Today, the Atlanta City Council showed its true colors, choosing to ignore vocal opposition by thousands of working-class residents in favor of Atlanta’s corporate elite on the board of the Atlanta Police Foundation. Despite over 16 hours of public comment with 70% of resident callers against the proposal, and despite a survey showing that 98% of Atlanta residents oppose building Cop City, the following Council-members have voted to put profits over people, clear-cut Atlanta’s historic forest, and build an 85 acre, $90 million Cop City: Joyce Sheperd, Andre Dickens, Cleta Winslow, Dustin Hillis, Matt Westmoreland, Michael Julian Bond, Andrea L. Boone, Howard Shook, Marci Overstreet, J.P. Matzigkeit.

Over the last three months, Atlanta DSA has organized weekly canvasses in neighborhoods most directly impacted by the proposed facility, speaking with residents in Atlanta City Council’s 5th and 12th districts and in Dekalb County’s Gresham Park. Despite attempts by City Council, APF, and the corporate media to manufacture consent for the proposal, our outreach affirmed that the community overwhelmingly opposes the development, with over 1,000 residents signing our petition to Stop Cop City. While City Council actively obstructed all meaningful opportunities for public input, we organized a truly democratic People’s Town Hall attended by over 100 residents who came to express their stance against Cop City. The message from working-class Atlanta is loud and clear: Stop Cop City.

Yet despite the clear public opposition from Atlanta’s working class, despite the rallying cries from the public over the last year to defund the police state, despite the human and environmental harms that will result from deforestation as we face the threat of climate change, this City Council once again sided with corporate Atlanta over their own constituents.

If anything, this vote has reinforced that as long as we live under capitalism, and corporate “philanthropists” maintain their grip over City policy and priorities, the same neoliberal villains that brought us Cop City will continue to bring us dystopian proposals until the working class stands together and organizes for real change. 

Despite the disappointing vote, the Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America will continue to organize working class people in the struggle against the billionaire elite. We will continue to organize to abolish policing and mass incarceration. We will continue organizing towards universal housing, healthcare, food for all, and a Green New Deal. The campaign to Stop Cop City has only strengthened and emboldened the working class as a serious political force in Atlanta. If anything, this campaign has confirmed that we can build mass movements to take back power from the corporate elite. We can build a society that invests in communities over the carceral state. It’s more clear now than ever that when ordinary working people come together, we can wield our collective power through organization. 

We invite you all to join us in these future struggles towards liberation. To learn more about this campaign and our future work, tune in next Wednesday, September 15th at 7pm, for an online debrief call as we review all we’ve learned and accomplished over these last months, and analyze the final vote and what it means for November’s elections. As always, we invite those committed to joining our future fights to organize in solidarity with us and join DSA.

Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America stands with the Clark County Staff Organization (CCSO), the organizing and representation staff union of the Clark County Education Association (CCEA), in condemning this school year’s reopening and CCSD leadership’s inability to keep teachers and students safe.

CCSD received nearly $800 million in federal funds over the next three years for the purpose of ensuring safety for educators, support staff, and students — yet it’s clear the processes in place are not working and funds are not being implemented appropriately. Over 1,800 positive cases have been reported throughout the district in the current school year, endangering the broader community. Yet this may be an underrepresentation of the true number of cases, as nurses in charge of the effort report that contact tracing outcomes are being suppressed by central administration, therefore subverting the quarantine requirements for staff and students. Furthermore, COVID-related sick leave has not been available to staff members since the FFCRA provisions expired in December. Many staff only have six sick leave days, which is not enough for a quarantine period.

Nevada lawmakers’ historic refusal to adequately fund education only looks worse in the current spotlight of the pandemic. It has led to increasingly detrimental facilities, untenable working conditions, unsustainable staff-to-student ratios, and grossly inadequate mental health support. The children of Clark County have already lived through a year and a half of immense trauma. Nevada families are being pushed to their emotional limits while facing uprootings, loss of loved ones, personal illness, and the highest rate of unemployment, along with additional economic distress brought on by the end of the eviction moratorium and federal unemployment benefits — issues especially felt in BIPOC communities.

Las Vegas DSA immediately calls upon CCSD to meet the demands of CCEA and all other unions, negotiate workplace safety and conditions, cease practices resulting in greater spread of infection, use the federal funding to provide educators with at least 10 days of paid COVID-related sick leave, hire staff that are capable of continuing instruction should an educator need to use the sick leave, conduct regular COVID testing so employees aren’t forced to go on their own time, and update school safety protocols to allow nurses to fully conduct contact tracing without suppressing outcomes.

