ICE has become a primary tool of oppression for the fascist Trump administration, expanding rapidly beyond its preexisting role in the US where it has long terrorized, separated, and economically attacked our immigrant, refugee, and asylum seeker neighbors.

Today, the agency added murder of peaceful observers to this heinous portfolio, gunning down a Minnesotan legal observer in her car for daring to try and keep eyes on them. The federal government, already comfortable with blatant lies, has cooked up false claims to justify this killing. This shouldn’t be a surprise, and it’s only going to get more common the more this tactic works for them.

We cannot trust any so-called accountability measures put in place for these people. But we also shouldn’t give up hope. We, the working class of the US, outnumber ICE, the bureaucrats deploying them, and their capitalist enablers put together, many times over.

This is a  threat to everyone’s freedom and safety, not just in our own country, but worldwide, in all the countries our imperialist leaders see only as potential sources for profit. There is a clear connection between attacks abroad and brutal repression at home. It must be met with unity and purpose. Protests are not enough!

We need to bombard our elected officials with phone calls and other messages insisting they defend their constituents and abolish ICE. We need to be ready to respond when our neighbors are attacked or abducted. And we need to harness our greatest weapon – the labor power of the working class on which the capitalist system depends for its existence – in opposing ICE and their puppeteers.

ROC DSA is working to become the hub for these efforts. If you want to support, consider getting involved with the Tax the Rich campaign, Electoral Working Group, City Vitality Working Group, Labor Working Group, or International Solidarity Group as avenues you can use to take a stand. Remember that an injury to one is an injury to all. 

The post Chapter Statement on ICE Vigilante Murder first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

Triangle DSA condemns the US abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores. As socialists, we can clearly see this for what it is – an imperial ploy to seize oil resources and destabilize the Bolivarian Socialist government of Venezuela. The American oligarchy acted with impunity, laying the precedent that any nation that does not submit to profit-seeking interests will face unjustified military aggression.

On Saturday, TDSA members showed up alongside our comrades in PSL, other local organizations, and members of the public to protest this act of terror on civilians in Caracas and the escalation of the US’s ongoing war against Venezuelan sovereignty.

The fight for socialism is necessarily international and anti-imperialist. The destructive path of domination and state terror by the US both in Latin America and the Middle East will bring nothing but suffering to innocent people in the global south and increased profits to the ruling class. This is a path to global ruin that can only be brought to an end by socialist revolution.

By organizing within the imperial core, we stand with the workers of the world in a shared struggle to end imperialism, neocolonialism, and war, and to establish a new international order based on relations of solidarity, equality, and cooperation. Join DSA in demanding No War with Venezuela! 

Events & Actions

Events with a are especially new-member-friendly!

Tuesday, January 6 (7:00 PM – 8:30 PM): EWOC Fundamentals of Workplace Organizing Training (1916 McAllister St)

Thursday, January 8 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Immigrant Justice Working Group Meeting (On Zoom)

Friday, January 9 (9:30 AM – 10:30 AM): District 1 Coffee with Comrades (Breck’s, 2 Clement St)

Friday, January 9 (6:00 PM – 9:30 PM): DSA Holiday Party (Make Out Room, 3225 22nd St)

  Saturday, January 10 (1:00 PM – 3:00 PM):  IJWG KYR Canvassing (Mission St & Silver Ave)

Sunday, January 11 (11:00 AM – 1:00 PM):  Physical Education + Self Defense Training (Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Sunday, January 11 (2:00 PM – 3:00 PM): Social Housing Meeting (Zoom & in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, January 11 (5:00 PM – 6:00 PM): Tenderloin Healing Circle Working Group (TBD)

Monday, January 12 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Tenderloin Healing Circle (Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Monday, January 12 (6:30 PM – 7:30 PM): DSA Run Club (in front of McClaren Lodge, the stone building at the eastern end of JFK drive)

Monday, January 12 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board General Meeting (1916 McAllister St)

Tuesday, January 13 (6:30 PM – 7:30 PM): Ecosocialist Bi-Weekly Meeting (1916 McAllister St)

Wednesday, January 14 (6:45 PM – 9:00 PM): DSA SF General Meeting (Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Thursday, January 15 (5:30 PM – 6:30 PM): Education Board Open Meeting (Zoom)

Thursday, January 15 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM):  ICE Out initiatives orientation (Zoom & in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Saturday, January 17 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): HWG Food Service (Castro St & Market St)

Sunday, January 18 (1:00 PM – 3:00 PM): SF EWOC Flyering (TBD)

Monday, January 19 (6:30 PM – 8:00 PM): Homelessness Working Group Regular Meeting (Zoom & in person at 1916 McAllister St)

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  DSA Winter Formal 

Ring in the new year with your comrades at the DSA San Francisco Winter Formal on January 9th from 6:00-10:00 PM at The Make Out Room (3225 22nd St), featuring musical performances by DSA’s very own Solo Efectivo, Jolie&Friend, and the Dirty Twenties.

