“There was this desire to demand respect from our employers and see our work recognized as the labor that it is.”

The post Union Domino Effect Reaches New Jersey Bookstore appeared first on EWOC.

Interview with Portland City Councilor Kate Sykes

Kate Sykes was elected to the Portland City Council last November representing District 5. She is the former co-chair of the Maine Democratic Socialists of America and was a key organizer in the victorious People First Portland city-wide ballot initiatives in 2020 that raised the minimum wage, strengthened renters’ rights, and mandated green building codes. She sat down with Pine and Roses’ Todd Chretien to talk about where she came from and where she sees the city going. 

Chretien: You’re a Mainer, correct? Tell us a little about your roots. 

Sykes: I grew up in a small town in Maine named Harrison, about an hour west of here. Both of my parents were public school teachers so I grew up with a really strong sense of public service. My dad also served in the legislature for several terms and was a town councilor in Harrison until just last year. So it’s in my blood. My childhood was seeing all the mills close and good working-class jobs disappear. I went off to college and pretty quickly realized I wasn’t going to find the type of opportunities in my home town I could elsewhere so I went off to the west coast and lived in Seattle for about fifteen years. I worked in the medical education field where I saw first hand—in an underserved family medicine program I worked in—the disparities in health outcomes among different populations, indigenous populations, migrant populations, inner-city populations. That really opened my eyes to the problems and to the need for Medicare for All. 

Chretien: Let’s fast forward to 2015, 2016. There was a certain person running for president, there was a great awakening, everyone was looking at the election, and you came back to Maine…

Sykes: I was in Burlington, Vermont. 

Chretien: Burlington! So said person might have been there as well. So what happened at that time that transformed you from someone who was aware of the issues into somebody who got right into the middle of organizing? 

Sykes: It was Bernie. Absolutely. I actually saw him speak in a church in Burlington then. Didn’t know who he was at the time. I remember walking out of that church and turning to a woman who was about my age and saying, “Who is that guy? He’s amazing.” And she said, “Well, he’s Bernie and we love him.” [both laugh] That was the moment that I really understood that running for office, being in that legislative position could change the world. I moved back to Maine about a year later and got involved with DSA here. The chapter was just starting to grow rapidly, so that was a direct segue from Bernie’s campaign. 

Chretien: If I remember correctly, in 2015, DSA had a membership of something like 10,000 people and by the end of 2017 it had cracked 60,000. So you weren’t alone! Tell me a bit about the formation of the Maine chapter at that time. 

Sykes: The chapter at the time was a lot of labor organizers, older members in their sixties and seventies, including some members who were there at the organization’s foundation. It was great. I felt like I got a bunch of grandfathers all at once. Or uncles or something. 

Chretien: I think we’re old enough to call them fathers! [both laugh]

Sykes: That was really fun for me because it was a bunch of young people, older people, people from different walks of life, for instance, a lot of people in health care were interested in Medicare for All. Workers from everywhere. It was an eclectic bunch. A hopeful bunch. A lot of defectors from the Democratic Party who were disenchanted with the politics of that moment. We didn’t even have a meeting space for a while and then we were able to get a meeting space in City Hall. That was quite an experience to be able to meet in the State of Maine room on a monthly basis. You know, that old, regal looking place. It made you kind of feel like you were part of the government. That was really inspiring. I think it was a genius move, I think it was Barney McClelland’s idea to meet there. 

Chretien: At the same time as feeling like part of the government, we had a problem, Trump was running the country! And we definitely didn’t want to be a part of that government! It was a very defensive period, but it ended spectacularly with the pandemic. And with the upsurge against Trump, DSA locally decided to leverage that huge anger against Trump. What did DSA do? And how did those actions transition to a political strategy for the 2020 election? 

Sykes: In the very first weeks of the pandemic, DSA organized a mutual aid brigaid. We organized direct aid, on-the-street outreach to people. We were giving people gift cards to Hannaford, cash, anything they needed. I remember picking up a bunch of cleaning supplies, anything to help people survive because there wasn’t any aid, people just lost their jobs, they were terrified. 

Chretien: Just to say, it’s almost impossible to remember, even though it was only a few years ago, but unemployment went to 20 percent within six weeks. 

