Monthly Newsletter of the Rochester Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America

Welcome to the March issue of Rochester Red Star. In this issue, read remarks on the 10 year anniversary of ROC DSA, statements on Trump’s war on Iran, and essays on police overtime, agrarian justice, and fascist ideology. You’ll also find details on upcoming events, and coverage of chapter activities over the past month.

Interested in contributing? Send submissions to bit.ly/SubmitRedStar, or get involved with our Communications Committee. Reach out to steering@rocdsa.org and join DSA today!

The post Rochester Red Star | March 2026 | (Issue 23) first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

The Denver Democratic Socialists of America (DDSA) echoes national DSA’s condemnation of the American-Israeli aggression against Iran. These unprovoked strikes have already killed at least 85 people at an elementary school for girls, the images of blood-stained backpacks mirroring the carnage and unrestrained slaughter of Gazan children we have all witnessed for the last two years. This is not coincidental – the brutality inflicted on Palestinians was never going to be limited to the land between the river and the sea, but was a step towards normalizing a more unmasked version of American imperialism around the world. From the unlawful abduction of Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela to the brutal blockade against the Cuban people, from Palestine to Iran, we are witnessing a dying empire lashing out in desperate attempts to reinforce its might around the world, for the benefit of a ruling class and no one else.  

This is a time for radicalization, organizing and action. While our unhoused neighbors suffer on Denver’s streets, our immigrant neighbors fear ICE raids and the working class struggles more than ever, there is always money for another imperial war. The insatiable hunger of the military industrial complex means that our ruling class will never address the needs of the people for health care, housing and child care. The oppression and carnage waged abroad in our names will turn into increased surveillance, incarceration and political targeting at home. We condemn the Trump administration for their arrogant, reckless aggression and also condemn the cowardice and tacit support for war against Iran from Democratic Party leadership, who have demonstrated that they are beholden to the interest of their donor class over the needs of working people.

DDSA mourns the lives lost in the American-Israeli attacks and demands a cessation of hostilities against Iran, a withdrawal of military assets from the Persian Gulf and the region, an end to unilateral coercive measures against Iran, and a return to diplomacy on the part of the United States. We call on the people of Denver to organize and participate in mass mobilizations against the attacks on Iran, contact their representatives in Congress and demand that they vote for the Iran War Powers Resolution, and join Denver DSA and its Internationalism Committee as we continue to struggle against American imperialism in West Asia and beyond.

No to imperialist war, yes to the sovereignty of the Iranian people! No war but class war!

Click here to contact your representative: NO WAR WITH IRAN! Support the War Powers Resolution!

Early this morning, the US and Israel struck Iran as people in the region woke up to siren calls and explosions. One of their targets was an all-girls elementary school […]

By a Comrade

This article is written by a DSA member and does not formally represent the views of MADSA as a whole or its subgroups. 

Welcome to Vol. 7 of the monthly round-up! The content in this publication overlaps significantly with our DSA newsletter and monthly General Membership Meetings. To sign up for the newsletter or check out an upcoming General Membership Meeting, visit: https://madison-dsa.org/events/

ICE Out Hub / Strike Out ICE!

MADSA has launched a centralized resource for community defense and related organizing in Madison. Members in the February GMM debriefed about MADSA’s ICE-related efforts so far, and approved a proposal for Strike Out ICE!

MADSA’s goals are to support other groups already doing this work – especially Voces de la Frontera – while also developing networks of mutual aid, supporting MADSA members in becoming active organizers, and building towards a national general strike on May 1st. What is most exciting to this author is that the strike plan is a movement backed by real strategy and community ties, not just a random internet call to action. The chapter is working on political education, building community bonds, spreading the word among coworkers and friends, and coordinating with other organizations, including unions. The strike could be a historic step in taking back the people’s power across the nation and in turning the tides of politics in the United States, if people embrace the spirit of making real, concrete demands, and shutting down the economy to ensure they are met.

You can check out the hub here: https://madison-dsa.org/ice-out-hub/ The hub also contains weekly strike reports, and members will receive these reports in their email inboxes as a newsletter.

