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For decades, America’s water infrastructure has rusted under the negligent eye of politicians who have put politics and dollar signs above their constituents. The water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi reminds us of how racism and capitalist greed can threaten the supply of even the most basic human necessity.

Central New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America calls upon the Biden administration, the state of Mississippi, and state and local governments both in NJ and nationwide to put their money where their mouth is by funding safe and robust water infrastructure as a public utility. Access to water, necessary to sustain human life, should not depend on the profit margins available to private companies for delivering it, nor on emergency funding that is only available once a crisis point is reached. Given the vast wealth of our nation we can easily provide safe and reliable water to everyone as a public utility. This should not be in question, either in Mississippi nor in New Jersey.

The crisis of Jackson Mississippi’s water system is not merely a crisis of underfunding but is also a direct result of the profound ecological crisis wrought on humanity by climate change. Although decades of underfunding from both the federal government and the state government of Mississippi precipitated the failure of the Jackson Water System, notably the need for an additional $4.8 billion to maintain safe drinking water, two events in particular caused the system to fail as catastrophically as it did this september. While the media was largely focused on the failure of the Texas power grid that resulted from the February 2021 cold snap, the lower than usual temperatures also froze the pipes that supplied the water to Jackson Mississippi and damaged them irreparably. The situation was made worse this summer as the system endured damage from the massive floods that swept through Mississippi this summer.

At this point in the climate crisis there can be no debate between adapting to climate change or preventing it; we need to do both. An eco-socialist transition away from carbon intensive production and extraction needs to occur simultaneously with a reworking of our infrastructure to withstand the stress that will be put on it as a result of climate catastrophe or else we will see more cities struggle with the issues that Jackson Mississippi is currently facing.

In addition, the recent water main break in the Belleville area shows alarming parallels to what has happened in Jackson. In August of 2022, more than 100,000 households were affected with reduced water access after a 142-year-old water main ruptured. Like in Jackson, neglected infrastructure was the immediate cause. Contrary to what many would like to believe, New Jersey isn’t immune to images of bottled water packages and closed schools. New Jersey as of this year still has 186,830 discovered lead lines, and potentially up to 350000 from some estimates. Even outside of more momentous events like ruptures, many are forced to choose between risking unsafe water or paying for bottled water. Organizations like Newark Water Coalition still organize to bring to light continued concerns of poor infrastructure and insufficient fixes, especially in Newark where two years ago there was still estimated 24% lead piping.

Further, water privatization is rampant in New Jersey, increasing the cost of water as well as the risk of disasters like what happened in Jackson. For-profit water companies make no sense in a rational world- When a water system is given over to a for-profit company, as is currently planned to happen next year in Somerville here in Central Jersey, that company can make money (its sole objective) from that water system compared to a cost-neutral government-run system in one of two ways: Increasing the price of water for residents, or decreasing the amount spent maintaining the system (risking a Jackson-like disaster). Yet sadly some see it as the only way to fund necessary expansions to supply new houses and rising populations due to the lack of funding available to local governments for water projects.

The defunding of municipal water projects has not only occurred on the state level but was precipitated by cuts in funding on the federal level that occurred during the Reagan Administration as a result of the 1987 Water Quality Act. Republican lead efforts to “shrink government” and “lower the deficit” are not merely philosophical statements on the role of the state in private life or simple adjustments to the accounting on the federal ledger. The “Reagan Revolution” and the ideological justifications for austerity that came with it have had an immensely negative impact on the lives of the most vulnerable members of the working class who often have to shoulder the cost of republican tax cuts for the rich and the decimation of public services that result from them.

We must work within our communities and then expand outwards to recognize how much more needs to be done to repair the situation we are dealing with. Addressing poor piping in general, lead piping especially, fighting back against privatization and the usage of these crises to further increase exploitation are all incredibly necessary. As with many concerns, the solution is to build the power and organization of the working class, so we can address our social interests and concerns in ways capitalists will not. Groups like Newark Water Coalition, Food and Water Watch, and ecosocialist caucuses within DSA are working to build a movement for a more sustainable and environmentally sound world and organizing for water justice is an essential part of making the urban areas where most working class people live safer and healthier.

