Happy New Year! Here’s your January Dispatch. This month, stand up for peace in Palestine, hear from union workers on our Green New Deal work, and more. Read on to get involved. 

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 Maria — Let’s Continue the Class Struggle
• No More Money for Massacres! Sign Up for Ceasefire Phonebanks Thursdays in January
• Sunday 1/21 — Join Our Workers and the World Unite: Labor in a Green New Deal Call
• New Year, New You, New Dues — Switch to Solidarity Dues for 2024! Plus Chapter Trainings Sunday 1/21 and Tuesday 1/23
• ICYMI — Free Subscription to In These Times for DSA Members!
• Apply for the DSA Growth and Development Committee

From Maria — Let’s Continue the Class Struggle

Two weeks into 2024, it feels like we’re heading into a dark place again. When the COVID pandemic hit, our movement lacked the power to transform society to one based on solidarity and democracy. The ruling class accelerated their pillage of the working class and our planet. The far right is ascending across the globe, and our own government is funding mass bombing and starvation. 

But I have hope. Our work — for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, for strong unions, for bridging and enhancing our power in arenas of struggle from politics to the streets — is what will save us. And we’re part of a much larger set of working class movements on the rise.

I refuse to give in to nihilism. We have the energy and the people. What we need now is a plan. How can we harness our collective power most strategically in 2024, an election year? Both leading candidates for President are unpopular. Many voters are disgusted with politics in general, yet millions still see it as their main way to engage. 

How do we navigate the existing political system while also raising expectations for something better? What is the most effective way to move in our workplaces and communities? One hundred and twelve years after the famous “Bread and Roses” Lawrence Textile Strike, how do we leverage our power in the economy and win the power to govern too? Now is the time to decide, together, where we need to be in November and how to build towards that goal.

Socialists approach these questions not from an individual perspective or through tinkering at the top. We look at the structures of society and we know our power comes from the base. History is made by mass movements — so what is our role in this moment?

DSA has a unique democratic structure that, however messy, allows us to make these decisions and plans together. Let’s make a New Year’s resolution to analyze the moment with clear eyes and then get to work.

Maria Svart
DSA National Director

No More Money for Massacres! Sign Up for Ceasefire Phonebanks Thursdays in January

Stand with DSA members and U.S. Representatives Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib to demand a ceasefire now! DSA members across the country are calling for de-escalation, stopping additional US military aid to Israel, and the protection of millions of civilians. Join our No Money for Massacres phonebanks every Thursday this January. And check out our Palestine Solidarity National Toolkit to learn how you can stay informed, take action, and work for peace and liberation.

Sunday 1/21 — Join Our Workers and the World Unite: Labor in a Green New Deal Call

How would an ecosocialist Green New Deal change work and labor, and what is the role of unions, bargaining for the common good, and rank-and-file organizing in helping us win Green New Deal struggles in the near and long terms?

Join DSA’s GND Campaign Commission and National Labor Commission to hear from organizers about their work and how it fits into the theory and practice of a just transition and socialist horizon! The call will be held on Sunday 1/21 at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT.

New Year, New You, New Dues — Switch to Solidarity Dues for 2024! Plus Chapter Trainings Sunday 1/21 and Tuesday 1/23

Kick off 2024 with a resolution to stand in solidarity with the working class by making the switch to Solidarity Dues. We can fight for more in 2024, but to build real power, we must fund our own work. Give your 1% for the 99% by committing to Solidarity Dues today!

Already made the switch and ready to ask your comrades to do the same? Sign up for a Solidarity Dues phonebank and bring your chapter to a Solidarity Dues training Sunday 1/21 or Tuesday 1/23.

ICYMI — Free Subscription to In These Times for DSA Members!

Did you resolve to do more reading this year? Support quality reporting on socialist organizing — In These Times is offering a free subscription to DSA members! Click here to sign up. And enjoy your reading!

Apply for the DSA Growth and Development Committee

We want to share important news regarding the national DSA Growth and Development Committee (GDC) leadership! 

