sober Baptist deacon and I’m content. I really felt called to the spiritual grounding of my dad and the 148-year-old Black church that I minister at. There is a 101-year-old Black woman who comes every single Sunday and I get to see the joy in her face when she tells me stories of what it was like to grow up in Austin so long ago.

At times I am reticent to say that I’m doing this [political] work for Black people, but unequivocally I am. I want a better world that is built in part by and for Black people and I try to bring that into my ministry as well, talking at church about how the main reason that Black people have come as far as they have is because of a socialist struggle against racial capitalism.

I am looking forward to reading more about the historical relationship between the Cuban people’s struggle for liberation and the struggle of Black people in the United States. I know Castro was welcomed with open arms and wide smiles in Harlem in the 1960s and that the roots run deep. I’m also glad to be embedded in DSA to have the resources to be learning and pursuing all of this work.

Gumbo: Were there any special hoops you had to jump through, or any particular difficulties you faced in preparing to visit Cuba?

Hairston: Surprisingly less than you might think! We are registered as visiting the island and I had to get my passport renewed and everything as you usually would, but so far it has all been pretty straightforward. The most difficult part was the fundraiser, because within 24 hours of setting up a fundraiser page on PayPal, it was flagged and taken down. About 72 hours later, PayPal said, “hey explain this page or your account might be compromised.” It wasn’t easy to raise money because of the material impacts of the embargo.

The IC leadership organizing the trip also warned the delegates to expect to be accosted when we return about what we were “really doing” while we were there. Like I said, a younger me might have pushed those boundaries and said, “Man we were down there building international solidarity and socialism!” But I plan on just getting through that process slick and smooth. Speaking of those material impacts of the embargo, the IC also said not to expect the best of food while we’re there, because they don’t have access to the same array of spices and sugar and salt and all that we have come to expect here in the States.

I do think that there was an inherent racial disparity involved in that having the money to front for the delegation was more difficult for Black and brown people, but I am grateful for my comrades who helped me figure it out and scrape things together. I have some recommendations I plan to make to the IC once we return, but right now my sights are set squarely on learning as much as I possibly can from the wonderful people of Cuba about practicing the world we all hope to build, and I’m looking forward to the hard interpersonal conversations with my family, my friends, and my comrades once we’re back home.

The DSA 2023 Cuba Delegation visited the island from 22 – 26 October 2023 under the leadership of the International Committee. When they’ve settled back in at home, Gumbo plans to sit down with Andrew again to talk about how the reality of the visit lived up to the expectations, the things he learned, and the wisdom they want to impart on Austin DSA.

The post Austinite Joins DSA Delegation to Cuba first appeared on Red Fault.

It is high time that workers are celebrated and as socialists we know that the working class is what truly built this city. However, this demonstration rings hollow as we continue to see daily evictions, a massively over-funded police department, and an administration that aligns itself with businesses and profits over workers and the general needs of our community. A statue of a rubber worker is nice but workers building power is better. Join DSA today to make sure we can build a world in which we can live and thrive!

Happy Halloween, Comrades! The Activist Editorial Board has compiled a guide to understanding the socialist theory on display in the monsters and spirits of Halloween!

The post Embracing the Red Scare: A Guide to a Socialist Halloween appeared first on YDSA.

DSA's budget and deficit have been front and center in conversations around the organization this year, especially at the 2023 YDSA and DSA conventions. The author spoke with Y/DSA leaders from across the country to discuss the issue.

The post DSA Leaders Look for Paths Through “Boom and Bust” Budget Cycle appeared first on YDSA.

Translated into Spanish below / Traducido al español a continuación

The DSA International Committee congratulates Luisa González and the Citizen’s Revolution party for running a strong campaign in the face of six years of slanderous propaganda by Ecuador’s right-wing controlled mass media, as well as many dubious lawfare prosecutions and convictions. While González’s 48 percent of the vote was not enough to win against the oligarch, Daniel Noboa, it shows that there remains strong opposition to a neoliberal economic agenda within Ecuador.

In the final days of the campaign, the government’s Attorney General, Diana Salazar, made an unsubstantiated accusation that one of the suspects “confessed” to acting under the direction of “the Correa government” in the assassination of Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Seven other prisoners held for the assassination were killed in prison in the past week. This allegation against Correa was never rooted in fact, but it may have successfully contributed to Citizen’s Revolution’s narrow defeat.

