by Justin W

I Love Boosters is a story about a trio of “boosters,” women who steal from department stores and resell the items to the community, and their fight against a local billionaire. The billionaire’s name is Christie Smith, whom one of them admires so much she has her platitudes memorized, which makes for a complicated relationship that evolves as the movie goes along. The CEO is very clearly a genius, having graduated college at 17 and spent years working in physics departments, but her platitudes still sound just as vapid and amorphous as any other CEO or motivational speaker. During their heists the trio find a Chinese worker who steals the designer wear so quickly they legitimately believes she has a magic bag, and given that this is a Boots Riley film, you believe it too until it’s revealed to be a teleporter. 

The Chinese factory worker, Jianhu, is stealing the clothes as a way to attack Christie Smith for the horrible conditions in the factory she and her family work in. This brings the trio and Jianhu together as they start stealing more from Christie Smith. As they’re in the process of stealing clothes a discovery is made: The teleporter does more than teleport, it deconstructs and accelerates the contradictions as well. It becomes clear this is a machine based on Dialectical Materialism as the machine brings two things together (teleports), it deconstructs (as shown when they deconstruct clothes into their base components AND when they aim it at a person and turn that person into their parents having sex), and it accelerates the contradictions of a given entity (a cop car is turned into a parody of overmilitarization and reconstructs a person from their parents from before). 

This leads to the personal conflicts in the movie and what I believe to be the thesis. We have the main character Corvette and her best friend Sade, one who is trying to overcome the ills brought about by capitalism (Sade) and the other who is so lonely a loneliness demon tries to pick her up on multiple occasions (Corvette). Sade sees MLM marketing as the way through the ills of capitalism and Corvette sees vengeance as her way out of her loneliness. This is resolved when they link their struggle against Christie Smith to the workers both in China who are making the clothes as well as the workers building a union to stand up against the billionaire. The resolution is built through the combining of the efforts of all workers against Christie Smith and the fashion industry, starting in China and the United States but then the rest of the world, and the community organizing that needs to happen to build those strikes and protests. 

We see this through Corvette rejecting the loneliness demon and her confronting the rolling ball of bills, tickets, and failures of Corvette’s past (seen the entire movie following her just out of sight of everyone else), which shrinks once she has a community to help her deal with those problems. The problems are still there, just reduced to a more manageable size. 

Given this is a Boots Riley film, there are some incredible design and artistic choices that combine to create wonderful metaphors. The CEOs office is tilted, showing her skewed view of the world. The loneliness demon who has been around for millenia can only remember two years back when they were lost in a Target, or, one might say, lost in a capitalist hellscape (please listen to the song “Lost in the Supermarket” by The Clash). At one point some characters who have been seen interviewed on TV take off their skins, revealing that they play characters on TV (like workers arguing for less pay and benefits as well as Candace Owens, among others) or lead MLMs to generate in people the need for more brutal cop tactics, anti-worker propaganda, and false solutions (like MLMs) as part of a campaign created by the billionaire to reduce in workers the desire for real solutions like collective action. 

The skin suits also demonstrate how those with anti-worker sentiments but still working class themselves literally sell their identities to be used and interchanged by anyone who needs them for whatever purpose. They give away their ability to identify themselves for the purpose of fulfilling the whims and desires of a billionaire. In true Boots Riley fashion, he tries to make the metaphors as overt as possible, with a little bit of surrealism thrown in the mix. The comedic elements of the movie shine through these metaphors and are so littered throughout I am very surprised the movie isn’t considered a comedy. Boots Riley’s love of storytelling and visual metaphor make him one of my favorite directors and this was terrific and just the right amount of silliness to push through the slightly radical position he’s leading towards through the film.

But this wouldn’t be a Marxist take on a very overtly Marxist movie (the main catalyst for the movie is a Dialectic Materialism machine) without some discussion on the theory presented. The Dialectical Materialism machine is initially seen only as a teleporter, but later in the movie a union organizer explains the full functionality, urging the trio to use it to help them accelerate people into the union they’re building. Initially, the Velvet Gang (the name of the boosters’ group) turns her down in favor of their plan to simply steal from the billionaire thinking that would be enough. As the movie progresses and we reach the climax of the film, the machine is used to link the struggles of the union in the United States to the factory workers in China, creating the solidarity needed to fight against their collective boss. 

Through the explanation of the functions of the machine we get a decent description of dialectical materialism, in a way that is simple enough that we can progress with the movie, while still being faithful to the concept itself. I think Boots’ decision to purposefully inject actual theory into the movie gives a stepping stone for those who like the movie something to grasp onto when deciding to work on their own politics, but does mean the resolution of the movie cannot be as explicit in the direction I think we should go. The CEO is not removed nor a communist revolution waged by the end of this film, instead a worldwide strike against the fashion industry is started, and characters from the movie are seen leading the union in their fight for a better wage, though the main characters are not participants. The most recent film to have such overt Marxist themes, also made by a black director, is Sinners. 

Sinners, for those who haven’t seen it (Why haven’t you? Go watch it!) has a black community fighting against a vampire who uses racism to escape from justice and controls the actions of those whom he has bitten. It is a story about a blood sucking parasite who had oppression forced on him years ago and wants to forcibly create the community he lost due to colonialism and imperialism by stealing the music and soul of a community that hasn’t yet lost themselves to that same oppressive force. The black community fights and kills the vampire, in a bloody struggle that lasts all night, ending with one character killing the racists who came to kill him. In interviews following the release of the film, director Ryan Coogler was asked multiple times about the Marxist implications of the movie and what was being said through the metaphors, every time keeping silent about what he wrote. He could not, at any point, be explicit in the aims and messaging of his movie, lest he lose what position he has to make films like Sinners again. He was able to show the action of the theory, but wasn’t allowed to be explicit in the ideology that created it. 

