Over the past few months, a situation involving the calls for expulsion of Rep. Jamaal Bowman has brought to light a series of organizational issues that we should not be distracted from, namely:

1. How do we seek to build DSA as a Socialist membership organization with commitments to our democratically decided principles? 
2. How does our national political leadership (NPC) carry out that will?

The first issue speaks to the long-standing electoral approach that embodies much of DSA’s strategy, past and present. Electoralism alone is not a solution to our struggle, but a necessary component when applied carefully. The endorsement of Rep. Bowman has exemplified a set of problems with our electoral approach. First, the premature endorsement of candidates who are not tied to the organization in a meaningful way, and in turn their subsequent connection to the Democratic Party once elected, which places us in a precarious situation. These issues have consistently allowed for careerist and opportunistic behavior to flourish, relegating DSA to a mere mobilizing branch for vague progressives that attach us to the Democratic Party, as we attempt to horse-trade for watered-down reforms. What ought to be clear is that both the Democratic and Republican parties are our enemies. Such as here in Buffalo where the attempt to unseat a local Democratic Party leader was met with vicious reactionary politics from the Democratic Party itself, and a joining of hands with Republicans and conservatives. Moving from Local/State level to the Federal level we see these contradictions are even greater. This should give us serious pause about issuing endorsements to candidates such as Rep. Bowman who we have little to no reason to put out support behind. Vague progressive values are abundant, socialists with principles tied to our organization and a working class base less so. Second, the issue this also addresses is the nature of DSA – its size, its influence, and its relation to a fighting labor movement necessary to extract concessions from the capitalist class. As James Connolly put it:

“a socialist political party not emanating from the ranks of organized labor is, as Karl Marx phrased it, simply a socialist sect, ineffective for the final revolutionary act, but that also the attempt of craft organized unions to create political unity before they have laid the foundation of industrial unity in their own, the economic field, would be an instance of putting the cart before the horse.”

This issue has long burdened DSA since its foundation as little more than an organization to “push the Democratic Party left”. The premature – and often questionable – focus on electoralism has always been a series of contradictions that we will not overcome with candidates such as Rep. Bowman. This does not mean we should reject any electoral approach altogether, but that we must be more decisive and develop more consistency with our principles. We are happy with the NPC’s decision to develop a Socialists in Office committee, and to bolster our electoral standards at minimum. Serious thought should be put into the weaknesses of a horizontialist approach that deems any vague progressive candidacy useful to building Socialism. Though none of us are members of the Marxist Unity Group, we endorse their call for the following requirements to our electoral standards:

• The candidate must be a member of DSA.
• They must accept and pledge to promote and fight for the DSA national political platform if one is passed.
• If the campaign is successful, any staffers hired by the legislator will also be subject to the first two requirements.
• Legislators must agree to at least quarterly meetings with DSA leadership of the appropriate designation: for example congresspeople would meet with the National Political Committee, state legislators would hold meetings with leadership of all state chapter leaders (or leadership of a state/regional body if one were created), city councilors would have meetings with local chapter or branch leadership, etc.
• All DSA members in legislatures must form a caucus that votes as a block and rejects de facto discipline from any other party caucuses, regardless of which ballot line they were elected on.

To the second major issue, we are seeing a genuine problem with our national political leadership. The decisions of the NPC – the majority we should say – throughout this process have been dismaying and counterproductive. The lack of conviction to even censure Rep. Bowman illustrates as much. We also cannot help but notice that a level of secrecy in these discussions occurred that leads to reasonable doubts about the integrity of the decision making process. Additionally, the subsequent response to reign in the BDS & Palestine WG has also been an issue of concern. Though the NPC is the highest decision making body elected to carry out our political aims in-between conventions, the NPC’s disregard on our democratic commitments to Palestine, and the move to effectively censor the BDS & Palestine WG shows a vulnerability in our organizational coherence. We do not support this decision, even as we also have criticisms of BDS & Palestine WG’s decisions and level of independence, we have signed on in support of their statement of dissent. The Buffalo Chapter of DSA has voted in overwhelming support on the issue of Palestine and dissent on retaining Rep. Bowman as a representative of our organization. As leadership we see it fit that we should convey our resolve to uphold that message. The NPC has failed to act in the best interest of our organization’s democratically decided principles, and instead has demonstrated a vague strategy in supporting an elected representative who has not demonstrated the tenacity of a socialist in office. While we understand the weight and difficulties that the NPC is being presented with, we find it necessary to convey that this does not absolve the NPC of due criticism. 

Furthermore, and most troubling of all, the revelation that an NPC member threatened to split and denounce DSA as a racist organization for upholding our principles of support for Palestine is particularly egregious and cannot be ignored. Whomever this NPC member is, we cannot have confidence in their leadership much less the NPC’s integrity as long as this behavior goes unanswered. We ask that this NPC member be made public to DSA membership, and that they resign from national leadership on grounds of malfeasance.

