Today the people of North Carolina, 14 other states, and American Samoa will likely decide the Democratic nominee who will face Trump in the general election in November of 2020. Alongside chapters nationwide, the members of Charlotte Metro DSA have texted and called and knocked on doors in an effort to make sure that person is Senator Bernie Sanders. Since the chapter formally endorsed his candidacy in January , our small group has knocked on 1500 doors - going into neighborhoods every weekend to talk with community members about their struggles and the need for transformative change.

We asked several of our members to reflect on their experience with our local DSA for Bernie campaign, to share what they heard, and discuss why we need to elect Bernie Sanders.

“A woman told us she felt bad about the fact that she had to use her niece's insulin. Her niece was also on dialysis. After her insurance lapsed, she couldn't afford the insulin anymore. I've had several friends that have thousands of dollars worth of medical debt from needing to go to the emergency room, but none of them have needed something so crucial on a daily basis. This is why we need Medicare for All and Sanders is the only candidate truly standing up for it.”

— Corey

“Back in January we met a man who told us his 19 year old sister had just joined the military. Trump had just assassinated Soleimani and he was terrified that she would be deployed to Iran. He said Bernie is the only candidate he trusts to finally end the wars in the Middle East. Medicare for All and Bernie’s plan to make public colleges and universities tuition free also removes the coercive incentives that force poor kids to enlist just to get access to healthcare and education.

In the heavily gentrifying Belmont neighborhood we met a woman who said all but three families on her street had been pushed out of the neighborhood by new luxury development and rising rents. Charlotte at large also has a massive homelessness problem and an affordable housing shortage of 34,000 units. Bernie’s housing plan includes national rent control standards that would fight gentrification, protect tenants against rising rents, and invest $2.5 trillion into new affordable housing.”

— Dallin

“Only Bernie’s policies address the concerns of the American working class - this was made abundantly clear when I talked to people while canvassing. I talked to someone paying $200+ per month for medication, to someone afraid that their sister would be deployed and would die in another pointless war, to young and old people alike concerned that no one seems to be taking climate change seriously. Bernie is the only one prepared to face these issues, and who is tackling them head-on.”

— Morgan

“I felt encouraged this past weekend during our final canvassing push in the neighborhoods off Beatties Ford Rd. We spoke with several people who were excited and eager to let us know they had already voted for Bernie and others who are planning to do so on Tuesday. We also had some good conversations with undecided folks. After we spoke with with one undecided voter about Bernie's platform and asked what he thought, he responded with, ‘Sounds like a winner to me!’ There was even someone in a car honking, cheering and yelling ‘Bernie!’ at us at one point. Days like that just continue to push against the ‘Bernie Bro’ narrative that some are still trying to use to discredit this movement. Feeling good about Tuesday!”

— Allison

We are grateful to everyone who has come out to canvass or phone bank with us over the past few months! And special shout out to Dallin, who stepped up to lead our DSA for Bernie Working Group - thank you for all of your hard work!

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

Mutual Aid Mondays

Join Miami DSA’s Mutual Aid Working Group outside Lot 33 Downtown for Mutual Aid Mondays, a weekly program designed to directly address material distress and build solidarity in our community. We offer free food, clothing, and resources to anyone in need, with the aim of empowering the oppressed to fight for their dignity.

We begin serving at 7pm outside Lot 33 on SW 2nd St, near the cross street with SW 2nd Ave. The coordinates for the exact location are 25.772448, -80.196956.

Join the Miami DSA

If you like to renew your membership dues, or if you would like to become a new member, please click on the following link. Please note that in order to vote on important chapter decisions such as resolutions, endorsements, or steering committee elections, you must be a dues-paying member.   

https://miamidsa.org/donate

Miami DSA for Bernie Canvassing and Training

Join our local Bernie 2020 campaign!! Meet us at 12:00 noon for a detailed training on door-to-door conversations, followed by canvassing at 1 p.m. We’ll be knocking on doors making the case for a Sanders presidency and for deep working-class organizing between elections. Let’s get some wins!.

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Although many members were out of town canvassing for Bernie in South Carolina, our monthly meeting was lively as always. We were delighted to welcome comrades from the new Morehouse College YDSA. We heard a report on electoral activities, especially our independent Bernie for Georgia campaign, and announcements of many important upcoming events, and we passed the bylaw changes (as amended) that were tabled last month. We also met in working groups to get updates and engage with other members active in political education (see photo above), mutual aid, local elections, ecosocialism, Afrosocialism and immigrant justice. Chair Councilman khalid announced that he will be taking a month-long leave of absence to work directly on Bernie’s campaign; Membership Secretary Brandyn Buchanan will serve in his place. We ended by singing the traditional labor anthem “Solidarity Forever” before regrouping for a post-meeting social hour at a friendly Edgewood restaurant. Photos: Barbara Joye

On December 8, graduate employees at University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) voted by a landslide margin for a wildcat grade strike, refusing to submit final grades unless the administration gives them a cost of living adjustment (COLA). UCSC grad employees are asking for a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of $1,412 per month so they can afford to pay rent. Currently many of them pay over 50 percent of their wages towards rent – at a university where the president receives a $6,500 per month housing stipend in addition to her generous $400,000/year salary. At the final grade submission deadline on December 18, the administration had not met the workers’ demands and the graduate employees did not submit grades.