I see Boots Riley’s choice to name the theory but not show the action as the flip side of the coin. Even on a good day Hollywood would not allow both sides of the coin to be shown on screen at the same time, as Capital knows what it can allow anti-capitalist art to show, as well as what it can’t. Were I Love Boosters to show the fall of capitalism and say the words “Dialectical Materialism,” a producer would have simply shut down the movie and not let it see the light of day. There must be a balance struck between what can be said and what can be shown while still being funded by those who would otherwise be the target of said action or the villain of theory. The theory of the film is presented in a relatively clear way, but the film needed to reel in the actions shown to compensate. When we say “The Revolution will not be televised” this is an example. You can see that revolutions happen or you can hear theory be spoken, but never the twain shall meet, at least not on the big screen. So we need to read between the lines, and see the direction Boots Riley or Ryan Coogler are pointing us in. (On a related note, come join us at Book Club sometime.) 

Overall, this movie is terrific and I recommend everyone go see it. The bright colors, wonderful fashion, comedic style, and the only just so slightly over the top surrealism blend together into a wonderful movie that I would definitely watch again, and recommend others watch too. Combined with the theory hilariously intertwined into the movie, it is one of the best movies I have ever seen and I want to hear your thoughts on it too.

The post I Love “I Love Boosters” appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.

[Federal] US CONGRESS CA-26: Chris Espinosa

We have been represented by a terrible establishment AIPAC shill for far too long, and we have a candidate who is anti-establishment and not beholden to the donor class.

The Ventura County DSA is proud to endorse Chris Espinosa.

Sources:

• CA DSA
• The Acorn
• ACLU
• CAIR California
• VC Star

[Federal] US CONGRESS CA-24: Helena Pasquarella

Incumbent Salud Carbajal (D) is running for his 6th term. He is an establishment democrat and has a disappointing track record for the working class. He is beholden to the donor class, with campaign contributions from organizations like AIPAC, SpaceX and Raytheon. He also accepted funds from Samuel Bankman-Fried, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding billions of dollars from thousands of people.

Carbajal continuously supported Israel during the genocide in Gaza, despite multiple town halls where his constituents directly expressed their outrage to him for his inhumane positions and refusal to acknowledge the genocide. His voting record reflects that he supports the following measures:

    – Supplying billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Israel (HR 2670 in 2023 and HR 6090 in 2024)
    – Opposing the BDS movement (HR 246 in 2019)
    – Codifying the conflation of anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel (HR 894 in 2023 and HR 6090 in 2024)
    – Censuring House Representative and DSA member Rashida Tlaib for her support of Palestinian humanity (HR 845 in 2023)

Carbajal has crossed the aisle to vote alongside MAGA republicans on several harmful bills. In 2022, while acknowledging that “a good part of the Republican Party” has transformed into an anti-democratic cult loyal to Trump, he also stated his belief in “collaborating and creating a collaborative environment” with the MAGA republicans. Here are a few examples of measures he supported in his collaboration with MAGA politicians:

    – Enabling Trump to legally receive bribes in the form of cryptocurrency (GENIUS Act in 2025)
    – Legalizing the detention/deportation of immigrants who haven’t committed any crimes (HR 3697 in 2017)
    – Expanding the power of ICE and the DHS to collect American citizens’ personal information under the guise of fighting retail theft (HR 2853, aka CORCA, in May 2026)
    – Denying gender-affirming healthcare to children (National Defense Authorization Act in 2024)
    – Denouncing socialism (House Concurrent Resolution 58 in 2025)

Carbajal has shown time and again that he prioritizes corporate interests and the donor class over the working class, has no regard for the lives of Palestinians, and is willing to help advance Trump’s agenda.

Salud Carbajal’s challenger in the Democratic Party is Sarah Bacon, a former tech executive who is currently the vice president of external affairs for UC Santa Barbara’s Graduate Student Association. This will be her first time running for office. Overall, her platform aligns reasonably well with ours and she seems sincere and competent, but in this race she’s a Democrat running on a reform ticket. We feel the Democratic party needs to be transformed or supplanted, not just reformed.

Our preferred candidate is Helena Pasquarella, a DSA member and the Director at the Department of Peace in Ojai. She previously ran in the primary for CA-24 in 2024 as a Democrat, securing 9.1% of the votes and finishing 3rd. She is the only candidate – other than incumbent -Carbajal who has previously run for office.

Pasquarella is running as a member of the Peace and Freedom Party this election cycle and has been endorsed by the Green Party of Santa Barbara. Her platform includes Medicare for all, cutting funding to Israel, immigration reform, universal rent control, defunding the police, and supporting the Green New Deal. Pasquarella has recognized that Israel is committing a genocoide in Gaza and has pledged to refuse campaign contributions from corporations and their PACs. If elected, she has said she will proudly promote the DSA ideals into her decision making in Congress.

DSA Ventura-County is proud to endorse our fellow DSA member Helena Pasquarella.

Sources:

• Santa Barbara Independent
• Vote View
• The Sacramento Bee
• Federal Office of Public Affairs – Press Release
• Reverse Canary Missions
• Daily KOS
• Brad Lander (X.com)
• ED Hat Santa Barbara

[CA State] Lieutenant Governor: Oliver Ma

(Via CA DSA)

Very much like the governor’s race, the race for lieutenant governor contains a lot of candidates that leave much to be desired. Fiona Ma, California’s State Treasurer, and Josh Fryday, one of Gruesome Gavin’s high-ranking appointees, are the main establishment candidates. Fiona Ma has the bulk of endorsements from the Californian political establishment, with politicians like incumbent Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis and the majority of organized labor behind her. Along with Fiona Ma’s uninspiring establishment political line, she has been accused of sexual harassment and racial discrimination by a former staffer.

Occupying the “progressive” lane is the former mayor of Stockton, Michael Tubbs. Since Tubbs’s single term as mayor, where he is most known for his attempts to implement a universal basic income (UBI) program, he has led efforts in the non-profit sphere to combat wealth inequality with his End Poverty in California (EPIC) organization. While Tubbs is certainly running as a progressive and is endorsed by members of the progressive Californian establishment like former Senator Laphonza Butler, Representatives Lateefah Simon and Robert Garcia, and Mayor of Oakland Barabara Lee, his commitment to advancing left politics is not entirely certain.