The post Jackson Water Statement appeared first on Central NJ DSA.

In the last decade, Somerville, NJ has experienced significant growth and economic revitalization. Somerville spent the 90’s and the early 2000’s under the shadow of the Bridgewater Mall; yet another town littered with shuttered storefronts and young people eager to leave. Today’s Somerville is almost unrecognizable with its new abundant apartment towers and downtown shops. Even the New York Times called Somerville a “Walkable Suburban Alternative” so even the most obnoxious New York expats have taken note of this small New Jersey town.

Despite Somerville’s success story, the city government proposed selling Somerville’s sewage system to American Water for $8 million. The town warns of an inability to pay for upcoming maintenance costs and has sold the decision as inevitable due to town finances. This sale of water utility systems will lead to higher utility costs for Somerville residents in the long term. Far from being inevitable, the combination of generous tax giveaways to developers and financially irresponsible bond offerings by the government of Somerville have put the town in a situation that was entirely avoidable and still could be avoided if residents vote “No” this November 8th on the proposed sale of the wastewater system.

The current push to privatize the sewer system in Somerville is emblematic of the structural issues with Somerville’s urban renewal. From financing luxury apartment developments with PILOT schemes that required a $5.2 million bond sale to financing a massive parking deck to the tune of a $7.2 million bond sale; it’s clear that there is a capacity to finance the $9 million dollars needed for long-term maintenance on the sewer system, and that the issue is a lack of political will.

Somerville already spends about $3 million operating and maintaining their sewer system annually, and runs a surplus of about $150,000 on their sewer budget annually, per the town’s 2022 budget. An extra $1 million annually for 9 years (as the for-profit company New Jersey American Water proposes to spend) is reasonably in budget for the township without blowing out the deficit, and can easily be paid off with long-term revenue from the sewer system and by tapping into budget surpluses elsewhere. NJAW’s fearmongering proposal claims that household sewer bills will have to rise dramatically to pay for maintenance, but this ignores the ability of the town to use general funds and issue bonds to amortize the cost over time. Even a direct tax increase to pay for the project without debt (an unnecessary worst-case) would only require total municipal tax revenue (from all sources) to go up about 4%, a light burden for Somerville taxpayers. In comparison, NJAW plans to raise sewer rates permanently (on an operation that already runs a positive balance) in order to extract more profit from Somerville’s population.

Fortunately, there is still time to stop this unnecessary and misguided sale, which will only serve to increase the cost of sewer service for residents of Somerville. Vote NO on November 8th and stop this greedy company from getting its hooks into the wallets of Somerville’s people!

The post Somerville Water Statement appeared first on Central NJ DSA.

Atlanta DSA Statement on the November 2022 Elections

The stakes of the November 2022 elections are high, and the outcome could jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of working people across the state and country. The GOP is an anti-worker, anti-Black, anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-queer reactionary force which aims to dismantle abortion, voting, and other fundamental rights for working people with the goal of generating power and profits for the billionaire elite. For this reason we encourage our members, supporters and the public to vote in this year’s elections to defeat the Republican Party and their far-right agenda.

Both locally and federally, GOP electoral success this November would empower the Republican party to escalate their attacks on marginalized communities, further expand the police state, and suppress democratic elections. With the increasing hegemony of the MAGA right within the Republican party, their reactionary agenda could go as far as banning abortion nationwide, stifling labor unions with a federal right-to-work law, and rejecting the 2024 election results. With so many of our rights on the line, we must do all we can to keep Republicans out of government.

At the same time, the Democratic party serves many of the same corporate interests as the Republicans. The Democrats have done close to nothing to curb the expansion of far-right MAGA ideology, codify the right to abortion into law, get corporate money out of politics, or protect the right to organize at work. DSA remains committed to advancing a socialist political alternative to neoliberalism by challenging corporate Democrats from the left through community organizing and primary elections. While recognizing these differences, we must fight back against the white supremacist right wing, and not ignore the threat that their terror presents. Abstention from the electoral terrain in the name of purity politics won’t advance our goals: we should not cede any ground to the far-right.