We will have light bites, a photo op with Karl Marx himself, a special DSA cocktail with $2 of proceeds going to the chapter, and a cookie exchange (SIGN UP HERE)! Dress code is holiday attire/semi formal.

A $5 donation is suggested and can be sent to @DSASF on Venmo but absolutely no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please be sure to RSVP HERE and bring all your comrades! 

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Social housing effort kicks off!

It’s official (provisionally): Our chapter has a Social Housing Provisional Working Group! Unlike privately owned housing for profit, social housing would be permanently decommodified and affordable. And unlike most nonprofit-run affordable housing or existing US public housing, its operation would be democratically controlled by residents.

At our late-December meeting, we made progress toward consensus on principles for social housing. Once that’s finalized and voted on by the chapter, we plan to start building a public education and electoral campaign to bring social housing into reality in San Francisco — building on previous DSA SF accomplishments, 2020’s Prop K and Prop I.

You can help! Join us at an upcoming Social Housing Provisional Working Group meeting. Note: the next one is at an irregular weekend time, but we will usually meet on Tuesday evenings.

Sunday, January 11, 2:00-3:00pm at 1916 McAllister or on Zoom (RSVP here!)
Tuesday, January 20, 6:00-7:00pm at 1916 McAllister or on Zoom
Every other Tuesday thereafter!

And if you’re an active DSA SF member, feel free to ask questions or propose ideas in the #housing channel on Slack, or the Social Housing category on Forum! (New member without access to Slack/Forum yet? Ask your onboarder!)

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SF EWOC Flyering

The DSA SF Labor Board’s charter has a goal of increasing EWOC leads by 200%—come and help us increase San Francisco’s union density! This monthly event is to flyer based on previous strategizing sessions. Sessions will alternate biweekly with the flyering events. The next flyering event is Sunday, January 18 (1:00 PM – 3:00 PM). We’ll walk around, post flyers and do other canvassing work, and end with a casual social (since socializing is organizing!).

You don’t need to be a volunteer or organizer with EWOC to attend. EWOC (Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee) is a project of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) and DSA working to build a distributed grassroots organizing program to support workers organizing at the workplace.

To learn more about the work EWOC does, come by the DSA SF office to pick up a copy of Unite and Win or tune into the EWOC SF Chapter meetings every 1st Monday at 7 p.m. on Zoom.

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Reportback: No Appetite for Apartheid Consumer Canvas

The Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialism Working Group had a great turnout at the last NA4A (no appetite for apartheid) consumer canvas of 2025! We were able to collect 45 signatures from consumers around the Ferry Building. Though it was a little rainy we were still jolly and cheerful and caroled an original NA4A song :blush: They’ll be many more events like these in 2026 to get involved in!

Behind the Scenes

The Chapter Coordination Committee (CCC) regularly rotates duties among chapter members. This allows us to train new members in key duties that help keep the chapter running like organizing chapter meetings, keeping records updated, office cleanup, updating the DSA SF website and publishing the weekly newsletter. Members can view current CCC rotations.

Interested in helping with the newsletter or other day-to-day tasks that keep the chapter running? Fill out the CCC help form.

After a crushing year under the Trump administration, the US left had little to celebrate at the end of 2025. The Israeli government continues its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, ignoring global protests and a ceasefire reached with Hamas. The US is ramping up its attacks on Venezuelan sovereignty (most recently culminating in the kidnapping of its President Maduro). Millions of Americans are facing huge health insurance rate hikes as Congress failed to extend ACA tax credits. ICE continues its thuggish offensive against immigrant communities across US cities, and so much more. Needless to say, working class Americans and leftists were sent reeling backward last year, with one of the few bright spots being the victory of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in NYC’s mayoral race; his campaign’s popularity with everyday people reflected in its ability to amass an army of 100,000 volunteers. It’s no surprise, then, that Mamdani’s inauguration on January 1st brought tens of thousands from across New York and the country, to pay witness and celebrate perhaps the one good thing the left achieved in 2025. 

Usually, the swearing in of a major US city’s new mayor receives at least some attention in national news outlets, especially NYC’s mayor. But, the hype around and attention paid to Mr. Mamdani’s ceremony was turned up to a whole new level rarely seen for a municipal politician. As the new public face of a whole generation of American leftists, there are millions across the US who have invested a lot of hope in him successfully attaining most, if not all, of the major points of his affordability agenda. People who have never set foot in NYC are excited for the prospects of what his administration can achieve during this dark reactionary era in American politics. In many respects, Mamdani’s inauguration wasn’t just for his mayoralty, it was the inauguration of a hopeful and resurgent left wing entering 2026. 

