Bernie inspired a generation, but who inspired Bernie? Labor organizer Eugene Victor Debs led the United States socialist movement in the early 20th century. He received almost one million votes for president in 1920, running from his cell in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he had been jailed for protesting World War I — when our population was one third the size of today’s! Debs was a charismatic, extremely popular figure during his lifetime but this history, like so much of our radical history, is rarely taught.

Debs famously declared: “While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison I am not free!”

Metro Atlanta DSA and Georgia State U. YDSA are proud to present this film, produced by Yale Strom and Elizabeth Schwartz, two San Diego DSA members. Discussion will follow the film, so please plan to stay.

We also plan to have some copies available of Eugene Debs, a Graphic Biography, by DSA members Paul Buhle and Steve Max, at half price. You can order a copy at half price online from national DSA.

Admission is free, though donations to help pay for the screening fee and theater rental will be welcome.

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.

As we do every year, a contingent of MADSA members joined the Martin Luther King Jr. Day march on Jan. 20, along with hundreds of others from peace and justice organizations, labor unions, community groups, churches and schools, and individuals. The lead marchers chanted “Ho, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go!” and many other concerns were voiced, including demands for peace, reparations, and police accountability. Photos: Reid Freeman Jenkins.

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com or sign-up for our newsletter to get links to what we talk about on the show. You can do that on at our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com. You can also find us on twitter @nycRPM.

At the January 5, 2020 meeting of the Charlotte Metro Democratic Socialists of America, the following statement was read aloud to members and guests. Members in attendance at the meeting voted to formally adopt this statement.

Oppose the U.S.-led Imperialist Foreign Policy in the Middle East!

Charlotte Metro Democratic Socialists of America (CLTMDSA) emphatically opposes a U.S. war with Iran. In light of the U.S.’s act of war against Iran, putting the two nations close to the brink of war, DSA calls on all members and chapters to mobilize against yet another U.S. war in the Middle East.

On January 2, 2020, the U.S. military assassinated, on Iraqi soil, Iranian General Qassim Suleimani. Such a move is an act of war, and unnecessarily escalates an already tense military situation in Iraq and Iran. In addition to recklessly endangering millions of lives throughout the Middle East, the aggressive military strike of January 2nd violates the War Powers Act, the U.S. Constitution, and international law.

As Democratic Socialists, we reject the jingoism, nationalism, xenophobia, and war profiteering endemic in all capitalist countries who pursue their imperialist policies to the detriment of the working class of all countries. 

The Charlotte Metro chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America calls upon all workers to oppose the aggression of the U.S. government in the Middle East and around the world, and to oppose all attempts to split the working class along national lines.

Workers of the World, Unite!

Charlotte Metro Democratic Socialists of America

“And here let me emphasize the fact — and it cannot be repeated too often — that the working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish the corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they alone make peace.”

 - Eugene V. Debs, Anti-War Speech given in Canton, Ohio (1918)

“Modern monopolist capitalism on a world-wide scale — imperialist wars are absolutely inevitable under such an economic system, as long as private property in the means of production exists.” 

- V.I. Lenin, Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com or sign-up for our newsletter to get links to what we talk about on the show. You can do that on at our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com. You can also find us on twitter @nycRPM.

Maxine Phillips leads DSA’s religion and socialism working group nationally. She is a retired executive editor of Dissent, former DSA national director, and current volunteer editor of "Democratic Left." She has been part of DSA since the late 70's and oversaw the Religion & Socialism print newsletter for decades, which included articles from Cornel West, Arthur Waskow, and Dorothy Sollee. This interview captures lots of her insights on the differences between each generation of DSA, and reflections on the parallels and differences between church and socialist spaces.

We weren't physically in the studio, but still pulled together a show for this week. We begin the episode with the second half of our interview on the coup in Bolivia with Robert Cavooris. Then we turn to Amy Wilson's discussion with Rank & File TWU Local 100 members. This interview had already been released as a podcast only feature during the WBAI Lockout, but now it's been broadcasted across the airwaves. Additionally there's a quick shoutout to comrade Jesus.

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 56,000 members nationwide and NYC-DSA is its biggest chapter. We are run by our 5,500+ members and organizers who are working together to build democratic socialism in all five boroughs.

To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com or sign-up for our newsletter to get links to what we talk about on the show. You can do that on at our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com. You can also find us on twitter @nycRPM.