Where we left off

Five years ago I was at the counterprotests to Unite the Right, the fascist gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia, that culminated in a car attack that killed Heather Heyer and wounded many others, some quite seriously. I wrote about this for the PEWG Blog four years ago. I don’t need to rehash all the same things here, but I do want to reflect on the five years since.

I wrote that post from four years ago in part to promote the antifascist action that was coming up on August 18, 2018, and the educational panel ahead of it. As the post itself mentions, I was a speaker on that panel: Boston DSA’s speaker. It was a strange experience. I was used to protecting myself by being unnoticed. Being a speaker effectively made me a sort of VIP, one of the people that the security team – headed up by a dear friend and comrade who had been punched and stabbed at an antifascist action two weeks earlier – was there to safeguard. Some fascists did indeed show up and try to get in, albeit for apparent reconnaissance purposes more than mayhem. I didn’t know about it until the panel was over, because the security team did a great job. One guy that we’d never seen before did get in and record audio, but he wasn’t able to take video because, by his own admission, he knew that the security team would notice and bounce him.

The past and the present

On August 9 of last year, I was in Nashua, NH, hanging around outside a school board meeting with a handful of other people, including three other Boston DSA comrades. We were there in case fascists tried to crash or intimidate it. More than an hour into the meeting, the Nationalist Social Club (NSC-131) marched in, identically dressed and chanting in a group. The subset of people there who were active antifascist activists, including the four of us from Boston DSA, got in front of them. They came in shoving, grabbing one guy by the collar. We were able to arc their march to the other side of the street, so that our whole group was between them and the building. As we faced each other from across the street, one of their chants – presumably in recognition of it being two days before the anniversary of the A11 torchlight march – was “Jews will not replace us.” This was all pretty jarring for me, a direct reminder of being afraid that I would be dragged into a torch-wielding mob and mauled or killed. It brough up that same feeling of needing to be innocuous. But however unpleasant a walk down memory lane that was, it was still a memory rather than a repeat. I’ve put in a lot of work to prevent a repeat.

When I say that I’ve put in a lot of work to prevent a repeat, I mean some weeks where I spent 40+ hours doing antifascism (on top of my normal job). I mean time behind the scenes, time spent doing outreach and education, time spent in the streets. I mean getting in between our people and a guy swinging a hammer. I mean taking injuries and pepper-sprayings from both cops and fascists.

Which makes it all the more demeaning when people exclaim “Why isn’t anyone doing anything?” in response to a 4^th of July weekend march by Patriot Front (see an actual antifascist comrade’s statement on that), or in response to rallies from NSC. It also makes it all the more demeaning when people imply that commitment to antifascism is measured by whether you talk tough online or in street propaganda, whether you put “punch all the nazis” in your Twitter display name, or whether you have the right aesthetic. Or when people imply that because I don’t dress in black, that I owe a non-mutual gratitude toward those who do, or that my antifascist work is inherently lesser than theirs. Or that you need to be able to win a fight – something that’s always going to be unlikely for me for disability-related reasons – in order to properly be an antifascist.

NSC has gotten a lot of attention lately, in Boston and nationally, after they protested a Drag Queen Story Hour in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, and their founder and leader Chris Hood was arrested for attacking a counterprotester. They recently protested another Drag Queen Story Hour in the Seaport as well. A lot of people seem to think NSC is a new player (they aren’t – they started as the New England Nationalist Club in 2019 and have been active monthly for nearly a year and a half) and indicative of things “getting worse” in the Boston area vis-à-vis the far right. The transphobic threat aimed at drag queens has escalated over the last several years alongside a far-right obsession with hunting “pedophiles.” We badly need to develop effective means to address that threat as escalation manifests locally. But in a more general sense of how the Boston area is faring in the face of fascism, the alarmism is wrong on more than one level. I remember what Chris Hood was doing in early 2018. He was building the Boston-area chapter of a different neo-Nazi group, Patriot Front (which he founded). He was part of an alliance that included Proud Boys, militias, American Guard, and a future 1/6 Capitol Riots arrestee who helped beat up counterprotesters in Portland later that year. That alliance was aiming to be an East Coast version of the ones centered around Patriot Prayer that caused so much damage to so many people in Portland (if you look closely at the ThinkProgress article, you can see that infamous Portland-area goon Tiny Toese was in its chat). Its goals never came to fruition.

