Ronan Farrow’s March 24, 2025, New Yorker article on the case of Sean Williams, one of America’s most prolific sexual predators, exposes more than just individual evil—it reveals systemic rot. For years, Williams drugged, raped, and recorded assaults on dozens of women and children in Johnson City, Tennessee, while local police ignored, dismissed, or even enabled his crimes, according to Farrow’s reporting. Federal prosecutor Kat Dahl’s efforts to hold him accountable were met with obstruction, retaliation, and eventual firing.

Police as Enablers, Not Protectors

From the beginning, the Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) appears to have treated Williams with alarming deference. When Mikayla Evans fell five stories from his apartment—an incident suggesting foul play—officers delayed securing evidence, allowed Williams to tamper with security footage, and left his apartment unsupervised, according to the New Yorker article. Later, when Dahl pushed to investigate rape allegations, detectives are alleged to have shrugged off victims, mocked her concerns, and slow-walked warrants. Their indifference wasn’t accidental; it was systemic.

Williams himself claimed he bribed officers through an ex-girlfriend, Alunda Rutherford, alleging payoffs to avoid scrutiny. While these claims are contested, the JCPD’s behavior fits a pattern: according to the audit by the Daigle Law Group, between 2018-2022 officers failed to even interview suspects in 69 out of 105 rape cases with identified perpetrators, routinely closed sexual assault investigations prematurely, and ultimately paid a $28 million settlement to survivors—a tacit admission of systemic failure.

Class, Power, and Impunity

Business owners like Sean Williams get treated as a special class of people that are better than the rest of us. He wasn’t just some lone criminal—he was a wealthy businessman embedded in local power structures. His depredations were open secrets, his drug trafficking an unspoken perk for those who turned a blind eye. Even while evading arrest, he moved freely, exchanging texts with one prominent real estate agent, according to court records, and selling at least three properties in Johnson City. This is how class operates under capitalism: connections and capital buy impunity, while working-class victims—especially women—are disbelieved, shamed, or ignored.

The police’s contempt for survivors reflects broader societal problems. Victims like Briana Pack and Kaleigh Murray were dismissed as unreliable—too drunk, too traumatized, or too “uncooperative.” When Dahl warned that Williams might be targeting children, Chief Karl Turner brushed her off. Compare this to how police treat petty theft or drug use among the poor: relentless pursuit, brutal enforcement, and prison time. The system punishes regular people while shielding predators who operate with money and influence.

The Failures of “Justice” Under Capitalism

The JCPD’s internal report admitted systemic failures—interrogating victims like they were suspects, closing rape cases without investigation—but no high-ranking officials faced consequences. Instead, the city has agreed to pay $28 million in an attempt to bury accountability under legal settlements.

This isn’t unique to Johnson City. Across the U.S., police departments resist oversight, budgets balloon while social services starve, and survivors of sexual violence are gaslit by the very systems allegedly intended to protect them. The Williams case is extreme but not exceptional—it’s the logical endpoint of a capitalist system where justice is commodified and power and wealth flow to those who already have the most power and wealth.

Johnson City Needs a People’s Budget, Not a Bigger Police Budget

According to the Tennessee Lookout, City Manager Cathy Ball “has had the power to initiate an internal affairs investigation for the past two years that could scrutinize the actions and conduct of those implicated in the Williams case, including herself.”

Instead, Ball ordered any internal investigation be put on hold until the resolution of the class action lawsuit, court records show. That lawsuit is settled. What now?

Change won’t come from polite requests. It will take organized tenants, workers, and survivors showing up at town halls, budget meetings, and elections to demand justice.

For a start, we are calling for community-based Town Halls to discuss this issue, as well as future issues, where the Johnson City Commission can listen to us without the strict limits that city commission meetings place on our time and our experiences, where only twelve people can speak for a total of three minutes each. We need to have a say in what happens next.

But transparency and dialogue are not enough. There is also the question of money. At the time Dahl filed her federal civil complaint in June 2022, the city budget granted police $15,526,561 of the General Fund. The current city budget, drafted by Ball’s office last year and approved by our current mayor and three of our sitting commissioners, increased that figure to $19,370,928. That’s a raise of nearly four million dollars for a police department whose malpractice is set to cost us tens of millions more, to say nothing of the harm it facilitated.

The choice before Johnson City is about priorities.

