2023 was our busiest year yet with some truly extraordinary organizing wins.

The post Our Organizing Wins in 2023 appeared first on EWOC.

Events

Thursday, 2/1 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.): Ecosocialist Monthly Meeting (Zoom)

Friday, 2/2 (12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.): Office Hours (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, 2/3 (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.): Trans Rights & Bodily Autonomy Kickoff (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Monday, 2/5 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Mexican Solidarity Project Speaking Tour feat. José Luis Ceja (Acción Latina, 2958 24th Street)

Tuesday, 2/6 (6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.): SHOP Training with the Tenant Organizing Working Group (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Wednesday, 2/7 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Extreme Dean Turnout Wednesday (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Wednesday, 2/7 (6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): HWG Reading Group: Mean Streets (In person at 1916 McAllister; Zoom)

Saturday, 2/10 (11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.): Homelessness Working Group (HWG) Office Hours (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, 2/10 (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.): HWG Sock Distro (Meet in person at 1916 McAllister)

Check out https://dsasf.org/events/ for more events.

Events & Actions

Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Kickoff Call

Next Saturday, February 3rd from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. at 1916 McAllister, Alyssa A will be hosting a watch party for the DSA Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy kickoff call to celebrate the launch of a nationwide DSA push to fight for trans rights and bodily autonomy across the country.

This a joint event with East Bay DSA so come out, meet, and organize with comrades from all over the Bay! As a leader in the campaign, Alyssa will be available to answer your questions!

Mexico Solidarity Project Speaking Tour with José Luis Ceja

Next Monday, February 5th, from  6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., DSA SF is hosting the San Francisco stop of a nationwide speaking tour for journalist José Luis Ceja. The event will take place in the Mission at Accíon Latina’s office at 2958 24th Street. The event will be in English with Spanish language translation available for attendees who prefer Spanish.

José Luis is a journalist and expert on immigration, the border, trade, labor, and national sovereignty. The event will be part talk, part Q&A with the audience. Andy M (former DSA SF ISC co-chair and now EBDSA member) will be emceeing the event!

This speaking tour is part of a nationwide tour hosted by the Mexico Solidarity Project & DSA International Committee.

We expect a full house, so please register below!

Join the Tenant Organizing Working Group for SHOP Training!

Come join the DSA Tenant Organizing Working Group for the final session of a three-part training to develop successful socialist tenant organizers.

Part 3 of the Socialist Housing Organizing Program (SHOP) covers the basics  of an organizing conversation to recruit your neighbors to the tenant union.

You can attend upcoming training on Tuesday, February 6th at 6:30 p.m. at 1916 McAllister.

This training will take place at the DSA SF office at 1916 McAllister. Zoom is available upon request. Register today!

Nominate Co-Chairs for the Palestine Solidarity Working Group

The Palestine Solidarity Working Group will be holding elections for the working group’s co-chairs at the February 14th chapter meeting! The new co-chairs’ term will last from February through June. Members can nominate themselves or a comrade by emailing steering@dsasf.org with their nominations before the February chapter meeting.

Show Your Smolidarity at the February Chapter Meeting

The Priority Mutual Aid Working Group will be providing childwatch at the chapter meeting next month on February 14th!

Parents and caregivers can fill out this form before the meeting to help ensure we have enough volunteers and supplies on hand. Volunteers interested in providing childcare can let us know on the #priority-mutual-aid Slack channel or via the form. We hope to see you and your kiddos there!

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 newsletter, etc. Members can view current CCC rotations.

To help with the day-to-day tasks that keep the chapter running, fill out the CCC help form.

Questions? Feedback? Something to add?

We welcome your feedback. If you have comments or suggestions, send a message to the #newsletter channel on Slack.

For information on how to add content, check out the Newsletter Q&A thread on the forum.

Since October, Turkey has ramped up its attacks on North-East Syria. Increasingly, they are targeting civilians and their infrastructure, especially with the striking of power plants, hospitals, grain silos and water stations. These attacks are blatant violations of the Geneva Conventions and signify a total disregard for human life. The damage has been so devastating that half of all civilian infrastructure there is now destroyed. 