A theory interlude

I see a lot of confusion and debate about what antifascism is and what its role in the left is. Whether it needs to take on a wider range of evils in order to be justified. My position is that antifascism is reproductive labor for liberatory movements that the far-right would attack and disrupt, and for the multiracial, multiethnic, multigender working class to which it would lay waste. It’s the shield to the sword, and it’s okay that it’s not the sword. Antifascism is also unusual (though not unique) in our organizing, in that it pits organizer vs organizer, rather than organizer vs existing system. That necessitates different, if overlapping, strategies and tactics, compared to what’s needed to take on the status quo. That’s okay too – it’s part of being “the shield.” I sometimes see people devalue antifascism precisely because they see far-right organizers as small potatoes. But as organizers ourselves, who believe in the power of organizing to literally remake society, we of all people should understand why far-right organizing, in all of its ideological and strategic tendencies, is dangerous. Fighting it is a specific, highly detailed task, and it needs no larger justification.

Another misconception that I see frequently about antifascism is this idea that if enough people in a community just mobilize and say they don’t want fascists in their community, the fascists will go away. A radical version of this is the idea that if you go hard enough against one fascists rally, really shut it down, they’ll never come back. I suspect that many of my readers are leftist organizers. Would you stop organizing because a bunch of people expressed opposition to you one time? Would you leave a city that you had goals for, and never come back, or abandon a campaign that resonates with the people you’re trying to organize, because your opposition shut down a single rally? This is not to say that there’s no value in individual mobilizations (a sustained effort, after all, is made up in part of individual mobilizations). But to successfully undermine, disrupt, and even eventually break fascist organizing, antifascism requires sustained, multi-pronged work. Sometimes daily work.

It requires understanding the far right, too, in its many ideological and strategic forms. How do you analyze, prioritize, predict trends, when you don’t understand what you’re fighting? No more “we don’t need to know anything about our enemies or what they think” nonsense dressed up as antiracism. No more trying to fit every far-right group into the mold of either the Klan or the National Socialist Movement, or pretending for the sake of 101-level online talking points that all far-right groups have the exact same orientation (either pro or anti) toward the state and/or police. And I am begging everyone to please read about the multiracial far right, its dynamics and its gender politics, and then to stop pretending that everyone on the far right has the same primary motivating chauvinism. Or worse, that queerphobic and transphobic groups are merely using queerphobia and transphobia as a cover for their true evil, white supremacism, as though viciously reactionary gender politics were not also far-right ideology.

Onward, redux

Reading through this reflection, it feels a bit like a litany of complaints. But I mean to end on a hopeful note. There’s no happily ever after, and the last few years have unfortunately brought a lot of new people into the far right. But I’ve seen new people join the work to fight the far right, become organizers, build their skills, and do a great job. I’ve seen people do things they never believed that they would be able to do. And I’ve seen the impacts of that – the crumbling of fascist organizations, coalitions, and actions, the gradually-increasing public awareness, the interest and involvement from people I never would have expected to join in antifascist work. In 2018, we contained fascists who tried to disrupt a trans youth rally and pro-immigrant rallies. This year I’ve seen both those events happen without incident. In 2017, I saw a torchlight march end in a brutal attack, saw hours of street brutality, saw Heather Heyer die and a lot of other people get badly hurt. Now, many of the fascist groups that participated in those events, and even the ones that rose in their wake, have declined or disappeared thanks to the hard work of antifascists.

If there’s any message that I’m trying to convey here, it’s that that this work matters, and that people can learn to do it. You don’t have to be some kind of stereotypical badass (I’m not!). You just need to be willing to put in the work, to think through what you’re doing and why, to learn and develop and reflect. To quote the comrade whose statement on the 4^th of July Patriot Front march I linked to above: “Our work is amplified when we work together, and to do that takes the sort of trust built only by shared struggle and shared vision of a better future. I have spent many years working with Boston DSA. Here, and in other organizations, is where you can find the people you can work with to make a difference.”

Donate to the fund for survivors in Charlottesville who still have ongoing medical and psychological needs.

