Cindy is 65 years old, disabled, and lives on the third floor of a Siegel Suites apartment complex with a broken elevator. Due to her disability, the broken elevator makes it impossible for her to bring groceries up to her apartment or do laundry without help. Her rent of $1800+ per month makes it difficult for her to save up and find a new place to live. Siegel Suites preys on their tenants, trapping them with high rents while ignoring basic repairs and maintenance.

We’re collecting stories from tenants about their living situations and predatory landlords. Have a story you’d like to share? Fill out our tenant incident report form.

Want to get involved in our housing justice work? Join us for our next meeting September 12th @ 6pm.

Join us for our monthly meeting and coffee hour! Non-members, both socialist and socialist-curious are encouraged to attend. Our first hour is dedicated to chapter business, with committee reports, updates, announcements, and other chapter news. Then at 5 pm we break for a more free flowing discussion or presentation.

This month, a representative from LEAN (Law Enforcement Accountability Network) will discuss an important case concerning racial justice in our city. Coffee and treats served!

This was an exhausting weekend. Super hot too. But we made tons of new community connections at the all day Saturday Pride Festival, and our button making station was a big hit. We had a good playlist that we blasted from our PA during the Sunday Pride Parade, and for Labor Day we narrowed it down to three solid labor songs.

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Sarah demonstrates our button making station. People could choose from our designs, or they could draw one of their own (popular with kids).

The good folks at Worx have put together a beginner swag shop for us. Worx is a union cooperative, and they offer print-on-demand custom branded swag, union printed with a bug. A beginner store is 3 items. We went for the t-shirt in both regular and femme cut, and the hoodie. They threw in a tote bag as well. Additional items will include a set-up fee, but the hosting is free. We make no profit from the swag, so it all goes to the workers. Click on the image to see the store.

Join us as we celebrate our 200th episode! We’ve been broadcasting on WBAI and online for almost five years and in that time, have featured the stories of hundreds of workers, tenants, and organizers fighting for socialism in New York City, in the United States, and around the globe. It’s a true honor and privilege to bring these stories to you, and we’re looking forward to what the future has in store!

 

For this week's show, we’re joined live by Honda Wang of DSA Labor. As a New York City delegate to the recent national DSA convention in Chicago, Honda will be sharing his analysis of the present and future of DSA and what’s next in the struggle for socialism. We also hear from Mac, Smitha, and Adam, three  NYC-DSA members who were inspired by their work in DSA to start organizing for tenants’ rights in their own buildings and neighborhoods.

 

Take the DSA Labor Strike Ready pledge to support workers at the UAW Big 3: dsausa.us/UAWPledge

 

Donate to the DSA Labor Solidarity Fund: donate.laborsolidarity.com.

Greetings Comrades, 

Twin Ports Pride celebrations kick off this week! Come join the celebrations and learn about our ongoing work. 

Events

• Monday, August 28 (today!)

  • 6:00 pm, tabling prep at Sarah's house. Come help make posters, bike decorations, button designs, and more!

  • 6:30 pm, Socialism and a Slice by the Northwoods Socialist Collective

• Pride celebrations start Thursday! See the full calendar of events.

• Saturday, September 2

  • Pride Fest at Bayfront Park

  • Come visit our table and make a button!

• Sunday, September 3

  • 12-2 pm, Pride Parade in Superior

  • Come join in! Walk, roll, or bike! Respond to this email for details.

News

• 53 years ago: Queer liberation’s roots were socialist, working class and anti-imperialist

• In a Summer of Record Heat, These Striking Workers Are Making Climate Demands

• UPS Teamsters Across the Nation Are Voting on the Tentative Agreement 

• DSA Statement : UPS Teamsters Show Us The Way

See you at Pride!
Sarah Kjorlien
TPDSA Secretary

(If you have been receiving these emails and aren't a member yet, we want you to join! Our goals are both broad and local,  and we intend to win as many as possible. Simply put – the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, Green Housing for All, a justice system that helps instead of harms, an end to poverty, socialists in office everywhere – these goals and more will not happen without mass participation. Use this link to join or renew.)

LVDSA Office Hours

August 31st @ 7pm

Drop in during our office hours to ask any questions about DSA, our chapter, any of the work we’re doing, or just enjoy some company while you do DSA work. Register here.

Tenant Canvassing

September 2nd @ 9am

We will be going door-to-door informing tenants of their rights to a habitable dwelling unit and how to defend themselves against eviction. Join us and help build tenant power in our city! Register here.

Labor 101

September 3rd @ 3:30pm

Join us this Labor Day weekend for an event to examine the history of the labor movement in the United States and discover ways to show solidarity with unions as numerous labor struggles break out across the country and in our own city. Register here.

Socialist Vibes

September 4th @ 7pm

Join us for a virtual discussion group covering socialists concepts & theories. Stay tuned for more information on the discussion topic. We’d love to hear from you about what topics would interest in you in the future. Drop by and share what you’d like to see from our political education program! Register here.

September General Body Meeting

September 7th @ 7pm

Join us for our September General Body Meeting to hear updates on the chapter, discuss issues relevant to our work, and vote on any chapter business. Register here.

Communities United: A Multicultural Festival

September 9th @ 4pm – 9pm

We will be joining SEIU 1107 and community partners for the Communities United, Raising the Stakes 2023 Multicultural Festival. We will be celebrating all of the different communities throughout Las Vegas and Nevada with performances and food trucks. Communities United is free to attend to and open to everyone! View details.

We have a big weekend coming up. On Saturday, September 2nd we will be tabling all day at Twin Ports Pride Fest. Join us a Bayfront Park. Then Sunday we head to Superior for the Pride Parade, always a favorite. Finally, on Monday we participate in the Cloquet Labor Day Parade. We need more parade marchers! We have a pile of new t-shirts if you want to try one, and we will be distributing stickers on The Minnesota Health Plan. Contact us a dsa.duluth@gmail.com if you want to participate in anything.

Our table at Pride Fest from a few years ago. Chapter member and congressional candidate Skip Sandman has sadly passed away since then.

Have you been thinking about joining DSA, but haven’t gotten around to it?
Is it time to renew your dues?

DSA is a member-based organization committed to increasing power for the working class and fighting capitalism. All members decide how much and how often to give, and dues-paying members democratically decide the direction of our chapter locally and DSA nationally. To be a truly democratically controlled and explicitly anti-capitalist organization, we can’t rely on big donors or grants, which can often push non-profits into running certain projects or campaigns as conditions of receiving money. Dues – especially monthly – go to running local campaigns, training organizers, and sustaining a nation-wide infrastructure.

Join today!