To combat the GOP and their far-right agenda, we encourage everyone eligible to vote to use that power this November by confirming their voter registration status, making a plan to vote early, and voting up and down the ballot for the most left-wing candidates. Although we are not endorsing any specific candidates this cycle, Atlanta DSA is organizing around key election issues like abortion rights and mobilizing our members and supporters to vote. We call on our allies to prepare to mobilize to demand democracy in case the far right tries again to invalidate or deny the election results. In the name of free and fair elections, we’ll be ready to hit the streets and join the working-class majority in demanding that every vote be counted.

As Democratic Socialists, we recognize that voting is only one of many tactics in the fight to win our long-term goal: a free, democratic, and equitable society run by and for the multiracial working class. The crisis of democracy in the US is not just an electoral contest but a centuries-long class struggle between working people and the capitalists, landlords, and right-wing politicians who profit from our exploitation. To win a Democratic Socialist society, we must rebuild the labor movement, expand working-class consciousness, and build a mass party capable of uniting working people. Beyond this election season, Atlanta DSA will continue the struggle to organize our workplaces and reclaim abortion rights. We invite all those who agree with our aims to not only join us in voting this November, but to also get involved in our work building a socialist movement that can create a truly democratic society.

Find your polling place and make a plan to vote early at atldsa.org/vote

Sixty Years after the US Navy’s Caribbean fleet first created a picket around the island of Cuba, the United States’ cruel and aimless embargo of Cuba continues. Despite decades of red scare tactics, designed to silence Socialists who believe the embargo is a moral and political failure, people of all political stripes have come out in opposition of the ongoing embargo. So why is the embargo still in place? Simply put, it’s good politics for certain voting blocs. Though America’s ruling class hopes Cuba can continue to be the US’s socialist boogeyman next door, the embargo should galvanize support for Socialism.

Burdensome Sanctions Limit Medical and Food Imports

The embargo’s continuing existence remains as enduring evidence of US imperialism’s cruelty against countries that dare to pursue an alternative to the capitalist economy. Cubans find themselves cut off from critical sections of trade and the global economy as a result, limiting the import of medical items, food, and cash remittances that can enter Cuba from the US. Cuba can’t even import these necessities from non-US countries due to the threats of the US’s secondary sanctions. 

While the embargo in theory allows the import of food and medical items to Cuba, the structure discourages these imports in practice. For instance, the Calixto Garcia Hospital in Havana, which is Cuba’s main trauma hospital, has only two working anesthesia machines. Although they had contracted with a Swiss company to purchase more, cash-in-hand, the threat of secondary sanctions killed the deal. The threat of sanctions that would cut off foreign companies from financial processing and credit institutions housed in the United States, in addition to burdensome application and approval requirements, discourage most American or global companies from doing business with Cuba. 

Similarly, while the embargo theoretically allows food exports into Cuba, US sanctions still cut off critical food imports to Cuba. Sanctions require Cuba to purchase all food with hard currency or through third-party guarantees from foreign banks. This again is where the threat of secondary sanctions discourages foreign companies and countries from providing Cuba with financing for food. Cuba’s access to hard currency is further limited by US imposed travel restrictions, limits on remissions, and restrictions on foreign currency exchange, meaning Cuba can find little relief by trading with other countries. Moreover, if a product contains more than 10 percent US-made components, then US sanctions apply to the product, effectively locking Cuba out of critical technologies in domains dominated by US production such as agriculture, computing, and aerospace. (You can read more on the sanctions here and here) 

But this has not stopped Cubans from carrying on. In the face of the embargo, the country has shown extreme resilience, building a leading health and pharmaceutical industry, becoming a global leader in sustainable development, and even creating its own COVID-19 vaccine when the embargo would have excluded the country from global stocks. 

Though in many ways the country is a success story in how to thrive without globalization, Cuba should never have had to adapt to such a situation. From every angle, the US embargo of Cuba is a failed and cruel policy.