Rojava is the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North-East Syria (DAANES), a society which adheres to the libertarian socialist principles emphasized in Abdullah Öcalan’s ideology of democratic confederalism. They have enshrined women’s equality through active female participation in all scores of democratic and organizational life. Rojava is a movement fighting for self-determination, cooperative economy, social ecology and against the ultranationalist, far-right government of Turkey and Islamic State forces in the region. 

We demand that our DSA-member United States Representatives, especially Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib respect the will of the people of Rojava and vote to keep U.S. troops on the ground in North-East Syria, which are vital in maintaining suppression of IS forces and preventing further Turkish advancements. This is not a call for U.S. occupation of North-East Syria, or indefinite deployment of U.S. troops there; we desire that the U.S. retain existing support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) until Turkey and its militia affiliates withdraw from the Afrin region and commit to no further aggression to Rojava and its people. Moreover, we ask of our public officials that the U.S place Economic and Political Sanctions on the far-right leadership of Turkey, put an end to the sale and delivery of weapons to Turkey which is being used in a genocide against the Kurdish people and insist upon Rojava being given a seat at the Syrian peace negotiations.

Further, we demand the U.S. back out of the $20 billion F-16s deal with Turkey. We urgently call on DSA and YDSA chapters across the U.S. to combine their support for this petition and stand in solidarity with the revolution in Rojava. Solidarity forever!

#RiseUp4Rojava #WomenDefendRojava #SmashTurkishFascism 

Signed,

Young Democratic Socialists of America at Lawrence University

Young Democratic Socialists of America at UW-Madison

Young Democratic Socialists of America at Marquette University

Young Democratic Socialists of America at Princeton University

Libertarian Socialist Caucus of the Democratic Socialists of America

(this petition will be updated when more YDSA/DSA chapters sign on using this form)

by Sara G.

Our chapter is kicking off the year with new campaigns that will get us out on the streets in February, talking to our neighbors about how, together, we can change Austin. We’ll be canvassing for local political candidates, talking to workers in local businesses about how they can support Palestinian liberation, and escalating our labor support.

In the past month…

• Our chapter proudly endorsed District Attorney José Garza for his re-election campaign. José has shown a commitment to empowering sexual assault victims, holding police officers accountable, and creating community-driven solutions for public safety. We began going door-to-door to make sure that our neighbors get to the polls in March to vote for the candidate who is working to support the working class in Texas.

• On the 18th, we joined with others from the Austin for Palestine coalition for a rally in front of City Hall. Members have been calling city council, pleading with them to pass a ceasefire resolution, following in the footsteps of many other cities like San Francisco, Atlanta, and Detroit. Gumbo, a member of the chapter Leadership Committee, testified before the council, and our co-chair Garrigan published an op-ed in the Austin Chronicle. City council did not join their peers around the nation in passing a resolution.

• Our Membership Engagement Committee kicked off the chapter’s Rose Buddy Mentorship program. After attending orientation, new members will have the option to be paired with a more experienced member to help them understand all the ongoing campaigns and events while building deeper relationships within the chapter. 

• Also from Membership Engagement, Socialist Sprouts volunteers will provide child watching for parents attending our General Body Meetings.

• The Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee has been helping workers at a Fedex Office here in Austin organize their workplace. The Fedex workers describe the unsafe conditions that led them to taking action.

• As part of our political education series, member Andrew Hairston spoke with the chapter about his trip to Cuba as part of DSA’s delegation in October. Our organizational commitment to international solidarity means learning from movements in other countries and showing support for comrades everywhere. Read more in this interview with Andrew.

• As part of our Schools for All campaign, we started talking to families in South Austin about the community school model, where public schools provide wraparound services based on the specific needs of their neighborhood, and invite community members to engage in shared decision-making.

The post

Austin DSA in Action

January 2024

first appeared on Red Fault.

