DSA Cleveland’s Public Pressure Non-Campaign Activity for Trans Rights was passed unanimously at the February 2024 general meeting. The “non campaign activity” was NOT a priority project of Cleveland DSA, therefore it did not have an elected leadership body and other privileges of being a priority. From February-April 2024 DSA sent members to make public comment at meetings where the restrictions on trans health care were being considered, including the Ohio Health Advisory Board, Ohio Department of Health and Department of Mental Health. DSA members also attended a public meeting of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health to bring up our concerns about anti-trans legislation. We made 345 phone calls and sent countless emails and public comment submissions. We engaged 58 DSA members and community members in this work. We also worked directly with Abortion Fund of Ohio on an education event. At the end of the authorization period for this activity, it was ultimately the lower Ohio courts that opted to block and stall the implementation of HB 68, and interest in mass action over the issue died down.

We wanted to host a large scale demonstration occupying the Cuyahoga County Department of Health, this also did not happen. We hosted a smaller demonstration in the Cuyahoga County Board of Health parking lot where we distributed literature to the workers there. The culmination of the work on this project is a plan for a Trans Liberation Priority Project. While the authors of this proposal believe it holds untapped potential, they did not recommend it for approval due to a lack of developed leaders ready to take on the four elected roles; legislative researcher, project administrator, comms coordinator and membership coordinator. DSA new members and observers should note that although we do not have ongoing work in every issue-area we have experience and projects prepared for prioritization when chapter capacity and external circumstances align, we are ready and we need your help.

The post Reporting Back: Fighting for Trans Rights – A Public Pressure Campaign appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.

The Colorado Springs and Denver chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) together stand firmly beside the people of Palestine and all those on the side of liberation and humanity. We reaffirm our unwavering and unequivocal solidarity with our partners in the Colorado Palestine Coalition and the broader Palestinian liberation movement, especially Palestinian-led organizations including the Palestinian Youth Movement and Within Our Lifetime. We call on the National Political Committee (NPC) to immediately pass the resolution ‘Making DSA an Anti-Zionist Organization in both Principle and Practice’ (MSR #12), that was tabled for the NPC after being pushed off the floor at the 2023 DSA National Convention. 

To quote our comrades in Albany YDSA, “Palestine is not dividing the left, it’s defining the left.” It’s long past time to shut the door on our organization’s tolerance for candidates who are ‘Progressive Except for Palestine’. We commend the NPC’s recent withdrawal of DSA national’s conditional endorsement of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), whose many recent words and actions have reinforced the Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism at the heart of the US imperial project and enabled Israel’s US-sponsored genocide of the Palestinian people, including: endorsing the war criminal Joe Biden [1] and shielding him from calls to step aside [2], publicly criticizing Palestinian liberation organizations as antisemitic [3], platforming Zionists intent on demonizing the movement for Palestinian liberation and agreeing with their bad faith critiques [4], equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, demanding that Hamas release all hostages with no acknowledgment of the thousands of hostages held (and tortured) by Israel or the many offers by Hamas to release hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, and continued insistence that Israel has a “right to defend itself” [5]; all while denying the right, enshrined in international law, of the oppressed people of Palestine to defend themselves, resist annihilation, and engage in armed struggle against their violent colonial occupiers. 

We condemn New York City DSA’s push to endorse AOC without condition – a decision which undermines the work of principled electeds and working class organizers across the country. Refusing to draw a clear moral line on Palestinian liberation damages the morale of DSA members and turns potential recruits away from DSA’s socialist project; leaves principled anti-Zionist politicians vulnerable to AIPAC attacks and principled activists vulnerable to state violence; and contributes to the social conditions that allow Zionists to murder, assault, and intimidate Palestinians and their allies. AOC’s re-endorsement was an affront to our anti-racist, anti-Zionist, and anti-imperialist internationalist values and a hindrance to our work to build multi-racial working-class socialist power. While we commend the NPC’s attempts to rectify this situation by extending a conditional endorsement, we demand more accountability in the endorsement process at the chapter level in the future to prevent the kind of fallout caused by the initial vote to re-endorse. Rank and file DSA members put our trust in the NPC to uphold our values and support our work, and passing MSR #12 would go a long way towards solidifying that trust and assuaging our concerns about future endorsements and electoral efforts. 

True socialist power is built from the grassroots and in solidarity among the working class, not from proximity to and conformity with ruling elites. DSA’s local chapter work is fueled by countless hours of unpaid, working-class labor. Many of our members have risked arrest and experienced state repression as a result of their support of Palestinian liberation and other anti-fascist organizing. We reject the endorsement of any candidates who do not take a strong, principled, and consistent stance on solidarity with the people of Palestine. Such endorsements serve to channel our labor toward platforming liberal politicians who reinforce capitalism, imperialism, and the rise of fascism. Whenever we decide to compromise our integrity in exchange for power, we have already lost both. Our endorsed electeds must reflect and be accountable to our working-class base, and DSA must solidify its commitment to anti-Zionism in both principle and practice at a national level by passing MSR #12.