Sykes: Right. That was underscored for me because I was doing a lot of mutual aid work in Sagamore Village which was the same place I was canvassing for Bernie so I was talking with some of the same people. They recognized me too. That felt good to connect those two things so people would understand that this is what socialism means. This is how we operate. 

Chretien: The pandemic provoked a crisis in the Trump administration—and eventually cost him the election—but rather than just being spectators, what did DSA do locally? 

Sykes: It was terrible that Trump was in office, but everyone was up in arms. We knew we would have a massive turnout of progressive, anti-Trump voters here in Portland. So we thought about strategically running a slate of ballot initiatives. We had discussed one-off ballot initiatives before, but running a slate of them could produce exponential gains. At the Maine DSA convention that year, we got together and brainstormed a bunch of things and then took those to a committee session and whittled those down to five. We decided to call the whole campaign People First Portland. We then formed individual committees to deal with each of the ballot initiatives, including ordinance language, hiring a lawyer, talking to experts in the field. In particular, we had to talk to a lot of experts about solar power and fossil fuel bans, and developers, for the Green New Deal building code initiative. Former Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling was really helpful in the logistics of all this, he understood how to write legislation, he’d been in the legislature in Augusta. He knew everyone. 

Chretien: Probably the best known initiatives outside of Portland was raising the minimum wage and renter’s rights. Can you describe the wage increase and explain the renters’ protection measures? And, has there been any opposition to those reforms? [both laugh]

Sykes: It was the Fight for Fifteen at the time, which now sounds so silly because it really should be the Fight for Twenty-five. The idea was to raise the wage to $15 and to include an evergreen clause in it so that it would never fall behind again. The opposition was called…I don’t remember…. “We Can’t Drive Fifty-five,” or whatever it was.

Chretien: With the clause for time-and-a-half pay for essential workers during any state of emergency declaration, the wage could get as high as $22 per hour, so I think it was “We Can’t Do Twenty-Two!” [both laugh] 

Sykes: Yes, right. That was the Chamber’s work. We had a ton of opposition from them and, of course, the Southern Maine Landlord Association opposed rent control. We’ve had challenges at the ballot box a couple times over the years, but we’ve been able to fight them back. Those two ordinances are solid. I think Portland likes its rent control. 

Chretien: Absolutely. In the midst of all that, I had forgotten that you ran for District 5 in 2020 and narrowly lost. But, as I understand it, you didn’t have a concrete plan to run again in 2024. What led you to jump in? 

Sykes: I had done some work on the Portland Charter Commission in 2021-2022, including helping elect some of the commissioners and some policy work, so I followed it all really closely. I have so much admiration for Commission Chair Michael Kebede, and the way he was able to bring people together around those issues and shepard the Commission through a lot of really tough work. And I happened to see him out at an event and our talk turned to the upcoming election and he asked if I was going to run again. I honestly hadn’t given it much thought but in that moment, I realized I had it in me. I thought, “Gosh, Michael Kebede just asked me if I was going to run, and I think I’m going to run!”

Chretien: Your campaign was just one of the things happening in 2023. Unfortunately, we lost Maine Public Power because CMP outspent the campaign twenty to one. But your campaign succeeded. Can you explain the most important elements that went into your victory? 

Sykes: First was Clean Elections funding. That gave me the resources I needed to run. Second, I used those resources to hire an agency to help me run, Movement Building Maine. It’s patterned off the Rhode Island Political Coop. They only work with progressives, they have a platform you have to sign on to; you can be to the left of that platform but not to the right. They provided resources I didn’t have the first time and couldn’t have mustered the second time without them. Things like trying to calculate how many votes you’re going to need to win, calling volunteers to show up for events, how many doors do you need to knock to get to your win number. Just having someone to check in once a week to ask how doors went, or to point out that I didn’t do as many as I’d done the week before and tell me to step it up! 

Chretien: Speaking of doors. How many doors did you knock on? 

Sykes: A lot! I honestly can’t remember.

Chretien: It was more than twenty. [both laugh] More than a thousand? 

Sykes: I was out every day from 2 or 3 in the afternoon until after dark. Every day for four months.

Chretien: So a lot of elbow grease!