The DSA National Political Committee made substantial cuts to YDSA’s budget in the midst of a broader response to the organization’s budget crisis. The YDSA National Coordinating Committee and other YDSA leaders have protested these decisions. The author spoke to leaders across Y/DSA as they prepared their responses and planned for future organizing. DSA’s National…

The post “Personally Devastating”: YDSA Budget Slashed in Deficit Crisis Cuts appeared first on YDSA.

The following remarks were made in front of Batavia City Hall at Genesee County DSA’s Rally for Palestine on January 27, 2024.

Palestine and the Thought-Terminating Cliché.

by Logan W. Cole

So much of the discussion surrounding the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is designed to derail conversation about atrocities being committed against Palestinians or prevent one from being sympathetic to those in Gaza. One of the rhetorical devices that has been frequently employed in the propaganda and conversation surrounding Palestine is the thought-terminating cliché.

A thought-terminating cliché is an overused piece of language that is intended to stop an argument or conversation, rather than give it the attention it deserves. For example, the word “terrorist” and the concept of terrorism are often used to try to halt discussion of Palestinian losses so people do not become sympathetic to them.

At times, the Israeli media would take the figures of Palestinian casualties provided by the Gaza Health Ministry and say that all of them were terrorists — for example, Israeli news sources would say instead of 9,000 Palestinians killed (many of which were literally children), “9,000 terrorists eliminated.” As far as I’m concerned, the word “terrorist” has no place in the discourse about Palestine.

Sometimes, an important problem is marginalized because it is cynically deployed as a thought-terminating cliché. Bigotry against Jewish people has been a huge problem, as we recently saw at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and the synagogue shootings in Pittsburgh and Jersey City. Lately, speaking out against the atrocities committed against Palestinians and the Zionist (right-wing, nationalist) ideas that underpin them by groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and initiatives like BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions), has been deemed by some, including the Anti-Defamation League (the ADL), as “antisemitic.”

Zionism is not Judaism — indeed there are more Zionist Christians in the United States than there are Jewish people in the world. Declaring an anti-Zionist statement is antisemitic solely on that basis is itself a form of anti-Jewish bigotry because it associates the entirety of Jewish people with the modern form of Zionism, which takes much of its inspiration from atrocious ideologies like Manifest Destiny and eugenics, which themselves were used to justify other genocides. Conflating anti-Zionism and anti-Jewish bigotry through the use of the term “antisemitism” takes attention from the real acts of hate and violence being committed against Jewish people every day. The use of antisemitism as a thought-terminating cliché hurts both Jewish and Palestinian people.

Ironically, perhaps the most commonly used thought-terminating cliché is the idea that the subject is complicated, complex, or that it requires nuance. Nothing ends a conversation or stops someone from asking questions faster than saying a situation is complicated.

The fact that there is a genocide in Gaza is not complicated:

• More than 25,000 dead (more than 10,000 of them children);
• More than 60,000 wounded;
• More than 7,000 trapped under rubble;
• More than 100 times as many children die everyday in Gaza than in the Ukrainian conflict zone;
• More than 1.9 million people have been displaced in Gaza — that’s more than 85% of the population;
• Only 5 doctors remain in Gaza;
• 83 out of ~1,000 journalists in Gaza have been killed (more than 8%);
• More than 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners detained;
• More than 70% of homes have been destroyed in Gaza; and
• 95% of those facing starvation in the world are in Gaza right now.

It’s not complicated. We can’t stop thinking about Gaza. There needs to a ceasefire, a halt to all US support for the military exploits against Palestine, no further Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, and a free Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

* * *

We’re Watching it Live on Social Media.

by Lauren Berger

Good afternoon, my name is Lauren Berger and I am a member of the Livingston County Democratic Socialists of America.

Last time I spoke at a rally for Palestine it was holiday time so I talked about Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, in today’s occupied West Bank. I talked about the military checkpoint in Bethlehem, where an apartheid system of law would separate Jesus’ civil rights from those of his parents because of where he was born, were he not born Jewish – this is what it means to live in an ethnostate.

Not only is the Israeli military relentlessly bombing hospitals, universities and refugee camps, but refusing the access of crucial supplies into Gaza. There is no clean water and no medical supplies. There is no food. The Palestinian people who have managed to survive this far are now facing deliberate starvation.