1  By endorsing Biden, AOC is backing genocide, Electronic Intifada, July 18, 2024

2 Ocasio-Cortez backing Biden: ‘The matter is closed’, The Hill, July 9, 2024

3 https://x.com/fatimazsaid/status/1801200752393666631

4 https://x.com/SxarletRed/status/1800526900625870996

5 November 28,2023, AOC voted in favor of H.Res. 888 ‘Reaffirming Israel’s Right To Exist’, which conflates opposition to Israel’s “right to exist” with antisemitism and demands Hamas release all hostages

Thorn West: Issue No. 209

State Politics

• CalMatters analyzes how California’s regulatory system might cushion the state from the impact of the Supreme Court decision that drastically curtailed the authority of federal regulatory agencies.

• Democrats running on local ballots face potential downstream effects of concerns about President Biden’s age. Adam Schiff, running to become California’s next Senator, has called for Biden to drop out of the race.

City Politics

• A reform measure that will increase the size of the County Board of Supervisors will advance to the ballot, following a 3–0–2 vote.

Housing Justice

• During a mayoral debate in San Francisco, current mayor London Breed announced plans to pursue “very aggressive” sweeps against unhoused people in August, praising the recent Supreme Court decision that enables further criminalization of homelessness.

• A lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles alleges that City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto and Councilmember Traci Park have deliberately stalled an affordable housing project in Venice.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• Mayor Bass vetoed a ballot measure that would have shifted some authority to fire LAPD officers to the police chief. Bass’ veto letter argued that the proposed reforms are inadequate and would result in “ambiguities” in the disciplinary system. These concerns echo those raised by the council’s progressive bloc. This was the mayor’s first veto. The council can override the veto with 10 votes.

Transportation

• With the support of Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez and Nithya Raman, new bike lanes have been installed on Hollywood Boulevard, one of the most ambitious transformations of a major traffic artery in the city’s history.

• County Supervisor Janice Hahn became the newest Metro board chair following the expiration of Mayor Karen Bass’ term. Hahn has announced support for an expansion of Metro’s “tap to exit” pilot program, which requires riders to use their fare cards to exit as well as enter stations, as a method of increasing public safety on Metro trains.

Environmental Justice

• Another heat wave is predicted for inland Southern California this week.

• LA Public Press covers the lack of cooling stations in LA’s Skid Row neighborhood.

• This afternoon in LA County, a rapidly-spreading brush fire erupted in the Angeles Mountains above Glendora.

The post LA Mayor Issues First Veto + SF Mayor Threatens “Aggressive” Sweeps appeared first on The Thorn West.

Democratic Party leadership claims that the threat to democracy posed by a second Trump presidency and Republican-dominated Congress is real, and they are correct. The Republican Party is clear in its intention to undermine essential market regulations and basic individual rights. With the backing of a loaded Supreme Court, Trump’s administration stands to finally break the promise held out by Democrats throughout the rising tide of fascism: that we can defend democracy through our legal system. When that tide breaks, it will most immediately impact trans and reproductive rights, the unhoused, immigrants, and asylum seekers—but it ultimately will affect us all.

Nevertheless, the Democratic Party’s actions contradict its own apparent concerns. For example, while touting the value of free speech and protest, the Biden administration has overseen the crackdown on student protest across campuses nationwide. This does nothing to distance Democrats from the charge of repression that it levies against Republicans. Furthermore, instead of allowing for a competitive primary process (ironically, something permitted by the Republican Party), the Democratic National Committee saw to it that Biden was effectively the only candidate on the ballot. Even before Biden’s disastrous debate and the question of his cognitive decline, unprecedented thousands of Americans expressed their will for another candidate by voting “uncommitted” or “no preference” across the country—not least because of his commitment to funding Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. Democracy may be under threat, but it is already compromised today.

People want to stand up for democracy, yet with Biden at the helm, the Democratic Party reveals itself to be unable and unwilling. Following the recent attempt on Trump’s life, Democratic Party leadership has been more interested in the symbolic high ground, calling for national unity against “political violence.” The hypocrisy is blatant. On one level, this calls for unity with a candidate and party who incite the very violence at issue. On a deeper level, however, the Democratic Party fails to reconcile this call for unity with the state of violence it has perpetuated. Biden may be the first president to stand on a picket line, but he has done little to nothing material for the American and global working class. While Biden has focused our attention on “shrinkflation” and “hidden fees” (admittedly insidious practices), the prices of housing and healthcare continue to rise. Instead of moving to socialize these costs, the Biden administration funds war abroad, which benefits everyone from landlords and developers to insurance agencies and weapons manufacturers. Meanwhile, working people suffer degradation and death.