Sykes: Yes. I bought myself a new pair of sneakers afterwards. 

Chretien: Some people say that when you run for election, you have to run to the center. You have to run away from your background. You have to be moderate, cut out your leftwing allies because they will embarrass you. What was your experience running as a socialist? 

Sykes: There’s a lot of great tips on a website called LocalProgress.org about messaging. It talks about raising socialist issues but not using the word socialism. Being able to meet working class people where they’re at — like the cost of health care, the lack of childcare, the fact that wages haven’t kept up. Just being able to have economically informed conversations with people the way that Bernie did. It goes right back to that. To be able to talk to people about their economic woes as a family. A lot of people do want to talk about big national issues but there’s enough going on right here in Portland. You don’t have to start with Trump. You don’t have to start with the buzzwords that immediately make people slam the door in your face or want to hug you. 

Chretien: Now that you’re into your second month as a city councilor, can you give us something that you think Portland is doing well? 

Sykes: Well, even though I was one of its biggest critics, I think our Homeless Services Center is doing an incredible job. I was really against the sweeps that happened throughout the summer and into the fall and winter and I still think that’s a really violent way to go about convincing people that you have a great homeless shelter. But now that the services are starting to ramp up and the HSC is starting to improve, I think we’re knocking it out of the park. It’s in my district, and that makes me really happy. We have a great team of staff running the shelter and a lot of community partners who care. People in Portland really care about social issues. And it’s the government doing this, right? That’s as socialist as it gets. It’s us doing it. It’s not a non-profit. It’s the City. 

Chretien: At the same time, everyone admits that we’re facing a severe housing shortage, not just in Portland, but in all of Maine. I think Gov. Mills’ new report says that the state needs around 80,000 new housing units. If I remember, we built 400 last year. 

Sykes: Social Housing is the program I think we need to launch here. It’s a form of public housing that is mixed income, permanently affordable, developed and maintained by the public. True public housing is something we haven’t had in this country since Eisenhower. Many don’t understand what it is but it’s starting to enter the consciousness again and it’s starting to work in places that are adopting it. I think social housing is the missing leg of what should be a stable, three-legged stool. Right now we have market-built housing, we have the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program that’s usually built by non-profits, like Community Housing of Maine and AVESTA. The third thing we need is public housing. And if we have that, I believe we can meet the goal of 9,000 units in Portland, but without it, our housing stock will continue to age, and we’ll never catch up. I’m advocating for a municipal social housing developer to be stood up here in Portland. We have to do a lot of education because when people hear “public housing” they think of low-income, racially-segregated housing. They think of how public housing was a failure for so long. But if you look at social housing in other places, for instance in Vienna, it’s mixed income, it’s beautiful, people are proud to live there, and it’s working-class housing. We can do that here in Portland.

Chretien: Last question. How do you keep your eye on the ball of critical priorities like social housing while the world is burning down around us? You supported the city council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, for example. How do you understand your role as a local elected official? 

Sykes: As socialists, we understand that it’s all connected, right? National problems need to be addressed locally, and international problems are our problems, too. Cities have always been the crucible of Socialist reforms. The urban programs that socialists put forward in the 19th and 20th centuries for better working conditions, clean drinking water, better lives for working class people, they all look remarkably similar, from North America to Europe and around the globe. That’s not a coincidence. Ours is and always has been an international movement, and Socialists can walk and chew gum. 

The post Socialists can walk and chew gum. appeared first on Pine & Roses.

Enjoy your February 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, hear about our electoral wins, phonebank for Palestine, sign up for a Green New Deal call, 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 — Wins For All of Us
• Starting Tonight Thursday 2/22 — Phonebank for Listen to Michigan Campaign for Palestine
• RSVP for Wednesday 2/28 Green New Deal Building for Power February Campaign Huddle
• Support Young Socialists Today!
• Register for Palestine Strategy 101: BDS Training Saturday 2/25
• Socialism and Queer Liberation Panel Saturday 3/2
• Wednesday 3/6 — Join our Fireside Chat with National Political Committee Co-Chairs!
• Call for Submissions for Socialist Forum May Day Issue — Deadline Monday 3/11
• Switch to Democratic Left Digital!

