By Triangle DSA Socialist Feminist Working Group

The NC Triangle Democratic Socialists of America’s two-year-long effort to shut down anti-abortion center Gateway Women's Care on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh has ended in victory! Gateway's landlord is no longer leasing to this unlicensed, unregulated, and unethical “crisis pregnancy center.”

Local activists with Triangle DSA’s Socialist Feminist (“SocFem”) Working Group began picketing Gateway in the spring of 2023. We aimed to bring attention to the harm that anti-abortion or “crisis pregnancy centers” pose to working-class communities. These centers are known to target low-income folks and women of color, who experience disproportionate risk for poor maternal health outcomes. Like other “crisis pregnancy centers,” Gateway poses as a source of legitimate healthcare, even though it is not a licensed medical facility. Misinformation abounds on their website, from alleging abortion causes breast cancer and depression to offering dubious “abortion pill reversal” services. Crucially, anti-abortion centers like Gateway obstruct reproductive justice by endangering people regardless of whether or not they want to stay pregnant. Free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds peddled by centers may deceive clients into thinking that they are receiving quality prenatal care, a calculated diversion that can delay OBGYN visits. “Crisis pregnancy center” staff have also been known to fail to diagnose pregnancy complications that might require urgent medical attention or abortion care. 

Gateway opened with the stated intent of targeting college students seeking reproductive healthcare. Their location stood within two miles of seven local universities serving over 50,000 students. In the end, the very college students Gateway hoped to “slow down in the rush to the abortion clinic” were instrumental to the center’s demise. The NC State Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) turned out dozens of students for regular pickets on the sidewalk in front of Gateway. At our pickets, we warned community members about the presence of an anti-abortion center in their neighborhood and shared legitimate resources for reproductive healthcare. We also informed passersby that Gateway’s landlord was a registered Democrat who worked in the building just next door and seemed all too comfortable profiting from his lease with the anti-abortion operation.

Ultimately, our campaign was successful because we threatened the reputation of Gateway’s landlord. In May 2024, we received no response when we contacted the landlord to inform him of Gateway's harm to the community. In August of 2024, we contacted him again to no avail to share that over 200 petition signers shared our vision of a Hillsborough St without Gateway. Later that month, we had the first opportunity to speak to him when he arrived at his workplace next to Gateway during a picket. He memorably suggested that we should hold Kamala Harris signs since she could “take care” of anti-abortion centers. Inspired by his comment, at our next picket in November 2024, we decided to hold a sign bearing the name of the only person who could fix the situation. Within an hour of hearing that picketers were outside holding signs demanding he stop leasing to Gateway, the landlord emailed us claiming our tactics would not work. But on March 27th, 2025, we learned through public records that Gateway would no longer be a tenant at 1306 Hillsborough St. 

We want to credit the borrowed and learned techniques that helped shape our successful campaign. We learned how to de-escalate anti-abortion agitators from clinic defenders in our community. Triangle DSA’s No Appetite for Apartheid campaign shared tips for canvassing local businesses. Siembra and Triangle Tenant Union encouraged us to identify Gateway’s points of vulnerability, helping shape our unique strategy of escalating pressure on their landlord. We are also deeply appreciative of chapter partner and member of the Raleigh Planning Commission, Reeves Peeler. His guidance supported us in confirming the lease's termination and identifying areas where Gateway may have failed to comply with municipal building code. 

Most importantly, we want to thank the more than 100 community members who showed up to picket Gateway. The “sexually broken and abortion minded” community that Gateway sought to deceive and control came together to fight back, and we won. In the continued pursuit of bodily autonomy, Triangle DSA SocFem plans to activate other DSA chapters and politically aligned organizations across the nation to take action against anti-abortion centers. There are six remaining “crisis pregnancy centers” in the tri-city area of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill– and we are prepared to dismantle the thinly veiled propaganda operation that they are, one by one. 