We demand the Johnson City Commission freeze the police budget and invest funds where they belong: in public trauma care for survivors, affordable housing to stabilize families, and mental health responders and mediation teams that replace police where appropriate. These aren’t radical ideas—they’re what happens when we put victims before wealthy business owners.

Change won’t come from polite requests. It will take organized tenants, workers, and survivors showing up at town halls, budget meetings, and elections to demand justice. The money exists. The power exists. The people must come together and demand it.

When fascism ascends, the conventional opposition often proves surprisingly ineffective, even complicit. This paradox becomes comprehensible when we understand not just political theater but the underlying material interests at play.

The established opposition shares more with its supposed adversaries than with the working people it claims to represent. Both mainstream parties ultimately serve as different management teams for the same economic system. While they disagree on methods and rhetoric, they agree on fundamentals: the primacy of profits over people and the necessity of maintaining existing class relations.

This explains why resistance proves tepid. Meaningful opposition to fascism requires challenging concentrated power—both political and economic. Yet the liberal donor class, its leadership’s personal wealth, and its institutional inertia all align against such confrontation. They fear genuinely popular movements more than they fear their ostensible rivals.

Historical evidence confirms this pattern. In Weimar Germany, the right-liberal German People’s Party and left-liberal German Democratic Party supported various authoritarian consolidations in the name of anti-Communism. The former backed the declaration of martial law in Prussia that helped clear the way for Hitler’s rise, and the latter’s deputies even backed the Enabling Act that granted Hitler dictatorial powers in 1933.

In Italy, liberal parties sought accommodation with Mussolini rather than alliance with labor movements. In Chile, centrists undermined Allende before embracing Pinochet. In each case, property proved more sacred than people.

The theatrics of political conflict mask this deeper unity. Congressional hearings produce sound bytes but rarely consequences. Speeches condemn excesses while budgets fund them–witness Biden’s expansion of prison facilities. Legal challenges drag through courts staffed by identical interests. Electoral campaigns promise transformation but deliver continuity.

Meanwhile, those proposing systemic change—democratizing the economy, redistributing power, prioritizing human needs over profit—are branded dangerous extremists. This framing serves a dual purpose: it distances the opposition from more forceful alternatives while positioning them as the reasonable middle ground in a fabricated spectrum.

The left is particularly threatening because it names the root causes that mainstream discourse obscures. It connects political authoritarianism to economic dominance. It reveals how “normal politics” laid the groundwork for fascist acceleration. It demonstrates that defending democracy requires extending it into workplaces, communities, and economic planning.

The liberal opposition’s vulnerability stems from its contradictions. It cannot mobilize popular energy without raising expectations it has no intention of fulfilling. It cannot articulate a compelling alternative while committed to the system generating the crisis. It cannot build effective solidarity while serving interests fundamentally opposed to collective power.

Most crucially, it cannot win by seeking the approval of institutions already compromised. Courts packed with ideologues, media owned by billionaires, electoral systems designed to diffuse popular will—these will not save us. Yet the opposition remains institutionally incapable of moving beyond these channels.
In this light, the demonization of the left serves a critical function. By positioning leftists as equally extreme as fascists, the opposition justifies its own inadequate middle path while delegitimizing the very forces most committed to substantive resistance.

The lesson is clear: we cannot outsource our defense to those who benefit from the same system as our opponents. True opposition must come from below—from organized communities unbound by the constraints of electoral calculation or donor appeasement.

The path forward demands independent organization, material solidarity, and the courage to envision a world beyond the false choices offered by those who would rather manage our descent than risk the emergence of genuine democracy.

Fascism doesn’t emerge fully formed but follows a recognizable developmental trajectory. Understanding this progression is crucial for effective resistance

In its embryonic stage—where we find ourselves now—fascism begins with a crisis of legitimacy. Democratic institutions still function but are systematically delegitimized. The judiciary is branded as partisan. Electoral processes are declared corrupt. Media becomes “enemy of the people.” This manufactured crisis creates the justification for “extraordinary measures” to “restore order.”

The second phase—consolidation—occurs when the previously unthinkable becomes routine. Independent agencies are purged and restaffed with loyalists. Civil servants are replaced with partisans. Legislative powers shift to executive orders. Courts are packed or ignored. This phase relies on public exhaustion and normalization—each transgression generates less outrage than the last.

Next comes the targeting phase. Initially focused on politically vulnerable groups—immigrants, minorities, leftists—it creates a template for persecution that can be broadened. The legal framework established against “extremists” becomes applicable to progressively wider circles of opposition. This phase depends on divide-and-conquer tactics, assuring each group that they are safe while others are targeted.

