Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America supports strong legislative protections for public sector workers. We support a bill that will allow all public sector workers the same rights that other workers enjoy, to collectively bargain, including the right to strike. We support a bill that respects and celebrates public sector workers who contribute to the state of Colorado and its citizens every day. Colorado Springs DSA believes that public sector workers deserve a seat at the table and to be part of the decision making process in their workplace. Colorado Springs DSA supports a strong bill that gives public sector workers democracy, not just at the ballot box, but also in the space where they spend the largest portion of their waking lives.

The right to collectively bargain is a basic right enjoyed by most workers in the state of Colorado and throughout the U.S. To deny this right to workers serving the public is to tell firefighters, teachers, healthcare workers, and anyone that serves the community that they don’t deserve basic dignity. A strong bill granting public sector workers the right to do what any other worker can do is simply asking for respect and equality. This is what the Colorado Springs DSA stands for and nothing less. If Governor Polis is worried about the ability to strike, maybe he should ask himself why this would even be a concern. Is Governor Polis aware of the low pay, poor treatment, and mediocre benefits of the people who serve the citizens of Colorado?  Does he not care?  Is he worried that empowered workers might actually have a reason to strike?  

Colorado Springs DSA demands that any legislation pertaining to public sector workers’ rights be fair and equal, not simply meaningless gestures. If the bill moving forward creates no real or meaningful change, the bill is less than useless. Any bill not granting public sector workers the same rights as other workers is simply spitting in the face of public workers. A weakened bill tells public sector workers that they aren’t worth as much, and that’s something we cannot stand for. We believe in democracy in the workplace. We believe that public sector workers have every right to make their voice heard and have a real and meaningful say in how they spend the vast majority of their lives. Let it be clear, any bill that fails to give workers the right to strike and collectively bargain is a bill that Colorado Springs DSA will actively and vocally oppose.

Tim Ryan may think echoing Trump-style generalizations will win him Republican votes, but using fear-mongering tactics against Ohio families will do nothing to grow the working class’ prosperity or keep those at risk of racist violence safe. It is simply unacceptable and abhorrent. In a time when Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders regularly face racially-based violence, Ryan’s ad further fans the flames of xenophobic Republicans who would rather deflect the criticism of America’s ruling class onto Asian Americans than be held accountable for their part in the decline of good-paying, union jobs.

The decline of Ohio’s manufacturing is not the fault of China, or any other nation, it is because Ohio’s political class is more focused on coddling big business donors and promoting the interests of Wall Street than building the power of workers in government and their workplace. No matter how much politicians want to blame other countries, the decrease in workers’ wages is a failure of capitalism and its enablers in government. When politicians serve the bosses and not the workers, Ohio manufacturing will always be at risk of disappearing, and the profits of Ohio’s labor will always be in the pockets of corporate CEOs.

Columbus DSA stands in solidarity with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders of Ohio against racist attacks. We call on Tim Ryan to remove his disgusting ad, publicly apologize to the Ohioans he has put at risk, and change his campaign strategy to one that will actually promote workers’ interest: democratic ownership of their business.

We spoke with a Starbucks worker-organizer from Buffalo, NY back in January here on RPM, and since that time the fight has only gotten hotter. As of today, over 170 Starbucks locations in 27 states have filed for elections with the National Labor Relations Board – including several right here in New York City! With union victories in Buffalo, Arizona, Tennessee, at the heart of the Starbucks mythology in its hometown of Seattle, Washington, and more coming in every day, Starbucks corporate is upping the pressure on organizing workers and resorting to classic union-busting techniques. This month, DSA’s national labor commission launched a nation-wide campaign to engage DSA members and allies in support of coffee workers unionizing locally.  On tonight’s show, we’re live in the studio with Aimes, a Starbucks worker-organizer from the Starbucks Roastery in Chelsea, Manhattan, and Honda, from the national DSA Labor steering committee. We’ll be discussing Starbucks union campaigns in New York City, and what you can do to support local workers no matter where you’re tuning in from.

 

Follow @DSA_Labor and @SBWorkersUnited for updates on this campaign. Join Astoria Boulevard Starbucks worker-organizers for a rally on Friday, April 1 at 6pm outside their store at 3018 Astoria Boulevard, and follow them at @astoriablvdsbx. Solidarity to the worker-organizers of the Chelsea Reserve Roastery on their election on 4/1, and to all retail and service workers organizing today. 

