Illustration by @em_mulsify

Reproductive Justice

For helpful links and info click to go to our Reproductive Justice section.

A project of the Milwaukee DSA Education Committee

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 nine 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 strategies 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 apply (apply here, due Friday, May 13), be interviewed, and enter the program if selected. 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 is intended to be in-person), 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 two classes and field work sessions may result in removal from the program.  

Time commitment per week: 

Unit instruction: 2 hours 
Organizing work: 3 hours 
Miscellaneous tasks: 1 hour 
Total time per week: 6 hours

Weekly schedule: 

There will be two “sections” of class held each week and participants will choose and commit to attending one section during the program.  

Choose… 

Section 1 class: Tuesdays from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. (for the 9-5 crowd)

Or…

Section 2 class: Fridays from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. (for the second and third shift crowd) 

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.
Saturdays 12:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. 
Sundays 12:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. 
Mondays 5:30 until 8:30 p.m. 

Program timeline: 

• Friday, May 13: Application deadline – apply here
• Tuesday, May 17: Start of nine week program (First Section 1 class held, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.), location TBD, but in City of Milwaukee 
• Friday May 20: First Section 2 class held 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., location TBD, but in City of Milwaukee
• Monday, June 13 to Monday June 20: Week Break
• Monday, July 18: Completion of program

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 instructor: 

Alex Brower is a labor leader, socialist organizer, and the chapter treasurer of the Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America. 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. 

Questions? 

Contact Alex Brower at 414-949-8756 or alexbrowermke@gmail.com

Apply now!

Click here to apply, or copy and paste this URL into your web browser: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSflxv_mIGyd3gwfCwdxbPXPCPJ-RWy-8cbQr-25u0Cntu-fwQ/viewform

Milwaukee DSA is deeply saddened and disappointed by the Supreme Court’s regressive decision to repeal Roe V. Wade. As an organization, we stand in solidarity with all abortion-seeking people, whose rights to reproductive autonomy are being threatened by the state. We affirm our commitment to fighting alongside our community in pursuit of reproductive justice for all people.

As a socialist organization, we recognize that the fight for reproductive justice is inextricably connected to the struggles for economic justice, racial justice, and the abolition of the prison industrial complex. This decision is a form of class warfare intended to punish and criminalize working-class people, particularly poor, disabled, people of color. This violent attack on reproductive autonomy is done in the service of maintaining the patriarchal social order and the (often invisible) reproductive labor that capitalism relies on. 

We believe that reproductive justice is essential for building a world in which working-class people are liberated and have access to what they need to live dignified and fulfilling lives. Every person deserves the right to bodily autonomy, to have children or not have children, and to parent in safe and well-resourced communities.  

On Saturday (5/7) at 3 pm, Madison DSA is holding a rally in support of reproductive justice, abortion, and bodily autonomy at the Wisconsin State Capitol. We encourage our members to support these local actions taking place and to contribute to grassroots abortion funds. As an organization, we have contributed $250 to the Women’s Medical Fund to continue assisting those in need of abortion in our state. Donations can be made here: wmfwisconsin.org/donate

Our demand is now, and always: free abortion – on demand – without apology.

With love and solidarity, 
Milwaukee DSA

Tonight we’re continuing our series of interviews with the DSA For the Many Slate and are joined live by Kristen Gonzalez, a tech worker and community organizer running for State Senate District 17. District 17 might be a new district spanning from Woodside, Queens to Greenpoint, Brooklyn - but that depends on the courts. We’ll talk to Kristen about the Senate redistricting debacle and much more. We’ll also be opening up the phone lines later in the show and want to hear from you!

“Talking Union Blues” – Almanac Singers

In commemoration of May Day, this month’s Socialist Song of the Month is Talking Union Blues by the Almanac Singers, originally formed in 1940 by Millard Lampell, Lee Hayes, and Pete Seeger, and later joined by Woody Guthrie. This song was more or less a group effort. It was released on the album Talking Union in 1941, which included the well known song Union Maid.

