Over the past three months, our movement has made powerful strides in building the collective project of ecosocialism and climate action, with DSA chapters across the country organizing around transit, housing, and energy to put people and the planet over profit.

2025 began with strong momentum from Detroit DSA, where comrade Mel H led a successful Building for Power (B4P) power mapping training for their “Bring Back the Tracks” transit campaign. About 15 members—both new and experienced—came together with high energy and deep engagement. The chapter launched power mapping and research working groups in preparation for their next ecosocialist meeting, strengthening their capacity to fight for climate and economic justice locally. 

The campaign itself received positive local press coverage on Detroit Public Radio and Click On Detroit, highlighting the growing influence of our ecosocialist vision in the motor city. By the end of February, Detroit’s campaign was officially designated as a Building for Power campaign!

Metro DC’s We Power DC was reauthorized as a chapter priority campaign, and kicked off 2025 with a Public Power 101 to train organizers on the essentials. This spring, the campaign is hosting monthly wheatpasting around the city, with summer public power canvasses to launch soon! And for all public power policy nerds… stay tuned for We Power DC’s white paper on public power in the District — publishing later this month.

House the Future in NYC began canvassing efforts to advance social housing as a key site of climate resilience. They collected nearly 1000 signatures over a few weekends in support of a statewide social housing developer.

In February, ecosocialist work connecting climate, labor, and public power continued to gain traction. In Milwaukee, comrade Alex Brower won the primary for Common Council, running on a platform to replace local utility We Energies—a bold step toward public, democratically controlled utilities backed by DSA’s might!

Finally, Los Angeles shared a deep dive into their Mass Transit for All campaign in a feature Q&A, offering lessons on how to tie mass transit to a broader vision of ecosocialist transformation. Give it a read.

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These past three months reflect not only important local victories, but also the power of organizing at the intersection of climate, labor, and public goods. As more chapters take on strategic, place-based campaigns, we’re building toward a future where ecosocialism is not just a vision—but a material force in the everyday lives of working-class people.

The post 2025 January-April Recap appeared first on Building for Power.

We, the Greater Grand Rapids Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, are disappointed the jury failed to convict former police officer, Christopher Schurr, and the case was declared a mistrial. We demand that a new trial be held as soon as possible. We also demand that County Prosecutor, Chris Becker, recuse himself and let someone who hasn’t received political donations from Schurr’s Police Union try the case.

The Lyoya family has been waiting three years for this trial to take place and are now being forced to wait longer while Christopher Schurr is still walking free. While this case has been about Justice for Patrick, this mistrial means the Lyoya’s civil case against Schurr and the City of Grand Rapids must also wait.

Christopher Schurr clearly showed intent to kill. Once he drew his weapon, he offered no warning, never said, “stop or I’ll shoot,” and shot Patrick in the back of the head. Schurr testified on the stand that he didn’t know what he was shooting at, he just fired at Patrick Lyoya. But the physical evidence showed the gun was pressed against the back of Patrick’s head when he fired.

We are disappointed that the GRPD Captains testified in defense of Schurr. There are still people on the police force who believe murdering civilians out of frustration is “reasonable” behavior. The GRPD remains a threat to our community.

We are thankful to the many community members who stood up to participate in marches, rallies, and other outcries for justice for Patrick. We are disappointed in the outcome of this trial and acknowledge that our efforts for police accountability are not over.

The post Statement on the Mistrial of Former GRPD Officer, Christopher Schurr appeared first on Grand Rapids Democratic Socialists of America.

At the January 2025 general meeting, Cleveland DSA voted to begin a priority project in support of transgender liberation. 

In our chapter structure, the passage of a priority project indicates a commitment to putting the full weight of the chapter’s resources behind the initiative. Our bylaws impose a limit of 2 priority projects at any given time. As of this writing, the trans liberation project is Cleveland DSA’s only priority.

As socialists, we believe that every person should be able to express and develop themselves fully as human beings, including trans people. The struggle for trans liberation is connected to the broader struggle for the liberation of the working class. 

The mission of the Trans Liberation Project is to create an environment in Northeast Ohio where all transgender people feel supported and free to express themselves without fear of persecution or marginalization. The project aims to achieve this mission locally through a three-pronged approach:

1. Building Community 
2. Taking Local Legislative Action 
3. Providing Access to Affirming Services

Building Community: To provide a safe haven for trans people, we need to form a base in Northeast Ohio dedicated to fighting for trans liberation that can be mobilized for community defense and campaigns. DSA’s objective is to develop our capacity to turn out large numbers of people in a militant way. 