Tonight we’re joined live in the studio by Sessi Kuwabara Blanchard  and Jacob Clary, organizers from NYC-DSA’s Socialist Drug Politics Organizing Committee. We discuss the class politics of drug use, overdose prevention centers AKA safe injection sites, and much more. Learn how the transformative perspective of socialist drug politics offers different ways of understanding drug use and the social forces that shape users' experience.

 

We also return to the South Bronx, where survivors of January’s devastating Twin Parks fire and their supporters are fighting for what they are owed from the city and landlord, in the face of corruption that may go all the way to the top of New York’s political structure. We speak to Ariadna Phillips from South Bronx Mutual Aid and Misra Walker from Take Back the Bronx on building real tenant power.

 

Follow the Socialist Drug Politics Organizing Committee on Twitter @socialistdrugs.

 

Join VOCAL-NY's Users Union for a Statewide Day of Action on April 7. The NYC event is a rally on the steps of City Hall at 11am. Sign up to receive more details here: https://vocal-ny.org/event/04-07-22-users-union-statewide-day-of-action/

Madison Area DSA’s Executive Committee condemns in the strongest possible terms the National Political Committee of DSA’s decision to de-charter the BDS & Palestine Solidarity Working Group. That the NPC would take this dramatic action to discipline an official working group composed of dedicated DSA members, while refusing to discipline a sitting Congressman with enormous power and a tenuous commitment to DSA, speaks volumes about their politics and priorities. 

The BDSWG was established by DSA’s National Convention, its highest decision-making body, in 2019. Numerous chapters and DSA members reiterated their support for the BDS & Palestine Solidarity Working Group throughout the fall and winter of 2021 and early 2022. The NPC didn’t acknowledge this outpouring as it was happening and continues to ignore the will of numerous chapters and DSA members with its actions now. The NPC reveals its total disdain for the will of the membership at large by de-chartering this working group with the smallest possible majority in a 9-8 vote. As socialists whose hopes for a better world lie in the self-activity of the grassroots and the rank and file, we find this profoundly despicable. 

The NPC claims to have made its decision out of a desire to uphold democratic norms and enforce accountability. But it is clear that de-chartering the working group was a politically motivated attack on a dissenting group through procedural means. We are deeply concerned about the precedent set by this decision. For a democratic, socialist organization to thrive, discussion, debate, and disagreement must be allowed. When dissent from leadership is met with harassment, discipline, and dissolution, the only purpose can be to stifle the very openness that produces the best politics. Similar tactics have destroyed other socialist organizations. 

We fear that there will be serious repercussions to the organization as a result of this decision. It is likely that the NPC’s decision will cause irreparable harm to our organization’s relationship to other Palestine liberation and solidarity organizations and activists, including activists in our own ranks. We also anticipate that many DSA members will choose to leave the organization, unwilling to continue under its banner after this. While this might be a happy byproduct for those interested in cultivating a more politically homogeneous group, we find it deeply regrettable. Over the course of the last five years, members of Madison Area DSA have worked hard to rebuild a thriving, active chapter, full of dedicated activists. It is frustrating that the NPC’s conduct might cost us members.

Finally, while this conduct from the NPC would be distressing in any context, the timing of this particular decision is especially upsetting. Israeli Apartheid Week – a global week of action denouncing apartheid – begins today, Monday, March 21, just three days after the NPC announced its elimination of our organization’s BDS & Palestine Solidarity Working Group. This decision also comes at a moment when the world’s response to Ukrainian suffering and struggle to defend its self-determination has so many of us reflecting on how differently the world responds to Palestinian pain and resistance. At precisely the moment when our organization should be coming together to resist imperialism everywhere and raise consciousness around these inconsistencies, the NPC divides us and attempts to fold a working group that was already engaged in that work.   

We call on the NPC to reverse this decision and lift its ban on leaders of the BDSWG holding other leadership positions. 

We offer our solidarity to the members of the BDSWG.

The Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America condemn the actions of the Colorado Springs Police Department for their undercover surveillance of Colorado Springs DSA members and actions, along with other local leftist organizations. Such surveillance is anti-democratic and is intended to intimidate left-leaning individuals in an effort to prevent organizing efforts that promote equity and justice and threaten the current distribution of power.