After more than a year and a half of dedicated service, Kristian Hernandez and Beth Huang are stepping down as DSA GDC Co-Chairs. We express our sincere gratitude for their contributions in fostering our organization’s growth.

We welcome Colleen Johnston (Denver) and Shane Katz (Baltimore) as the new Co-Chairs of the DSA GDC. Additionally, we are excited to introduce the new GDC Steering Committee of National Political Committee (NPC) members Alex Pellitteri (NYC), Frances Gill (Los Angeles), Sam Heft-Luthy (San Francisco), and Rashad X (Lakefront), as well as (non-NPC members) Michaela Brangan (River Valley), Sarah Callahan (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky), Beth Huang (Ithaca), Justin Charles (NYC), Alex Finch (Chicago), Kara Hall Zuniga (Las Vegas), Kristian Hernandez (North Texas), and Josh Rusinov (Northern NJ). Together, this team of committed individuals is poised to drive our growth initiatives forward.

The GDC is the primary internal organizing committee for DSA. We develop and implement strategies and programs to grow and sustain DSA, including recruitment and retention drives, surveys, leadership training, chapter mentorship and grants, and more.

Interested in learning more about the GDC? Read our 2023 Convention Report here! Want to get involved? Apply to the GDC here!

The post Continue the Class Struggle — Your January Dispatch appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

2023 was the hottest year on record and for many people across the country being able to afford  their utility bills to cool or heat their homes during the more extreme temperatures caused by climate change is becoming a possibly deadly challenge. Last year, Maine DSA was part of a statewide coalition called Pine Tree Power that attempted to take over the two largest corporate utilities in the state through a ballot measure in November. They didn’t win. But here on Revolutions Per Minute we are just as interested in talking about losses as we are victories. Tonight, we’ll go to Maine and talk with Aarron and Dwight about the struggles of organizing in a rural state and the lessons they learned from their Public Power campaign. 

We’ll also check in with Chen from the New York City EcoSocialist Working Group for an update on the state of renewable energy development in New York (spoiler alert: the private market is in shambles) and what comes next for implementing the Build Public Renewables Act. 

Follow Maine DSA and our guests at @DSA_Maine, @bioleera, and @dwobbsy.

Follow New York City EcoSocialist Working Group at @NYCDSA_Ecosoc

DSA SF is proud to stand behind our socialist-in-office D5 Supervisor Dean Preston, who led the way for San Francisco to become the largest city in the country to pass a ceasefire resolution.

We are honored to have worked with and followed the lead of tireless organizers from coalition partners including AROC, CAIR, JVP on this historic resolution.

This success was only made possible by all the calls, emails, public comment, and office visits from the people of San Francisco. Tens of thousands have mobilized in the streets and an unprecedented thousands more filled City Hall to voice their support.

We, the city of San Francisco, demand CEASEFIRE NOW.

While we celebrate the passage of this resolution in San Francisco, we cannot ignore the fight ahead of us. Millions of Palestinians are still in danger and the machinery of capitalism and colonialism grinds ceaselessly.

A ceasefire will only slow the decades-long genocide. We continue to fight to end the siege on Gaza, to free all Palestinian prisoners, to end US military aid to Israel, and an end to the occupation.

Get involved! Join DSA or any of the other organizations involved in the struggle.

https://dsasf.org/join

by Sara G.

Since October 7th, DSA members and allies have made over 330,000 calls to voters to talk to them about the war in Gaza, resulting in thousands of calls and over 20,000 emails to Congress demanding a ceasefire. The No Money for Massacres (NMFM) campaign has hosted roughly one phone bank a week since mid-October. At first the phone banks were restricted to DSA members but now they are open to all, with 20-90 attendees from around the U.S. per phone bank. Some phone banks have had special guest speakers like NYC Assembly members Zohran Mamdani and Sarahana Shrestha. Others have featured chapters reporting back on their local campaigns in support of Palestinian liberation. The events tend to be high-spirited, with participants excited to work with sympathetic comrades to do what we can to lessen the horror unfolding in Gaza.