With the Supreme Court throwing out 50 years of legal precedence and overturning Roe v. Wade, the U.S. abortion rights movement is taking to the streets and becoming increasingly visible to protest this attack on our fundamental human rights.

During this time of heightened focus on abortion rights, you may see people wearing green at rallies and protests around the country — especially green bandanas or handkerchiefs. The connection between the color green and abortion rights started with the Marea Verde, or “green wave,” movement, which has spent decades fighting for the decriminalization of abortion in Latin American countries. While the U.S. is moving backwards in terms of abortion rights, Latin American abortion rights organizers have been seeing a wave of wins across the region, and the Marea Verde movement should be an inspiration to organizers in the U.S.

The Marea Verde movement traces its roots back to Colombia. In 2006, Women’s Link Worldwide filed a petition with the Colombian courts arguing that it was unconstitutional to consider abortion a crime under any circumstances. In a historic ruling, abortion was decriminalized in certain cases, including the health of the pregnant person, cases of rape, or unviable fetuses. This petition set off almost twenty years of abortion rights organizing across the region.

The association with the color green started in Argentina, inspired by the white handkerchief of the 1970s movement Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, which had protested the abduction and murder of children under the dictatorship at the time. In 2018, when Argentinian feminists took to the streets for abortion rights, many wore green handkerchiefs, or “pañuelo verde”,  as a nod to the Mothers of the Plazo de Mayo. The green handkerchiefs quickly spread through Latin America as a symbol of the abortion rights movement.

Though the region still has draconian abortion restrictions in countries such as  El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Honduras, there have been a series of monumental wins bolstered by the Marea Verde. In the last two years, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia — the three most populous countries in Latin America — have all decriminalized or legalized abortion.

Argentinian lawmakers passed a law in 2020 allowing abortion up to 14 weeks; in 2021, Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion; and in February 2022, the Colombian Constitutional Court issued a landmark ruling decriminalizing abortion on all grounds up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. In Chile, feminists have been at the center of mass protests and social upheaval that lead to a constitutional convention. In September 2022, Chileans will vote on a new constitution that includes the right to abortion.

The movement’s success is due to a variety of factors. Organizers focused on destigmatizing abortion and forcing conversations about abortion in the mainstream. A combination of legal challenges, mass protests, and public campaigns to change opinions was crucial. Though in the U.S., the language of choice and right to privacy is frequently used as arguments in favor of abortion rights, the Marea Verde organizers focused, instead, on abortion as an essential human right, and worked to highlight the connections between restrictions on abortion to all sorts of intersectionalities, including: sexuality, race, and class — linking their fight to a larger social justice movement that pushes back against all forms of oppression.

While abortion was legally protected in the U.S. by Roe v. Wade before it was overturned, issues of access have often been ignored, making abortion a “right” only on paper for poor people and people in marginalized communities. Latin American organizers demanded that abortion was not only legal and safe, but free as well, recognizing that poor people cannot be left out of this fundamental right. They also demanded inclusion for trans and non-binary people, acknowledging that not only women need abortion care, as is often ignored in the U.S..

If you wear green to an abortion rights protest, remember the legacy and ongoing fight of the Marea Verde in Latin America. By wearing green, we are connecting ourselves to an international movement greater than the U.S. With that in mind, it is important that we also commit ourselves to fighting for our Latinx comrades both abroad and at home, by opposing anti-immigration policies, fighting against the separation of families at the border, and opposing U.S. imperialism which exploits and oppresses our comrades across the world.

We must be united in the international struggle for the liberation of all people.

Tampa DSA’s Abortion Rights City Council Resolution

Update: Motion to vote on language submitted by Councilmember Hurtak, Councilmembers Maniscalco and Gudes motion to postpone until 08/18/2022 at 5:00 PM. Maniscalco-Gudes motion carries 4-1, Hurtak votes no.

WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Tampa honors the rights of pregnant people to bodily autonomy and control over their private medical decisions; and

WHEREAS, access to safe and legal abortion is a deciding factor in long-term health, safety, and quality of life; and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States hasoverturned the 1973 landmark ruling, Roe v. Wade, which previously prevented individual states from directly banning such care; and

WHEREAS, on April 14, 2022, Florida Governor Ron Desantis signed into law HB 5, which effective July 1st, criminalizes access to abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy; and

WHEREAS, Article I Section 23 of Florida’s State constitution guarantees all Floridians a Right of Privacy, a right that the Florida Supreme Court, in In re T.W., 551 So. 2d 1186 (Fla. 1989) ruled also extends to protecting the right to abortion. Article I Section 23 states, “Every natural person has the right to be left alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person’s private life…:”;

WHEREAS, anti-abortion clinics, commonly known as “crisis pregnancy centers” or “pregnancy resource centers”, use deceptive tactics and propaganda to dissuade people from seeking abortion services. These anti-abortion clinics don’t provide abortions, don’t offer a full range of reproductive healthcare, and are explicitly opposed to legal abortion;

WHEREAS, people have a basic human right to medical treatment, up to and including abortion; and

WHEREAS, eliminating legal access to abortion has been empirically proven to dramatically increase the risk of death, bodily injury, and infertility, especially within low-income communities and communities of color; and

WHEREAS, the resources of the City of Tampa must always be dedicated to the health and well-being of its residents; and

WHEREAS, the City Council has demonstrated its commitment to abortion access in Resolution No. 2019-837, wherein the City Council supported the Federal Medicare for All Act of 2019 which includes “reproductive care;” and

WHEREAS, the right to privacy should protect doctors, patients, and all others providing abortion-related medical care from any criminal investigation related to decisions made within the healthcare provider-patient relationship so long as those decisions occur without coercion, force, or negligence; and

WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Tampa has a responsibility to protect its residents from any violation of their human rights and any criminalization of the free exercise thereof;

NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TAMPA, FLORIDA:

That the City Council of the City of Tampa formally condemns any action intended to abrogate the fundamental liberties of its people and affirms its commitment to protecting the right of its residents to make reproductive health decisions, including abortion care, for themselves.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That the City Council of the City of Tampa will not approve the appropriation of funds for any action or activity that would abrogate or criminalize the rights of its residents to make reproductive health decisions, including abortion, for themselves. This further includes but is not limited to;

● Storing or cataloging any report of an abortion, miscarriage, or other reproductive healthcare act;

● Providing information to any other governmental body or agency about any abortion, miscarriage, or other reproductive healthcare act, unless such information is provided to defend the patient’s right to abortion care or the healthcare provider’s right to provide that care; or

● Conducting surveillance or collecting information related to an individual or organization for the purpose of determining whether an abortion has occurred, except for aggregated data without personally identifying information.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

The policy stated above does not apply in cases where coercion or force is used against the pregnant person, or in cases involving conduct criminally negligent to the health of the pregnant person seeking care.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That the City Council of the City of Tampa will not approve the appropriation of funds for any organization or entity operating a “crisis pregnancy center” or “pregnancy resource center” that is established with the explicit purpose of opposing legal abortion and dissuading pregnant people from seeking abortion services;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That the City Council of the City of Tampa’s approved appropriation of funds will reflect that the investigation or support for the prosecution of any allegation, charge, or information relating to any individual who seeks, provides, or supports abortion and abortion-related care will be the lowest priority for enforcement and the use of City resources and personnel.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That all proper officials of the City of Tampa are authorized to do all things necessary and proper in order to carry out and make effective the provisions of this Resolution.

The post Tampa DSA’s Abortion Rights City Council Resolution appeared first on Tampa DSA.