We call on all democratically elected city leaders to join us in publicly condemning the unwarranted undercover surveillance of above-ground democratic organizations. It is vital that our leadership sets a precedent for the city that any threats to our democratic process will not be tolerated. We citizens of Colorado Springs deserve to live in a city where we are free to exercise our democratic rights to organize peacefully for policies that reflect our values. Regardless of political orientation, all city leaders must come out against actions that undermine the very democratic process that got them elected so that we can continue to have free and fair elections for people of all political affiliations. A threat to one is a threat to all.

We also call on all leftist organizers, including Colorado Springs DSA members and others targeted by CSPD, to publicly condemn the actions of CSPD. In the face of aggression and intimidation, it is more important than ever for us to take a stand and let CSPD know that we will not back down from organizing for the change we want to see in the city. 

In addition to undercover surveillance, there have been allegations of attempts by CSPD to manufacture crime where there is none. Recently some leftists have reported attempts by the undercover officer, April Rogers (alias Chelsie Kurti), to entrap members of the leftist community into helping her acquire illegal firearms, as well as to lay the foundation for the organization of an armed left-wing militia. While we applaud the integrity of our leftist comrades in declining to cooperate, we must also take a stand against the efforts of CSPD to manufacture crime that could then be used to entrap naturally law-abiding members of the leftist community. 

We also call out the dishonesty in CSPD’s official media statement on their actions. Their insistence that, “CSPD does not target groups or organizations based upon political affiliation or ideology. We are committed to safeguarding our citizens’ constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and the right to assemble. CSPD does however investigate criminal activity or allegations of criminal activity even if that person is a member of a political organization,” is not only misleading to the public, but is also false. In addition to attempts to instigate criminal activity, officer April Rogers also committed a misdemeanor crime under Colorado State law for registering to vote under her false identity. These actions are not only hypocritical and indicative of police corruption, but are further signs of an abuse of power meant to oppress a left political movement.

As an official chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, we value the preservation and expansion of democracy to create a more just and equitable world for all. We will continue to organize for the realization of our values unabashed and unafraid, and we are dedicated to peacefully pushing back against any efforts to silence or intimidate our organization and our individual members. We stand together as proud champions of justice and democracy, now and always. 

After three long weeks, Putin’s war with Ukraine has devastated the region with mass shellings of Ukrainian towns and villages, and bombings that have included hospitals and kindergartens. All of this has been under the banal guise of a [quote] “special military operation”, words which ring hollow to any Leftist familiar with the lies of Imperial Powers. This assault has taken thousands of Ukrainian lives and made tens of thousands more into refugees. With lines of Russian tanks that stretch for miles, marching onward to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, it can be easy to forget that this war carries the weight of history. To explore some of the deeper, historical complexities that led to this war, covering past, present, and future, we talked with Volodymyr Ishchenko, a Ukrainian sociologist and scholar of Eastern European history. Meanwhile back here in New York City, tens of thousands suffer under the regime of mass incarceration. Starting at the age of 15, Prakash Churaman lost six years of his life in pretrial detention after being forced into a false confession by the NYPD. Authorities claim he murdered his best friend, but there is no physical or forensic evidence linking him to the crime. Only the words of a scared, young kid locked in a room. Prakash proclaims his innocence and refuses to take any plea deal. Despite limited access to the outside world, Prakash organized to gather bail money for his release. Last week we spoke with Prakash and his lawyer Jose Nieves about his story and the Free Prakash Alliance.

The city of Lakeland is in talks about further criminalizing homelessness and poverty as well as cracking down on the organizations who step in to help their neighbors.
Private citizens and organizations have been handing out food to anyone in need for years in public parks like Munn Park, Webster Park and Dobbins Park with the support of the community. These organizations are providing hundreds of meals and drinks, free clothing, hygiene and personal supplies, books and art supplies, and more to anyone in need in Lakeland.
People will often walk up to tables and give kind words and even offer to come back with donations. Community members support these programs and it’s their encouragement that keeps them going. These organizations are led by local citizens who got started because everyday people are coming up and asking for help.
It’s a misconception that the only people who need help are unhoused. There are working people who can’t afford lunch, elderly people on fixed income, families and children who have run out of benefits for the month, people with disabilities, and people who just find themselves needing some extra help that day.
All of the groups who are providing mutual aid and services to their community are well within their rights to do so. As noted by the city attorney in the linked Ledger article, public sharing of food is legally considered a protected First Amendment right that’s strongly protected in places like public parks and sidewalks. There’s been many court cases establishing that limiting the ability to provide free meals to the public is a violation of free speech and free association.
If you support this kind of work and enjoy living in a community that is made up of active and compassionate people, please use the QR code in the graphic or follow the link below to send a letter to the Lakeland City Commission and the Mayor telling them that you do not want further criminalization of homelessness and you do not want laws passed preventing churches, organizations, or private citizens from helping their neighbors and community.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-anti-homeless-measures-in-lakeland

By Pinellas DSA member Bruce Nissen

Editors note: at the end of this post, you will find a link to a presentation by Bruce Nissen on this subject, as a supplement to this post.