For more than 100 days, bombs from the USA have rained down on Palestine. The total of those killed, wounded and missing is over ninety thousand people – including more than ten thousand dead children – in 112 days. The speed at which the Israeli military has murdered men, women and children of all ages in Gaza has never been seen before in recorded human history. Not only is this recorded, but we’re watching it live on social media.

I’ve seen it, you’ve seen it. It’s constant. The coverage is everywhere – videos of screaming toddlers next to their dead parents; hospitals in crowded disarray, as medical staff scramble to provide care to maimed patients laid on a dirty, blood-soaked floor; devastated mothers and fathers holding their bloody, motionless children, rocking back and forth, screaming; teenagers and elderly and babies in every state of horrific injury, their faces gaunt with hunger. It breaks your heart, and fractures your mind when this absolute devastation is met with silence, excuses or even applause.

And yet that is what we are witnessing. Mainstream news media, for the most part, continues to take their cues directly from the Israeli military. Coverage of the onslaught reads like a dystopian George Carlin thought exercise (Israeli hostages are “women and children,” Palestinians hostages are “females and those under 18;” Israelis are “killed by airstrikes,” Palestinians “die as a result of explosions.”

And then there are the statements themselves. Footage of speeches by Israeli officials show disturbingly genocidal quotes, including the Israeli President claiming “there are no innocent civilians in Gaza.” They are saying the quiet part out loud. The families of the Israeli hostages have been ignored by their own government. It becomes clearer and clearer every single day that Israeli officials care nothing for the lives of even their own citizens, including the hostages they claim to be fighting for.

The US government has been vocal in its support of Israel, no matter what. Claudia Tenney, our congress member, has sent me five copies of a largely unchanged statement applauding the billions of our dollars she wants to send Israel for them to keep doing what they’re doing. She would prefer we see Democrats and Republicans as opposites, but in truth they are quite similar. In fact, Tenney is in lockstep with Joe Biden on this issue. Disregard for Palestinian lives receives high bipartisan support.

So the question is…what do we do about it?

We can continue to learn about Palestine and bear witness to those reporting from the ground. We can share and uplift information to help others learn and we can continue to show up at events like this. When people come together like this, we are organizing a network to support each other through activism long after we leave here today.

We can follow the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction campaign, and boycott the Big Three if we can – McDonald’s, Starbucks and Disney.

We can call our representatives, sure. And we should – every day. But understand the reality. Sending Israel endless money and guns and bombs is probably the most bipartisan thing they do. Even though 61% of all likely voters support a cease-fire, only 15% of Congress does (67 congress members and five senators, not ours). Joe Biden sidestepped Congressional authority—twice—to send more than $250 million to Israel in December. Typically, an abuse of power like that would earn disdain – and if it came from Trump, it would have. Where are the democrats who told us Trump would catapult us into war?

The campaign for your vote in November has already started and we all know that green talks louder than red or blue. So we can be shrewd and politic just like the rest of them – and we can say the lesser of two evils is no longer good enough. We can withhold our votes, we can threaten to withhold our votes even if we probably will vote for them in the end, and we can support organizing the networks that work for the people, not weapons contractors.

We can also keep talking about Palestine and learning the history, and all the ways in which Zionism is not Judaism – and how anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. We must keep talking, and keep learning, so can know the truth about what decolonization is and is not – so we can explain that it is not a call for anti-Jewish violence but instead a call for liberation and freedom, when we say “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

* * *

The post Never Again For Anyone: Comments from the Rally for Palestine at Batavia City Hall first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America Little Red Letter #122 TCDSA Moves In, Gaza Ceasefire Call In Minneapolis, Camp Nenookaasi Lives On, and More! At long last, the search for a new home for TCDSA is over and we have signed a lease on an office space! Due to the tireless work of our office […]

After nearly a year of development, testing, and finally use at the 2023 YDSA and DSA Convention by nearly a thousand comrades: the National Tech Committee is pleased to announce that we are now offering OpenSlides to any DSA Chapter or National Committee, completely free of charge to help augment facilitation and participation in meetings, vote and stack taking, and provide a better portal to find agendas, resolutions, and anything else you need to conduct a meeting.