We encourage members of the community to make a public comment during a CCSD Board of Trustees meeting and sign this statement of support for Clark County educators. Written public comments may be submitted to boardmtgcomments@nv.ccsd.net and in-person testimony can be scheduled in advance or immediately prior to the meeting.

About Las Vegas DSA

The Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America is a community of Las Vegas comrades committed to uplifting our city through advocacy of and organizing for a nation-wide, world-wide working-class movement that puts people and planet over profit. As a group of leftist organizers and civil actors, we recognize that corporations, the finance industry and private interests stripped working people’s political power. We are socialists, feminists, and anti-racists who share a positive vision for a better, fairer world. Together we can impact our community for the better and fulfill our nation’s promise of democracy. Join us to help fight for liberty and justice for all!

Contacts

For inquiries, please email lasvegasdsa@gmail.com

It’s a Revolutions per Minute social and fundraising extravaganza! Tonight we’re taking a break from our usual format to share a peek behind the scenes of the Revolutions per Minute collective: who we are, why we organize community radio for NYC-DSA, and why we support WBAI 99.5FM. Hear from our RPM hosts, producers, and behind the scenes comrades during this relaxed, casual show that emphasizes the importance of movement-based community media.

Please consider giving to WBAI in the name of Revolutions per Minute. Monthly donations of any amount are appreciated, and giving $25 in a calendar year makes you a voting member of the station! To donate, visit give2wbai.org. We have more cool rewards coming, so keep listening and check back!

To pitch a story for coverage on Revolutions per Minute, visit bit.ly/pitch2RPM.

If you’re a member of NYC-DSA looking to learn more or get involved with making RPM, please visit bit.ly/RPMJoinForm.

This episode was recorded remotely during a night of heavy rain and catastrophic flooding in New York City. We urge you to join NYC-DSA's Ecosocialist Working Group or another local formation and get involved with the struggle to protect workers and tenants against climate catastrophe. 

This summer the IPCC released another devastating report on the climate crisis driven by fossil fuel capital, as like most of the country, we saw the impacts of climate change right here in NYC with heat waves and record rain. Tonight we’ll talk with Ecosocialist comrades Brittany Allen and Gustavo Gordillo about how DSA is taking the climate fight to one of the most essential yet resource deprived institutions across the country - our schools- with the Green New Deal for Public Schools campaign.

To join the national campaign for a Green New Deal for Public Schools: https://greennewschools.com/join

To join NYC-DSA Ecoscialists:  https://ecosocialists.nyc/join-us/

Follow NYC-DSA EcoSocialist Working Group on  Twitter: @NYCDSA_Ecosoc

Follow NYC-DSA EcoSocialist Working Group on  Twitter: @NYCDSA_Ecosoc

Even with Cuomo out of office, our state still faces a housing crisis. This week, The Supreme Court has issued a temporary injunction against the  "Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act," also known as the New York State's Eviction moratorium. This immediately suspends the eviction protections for tenants included in that law. Up to 40 million Americans could face eviction due to the ending of the eviction moratorium. For some, it's fifteen months worth of back rent- and in more expensive cities like NYC or Portland where rents have skyrocketed after the 2008 mortgage crisis, that can mean up to $31,500 - due immediately.

As the Delta variant surges with 619,000 deaths in the last 30 days and hospitals filled to breaking point from Florida to Texas (including 90,000 hospitalized children in the last week alone), the pandemic is certainly not over. And with only 71% of adults vaccinated and children under 12 ineligible for a vaccine, it won’t be ending any time soon either.

Tonight, we hear from State Senator and NYC-DSA member Jabari Brisport about the plans from the DSA Socialists in Office in New York State's legislature to fight for housing as a human right - and the right for all of us to stay at home during COVID 19.

Here are resources via the Met Council on Housing on what to do if you are facing eviction:

DO NOT SELF-EVICT! DO NOT MOVE OUT! It is extremely important to remember that evictions proceedings are long and there are other anti-eviction laws in place.

How can you protect yourself now?

1)  Apply for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP): If you apply for this program, your landlord cannot move forward with your eviction. This is the strongest protection we have to keep people in their homes.

2) Sign up for the federal CDC moratorium: The federal government has extended its moratorium to October 1st. It is not as strong as the NY State Eviction Moratorium but if you sign the CDC declaration of hardship, it will provide you with a defense in court if your landlord tries to evict you

3) Join your building’s tenant union, or reach out to CASA, Crown Heights Tenant Union or Met Council on Housing for housing help, resources to start your own tenant union or you can also call 311 for available city resources.

We here at RPM stand in solidarity with tenants across the country. 