Taking Local Legislative Action: DSA aims to enact legislation that will make Cleveland a sanctuary city for trans people. Inspired by work of DSA chapters across the country, we will draft a trans sanctuary city policy and advocate for it to be passed by Lakewood city council.

Providing Access to Affirming Services: DSA will assist trans people in gaining access to gender-affirming services.

1. Name change clinic: DSA will host a name change clinic to make it easier for trans people to update their birth certificate with gender affirming details. 
2. Gender-affirming clothing: DSA will host clothing swap events to provide trans people free access to gender-affirming clothing.

This is not the first time our chapter has engaged in organizing around trans rights. In a 2024 non-priority activity, we organized a public pressure campaign against HB68 and Governor Mike DeWine’s administrative rules restricting gender-affirming care. We targeted state representatives and senators, the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, the Ohio Health Advisory Board, the Ohio Department of Health, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the Cuyahoga County Board of Health with public comment, phone banking, emails, and a demonstration outside the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. After receiving thousands of public comments and testimony, the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review blocked the implementation of the administrative rule Reporting Gender-Related Condition Diagnoses and Gender Transition Care which would have required medical professionals to report diagnoses and treatment related to gender-affirming care to the Ohio Department of Health but allowed several other rules restricting care for minors to move forward. Lower courts in Ohio blocked the implementation of HB68. Interest in mass action over the restrictions quickly diminished.

Since January, the Trump administration has issued a series of anti-trans executive orders, including a ban on gender-affirming care for minors and a policy barring trans people from obtaining federal identity documents aligning with their gender identity. These policies are an escalation of the attacks on trans people by the right-wing in the United States over the last decade and further encourage discrimination, harassment, and violence. As the right-wing has scapegoated and attacked the transgender community, the Democratic party has failed to take meaningful action to protect us when it has had the power to do so.

Transphobia, like other forms of oppression, divides the working class and prevents us from building collective power by targeting the human rights of those who are particularly vulnerable. We can’t rely on the two capitalist parties to save us. Winning reproductive rights and trans liberation will require an organized, independent, working class movement with the ability to fight back.

Our chapter has experienced considerable growth in recent months, and we are excited to organize our membership into this priority project. Join Cleveland DSA today to organize for a better world!

You can sign up for a one-on-one meeting with an organizer from our chapter here and join the chapter here. 

The post Announcing Trans Rights as DSA Cleveland’s Priority appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.

Statement Regarding the Abduction of Mahmoud Khalil North New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America (NNJ DSA) condemns in the strongest possible terms the flagrantly illegal abduction by ICE of recent […]

Statement Regarding the Opening of Delaney Hall May 6th 2025 Today, private prison profiteers, GEO Group, opened a new prison in Newark’s toxic chemical corridor in a major expansion of […]

For the last few months, Nature’s Treatment of Illinois (NTI) has been attempting to buy a plot of land owned by the city of Rock Island, IL to build a cannabis dispensary and truck stop on a 10-acre site located adjacent to the Milan Bottoms. The Milan Bottoms includes over 3,500 acres of wetlands that […]

The Nevada landscape is not the same as the federal landscape. In Congress, we know that power players like Big Pharma and AIPAC run the show. Here in Nevada, it’s the Chambers of Commerce, the Nevada Realtors, the Retail Association of Nevada, mining companies, and big casinos. Labor unions get a slice of the pie, like prevailing wages for new construction and raises for public workers, thanks to their generous donations, with most progressive bills existing due to union backing.

During this legislative session, these power players have run the show. In a published statement, Sandra Jarauigui stated that her bill was watered down by Nevada Realtors, who then decided not to back it anyways. This bill, AB280, would limit rent increases for senior citizens to 10% (now 5%) for one year before sunsetting in 2026. That’s right, a one year long rent stabilization bill, that would allow landlords to immediately raise it to any number they want again when it expires in December 2026. This would conveniently be months before the end of the next legislative session and leave them without protection for over six months, even in the event that a second bill is passed.

Retail Association of Nevada, or RAN, has been loudly opposed to Attorney General Aaron Ford’s anti-price gouging bill, even publishing a condemnation of the bill in their monthly newsletter. They lobbied against it, pushing legislators to vote down the bill. Unfortunately for RAN, if you want legislators to take a politically ugly position such as this one, you’re going to have to pay them the big bucks. Only 3 Democrats voted against the bill: Duy Nguyen, Venise Karris, and Joe Dalia. All 3 of them received the maximum donation of $10,000 from the Retail Association of Nevada. They were the only Democrats to do so.