Round 1

• State Rep. Eric Morrison (RD-27, Glasgow, incumbent, DSA member)-the first openly gay man in the history of the Delaware General Assembly, everyone’s favorite progressive firebrand faces a primary challenge from Capitol Police Chief Michael Hertzfeld and Republican John Marino. Being that having a massive number of former police officers in the state legislature is a huge obstacle to enacting any type of police accountability in Delaware, it is crucial to defend Rep. Morrison’s seat.
• State Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton (RD-26, E. Newark, incumbent, DSA member)-the first Muslim in the history of Delaware legislature, as well as its youngest member, Rep. Wilson-Anton is best known for her fierce advocacy on environmental and housing issues. She too, faces a primary challenger (from Kelly Williams-Maresca, a self-described “fiscal conservative” who downplayed the January 6th coup attempt and compared it unfavorably to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, in addition to likening COVID restrictions to the Holocaust) as well as Republican opponent Timothy Conrad. Despite Maresca’s abhorrent views, she is being funded by Rep. Wilson-Anton’s archnemesis, corporatist Democrat, and Reybold Industries owner Jerry Heisler as well as the former Rep. John Viola who was defeated by Rep. Wilson-Anton last primary cycle.
• Rep. Larry Lambert-(RD-7, Claymont, incumbent)-Rep. Lambert is running unopposed this cycle, but we still want to re-endorse him and shout him out for his work on criminal justice reform, creating the Delaware EARNS program, and implementing environmental justice. Way to go, Rep. Lambert!
• Sen. Marie Pinkney-(SD-13, Bear, incumbent)-Sen. Pinkney, the first queer Black person in the Delaware General Assembly, is also running unopposed, but she has earned DSA’s re-endorsement. From her tireless work on giving Delaware its first-of-its-kind in the nation family/medical leave to a majority of its workforce by the middle of the decade to pushing through the “momnibus bill” to reduce the disparities in treatment that Black women face in maternal healthcare to offering a broader variety of healthcare options to women up and down the state, Sen. Pinkney has been our most tireless voice for justice in the Delaware State Senate. Thank you for all your hard work, Sen. Pinkney!

Round 2

• Wilmington City Councilwoman Shané Darby-Bey (RD-1, Wilmington, DSA member)-Councilwoman Darby-Bey from the 2nd Ward is taking on Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha, who has been in opposition to the tenants’ right to counsel despite his district having a very high proportion of renters. She is the founder of Black Mothers in Power, has been a vocal advocate for police reform, reproductive justice, and the Black Lives Matter movement, and is a young, dynamic voice for change. She also has experience working from the very bottom up in politics-before she was a city councilwoman, she worked with Co-Chair Jonathan while they attended Temple University together in the Residence Hall Association!
• Kyra Hoffner (SD-14, Smyrna) is in a clown car primary to take over the retiring Sen. Bruce Ennis against 4 all-male opponents who range from a union man and Representative District Democratic Committee Chairman to a two-time Trump supporter. She has been a fierce advocate against gun violence and for fair re-districting in Delaware. We know that Kyra’s good government advocacy will do a lot of good in Dover, where the Delaware Way and corruption bog down progress whenever we try to make it.
• Rep. Rae Moore (RD-8, Middletown), a progressive incumbent, is facing fierce opposition in the general election from a Republican who is being supported by Middletown’s Dixiecrat mayor and town councilmen. While her district should probably be safely Democratic, this Democratic opposition still puts her in unique danger. It is important to keep Rep. Moore in office as she is more quiet about it than our firebrand members in the legislature, she was both one of the driving forces behind the paid family and medical leave making it through the House even with its corporate Democratic leadership and a key hard-worker on much of the abortion justice progress we’ve seen in Delaware.
• DeShanna Neal (RD-13, Elsmere) is challenging House Majority Whip Rep. Larry Mitchell, who has been a major obstacle to police accountability efforts as a former police officer himself, and who has opposed even the most basic human rights for homeless people. DeShanna is a nationally known activist on behalf of their transgender daughter Trinity and would be the first nonbinary state legislator as well as the first Buddhist legislator in Delaware history. Currently, they sit on the Red Clay Consolidated School District’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee where they helped shepherd their first of its kind in Delaware trans-inclusive policies as well as the RD-13 Democratic Party Committee. We know that she will be a fierce advocate for LGBT, BIPOC, and low-income Delawareans, and while she has a Republican opponent, winning the nomination would almost certainly be tantamount to election given the makeup of her district.
• Kerri Evelyn Harris (RD-32, Dover) is running for Andria Bennett’s soon-to-be-vacated seat. The DNC National Committeewoman for Delaware, best known as Tom Carper’s DSA-endorsed 2018 primary challenger, is a disabled, biracial, Black, LGBT veteran (no, she was not cooked up in a DSA-ideal-candidate lab) in a race against Phil McGinnis, son of a Delaware politician and real estate agent, and two other more recent arrivals. Harris got enough national attention to bring DSA icon Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez here to the First State. She also will face the winner of the Republican primary in the fall, but winning her primary would likely amount to victory.
• Susan Clifford, (RD-39, Seaford) is facing House Minority Leader Danny Short in the general election, who has not faced Democratic opposition since 2008. While it is an uphill battle, due to Seaford diversifying and the district being redrawn, Clifford, the former Sussex County DSA branch chair (the Sussex and Kent branches have since merged into our Southern Delaware DSA branch) has a real shot. She is a tireless volunteer and canvasser, was big in the Bernie 2020 campaign in Delaware, and will be a much needed voice in Dover.
• Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown (RD-17, New Castle, unopposed). While Rep. Minor Brown is running unopposed, she has shown herself to be a strong progressive who has led the charge in maternal healthcare and reproductive justice, and continues to do so in her quest with Rep. Morrison to get Medicaid to fund abortions in Delaware. We are proud of you, Rep. Minor-Brown!

