In the words of civil rights giant Ella Baker, “Until the killing of black men, black mothers' sons, becomes as important to the rest of the country as the killing of a white mother's son, we who believe in freedom cannot rest until this happens.”

 

As the summer of 2021 continues to heat up, reactionaries and conservatives are escalating their assault on our struggle for multi-racial working-class liberation -- but socialists are continuing to fight back and rack up gains. On tonight’s show, we’ll speak to members of Suffolk County DSA about the recent election of DSA member Colin Palmer to the Riverhead Central District school board and how school boards are a crucial front for community control and democracy. We’ll also hear from the DSA’s new National Antifascist Working Group which is working to connect anti-fascists and anti-racists across the country.

 

RSVP for the AFWG introduction call on July 11 here: https://dsausa.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uOOnljlAR0mn7UzUHlv83Q. Follow the working group on Twitter at @DSAAntifascist or subscribe to their mailing list: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/national-dsa-antifascist-working-group-mailing-list-registration

 

Follow along with Suffolk DSA’s efforts to organize for socialism in the suburbs on Twitter @SuffolkDSA or at suffolkdsa.org. Follow Colin Palmer, Riverhead Central School District board Trustee and the first democratic socialist elected in Suffolk County, at @CJTPalmerEsq. 

Syracuse DSA and democratic socialism has announced itself to Onondaga County and the City. 

We helped Syracuse City School District Board candidate, our ally, Twiggy Billue, win a seat - a huge victory, one that prioritizes the safety of our children. In tireless solidarity with our inspired socialist comrade Joe Bennett, our chapter found five hundred forty voters to back him for the Onondaga County Legislature. Unfortunately, the tired career incumbent found 158 more.

We helped win one, we came up just short on our own. We built power, multiracial ties, community knowledge, and chapter strength. We used the opportunity to talk about educating our youth, housing as a human right, and the urgent need for publicly-owned and controlled energy systems. We also learned a tremendous amount, met one another, power mapped our home turf, and had fun!

All power to the people!

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* In the coming weeks, we will share a full and detailed report on our Chapter’s recent electoral work.

Are you suffering from chronic anxiety as our planet burns around us while our politicians act without any sense of urgency? Coulee DSA book club has the book for you!

The reading group is starting a new book, Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert. The book focuses on the climate crisis and how much damage has already been done, as well as the cutting edge of technology and geoengineering that will be necessary if human civilization as we know it will survive.

The group is now meeting on Thursday nights at 7 PM online. Next Thursday, July 8th will be the first night with reading from the new book.

If you are interested in hearing more, email us at couleeDSA@gmail.com. We are looking for feedback on possible barriers to participation. If you don’t like our book selections, or don’t feel invited to participate for any other reason, please reach out to us. We will keep your information confidential.

The post CouleeDSA’s Next Reading: Under A White Sky first appeared on Coulee DSA.

Yesterday was election day in New York. Since we’re dealing with the New York Board of Elections and the new ranked choice voting system here in New York City, many of the results are not yet finalized. DSA for the City candidate Tiffany Caban won her city council race in Queens while the rest of DSA endorsed candidates await the final results. Upstate in Buffalo India Walton won the Democratic Party primary for Mayor and a number of Rochester DSA endorsed candidates won their elections. Socialism continues to have unprecedented success at the ballot box in New York, but there is clearly so much work left to be done.

By Joseph M. Bennett | SCSD physics teacher

Joseph M. Bennett, of Syracuse, is a physics teacher in the Syracuse City School District and a Democratic Party candidate for Onondaga County legislator in the 15th District.

To the Editor:

As a longtime Onondaga County resident, it is disheartening to see that so many of our young neighbors suffer. Every year about 600 children are poisoned in Syracuse due to lead exposure in their homes. The effects of lead poisoning are permanent; they can cause behavioral disorders and impaired cognitive ability. This poisoning is no accident; it is the deliberate choice of slumlords who refuse to maintain safe properties and local governments that have failed to mandate them to action. [Read the complete op-ed at Syracuse.com]

Donate to Joe's Campaign on Act Blue.

Happy Pride Month! As a bisexual woman of color and as a new mom, I am so proud to share this time with you as we celebrate the beauty of the queer community. I am thankful to stand beside all of you as we fight for liberation. Yet the capitalists and the police state have tried to co-opt our struggle. Everywhere you walk in New York you can see banks, corporations, and cop cars decorated with rainbows in an effort to conceal that these institutions remain forces of domination against the oppressed people of the world. The Reclaim Pride Coalition (RPC) will take to the streets on Sunday, June 27th to stage the third annual Queer Liberation March. We’re joined by Natalie James, Saje Liese, and NYC-DSA endorsed candidate for city council Tiffany Caban to discuss the upcoming action and much more.

The city and county of La Crosse are each receiving over $20 million in stimulus funding. The broad left community must act together to ensure that public oversight and input are the driving force in spending this funding. This level of funding is a once in generation opportunity to pay for projects that can save lives and uplift our community as a whole. Please get involved in the decision making process.

Coulee Tenants United, CouleeDSA’s tenant organizing working group, is participating in 2 nights programming at the La Crosse Public Library on Housing and Homelessness this month. CTU is a working group dedicated to educating, organizing, and empowering renters in the Coulee region.

Part 1 on June 21st at 6:30 PM is focused on homelessness, while part 2 on June 28th at 6:30 PM covers housing, development, market and non-market solutions, and tenancy struggles. Follow the links to get registered. Program recordings will be available for those who can’t make it in person.

Long-term, systemic solutions to the housing crisis require large up front investment. Demanding that this historic stimulus bill is leveraged to better our community through permanent projects should be a priority. Reach out to us at CouleeDSA@gmail.com or at our Facebook page if you want to get involved.

The post Housing and Homelessness programming with CTU: Systemic problems and Solutions first appeared on Coulee DSA.

You’re listening to Revolutions Per Minute live on WBAI 99.5fm. We’re a socialist radio show and podcast from members of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America. DSA 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 7,000+ members and organizers who are working together to build democratic socialism in all five boroughs. As our returning listeners are well aware of, there is currently an ongoing struggle for Public Power here in New York. Earlier today, ecosocialists organizers held a rally outside city hall to demand the transformation of our statewide energy system necessary to avoid climate catastrophe. We’ll share with you protest sounds and speech from the action. Later in the show I’ll speak with DSA anti imperialist organizers Olivia Katbi Smith and Dylan Saba about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement against Israeli aparthied. DSA supports freedom of movement and equal civil and democratic rights for all people across the world. Palestinians are no exception. We’ll discuss how an anti imperialist analysis reveals how ruling classes across the region and especially here in the United States profit and are empowered by the current state of affairs. International working class solidarity is the only solution.

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