The total number of people attending and tuning into Mamdani’s inaugural events, including a nearby watch party, blew the roof off other recent NYC mayoral inaugurations. As comparison, at Bill de Blasio’s first inauguration it’s estimated that 5,000 people attended. For Eric Adams’ inauguration, held in Times Square, roughly 20,000 people showed up for the festivities. And while Mamdani’s City Hall Park ceremony was capped at 4,000 tickets, roughly 40,000 more people RSVP’d for the inaugural watch party, and hundreds of thousands more across the globe tuned in to live broadcasts of the event. People traveled from all over, from as nearby as Connecticut and as far away as Texas, just to be a part of what felt like a historic moment for the left. And, while everyone was ostensibly there to celebrate Mamdani officially entering office, it felt as though the moment was bigger than just one man. It was a watershed moment for a movement, the lifting of some of the weight on peoples’ shoulders caused by the last twelve months of Trump’s reign of terror.

Speakers at the event reflected this broader wave of hope. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez set the day’s progressive tone by noting that NYC chose “courage over fear,” and “prosperity for the many over spoils for the few.” Imam Khalid Latif, Director of the Islamic Center of New York City, led attendees in a prayer that hammered on the theme of justice for all, not just the few. He noted that Mamdani’s socialist victory depended not on some abstract faith, but on the active agency of volunteers, workers, and every day residents working hard for change; with a reminder that leadership exists to serve residents, not to rise above them. “Let justice not be a slogan, but a structure. Let equity not be a promise, but a practice. Let policy be shaped by compassion, and budgets reflective of our values.” A poem by Cornelius Eady kept the crowd enraptured as he spoke about NYC as a sanctuary for the marginalized and alienated, calling on listeners to keep imagination alive. 

After the swearing-in of the city’s new Comptroller and Public Advocate, there was a noticeable nod to labor when the chosen musical interlude was a live rendition of the famous labor anthem “Bread and Roses,” performed by Lucy Dacus. Then, in the final lead up to Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders delivered what has become a standard of talking points for progressives and leftists in the US. He spoke about how it isn’t radical but rather the only decent thing to do to demand structural changes like affordable groceries, universal healthcare, and for wealthy corporations and elites to pay their fair share in taxes, with the last demand getting attendees on their feet chanting “tax the rich!” 

Finally, Zohran Mamdani delivered his 22 minute speech, acknowledging that his agenda would be a grand undertaking, but that “the only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations.” He also struck a unifying tone at times, declaring he wanted to bring people from different backgrounds together. “And if for too long [New York] communities have existed as distinct from one another, we will draw this city closer together. We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism. Because no matter what you eat, what language you speak, how you pray, or where you come from—the words that most define us are the two we all share: New Yorkers.”

But, alongside this theme of unification and being a mayor for all New Yorkers, Mamdani also made sure his audience, and those elsewhere listening from home, knew where he stood politically without apology. “We will govern without shame and insecurity, making no apology for what we believe. I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.” This line earned a pop from the crowd, and a brief chant of “DSA!” (Democratic Socialists of America, a political organization to which Mamdani belongs).

It’s this kind of unabashed defense of his political beliefs openly to the left of establishment parties, coupled with its ability to amass a ground-up operation involving 100,000 volunteers, that has earned Mamdani so much respect amongst working class voters. And it’s this kind of message that makes his inauguration one for an entire movement of US socialists, not just his administration. It was a coming out party for the entire US left, a reignition of a flame that had felt dimmed and endangered for over a year. Here was a successful politician, a socialist, elected the executive of America’s largest city standing before hundreds of thousands, both live and tuning in, declaring that not only will he not apologize for his political positions, but that they are the correct positions to meet the current moment. 

Mamdani’s inaugural event was a great feeling for generations of Americans who had started to feel resigned and depressed about the reactionary lurch of American politics. And, to be sure, those feelings still exist as long as Trump-ist elements keep their iron grip on federal levers of power. But the inauguration of this one glimmer of hope in NYC represented the inauguration of an entire movement that has been praying and agitating for change. A representative from the millennial class of new politicians coming up on the scene, making a splash on national politics and planting the flag of democratic socialism in the heart of America’s largest city. There is a long road to go, and undoubtedly Mamdani’s administration will meet with a mixture of successes and failures. But for one day on January 1st, 2026, it felt like the engine of America’s left wing was primed and roared back to life. Will it be able to keep itself going and advance the movement forward, or will this prove to be yet another false start?

The post Mamdani’s Swearing-In: An Inauguration of the Left appeared first on Pine & Roses.

The Pinellas County chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America condemns in the strongest terms the United States’ disgraceful military assault on Venezuela and reported kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, early on January 3, 2026. This outrageous act represents a grave escalation of U.S. intervention in Latin America and a blatant violation of national sovereignty and international law.