To start off with, Tubbs endorsed billionaire centrist and former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg for president in 2020, even while democratic socialist Bernie Sanders’s campaign swept California, receiving almost 36% of the primary vote to Bloomberg’s 12%. Bernie even won Tubbs’s home of San Joaquin county. On the campaign trail, Tubbs has certainly evoked economic populism, but revealed sparingly little policy- especially policy that results in real redistribution and the elevation of workers over owners. He has also been conspicuously silent on the ever-escalating violence, apartheid, and genocide in Palestine.

Luckily, there is another choice: Oliver Ma. Oliver is CA DSA’s first-ever endorsed statewide candidate and is running on an explicitly democratic socialist platform that articulates a vision of a California that works for working people—not oligarchs and billionaires.

Oliver immigrated to California at age seven and has dedicated his career as a lawyer to protecting the rights of tenants, immigrants, and workers. As an immigrant rights attorney with the ACLU, Oliver has been on the front lines of defending Californians against ICE and the federal government’s terror campaign. When elected, he will shut down the for-profit detention centers that have proliferated across our state, ending the profits made from our exploitation.

One of the primary areas of influence of the Lieutenant Governor is over California’s higher education system. Currently, University of California schools alone have over $32 billion invested in assets tied to genocide and apartheid in Palestine. Not only is Oliver the only candidate to describe the atrocities in Gaza as genocide, he is the only candidate who has promised to divest these funds from Israel and ensure that our higher education institutions are not funding atrocities overseas.

Oliver is committed to building something that lasts beyond his campaign and, in this, building DSA statewide. Oliver understands, like all democratic socialists must, that an organized movement of working people is more than one candidate or one campaign. If you are not in DSA yet, join today and get involved with our statewide organization or in your local chapter’s work.

For more information on Oliver Ma, go to: https://oliverma2026.com/ and vote for Oliver Ma before June 2.

Candidate Recommendations

Recommendations are personal statements from members of DSA and are not elected endorsements from the chapter

[State] CA Governor – Ramsey Robinson

By T.

Opportunism and class collaboration have historically not brought about a strong socialist movement, independent organizing has. If the current situation is unique enough that we should diverge from the lessons learned by past socialist projects and change strategy, that argument has not been made. It is not the job of socialists to further empower a billionaire, to funnel people’s support into the bourgeois Democratic party, the ruling class has enough help doing this as it stands. There is a tendency among some to say that if socialists are not winning directly we should strategically align ourselves with the winning side, but in this case the winner is still capitalist exploitation. This is not just our opinion, this is a long standing socialist strategy that has seen great effect in the past.

“Even where there is no prospect of achieving their election the workers must put up their own candidates to preserve their independence, to gauge their own strength and to bring their revolutionary position and party standpoint to public attention. They must not be led astray by the empty phrases of the democrats, who will maintain that the workers’ candidates will split the democratic party and offer the forces of reaction the chance of victory. All such talk means, in the final analysis, that the proletariat is to be swindled. The progress which the proletarian party will make by operating independently in this way is infinitely more important than the disadvantages resulting from the presence of a few reactionaries in the representative body.”
-Karl Marx, 1850

Running as and voting for socialists provides valuable benefits in building visibility for socialist organizations, growing class consciousness, emphasizing organizational independence from bourgeois parties, and measuring support among the population. To frame socialists voting for a socialist candidate who represents their values as simply a “protest vote” while advocating for socialists to vote for a capitalist candidate is belittling and disrespectful to our comrades who dedicated their resources to the socialist campaigns. As Eugene Debs once said, “I would rather vote for something I want and not get it than vote for something I don’t want and get it.” If voting for a socialist, such as Ramsey Robinson of the Peace and Freedom Party, is purely a symbolic protest, then what is it called when a billionaire promises to raise taxes or arrest ICE officers? Less than symbolic, this is an empty promise. Voting socialist is only symbolic support if voting is where your organizing ends.

We understand the disagreement is not over which candidate is preferable in and of themselves, the disagreement is over which campaign is worth supporting in a race. This being said, we must understand that our endeavors do not last for one election cycle, one act of praxis does not exist independently from the others. The question we must ask ourselves is: what course of action will result in a stronger socialist movement? Voting for Steyer to further empower one of the richest, most powerful individuals in our state, or voting for Ramsey Robinson and adding momentum to California’s growing socialist movement? For many of us, the answer is solidly Ramsey Robinson. A better world is possible and that world starts with standing by what we believe in, and standing in solidarity with workers.

Vote socialist! Vote Peace and Freedom in 2026! Vote Ramsey Robinson for governor!

[State] CA Governor – Tom Steyer

By G.

The California Gubernatorial field is huge. And with the open primary system, the two candidates who receive the most votes will advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. As it stands, the only non-Republican candidates in position to advance are billionaire Tom Steyer and attorney Xavier Becerra. 

After Eric Slalwell resigned when accusations of sexual misconduct and alleged rape emerged, Xavier Becerra became the preferred candidate of establishment democrats. As Attorney General of California during the first Trump administration, Becerra strongly advocated for lowering the cost of medicines that were developed with taxpayer dollars. But in 2023, as Joe Biden’s Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), he completely reversed his position at the behest of pharmaceutical lobbyists and rejected a petition by prostate cancer patients to lower the cost of the medicine they needed and couldn’t afford. Becerra has refused to recognize that Israel is committing a genocide. As a member of the House of Representatives, Becerra voted to authorize the use of armed forces against Iraq (HJRES 114 in 2002). Under his watch as HHS, 85,000 migrant children went missing. Becerra pushed to move children out of shelters quickly, resulting in the loosening of protections that were in place, including the screening of sponsors. Several of these kids were subjected to child labor in places like slaughterhouses, which resulted in cases of severe injuries and death. Becerra refused to take accountability for his failures. Becerra’s endorsements include Julia Brownley and Salud Carbajal, two Zionist supporting politicians. He has also received the maximum campaign endorsement from Chevron and has doubled down on receiving their support. 