The mature phase arrives when institutional capture is complete. Elections continue but without meaningful choice. Courts exist but rarely rule against power. Media operates but within narrowed boundaries. Dissent becomes criminalized rather than merely delegitimized. By this stage, resistance requires extraordinary courage as the costs become increasingly severe.

The final phase occurs when external constraint is removed entirely. Violence becomes state policy rather than rhetorical excess. Economic crisis or international conflict typically provides the pretext for this transition.

Socialist analysis reveals what liberal frameworks miss: fascism isn’t merely authoritarianism but a specific response to capitalism in crisis. When profit rates decline and class consciousness rises, sections of the capitalist class turn to fascism to suppress labor movements, eliminate social programs, and redirect class anger toward scapegoated minorities. The “traditionalism” of fascism serves to reinforce hierarchies necessary for capitalism’s continuation under increasingly unstable conditions.

This developmental understanding explains why early intervention is most effective. Each stage builds upon the previous one, creating conditions that make subsequent resistance more difficult. The window for relatively low-cost opposition narrows dramatically once the consolidation phase advances. Institutions designed to check power cease functioning when they become captured.

Today, we stand at a critical juncture. Democratic guardrails bend but haven’t yet broken. Public assembly remains legal. The press faces intimidation but not wholesale suppression. Elections face delegitimization but haven’t been suspended. This moment—when fascism remains vulnerable, when its developmental path can still be disrupted—is precisely when collective action carries maximum impact.
Solidarity across targeted groups, mass non-compliance with unjust directives, protection of vulnerable communities, defense of democratic institutions however imperfect—these actions can effectively halt fascism’s developmental momentum. History shows that fascism can be stopped, but rarely once its institutional capture is complete.

The time to disrupt this progression is now, while we retain the power to do so. n

In the rolling hills and close-knit communities of Northeast Tennessee, there beats a heart that has long valued mutual support and a deep connection to place. These Appalachian values—so often misrepresented in national narratives—align more closely with democratic socialism than many might realize. As our region faces mounting challenges from corporate exploitation and political forces that seek to divide us, reclaiming our political voice means recognizing this natural alignment.

Long before corporate interests reshaped our economy, Appalachian communities thrived on principles of interdependence. Barn-raisings, seed-sharing, and care for neighbors in need weren’t just traditions—they were survival strategies that recognized our fundamental interconnectedness. When disaster struck, it wasn’t rugged individualism that saved lives—it was community solidarity.

These practices reflect the core of democratic socialism: the understanding that we prosper together or suffer alone, and that an economy should serve humanity rather than the other way around.
For generations, outside corporations have extracted Appalachia’s wealth—coal, timber, labor—while leaving behind environmental devastation and poverty. They promised jobs but delivered exploitation.
This experience mirrors the fundamental critique that democratic socialism makes of capitalism: that this profit-driven system inevitably values extraction over sustainability and shareholder returns over community wellbeing. The democratic socialist vision—where economic power is democratically controlled by communities—speaks directly to Appalachians who have seen the alternative fail them time and again.

Appalachian religious traditions have long emphasized care for the vulnerable and the moral imperative to create a more just society. The biblical instruction to “love thy neighbor” manifests in concrete acts of community support that reject the notion that our worth is determined by our productivity or wealth.
These values find natural expression in democratic socialism’s commitment to guaranteeing dignified lives for all through universal healthcare, living wages, and robust social programs—not as charity but as recognition of our shared humanity.

Many have forgotten that Appalachia has a proud history of labor militancy and economic radicalism. From the Mine Wars to wildcat strikes, our ancestors understood that economic justice required collective action against concentrated power.

Today, we have an opportunity to reclaim this heritage by organizing around issues that matter to rural communities: affordable healthcare, sustainable jobs, quality education for our children, and freedom from corporate domination.

The path forward isn’t about imposing urban political frameworks on rural communities. It’s about recognizing the democratic socialist values already embedded in Appalachian culture: mutual aid, community resilience, skepticism of concentrated power, and the belief that everyone deserves dignity.
The future of Appalachia depends not on submitting to exploitation in the name of “progress,” but on reclaiming our political voice based on our deepest values. Democratic socialism doesn’t ask us to abandon what makes our communities special—it invites us to fulfill their greatest promise.

The Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are declaring a win for Milwaukee’s working class after member Alex Brower won the race for the open District 3 seat on the Common Council Tuesday.

Milwaukee DSA supported Brower’s candidacy from the start. We look forward to supporting Brower’s work at City Hall. Although we recognize that his election alone will not bring about all the changes needed for a just Milwaukee, we will continue working with Councilmember-Elect Brower and the thousands of people who volunteered with the campaign and voted for him to build a mass movement capable of doing so. 

“We are beyond excited to welcome Alex Brower into the great Sewer Socialist tradition that we hold in Milwaukee,” said Pamela Westphal, DSA leader. “With high voter turnout in Milwaukee County, this should signal to the Democratic Party that the working class is hungry for bold leadership and transformative change in local government.”

Brower’s win is the latest sign that people in Milwaukee and beyond are tired of the status quo and ready for true democracy, robust public services and democratic socialism.

Milwaukee DSA is Milwaukee’s largest socialist organization fighting for a democratic economy, a just society, and a sustainable environment. Join today at dsausa.org/join.

Our National Labor Commission is fighting fascism and building worker power! Throughout April, we’re building up to International Workers’ Day. This week, join us at two events to kick this off:

• Mass call with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) on Thursday 4/3 at 5pm ET/4pm CT/3pm MT/2pm PT
• Saturday, 4/5 Hands Off! in-person actions against fascism across the country

International Workers’ Day is also known as May Day. On May 1, 1886, during a period of extreme wealth inequality, social oppression, and political corruption, hundreds of thousands of workers across the US withheld their labor and took to the streets in a general strike against industrial barons, demanding an eight-hour work day.

Nearly 140 years later, unelected billionaire oligarchs like Elon Musk are seizing control of our government. The bosses are using state power against the working class to suppress opposition, consolidate power, and destroy our ability to fight for a better life. 

But working people aren’t going anywhere. DSA Labor is building power for the short and long term, not only to stop authoritarianism but to transform our society into one in which workers are in the driver’s seat. We need you to join us in building towards May Day 2025, May Day 2028, and beyond. 

Here’s how you can join us to fight oligarchy and build up to this year’s International Workers’ Day. 

Thursday, 4/3, 5pm ET/4pm CT/3pm MT/2pm PT: CTU National Call for May Day 2025

Join the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and friends for a national mass call to learn how to build May Day 2025 to be as big and powerful as possible.

Saturday, 4/5: “Hands Off” National Day of Action

Join a growing nationwide coalition of labor and community partners to say: Hands off our democracy, our rights, our livelihoods, and our neighbors!

Tuesday, 4/8: “Kill the Cuts” National Day of Action

Stand in solidarity with workers in education, research, and healthcare to demand NO cuts to education and life-saving research. 

Sunday, 4/13, 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT: Building Sanctuary Unions Training Session

DSA’s National Labor Commission has partnered with DSA’s International Migrant Rights Working Group to host member training sessions. Learn how to organize within your union for an American labor movement where immigrant workers can find protection and build power. 

Tuesday, 4/29: Fight Oligarchy, Build to May Day Mass Call

Join us as we gear up for May Day 2025! We will hear from labor organizers, immigrants rights activists, and chapter leaders about why workers everywhere need to stand up and fight back against the attacks on our unions, rights, and essential services, and how you can join in the fight today and in the weeks and months ahead.

Thursday, 5/1: May Day 2025

Save the date to join hundreds of thousands in the streets for International Workers’ Day. 

And our next quarterly “Workers Organizing Workers” Training starts on Monday 4/7 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT! This three-part training series is great for anyone interested in getting a job and organizing in a strategic industry. The training covers the basics of finding these positions, talking to coworkers, and being part of a movement to bring workplace democracy to some of America’s largest employers. 

If you’d like to get more involved with the National Labor Commission, the body of DSA members active in the labor movement, apply here! We have opportunities for members interested in strike support, Palestinian solidarity, educator organizing, and more! 

The post This Month — Fight Fascism, Build to May Day appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

On March 12th, eight state Democrats in Michigan voted for an anti-trans resolution that would hurt trans kids in schools.

HR40 is a non-enforceable resolution that strongly encourages the Michigan High School Athletic Association to discriminate against trans women by following Trump’s executive order to ban trans-women in women’s sports.

Despite it being non-enforceable, this resolution would lead to increased harassment and discrimination towards trans children who just want to play sports with their classmates.