The bills are then written, sponsored, and presented by corporate lobbyists. AB523 is a bill written and presented by Uber lobbyists. Several articles refer to this bill as a “settlement” or a “compromise”, we prefer the term “quid pro quo”. Uber launched a nationwide campaign to lower their insurance liability in 2023, as a response to a litany of lawsuits regarding sexual assault, injury, and wage theft. Uber decided to go to war with a key pillar of the Nevada political class: legal services professionals.  Uber presented this bill as a ceasefire. You allow us to carry lower insurance limits, shield us from all liability prosecution, and define drivers as “independent contractors” in law, and we will stop running ads against your friends in the law firms. Howard Watts allowed Uber lobbyists to fast track the bill through the Growth and Infrastructure Committee. It was introduced, heard, and passed in 24 hours. It then passed the floor unanimously. Not a single state lawmaker opposed the bill.

Next up is AJR8, what some are referring to as a desperate offering to Elon Musk. Sponsored by Assembly Democrat and Corporate Darling Joe Dalia, the bill is heavily supported by the Retail Association of Nevada. A reasonable person can assume that the world’s richest oligarch Elon Musk might have something to gain from the bill, due to his continued reliance on Nevada public dollars for his operations. Musk has also been railing against the existing business court in Delaware, because the court increasingly has ruled against corrupt CEOs and Trump-connected henchmen. Musk expressed his desire to establish a business court in Nevada on X.  AJR8 passed the house with 40 votes, with only Assembly Democrats Erica Roth and Selena La Rue Hatch in opposition.

Then there’s SB371, presented by Resorts Association lobbyists on behalf of strip casinos. This bill would increase the penalties for trespassers on the Las Vegas strip. While that might sound reasonable to some, these “trespassers” are mostly homeless people moving from their way down the strip to access the tunnels (a local residence for the unhoused). This bill seeks to “deter” people who have no other choice, by locking them away for three years. Most notably, the bill is sponsored by Nevada Senate Democrat Fabian Doñate and Senate Republican John Steinbeck. Doñate represents one of the poorest districts in Las Vegas, and has seemingly sold out his own constituents. Doñate received the maximum contribution from MGM Resorts in his last election, as well as more than $5,000 in donations from various casino properties. SB371 passed the senate with no opposition.

Lastly, the disappearance of BDR 10-513, rent stabilization. The bill was viciously opposed by the entire corporate coalition, most strongly by Nevada Realtors. The bill was one of only a few bills to not be introduced at all in the session.

In all, the legislative session has been dominated by corporate lobbyists. While their presence is overwhelming — there are 900+ lobbyists in a building with 60 legislators — Nevada state lawmakers have given up on the pretense that working Nevadans have the same influence as their corporate campaign donors. There are no backroom deals between legislators and corporate lobbyists in Nevada, the lobbyists are standing in the middle of the room and loudly declaring “I wrote this bill.”

Neither party stands up against corporate interests. Whether it’s giving away federal lands, lowering insurance rates for Uber, arresting the homeless, or pouring public money into state funded billionaire slush funds, the CEO always comes first in Nevada. Las Vegas DSA wants to see a legislature dominated by worker power, and we will keep fighting until we’ve defeated the corporate giants.

If you want to stay up to date on what bills are making their way through the legislative session and who is supporting them, check out our bill tracker:

…by a reading group member

From November 2024 to March 2025, Madison Area DSA embarked on an ambitious political education project. A reading group formed to tackle Paul Reitter’s 2024 translation of Capital. The challenges of this book were clear and immense from the beginning. Marx’s words measure to a total of 710 pages with over 100 more pages of introductions and endnotes. It tackles a vast array of topics starting with a theoretical analysis of value, a mathematical assessment of the working day, and a historic review of the working class’s conditions across Great Britain. To call this work a magnum opus feels like an understatement. 

How did MADSA respond to the challenge? There are different measures of success that should be considered. Over a dozen members signed up in December to attend the weekly meetings. Attendance dwindled rapidly to a core four members who finished the text earlier this year. We held a majority of meetings in-person at the Social Justice Center, though occasionally some were converted to Zoom due to scheduling conflicts. By the end, a transition from Thursday nights to Saturday mornings was made to facilitate reading group members taking on other active organizing projects on weekday nights. 