Although we can’t prove direct causation, congressional targets have changed their messaging after these phone banks. We shouldn’t overeestimate our direct impact, but we have helped change the tone of congressional discussion of the genocide. In early October, when only the Squad was brave enough to call for a ceasefire, the White House Press Secretary said that representatives calling for a ceasefire and not supporting Israel were “wrong” and “disgraceful.” Now 18 reps have signed onto Representative Cori Bush’s ceasefire bill and more than 60 Congress members have expressed support for a ceasefire. In Austin, a NMFM phone bank targeted Representative Casar and he signed onto the resolution the very next day. Representative Doggett similarly signed a letter of support for a ceasefire right after being targeted by NMFM. Congressional staffers have reported that legislators have felt pressured by our phone banks and that the vast calls for support of Gaza have raised the morale of friendly legislators and staffers. Contacts in Washington and the results we see online tell us that there’s a link between our phone banks and later demands for a ceasefire from Congress. Who wouldn’t forgive the rooster for thinking he can at least predict the sun? 

We’ve had this impact because of strategic planning on the part of the informal organizing team that has developed around the phone banks. Politically savvy members are researching legislators and choosing targets who are likely to flip or who are strategically important. We’ve formed coalitions with other organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace to multiply our impact. We watch for congressional statements daily and adjust our messaging to stay relevant and make the most powerful argument for each legislator. Lastly, we have experienced campaigners building the call list of members, allies, and local voters who would be most receptive to our calls. The experience of the organizing team and the advantages of scale mean that anyone participating in a phone bank is magnifying their impact beyond what they could have by calling their Representative alone.

Unfortunately the situation in Gaza is still dire, so we are still making calls, and there are more opportunities to join us in this campaign. New phone banks are posted weekly. After getting your feet wet, you may find additional ways to increase your contribution. I have acted as Zoom bouncer and vibe promoter in addition to dialing hundreds of numbers and talking to voters about Palestine. I hope to see the next phone bank top 100 callers as we grow the movement.

The post DSA Pushing US Officials to Support Cease Fire in Gaza first appeared on Red Fault.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 1/10 (6:45 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.): January Chapter Meeting (Zoom and in person at 209 Golden Gate Avenue. Doors open at 6:45 p.m., meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.)

Thursday, 1/11 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.): Ecosocialist Monthly Meeting (Zoom)

Friday, 1/12 (12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.): Office Hours (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Wednesday, 1/17 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.): What is DSA? (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Thursday, 1/18 (6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.): Labor Movie Night: Matewan (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Monday, 1/22 (6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.): SHOP Training with the Tenant Organizing WG (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Wednesday, 1/24 (6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): HWG Reading Group: Mean Streets (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, 1/27 (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

January Chapter Meeting Tomorrow (1/10)

The first chapter meeting of the year is coming up tomorrow, January 10th from 6:45 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.! You can attend via Zoom or in person at UNITE HERE Local 2 at 209 Golden Gate Avenue. It’s a busy agenda, with:

• updates from Silicon Valley DSA
• our very own Extreme Dean giving updates on goings-on at City Hall
• a recap of recent Palestine solidarity actions
• an overview of our 2023 budget and finances
• a first reading of an amendment to our elections process bylaws

We will be also voting on some business at the chapter meeting, including:

• electing Chapter Coordination Committee (CCC) co-chairs. You can submit your nominations for CCC co-chairs here, and view the list of nominees and their questionnaire responses before the vote.
• voting on chartering a Palestine Solidarity Working Group
• voting on Resolution: For an Anti-Zionist DSA SF in Both Principle and Practice
• voting on the January – June 2024 chapter budget (both a budget resolution and approving the budget itself)

Labor Movie Night: Matewan

Come join us for a Labor movie night at the DSA SF office at 1916 McAllister on January 18th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. We will be watching Matewan (1987), a film dramatizes the events of the Battle of Matewan, a coal miners’ strike in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia. Made in 1987, this film is arguably an even more relevant, cautionary tale today than ever before.