The use of military force to seize a sitting head of state and his partner and transport them abroad for trial is a horrendous act of aggression, and should not be tolerated. It mirrors the 1989 invasion of Panama and reflects a deeply imperialist approach to foreign policy that prioritizes domination and resource control over diplomacy, peace, and international norms. It risks triggering widespread instability across the region, exacerbating humanitarian crises, and further eroding trust in international institutions.

For decades, successive U.S. administrations have leveraged sanctions, economic pressure, diplomatic isolation, and covert operations to undermine Venezuelan self-governance, producing humanitarian suffering and political instability while seeking to control the country’s vast oil and mineral resources. The United States’ long history of interference in the region reflects a pattern of imperial domination rather than any genuine concern for human rights or democratic governance.

The Pinellas County chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America demands an immediate end to this assault and respect for Venezuelan sovereignty. We urge Congress to assert its constitutional authority and halt further unauthorized military engagements abroad. We call on the United Nations to convene an emergency session to address this breach of international law. We call for the removal of all U.S. military forces from Puerto Rico and an end to the colonial use of the island as a military outpost just miles north of Venezuela. We also call for the immediate release of President Nicolas Maduro Moros from U.S. custody and for the dropping of all charges raised against him in this illegitimate indictment by the United States government. Lastly, we implore anyone who is incensed by this news to mobilize local and national pressure campaigns to oppose sanctions, military intervention, and economic coercion as tools of U.S. foreign policy.

We stand in solidarity with Latin American grassroots movements resisting imperialism and advocating for regional autonomy, peace, and justice. The United States must abandon its imperial approach and support just, democratic, and peaceful solutions determined by the people of Venezuela and the broader Global South.

By: MJ

This article represents the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of The Detroit Socialist or Metro Detroit DSA as a whole.

Armed conflict between states is the highest form of class warfare. In the case of two imperialist nations, the ruling classes of each nation are competing for the division of the world, using the working classes of both nations as expendable pawns. The victory of either one is a victory for imperialism writ large, and a loss for the working classes of both nations. A victory for the working class is achieved only through the defeat of both of their respective imperialist governments. This is the general logic behind the practice of revolutionary defeatism. But this does not apply to conflict between an imperialist nation and a non-imperialist nation. In that situation, victory for the non-imperialist nation is a victory for all working people everywhere, including for the working people of the imperialist nation. The latter situation is clearly what we are finding ourselves in with this conflict between the US and Venezuela.

There are endless debates and discussions that can be had over the state of Venezuelan society. One can make arguments either for or against it being a “socialist” state. One can argue all day over whether Maduro is a “dictator.” Both of those discussions are interesting, but are completely irrelevant to our practice as socialists in the United States. Since we live and struggle within the (albeit declining) global imperialist hegemon, our attitude towards armed conflict by our government must be one of total opposition. There is no righteous war that can be waged by the United States on behalf of capital, no prism or lens through which we can look at aggression on the part of our state as anything other than imperialist, full stop.

Over the coming hours, days, and weeks, our government (and in particular, the Republican Party) will attempt to portray the capture of Nicolas Maduro as liberating the Venezuelan people. We as socialists must be able to see through this, and loudly declare it as a lie. The only liberation that comes from imperialist war is the liberation of capital. In his address on January 3rd, just a few hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump confirmed that his administration’s intention was the direct occupation and control of Venezuela. As he has alluded to elsewhere, the immediate course of action of that administration will be to liberalize access to the Venezuelan oil reserves. Foreign investment, spearheaded of course by the US, will liberate Venezuelan oil from its captors, freeing it to be profited off of by capitalists. The imperialists will repeat ad nauseum that Venezuela’s oil is now in the hands of its people, but the only Venezuelans who will benefit from this are those willing to betray their country for profit.

Statements by prominent opposition figures make this trajectory unmistakably clear. Maria Corina Machado, who famously won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize (which Trump hilariously took as a direct snub to himself), has openly declared her commitment to privatization and market liberalization should she be installed as leader. Her vision for Venezuela includes removing the state from the oil sector, opening markets, and privatizing national industries. While at this point, it seems that Trump is not interested in having her oversee the American occupation of Venezuela, these policies will undoubtedly be pushed by any administration that ends up in power in the country. These policies represent a wholesale reversal of efforts to assert national control over strategic resources — in effect, a reversal of the Bolivarian Revolution. This agenda is imperialism, distilled to its essence, and promises Venezuelan workers renewed exploitation and dependency on the US.