The origins of May Day, or more formally, International Workers Day, had its origins in the fight for an eight hour work day. A mass strike in support of this first occurred in Victoria, Australia, on April 21, 1856, and this became an annual event. Agitation for an eight hour day eventually spread to the United States, leading to a mass strike in many cities starting on May 1, 1886. In Chicago, this ended with the Haymarket Square massacre on May 3. In spite of this, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, (later the American Federation of Labor, or AFL), the organizer of the strike, called for another one on May 1, 1890.

On July 15, 1889, an international convention of labor and socialist organizations gathered in Paris, calling itself the International Workers’ Congress, later to become known as the Second International. The eight hour day was high on its priorities. A member of the French delegation proposed an international labor stoppage on a given day. The American delegation proposed May 1, 1890 as that day.

While May 1 continues to be a public holiday in most countries, in the United States, the officially recognized day is the first Monday in September, established officially in 1887, fearing May 1 would become a commemoration of the Haymarket massacre. In further attempts to grind out the association of May 1 with working class agitation, May 1 was also designated as Loyalty Day in 1921 and Law Day in 1961.

For a more thorough retelling of the history of May Day, see here. For an account of the first meeting of the Second International, see here.

Lyrics

Now, if you want higher wages let me tell you what to do
You got to talk to the workers in the shop with you
You got to build you a union, got to make it strong
But if you all stick together, boys, it won’t be long
You get shorter hours, better working conditions
Vacations with pay. Take your kids to the seashore
It ain’t quite this simple, so I better explain
Just why you got to ride on the union train
‘Cause if you wait for the boss to raise your pay
We’ll all be a-waitin’ ’til Judgment Day
We’ll all be buried, gone to heaven
St. Peter’ll be the straw boss then
Now you know you’re underpaid but the boss says you ain’t
He speeds up the work ’til you’re ’bout to faint
You may be down and out, but you ain’t beaten
You can pass out a leaflet and call a meetin’
Talk it over, speak your mind
Decide to do somethin’ about it
Course, the boss may persuade some poor damn fool
To go to your meetin’ and act like a stool
But you can always tell a stool, though, that’s a fact
He’s got a yaller streak a-runnin’ down his back
He doesn’t have to stool, he’ll always get along
On body takes out of blind men’s cups
Well, You got a union now, and you’re sittin’ pretty
Put some of the boys on the steering committee
The boss won’t listen when one guy squawks
But he’s got to listen when the union talks
He’d better, be mighty lonely
Everybody decide to walk out on him
Suppose they’re working you so hard it’s just outrageous
And they’re paying you all starvation wages
You go to the boss and the boss would yell
“Before I raise your pay I’d see you all in hell.”
Well, he’s puffing a big cigar, feeling mighty slick
‘Cause he thinks he’s got your union licked
Well, he looks out the window and what does he see
But a thousand pickets, and they all agree
He’s a bastard, unfair, slavedriver
Bet he beats his wife
Now, boys, you’ve come to the hardest time
The boss will try to bust your picket line
He’ll call out the police, the National Guard
They’ll tell you it’s a crime to have a union card
They’ll raid your meetin’, they’ll hit you on the head
They’ll call every one of you a goddam red
Unpatriotic, Japanese spies, sabotaging national defense
But out at Ford, here’s what they found
And out at Vultee, here’s what they found
And out at Allis-Chalmers, here’s what they found
And down at Bethlehem, here’s what they found
That if you don’t let red-baiting break you up
And if you don’t let stool pigeons break you up
And if you don’t let vigilantes break you up
And if you don’t let race hatred break you up
You’ll win, What I mean, take it easy, but take it

Denver DSA has been fighting for over a year alongside frontline communities to shut down Colorado’s coal plants and make the just transition to clean, renewable, community-owned electricity. The dirtiest of these coal plants is now officially slated to close no later than January 1, 2031. It’s a huge victory and a testament to the power of mass organizing.