DSA San Diego, as part of TRUST Coalition, is demanding the end of Automatic License Plate Readers used by the San Diego Police Department. Read statement. [...]

Read More... from DSA San Diego Calls on the San Diego City Council to End the use of Automatic License Plate Readers

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Enjoy your May 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 Palestinian solidarity actions, sign up for tenant organizing trainings, get in the Convention spirit, 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 — Growing Our Movement
• Palestine Will Live Forever — Nakba Week of Action Through Wednesday 5/21
• May and June Afrosocialists & Socialists of Color Caucus Committee Meetings
• Document Our Socialist History! Join Our DSA Archives Workshop Thursday 5/29
• Summer Tenant Organizing Training Series Starts Saturday 6/7!
• Monthly Convention Update: Programming Proposals, Running for National Political Committee, and More!
• DSA Graphic Novel — Help New Members Learn Our History!
• Apply for DSA’s National Communications Committee

From the National Political Committee — Growing Our Movement

Two weeks ago on May Day, chapters across the country poured into the street to protest the oligarchy and celebrate our power, bringing the spirit of International Workers’ Day to over 800 cities and towns all over the United States — the most simultaneous May Day events in US history. Standing shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with each other and with workers everywhere is a powerful reminder of the world we’re building toward — a better world where the working class has democratic control of every aspect of our lives, instead of the war-hungry earth-killing capitalist class currently running it all like some kind of demented planetary chessboard. 

As we organize and show up at mass events to keep demonstrating and growing our power, we know we are up against the rise of fascism everywhere as capitalism buckles under its own need for endless, mindless growth of profits for the very few at the top. The death drive of these war profiteers is especially clear today, the 77th anniversary of the Nakba of Palestine, as corporations and governments complicit in genocide and apartheid feel the heat from the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. Our international solidarity is the force that will not only push back against this tide, but turn it altogether — but only if we organize ourselves into something stronger than the billionaires’ bottomless bank accounts. 

We know that this means growing our numbers and carefully organizing the resources we have, to deepen our power in ways that disrupt the ability of the capitalist class to control us. We need powerful labor unions in our workplaces to take on the bosses, organized tenants to take on the landlords, socialists in office to use state power and the bully pulpit to curb capitalist control of the economy, and a mass movement that’s ready to hit the ground in defense of immigrants, trans folks, reproductive rights, and against ecological devastation for a planet where all can survive and thrive together. 

And that’s exactly what we’re doing. DSA has seen more than 10% growth in membership since Election Day, plus a rapid increase in new organizing committees in cities and regions where we didn’t have a chapter. Capitalists organize everywhere, so we must do the same — and we are!

We want to give a special welcome to the members of these new Organizing Committees (pre-chapter formations) that have formed so far in 2025:

• Bluegrass (KY)
• Brazos (TX)
• Central Mississippi
• Chippewa Valley (WI)
• Flagstaff, AZ
• Land of Lincoln (IL)
• Med City (Rochester, MN)
• Middle Georgia
• Northwest Michigan
• Paso Del Norte (TX, NM)
• River Region (AL)
• Southeast Kansas
• St. Cloud (MN)
• Walla Walla (WA)

And we want to welcome our newest chapters, who have all already passed a set of bylaws, elected officers, and gotten down to the nitty-gritty of organizing in their areas!

• Mesa County DSA (CO)
• Mobile Bay DSA (AL)
• Omaha DSA (NE, IA)
• Saginaw Bay DSA (MI)
• Sonoma County DSA (CA)
• Southern Idaho DSA
• Southern Maryland DSA

This is incredible growth and we’re so excited to see organizing happening in these areas. Workers are taking on mega-corporations Amazon and Starbucks, organizing brand new tenants unions, running people for municipal office, fighting back against hospital systems that are complying in advance with Trump’s anti-trans directives, and so much more. If you are an at-large member interested in organizing a new formation in your city or region, you can learn more about that process here. There’s no time like the present to get that work off the ground. Folks are ready to get mobilizing and organizing!