One wonders how newly inaugurated Zohran Mamdani will handle this situation. In 2020, Maduro was indicted in New York’s Southern District, and if he goes to New York for arraignment and eventual trial, Zohran and our comrades in the NYC chapter will be in a particularly difficult position. He said in his inauguration speech that he would “govern as a democratic socialist.” What does a democratic socialist do when an ostensibly leftist foreign head of state has been abducted by the federal government and is facing charges in the city they are governing? Will he use his position to protest against the actions of the Trump administration? Will he show solidarity with the people of Venezuela? I have faith that he will try and that his heart is with Venezuela, but he is already in a nearly impossible situation, only a couple days into his term.

The choice facing socialists is stark. We can either accept the narratives offered by imperial power — debating which foreign leaders deserve our sympathy — or we can remain committed to a materialist analysis that centers class struggle on a global scale. Opposition to US imperialism is the minimum requirement of socialist politics. The presidency, by its very nature, lends itself to personal dictatorship. Even the most hands-off of presidents (Coolidge and his ilk) still have near limitless power within easy reach. The presidency has gathered more and more power to itself over the past century, and the ideal of the separation of powers (already a fiction at our nation’s birth, but hidden under a veil of democratic norms and “good-faith” governance) has been rendered a comfortable, if quaint myth. The president can start a war on his own initiative (with 90 days to deliver Congress a fait accompli), can deploy troops on American soil, and can even abduct a foreign head of state.

Political power is ultimately a question of force, and who can exercise it. Therefore, if the presidency is now capable of wielding every form of direct state violence, what can he not do? What can Congress or the Supreme Court do but offer a sternly worded rebuttal? The solution to this is to finish Reconstruction: to demand full democratization of the state, the abolition of the imperial presidency, of the Supreme Court, and of the oligarchic Senate, and the empowerment of a new representative body, directly elected by the people, holding full legislative and executive power. This is the foundation of the Democratic Socialist Republic.

MJ is a member of the Metro Detroit Democratic Socialists of America.

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VIEWPOINT: Arrest of Maduro and Liberation of Capital was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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 tactics 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 (Click here, due by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27), 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 weeklong 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 will be in-person on Tuesday nights from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.), 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 three classes and field work sessions may result in removal from the program. 

This is the seventh time this program has been offered, and it is back by popular demand! The three instructors have updated and revised the course to make you even more prepared to lead in socialism. 

Time commitment per week: 

Unit instruction: 2 hours 

Organizing work: 3 hours 

Miscellaneous tasks: 1 hour 

Total time per week: 6 hours

Weekly Schedule 

Class will be conducted on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. and held in-person at Zao MKE, located at 3219 E Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, 53211. 

Field work will be held at regular intervals over the week, with options to organize at several points during the week: 

(Tentative schedule is subject to change . . .) 

Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Sundays 12:00 – 3:00 p.m. 

Mondays 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. 

Program Timeline: 

January 27, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.:

Application deadline—apply here

February 3, 2026:

Start of nine-week program (class held, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.), held at Zao MKE, located at 2319 E Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, WI 53211

February 10:

Class will be held from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

February 17:

Class will be held from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

February 24:

Class will be held from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

March 3, 2026:

Break

March 10:

Class will be held from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

March 17:

Class will be held from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

March 24: 

Class will be held from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

March 31: 

Class will be held from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

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 seven-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 instructors: 

Alex Brower

Alex Brower is a labor leader, socialist organizer, and Milwaukee’s 3rd district Alderman as a DSA endorsed elected official, serving on the City of Milwaukee Common Council. Professionally, Alex has been the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans, which organizes union retirees, in addition to other organizing roles with UFCW, SEIU, WisDems, and Wisconsin Jobs Now. 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. 

Ian Gunther

Ian is a union leader, experienced socialist organizer, and has filled many positions in the movement over the last ten years. After becoming one of the founders of Milwaukee DSA, he started leading canvasses for the early Medicare For All campaign on behalf of the chapter. He was elected to the chapter Executive Committee four times, in positions of Treasurer, At-Large, and Outreach Officer where he helped build up the capacity of the local movement. In August of 2025, Ian had the honor of serving as a DSA National Convention chair, facilitating thirteen-hundred nation-wide delegates through intensive debate over the national strategy of DSA. Ian also co-founded MSOE YDSA before graduating with an Electrical Engineering degree. Ian now works for the City of Milwaukee Water Works, and in his capacity as the Chief Steward of AFSCME Local 47, has led the city union to its first victory in over a decade, acquiring raises above cost of living for all general city employees. Ian is excited to bring his years of experience to mentoring new socialist organizers. 

Andy Barbour

Andy currently serves as a chapter co-chair of Milwaukee DSA. His DSA involvement began in the spring of 2023 as a regular volunteer for the Power to the People campaign, Milwaukee DSA’s now three-year-old campaign to replace We Energies with a publicly owned utility. After sharpening his organizing skills through regular canvassing and phone banking, he became a leader in the organization and has been closely involved in many DSA campaigns and projects. He’s been a consistent organizing force throughout his entire involvement in DSA. Andy currently also serves as chair of the Power to the People Working Group, though he’s previously held half a dozen other leadership roles in the chapter. Notably, he previously acted as deputy campaign manager of Alex Brower’s successful campaign for Common Council, where he oversaw the entire field operation.