The drop in attendance was likely multifactorial. For some members, the scheduled in-person weeknight meetings were inaccessible. For others, missed meetings due to other end-of-year holiday obligations made it difficult to catch up. Because each chapter of Capital references previously introduced concepts, falling behind often meant being left behind. In response, reading group members employed a combination of audiobooks, physical books, and digital ebooks to read the material. This allowed time-strapped members to maximize opportunities to read between sessions. Basically, whenever I had free time this winter, I needed to crack open Capital to stay ahead. 

Sessions originally consisted of facilitated meetings with a self-nominated leader agreeing to summarize key concepts and key vocabulary each week. The decline in membership led to a decline in formal structure. At the conclusion, the four remaining members brought an equal share of questions and key passages to the table for others to review and discuss. This second model reduced scheduling anxiety and remained effective because as members grew to understand and build off of each other’s strengths. In general, a key source of success was having a member already familiar with the text, this member provided valuable context at the beginning of each session and prepared us with signposts to pay attention to when we read the into the next section.

In summary, I believe MADSA should form a Capital reading group every two years to maintain institutional knowledge of the key socialist theories among chapter members. Future reading groups will benefit most from regularly scheduled meetings that do not interfere with the end-of-year holidays. They should also seek to have members who are already familiar with the text to help draw attention to key ideas for new readers. It is worth considering the use of supplemental material, such as David Harvey’s chapter by chapter lecture series, which could reduce entry barriers or help members stay up to date despite occasionally missing a section. However, I believe there is significant benefit to engaging in the written metaphors and analogies Marx uses to explain his concepts. Members relying only on summarized material will miss the humor and jokes very much needed in the socialist vernacular to call out the contradictory monstrosity of capitalism. 

The question of in-person versus video meetings remains up in the air. I invite current MADSA attendees of Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism reading group to contribute a follow-up report to Red Madison to help direct the chapter’s burgeoning political education committee on the best practices for maximizing access to important member education. 

Finally, what other key theory should enter the MADSA reading group roster? In addition to reading European socialists like Marx and Lenin, MADSA should make dedicated space for non-European theory exploring the mechanisms of capitalist oppression. Given we organize within occupied Ho-Chunk land in the shadow of a massive land grant university, members would benefit from critical theories of settler colonialism. Reading groups for Fayez Sayegh’s 1965 thesis, Zionist Colonialism in Palestine and La Paperson’s A Third University is Possible represent exciting ways to build the membership’s capacity for material analysis and historical critique.

This May Day, we gather in a moment of rising pressure. The bosses exploit us, the politicians sell us out, and the system demands our silence. In a city and country where labor action is far too rare and organizing faces constant resistance, it can be easy to feel isolated. May Day reminds us that we are not alone. We stand in a global tradition of struggle and solidarity, one that has always grown strongest in the face of repression. Rooted in the demand for basic rights – from the eight-hour workday to healthcare and housing for all – May Day is our yearly call to keep fighting back.

This tradition belongs to us all – workers, tenants, students, and everyone struggling for a better future. Across the country, workers are reclaiming their power, forming unions, making their voices heard, and building something better. We can and must embody that spirit here in Madison. As capitalism decays our world around us and threats to our lives and livelihoods escalate, our task is clear: build working-class power and wrench back our wealth from the bosses and billionaires.

Let this May Day be a reminder: the future is not yet written. We create it. With courage, with care, and with each other, we organize – not just for survival, but for dignity, for justice, and for the world we know is possible. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but it starts when ordinary people come together. Whether it’s supporting the next generation as they walk out of school, preparing for a 2028 general strike, or spending a spring day talking socialism with comrades in the park, every step forward counts.

Below are a few ways to get involved this May Day and beyond to help build our power – no experience required. All you need is the belief in a better future and a willingness to stand in solidarity against the ruling class. Let us plant the seeds for a stronger movement, together.

• Thu. May 1, 9am – East + West High School Walkout
• Thu. May 1, 7-8:30pm – May Day Mass Meeting & Panel Discussion: The Road to a General Strike
• Fri. May 2, 3pm (or Thu. May 1, 9:30am in MKE) – A Day Without Immigrants & Workers Rally
• Sat. May 3, 10am-1pm – Family Friendly Spring Park Social
• Sat. May 3, 2-3:30pm – New Member Orientation
• Sat. May 10, 6pm – Hands Off Medicaid! Town Hall