Daniel Noboa is the 35-year-old son of Alvaro Naboa, one of Ecuador’s richest men and a five-time presidential candidate. Noboa will continue the neoliberal policies of current President Guillermo Lasso as well as the previous President, Lenín Moreno which will favor his wealthy family and the entire ruling class. These policies will cut taxes for himself and his family at the expense of drastic cuts in all public services, including education and health care; and neglect for the poorest Ecuadorians. These neoliberal policies have devastated Ecuador and frayed its social fabric culminating in an unprecedented crime wave with a 500 percent increase in homicides. 

We congratulate Citizen’s Revolution for winning the most seats of any party in the National Assembly in this snap general election, ensuring they will continue to lead the opposition to neoliberalism in Ecuador. This past February, they also won the majority of Provincial Prefect offices and the majority of the mayor’s offices in large cities, including Quito and Guayaquil. 

Ecuador’s next general election will be in only a year and a half. Citizen’s Revolution along with indigenous organizations, labor unions, environmentalists, feminists and student groups represent the majority of Ecuadorians who oppose the neoliberal project. Their collective unity will be pivotal in future struggles and in creating the future that Ecuador deserves. We stand with all of them and pledge to lend our continued support.

La DSA condena la propaganda sucia en la segunda vuelta de las elecciones presidenciales de Ecuador

El Comité Internacional de la DSA felicita a Luisa González y al partido Revolución Ciudadana por haber llevado a cabo una sólida campaña y haber hecho frente a seis años de propaganda difamatoria por parte de los medios de comunicación controlados por la derecha ecuatoriana, así como a muchos procesos legales y condenas dudosas. Aunque el 48% de los votos que González alcanzó no fue suficiente para vencer al oligarca Daniel Noboa, se ha demostrado que sigue habiendo una fuerte oposición a la agenda económica neoliberal en Ecuador.

En los últimos días de la campaña, la fiscal general del gobierno, Diana Salazar, formuló una acusación sin fundamento concerniente a una “confesión” de uno los sospechosos, que dice haber actuado bajo la dirección del “gobierno de Correa” en el asesinato del candidato presidencial Fernando Villavicencio. Otros siete presos detenidos por el homicidio fueron asesinados en prisión a comienzos del mes de octubre. Esta acusación contra Correa nunca tuvo fundamento, pero puede haber contribuido con éxito a la estrecha derrota de la Revolución Ciudadana.

Noboa, de 35 años, es hijo de Álvaro Noboa, uno de los hombres más ricos de Ecuador y cinco veces candidato presidencial. Noboa continuará las políticas neoliberales del actual presidente Guillermo Lasso, así como del anterior, Lenín Moreno, que favorecerán a su acaudalada familia. Estas políticas harán reducir los impuestos para él y su familia a costa de drásticos recortes en todos los servicios públicos, incluyendo la educación y la salud; y a costa del abandono de los ecuatorianos más pobres. Estas políticas neoliberales han devastado Ecuador y han devastado su tejido social, culminando en una ola de delincuencia sin precedentes con un aumento de un 500 por ciento en la cantidad de homicidios.

La Revolución Ciudadana es el partido con más escaños en la Asamblea Nacional en estas elecciones generales anticipadas y seguirá liderando la oposición al neoliberalismo en Ecuador. El pasado mes de febrero, ganó la mayoría de las prefecturas provinciales y la mayoría de las alcaldías de las grandes ciudades, incluidas la de Quito y la de Guayaquil.

Las próximas elecciones generales en Ecuador serán dentro de año y medio. La Revolución Ciudadana, junto con organizaciones indígenas, sindicatos, ecologistas, feministas y grupos estudiantiles, representa a la mayoría de los ecuatorianos que se oponen al proyecto neoliberal. Su unidad colectiva será fundamental en las futuras luchas y en la creación del futuro que merece Ecuador. Estamos con todos ellos y nos comprometemos a seguir prestándoles nuestro apoyo.

The post In Condemnation of the Dirty Campaign Against Our Comrades in Ecuador appeared first on DSA International Committee.