Any questions? 

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

Apply now!

Apply here, or copy and paste this URL into your web browser: https://forms.gle/eL1VtmX2xG18CmhM9

The Trump Administration has started an illegal war against Venezuela. This is a nakedly imperialist war to install a US puppet government that will give Venezuela’s oil resources over to […]

Socialists have to mean what we say and say what we mean. The working class cannot win power for itself without a political vehicle of its own, and the Democratic Party is not – and will not ever be – that vehicle. Our long-term project has to be building that new party, which means taking bold steps to learn how to do so.

We need to take chances as they come, not only to do our part but also to teach future socialists. We have a chance, if we are willing to step out of our comfort zone, to set an example and engage in a practical experiment in true political independence. In order to make this meaningful step towards political independence – to create a campaign our comrades across the country and across time can point to as an example to build on and learn from – we, as a chapter, will have to invest heavily in it. 

Three years ago, Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez and I published an article arguing that, at some point, socialists will have to make the conscious decision to take those first steps towards true political independence, building an independent political party. In that article, we acknowledged that those initial steps towards independence would be the most difficult, because it will mean stepping into the unknown. 

Now is the time. Alderman Sigcho-Lopez of the 25th ward (which includes Pilsen, Little Village, University Village, and Chinatown) intends to run for Congress as an independent in the Fourth Congressional District, a seat held by Jesús “Chuy” García since 2018. The district is a progressive district with a majority Latino population covering much of Chicago’s southwest side and a number of working-class suburbs, including Cicero, Berwyn, and Bridgeview up through Melrose Park. Sigcho-Lopez is a known quantity who has won tough elections and is a committed socialist with a vision of building independent power for the working class. By breaking with the Democrats, he will not be able to count on much formal institutional support from major unions or organized progressive groups. 

Hard as that break may be, it is increasingly necessary. The Democrats’ popularity is at an all-time low, and beyond that, they have proven themselves incapable of facing down the advance of right-wing authoritarianism. Just as they’ve done for the last thirty years, they are relying on their place in the two-party duopoly to be the default choice when the Republicans go ‘too far’ and are content to hold power for no more than a few years before the Republicans return with even more dangerous politics. 

In New York City, organized socialists showed that they can win power in high-profile, high-stakes races. Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic mayoral primary showed that socialists can provide an organizational base, working with other groups and constituencies to win even against the odds. Until his primary win, Mamdani had institutional support only from United Autoworkers District 9A, a reform local that endorsed him six months before. Major unions and progressive groups stayed away, and a Working Families Party endorsement came only three weeks before the primary. He couldn’t rely on massive six-figure checks or million-dollar donations, and instead had to raise money from tens of thousands of small-dollar donors as the entirety of his fundraising.  

Mamdani’s win was a thunderclap for the Democrats. It showed that true bottom-up organizational power can, in fact, win big offices, and that even without progressive NGOs or union officialdom, even a self-proclaimed socialist can win, and win big, when their support is built from the bottom up and involves thousands of people who believe in the campaign’s vision. 

Still, Mandani’s (and the NYC Democratic Socialists of America’s) win comes with a lot of caveats: matching funds, ranked-choice voting, the presence of historically unpopular opponents in Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo. Nonetheless, it was a remarkable feat that proves that with full commitment and a vision, bottom-up politics works. 

If the New York mayoral race was a thunderclap, the Democrats losing a safe, progressive seat to an independent challenger from the left – one who didn’t even need their ballot line – would be an earthquake. It would knock down the key pillar that keeps movements from leaving the Democrats behind: the ‘brand loyalty’ of voters to the Democratic Party ballot line. It would set an example for how socialists can build the coalitions needed to win independently. This model would relieve the pressure on organized groups, including unions, to stick with Democrats as the lesser evil. Without that pressure, the gates to true working-class independence can open. 

But ours has to be a long-term plan. We cannot keep trying to design a strategy and abandon it after one cycle. Political independence requires experimentation, trial, and error. We learned much from the Mamdani victory; now we must see if we can go further. Winning in this district will require a lot of things to go right and an immense amount of resources. 

The Fourth Congressional District is the right campaign, and Alderman Sigcho-Lopez is the right candidate, to start the long work of building an independent socialist party for the working class. Knowing the nature of the serious challenges ahead shouldn’t be a reason not to do it; it should inspire us to make sure our experiment is a worthwhile one by giving everything we’ve got. 