Tom Steyer has a far more progressive platform than Becerra. Despite being a billionaire, he has stated his commitment to be a class traitor and advocate against his financial interests, including supporting the California Billionaire Tax that will be on the ballot. He supports the abolishment of ICE, calling them a violent extremist group. Steyer’s anti-ICE position goes beyond rhetoric. He has a 5-step plan to prosecute ICE agents if elected governor. Steyer supports Medicare for All and has been endorsed by CAIR and the Bernie Sanders organization Our Revolution.

But there are some red flags that immediately stand out. He is a billionaire who made his wealth in horrible ways. He founded an investment firm called Farallon that invested almost $90 million in a private prison company that runs the largest ICE detention centers in California. It is something he has acknowledged and says he regrets. Steyer also used his hedge fund to finance fossil fuel projects. Today he claims to be a climate change activist and has tried to distance himself from Farallon but he never fully cut ties with the firm he founded. Steyer has stopped short of acknowledging that Israel is committing a genocide and has stated that the focus should be on Iran rather than holding Israel accountable for their crimes against humanity. But he has condemned AIPAC, saying there’s no place for dark money in politics.

In an ideal world, socialist Ramsey Robinson would be the leading candidate. But unfortunately, he has no chance of winning. The reality is that the only viable candidates to oppose Steve Hilton, the pro-ICE Republican candidate, are Steyer and Becerra, neither of whom deserve the endorsement of DSA. That being said, I will be voting for Tom Steyer because his platform is far more progressive. He has not been endorsed by oil lobbyists and Zionists like Becerra has. It’s a matter of public record that Becerra has capitulated to the capital class over the working class when given power in government. And while Steyer has many flaws, he has pledged to run on a progressive platform that includes taxing billionaires, abolishing ICE, housing first initiatives, advocating for trans rights, and Medicare for all. It remains to be seen if Tom Steyer will follow through on his commitment to be a class traitor, but his platform is far superior to Becerra’s, and I would much rather Steyer be the candidate to oppose Hilton.

The official publication of NNJ DSA is back with a brand new name. Formerly known as The Red Star Ledger, this quarterly issued magazine features various stories of our chapter. […]

By Liam P-A. On Thursday, March 12, community members sat down on the wet sidewalk in front of Christ Hospital and refused to leave. For three days and two nights […]

Are you interested in becoming the best organizer you can be? Do you want to expand socialism here in Milwaukee, but are unsure of where and how to start? Have you been involved but feel like the project did not go anywhere? If you answered yes to any of these questions, the Milwaukee Socialist Organizer Class is for you! 

This eight week program will focus on holistically teaching you to be an unstoppable organizer who builds socialism, changes hearts and minds, and impacts our city.  You will learn direct action organizing, as defined by Organizing for Social Change: Midwest Academy Manual for Activists, in which we organize actions, campaigns, and tactics to “1) win real, immediate, concrete improvement in people’s lives . . . 2) Give people a sense of their own power . . . 3) Alter the relations of power.” 

Interested individuals will register (Click here, which is due by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, June 7, 2026), be contacted and begin attending classes.  DSA membership is not required to participate, but is encouraged. 

This education program will be a combination of in-person events with virtual events if necessary. Each unit will be roughly a week, with a week break in the middle of the program. Each unit will consist of classroom-style instruction in the unit topic (no more than 2 hours, which will be in-person on Tuesday nights from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.), field work in organizing (which will be at least 3 hours and consist of having conversations, moving people to action, and building infrastructure for a strong socialist movement involving several types of campaigns), and time for personal reflection. Each participant must commit to the entire program and, unless excused, attend every unit instruction, and field work session.  Missing more than three classes and field work sessions may result in removal from the program.  

This is the ninth time this program has been offered, and it is back by popular demand! The three instructors have updated and revised the course to make you even more prepared to lead in socialism.  

Time commitment per week: 

Unit instruction: 2 hours 

Organizing work: 3 hours 

Miscellaneous tasks: 1 hour 

Total time per week: 6 hour

Weekly Schedule 

Class will be conducted on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. and held for at least the first few weeks in-person at Zao MKE, located at 3219 E Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, 53211.  A new location for class may be chosen, but the class will remain in-person.   

Field work will be held at regular intervals over the week, with options to organize at several points during the week: 

(tentative schedule, subject to change . . .) 

Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.

Sundays 12:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. 

Mondays 5:30 until 8:30 p.m. 

Program Timeline: 

Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.:

Application deadline – apply here

Tuesday, June 9, 2026:

Start of eight week program ( class held, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.), held at Zao MKE, located at 2319 E Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, WI 53211

Tuesday, June 16:

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, June 23:

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, June 30:

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, July 7:

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, July 14:

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, July 21: 

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, July 28: 

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Units

Each unit helps to answer the question: what is organizing? 

Welcome: what is organizing?

• Get to know participants and instructor
• Define scope of class and intentions 
• Determine goals and desired outcomes 

Organizing is one-on-one Conversations

• Learn the 7 point organizing conversation 
• Practice the conversation and its elements 

Organizing is building the committee and the campaign 

• The importance (or not) of the committee
• Power Mapping the campaign 
• Strategy Chart 

Organizing is holistic productivity 

• Traction versus distraction 
• Time management and its importance
• The Reverse Calendar 
• Overcoming blocks to action

Organizing is a mindset 

• Acknowledging hurdles and setbacks 
• Failure is a great option
• Develop a practice to keep you going

Organizing is raising money and managing it

• Why money is OK 
• How to bring energy and money to your campaign 
• The basics of campaign budgeting and finance 

Organizing is communications

• What does “messaging” mean? 
• The power of media 
• Writing workshop

Organizing is bringing it all together

• You’ve got momentum – now what? 
• Recap of unit themes

Reviews

Here is what previous students have to say about the Milwaukee Socialist Organizer Class: 

“[Before the class] I had no idea about the actual work of organizing.  Now I feel confident that I would be able to become a leader in a campaign setting . . .” 