To request OpenSlides for your Chapter or National Committee, or to read more about this offering, please see our post on the DSA Discussion Board. OpenSlides Documentation for how to use this tool may be found on the Discussion Board as well

To learn more about OpenSlides and its use, see our website page on OpenSlides

Translated into Spanish below / Traducido al español a continuación

The DSA International Committee congratulates the people of Guatemala for successfully defending the democratic transition of government on January 14th. They resisted the corrupt outgoing government’s attempts to delay President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s inauguration and suspend his progressive anti-corruption Semilla party in Congress with grassroots street action, a vigilant independent press, and the mobilization of international support. 

Guatemala’s Right-Wing Congress delayed Arévalo’s inauguration for 9 hours and sought to strip his party, Semilla, of its legal status. These aggressions occurred in the presence of international diplomats including the Colombian, Chilean, and Honduran Presidents and delegations from the European Union and the Organization of American States present in solidarity to ensure a successful democratic transition. In response to Guatemalans voting for Arevalo and Semilla’s progressive anti-corruption agenda in two rounds of fair and free elections, the outgoing government has sought to undermine it by circulating arrest warrants against dozens of university faculty and student protestors, launching retaliatory investigations against the national electoral tribunal, and fast-tracking a 2024 budget that ties the hands of the incoming administration and enriches the business elite. 

The Guatemalan working class and indigenous movements have mobilized to defend their victory with: 

• hundreds of community demonstrations, 
• a month-long indigenous-led general strike in October, and 
• a 105-day sit-in by rotating indigenous movement delegations outside the corrupt Attorney General’s offices in Guatemala City. 

In response to the demands from Guatemalan anti-corruption movements, the United States Department of the Treasury and the European Union have begun visa and financial sanctions against corrupt Guatemalan elites backing the attempted coup. The holdover corrupt judiciary continues its attempts to undermine the democratic transition, most recently with the Jan 18th Constitutional Court ruling to invalidate and re-run the election of congressional leadership without the participation of the Semilla party.

Our members residing in Guatemala have been in regular contact with movements defending indigenous land rights and protesting corruption. We have and will continue to connect members to our comrades on the frontlines to build international solidarity and educate DSA members on the struggles and demands of Guatemalan social movements. We continue to call on the United States government to respect Guatemalan self-determination and cease the funding of corrupt anti-democratic actors through military repression against social movements, immigration containment schemes in violation of migrants’ human rights, and megaproject developers operating without indigenous territorial consent. 

---

El Comité Internacional de los Socialistas Democráticas de América felicita al pueblo guatemalteco por su exitoso defensa del cambio de mandato en el 14 de enero. Ellos se resistieron los tiros del saliente gobierno corrupto a demorar la toma de posesión por presidente-electo Bernardo Arévalo y suspender su partido progresista y anticorrupción, Semilla, con manifestaciones, una prensa independiente, y el apoyo de la comunidad internacional.

El Congreso de Guatemala con su mayoría derecha demoran la toma de posesión de Arévalo por nueve horas y busco despojar a su partido, Semilla, de su estatus legal. Estas agresiones ocurrieron en presencia de los presidentes de Colombia y Chile, la presidenta de Honduras, delegaciones desde el Unión Europea, la Organización de Estados Americanos y otros diplomáticos internacionales que llegaron para ver una transición democrática y exitosa. En repuesta de la expresión democrática del pueblo guatemalteco a favor de la agenda anticorrupción de Arvelo y Semilla, el gobierno saliente ha tratado de socavarlo haciendo circular órdenes de arresto contra docenas de profesores universitarios y estudiantes que protestaban, iniciando investigaciones de represalia contra el Tribunal Supremo Electoral y acelerar un presupuesto para 2024 que ate las manos de la administración entrante y enriquezca a la élite empresarial.