DSA Leads a National Campaign to End the Embargo

With widespread consensus on the embargo’s failure comes the opportunity for DSA to achieve an elusive political goal: permanently ending the embargo. DSA has kicked off a national grassroots campaign to end the embargo that reflects the importance of strategic organizing in achieving big, progressive wins, and Boston DSA is leading the way.

The campaign begins with cities. Local DSA chapters are lobbying their city councils to pass resolutions against the Cuba embargo, through constituent lobbying, public education events on the embargo, and demonstrations against the embargo’s negative effects. Boston DSA has already achieved the passage of resolutions in the Boston City Council, Somerville City Council, and Brookline Town Meeting. (Cambridge passed a similar resolution in early 2021) 

With local support for ending the Cuba embargo firmly established, the campaign now expands to coalition work. The city council resolutions are strategically written to provide the foundation for developing ties between Cuba and local constituencies in Massachusetts in domains such as biomedical research, public health, academia, and cultural institutions. Providing the basis for doctors, public health officials, artists, academics, researchers, environmental activists, religious leaders, farmers, union organizers, and others to develop concrete ties to Cuba and experience first-hand the difficulties of the embargo is a crucial piece of broadening our base of support and creating new activists organized around ending the embargo of Cuba. 

This broadened coalition will provide additional leverage as we move to federal pressure campaigns. Since the legal framework of the embargo is a construction of Congress, it is vital to push elected officials in the House and Senate to respond to their constituents’ wishes and propose or support legislation that will end the embargo. Not only do municipal resolutions provide tangible  evidence of the desire for a change of Cuba policy, but the new movement created by using resolutions as coalition organizing tools will provide powerful leverage from our region’s top leaders in various industries. 

Organizational Structure, Elected Allies, and Localized Issues are Critical to Success

The Cuba campaign’s organizing strategy greatly benefits from DSA’s decentralized structure while leveraging the organization’s national reach. Local chapters know how to best navigate the local political dynamics and pass city resolutions, but large-scale change at the congressional level will require national coordination across DSA chapters. Chapters are working independently to pass city resolutions and then with DSA’s International Committee to coordinate the national congressional campaign across chapters. If successful, this interlinked local and national approach can serve as a template for future DSA organizing campaigns that want to build a national campaign from the grassroots. 

One of the key lessons learned to date is the importance of developing strong relationships with our local electeds in order to encourage the praxis of internationalism from local office. Kendra Lara, a DSA member and Boston City Council member, introduced the Cuba resolution to the Boston City Council and was an important ally in navigating the political dynamics and procedures to pass the resolution. Willie Burnley Jr., a DSA member and Somerville City Council member, approached Boston DSA about passing a similar resolution in Somerville and drew on our support to pass a resolution in his city. Likewise, Ryan Black, a Boston DSA Coordinating Committee member and former Brookline Town Councilor, was the primary citizen petitioner who introduced the successful resolution in Brookline. 

The campaign has also solidified the importance of finding local connections to issues of national and international relevance. Though Boston and Cuba are 1,500 miles apart and the Cuban population in Boston is miniscule compared to cities in Florida,Boston and Cuba are both global leaders in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. The Boston resolution emphasized how Boston academia and businesses could benefit from knowledge exchange with Cuba. Cuba is also a leader in sustainability, a growing concern as the Boston area adapts to the impacts of the climate crisis. Thus, collaboration on sustainability between local cities and towns with Cuba may form promising bases for future resolutions.

Join Our Campaign

Want to end the Cuba embargo? Or just interested in strategic organizing campaigns? Join us! You can email the Boston DSA campaign at cuba.bdsa@gmail.com and we will link you up with the work. Be on the lookout for upcoming political education events as we move new resolutions forward! If you would like to directly help Cubans, who experienced a disastrous fire in early August and the devastating impact of Hurricane Ian in September, you can donate through Code Pink or Global Health Partners. The embargo limits donations that can flow to the country and only certain organizations are able to send assistance.

Vermont Workplace Organizer Training is coming to the Old Socialist Labor Hall in Barre, VT! Join us on October 8th and 9th for a series of four workplace organizing sessions starting at 10am each day. The best thing that any of us can do for the cause of organized labor is to build a militant, worker-driven union in our own workplace. We have seen the successes of the union building in Starbucks locations across the country and we need to keep building on that momentum in every sector.