The eight state Democrats who voted for this resolution are Rep. Alabas Farhat, Rep. Peter Herzberg, Rep. Tullio Liberati, Rep. Denise Mentzer, Rep. Reggie Miller, Rep. Will Snyder, Rep. Angela Witwer, and Rep. Mai Xiong.

Call your state Representative and let them know how you feel about their vote! You can find your state Representative here!

If your state Representative voted yes for this resolution, call them to express how disappointed you are and tell them they need to stand for trans rights or you will be voting against them in the next election.

If your state Representative voted no for this resolution, call and thank them for siding with trans people. Encourage them to continue their support and to speak up for the rights of trans people. We need as many people in positions of power to be on our side.

Keep in mind, your state representative does not represent anywhere close to as many people as your US Congress representative. Your call could very well sway them to support trans people going forward, even if they are Republican. In Montana, 29 Republicans changed their mind on an anti-trans bill after Reps. Zooey Zephyr and SJ Howell gave impassioned speeches. This goes to show that it is possible to sway state Republicans.

The whole situation was handled so maliciously. Speaker Pro Tempore Rachelle Smit (R-43), a far-right Republican who believes the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, kept cutting off the speeches of Democrats so that her Republican colleagues could speak. The vote was then rushed through the House without letting Democrats finish their speeches. Erin in the Morning provides a copy of the whole situation here.

We must all stand for the rights of trans people!

The post Call your Reps and Tell Them to Let Trans Kids Play Sports appeared first on Grand Rapids Democratic Socialists of America.

Why Recruit?

DSA members have by this point seen that present political events mean a lot of people are finding their way to our organization on their own. Indeed, since the beginning of September 2024, DSA Cincy has grown by nearly 100 members-representing ~33% growth from September 2024 to the end of March 2025. While we have developed an onboarding system, most of this actual recruitment has been fairly passive, from people who learned about our organization or who finally joined due to external events. So why should we do active recruitment?

• We want to not just be influenced by history, but to influence it. If we rely primarily on external events to determine our rise, fall and success, and don’t take seriously developing our own power to win and change the world, we won’t amount to the political force we would like to be in the US.
• The more relationships we develop in DSA, the more power we have. Every person who joins DSA isn’t just one more member or volunteer-they’re a person with a wealth of social relationships and history with people, and the more of these social networks we bring into DSA, the stronger our organization can be in our larger society.
• It develops our own organizing skills. Being able to have an organizing conversation and make direct asks are core skills for any organizer. This applies at all levels of campaigns and efforts, be it asking someone to sign a petition, or to join an organizing committee at your workplace. And every organizing conversation we have is a learning opportunity for ourselves to do better with the next one. Take the chance, make the ask, and learn from each one for next time!
• Direct recruitment asks work! One of the largest membership bumps in DSA history was the 100k recruitment drive in 2020, where chapters across the country recruited thousands of new members to DSA. Direct asks to the people in our lives who should be involved work, we just need to make the ask!

Recruitment Steps

So you’ve been persuaded-it’s worth asking people to join DSA! How do you get started doing this? There are many different approaches, but one that’s pursued by many different campaigns is shared below:

1. Make an initial list of at least five people to recruit. Notably, this list does not have to be restricted to people who have described themselves to you as socialists. Instead, think of the people in your life who have been sympathetic to socialist demands in your life. The family member who told you they voted for Bernie in 2020, the coworker who opposes the genocide of Palestinians-anyone who you’ve had a positive conversation about politics with in this vein is worth talking to!
2. Open a positive conversation on your shared values and vision for the world. Many leftists open up conversations about politics with the unorganized by starting with the problems. Unfortunately, opening with this framing often leaves people feeling hopeless to resolve those problems and unwilling to commit to action. Instead, open with shared socialist political values that you both have in common.
3. Spend most of your time listening. A good organizing conversation does not look like you delivering a speech to the other person-it looks like you listening and genuinely engaging with their thoughts and concerns about the world.
4. Channel towards a positive solution-DSA. After your conversation has touched on the things you both care about and what the other person is thinking about, talk about DSA and our efforts to build a mass organization that is able to fight for the things we care about. Share why DSA matters to you.
5. Directly make the ask. In any recruitment conversation, it is of the utmost importance you directly ask the other person if they will join DSA. You aren’t imposing, anyone has the power to say yes or no as they wish, but many people don’t realize joining is an option, or are waiting for implicit permission to be invited in. Give it to them!
6. If they say yes, walk through signing up with them. Sometimes people say yes, the conversation moves on, and by the end both have forgotten to take the step of actually filling out the join form. Make sure to show them the join page (link provided here), and walk through the form with them step by step!
7. Know your follow up. Whether you get a yes or no, it’s good to make sure they know about other actions and events coming up you think they’d be interested in. And if they’re unsure, a good event could be enough to change their minds. Make sure you know your follow up ask, whatever it is!