I encourage all members to take action today, whether that’s joining a neighborhood group chat, attending an educational meeting about strike history or organizing skills, being trained as a legal observer, or talking to people in your life about the strike. And remember – millions of people participating imperfectly will always outweigh a few dozen participating perfectly. Embrace uncertainty and imperfection as a normal part of your political process! 

MADSA Endorses Heidi Wegleitner for Re-Election

Members voted in the February meeting to endorse Heidi’s re-election campaign for Dane County Board. Heidi has served as a delegate to the South Central Federation of Labor, is in a leadership role with the United Legal Workers union in Madison, and has a long history of fighting for housing rights. She will be running in District 2, which includes most of the Isthmus north of E. Washington Avenue, including neighborhoods around James Madison Park, Tenney Park, and Demetral Park. Elections will take place on April 7th, 2026.

Additional Organizing

Other important efforts this month included the following:

• No Appetite for Apartheid held a launch party, and is now regularly hosting Grocery Scouting with DSA. At these 1 hour events, you can meet a MADSA member at a specific grocery store and learn how to spot products for boycotting, and how to build your voice for pressuring stores to stop carrying companies that are complicit in the subjugation of Palestinian people.

• Phil Gasper held a talk on Trotsky’s Marxism at the Madison Public Library.

• Southern Dane County Branch successfully had its own membership meeting.

• There is now a working group meeting regularly about Fran Hong’s campaign.

• A temporary working group is aiming to establish a physical office for MADSA to help with our growing size and work load.

• Some chapter members have been seeking to grow community ties through art and music, and are building towards a community art build in March, as well as fostering a stronger chanting and music presence at protests.

Social Events

We continue hosting recurring social events – New Member Orientations, DSA 101, Coffee with Comrades, and the Rosebuddies program. A highlight from February was a special Galentine’s day event on February 13th! 

The chapter also has a newly-started reading group for The Communist Manifesto, meeting on Saturdays at 10am.

Protest Song of the Month

MADSA members highlighted a few songs this month as part of the budding art and music efforts in the chapter. A recent feature was a modernized version of The Internationale, with lyrics updated in 2020 by Billy Bragg. Check it out here – song starts at 3 minutes in!

And that concludes our monthly round-up!

The hammer of U.S. imperialism falls again, causing death and destruction across the Middle East. In partnership with the genocidal Israeli regime, the Trump Administration is engaging in gunboat diplomacy to enforce its terms on Iran. But following America’s unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and re-imposition of deadly sanctions, Iran expresses a rational hesitancy to disarm. 

This time, we’ve heard little about “weapons of mass destruction” or “defending democracy.” The ruling class is not even bothering to manufacture consent for its crimes. The lesson of Vietnam and Iraq has only been increased recklessness. These actions will continue to isolate and overextend the grasp of the U.S. empire.

The working class has no desire for this conflict. ROC DSA is organizing opposition into a force capable of seizing the gears of war. Capitalists rely on our labor to manufacture their bombs and to fight their wars. We refuse to be complicit in their violence. 

The post Chapter Statement – Stop the Bombs: End War With Iran first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

By Andrew D. & CB C. We’re launching a campaign called Trans Sanctuary Davenport: we want Davenport City Council to pass an ordinance that protects people who are receiving or providing gender-affirming or reproductive healthcare. At a time when the State of Iowa and the Federal Government are restricting the rights of trans people and […]

By AJ M I stay around for too long again I listen to the same song I think the same scene ripe and real for adaptation till it gets too old and rotten. Floating eyes encircle the cerebral barge like pigeons. I’m a performer spinning plates, or handling rings from limb to limb. I disappear […]

By AJ M The band sings in an uplifting tone about things that bore down on them till nothing was left of the city but bones, till skin shrieked in the wind, tattered flags menacing the visitors who could afford a way out. We were there, we saw it all, it didn’t surprise any except […]

By AJ M The man claimed to be my friend, he who had met me at that instant. He crept alongside me, and behind, sometimes even in the front of me, I was reminded of Poe’s story of the doppelganger I started to believe in him He managed my social engagements, work life, home life, […]

Quad Cities DSA Communications and Political Education Committee The Quad-City Worker is launching a brand new video platform, starting with a YouTube channel you can find at youtube.com/@qcworker. This platform will be a new place for members to share a socialist perspective on the problems and opportunities that face the working class in our community. […]