Given these conditions, the Democratic Party rightly appears bought by capitalist forces, which allows the Republican Party to (falsely) claim it will oppose “elites” in the name of those most desperate. Behind the culture war he stokes, Trump (like populists the world over) taps into real pain felt by the working class. In order for the Democratic Party to stake any claim to legitimacy, it must field a candidate who will rise to the moment and confront the threat of fascism without hesitation, all the while attacking its root economic causes. That candidate is not Joe Biden.

From the City of Charlotte to Mecklenburg County and beyond, join the call: it’s time to drop Joe!

Let the following know it’s time to drop Joe:

Alma Adams: (704) 344-9950

Chuck Schumer: (202) 224-6542

North Carolina Democratic Party: (919) 821-2777

In this episode, Tripp Fuller of Homebrewed Christianity podcast joins to talk faith that's beautiful enough to be called good news, a process vision of socialism, fiction and popculture as the fullest expressions of humanity, and miscellaneous nerdiness. Join us October 17–19 in Denver for theologybeer.camp ! Use the coupon code TAKEHEARTHOBBIT for $50 off your ticket. Email us at religioussocialism@gmail.com if you plan to come, we'd love to meet up.

Two Dead at the Hands of Lazy Cops in Kent County

In the Greater Grand Rapids Area, the police have now twice used a dangerous car chase maneuver against an unarmed, fleeing individual, leading to their death. These individuals were wanted for nonviolent crimes and should have been detained using standard protocol. To be clear, the car maneuver we’re talking about is the PIT maneuver, in which a pursuing vehicle swerves into a fleeing vehicle’s back tire in order to cause a spin out. It was never designed to be used against humans, and even the police have even admitted that the maneuver was used incorrectly in both cases. They just aren’t going to do anything about it.

The first instance was April 8th, when Riley Doggett (17) was a passenger in a stolen vehicle being pursued by the police. The driver crashed, and Riley got out of the car and fled until the police caught up and swerved into the fleeing teenager, fully running him over. He died from his injuries days later. The Kent County Sheriff’s office callously remarked that “[Riley’s] actions unfortunately placed him at high risk for a deadly encounter, whether with a citizen or law enforcement. It was fortunate for the community that a Kent County Deputy was the one to confront Mr. Doggett during his crime spree.” Apparently, we as citizens of Grand Rapids should feel safer knowing that our cops are slaughtering people without a trial. The footage of the event can be viewed here, though viewer discretion is advised due to the disturbing content.

The second instance was on the morning of April 17th, when Samuel Sterling (25) was filling up his tires and officers from multiple agencies showed up at his house with a warrant for breaking his parole. A chase ensued, and Samuel was eventually caught by an officer using a PIT maneuver to pinch Sterling against the side of a Burger King. The driver reversed, and Sterling fell to the ground. He can be heard saying to the officers, “I got no gun, bro…why you hitting me like this?” The cops then cuff him, take his belongings out of his pockets, and stand around his body, doing nothing to help him. An officer can be heard telling two firefighters to keep his cuffs on because he was a “wanted, violent felon.” This isn’t true. Samuel’s three felonies were for carrying a concealed weapon and theft, all nonviolent crimes. You can watch the video here, though again, viewer discretion is advised. Samuel died just a few hours later in the hospital. 

To add insult to injury, only the offending officer in the second instance is being charged with murder. This is likely due to the fact that this crime falls under the jurisdiction of our progressive state attorney general, Dana Nessel, because the offending officer was a member of the state police. The Kent County Sheriff’s Deputy Josiah McMains is left in the hands of the extremely conservative Kent County prosecutor Chris Becker, so they get off much easier. This is further evidence that the divide between “criminals” and non-criminals is not only socially constructed, but arbitrarily enforced. Becker is throwing the book at Riley’s friend, charging him with Fleeing and Eluding Causing Death, and attempting to try him as an adult. Meanwhile, the blood-thirsty thugs in blue will seemingly continue their vehicular rampage until they’re forced to stop by a higher power, because it saves them time and effort during a chase. What sort of a justice system is that?

All of this feels familiar when we remember the doorbell footage from April 4, 2022 which showed Grand Rapids Police Officer Christopher Schurr struggle to detain Patrick Lyoya, get frustrated, and unceremoniously end the struggle with a bullet to the back of Patrick’s head. At the time Chris Becker assured us that, despite his work being so closely aligned with the GRPD, he did not know Officer Schurr personally and wouldn’t need to recuse himself. More than two years later, and we’re still waiting for that trial to happen and Patrick’s family is still waiting for justice.
And as if this isn’t bad enough, the Grand Rapids police are now campaigning for the right to sue their detainees in civil court; even though they can beat an innocent man without fear of being charged. This means that after arresting you, an officer will be able to steal from you via civil suit. It’s vital that we organize now to rein in our out-of-control law enforcement before it becomes too late. Fight police oppression by protesting any chance you get and vote against this dishonest “Back the Blue” initiative, we can’t afford to give these thugs any more power to oppress us.

The post If the Police Can’t Catch their Criminals, They’ll just Kill Them Instead appeared first on Grand Rapids Democratic Socialists of America.