By February 10, as the administration had still not met their demands, UCSC graduate employees went on a full wildcat strike, putting a halt to classes, lectures, sections, labs, and office hours. Administrators have refused to bargain with graduate students or provide a living wage. University administration has responded to the graduate employees’ peaceful resistance with police force, bringing in police from other counties at the cost of $300,000/day. At least 18 supporters of the grad employees have been arrested.

Eugene DSA’s labor committee stands in solidarity with the UCSC grad employees on strike for living wages. Workers have been on a full wildcat strike for over a week now and have faced violence and threats of being fired. In an email to graduate employees on February 14, the administration threatened not to renew contracts for graduate employees who had not submitted grades, threatening not just their livelihoods but their ability to continue their education, as teaching appointments are tied to tuition reductions. This is a crucial time to show support for the strikers.  Those who are able to are encouraged to donate to the workers’ strike fund on GoFundMe.

We the members of the Eugene chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America declare we are, as socialists have been throughout world history, against war, including any war the current administration may be seeking with the people of Iran.

As American socialist Eugene Debs who was jailed for opposing WWI said 102 years ago, “The master class has always declared the wars. The subject class has always fought the battles.”

But in all the history of the world, Debs said, we the people, have never had a voice in declaring war, and strange as it certainly appears, no war by any nation in any age has ever been declared by the people.

To resist war and stop it, we need in this country and in this town, a broad-based, worker-led antiwar movement that is led by the communities most affected by the outbreak of war. Our voices must counter those of warmongering Republicans, collaborationist Democrats and a press that repeats war propaganda uncritically.

Beyond simply declaring we are against war, we understand that people want to know what we can do to stop the march to war, given the fact our leaders aren’t looking to we ordinary working people for permission to launch still more bloody and pointless conflict.

Our members have suggested the following actions:

• Identify businesses in our backyard that profit from war as members of the military-industrial complex. This is the first step in pushing back against the influence capitalists have in pushing working folks into wars.
• Interfere with military recruitment efforts, particularly when recruiters target the young at our high schools and the University of Oregon. We want people to know they’re good for something other than cannon fodder.
• Connect with local antiwar groups and help with organization efforts when and where our input would be welcomed.
• Pressure our elected officials to cut the military budget. The Pentagon has more than it has even asked for, and the people don’t have enough. The solution is obvious.
• Reach out to the Eugene Iranian, Syrian and Iraqi population for advice and mutual aid.
• Recommend reading so we can better understand how the US’ adventures overseas have made the world a crueler place for all kinds of people. If we don’t know our history, we will continue to repeat it.

The people of Iran deserve peace, happiness, safety, health and plenty just as everyone else in the world does. No matter where in the world we live, working people have the same enemy: A ruling class that starves us, neglects us, exploits us and sends us to die in ridiculous wars.

We declare that we have more in common with one another than we do with the ruling class — propaganda be damned. Therefore, we will not stand by and let the capitalists drag us into another war that most Americans don’t want and most Iranians do not want.

No war but the class war.

The members of the Eugene chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America

January 12, 2020

Monthly Meeting Time!

Join the Miami Democratic Socialists of America for our body-wide Monthly Meeting where we’ll be talking about our ongoing Bernie campaign, our working groups, and interviewing Melba Pearson, a candidate for Miami Dade State Attorney who is seeking our chapter’s endorsement. Pearson is challenging longtime incumbent Katherine Fernandez Rundle and is running on proposals such as ending cash bail, holding police accountable and winding down War on Drugs policies. Please come with questions about her platform and past experience that will help inform our endorsement process. You can read more about her candidacy here:

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-prosecutor-candidate-melba-pearson-wants-bail-reform-police-misconduct-accountability-11432351

The meeting will be held at 2:00pm on Sunday, February 23rd at the Center for Social Change at 2103 Coral Way, 2nd Floor. Location is WC accessible. Food and drinks will be provided. There is paid street parking and a garage connected to the building.

Hope to see you there!

Miami DSA for Bernie Canvassing and Training

Join our local Bernie 2020 campaign!! Meet us at 12:00 noon on Saturday for a detailed training on door-to-door conversations, followed by canvassing at 1 p.m. We’ll be knocking on doors making the case for a Sanders presidency and for deep working-class organizing between elections. Let’s get some wins!! Event starts at the Belafonte TACOLCY Center located at 6161 NW 9th Ave, Miami, FL 33127.

Film Screening This Friday

This month’s film screening will discuss the local history and impacts of gentrification on the Black community in Miami. We will watch two short documentaries: Golden Side of the Tracks and Liberty Square: Power, History, & Race in Miami.

In addition, we will have Ms. Rose Adams, the leader of the Annie Coleman public housing project’s resident council, speak about the displacement of their residents and privatization of public housing in their Brownsville community. We are raising funds to help Annie Coleman residents keep up the fight against displacement and gentrification.

Event starts Friday at 7 PM – 10 PM at Space Mountain, 738 NW 62nd Street, Miami, Florida 33150

Click here to view the rest of the issue!

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

Click Here to view the full issue

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