“I loved the practical application of socialism . . . [and] I loved the far-reaching application of some of the class content.” 

“This is a great way to move into the world of socialism. . . thank you so much for offering this course” 

“This [class] is a great first step for anyone looking to start organizing . . .” 

“I radically grew in my comfort around being upfront and simply being able to approach a complete stranger with a potentially controversial topic.” 

“New organizers and experienced organizers can benefit from this class.” 

“Generally speaking my confidence level just interacting with people about socialism has gone through the roof.  I have been given a phenomenal overview of how to organize and I feel confident that I can find out what works best for me in the future.”  

“It was great to grow as an organizer within the confines of a welcoming community/instructor.” 

“I feel more confident organizing outside of an electoral context.”  

Meet your instructors: 

Alex Brower

Alex Brower is a labor leader, socialist organizer, and Milwaukee’s 3rd district Alderman as a DSA endorsed elected official, serving on the City of Milwaukee Common Council. Professionally, Alex has been the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans, which organizes union retirees, in addition to other organizing roles with UFCW, SEIU, WisDems, and Wisconsin Jobs Now. In his organizing work, Alex has saved jobs from privatization, helped workers win a union voice on the job, defeated a temp agency, organized against a proposed iron-ore mine, helped bring comprehensive sex education to Beloit Public Schools, and won workplace healthcare for many uninsured MPS Substitute Teachers. As an MPS substitute teacher and former Milwaukee Rec. Department instructor, Alex brings a host of experience teaching others. Alex has also been a candidate for Milwaukee City Comptroller and School Board, running both times as a socialist. 

Ian Gunther

Ian is a union leader, experienced socialist organizer, and has filled many positions in the movement over the last ten years. After becoming one of the founders of Milwaukee DSA, he started leading canvasses for the early Medicare For All campaign on behalf of the chapter. He was elected to the chapter Executive Committee four times, in positions of Treasurer, At-Large, and Outreach Officer where he helped build up the capacity of the local movement. In August of 2025, Ian had the honor of serving as a DSA National Convention chair, facilitating thirteen-hundred nation-wide delegates through intensive debate over the national strategy of DSA. Ian also co-founded MSOE YDSA before graduating with an Electrical Engineering degree. Ian now works for the City of Milwaukee Water Works, and in his capacity as the Chief Steward of AFSCME Local 47, has led the city union to its first victory in over a decade, acquiring raises above cost of living for all general city employees. Ian is excited to bring his years of experience to mentoring new socialist organizers. 

Andy Barbour

Andy currently serves as a chapter co-chair of Milwaukee DSA. His DSA involvement began  in the spring of 2023 as a regular volunteer for the Power to the People campaign, Milwaukee DSA’s now three-year-old campaign to replace We Energies with a publicly owned utility. After sharpening his organizing skills through regular canvassing and phone banking, he became a leader in the organization and has been closely involved in many DSA campaigns and projects. He’s been a consistent organizing force throughout his entire involvement in DSA. Andy currently also serves as chair of the Power to the People Working Group, though he’s previously held half a dozen other leadership roles in the chapter. Notably, he previously acted as deputy campaign manager of Alex Brower’s successful campaign for Common Council, where he oversaw the entire field operation.

Any questions? 

Contact Alex Brower at milwaukeedsa@gmail.com 

Register now!

Register here, or copy and paste this URL into your web browser: https://forms.gle/hW7VKmonwXJnSzzo9

Labor organizers must prioritize developing new leaders in order to grow union density and winning new workplace fights.

The post Our goal is to develop leaders appeared first on EWOC.

The Revolutionary Potential of Metro Detroit and How the Membership Engagement Committee Can Ignite It

By Reese McCaskill Jr.

In 1966, during Ronald Reagan’s first term as Governor of California, he made it his mission to rein in public education. He did so because many college students were taking a stand against the war in Vietnam and he couldn’t have that on any UC college campus. In order to curb the anti-war protests, he thought of the idea of initiating tuition (for the first time, while UC schools never had a tuition system). Despite this new system, students courageously stood their ground.

As anti-war protests continued, he even resorted to a more aggressive move; sending national guard troops to suppress the protests at UC Berkeley. Reagan continued to show aggression towards the higher education of California colleges and was stalwart in his defense of his policies. Even his own advisor, Roger A. Freeman was an ardent defender of Reagan’s assault on higher learning. His advisor went on to say, “we are in danger of producing an educated proletariat” which he stated at a press conference, weeks before the California gubernatorial election of 1970. Reagan would go on to win his re-election for Governor and continue his assault on higher learning and the rest is history.

Now, how does Ronald Reagan and his advisor’s statement coincide with the work of the Membership Engagement Committee (MEC)? Because the revolutionary potential of the people is strong. Even in the 1960s, the capitalist class feared that an educated proletariat would recognize their potential and work to radically uplift their material conditions.

Currently, I see the revolutionary potential within Metro Detroit, which is why I am running for our chapter’s Membership Engagement Coordinator position. From the energy of the No Kings Protests to the passion at the May Day rally, Metro Detroit is itching to put the power in the hands of the people. If I am elected as coordinator, there are three strategies I believe would ignite this potential:

1. The creation of an active membership engagement strategy

2. Building stronger bonds between MEC, Committees, and Working Groups

3. Equipping new and current members with tools and knowledge to be effective socialist organizers

In the first 30 days after steering committee elections conclude, MEC would embark on the creation of a membership engagement strategy to accomplish our goal within the MEC resolution to hit 2,000 socialist organizers by the 2027 convention and get 15% of our membership actively engaged in the chapter. As your candidate, I believe our strategy should work not only to recruit new members, but also to orient new members into active organizers in our chapter.