The Coal Plant That Never Should Have Been Built

The Comanche 3 coal plant is the largest polluter in Colorado. Offensively named after an indigenous nation that extractive capitalism itself waged genocide against, this plant has been met with opposition since it was proposed back in 2004.

Despite protests, lawsuits, outcry at public hearings, and the clear scientific evidence that a new coal plant would worsen the already serious climate crisis mounting, Xcel Energy moved forward with construction, with the blessing of the Public Utility Commission (PUC).

The plant went online in 2010 and Xcel hoped to run it until 2070. The massive facility has been pumping tons and tons of carbon dioxide and toxins into the atmosphere. The nearby working class, Latinx community in Pueblo bears the worst of the effects with many residents suffering from respiratory diseases.

The fight to close this plant has never let up. Over the past year, the EcoSocialist committee has been fighting in coalition with others to have the PUC do what it should have done from the beginning – shut this coal plant down.

People Power Forces Xcel to Concede

Thousands of Colorado residents wrote into the PUC demanding that the coal plant be shut down as soon as possible. Dozens of Pueblo residents testified at a public hearing. Over 100 people testified at the final statewide hearing demanding the same.

Xcel took notice. First they offered a 2040 closure date. Then, following the Pueblo hearing, tried making a backroom deal for a 2035 date. We kept fighting, insisting that the plant be closed by at least 2030, if not sooner.

The PUC expressed skepticism around the 2035 Xcel proposal. Another rally kept the pressure on the PUC to do the right thing.

Finally, on April 26, 2022 Xcel came back to the negotiating table and agreed to close the coal plant no later than January 1, 2031.

The Fight Continues to Close the Comanche Coal Plant As Early As Possible

While the newest deadline is great news and could not have happened without thousands of people standing up to Xcel’s profiteering, the fight is not over. This coal plant never should have been built in the first place. We’re experiencing unprecedented drought, wildfires, and heatwaves. Frontline communities still breath the poisoned air and every day more carbon is added to the atmosphere we’ll then need to draw back down.

We’ll take this opportunity to celebrate together with the many others fighting to get to this point. Then we’ll regroup and decide the best path forward to shut down coal once and for all and usher in a new clean and affordable energy system.

To get involved, email the EcoSocialist Committee at ecosoc@denverdsa.org

At the North America's Building Trades Union's conference, the promise and limitations of organized labor's current resurgence were on full display.

In the battle between the “corporate Mouse” and the political rats in Tallahassee and elsewhere, the Left has no natural allies.

Precarity and student debt were foisted on a generation by capitalist systems. Young workers are yearning for a new solution.

International Workers’ Day is right around the corner on May 1, and this year it comes among a huge upswell of worker-run unionism and labor militancy. From Delta Airlines to Amazon and Starbucks to local shops like Film Forum here in NYC, workers are coming together and fighting for their rights on the job.

 

Here at Revolutions per Minute, we are organizers, and organizers know that all labor stories start with workers talking to each other – on the job, at home, and in the streets. For our 2022 Workers Day Special, members of the RPM collective have each interviewed a worker in our own lives about their work, their struggles, and their joys. We’re speaking to the people we love, respect, and work with, in hopes that you’ll do the same this Workers’ Day and every day!

 

Lee Ziesche interviews her life partner Miles Bartlett on his 20 years' experience as a back of house kitchen worker.

Chris Carr interviews his UAW brother and worker at the same university, Zach Valdez. Zach is an administrative assistant and UAW Local 2110 steward. Learn more about this local's contract fight at @2110for1M1V and  sign their petition here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/fair-contract-now-support-local-2110-staff. 

Desiree Joy Frias interviews her best friend and godmother of her son, Jamese Lamb, on her experience as a graduate student medical worker.

Amy Wilson interviews her labor movement comrade and friend, Kayleigh Truman. Kayleigh is a second-generation stagehand working Broadway, off-Broadway, and Madison Square Garden, and running for leadership in IATSE Local One to change the culture of their union.