Jan 6, 2021

This January 6th, as congress proceeded with the count of the electoral college votes, a mob of armed white supremacists, neo-nazis, the alt-right and QAnon conspiracy theorists, stormed the U.S. capitol intending to forcibly stop the counting of the votes.  

While acknowledging the deeply undemocratic nature of the electoral college and the nation’s electoral system as a whole, the Ithaca chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America condemns in the strongest terms the attempt of the far right to stop the process that would ensure the end of Donald Trump’s tenure in office. No election was stolen, no fraud committed.

But this is not the main lesson we should be focusing on. As socialists, what is important to recognize is not so much the assault on procedure of a broken political system that can only offer duopoly so much as it is important to recognize the alarming ascendency and growth of white supremacist / nationalist violence in America.

It is critical to understand the complicity of law enforcement and public officials in this dangerous development whether it is the Republican Party, the two recently elected representatives who publicly support QAnon, or centrist Democrats who offer only an inadequate and lackluster response. The incompetency, unpreparedness and delay seen last night on the part of law enforcement or security is certainly curious to say the least. We have seen in videos of the police or security forces giving a half-hearted defense before letting a mob of white supremacists into the capitol, being vastly outnumbered, and at times taking photos with some individuals. This is not without precedent either. The ideological sympathy of law enforcement and right wing insurrectionists is now more abundantly clear than ever before. 

Many have noted that last night's events are an example of white privilege. This is true, but it may be more accurately described as a display of white power in American society. Figures and members from the fascist Proud Boys, European Heritage Association, Nationalist Social Club, Matthew Heimbach of the now defunct Traditionalist Workers Party, men with white supremacist tattoos dressed in garb glorifying “camp auschwitz”, and so on, were let into the capitol building with little to no resistance. 

Compare the response of law enforcement last night with the response given to anti-racist protesters that we saw this past summer which was met with disproportionate, swift and brutal force. Make no mistake, if this were Black Lives Matter or any anti-racist protest, the full force of the state would be used immediately. One only needs to recall the use of riot police, teargas, and beatings to clear Lafayette Square in Washington D.C., the illegal abduction and questioning of activists by unidentified federal agents, or any of the other police violence that happens everyday. 

The rise of this sort of white-supremacist violence did not happen in a vacuum and neither did it start with Trump. Rather, the phenomenon of Trumpism revealed and gave confidence to those tendencies that were always there in American society and they will certainly not disappear with the end of the Trump presidency. The events that took place on January 6th are a clear indication that an organized left and working class is needed that can defend against any instances of authoritarianism and bring a more humane future in a deeply fragmented society. This includes workplace organizing and growing a militant labor rank-and-file, mutual aid for the most vulnerable, protecting one another from evictions and homelessness, preventing the worst of the climate crisis, and what is perhaps most immediately needed: taking a principled stand against white supremacy, racism, and fascism.

Ithaca DSA Steering Committee

Starting late last year in Buffalo, NY, a union wave has spread all over the country as workers at an ever-increasing number of Starbucks coffee shops are getting organized and making demands on their boss and on the multi-national corporation that employs them. This movement is gaining speed every day - and to help us understand what’s going on from a worker perspective, we’re joined live in the studio by James, a worker-organizer with Starbucks Workers United in Buffalo.

 

Another national movement is mobilizing to defend access to abortion as the right-wing assault on this fundamental right continues to escalate. With landmark legislation Roe V. Wade on the verge of being rolled back, socialists are continuing to organize for grassroots solutions to this national crisis that center anti-racism, abolition, and a no-holds-barred approach to guaranteeing access to safe abortion. We’ll hear from Ali of Chicago DSA and Chicago for Abortion on this crucial struggle.

 

On this show, Jack makes a brief announcement about the New Deal for CUNY. Learn more and get involved at bit.ly/action-nd4c.

 

Find a local abortion fund to support if you can: https://abortionfunds.org/funds/

 

Follow along with James and the Starbucks partners at @SBWorkersUnited. Current Starbucks partners can email sbworkersunited@gmail.com to get connected to an organizer.

 

This episode is dedicated to the memory of our NYC-DSA comrade, Alex Z. 