Tangible efforts would focus on stronger social media outreach, recruiting at our campaign events, getting more involved with the community for a long-term approach to engagement, and cooperating with our Administration Secretary to look into our digital tools to consolidate our information so new members understand our chapter. The committee would also look into ways to activate 15% of our membership within this engagement strategy. With an effective engagement strategy, we would ensure every member has the opportunity to develop their political and organizing capabilities.

MEC also needs stronger ties with our committees and working groups. As one of the vital arms of Metro Detroit DSA, this committee is dedicated to engaging with all members. To strengthen our ties with the committees and working groups, MEC would establish MEC Liaisons. These liaisons would be MEC members who consistently attend committee or working group meetings and report back to MEC about the support needed from the committee. With stronger ties to our committees and working groups, this would allow for more rapid engagement of our newer members to their areas of interest and a better understanding of how to engage our entire membership.

Another important task for MEC is complementing the efforts of working groups and committees by preparing, informing, and developing members into stronger socialist organizers. But, how can we engage the membership when they don’t have the necessary tools to develop their political organizing skills? If elected, I would continue MEC’s work of ensuring every new and current member has every opportunity to develop as effective socialist organizers. We would do so by conducting socials, hosting organizer skills events, uplifting our current political education events, yearly convention planning to ensure our membership feels prepared and informed and developing ways the committee can make stronger connections with new members. Every member this committee engages with creates an opportunity to equip and teach. This movement that we are a part of is a great struggle and the only way for our members to understand such struggle is to give them every chance to learn and be ready for the task at hand.

This committee is and must be a reflection of our entire chapter. Independent comrades, Bread & Roses, Groundwork, Marxist Unity Group, Socialist Majority, etc., are crucial for the development and growth of this committee. With the rising tide of fascism, worsening material conditions, and people looking for a way out of this mess, our chapter and MEC must tell the people the good news; socialism is our path forward and Metro Detroit DSA will lead the way.

If I am able to serve as our Membership Engagement Coordinator, MEC wouldn’t be my committee, it would be an all-hands-on-deck-effort to ensure all members feel welcomed and have the chance to be effective socialist organizers. As Coordinator, I would steer the ship of this committee, but the real captains are every member in MEC. Democratic deliberation, discussion, and action would be what leads this committee and I’m proud to ask membership to rank me #1 for the Membership Engagement Coordinator position.

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The Revolutionary Potential of Metro Detroit and How the Membership Engagement Committee Can Ignite… was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Mona Fastvold’s 2025 film The Testament of Ann Lee, with Amanda Seyfried in the title role, shows a working-class woman passionately and relentlessly seeking the realization of her unique spiritual vision. It will bring Ann Lee’s story to scores of women who are relegated to the margins of their religious traditions despite their rich spiritual gifts. It will speak to people of any gender whose sincere faith inspires a deep hunger for spiritual and social liberation now, not just in “the sweet by and by.” And it will speak to all of us who feel out of step with a culture that passively accepts the world as it is and instead feel called to build a better one. 

The Testament of Ann Lee is an unconventional movie musical, using contemporary arrangements of Shaker hymns and stylized choreography to communicate the passion and immediacy of a  mystical eighteenth-century Christian movement that grew from the Quakers. An illiterate child factory worker in England at the dawn of the industrial revolution, Ann Lee grew to become the revolutionary spiritual mother of a religious community in the “New World” that followed a gospel of union with God, gender equality, and proto-communism. Although the film uses character amalgamations and time compressions to translate the historical events into slightly more than two hours, it is mainly true to the historical record. 

The deeper I dug, the more treasures I uncovered. By centering Shakerism’s spiritually ecstatic music and dance, The Testament of Ann Lee presents the audience with a religious experience, a sensual encounter with the Divine that is purer and truer than any of our inadequate attempts to translate it into language. And while this spirit-filled emotionalism won’t be for everyone, for those that it touches, it touches deeply.

The basic facts of Ann Lee’s story are simple, and at first glance not too different from the more oft-told tale of the Puritans: a religious leader is inspired to bring their followers to the New World, seeking freedom from persecution and new converts for their nascent protestant movement. Theologically, though,  the Shakers were the mirror opposite of the Puritans. Puritans feared and avoided pleasure but allowed sex under certain restrictive conditions (spawning psychological hang-ups that still keep thousands of therapists in business to this day). The Shakers lived in celibacy but whole-heartedly embraced and pursued pleasure as a divine gift of God. 

Through singing, dancing, and other charismatic gifts, Shakers experienced a higher ecstasy than mere sexual gratification can offer. While this may elicit a “thanks, but no thanks,” from most of us allosexuals living in the twenty-first century, the film tries to help contemporary audiences understand that celibacy was not another form of mortification of the flesh but a method to achieve something utopian: bodily autonomy and social equality for women.

The film viscerally depicts what was a common experience in Ann Lee’s time and place. Wives were compelled to be sexually available to their husbands at all times, with no thought given to their feelings or pleasure. They could expect to be constantly pregnant, at a time when giving birth was dangerous and sometimes fatal for mothers, their newborn babies, or both. 

A heartbreaking musical sequence shows a distraught Lee losing four children in quick succession, from stillbirth to other ailments. Her plight was not uncommon, but it  weighed especially heavily on Ann Lee, who never wanted marriage or sex and was forced into both by the pressures of her family and culture. 

The film also briefly touches on the sexuality of Ann’s brother William, who is shown leaving a male lover in order to commit to a celibate life. The historical record calls William Lee a “former dandy,” something that at the time probably meant “womanizer” rather than queer, though doesn’t preclude both (shout out to my fellow bisexuals). It is easy to imagine that the celibate Shaker life would have appealed to some queer people living in the eighteenth century, when “sodomy” was a hanging offense and their only option for family life might have been heterosexual marriage. Shakerism offered our queer ancestors a liberating path to spiritual fulfillment, social equality, and the love of a chosen family. Because of the large numbers of orphans at the time as well as widows with orphans, there were always children in the Shaker communities

Shakers rejected the racial order of the day as well. The film is historically accurate in depicting Black Shakers as equal members of the community, and while many famous Shaker hymns have no attribution, the song “Pretty Mother’s Home,” performed in the movie by Black actor Lark White, was written by a formerly enslaved woman named Patsy Roberts Williamson. Williamson’s enslavers initially joined the Shakers of the Pleasant Hill commune in Kentucky, but when they decided to leave, Patsy bought her freedom with help from the community and remained a member for the rest of her life. 