There will be food and drinks provided!

This event will be mask optional but highly recommended. 

Join the Tenant Organizing Working Group for SHOP Training!

Come join the DSA Tenant Organizing Working Group for the final two parts of a three-part training to develop successful socialist tenant organizers.

The Socialist Housing Organizing Program (SHOP) started yesterday with a study group to discuss how housing developed as a commodity under capitalism, and why the market will never solve the housing crisis. Part 2 is a training on tenants’ rights in San Francisco. Part 3 covers the basics  of an organizing conversation to recruit your neighbors to the tenant union.

You can attend upcoming trainings are at the following times:

• Monday, January 22nd at 6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, February 6th at 6:30 p.m.

All trainings to take place at the DSA SF office at 1916 McAllister. Zoom is available upon request. Register today!

Mutual Aid Priority WG Has a New Meeting Schedule!

The Mutual Aid Priority Working Group has an updated schedule! The working group will be meeting every other Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

If you are interested in diving into DSA SF mutual aid projects this year, our first meeting of 2024 will be on January 16th starting at 7:00 p.m. Currently, our working group is building out capacity for several existing projects, including smolidarity/childwatch, outreach for Extreme Dean, and union and strike support. Check out the #priority-mutual-aid channel on Slack to help us strategize, develop new mutual aid projects, and help our fellow San Franciscans through the power of organizing!

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.

Chapter Statement Jan 9, 2024

In response to an attack article in CNYcentral from a right-wing propaganda group.

Syracuse DSA proudly endorsed several candidates in 2021, recognizing their tireless advocacy for the needs of all children in Syracuse. We stand firm in our support of our endorsees. The ‘report’ by Parents Defending Education – a group akin to Moms for Liberty and known for spreading disinformation and fear-mongering – creates a false equivalence between those working to fund and build up our public education system and those ideologically committed to dismantling it.

These far-right groups whitewash history, erase cultural diversity and identities, and seek the wholesale destruction of the public education system. Syracuse DSA supports policies to strengthen our public education system – including the principles of community care instead of juvenile policing (Care, not Cops). In contrast to the right-wing agenda of indoctrination, we embrace students’ varying cultural backgrounds and reject a learning environment that forces assimilation and ideological conformity.

We reject the unfounded allegations made by right-wing educational groups as well as their  support for the school-to-prison pipeline. It is no surprise to us that these groups have no objections to funding genocide in other contexts. Syracuse DSA welcomes those standing for and with public schools and invites them to seek our endorsement next election.

The post Defending Public Education appeared first on Syracuse DSA.

FedEx workers had enough of impossible workloads and understaffing — so they organized.

The post All It Takes Is One: How an Injury on the Job Spurred Organizing Efforts at FedEx appeared first on EWOC.

The Road to Convention | Register, Read Proposals, Attend Events!

We are now on the road to the 2024 NNJ DSA Convention! All submitted resolutions, priority campaigns, EC Candidate Questionnaires are now live! Amendments to these proposals are due a week from tonight, Sunday, January 14th. We’ve also announced a few more events to support Convention, facilitate more political discussion, learn how the rules of Convention go, and even party it up with a social the night before!

View Proposals here

Submit Amendments here.

RSVP for Roberts Rules Training

RSVP for Run for EC Leadership Forum

Jan 27th Our Political Moment in NJ Forum & Social – LOCATION TBA

RSVP for 2024 Convention

Check (and even save to your Calendar) the chapter Calendar to register for events and see in-person locations for some supplemental events. The Convention itself is totally on Zoom.

If you’re not a Member in good standing, go ahead and pay dues to get access to view proposals. If you want to make sure you are up to date on when all things in the chapter are happening, and to be involved in the discussions about future projects and organizing, Join our Chapter Slack by attending our new member orientation Sat. January 20th at 11AM.