Los trabajadores de Guatemala y su pueblo indigno ha movilizaron para guardar su victoria con: 

• Cientos de manifestaciones comunitarias
• Una huelga general encabezada por indígenas en octubre que pasaron por un mes
• Una sentada por parte del movimiento indigno frente a la corrupta oficina del fiscal general que duro por 105 días. 

En respuesta a las demandas de los movimientos anticorrupción guatemaltecos, el Departamento del Tesoro de los Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea han iniciado sanciones financieras y de visas contra las élites corruptas guatemaltecas que respaldan el intento de golpe. El poder judicial corrupto que aún persiste continúa sus intentos de socavar la transición democrática, más recientemente con el fallo del Tribunal Constitucional del 18 de enero de invalidar y repetir la elección de dirigentes del Congreso sin la participación del partido Semilla.

Nuestros miembros que residen en Guatemala han estado en contacto regular con movimientos que defienden los derechos territoriales de los indígenas y protestan contra la corrupción. Hemos conectado y continuaremos conectando a miembros con nuestros camaradas en primera línea para construir solidaridad internacional y educar a los miembros de DSA sobre las luchas y demandas de los movimientos sociales guatemaltecos. 

Seguimos pidiendo al gobierno de Estados Unidos que respete la autodeterminación de Guatemala y deje de financiar a actores corruptos y antidemocráticos, incluida la represión militar contra movimientos sociales, esquemas de contención de la inmigración que violan los derechos humanos de los migrantes y desarrolladores de megaproyectos que operan sin comunidades indígenas, consentimiento territorial.

The post DSA IC Congratulates the People of Guatemala for Successfully Defending the Democratic Transition of Government appeared first on DSA International Committee.

Enjoy your January National Political Committee (NPC) newsletter! Our NPC is an elected 18-person body (including two YDSA members who share a vote) which functions as the board of directors of DSA. This month, join our trans rights work kickoff, sign up for Green New Deal organizing training, fundraise for our future, and more!

And to make sure you get our newsletters in your inbox, sign up here! Each one features action alerts, upcoming events, political education, and more.

• From the National Political Committee — Aligning the Fights
• Tonight Thursday 1/25 — RSVP for Palestine Ceasefire Phonebank
• DSA Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Mass Kickoff Call with Erin Reed — RSVP Today for Saturday 2/3
• National Labor Commission School Staff Network Launch Tuesday 2/8
• Green New Deal Campaign Commission Strategic Campaign Training Series Begins Thursday 2/15!
• Give Your 1% for the 99% — Only 100 Solidarity Dues Bandanas Left!
• Saturday 1/27 — “Democracy” in the United States: A Debate in the Lead-up to November
• DSA Mutual Aid Working Group All Member Meeting Wednesday 1/31 — Strike Support Edition!
• International Committee Chapter Liaison Rollout — Apply by Wednesday 2/7
• Apply to Join DSA’s Fundraising Committee! Deadline Thursday 2/15
• Listen to The Class Podcast from the National Political Education Committee!

From the National Political Committee — Aligning the Fights

Greetings from your National Political Committee!

Before we go any further, we want to take a moment to thank DSA’s National Director of twelve years, Maria Svart, for her selfless, tireless service to the organization. Maria will be leaving her position in just a few weeks for a well-deserved break, though she’ll still be organizing in DSA as a rank-and-file member. We encourage all members to take a moment and read her farewell letter, and join us in heartfelt thanks and best wishes on her next steps.

As we come barreling into an election year, we’re thinking a lot about the many moving pieces of our organizing and how to wrangle them into logical formations to keep growing our momentum. And as we move through the budgeting season, we also have to figure out how to allocate our limited resources to best support our collective organizing efforts — and how to organize to close a major fundraising gap that has contributed to a large deficit in DSA’s national budget. We know that the fight for socialism in the United States is one that is fought on multiple terrains of struggle, across unique locales, and using a variety of tactics. It is our job as national leaders to help align those fights. Though we must do it with a fraction of the money that the boss and landlord class has, what we have is organized people, and unlike many other political organizations that depend on large donors, we have a durable collective resource base from our members’ dues. And we know that when we come together to organize and fight, we win. 2024 is a critical year for us to organize our shared resources to level up our power as an organization, and we are laying out major fundraising goals for this year to do it all together.