As a DSA member who is over 70 years old, I’m finding that a lot of my young comrades are very curious about what it was like in the 1960s and early 1970s. And, mystifying to me, a number of them are fascinated by tales I can tell of my “radical student days” during those years. I’ve never thought my own life was all that interesting, but I will admit that the late 1960s were indeed very, very interesting times. I am very grateful that I came to political maturity in that period; it certainly shaped the trajectory of rest of my life.

One enormous part of the 1960s campus milieu was the music. Especially folk music and rock music were integral to the emerging “youth culture,” and some of it took on a decidedly political tone. Here I want to highlight one very radical singer-songwriter of the time who apparently very few of my younger friends have ever heard of. I saw him live numerous times; he was a major radicalizing force to me and many others. He was one of my heroes.

His name was Phil Ochs. He was a contemporary of Bob Dylan and they both emerged from the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early/mid-sixties. Dylan of course went on to fame and fortune and a long life. Phil had a much more tragic trajectory; he took his own life in 1976 when at the bottom of one of his manic-depressive cycles. Despite this sad ending, Phil was an incredible songwriter and performer who influenced many of us at the time.

What I want to do here is introduce my younger DSA comrades to Phil Ochs, primarily through exposure to his songs and performances. What follows is a series of links to YouTube videos of Phil Ochs performances.

Many (although not all) of Phil’s songs were topical commentaries on the events of the day. With the Vietnam War raging, opposition to that war was a common Phil Ochs topic. Here is Draft Dodger Rag, one of the first of his songs I ever heard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFFOUkipI4U

Another anthem of the anti-Vietnam War movement was his song I Ain’t Marching Anymore:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRU_ruqnR6Q

And as the war dragged on into the 1970s, his song The War is Over was his attempt to hasten its demise. Here he is performing it live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOs9xYUjY4I

Of course, the Vietnam War was not his only target. Here is his anthem against police, I Kill Therefore I Am: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQBLBvi67fw

Some of his music consisted of tributes to those songwriters who had gone before him who he admired. One was Woody Guthrie, America’s troubadour who wrote This Land is Your Land and many other songs, and who was much more radical than the sanitized version of him that has been passed down to us. Here is Phil’s salute to Woody, Bound for Glory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xONuHXndRuI

Another radical singer/songwriter of earlier vintage that he greatly admired was Joe Hill, the organizer for the radical union the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or Wobblies). Here is Phil’s song The Ballad of Joe Hill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kozWk8Ff_Xg

Not all of Phil Och’s songs were overtly political. He also wrote some haunting ballads that are more personal. Here I want to simply highlight two that have been covered by many other artists. First up, perhaps his most beautiful song of all time, Changes (this one has a lot of great pictures of Phil in the video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlVfVBFdMaM

And his There But for Fortune has also been covered by many other artists and folksingers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smlg7sPUmRs

There are so many more Phil Ochs songs that are burned into my brain, but I fear that this could go on too long, so I won’t put any more in this article. In his final years, as his life was unravelling he went through a “gold lame suit” Elvis Presley-Merle Haggard phase that failed to connect his radical politics with his gestures toward American pop culture: his old fans hated it and apolitical pop music fans did not pick up on his music at all. Near the end he wrote some extremely poignant and revealing songs, like Crucifixion, Another Age, My Life, Chords of Fame and others. You can find almost all of these and many more on YouTube. In addition a fair bit of his music is possible to buy. There is a documentary film on his life There But for Fortune and folk musicians still celebrate his life and legacy through tribute get-togethers around the country.

He was an extremely flawed human being. But at the time he was my hero. I’m hard pressed to think of any contemporary vocal artists today who play a similar role to the one he played in the 1964–1974 period. I believe my young DSA comrades would benefit from an acquaintance with his work.

A presentation on the subject by the author can be found here: https://youtu.be/JFMPEfUoz6s