Today we’re talking with Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest and her district manager Justin Freeman about how they are bringing their socialist office directly to the community they represent and are building power not just to win elections, but pass legislation that meaningful changes the lives of the working class in Brooklyn like the Less is More bill, which was signed into law this year, and Public Power and ‘Good Cause Eviction’ bill which are top priorities for DSA electeds this upcoming legislative session.

 

And it’s not just the power in the halls of government that is being challenged by organizers in New York City right now. Workers are taking on one of the most powerful and influential Ivy League universities and newspapers in the country at the same time. We’ll hear from RPM’s own Chris Carr who is one of many union members of the Student Workers of Columbia currently on strike and from one of the New York Times’ Wirecutter union members who plan to strike on Black Friday.

 

Follow Phara and Justin on twitter @phara4assembly and @JustinR_Freeman

and get involved with Phara's office at bit.ly/pharaoffice 

We believe in a democratic organization where members are accountable to each other and it is time that we hold Representative Jamaal Bowman accountable. His actions and statements run counter to our values and our recently adopted national platform. Within the last few months, Bowman has voted in favor of $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel and $1 billion in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome, as well as toured Israel, posting pictures of himself with the leader of an apartheid regime.

These are not inconsequential actions that can be written off as a difference of opinion. As our national political platform states, “as socialists living in the heart of the American empire, we must oppose imperialism and work to address, cease, and heal the harm caused by our ruling class.” In May, DSA also released a statement claiming that it stood “in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against apartheid, colonialism, and military occupation, and for equality, justice, and self-determination.” However, with his actions, Bowman sides with the ruling class in upholding imperialism.

Bowman’s actions are not abstract. By directly supporting Israeli aparetheid and endorsing Zionism, Bowman condones the continued Israeli settlement of Palestinian land, as well as the forced displacement, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. This is happening in real time —as we see in Sheikh Jarrah and in the open-air prison of the Gaza Strip, for example. This stands in direct opposition to the portion of the national platform that calls for solidarity with Palestinians and “for equality, human rights, and self-determination, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”

Here in Las Vegas, our chapter has developed a close relationship with Palestinian rights organizations and we count them among our strongest allies locally. To continue to ignore these actions by a national representative of our organization, the face of one of our largest campaigns, compromises our coalition and forces us to betray comrades with whom we have shared struggles.

Las Vegas DSA calls on the National Political Committee to demonstrate a commitment to our organization’s values by standing in solidarity with Palestinians and expelling Representative Jamaal Bowman from DSA.

Join us for the approval of a resolution in support of Medicare for All Before the pandemic, an estimated half a million Hoosiers we’re living without insurance. This is why […]

Election day was Tuesday and DSA’s 30+ nationally-endorsed campaigns were put to voters. With a nearly 70% win rate for DSA's campaigns nationally, there's much to discuss about organizing for socialism at the ballot box and the rising tensions between the left and the existing Democratic establishment. On tonight’s show,  we'll share provisional election results and an interview with a DSA-endorsed candidate for Somerville, Massachusetts City Council, Tessa Bridge.

 

Here in NYC, Eric Adams has -- unfortunately -- swept to victory as mayor. Adams has publicly distanced himself from the left and socialism, so to extend the courtesy, let us just say that *all* cops are bastards.  How are we going to beat Adams and the bourgeois, capitalist interests he represents? We discuss that question live with our comrade Robert Cuffy, a union city worker and police abolitionist who organizes with NYC-DSA's Labor Branch and Afrosocialist Caucus.

 

We also hear a report from RPM's antifascist correspondent Amy Wilson on the rise of far-right organizing in New York City around the wedge issue of mandates for COVID-19 vaccine.

 

Keep up with the results of DSA's nationally-endorsed races as they develop, thanks to our comrades at Metro DC DSA: https://washingtonsocialist.mdcdsa.org/station-z/dsa-races-2021

 

The Comanche 3 Coal Plant is the largest single source of air pollution in Colorado. It’s a massive generating station southeast of Pueblo where you can see the smoke from miles away. To avert the worst of the climate crisis we need to shut it down as soon as possible.

A Bad Idea from the Beginning

One of the tragedies of the Comanche Coal Plant is that it was built in 2010. We were already experiencing record-breaking heat waves and other extreme weather events from climate change. It was clear then that building new coal plants was a death sentence.

Yet, Xcel Energy pushed for the project and the Public Utility Commission (PUC), responsible for regulating Xcel, gave the project the green light.

The project cost nearly a $1 billion to build. Since it came on line, not only has the electricity been dirty, but it has struggled to even work. Break downs have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to fix. It’s one of the most expensive, unreliable sources of energy in our state.

It’s criminal that Xcel built this coal plant and that the PUC allowed the project to go through.

Glaring Example of Environmental Racism

The Comanche Coal Plant sits near the heavily working class and Latino city of Pueblo. One out of every ten adults has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, more than twice the state average. As is so often the case, frontline communities endure the worst harms of running coal while Wall Street investors reap the profits.

Join the Fight to Close the Comanche Coal Plant

Originally Xcel planned on running the coal plant until 2070. After public outcry and determined organizing, that date was pushed back to 2050, then again to 2040 and now finally 2035. However, the science is clear that coal needs to wind down by 2030.