Round 3

• Sophie Phillips (RD-18, Bear, DSA member) is running in a primary against union man Martin Willis. Phillips recently obtained her Master’s Degree in energy and environmental public policy from the University of Delaware, started a community garden in the Southbridge neighborhood of Wilmington, and was Miss Delaware 2021. She has a lifelong passion for environmentalism and climate justice, and would be the first Jew of color and the first Asian American to ever serve in Delaware’s General Assembly as well as its youngest member. This is a very winnable primary for one of our members, as her opponent has yet to campaign as of this post, and there is no Republican opposition.

Round 4

• Becca Cotto (RD-6, North Wilmington, DSA member) is a tireless activist and educator from Brandywine Hundred who is now running to be a State Representative! She got her start in activism through the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign like so many of us did, and has since continued her work with Delaware United, the Delaware Working Families Party, and now Delaware DSA. She works as an an antiracism educator for a local nonprofit and serves on the RD-6 Democratic Party Committee. She was previously the vice chair of the New Castle County Democratic Party before running for office. We appreciate all of Becca’s hard work, as well as her refusal to take corporate money, and we know that she will be a fierce advocate for marginalized people in Dover when she gets down there!

Tonight we're joined live by the NewsGuild of New York's Chris Brooks and Stephanie Basile, two labor organizers on the front lines of some of today’s most exciting worker-led campaigns. We’ll be discussing trends in labor organizing, as seen in groundbreaking victories from workers at Amazon, Starbucks, Apple Stores, Trader Joe’s, and many more. What in labor history can help us understand this current moment, and how do we keep up the momentum?

 

Want to learn more about worker-led momentum organizing? Read Chris Brooks in In These Times: https://inthesetimes.com/article/amazon-starbucks-workers-organizing-unions-momentum-movement-moment

The membership of the Champlain Valley Democratic Socialists of America votes on the chapter’s endorsements. You can see three candidates’ responses to our questionnaire here. But since we didn’t endorse a candidate in every race, our electoral working group put together this guide to offer some unofficial recommendations and guidance on harm-reduction voting to help fill up the rest of your ballot if you’re so inclined. (Several candidates running for the Democratic nomination are members of the Vermont Progressive Party, whose own ballot does not feature any competitive races.)

US Senate

• We give Isaac Evans-Frantz credit for stepping up, when no one else would, to offer some kind of left-wing challenge to Peter Welch’s all but inevitable accession to the Leahy throne. Though he won the endorsement of the Progressive Party, Evans-Frantz’s campaign, based on a grab-bag platform of progressive policies, didn’t appear to find a popularly compelling point of focus or make any inroads with organized labor. Still, many of us may prefer to cast a ballot for an anti-war activist than for a longtime recipient of defense contractor donations.

US House of Representatives

• A few weeks ago, CVDSA endorsed the 27-year-old former congressional staffer Sianay Chase Clifford, based in part on her willingness to work directly with DSA to fight for socialist priorities on the federal level. Unfortunately, Sianay ran into fundraising challenges and dropped out on July 19, setting up a contest where outgoing  VT Senate Pro Tem Becca Balint gets to play the “progressive” against Molly Gray’s moderate. Since we tend to believe that either would end up a stock-standard Democrat in Congress, we’re not inclined to rescind our commitment to Sianay’s defunct campaign.