Money

If he fails to win formal union support, Sigcho-Lopez will have to raise half a million dollars (if not more) from small donors. That number is only an estimate; Chicago-area districts rarely have competitive elections to go by. The closest analog is probably the highly competitive 2024 Seventh Congressional district primary race between incumbent Danny Davis, Melissa Conyears-Ervin, Kina Collins, and others. Davis spent just under $1 million to win that primary; Conyears-Ervin spent $750,000 to get 22% of the vote, with the other three candidates combined spending around $350,000 for another 26%. That’s $1.1 million for 48% of the vote. 

Sigcho-Lopez will start with decent name recognition, so he won’t have to spend as much just to be known. On the other hand, he will have to overcome the Democratic Party’s ballot line advantage. Let’s say conservatively that he will need to spend $500,000 between now and November to win more votes than Patty García, Chuy’s preferred successor. The average donation to Mamdani was around $75, so to raise half a million dollars from small donors, the campaign would need around 6,500 donors. 

Mamdani had 54,000 such donors, with 63% or 34,000 of them from inside New York City. If the same proportions hold for Sigcho-Lopez, the city probably maxes out at around 4,000 donors, i.e., the same proportion of 63%, which alone is very ambitious and still requires raising money across the country. This means nationalizing the campaign, and giving socialists everywhere a reason to invest in our effort to build independent political power in Illinois. 

To compensate for the tendency to default to the Democratic Party ballot line, the campaign will have to be visible everywhere in order to give the sense that it can win. That means thousands of volunteers putting in tens of thousands of hours to reach every voter, but it also means lots and lots of money to boost its message. With institutional support likely to go to the hand-picked Democrat, there will need to be organizing at the grassroots level to get people involved directly in the same way Mamdani’s campaign organized workers directly rather than hoping to win over union leadership.

This will require targeted support from the strata of workers most able to give at a slightly higher level: unionized workers and professionals with more disposable income who can give between $250 and $500 in one election cycle. That means identifying such members in our chapter and in the national organization, communicating the vision of the campaign, and getting them to give. One hundred such donors means $25,000 to $50,000; five hundred means as much as a quarter million. That requires work and building on the organic connections our members have with workers. 

Votes

Patty García is by most standards a progressive, and Chuy was one of the most progressive members of Congress. That means every vote Sigcho-Lopez wins will be a vote for democratic socialist politics, not just a protest vote against a weak or moderate Democrat. That alone would be an important step in learning how to build an independent socialist vehicle.

Chuy García announced he would not be seeking reelection immediately before the close of petition-gathering for the Democratic primary, and only his chief of staff, Patty García, was ready with petition signatures. She will be unopposed in the primary and face only nominal Republican opposition in the general election. The Fourth was created as Illinois’ first majority-Latino district in 1992, and since then, only two people have held the seat: Luis Gutierrez and Chuy García. The latter took the seat in a similar hand-off from Gutierrez. In other words, in Illinois’ only Latino-majority district, the voters have never had a meaningful election, especially since the district was also substantially re-drawn in 2022. 

For that reason, it is somewhat difficult to forecast what could happen. It is useful to know, though, that in 2022 the general election vote was about 134,000, with 49,000 (37%) coming from Chicago, and 7,500 (6%) from Sigcho-Lopez’s 25th ward. The Democrat won with 91,000 votes, with a Republican drawing 37,300 and a candidate from the Working Class Party gaining 4,600. 

That same year, 38,000 people voted in the Democratic primary and 12,200 in the Republican primary for the district. That’s a difference of about 83,000 between self-identifying (and presumably partisan) Democrats and Republicans and the total number of voters. To win, Sigcho-Lopez would need to win enough of those more casual voters and peel off enough Democrats. The math is not friendly, but it is hardly impossible; he would need to win about 60,000 votes, or just over half of the non-Republican vote, since, assuming there are 150,000 voters and 25% go with a Republican, that leaves about 110,000 voters.

Sigcho-Lopez has won two bruising elections in Chicago. Nobody has ever voted for Patty García for anything, and because she is unopposed, nobody will really be voting for her even in the primary. Can Sigcho-Lopez grow a base of the 7% of the district in his ward (around 7,000 votes) and win over 50,000 voters in one of the most progressive districts in the country in the wake of a shady hand-off of power? It hardly seems impossible; if there is any way to see how far the democratic socialist message can get, now is the time and the Fourth District is the place. 

The Candidate and the Cadre

One way to characterize Byron Sigcho-Lopez is a ‘firebrand.’ Certainly, he has been the least compromising socialist elected official we have seen in a long time. His hostility to the Democratic Party establishment has been open, often to his political detriment. While he is a Democratic Party Committeeman (and so technically a part of the Cook County leadership structure), that does not seem to have dampened his appetite to take on and break from the party. Byron is an ideologically committed socialist. 

His time in office has been turbulent, with a variety of conflicts both within and outside of his ward. Nevertheless, he has repeatedly shown himself to be tireless and always on the front line anywhere the working class is under attack.