From the National Political Committee — Wins For All of Us

One of the best things about being a socialist is that any win for the working class anywhere is a win for all of us, everywhere. We’re experiencing that joyful solidarity this month courtesy of Seattle DSA, who helped lead a coalition to raise the minimum wage in the city of Renton, WA via ballot measure. They won big. Starting in July, Renton, home to top military weapons contractor Boeing, will not only have the highest minimum wage in the country ($20.29/hour), but the minimum wage will be reassessed annually and tethered to the cost of living. It’s not just any old reform; it’s an explicitly socialist style of wealth transfer from the bosses to the workers, and we are so proud of our comrades for doing such hard work on this and bringing home such an incredible W.

The NPC was proud to approve two $5000 grants from our National Elections Commission to help fund the work that led to this win — which will now yield millions and millions of dollars for working class pockets. People power goes a long way with massive amounts of member and volunteer labor, but efforts like these can’t succeed without financial support. In order to keep our organization in a financial position to keep leveling up our member-led organizing with resources that go such a long way, we encourage you to become a solidarity dues payer — organized people and organized money get the goods! And join us for our ongoing Solidarity Dues Call-a-Thon on Tuesdays and Sundays, to keep encouraging fellow members to help keep our organization sustainable for the long haul! Callers on these phonebanks are having great conversations with fellow DSA members across the country about the collective, democratic power we are building. DSA’s power as an independent organization is especially important in a national election year, where we can show how we organize for the power we deserve against a political system stacked for the ruling class.

We’re following the lead of our DSA chapter comrades in Michigan, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and have joined a coalition to encourage Michigan residents who want to see Biden call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza to vote “uncommitted” in the upcoming Democratic primary. A number of states, including Michigan, allow Democratic presidential primary voters to vote to send delegates uncommitted to any candidate to the Democratic national convention — which lets voters demonstrate that they hold the power for President Biden’s margin of victory for re-election in November. The Listen to Michigan campaign is sending a message to Biden and the leadership of the Democratic Party that working people are fed up with their government’s support for  Israel’s ongoing genocidal assault of Gaza — these horrors need to stop if they want our votes. The election is on Tuesday, February 27th, so sign up for a phone or text bank today!

In the meantime, keep fighting for someone you don’t know!

Starting Tonight Thursday 2/22 — Phonebank for Listen to Michigan Campaign for Palestine

DSA endorsed Listen to Michigan’s “Vote Uncommitted” campaign last week, an effort to get the supermajority of Democratic voters who oppose Israel’s genocide to vote “uncommitted” in the Democratic presidential primary to send a message to Joe Biden: demand a ceasefire now. We’re running DSA phonebanks into the state, and you can sign up here no matter where you live. Shifts are available starting tonight Thursday 2/22 at 5:30pm ET/4:30pm CT/3:30pm MT/2:30pm PT.

Can’t make it to a DSA phonebank? You can sign up to phone or textbank directly with the campaign here.

RSVP for Wednesday 2/28 Green New Deal Building for Power February Campaign Huddle

Sign up to participate in our Green New Deal Building for Power February Huddle Wednesday 2/28 at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT! Comrades from Bozeman DSA will talk about last year’s Social Housing campaign. Participants can discuss and ask questions about what went well and what didn’t, and how to pivot campaign strategy or demands.

Support Young Socialists Today!

The Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) Conference brings young socialists from around the country together for political education, organizing training, keynote speeches, and panels that strengthen YDSA’s national organizing. And together, we can make sure cost is never a barrier to participation. Your contribution directly supports scholarships for Conference attendees and ongoing DSA and YDSA organizing to build working class power!

The 2024 YDSA Conference is just weeks away, and we’ve received over $30,000 in scholarship requests. $125 sponsors registration for one student organizer — will you pitch in today to bring young socialists together in Atlanta this March?

PS: You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the DSA Fund’s YDSA scholarship fund here!

Register for Palestine Strategy 101: BDS Training Saturday 2/25

The National Political Education Committee (NPEC) is excited to announce our first training on socialist strategy toward a free Palestine! On Sunday 2/25 at 4pm ET/3pm CT/2pm MT/1pm PT, join the National Political Education Committee and Olivia Katbi, North America BDS Policy Coordinator and co-chair of DSA’s International Committee, on Zoom for a training on strategy toward a free Palestine, with a focus on the BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions).