Enjoy your March 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, get involved with the Mutual Aid Working Group, join AfroSoC, apply for the Growth & Development Committee Steering Committee, 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 Our Co-Chairs — Fascism is Capitalism in Decay
• Growth & Development Committee Steering Committee Application: Open Through 4/1
• State of DSA Reports — Listening Session #2
• MAWG All Members Meeting for Spring 2025
• AfroSoC is BACK with a New Executive Committee!
• Extension of National Political Education Committee Application Window
• Apply for the National Budget & Finance Committee
• Fundraising Committee Office Hours

From Our Co-Chairs — Fascism is Capitalism in Decay

“Society does not consist of individuals, but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individuals stand.” – Karl Marx, The Grundrisse, 1857

Jumping headlong into dialectical and historical materialism might not be the usual theme of our newsletters, but in this era of cartoon supervillians like Donald Trump and Elon Musk, we think it’s worth remembering that, while these Uncle Pennybags caricatures are the most prominent faces launching “shock doctrine” attacks on our already tattered social safety net, they are simply extra-vulgar representatives of the forces of capital that have always been exploiting and oppressing the working class.

In many ways, it’s useful to point to Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire and the richest man in the world, hooting and hollering his way through the dissolution of our children’s schools and our parents’ social security. He makes the contradictions of capitalism clearer and more terrifying than they have been in our lifetimes. While Musk initially seemed to offer a liberal, technocratic, very online veneer to the ascendant new green tech sector of capital, socialists called bullshit years ago on this union-busting capitalist. The mask has now come off. Musk is a scion of global apartheid, as he makes explicit his sympathies with fascism that justify the large-scale labor exploitation and imperialist resource extraction that underlie his super-profits. 

As socialists, we are disgusted to see so little pushback to Trump’s amped-up second-term agenda from their neoliberal capitalist political “opposition” in the Democratic Party, nor from the donor-controlled institutes of higher education that are rolling over one by one to hand over students like Mahmoud Khalil to ICE thugs, nor from the hospitals that are pre-emptively refusing gender-affirming care for our community members who are in genuine need. We must remember that, for all the grotesque buffoonery that Musk and Trump (and their rogue’s gallery) put on display, when it comes down to it, they’re representing their class interests, and the ruling class at large seems to be just fine with it.

Fascism is capitalism in decay, and November’s election peeled off a bandage that covered a bone-deep rot. But as socialists, we know the cure. The working class is the agent of change. We outnumber the capitalists (and the goons who do their dirty work in institutions of power) by orders of magnitude, but we can only fight back if we’re organized in huge numbers across capitalism’s forced divisions, and that’s what we’re doing. While Democratic Party elites suggest it’s time to stand down, we know we must fight for full-throated demands by ordinary people for everything we need not just to survive, but thrive.

DSA chapters across the country are working alongside the Federal Unionists’ Network to organize federal workers to push back against the dismantling of their various agencies. We’re showing up in city council meetings to demand that sanctuary laws be passed to protect queer and trans members of our community. We’re standing with teachers and postal workers across the country to fight for education and the right to access information, and to protect and expand good union jobs. We’re fighting back against hospitals as they refuse to offer gender-affirming treatment and we’re demanding that universities across the country offer safe learning environments where students don’t have to fear being snatched by ICE. 

Our solidarity doesn’t stop at our borders, either; we continue to fight for Palestinian liberation and safety, against escalating military action in Yemen, against expansion of US military bases across the Pacific, against unjust embargoes that punish the working people of countries around the world, and alongside our comrades everywhere as they organize antifascist strategies for mass politics against a globally-ascendant right wing. 

We are proud to be among the convening organizations of the National March on Washington on April 5 to stop the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza — join us in DC if you can! The moment could not be more critical, and it is our responsibility to fight back against the Trump administration’s attempts at repression and come out in massive numbers.