We, the West Suburban Illinois chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America stand in solidarity with IAMAW Automobile Mechanics Union Local 701 in their ongoing strike. We resolve not to patronize the following car dealerships until the action is called off:

LIST OF NCDC DEALERS ON STRIKE AS OF AUGUST 2, 2021

Advantage Chevrolet
Advantage Chevrolet Bolingbrook
Apple Chevrolet
Arlington Heights Buick
Berman Nissan/Infiniti of Chicago
Berman Subaru of Chicago
Bill Kay Buick-GMC
Bill Kay Chevrolet
Bill Kay Ford
Bill Kay Nissan
Bill Stasek Chevrolet
Golf Mill Chevrolet
Bredemann Ford
Community Honda
Ettleson Cadillac/Buick/GMC
Ettleson Hyundai
Golf Mill Ford
Haggerty Buick/GMC
Hawk Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep
Hawk Ford Inc.
Heritage Cadillac, Inc.
Highland Park Ford/Lincoln
Honda on Grand
Jack Phelan Chevrolet
Jack Phelan Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram Jerry Haggerty Chevrolet
Kelly Nissan
Kingdom Chevrolet
Lexus of Naperville
Marquardt of Barrington
Max Madsen’s Aurora Mitsubishi
Metro Ford
Mike Anderson Chevrolet of Chicago
Mike Haggerty Buick/GMC, Inc.
Nissan of South Holland/Nissan on 94 Happy Hyundai
Oak Lawn Mazda
Oakbrook Toyota in Westmont
Packey Webb Ford
Patrick Volvo
Patrick Cadillac
Phillips Chevrolet
Pugi of Chicagoland (Hyundai,Mazda,VW) Ray Buick
Rogers Auto Group
South Chicago Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep/Ram Sunrise Chevrolet
Toyota of Naperville
Victor Ford
Volkswagen of Oak Lawn
Webb Chevrolet Oak Lawn
Webb Chevrolet of Plainfield
Western Avenue Nissan
Westfield Ford, Inc.
Westmont Lincoln
Woody Buick/GMC

Senator Julia Salazar of NY-18 was elected in 2018 after winning an insurgent, grassroots campaign powered by NYC-DSA as well as many movement allies. Three years later, she’s serving her second term in Albany as the chair of the Women’s Issues Committee and the chair of the Crime Victims, Crime, and Corrections Committee.

On tonight’s show, we speak with Senator Salazar as well as her Organizing Director and fellow NYC-DSA member, Ramon Pebenito. Dismantling the carceral system requires all of us to exercise our power to slow, stop, or mitigate the harms of police and prisons, or to throw “sand in the gears” of the machine of bureaucratic state violence wherever we are. In this episode, we hear from Senator Salazar on her surprise visits to NY State correctional facilities and from Ramon on over-policing in New York’s district 18. 

You can find Senator Salazar on Twitter @SalazarSenate or visit her official website: 

https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/julia-salazar.

By Joel Campbell

Former Governor Rick Snyder is remembered for many reprehensible things, from poisoning Flint to signing Right to Work legislation. Perhaps his most enduring legacy, one that both of these are a part of, is his attempt to thwart any local resistance to capitalism. Flint was poisoned, after all, because of Emergency Financial Manager Ed Kurtz. EFMs, a hallmark of the Snyder administration, supplanted elected officials throughout the state. For Snyder, any attempt at even representative politics would not be tolerated. Direct democracy on a municipal level was an even bigger threat and one his administration worked overtime to head off at the pass. 

Between 2012 and 2016, Snyder signed preemption laws in six critical areas: minimum wage, paid leave, fair work scheduling, regulation and taxation on gig companies, and prevailing wage. There was even a law signed preventing municipalities from banning plastic grocery bags. Even now, Representative Michele Hoitenga (R – 102) has introduced HB 4575, a bill that will prohibit local municipalities from banning natural gas appliances in new and existing residential buildings. This legacy lingers over local organizers to this day as many try to figure out how to make Michigan a better place to live.

Much like the Emergency Financial Management laws, preemption laws stifle the prospect for municipalities to engage in democratic policy-making and solutions. A preemption law, in short, bars municipalities from passing certain pieces of legislation. For example, municipalities are prevented from raising the minimum wage; it must be raised on a state level. City employees’ wages can typically be increased, but any non-city employee has to wait for either a ballot measure to come along or hope that the Republican-dominated Michigan legislature will do the right thing.