We will discuss both big-picture strategy issues (What strategies work well in which contexts? Where does BDS fit into the broader movement for Palestinian liberation? What should DSA members and chapters consider in determining their approaches?) and nitty-gritty best practices (How can DSA members most effectively work with other organizations? What should we keep in mind in terms of language, communications, and emphasis?). There will also be time for a Q&A with Olivia, so come with questions!

Socialism and Queer Liberation Panel Saturday 3/2

Join the National Political Education Committee Saturday 3/2 at 5pm ET/4pm CT/3pm MT/2pm PT for “Marxism and Queer Liberation: Why Socialism Needs Queer Liberation and Queer Liberation Needs Socialism.”

Achieving the liberation of the queer community requires realizing the intersecting nature of all U.S. cultural oppressions — including class oppression — ties the liberation of all to the end of capitalism. Today, queer oppression is being used both to sustain capitalism and to help grow fascism. When so many people must spend their limited resources struggling to survive existential attacks, how does a socialist movement grow and build class consciousness? How has capitalism infected liberal social analysis of so-called “identity politics” and activism in those realms? How can socialism provide a better analysis and reinvent activism in those realms? What can socialism, in general, learn from queer analysis and activism? Join members of the DSA Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy campaign Saturday 3/2 for these questions and more!

Wednesday 3/6 — Join our Fireside Chat with National Political Committee Co-Chairs!

Join the March Co-Chairs Fireside Chat with the 2023 – 2025 National Political Committee Co-chairs Ashik and Megan! The call will be held on Wednesday 3/6 at 9pm ET/8pm CT/7pm MT/6pm PT. This month, we’ll feature DSA electoral work, including Seattle DSA’s work to raise wages. Join us!

Call for Submissions for Socialist Forum May Day Issue — Deadline Monday 3/11

Socialist Forum, DSA’s quarterly publication featuring articles geared toward strategic and theoretical questions, is currently accepting pitch submissions for our upcoming Spring 2024 issue. We aim to release the issue on May 1st, International Workers’ Day, with a special section on labor and international solidarity. All DSA members are invited to submit a short pitch on these or any other topics of potential interest using this form.

Pitches must be submitted by 11:59pm Pacific time on Monday, March 11th in order to be considered. If your pitch is accepted, the full article should be roughly 2000-3000 words in length. Please note that submissions are not officially accepted until after editors review the first draft of a full article. If you have any questions, please contact us at socialistforum@dsausa.org.

Switch to Democratic Left Digital!

Our new Editorial Board is working on a Democratic Left relaunch! The next issue will go to press in late March.

Many members have asked how to get their Democratic Left digitally instead of in print. This saves paper and saves member dues! To get your digital Democratic Left, sign up today with your current DSA email address.

Paid for by Democratic Socialists of America (www.dsausa.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

The post Wins For All of Us — Your National Political Committee newsletter appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Growing DSA and building socialism will require our lifelong commitment to organizing. We must develop sustainable relationships to the movement that prevent burnout and increase member engagement. Growing DSA’s membership is very important to our organization’s success. We can organize more, pay for more, and accomplish more with more people. But often, not all members…

The post For Long-Term Growth, DSA Needs Sustainable Organizing appeared first on YDSA.

Tonight, we’re talking to Claire Valdez, a NYC-DSA endorsed candidate for Assembly District 37 in Queens about what being endorsed by NYC-DSA and UAW Region 9A means to her, how she plans to bring her union organizing experience of becoming ‘more powerful than the boss’ to the halls of power in Albany and much more. 

There are currently 8 socialists endorsed by NYC-DSA serving in Albany in the Senate and Assembly. If electoral organizers get their way- that number could be 11 next year - the largest socialist block ever elected in New York.

NYC-DSA has voted to endorse three new-insurgent candidates this year- Claire in Queens, Eon Huntley in Brooklyn and Jonathan Soto in the Bronx. 