We are stronger when we are organized, and that means putting ourselves into motion to fight for common socialist goals. It means organizing our time, our talents, and our resources. It means honing ourselves into socialist organizers who are ready with strong analysis and the organizing tools to put that analysis into real on-the-ground wins. It means building an enormous, strong, and flexible political instrument that’s ready to take on the capitalist class on every terrain: at the ballot box, the workplace, our homes, our broader communities, and the streets. 

If you’re not plugged into your DSA chapter yet, we encourage you to get involved today, whether it’s offering your time and skills to local work or a national committee (lots of fresh opportunities for the latter are below!), running for delegate for DSA’s biennial convention this summer, or even simply increasing your dues payment by a few dollars per month to help keep our organization stable and funded. 

We will see you in the fight!

Growth & Development Committee Steering Committee Application: Open Through 4/1

The Growth & Development Committee is seeking new applicants for its Steering Committee! Nine member leaders will be appointed by the National Political Committee to direct GDC’s work guiding membership growth, retention, chapter support, training and more. Applications will be open until 11:59pm PDT April 1st. Apply here.

State of DSA Reports — Listening Session #2

The Growth and Development Committee is launching a series of Listening Sessions as part of its State of DSA Reports project to bring organizers together to share experiences, reflect on our victories, and identify ways to tackle the challenges we all face.

Our second session is Thursday April 3rd at 8:30pm ET/7:30pm CT/6:30pm MT/5:30 PT, and will focus on activation and politicization. Once a member is engaged, what does continual development look like in your chapter? We’ll be talking through political education, leadership development, and democratic processes — come tell us what you think!

MAWG All Members Meeting for Spring 2025

DSA’s Mutual Aid Working Group (MAWG) has returned! We are here to help members and chapters organize mutual aid projects and offer our guidance with incorporating into the organizing work already happening across DSA. We believe in mutual aid as a positive force within DSA’s organizing work and hope to see it play a larger role in our impact as an organization. Our first all-member meeting of the year is coming up on Thursday April 3rd at 8:30pm ET/7:30pm CT/6:30pm MT/5:30pm PT! New and returning members are welcome as we discuss the future of mutual aid in DSA and hear from members on how MAWG can be of help!

AfroSoC is BACK with a New Executive Committee!

On February 28th, with 46 votes cast, the AfroSoC Caucus elected a new Executive Committee for 2025! Congratulations to Ciné J., Mary B., AJ W., Abel A., Syjil A., Jane M., Christopher W., Michael G., and Nxongotelo M. on their leadership!

Are you a BIPOC DSA member looking to engage with AfroSoC? Get involved by filling out our interest form to join our Slack, enlisting your local AfroSoC chapter, or signing up for a Working Group or Committee to help rebuild our national activities. Plus, don’t miss our Quarterly General Body Meeting on Thursday 4/10 at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT — Zoom link coming soon!

Extension of National Political Education Committee Application Window

The National Political Education Committee is seeking members with experience as educators both inside and outside of DSA to help us expand our national political education programs and provide chapters with up-to-date resources for their own local programs. We have extended the previous application deadline to April 6th, and encourage you to apply and pass the application along to your chapter’s poli-ed and/or communications team, as well as comrade-educators in your circles.  Please see the application form for further details. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to the Political Education Committee at politicaleducation@dsacommittees.org.

Apply for the National Budget & Finance Committee

DSA’s National Budget & Finance Committee is seeking applicants to fill a limited number of seats on the committee. Applications are due by April 7, 2025.

Budget & Finance is the national committee that works with the national Treasurer and staff to oversee our financial strategy, guide the NPC and Convention in allocating resources, and ensure transparency in our budgeting processes. It is a small working committee made up of members who have special interest or expertise in financial matters, budgeting, and related topics. The committee is currently starting work on the 2025 budget and planning for our next national convention.

Meetings are weekly, currently on Tuesdays at 5:30 ET. Due to the importance and specific required expertise for this work, potential committee members will be screened for credentials, background, and experience. If you’re a numbers nerd, current or ex-chapter treasurer, or have other finance/budgeting experience through DSA or externally, we encourage you to apply!

Fundraising Committee Office Hours

Join DSA National Development Director Tiffany and members of the Fundraising Committee on Tuesday, April 8th, 7:30pm ET/6:30pm CT/5:30pm MT/4:30pm PT for Fundraising Office Hours! We’ll keep a call open for any chapter leaders to ask questions about fundraising, including how to get ready for the 2025 DSA National Convention and how to support your chapter’s local work. Sign up here.

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