Check out the sessions that will be offered and find out more here.

Donovan Lewis was a son, a brother, a sports fan, and a music-lover. He lived in Columbus surrounded by his family and friends. At 20 years old, his life was stolen from him by Officer Ricky Anderson in the early morning of Tuesday, August 30, 2022. While serving a warrant for his arrest, Anderson opened Mr. Lewis’s bedroom door and immediately fired his weapon, striking Lewis in the abdomen. Officers then handcuffed Donovan and carried him out onto the street. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead soon after.

Columbus DSA rejects the notion that there is any possibility the shooting was justified. Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant defended Anderson’s actions, saying that it appeared Lewis was raising an object in his hand at the moment police opened the door. In truth, a vape pen was the only object found on the bed after the shooting. Despite being a 30 year veteran of the force, Anderson did not hesitate even briefly before killing Donovan, opening fire in a split-second. Anderson had no opportunity to identify a weapon on Lewis’s person, nor did he afford Mr. Lewis an opportunity to surrender before ending the young man’s life. What the people of Columbus have witnessed—and what the released body camera footage demonstrates—is yet another murder in cold blood perpetrated by law enforcement against an unarmed Black person.

The murder of Donovan Lewis comes as the most recent in a series of local police killings of Black people, commonly young and/or unarmed. Columbus remembers the shooting of 16 year old Ma’Khia Bryant by Officer Nicholas Reardon, the murder of 23 year old Casey Goodson Jr. by Deputy Jason Meade, and the assassination of 47 year old Andre Hill by Officer Adam Coy. The Columbus Dispatch recently reported that of the 62 Columbus police shootings since 2018, 19 have been fatal, and of the 19 people killed, 12 have been Black. Time and time again, local law enforcement have demonstrated that they are unencumbered by any concern for Black life.

The Democratic Socialists of America remains an abolitionist organization, as does its Columbus chapter. We view the prison-industrial complex, including law enforcement agencies, as instruments of racial capitalism: the social and economic system governing American life. We believe that racial justice will not be possible until the white supremacist institutions of police and prisons are replaced by life-affirming alternatives. Columbus DSA reaffirms our commitment—shared with our comrades within and without DSA—to free America from the grip of mass incarceration. Together, we will build a society that respects human dignity irrespective of race and refuses to cage people as a solution to social problems. We will achieve food, housing, education, healthcare, and justice for the people of Columbus and beyond.
Justice for Donovan Lewis. Justice for Ma’Khia Bryant. Justice for Andre Hill. Justice for Casey Goodson Jr. Justice for all human beings who police officers have murdered and abused. Defund and abolish the Columbus Police Department

Milt Tambor, a life-long democratic socialist and trade unionist and the founder of Atlanta DSA, died August 23 in Dunwoody, Georgia at age 84. Born in 1938 to a Jewish family on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Milt was an active trade unionist and democratic socialist for over fifty years. He earned a Hebrew Teachers degree from Yeshiva University in 1957. Milt then went to Wayne State University in the heart of Detroit, Michigan where he completed his BA in Psychology. While working at the Jeffries Housing Project and Dodge Community House, where he fought against school and housing segregation in Detroit, Milt also earned a Master in Social Work degree at Wayne State.

After graduation, he stayed in Detroit to organize youth programming at the local Jewish Community Center. He then became Director of the UAW Retired Workers Center where he became involved in his staff union by volunteering on their local bargaining committee. In 1968 he became President of AFSCME Local 1640, a post he held for 10 years, during which he led a strike of 500 workers. During his years at Michigan AFSCME, Milt became a founding member of the Detroit New American Movement, and later joined DSA during the 1982 merger of NAM with the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee. He then returned to Wayne State University and earned a PhD in Sociology in 1991, with a dissertation on bargaining with non-profit agencies.