The Shakers and their indomitable woman leader were remarkable in successfully escaping the extremely limiting social expectations of their time and place and forging a completely new path for themselves. As the film shows, Shakerism began in England as a more outwardly expressive branch of the Quaker movement, but did not blossom into its full expression until Mother Ann, as she became known, was anointed by the Spirit through charismatic visions that began when she was in prison. 

Her visions inaugurated what Shakers consider to be the Second Coming, the presence of Christ’s spirit not just in Mother Ann, but in all true Believers. They cemented celibacy as a requirement for the true Christian life and America as the place that this new gospel seed should be planted. While the number of Shakers living today can be counted on one hand, the many Shaker communes still preserved as historic sites in the United States are the impressive material evidence of what a small band of spiritual radicals was able to achieve. 

The rule of Shaker community life was “from each according to his ability, to each according to his capacity,” a motto inspired by language from the Christian Bible that predates Marx. Leadership and labor were shared equitably  by men and women, children were raised collectively without the use of corporal punishment, and communities sustained themselves by selling their innovative yet simple goods, such as herbal remedies, straw hats, and their famously well-crafted furniture. They lived the ideals of Marxists and feminists before either of those words existed. In fact, when Marx faced doubts about achieving communism in his lifetime, Engels wrote to encourage him, “Remember the Shakers!” 

The Testament of Ann Lee not only remembers the Shakers, it brings them back to life. Through historically accurate costuming and set design, creative reimaginings of traditional Shaker music and dance, and stellar acting, especially from Seyfried as Ann Lee, the film brings us into the living dance of a people who dared to follow God beyond every limit they encountered. Unfortunately, it also shows us in graphic detail the too common fate of dissenters and resistors both in her time and our own. Ann Lee died before the age of 50 from injuries inflicted by hostile mobs. This is not a film for the faint-hearted.

Ann Lee broke through the boundaries of gender, race, conventional religion, and the economic order of the day to co-create the world of peace and liberation that God revealed to her. Despite any theological differences that the span of more than two centuries of religious and social change have created between people of faith today and the early Shakers, we can still find inspiration in their lives.

Our current times may call for new ways and forms, but today’s religious socialists can still look to this inspiring film and feel called to join with the revolutionary Ann Lee in boldly proclaiming, “We are the people who turn the world upside down.”

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Works consulted for this essay include the following: The Shakers: Two Centuries of Spiritual Reflection, edited by Robley E. Whitson, and Mother Ann Lee, Morning Star of the Shakers by Nardi Reed Campion.

The post The Testament of Ann Lee: A Mystical, Musical Vision of Building a “New World” Utopia appeared first on DSA Religious Socialism.

By Jackie N. and Gabriel E.

The collapse of the Providence Health Plan and silence from Oregon’s Democratic Party leadership points the way for socialists to secure single-payer healthcare in 2027.

Oregon’s corporate healthcare industry delivered twin blows to patients this month as Providence and the Legacy-backed PacificSource health plan announced they would exit large parts of the Oregon health insurance market. 

Providence’s Health Plan implosion is particularly grave, since over 400,000 Oregonians (about 10% of the population) depend on Providence coverage through the market, Oregon Health Plan, or the public employee benefits board.

This abdication by the corporate health insurance monopolies is a feature — not a bug — of the for-profit multi-payer health care system, where private corporations can drop us on a whim from their rolls, in pursuit of profit. 

Health care policy expert and socialist Timothy Faust said it exactly right in his 2019 book, Health Justice Now: Single Payer and What Comes Next:

            “The market won’t solve this; the market caused this.”

Thankfully, we don’t have to subordinate our health to the cruel logic of the market anymore. In 2027, Oregon legislators will vote on a universal single-payer health plan. Every Oregonian in, and nobody left out. 

In the meantime, Oregon’s political class seems largely disinterested in the crisis. The Oregon Health Authority homepage offers no guidance to soon-to-be-former Providence patients and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has said nothing about it, despite ample opportunities to discuss the issue during her bid for reelection. 

Kotek’s campaign website doesn’t mention the health care crisis at all, save for specific claims about mental health: 

The Governor’s silence is particularly odd, since she told reporters last week that her general election campaign will focus on fighting President Trump. But Kotek’s campaign literature doesn’t mention fighting the key achievement of the second Trump presidency, the One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R. 1), which will cut $15 billion in federal health care funding for Oregon. 

H.R. 1 will further devastate Oregon’s healthcare system, especially across rural Oregon. That’s why Health Care for All Oregon and allied groups will organize seven events in seven days to elevate these atrocities, culminating in a rally at 3 PM on June 7 at Dawson Park. Head to Hcao.org/sevendays for details.

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Back home, we shouldn’t expect meaningful leadership from the Democratic Party bosses, and a single-payer victory is not secure unless we mobilize a bottom-up movement to force their hand in 2028.

If Oregon’s Democratic Party leadership prefers to forget about their constituents’ health care troubles, it may reflect the hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions shelled out to them by the hospital and health insurance lobbies over their careers. 

We don’t yet know how the hospital and insurance lobbies will react to the single-payer plan when it goes up for legislative review in 2027, but they both opposed the 2023 legislation that required policymakers to develop the plan in the first place.