If you’re interested in connecting with DSA members across the country to talk about your organizing work, learn from each other’s successes and challenges, and find the collective motivation and courage to take on these big fights, there are two big opportunities this summer to do exactly that.

Socialism Conference will be held over 4th of July weekend in Chicago and will feature programming from organizers, activists, and thinkers across the country and around the world, with folks addressing everything from the nuts and bolts of organizing tasks to the huge political questions in front of us about how we build left power, against the far right ascending around the globe amid war and wildfires. DSA will be hosting several panels and DSA members will be present on many more, plus there will be DSA meet-and-greets and lots of chances to connect with other members. Watch this space for more information, and register now!

The 2025 DSA National Convention will be taking place in Chicago on August 8-10. It will be an incredible opportunity for us to network with each other, debate our strategy and political orientation for the next two years, and continue building ourselves into the mass party we need to be in order to fight capitalism. If your chapter hasn’t already started the process of choosing delegates, thinking about resolutions, or making a fundraising plan to help get delegates to the convention, what are you waiting for? Reach out to your chapter for more information!

We look forward to seeing you at either or both of these events, or maybe at a march or rally or canvass, very soon!

Solidarity forever!

Megan Romer and Ashik Siddique
DSA National Co-Chairs

P.S. Join us to make some phone calls to raise socialist cash to take out capitalist trash and support our current nationally-endorsed slate of socialist candidates for office. We’ll be hitting the phones on Sunday, 5/18 at 3pm ET/2pm CT/1pm MT/12pm PT, and we hope to see you there!

Palestine Will Live Forever — Nakba Week of Action Through Wednesday 5/21

Now until Wednesday 5/21, DSA is holding a nationwide week of action for Nakba Week. As Israel and the U.S. continue to ethnically cleanse Gaza and provoke an entire regional war and Trump’s administration escalates repression against solidarity work at home, it is more important than ever that we build sustainable, mass campaigns against strategic targets. This is the most effective form of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Chapters across the county are organizing long term BDS Campaigns targeting municipalities, Chevron, and Maersk. Find an event near you here.

May and June Afrosocialists & Socialists of Color Caucus Committee Meetings

National AFROSOC Committees are LIVE. Check it out!

• Communications Committee Biweekly Meeting Sunday 5/18 at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT
• Organizing and Mutual Aid Committee Monthly Meeting Tuesday 5/20 at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT
• Growth and Development Committee Monthly Meeting Thursday 6/5 at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT
• Political Education Committee Monthly Meeting Friday 6/6 at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT

And we’ve added May Local AFROSOC Events! Wanna plug into your local chapters actions? Download our AFROSOC Events Calendar here.

Lastly! For those who may not vibe with Discord or Slack, we have access to an AFROSOC Discussion Group on the members-only DSA Discussion Forum. If you haven’t signed up for the Discussion Forum already, use the email you use for your membership to get in!

Document Our Socialist History! Join Our DSA Archives Workshop Thursday 5/29

Join the DSA National Political Education Committee and the DSA Fund for our DSA Archives Workshop Thursday 5/29 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT! We invite all DSA comrades who are…

• chapter secretaries
• interested in starting a local archive of DSA and/or associated histories in their chapters
• political educators who want to bring archival knowledge back to their chapters
• socialists with cool stuff who want to know what they could do with it
• interested in exploring the purpose and meaning of archives for the left

This is a 90-minute instructional workshop with interspersed, interactive discussion of theory and practice, led by Michaela B. (DSA National Political Education Committee, North New Jersey DSA), Anna F (Chicago DSA), Colin M (National Tech Committee, North New Jersey DSA), and Shannon O (NYU Tamiment Archive).

Summer Tenant Organizing Training Series Starts Saturday 6/7!