Tonight on our show we will be talking about our host Desiree Joy Frias' home of the South Bronx where capitalist interests and government failures are continuing to cost lives.

 

In the middle of brutal winter weather and yet another Covid spike, tenants are once again mobilizing to defend against evictions and build working-class power with all of New York City’s residents, including the 1 in 12 New Yorkers who live in public or section 8 housing. Last week’s tragic and preventable Twin Parks fire on 181st street in the Bronx and yesterday’s Con Edison explosion on Fox Street less than two miles away are just the latest examples of the ongoing violence of landlord neglect and failures by the federal and local government to provide adequate public housing and public infrastructure. Con Edison is responsible for yesterday’s explosion that killed one, injured seven  and  leveled an entire row home in the South Bronx. This exploitative monopoly spends millions in lobbying fees to fight green projects and remain the sole provider of power to over 12 million customers.  

 

To discuss these preventable tragedy and how socialists are organizing for tenant power, we're live in the studio with RPM comrade and fellow Bronx/Upper Manhattan DSA member Bernard  Goyder and an organizer from NYC-DSA’s Brooklyn Housing Working Group, Isaac. Tonight you’ll learn about NYC-DSA’s Right to Remain campaign to pass Good Cause Eviction, transformative legislation that will protect millions of tenants just like us. Keeping with the uptown theme, we’ll also hear an update on the successful strike by the Student Workers of Columbia.

 

Get organized, get involved, help your neighbor, call your legislator: https://linktr.ee/nycdsa_housing

 

Read more on South Bronx Mutual Aid and others' efforts to support tenants in the Bronx: https://twitter.com/booksandrose/status/1483854067457826822?s=20

Last week, against the backdrop of the most dangerous period of the COVID-19 pandemic, City Council voted to increase our CPS Energy rates. During a period that has found teachers, students, service workers, and the highest rate of city employees out on COVID leave, we are being urged to stay home, to stop the spread, but no further federal assistance is coming. Instead, residents of San Antonio are being forced to bear the brunt of CPS Energy’s mismanagement.

We commend our DSA endorsed City Councilmembers, Jalen Mckee-Rodriguez and Teri Castillo, for voting against the rate hike. Other Council Members gave lip service to the idea of reforming CPS Energy, without using their power to force any committed change. The Council discussion made clear who is listened to: it’s the CEOs and business executives who run a utility which we, the people, own. Who knows if Rudy Garza will be here to see any of these commitments through? Former CEO Paula Gold Williams certainly isn't, but we, the working class ratepayers of San Antonio will be here.

Since the fallout of Winter Storm Uri, it was clearly only a matter of time before the cost of the storm would be pushed onto working class people. On the first CPS Energy Board of Trustees call following the storm, over 140 people delivered public comments identifying the failures of CPS Energy. At nearly every single CPS Rate Adjustment Town Hall, the choice of the people was overwhelmingly clear, no rate hike. Instead, a majority of City Council voted against the will of the people. We are repeatedly told that our public input is valued, and like clockwork, our representatives vote against our interests. It’s made obvious again that the majority of our City Council is unwilling to govern with the tenacity our living conditions call for.

This is why the only action the people of San Antonio have left is direct democracy. Last year, Recall CPS nearly collected enough signatures to put CPS Energy reform on the ballot. Next year, it appears we have no other choice. If our elected officials refuse to represent the will of their constituencies, we need a ballot measure that allows the voters of San Antonio to choose the best way forward for CPS Energy. We hope you will join us in that fight. DSAUSA.org/join

In an effort to exert its power over the Americas, the United States has enforced an embargo on Cuba ever since its revolutionary struggle for independence from American imperialism. The blockade is an effort to force regime change against the will of Cuban people who want to improve their society without foreign interference. Despite the immense suffering caused by the embargo to this very day, socialists in Cuba have made remarkable achievements in education and healthcare. DSA members Rolando, Tom, and Patrick as well as Daniel Montero, a journalist from Cuba, join us to discuss the movement to end the embargo and the fight to preserve Cuban self-determination.