As we do every year, we will talk to all of the new-dsa endorsed candidates here on Revolutions Per Minute and tonight is the first in that series of interviews with the NYC-DSA’s 2024 slate. So stick around to hear from Claire, a union organizer running for Assembly District 37 in Queens - stretching from Long Island City, Sunnyside and Maspeth to Ridgewood. 

To learn more visit  https://claireforqueens.com/ and to sign up for a canvassing shift https://claireforqueens.com/events/

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, 2/20 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.): What is DSA? (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Wednesday, 2/21 (6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): HWG Reading Group – Mean Streets (In person at 1916 McAllister; Zoom)

Thursday, 2/22 (6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.): DSA SF x League of Pissed Off Voters Pub Crawl on Divisadero

Thursday, 2/22 (6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.): February Tech Workers Meetup (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Friday, 2/23 (12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.): Special Edition Office Hours with DSA’s National Political Committee (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Friday, 2/23 (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.): Gumbo Dinner with the NPC and Dean Preston (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, 2/24 (11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.): February Office Cleaning/Organizing (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, 2/24 (11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.): Homelessness Working Group (HWG) Office Hours (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, 2/24 (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.): HWG Sock Distro (Meet in person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, 2/24 (7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.): [Hosted by East Bay DSA] Social: Meet Your National Political Committee! (In person at 2344 Webster Street, Oakland)

Wednesday, 2/28 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.): DSA SF Labor Night School: Why the Working Class? (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, 3/2 (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.): Tenant Organizing Movie Night – Redevelopment: A Marxist Analysis (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Wednesday, 3/6 (6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): HWG Reading Group – Mean Streets (In person at 1916 McAllister preferred; Zoom)

Thursday, 3/7 (6:00 p.m. – 7:40 p.m.): Ecosocialist Monthly Meeting (Zoom)

Saturday, 3/9 (11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.): HWG Office Hours (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, 3/9 (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.): HWG Sock Distro (Meet in person at 1916 McAllister)

Check out https://dsasf.org/events/ for more events.

Events & Actions

DSA SF and EBDSA Merch Design Competition!

DSA SF and EBDSA are hosting a design competition! Submit your design and it might get featured on our next DSA sweatshirt! The winner will get a free sweatshirt with their design along with a DSA SF enamel pin and an EBDSA poster!

Entries are due by February 28th. The full rules and submission form are available at ebdsa.us/merch-contest.

Apply to Join the 2024 Convention Planning Subcommittee!

The 2024 Convention Planning Subcommittee is tasked with setting the timeline, putting together the agenda, leading the coordination, and handling the logistics for the chapter’s 2024 Annual Convention in June. We are starting early because its a big operation! The cadence will be light at the beginning of the process and naturally pick up the pace as we get closer to the main event!

Comrades with event planning experience are especially encouraged to apply! This is also a great place for newer members who are interested in jumping into the chapter to get involved. You’ll have plenty of support and see how the sausage is made for one of the biggest productions and most important cornerstones of our chapter’s democratic practice.

Behind the Scenes

The Chapter Coordination Committee (CCC) regularly rotates duties among chapter members. This allows us to train new members in key duties that help keep the chapter running like organizing chapter meetings, keeping records updated, office cleanup, updating the DSA SF website and newsletter, etc. Members can view current CCC rotations.

To help with the day-to-day tasks that keep the chapter running, fill out the CCC help form.

Questions? Feedback? Something to add?

We welcome your feedback. If you have comments or suggestions, send a message to the #newsletter channel on Slack.

For information on how to add content, check out the Newsletter Q&A thread on the forum.

The following is a recording of a speech delivered by Lokotah Sanborn at the December rally for a ceasefire in Palestine outside of Bath Iron Works in Maine. For more coverage of the protests against the ongoing genocide in Palestine by the Pine & Roses Editorial Collective see:

1. Portland Rallies for Palestine After Rafah Bombed and Maine Coalition for Palestine Blocks Traffic, Protests Genocide in Gaza, By T. Sinclair 
2. Pro-Worker, Anti-War, by Isaak Spain.
3. Letter to the Editor: Portland’s Ceasefire Resolution is Good First Step, by Sam Spadafore.

The post Lokotah Sanborn Speaks at Bath Demonstration appeared first on Pine & Roses.