Xcel just proposed its ten year plan to the Public Utility Commission (PUC). The PUC is responsible for listening to public comments and deciding what the final plan will be.

Hundreds of people have already submitted comments telling the PUC to close all coal plants, especially Comanche 3, by 2030.

Luckily, the PUC has new commissioners from the one that approved construction of the plant in the first place. We have a good chance of convincing them to do the right thing, but we need to show an outpouring of support for closing the coal plant to make that happen.

Three ways to help Close the Comanche Coal Plant

1. Write a comment demanding that the Comanche 3 Coal Plant close.
2. Join our DSA Climate Comment & Watch Party on December 2nd
3. Email ecosocialist.committee@denverdsa.org to join us in building power for a Just Transition

You’re listening to Revolutions Per Minute live from the new WBAI studios, a socialist radio show and podcast from members of New York City Democratic Socialists of America. The Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist organization in the United States, with 95,000 members nationwide and NYC-DSA is its biggest chapter. We are run by our 9,000+ members and organizers who are working together to build democratic socialism in all five boroughs. A UAW worker on strike at a John Deere facility in Iowa was killed on the picket lines early this morning. We send our love and solidarity to his loved ones and his ten thousand union brothers and sisters still out there fighting for a dignified life. His sacrifice will not be forgotten. Unionization efforts and the strike wave continue to spread. Amazon workers in Staten Island announced an NLRB petition earlier this week. Thousands of academic workers unionized at the University of Pittsburgh while thousands more at Harvard today launched a three day work stoppage. Columbia academic workers walked out today are prepared to hit the picket lines next week here in New York. 45,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente have authorized a strike. NYC-DSA members this past weekend stood in solidarity with 2,000 healthcare workers on strike at Catholic Mercy Hospital in Buffalo. We’ll hear from Charlie Baker on this struggle and the rally for DSA endorsed Mayoral candidate India Walton. Dozens of DSA candidates are running in races across the country from Massachusetts to New York to Florida. Jorge from Joel Brooks campaign in Jersey City joins to discuss their city council campaign in its final week. We’ll also hear a special report from Lee on the victorious struggle led by NYC-DSA Ecosocialist Working Group to prevent a fracked gas power plant from being built in Astoria.

As regular listeners of Revolutions per Minute know, we are living in a time of many overlapping campaigns for justice for the working-class. Sometimes, organizing campaigns result in victory and opportunities for celebration while looking toward the next goal. Other times, campaigns require strategic escalation. On tonight’s show, we’ll speak to New York for Abortion Rights about a key victory in the struggle to protect access to abortion for all.  We’ll hear from NYC-DSA member and Assemblymember from District 36 in Astoria Zohran Mamdani on the New York Taxi Workers Alliance sit-in at City Hall and why he’s going on hunger strike alongside taxi workers to demand debt forgiveness.

Finally, we travel to Little Rock, Arkansas, with Malik, a former NYC-DSA organizer, who is using lessons learned from NYC to build socialism in his hometown.

Follow New York for Abortion Rights at abortionrights.nyc.

Follow Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani at @ZohranKMamdani and learn more about the New York Taxi Workers Alliance sit-in at @NYTWA. 

Follow Central Arkansas DSA at @CentralARKDSA.

Thank you for using our 2021 municipal voter guide for the Nov. 30th runoff elections! This guide was written by the Atlanta DSA Electoral Committee and is limited in scope to address the Atlanta elections for Mayor and City Council. Authors approached writing this guide with socialist values and a progressive, pragmatic lens. We see this as an opportunity to share information with fellow Atlanta DSA members, Atlanta voters, and other community members about the central questions shaping Atlanta politics.

Key issues that resurface throughout this voter guide include the vote to clear-cut the South Atlanta forest and build an 85-acre, $90 million Cop City, the long-running campaign to close the Atlanta City Detention Center (ACDC), and grassroots efforts to defund the Atlanta Police Department, including the Rayshard Brooks Bill and the vote on the FY22 police budget. Where applicable, we assess the candidates based on their stances and votes on these topics. (Special thanks to Mainline Zine for their thorough coverage of these issues!)

Atlanta DSA’s membership votes on endorsements, and we only campaign for endorsed candidates. However, many people already plan on voting and want guidance from a socialist perspective. Where we can, we provide assessments of candidates and identify those we believe are likely to cause the least harm. These assessments come from Atlanta DSA’s Electoral Committee, not the entire Atlanta DSA chapter.

Read the Full Guide Here:

Read our original November 2 2021 Voter Guide here.

Updated November 18, 2021

If you're a listener member, in order to maximize the power of our small collective, we're asking you to vote in this order: 1. Nicodemus Nicoludis 2. Dylan Saba For the rest of your ballot, we recommend looking into these candidates who are not members of Red Wave but are aligned with our goals: Eleanor Elizabeth Forman Bruce Greif (DSA Member) Philip DePaolo (DSA Member) If you're a staff member, we recommend ranking board incumbents R. Paul Martin, Max Schmid, and Shawn Rhodes in any order. Thanks as ever for your support for Red Wave’s project to build a powerful working class radio station in service of our shared socialist movement. All power to the transmitter, the Red Wave Collective