Since 2025, the Oregon Hospital Political Action Committee spent over $35,000 in failed attempts to elect Ashley Hartmeier-Prigg to the statehouse for Beaverton and defend Janeen Sollman (Hillsboro). Both Hartmeier-Prigg and Sollman parrot the tired centrist rhetoric championing “access to affordable healthcare” without committing to universal single-payer healthcare. 

That’s a stark contrast to the full-throated commitment of DSA-backed Dr. Tammy Carpenter, whose public support for single-payer played a role in her victory over the hospital-association favorite, Hartmeier-Prigg.

Dr. Carpenter’s victory in House District 27 (Beaverton) marks the third DSA-endorsed state legislator in Salem, where she joins State Rep Farrah Chaichi (Aloha) and State Rep Lesly Munoz (Woodburn).

Together with three other DSA members already in or likely to join the legislature come November, our socialist legislators could form a sizable bloc amplifying popular demands to pass a strong single-payer plan in 2027.

Of course, socialist legislators can’t secure a victory for single-payer health care in 2027 without us. Portland DSA’s Care Corps and Health Care for All Oregon are working together to generate real grassroots pressure on the Democrats, who boast a supermajority in the Oregon legislature.

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Jackie N. is a union nurse and a member of Portland DSA and Health Care for All Oregon. 

Gabriel E. is a healthcare union organizer and a member of Portland DSA.

(Note: The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of HCAO, which does not endorse candidates for office.)

Events & Actions

Tuesday May 26 (5:30 PM – 7:00 PM) Social Housing Working Group (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Tuesday May 26 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM) Public Transit Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Wednesday May 27 (6:45 PM – 8:30 PM) Tenant Organizing Working Group Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Thursday May 28 (6:30 PM – 7:30 PM) Public Bank Project Meeting (zoom)

Thursday May 28 (7:00 PM – 9:00 PM) Bilingual Emergency Planning Training: How to Show Up for Immigrants at Their ICE Check-Ins (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Friday May 29 (9:30 AM – 10:30 AM) District 1 Coffee with Comrades (Breck’s, 2 Clement St)

Friday May 29 (6:30 PM – 8:30 PM) New Member Happy Hour (Zeitgeist, 199 Valencia St)

Sunday May 31 (1:00 PM – 2:30 PM) What Is DSA? (1916 McAllister St)

Monday June 1 (6:30 PM – 7:30 PM) DSA Run Club (McLaren Lodge, Golden Gate Park)

Monday June 1 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM) Labor Board – New Union Organizing (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Tuesday June 2 (6:30 PM – 7:30 PM) Ecosocialist Bi-Weekly Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Thursday June 4 (6:00 PM – 7:00 PM) Social Committee (zoom)

Thursday June 4 (6:00 PM – 7:00 PM) Education Board Open Meeting (zoom)

Thursday June 4 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM) Immigrant Justice Working Group (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Friday June 5 (9:30 AM – 10:30 AM) District 1 Coffee with Comrades (Breck’s, 2 Clement St)

Monday June 8 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM)   Tenderloin Healing Circle (Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Monday June 8 (6:00 PM – 7:30 PM) Labor Board Meeting – Office Hours (zoom)

Monday June 8 (6:30 PM – 8:00 PM) Homelessness Working Group Regular Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday June 8 (6:30 PM – 7:30 PM) DSA Run Club (McLaren Lodge, Golden Gate Park)

Check out https://dsasf.org/events for more events and updates.

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Dispatch from Steering Committee

Ballots have begun arriving in the hands of San Francisco voters, and as we muddle through long lists of voter guides, candidates, and propositions, we will ask ourselves many questions.

But will we be asking the right ones?

Read more from Steering here Analysis of the Current Condition of Democracy – Democratic Socialists of America – San Francisco

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Bilingual Emergency Planning Training: How to Show Up for Immigrants at Their ICE Check-Ins

ICE makes immigrants “check in” periodically at their office to avoid deportation. Many times when immigrants show up, ICE detains them. An injury to one is an injury to all! Come learn how you can support immigrants outside these check-ins by helping them make an emergency plan, and get legal help if needed. (7:00 PM – 8:30 PM, Thursday, May 28 — open to new and existing members.)

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EWOC Fundamentals of Workplace Organizing Course

Sign up here!

EWOC holds a regular training course to help you build your union from the ground up alongside workers in your industry. It doesn’t require an organizing background to understand the material, which covers topics including mapping and charting, building an organizing committee, uniting over common concerns, and how to take action. If you’re interested in becoming any level of organizer for EWOC, this course is mandatory.

This course will in person at the DSA office (1916 McAllister). We’ll watch the EWOC lecture together and then go through the discussion activities. If you can’t make all of the sessions, reach out to Caitlin Stanton (SF EWOC local lead coordinator) for accommodations.

SCHEDULE:
Week 1: Developing Leadership
Tuesday, July 14 (7-8:30PM)

Week 2: The Organizing Conversation
Tuesday, July 21 (7-8:30PM)

Week 3: The Arc of the Campaign
Tuesday, July 28 (7-8:30PM)

Week 4: Inoculation and the Boss Campaign
Tuesday, August 4 (7-8:30PM)

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No ICE Detention Center in Dublin, CA

DHS is moving forward with their plans to not only open an ICE detention center in Dublin, but to open another one in Gilroy. Speculation is that if they are successful in their plans, both of these detention centers could be in operation by the end of the year. If this happens, the immigrant community in Northern California will be more at risk of being targeted by ICE.

In Dublin, the Bureau of Prisons is considering the transfer of the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Dublin to the General Services Administration, then eventually to DHS and ICE.  This former women’s prison was closed down due to horrific abuse and environmental hazard. It is filled with asbestos, lead, black mold, and other hazardous substances.

The Bureau of Prisons is accepting public comment until June 1st on what should be done with the facility. This facility should be torn down and that’s what we need to advocate for.

Because this involves federal property, anyone in the country can write a letter to the BoP about this matter.

The ICE Out of Dublin Coalition and Bay Resistance asks the public to use their toolkit and/or this Action Network link to submit a letter: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/fci-dublin-environmental-assessment/