VT Lieutenant Governor

• Former Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman has represented the Progressive Party and, for better or worse, the left flank of Vermont politics for the past three decades. An organic farmer with a crunchy ideology to match, he is not a vocal socialist, but he has been endorsed by every labor union in the state. Patricia Preston and Kitty Toll are both candidates backed by the Dean-Leahy-Burlington Business Association faction of the Vermont Democratic Party that has previously fostered shining stars such as Molly Gray. Representative Charlie Kimbell is an ex-Republican and by far the most right-wing candidate in the race. CVDSA recommends Zuckerman.

VT Secretary of State

• While no candidates in the race have a left-wing or working-class ideology behind them, Montpelier City Clerk John Odum is pushing for the most good-government progressive reforms, such as ranked-choice, non-citizen, and 16- and 17-year-old voting. Odum also brings a fresh and rarely seen electoral perspective as an advocate for open-source technology and public ownership. Deputy Secretary of State Chris Winters has also voiced support for things such as ranked-choice voting and public financing of elections — as has Representative Sarah Copeland Hanzas, though while a chair of the State House’s Government Operations Committee, she has stood in the way of those reforms being passed.

VT Attorney General

• We have no real preference in this race. Charity Clark, chief of staff to former Attorney General and current Roblox employee TJ Donovan, seems likely to continue her boss’s policy of zero accountability for law enforcement in the state. Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault at least has some detailed plans for police oversight in the state, but remains a skeptic of life-saving measures such as safe injection sites for opiate users. If you are the protest vote type, former DSA endorsee Scott Pavek and VT ACLU chief Jay Diaz’s names have both been thrown forward as possible write-ins.

Chittenden County State’s Attorney

• We’ve heard that Republicans are pulling Democratic primary ballots specifically to vote for Ted Kenney, who represents a local instantiation of a nationwide fascist surge of carceral politics, focused for now on punishing and removing reformist prosecutors for often largely imaginary post-pandemic upticks in violent crime. In reality, Sarah George is not the reformer we’d like her to be — she has refused, for instance, to take a stand against solitary confinement — but Ted Kenney should be stopped.

Vermont State Senate - Chittenden central

• State Representative and DSA member Tanya Vyhovsky has been one of, if not the strongest voice for the interest of the working-class in Montpelier. Now running for the State Senate, it is critical that she continue to do the work. Erhard Mahnke has been a longtime advocate for affordable housing in the state and is a staunch Progressive. CVDSA ENDORSES TANYA VYHOVSKY and recommends Erhard Mahnke.

Vermont State House  - Chittenden 16

• Asked why she joined the race in Chittenden 16, first-time candidate Kate Logan told us that she is “running for office because I believe that working class and/or oppressed people need to run for office and serve as policy makers. Running for office is one of the things I am doing to cope with how hard it is to live in the status quo and build movements for a complete transformation of society and economy.” She’s running against a hand-picked ally of House Speaker Jill Krowinski, who proved herself an enemy of Vermont’s public sector workers in the last legislative session. CVDSA ENDORSES KATE LOGAN.

Vermont State House - Chittenden 15

•  DSA member and incumbent State Representative Brian Cina is running in a non-competitive race, but we hope that his supporters will show up to demonstrate that he has a strong base of support in Chittenden 15. Brian is a true Champ of Socialism™ who has fought in the legislature for public banking, reparations, and drug decriminalization. He supports mustache champion Troy Headrick, the only other candidate in Chittenden 15, for the district’s other seat.  CVDSA ENDORSES BRIAN CINA.

Supporters of Palestinian rights around the world are taking action to prevent the imminent displacement of at least 1,000 Palestinians, including 500 children from the Masafer Yatta region of the occupied West Bank, an area Israel has declared a military firing zone. On May 4th, 2022, the Israeli High Court issued its final decision in a decades-long case, rejecting the residents’ petition and giving the army the green light to force an entire Palestinian community out of their homes at a moment’s notice. The Israeli military has already begun displacements since the ruling, demolishing nine homes and leaving 45 Palestinians homeless on May 11. The declaration of firing zones is a common tool used by the Israeli government to confiscate Palestinian land, with about 18% of the West Bank having been confiscated in this way.