Learn how to start a tenant union! Are you or people you know having trouble with landlords? Take initiative into your hands and start a tenant union! In this weekly training series, you’ll learn how to set up an organizing committee, investigate your local conditions, and run campaigns. RSVP today! Sessions are Saturdays at 2pm ET/1pm CT/12pm MT/11am PT throughout June. If you’re already in a tenant union, this is a great opportunity to share your expertise with other members!

Monthly Convention Update: Programming Proposals, Running for National Political Committee, and More!

Convention season is in full swing. Submit your ideas for Convention programming sessions today! Proposal submissions are open until Saturday 5/31. The Convention team is looking for diverse, engaged, and energetic programming that connects to our theme, “Rebirth and Beyond: Reflecting on a Decade of DSA’s Growth and Preparing for a Decade of Party-Building.” Sessions can include workshops, panel discussions, seminars, and creative displays or performances.

As part of our 2025 Convention Fundraiser, DSA will be hosting an auction — and we need auction items! The deadline for submissions is Sunday 6/15. Are you an artist with a piece you’d be willing to donate, an author who could donate some signed books, or a collector who’s hanging on to a cool item that a comrade might be willing to bid on? Previous years’ auction items have included all sorts of physical goods, gift cards, and even experiences, like museum or concert tickets or a stay at a vacation property. If you are interested in sharing something or talking more to someone about it, please fill out this form. Everyone else, get ready to raise those paddles!

And it’s last call for chapter fundraising seed grants! The deadline is Saturday 5/17. 

Convention is coming, and we hope your chapter has started thinking about how you’ll help fundraise for your delegation to attend! The DSA National Political Committee, 2025 Convention Planning Committee, and Fundraising Committee have worked together to create and approve a $5000 grant pool for chapters to help finance fundraising activities for Convention. 

For example, maybe you’re throwing a punk show, or a “prommunism” fundraising dance, and need to put a deposit on a rental space. Or you’d like to print and sell limited-edition calendars or t-shirts and need to pay for supplies up front. Whatever creative fundraising idea you’ve got, if you need a bit of seed money to make it happen, please reach out to your chapter leader about applying for this grant.

And National Political Committee (NPC) nominations are open until Sunday 6/15! NPC candidates must have a nominating resolution passed by either the chapter or Organizing Committee of which they are a member, any recognized National Working Group or Committee, or a majority vote by the current NPC.

Please note that NPC elections will be more complex than in past years due to rules changes that will be voted on at Convention. You can find information on these, the election rules, roles and duties of NPC members, the candidate questionnaire, and more on the National Political Committee Elections page here.

DSA Graphic Novel — Help New Members Learn Our History!

Democratic Socialists of America: A Graphic History (narrated by the spirit of Eugene V. Debs, seen here) is ready for chapters to use with new and newish members as well as those interested in DSA. Right now, it exists online. You can help us print it for use at in-person events! This comic, based on research and input from several generations of DSA members, was written by Paul Buhle and Raymond Tyler with illustrations by Noah Van Sciver. In 24 colorful pages, it  gives a quick overview of our origins and campaigns. Your support can bring this fantastic and fun tool to both new and experienced comrades.

Apply for DSA’s National Communications Committee

The National Communications Committee is expanding! We are looking for DSA members with experience in video editing, livestream production, social media strategy, graphic design, media relations, and more to expand our national communications work. The National Communications Committee’s NPC members and at-large co-chair will appoint the new members. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Apply here today!

The post May National Political Committee newsletter — Growing Our Movement appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

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!

Meanwhile, in Louisville, the Get on the Bus campaign—fighting for expanded bus funding alongside the ATU—hit a major milestone, landing on the front page of the Courier Journal in January! 

Then in February, the campaign secured key union endorsements, including the Jefferson County Teachers Association. The campaign also presented to the Louisville Central Labor Council, which voted unanimously to join the coalition and sign the demand letter! In a major show of support, the Kentucky State AFL-CIO also signed on, with its director publicly recognizing DSA as “the real deal” in building working-class power

Those nearby can join their next campaign meeting May 13.

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.

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.