Sigcho-Lopez has worked closely with the Chicago DSA going back to the chapter’s early involvement in the Lift the Ban campaign in 2017, when he invited us to participate. The South Side branch brought the rest of the chapter into the work, running referenda in support of lifting the ban on rent control in a number of precincts and becoming one of our earliest electoral efforts. He remained closely connected to the chapter’s Socialists in Office (SIO) committee and kept lines of communication open. 

He is not, however, ‘cadre’ in the usual sense; his relationships across his ward and the Fourth Congressional district are not a result of his political development inside DSA. They predate his relationship to CDSA, and as an elected official, they are considerably wider than the chapter could ever provide. 

The Campaign

If not a cadre candidate, would this therefore be a ‘cadre campaign?’ It will have to be. Taking on a Democratic party candidate from the outside – not trying to knock out an establishment Democrat from within, but costing the party a safe seat, in an election year  where every win will be vital – will dry up just about every resource outside of what organized socialists and bottom-up people power can provide. If formal institutional support is not forthcoming, DSA and CDSA, and whatever other local groups are willing to join in coalition to take on the Democratic establishment, will have to do the hard work of organizing affinity groups in support of the campaign. That includes community groups, unions, ethnic and religious organizations, and other political formations where formal support can’t be expected. 

CDSA will need to orient itself heavily towards this campaign. Organizing within our unions, building on our relationships with other community and affinity groups, stepping up to captain door-knocking and fund-raising operations, creating media, and staffing the campaign to produce policy, are among the myriad things needed to win. 

The process matters. If we invest strongly in developing our relationships across the district and the city, building our internal campaign, media, and coalition-building skills, honing our message of political independence, and identifying thousands of people who agree with our vision of an independent working-class party, democratic socialism wins. Even if the campaign fails, those relationships and experiences will be a net win for the cause, but only if we take the effort to build them seriously. 

In other words, it is not worth endorsing this campaign if we as a chapter are not going to leave everything on the field. We must do the work to discover what it would takes to win against the Democratic Party from the outside, despite what it may take.

The post Independence Requires Investment: The Time is Now for an Independent Run appeared first on Midwest Socialist.

Two nights ago, Trump’s fascist regime carried out airstrikes on Venezuela’s capital and kidnapped Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife, Cilia Flores. In this armed invasion of a sovereign nation, the US also shamelessly murdered at least 40 Venezuelan people, including civilians. The Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America mourns this loss of life and condemns the imperialist war against Venezuela.

This kidnapping is simply a continuation of the long history of the United States undermining the sovereignty of Latin American states. This history goes decades back, including the 1954 overthrow of pro-labor President Jacobo Árbenz in Guatemala, which led to decades of civil war in the nation, and the 1973 coup against socialist President Salvador Allende in Chile, which led to the fascist dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

These coups were orchestrated or encouraged by the US government not because the US believes in fighting for “democracy” or “freedom,” but because these Latin American governments pursued policies which undermined the economic interests of US corporations. This is the core of modern US foreign policy – to wreck entire countries and derail the lives of millions of people for decades, just so some corporate elites can make a quick buck off exploiting workers, land, and whatever or whoever they can get their hands on.

The US’ aggression against Venezuela is no different: Like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this war is being waged for the profits of US oil companies which are destroying the planet. Trump doesn’t even hide our government’s greed anymore, openly declaring after the airstrikes that the US intends to run Venezuela and plunder its vast oil resources.

This aggression started not just with the airstrikes, but has been waged through an almost-decades-long bipartisan “maximum pressure campaign” since 2017, where the US placed blanket sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector which powers its economy. These sanctions played a key role in drastically lowering Venezuela’s oil production, leading to a deep humanitarian crisis where Venezuela is no longer able to import its basic necessities like food and medicine. The sanctions have also had a staggering death toll, as mortality increased by 31 percent — meaning 40,000 more people died — just one year after the sanctions took effect. In turn, the US has attempted to pull the wool over the American people’s eyes and use this crisis to point to Venezuela as a failed state and justify their war, when they are the ones who accelerated the crisis in the first place!

However, the American people will not be fooled by this pathetic attempt to justify brazen imperialism – people know regime change does not work and will not benefit the 99%. When US healthcare and social programs are being slashed while billions are spent on military adventures, coups, and genocides, people know the only winners are the oil industry, the US war machine, and the billionaire class which profits off the exploitation of both American and Venezuelan workers.

Therefore, we as Silicon Valley DSA take a clear and uncompromising stand: Down with the military industrial complex which powers imperialism! Down with the genocidal US Empire and its capitalist cronies! And hands off Venezuela!

The post SVDSA Condemns the United States’ Imperialist War Against Venezuela appeared first on Silicon Valley DSA.