After over 35 years with Michigan AFSCME, first as a local president and later as a staff representative and labor educator, Milt retired and moved to Atlanta with his wife Linda Lieberman. In 2006, as part of an effort to organize a fundraiser for Bernie Sanders’ senatorial campaign, Milt brought together local DSA members and progressives to establish the Metro Atlanta DSA. Over the next decade, he served as chair of our chapter through a wide variety of different campaigns and fights for democracy and equality. Whether it was opposing the Iraq War, supporting local labor unions, fighting foreclosures during the Great Recession, or marching for civil rights, Milt was always present and taking up a leading role. He was instrumental in rooting our organization in the workplace and community struggles of poor and working class Atlantans, using tactics from public education, to electoral organizing, to direct action.

Milt Tambor was a long-distance runner for Democratic Socialism. You can read more about Milt’s life and work in his memoir A Democratic Socialist’s Fifty Year Adventure or read the final chapter A History of Atlanta DSA. In addition to his wife, Linda, he is survived by his two sons, Alex and Jonah and a host of grandchildren and extended family. The funeral will be held at 4:30 pm this Friday, August 26th at Temple Sinai at 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs, GA 30327 if anyone wants to come to pay respects.

Today, in an unprecedented and historic move, Governor Charlie Baker’s MBTA will shut down the entire Orange Line for thirty days of emergency maintenance. This, the severs a vital transit artery for hundreds of thousands of greater Boston residents, and forces riders to pay the price for decades of disinvestment from public transportation by corrupt politicians from both parties. The T closure will snarl traffic, cut people off from whole neighborhoods, make it more difficult to get to work, and take away time that people can spend with their families. 

The Boston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America condemns the Massachusetts political establishment’s abandonment of the T. We stand in solidarity with our neighbors and fellow commuters, the riders and frontline T workers who will bear the brunt of this crisis.

The T is falling apart. For the past decade, delays, derailments, service cuts, garages collapsing, unstable tunnels, leaking cars, rusted-out stairways, fires in tunnels and across bridges, and tragic and preventable deaths have undermined trust in the political institutions that are tasked with managing it for the public good. This doesn’t have to be the case – the T once stood as a point of pride for the city and its residents, a symbol of progress, and we must work to get there again. 

Yet the collapse of the T was not caused by mere governmental incompetence, or an inevitable failure of public institutions. It’s the result of years of hard work by politicians like Charlie Baker and leaders in the Massachusetts legislature to undermine those public institutions. We condemn the failure of elected leadership and their abandonment of the public good that is mass public transit. We appreciate the legislature’s $400 million appropriation for the T in a recent transportation bond bill, although bond bills still leave a lot of the power in the hands of the Governor whether the money is even spent. We call for this full amount to be appropriated as fast as possible. But this is not enough. The T’s debt exceeds $8 billion, requiring a serious commitment to long-term funding from the state. 

We call:

• For the legislature to come back into session to forgive the T’s unjust, inherited debt and create a dedicated, long-term sustainable source of funding for the T. 
• In solidarity with Senator Markey, Representative Pressley, and others, for Governor Baker to make the MBTA’s entire system free during the Orange and Green Line extension shutdowns. 
• For cities along the Orange and Green Line shuttle routes to install temporary protected bus and bike lanes so that commuters and residents utilizing alternate modes of transportation can travel safely, as we know the streets are not completely safe for non-car uses without these measures. 
• For Maura Healey, the presumptive next Governor of Massachusetts, to resist attempts to privatize the T and undermine its unionized workforce, who work every day to protect commuters and deliver a public good, and to appoint a Secretary of Transportation with experience. 
• For voters to vote yes on 1, the Fair Share amendment, this November to fund the T in a more comprehensive way. 
• For DSA members and interested readers, to join us in canvassing at Haymarket station TODAY at 5 pm to circulate these calls to action with commuters! 

Resist privatization! Fund, Fix, and Free the T! 

Boston DSA is the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America for the Greater Boston area. We are an activist organization — not a political party — that works against oppression in its many forms. DSA’s members are building mass movements for social change while establishing an openly socialist presence in communities and politics in the Greater Boston Area, from the South Shore to the Merrimack Valley