According to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, “[t]he Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” The article also prohibits the “[i]ndividual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory.” Forced displacement and transfer by Israel of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta would be a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime.

It is in this context that an Israeli military sniper intentionally assassinated Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during a night of protest and resistance by Indigenous Palestinians.  On the night of her death, Shireen Abu Akleh was wearing a bright blue press vest emblazoned with the word “PRESS.”  This clearly denoted herself as a journalist and, thus, protected by international law.  

We, Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of American (SVDSA), condemn the intentional assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh by settlers of an illegitimate state’s military.

We recognize the added attention that assassinated journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s status as a member of the press, as an American citizen, and as a Christian has brought to the issue of Palestine at large. But we also mourn countless other victims of the occupation whose deaths did not make the international spotlight, who may not fit the easy narrative of the “innocent” victim, who have no supposed privileged status in the eyes of the world, who may have taken up struggle by violent means. The Israeli occupation is wrong not because it targets children, or journalists, or the unarmed. It is not wrong for contravening international law on the duty of occupiers to the occupied. It is wrong, in the final sense, because from 1948 to the present day, Israel’s foundational imperative has been to obliterate the Palestinian people from the land and from history. In the words of Steven Salaita, “The settler doesn’t kill simply to produce death; he kills to negate the native’s existence.” As we oppose Shireen’s killing and as we oppose particular acts of displacement, we oppose the apartheid settler state of Israel in favor of a just future for all those indigenous to the land.

Furthermore, we recognize that the human rights of journalists, especially non-male journalists, are under attack internationally as the ruling classes of nation-states seek to consolidate their power through force.  We uphold the rights of journalists everywhere, and, in particular, the rights of non-male journalists, to hold the ruling class to account without fear of state repression.

Concerted pressure is needed to ensure that Israel does not expel the indigenous Palestinian residents of the villages in the Masafer Yatta area. We condemn past Israeli displacements of Palestinian villagers in this area, condemn the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh, and call on our elected congressional representatives (Anna Eshoo, Zoe Lofgren, Ro Khanna) to speak out against the forced displacement of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta as well as the assassination of Shireen.  

To take action, please use the following link to the petition: [ACTION ALERT] One of the Largest Expulsion of Palestinians Since 1967!

 

The post Statement on the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh appeared first on Silicon Valley DSA.

TAMPA, FL — 

The Tampa chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has developed a list of demands in response to the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court. This decision is an affront to bodily autonomy and democracy, and poses a mortal threat to the health and wellbeing of the working class. These demands are aimed at our elected officials and community members in positions of power, and we have called on members of the community to sign on to a petition for these demands. At the time of this press release, 208 local community members and organizations have signed on in support. 

Tampa DSA demands that:

• The City of Tampa refuse to enforce laws criminalizing abortion
• Mayor Jane Castor refuse to enforce laws criminalizing abortion
• Chief of Police Mary O’Connor instruct the Tampa Police Department to refuse to act against offenders of any laws criminalizing abortion
• State Attorney Andrew Warren uphold his statement pledging to abstain from prosecuting those who seek, provide, or support abortions
• Hillsborough County Sherrif, Chad Chronister, refuse to monitor or take action against offenders of any laws criminalizing abortion
• Various local institutions of power refuse to report any signs of miscarriage or self-managed abortion to the authorities, including public schools and healthcare institutions (Tampa General Hospital, USF Health, Advent Health, etc.)

“Many people in positions of power have come forward in opposition to stripping away reproductive rights, but they say very little about what they plan to do about it. Our mayor, city council, CEOs of hospital systems and clinics – they do have power and there are paths available to them to help protect our right to abortion despite this ruling. The question is: do they care enough about us to take a real stand and act?” – Alec J., member of Tampa DSA.
“Poor and working class people have long been criminalized by the local Tampa government,” said Sam M., member of Tampa DSA. “We cannot stand idly by and watch our communities face further persecution. We must demand that our local officials take action.”

The post TDSA Abortion Rights Press Release appeared first on Tampa DSA.

From New York to Los Angeles and everywhere in between socialists have been winning in local, state, and federal elections. Daniel and Mike from the National Electoral Committee join us to discuss recent victories, upcoming campaigns, and the challenges faced by the ascendent socialist movement in the years to come.