The formation of the United Auto Workers in the 1930s represented the upsurge in organized working class militancy that pushed forward a New Deal. Since that time the UAW has been a base of support for its members that collectively provides workers with a better life. Yet the UAW has weakened as its corrupt leadership has chosen compromise with the bosses over a robust internal democracy. That’s all about to change. The successful One Member, One Vote referendum has forced open the democratic process and created space for new leadership to rise up. We’ll discuss that and much more with UAW members Kay and Chris. The UAW is much more than just autoworkers. After threatening to strike, the 17,000 member Student Researchers Union of the University of California system won recognition and officially became the newest UAW local. How did these academic workers build a new organization? We hear directly from Kat and Laura of the SRU on how they made it happen.

It’s never been easy to be a front-line retail or customer service worker at the holidays, and with a dramatic surge in COVID cases affecting New York City, this year is even harder. For our Revolutions per Minute holiday special, we’re joined live by Eric Dirnbach of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, DSA’s national project in partnership with the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, as well as Aria, a retail worker who participated in a successful strike last year at the Good Vibrations sex shop in Massachusetts with support from EWOC.

Plus, a special correspondent, Shen, visits the picket line in Chinatown to speak with Liang, a restaurant worker at the historic dim sum restaurant Jing Fong.

We are fundraising for the WBAI end of year Tower Fund with some help from our NYC-DSA chorus, Sing in Solidarity. Give to the Tower Fund at towerfund.wbai.org and follow our chorus on Twitter @nycdsachoir.

Sign the petition to support Jing Fong workers and stop displacement in Chinatown at bit.ly/stopdisplacement.

Are you a retail or service worker looking for support organizing your worksite? You are not alone. Support and help is available. Visit https://workerorganizing.org/support/. 

2021 has been another incredibly tough year, with the pandemic and climate crisis exacerbating income inequality and dire living situations for working class people across the globe.

 

Tonight we’ll catch up with a few DSA working groups to talk about the organizing they’ve done to build working class power and solidarity this year and what’s coming up for 2022. Our guests tonight are Joel from the BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group on the Boycott Puma campaign and the power of a consumer boycott, Emma Claire from the Healthcare Working Group on universal healthcare and labor rights for home health care workers, and Josh and Robert from Eco-Socialists on the Green New Deal for Public Schools and the New York Public Power campaign.

 

To learn more or get involved with NYC-DSA's eco-socialist organizing, visit https://ecosocialists.nyc/join-us/.

 

Find NYC-DSA's Healthcare Working Group on Twitter or Facebook @NYCDSAHealth or email the organizers at healthcare@socialists.nyc.

 

Curious about the BDS movement and DSA's Palestine solidarity work? View the primer and FAQ: https://palestine.dsausa.org/palestine-and-bds-faq/.

 

Throughout this episode and all our remaining 2021 episodes, we are fundraising for WBAI's rent on the transmitter at 4 Times Square. We encourage all who are able to donate what they can, even a small amount, toward this important community institution. Visit towerfund.wbai.org to give. 

Gary Dorrien's new book American Democratic Socialism is a comprehensive look at the deep roots, many of them religious, of democratic socialism in this country. Rev. Andrew Wilkes spoke with Professor Dorrien at a live event in New York City at Judson Memorial Church, where this podcast was recorded.

*and Cypress Hills, and Ocean Hill!

Believe it or not, 2022 is right around the corner and will bring with it a new electoral cycle and a new slate of DSA-endorsed socialist candidates for office. On tonight’s show, we kick off our series of interviews with NYC-DSA’s 2022 slate as we speak LIVE with Samy Nemir Olivares, candidate for Assembly District 54 in Bushwick, Cypress Hills, and Ocean Hill. Hear from Samy on their experience as a community organizer in North Brooklyn, the radical legacy of queer and trans people of color, the next steps for socialists in Albany, and smashing gender binaries right alongside capitalism.

 

We also speak to Gabriel Hernandez of NYC-DSA’s Queer Caucus on building queer community and mentorship for socialists. Finally, we hear a brief update on the struggle for free, equitable higher education for all from the New Deal for CUNY coalition.

 

To learn more about Samy Nemir-Olivares and support his run for Assembly, visit: https://www.samyfornewyork.com/

 

To learn more about NYC-DSA’s Queer Caucus, sign up for their mailing list here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/queer-caucus-interest-form

 

For more on the December 11 action for a New Deal for CUNY, visit: https://psc-cuny.org/SatDec11