In 2018, the Michigan chapter of One Fair Wage set out to do just that. With enough signatures collected, One Fair Wage’s ballot initiative was bound for the 2018 November ballot until, in September, the Michigan legislature approved both the minimum wage increase and another ballot initiative about paid sick leave. Paid sick leave, like the minimum wage, faces this preemption challenge. By adopting these initiatives, the Michigan legislature was able to amend them with simple majority votes. The Republicans had supermajorities in both houses at the time and essentially destroyed the ballot measures. The last hope was the Michigan Supreme Court, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the court ruled that this debacle was a non-issue.

Preemption laws, Right to Work, and the byzantine legal system give organizers a unique set of challenges. All the work for a statewide ballot measure fell flat on its face. Perhaps a post-mortem is necessary to understand what to avoid. When people say that the power belongs to them, it is true; the workers make the world turn. This power, however, can be stripped away and smashed if the working class is not clear-eyed in its strategy and diverse in its tactics.

When looking at what can be done, it is important to consider what dynamics are in motion.  The Left must understand what tools are actually at their disposal and how to utilize them. Ballot measures, whether on a municipal or state level, are subject to the whims of the ruling political class. However, if ballot measures primarily serve as a way to create connections with people in our communities then their efficacy can be validated. Winning a ballot measure is a great secondary goal, but first and foremost the Left should utilize them to draw out sympathetic community members and organize them. 

On the opposing side, the Michigan Republicans have a full spectrum understanding of their tools. One of the last things that floated by Snyder on his way out the door was using the Michigan National Guard to finish road construction that had been halted due to a strike. From crushing strikes to being scabs, the Michigan National Guard stands at the beck and call of the capitalist class, regardless of legality. Power is simply codified in law, it does not originate in it. 

The eternal question, “What is to be done?” echoes here. The need for strategy, base building, and diversity of tactics are crucial. While organizations like the DSA cannot be at the forefront of the labor movement, they can help lay the foundation. Building solidarity through mutual aid, tenant organizing, and strike funds are ways in which DSA can serve as an auxiliary to the burgeoning labor movement. As long as they can be connected through a cohesive strategy, there is a way in which the tide can be turned, and a better tomorrow won.

This requires, in part, a deep observance of the difference between organizing, advocacy, and mobilizing. The chart below is from Jane McAlevey’s seminal work, No Shortcuts, and it helps articulate the difference between the three main types of political work. When considering how to move forward, organizing will be the critical difference rather than the advocacy and mobilizing of most organizations. Long-term, sustained, and personal organizing is required for the Left to win.

The Snyder administration destroyed local democracy if we believe democracy is bound to the pages of law books. Democracy, fundamentally, is a process by which we engage with one another to create a better world. If we choose to let things like preemption laws or Right to Work legislation chill us, then we have indeed lost. If however, we understand that our power is found in building solidarity with our community and that the law is merely something written by the ruling class, we can begin to see a path forward. Unions, strikes, and dignity for the working class have been illegal before, but the union rolled on.

The post Preempting Local Democracy appeared first on Grand Rapids Democratic Socialists of America.

Eugene Democratic Socialists of America stands in solidarity with the working class of Cuba and demand an end to the cruel, unjust sanctions and blockade.

Sanctions never hurt the ruling class. Instead, the working class are forced to endure the brunt of the endless siege. Eugene DSA recognizes the hypocrisy of the United States government that feigns disgust at possible protester suppression in Cuba while at the same time continues to increase funding for the police and military that suppresses protesters domestically.

Eugene DSA is committed to anti-imperalism around the world. Whether it be in Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela or elsewhere, we stand united with the working class against the United States’ sustained aggression in the region.

Workers of the world, unite.

We may be across a “state” line from each other, but organizers in New York and New Jersey know what unites us is much more than what divides us. On tonight’s show, we’re joined live by our comrades from North New Jersey DSA to discuss their chapter’s organizing to abolish ICE and close immigrant detention facilities, conduct mutual aid and harm reduction work with their communities, and elect socialist and union leader Joel Brooks to City Council in Jersey City. 

To learn more about Joel Brooks’ campaign for City Council, visit https://www.joelbrooksforjerseycity.com/ or follow @VoteJoelBrooks.

You can reach out the North New Jersey Mutual Aid Working Group at: nnjmutualaidwg@gmail.com or contribute to their fundraiser for the Ramapough Lunaape Turtle Clan’s Munsee Three Sisters Medicine Farm in Newton, NJ: https://www.gofundme.com/f/RLsolidarity

Click here to learn more about the North New Jersey Immigrant Justice Working Group: https://linktr.ee/ImmigrationNNJ

To learn more about North New Jersey DSA, visit  https://north.dsanj.org/ or follow @NorthNJDSA.