The post The Road to Convention | Register, Read Proposals, Attend Events! first appeared on North NJ DSA.

by Gregory Lebens-Higgins

The following comments are from a rally and community speak out calling for justice and accountability for the killing of Todd Novick. On Christmas Eve, Todd Novick was shot multiple times in the back by an RPD officer following an eight-second foot chase.

I am the Secretary of the Rochester Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, and a public defender.

I applaud the call of DSA-endorsed Councilmembers Stanley Martin, Kim Smith, and Mary Lupien, for an independent and transparent investigation into the killing of Todd Novick, and a review of RPD policies regarding foot pursuits.

In 2022, Chicago Police adopted a policy restricting foot chases for minor offenses after 13-year-old Adam Toledo was shot and killed by police while his hands were raised. The policy restricts police from conducting a foot pursuit based solely on a person’s response to the presence of police, acknowledging that people may avoid contact with police for reasons other than involvement in criminal activity. Police are instructed to engage in foot pursuits only if there is a valid law enforcement need to detain the person, including the commission of a felony, class A misdemeanor, or physical threat.

Given the overcriminalization of human behavior, however, and noting that “retail theft” is an example where foot chases remain permitted, I am pessimistic about the real impact of such a policy.

De-escalation techniques among RPD officers are also sorely lacking. Prior to killing Todd Novick, the as-yet unnamed officer’s interaction took a condescending tone, and he shot Todd in the back before he had time to respond to the officer’s command to “drop the gun.”

It is also important that the Rochester Police Accountability Board be fully empowered to investigate, so that our community members can provide oversight, rather than a coverup by the Attorney General and RPD.

Ultimately, as activists and organizers, we must not focus our energy on mere police reform. We cannot reform a system premised on the violent protection of private property and maintenance of class hierarchy. To quote Alex Vitale’s The End of Policing,

“The basic nature of the law and the police, since its earliest origins, is to be a tool for managing inequality and maintaining the status quo. Police reforms that fail to directly address this reality are doomed to reproduce it.”

Real public safety includes providing reliable housing, accessible healthcare, and robust education. We must disinvest from state violence and reinvest in these forms of protection.

WE KEEP US SAFE, by organizing and building community. We fight against the alienation of capitalism by respecting one another’s humanity, learning from one another, and working together. If you are not yet a member of an abolitionist organization, join one.

To echo comrade Stanley Martin, “The killing of any member of our community, especially by law enforcement, is a failure of our city and public safety systems.”

We can do better. We must do better. Together, a better world is possible.

The post Justice for Todd Novick: Rally and Community Speak Out, Rochester City Hall (January 6, 2024) first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) buses can be miserable to use. Buses are infrequent, arrive late, and skip stops. Bus stops can be hard to get to, sometimes with nowhere to sit or shelter while waiting. Trips that ought to take 30 minutes can take hours depending on the day. Overall, riding the bus is so inconvenient that most Charlotteans don’t even consider taking the bus. Therefore, only those who truly rely on the bus system tend to experience its failures. This fact is often shrugged off by Democrats – after all, most people have cars – and justified by Republicans as a punishment for poverty. As socialists, we see this is a tragedy needing an urgent solution.

Mass public transit is a crucial service for the city. It’s a substantially cheaper, safer, and even more dignified form of transportation than our current car-centered system. Mass transit relieves us of the need to purchase, maintain, and pay debt on a car. Mass transit takes vehicles off the road, resulting in quieter streets and less polluted air. Mass transit recognizes that the ability to get to work, run errands, and explore our city should be shared equally, connecting rather than separating us.

This year the Charlotte Metro DSA is launching the Charlotte for CATS campaign. We demand that CATS become the mass public transit system that Charlotte needs. Since the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, CATS has fallen into disrepair. Mired in scandals, CATS is under-performing and under pressure to change. Rather than give in to this situation and let the bus system leave behind those who depend on it, we can turn the situation around. CATS can operate for the benefit of all.

Join us today and let the city know: CATS service levels must be improved!

Solidarity Forever,

Charlotte Metro Democratic Socialists of America Steering Committee