Two struggles that have often been thought to be in tension are the fight for climate justice  and the fight for labor rights, but DSA has long been an organizational advocate of the just transition framework — a collaborative approach that brings together climate activism and the labor movement. This week, we were excited to have over 100 people, including rank-and-file members of the UAW and United Teachers of Los Angeles, come together on a recent cross-committee call between our National Labor Commission and our Green New Deal Campaign Commission to discuss new developments in labor-focused climate organizing. With 2023 officially closing out as the hottest year on record, this work is urgent and critical.

We’re seeing similar collaboration of late between the labor movement and the international anti-war movement, especially around Palestinian liberation. While we watch horrors unfold daily on our social media feeds, mainstream Democrats and Republicans have fully aligned in their continued support of apartheid, war, and genocide. But, along with our siblings in the labor movement and our comrades in the international left, we refuse to be silent. This past week, we saw SEIU join UAW, APWU, and UE, and dozens of union locals across industries — as well as DSA electeds in municipal, statewide, and federal office — in calling for a ceasefire now. You can join them by plugging into our No Money For Massacres campaign by joining an upcoming phonebank, and using other methods in our Palestine Solidarity toolkit, to help us demand a ceasefire from Congress.

Collaborative, cross-terrain work — connecting social movements and elected officials and the labor movement and the tenants movement and more — is part of what makes DSA so important. With members across the country, in different industries, with different organizing focuses, we are able to work to tie together all of these moving parts, but we can’t do it without each other. If you’re not yet giving your 1% for the 99% and paying Solidarity Dues, please switch today and help us build durable funds for this world-shifting endeavor. And if you’re not yet involved in your chapter, reach out to them today for information about their local work and ways you can get plugged in!

Yours in Solidarity,

DSA National Political Committee

P.S. We were excited to see DSA-LA member Ayo Edebiri take home an Emmy Award last week for her role on The Bear, and remembered the light and loving roasting she gave us during a 2021 DSA fundraising event. The irony of highlighting this in an email is not lost on us… Feel free to share from Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook!

Tonight Thursday 1/25 — RSVP for Palestine Ceasefire Phonebank

Join us tonight, Thursday 1/25 at 9pm ET/8pm CT/7pm MT/6pm PT for our No Money for Massacres solidarity phonebank. Stand with DSA members and U.S. Representatives Cori Bush, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and DSA members across the country to demand a ceasefire, reject US military funding for war crimes, and protect millions of civilians!

And check out our Palestine Solidarity National Toolkit to learn how you can stay informed, take action, and work for peace and liberation.

DSA Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Mass Kickoff Call with Erin Reed — RSVP Today for Saturday 2/3

Trans rights and abortion access are the front lines of the fight against the far right and for working class liberation! On Saturday 2/3 at 5pm ET/4pm CT/3pm MT/2pm PT, DSA is launching our national Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Campaign with a mass virtual call. We’re honored to welcome trans journalist Erin Reed — the leading voice on trans rights news in America via her newsletter Erin in the Morning, where she routinely breaks stories cited by major news outlets. We invite all DSA chapters to join this call and plan together how we can defend and advance trans rights and abortion access by getting active in our communities, unions, and schools across the country — leading up to a national Day of Action on March 31, Trans Day of Visibility.

National Labor Commission School Staff Network Launch Tuesday 2/8

Join the National Labor Commission on Thursday 2/8 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT for the first call of the DSA School staff network! On this call, you’ll hear how to support reform efforts in AFT, NEA, and other school staff unions. We’ll also discuss how to unite for fully funded public schools, a Green New Deal for public schools, and running our candidates for school board to defeat right-wing attacks on education.

Green New Deal Campaign Commission Strategic Campaign Training Series Begins Thursday 2/15!

Join the Green New Deal Campaign Commission and the Growth and Development Committee to learn about strategic campaigning! Over the course of three sessions beginning Thursday 2/15, we’ll equip you with the political education, tools, and coaching necessary to launch, run, and win a Building for Power campaign.