On Tuesday, February 13, Cuban ambassador to the United States, Lianys Torres Rivera, met with a room full of activists at the Teamsters Hall in South Portland. Delegations from Maine Democratic Socialists of America, the Communist Party of Maine, Veterans for Peace, and Let Cuba Live were all present as were unaffiliated friends and family. Ambassador Torres Rivera explained that Cuba was experiencing a second Special Period, the first having occurred after the loss of aid from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Isolation caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic–-especially the loss of tourist revenues–-and an economic embargo enforced by the United States devastated the Cuban economy. 

Torres Rivera explained that Trump tightened the sanctions back to a Cold War level in 2016. While President Biden could ease those sanctions significantly with a pen stroke, has chosen not to. Congress could act to eliminate sanctions whole-cloth but refuses to do so. However, dozens of cities and many trade unions have passed resolutions to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and to end the economic blockade.

Torres Rivera implored activists to continue this work, to make sure that your town, your union, your state, your representatives, and your senators adopt or support similar resolutions. The passage of these resolutions is big news in Cuba and people appreciate reading about solidarity with Cuba in the United States. However, the resolutions alone are not enough. The Cuban people need material support. This material support can come in the form of opening trade relations with Cuba, cultural programs, or academic programs. Portland could trade fish with Cuba, which is currently struggling to maintain certain fish populations due to climate change and overfishing. Brunswick could strengthen its sister city relationship with Trinidad, Cuba and invite the townspeople to learn about life in Trinidad. The University of Maine system and the private colleges could initiate academic relations with Cuban universities and biotech companies in Maine could partner with researchers in Cuba who are developing treatments for Early Onset and Mid Stage Alzheimer’s (NeuralCIM), Lung Cancer (CIMAvax), and other critical medical treatments (diabetic foot ulcers, vitiligo, psoriasis, etc). 

The Cuban people are going to make it through this new Special Period, regardless of its relationship with the United States. Torres Rivera recognized however that a good relationship with the United States will drastically reduce the time needed to recover from the current economic crisis. The ambassador emphasized that Cubans believe that Americans are a good people who want peace. She encouraged activists in attendance to begin the work of building solidarity in Maine in whatever form possible. 

As activists in Maine DSA, we must not allow for our comrades in Cuba to face this special period alone. We must show that we have them in our hearts. We must continue our international solidarity work, including our efforts to turn the tide on genocide in Palestine and supporting our comrades in Cuba by fostering economic, cultural, and social connections. If readers are interested in getting connected with Cuban Solidarity work please email steering@mainedsa.org, and we can connect you to these growing activist networks.

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On January 25, 2024 the Steering Committee of ROC DSA voted unanimously to withdraw as a member organization from the Police Accountability Board Alliance (PABA). The following statement was sent to the PABA to announce this decision, and is now published here to communicate our reasoning to membership and the community, and to encourage reflection and growth.

Rochester Democratic Socialists of America (ROC DSA) has stood in solidarity with the broader Rochester community in the fight for the Police Accountability Board (PAB) from the beginning. Our chapter campaigned, knocked doors, and spread the word when the creation of the PAB was on the ballot. We have been a member organization of the Police Accountability Board Alliance (PABA) from its creation. ROC DSA believes in the PAB and the importance of the work it strives to do in this city.

Despite the critical role of the PAB and the need for independent police oversight in Rochester, ROC DSA has made the decision to resign as a member agency of the PABA. This decision was not made lightly. Over the last several years, the PABA has become a challenging and, at times, deeply toxic environment. Our organization’s departure is far from the first and, unfortunately, it will almost certainly not be the last. We urge the leadership and remaining members of the PABA to take a critical look at the state of the alliance and find the lessons that must be learned. This city needs the PAB, and the PAB needs a functional PABA.

While we will no longer participate in the PABA, ROC DSA remains a staunch supporter and ally to both the PAB and the unionization efforts of the PAB staff. It is our hope that the PABA leadership can course correct and truly become the alliance that this community deserves.

Rochester Chapter
Democratic Socialists of America

The post Chapter Statement: Letter of Resignation from the Police Accountability Board Alliance first appeared on Rochester Red Star.