EXCLUSIVE WEB-ONLY EPISODE! Fascism is not abstract and neither is anti-fascism. Contrary to what Senator Ted Cruz and his reactionary colleagues would have us believe, anti-fascism is not domestic terrorism but a set of tactics and activities designed to prevent the rise of white supremacist, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic hate and violence. Join us on RPM to hear from anti-fascist organizers from NYC-DSA and Outlive Them NYC, a group of anti-fascist Jews and allies. What is fascism? What is anti-fascism? And how can you get involved?

ICE’s reign of terror is tearing families apart as concentration camps of asylum seekers proliferate along the border. Trump has intensified the war on immigrants, but state violence directed against the workers of the world is a deeply rooted tradition of the American ruling class. Today we’re joined by Marvin Gonzalez, Elijah Stevens, and Britt Stern from the Immigrant Justice Working Group to discuss the collective struggle against the deportation apparatus and how we organize for the socialist horizon of a world with no borders.

Sixteen of us attended the DSA national convention in downtown Atlanta Aug. 2-4 as elected MADSA delegates, and a slew more volunteered to help make the event a success. We came from many different perspectives but shared a common goal: To continue the momentum that grew our organization from a brave remnant of about 7,000 members a few years ago to about 56,000 today, including 29 federal, state and local elected officials. We are fighting for social justice and economic democracy – can’t have one without the other we socialists say – and changing the political dialogue in this country. Our City of South Fulton comrade Councilman khalid gave both an opening and a closing speech, and several of us were quoted by the New York Times, the Atlanta Constitution, the Guardian (UK), CNN and other news outlets. We passed too many resolutions to summarize easily here; come to our monthly meeting Aug 24 for a report. Photo: Steve Eberhardt

You’re listening to Revolutions Per Minute on WBAI, 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. Every two years we have a national convention to decide important questions about the direction of our organization and vote for our sixteen-member National Political Committee, who serve as our nationwide leadership.

Last weekend our special correspondent Michael Carter was down in Atlanta with our 1,056 delegates from around the country met to democratically decide these questions and meet their comrades from throughout the country and the world.

Michael: In this episode, we hear from organizers and activists around the country as well as from members of the NYC-DSA delegation to the convention about their experience and about what it means to run an organization democratically.

We have on-the-ground interviews with elected socialists Maryland House Rep Gabriel Acevero, Chicago City Council Member Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Peekskill City Councilwoman Vanessa Agudelo, North Dakota state legislator Ruth Buffalo, Oregon school board member Brandy Fortsen, who is the first nonbinary person elected to public office in the United States, and several delegates to the convention.

We also spoke with delegates organizing for socialism in other spheres of struggle. We’ll share with you their experience participating in organizational democracy in order to build a multi-racial workers’ democracy across the world.

Last but definitely not least, we will be hearing from newly elected National Political Committee member Tawny Tidwell.

The American political establishment has a long history of cynical attacks based on race, gender, national origin, sexuality and more to divide working people against each other. President Trump’s recent statements are the latest chapter in that shameful history. While the animus dividing our society didn’t begin with President Trump, we are seeing from him now a dangerous escalation in targeting both specific elected officials and entire communities, such as the recent ICE raids on undocumented persons. The President, clearly unbothered by the humanitarian disaster he’s created at the border and many other crises, has taken time to attack Representatives Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, and Ayanna Pressley.

While President Trump has gleefully had TV sparring matches with many prominent Democrats, these women and their agenda clearly pose an existential threat for him and his political establishment. His attacks this week included telling these women to “go back” to the country they came from. All of them are American citizens and three were born here.

Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America makes clear our full support for Reps. Omar, Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortes, and Pressley and our opposition to these attacks by Trump and the Republican Party. Most Republican party officials and Republican media outlets have sadly and predictably either joined with Trump or excused his actions.

We also denounce statements by Democratic Party members drawing false equivalence between Trump and these representatives, or implying that their anti-capitalist or anti-imperialist positions warrant such attacks. We also encourage the progressive caucus to stand united in solidarity, and not cave to any pressure to denounce each other.

This kind of dehumanizing language doesn’t belong in a locker room, let alone the halls of power. We would defend anyone against attacks like these, but the political and personal courage of these representatives deserves particular acknowledgement. They are at the forefront of the struggle to democratize the economy, rebuild and strengthen our safety net, and protect the vulnerable.

We invite people disgusted by these attacks to not just work towards President Trump’s removal next fall, but to also join us right now — organizing against facism, racism, neoliberalism, xenophobia, and every other form of oppression that has empowered him and his accomplices.

Georgia organizations wishing to co-sign this statement can send an email to info@madsa.ga.

You’re listening to Revolutions Per Minute on WBAI, a socialist radio show and podcast from members of New York City Democratic Socialists of America. NYC-DSA is the biggest chapter of the largest socialist organization in the United States. We are run by our 5,500+ members and organizers who are working together to build democratic socialism in all five boroughs.

You’re listening to Revolutions Per Minute on WBAI, a socialist radio show and podcast from members of New York City Democratic Socialists of America. NYC-DSA is the biggest chapter of the largest socialist organization in the United States. We are run by our 5,500+ members and organizers who are working together to build democratic socialism in all five boroughs

https://act.dsausa.org/donate/membership/
https://www.socialists.nyc/events?view=calendar&month=07-2019

Hundreds protested the Trump administration’s atrocious treatment of legal asylum seekers and other immigrants, especially children, at the “Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Concentration Camps” at Plaza Fiesta in Chamblee July 12, despite the heat and a rain shower. The New Sanctuary Movement of Alanta and about two dozen social justice and immigrant rights organizations sponsored the event, joined by other progressive organizations and many MADSA members. Ga. Representative (District 99) and candidate for Congress Brenda Lopez Romero was keynote speaker. Other speakers included several faith leaders; Roxana Chicas of New Sanctuary; Carlos Medina of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR); two candidates for the U.S. Senate: former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson and Clarkston Mayor Ted Terry; and Amilcar Valencia, Executive Director of El Refugio, among others. See Lopez Romero’s speech here.

The Lights for Liberty event took place as Atlanta braced for a weekend of raids on immigrant families announced by President Trump. GLAHR is organizing “ICEwatch” patrols to follow (not confront) ICE and document its activities. Some MADSA members participated Saturday morning. “Ice patrol with GLAHR was great,” says Jeff R. “They’re going all this week in the morning and they think immigration raids will start [Sunday].”

ICEwatch patrols meet 6am at the GLAHR office. To volunteer, contact Kevin Joachin (229-646-0045). Members please say you’re with DSA. Do not volunteer if you are undocumented.

Another protest against the immigrant concentration camps: “Never Again,” will take place at noon on Monday July 15 in front of the ICE office in downtown Atlanta, in coordination with actions nationwide led by Jewish groups, including some against banks that finance the private detention centers.

In 2017 Jabari Brisport ran a powerful, insurgent campaign as a socialist for New York City Council. He didn’t win, but since then NYC DSA has an impressive string of electoral victories. Has NYC DSA built enough electoral power to get socialists elected to City Council? What about the White House?

It’s one week after one of the biggest progressive upsets in NYC electoral politics in a generation. Votes are still being counted, but it’s possible that progressives and socialists have propelled Tiffany Cabán to victory and reshaped NY politics and criminal justice for years to come.

We’ll talk about the final vote counting process underway right now (and how you can help!), as well as an analysis on what this means for the criminal justice movement, the dwindling Queens Machine, and DSA.

Sign up for phonebanking or data entry to help Caban over the finish line bit.ly/cabanadmin