Each session will be held at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT. We’re talking about deeply felt demands that will help improve conditions for the working class, while building your chapters membership and supporter base at the same time. Join us! 

Give Your 1% for the 99% — Only 100 Solidarity Dues Bandanas Left!

Swag Alert! We have 100 Solidarity Dues bandanas left — snag yours today by making the switch to Solidarity Dues and pledge your 1% for the 99% before they run out! Chapters and members all over the country are gearing up for 2024. But one of the ways we get ready for the year ahead is making sure we have the funds we need to keep organizing, growing our movement, and building power. 

Already made the switch and ready to ask your comrades to do the same? Join the Solidarity Dues Call-A-Thon by signing up for an upcoming phonebank. A short training will happen at the top of the call, no prior experience necessary!

Saturday 1/27 — “Democracy” in the United States: A Debate in the Lead-up to November

Join the DSA National Political Education Committee on Saturday 1/27 at 4pm ET/3pm CT/2pm MT/1pm PT for “‘Democracy’ in the United States: A debate in the lead-up to November.”

Members Jerry Harris and Luke Pickrell will discuss their understanding of democracy, whether the US Constitution supports or frustrates it, and to what extent socialists should “defend” democracy going into the 2024 elections.

Jerry Harris is a retired union activist, national secretary of the Global Studies Association, and international board member of the Network for Critical Studies of Global Capitalism. His latest book was Global Capitalism and the Crisis of Democracy.

Luke Pickrell is a member of East Bay DSA. He’s written in Cosmonaut and The Democratic Constitution Blog, and contributed to various discussions in the ‘Why Marx?’ project.

DSA Mutual Aid Working Group All Member Meeting Wednesday 1/31 — Strike Support Edition!

The National Mutual Aid Working Group’s bi-monthly All-Member Meeting is Wednesday 1/31 at 8:30pm ET/7:30pm CT/6:30pm MT/5:30pm PT. Join us and talk shop with mutual aid-loving comrades, get updated on our working group projects, and learn how you can get involved!

Featuring a member from NW Ohio DSA discussing strike support for the UAW in Toledo!

International Committee Chapter Liaison Rollout — Apply by Wednesday 2/7

The DSA International Committee (IC) is opening applications for its chapter liaison program! 

The IC seeks interested DSA members to liaise between local chapters and the IC’s national subcommittees and campaigns. Chapter Liaisons will demonstrate the capability to coordinate campaigns, communications, political education, diplomatic missions, and national resource requests. This may involve: building a working relationship with a local chapter’s already-existing internationalism committee; developing a local chapter’s internationalism committee; connecting a chapter with a national initiative; sharing ideas and resources based on local organizing experiences; initiating organizing at the national or local level, and/or helping us shape the liaison program as it expands. This program is fundamentally experimental — a way to bridge the divide between national DSA and local chapter structures — so it will be flexible to new conditions based on the needs of both local chapters and the IC. Liaisons will be invited to help shape and determine this relationship for the betterment of DSA’s internationalism organizing. Interested candidates can read more about the program and its expectations here.

Applications are open through Wednesday 2/7. Apply now!

Apply to Join DSA’s Fundraising Committee! Deadline Thursday 2/15

DSA is seeking members with fundraising experience to apply to join DSA’s National Fundraising Committee. The Fundraising Committee will support the coordination of national fundraising efforts and serve as an advisory body for DSA’s fundraising practices and strategy. With ambitious plans and a long road ahead, we must be able to sustain our work, and that means coordinated and strategic fundraising. As a socialist organization engaged in class struggle, we must fund our own work. Submit your application today! The deadline is Thursday 2/15.

Listen to The Class Podcast from the National Political Education Committee!

Following last episode’s recap of 2023, in this episode we look forward to labor’s prospects in 2024 by chatting with labor activists Ayesha Mughal, Sean Orr, and Sarah Hurd. Listen now!

The post Aligning the fights — Your National Political Committee newsletter appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).