The formation of the United Auto Workers in the 1930s represented the upsurge in organized working class militancy that pushed forward a New Deal. Since that time the UAW has been a base of support for its members that collectively provides workers with a better life. Yet the UAW has weakened as its corrupt leadership has chosen compromise with the bosses over a robust internal democracy. That’s all about to change. The successful One Member, One Vote referendum has forced open the democratic process and created space for new leadership to rise up. We’ll discuss that and much more with UAW members Kay and Chris. The UAW is much more than just autoworkers. After threatening to strike, the 17,000 member Student Researchers Union of the University of California system won recognition and officially became the newest UAW local. How did these academic workers build a new organization? We hear directly from Kat and Laura of the SRU on how they made it happen.

It’s never been easy to be a front-line retail or customer service worker at the holidays, and with a dramatic surge in COVID cases affecting New York City, this year is even harder. For our Revolutions per Minute holiday special, we’re joined live by Eric Dirnbach of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, DSA’s national project in partnership with the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, as well as Aria, a retail worker who participated in a successful strike last year at the Good Vibrations sex shop in Massachusetts with support from EWOC.

Plus, a special correspondent, Shen, visits the picket line in Chinatown to speak with Liang, a restaurant worker at the historic dim sum restaurant Jing Fong.

We are fundraising for the WBAI end of year Tower Fund with some help from our NYC-DSA chorus, Sing in Solidarity. Give to the Tower Fund at towerfund.wbai.org and follow our chorus on Twitter @nycdsachoir.

Sign the petition to support Jing Fong workers and stop displacement in Chinatown at bit.ly/stopdisplacement.

Are you a retail or service worker looking for support organizing your worksite? You are not alone. Support and help is available. Visit https://workerorganizing.org/support/. 

2021 has been another incredibly tough year, with the pandemic and climate crisis exacerbating income inequality and dire living situations for working class people across the globe.

 

Tonight we’ll catch up with a few DSA working groups to talk about the organizing they’ve done to build working class power and solidarity this year and what’s coming up for 2022. Our guests tonight are Joel from the BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group on the Boycott Puma campaign and the power of a consumer boycott, Emma Claire from the Healthcare Working Group on universal healthcare and labor rights for home health care workers, and Josh and Robert from Eco-Socialists on the Green New Deal for Public Schools and the New York Public Power campaign.

 

To learn more or get involved with NYC-DSA's eco-socialist organizing, visit https://ecosocialists.nyc/join-us/.

 

Find NYC-DSA's Healthcare Working Group on Twitter or Facebook @NYCDSAHealth or email the organizers at healthcare@socialists.nyc.

 

Curious about the BDS movement and DSA's Palestine solidarity work? View the primer and FAQ: https://palestine.dsausa.org/palestine-and-bds-faq/.

 

Throughout this episode and all our remaining 2021 episodes, we are fundraising for WBAI's rent on the transmitter at 4 Times Square. We encourage all who are able to donate what they can, even a small amount, toward this important community institution. Visit towerfund.wbai.org to give. 

Gary Dorrien's new book American Democratic Socialism is a comprehensive look at the deep roots, many of them religious, of democratic socialism in this country. Rev. Andrew Wilkes spoke with Professor Dorrien at a live event in New York City at Judson Memorial Church, where this podcast was recorded.

*and Cypress Hills, and Ocean Hill!

Believe it or not, 2022 is right around the corner and will bring with it a new electoral cycle and a new slate of DSA-endorsed socialist candidates for office. On tonight’s show, we kick off our series of interviews with NYC-DSA’s 2022 slate as we speak LIVE with Samy Nemir Olivares, candidate for Assembly District 54 in Bushwick, Cypress Hills, and Ocean Hill. Hear from Samy on their experience as a community organizer in North Brooklyn, the radical legacy of queer and trans people of color, the next steps for socialists in Albany, and smashing gender binaries right alongside capitalism.

 

We also speak to Gabriel Hernandez of NYC-DSA’s Queer Caucus on building queer community and mentorship for socialists. Finally, we hear a brief update on the struggle for free, equitable higher education for all from the New Deal for CUNY coalition.

 

To learn more about Samy Nemir-Olivares and support his run for Assembly, visit: https://www.samyfornewyork.com/

 

To learn more about NYC-DSA’s Queer Caucus, sign up for their mailing list here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/queer-caucus-interest-form

 

For more on the December 11 action for a New Deal for CUNY, visit: https://psc-cuny.org/SatDec11

Working class struggle continues to spread across New York City and the rest of the country. Wirecutter workers at the New York Times have launched their strike, joining the 3,000 Columbia academic workers on the picket line. 14,000 Kroger workers in Houston have authorized a strike while 24,000 academic workers at the University of California have done the same. Rank-n-file reform slate Teamsters United won a sea-changing victory in leadership elections. New leadership has promised more labor militancy and committed the 1.3 million member union to organizing Amazon facilities and drivers across the country. Earlier this month the New York Taxi Workers Alliance declared victory after a hunger strike forced the city government to acquiesce to their demand to cancel millions in debt and restructure their loan. We’re joined by Jaslin Kaur and Augustine to hear about this fight and what it means for working class New Yorkers. Last week a Wisconsin court allowed Kyle Rittenhouse to walk free despite the fact that he shot, wounded, and killed protesters in Kenosha. We’ll play you sounds from the streets as protesters reacted to this injustice here in Brooklyn.

Xcel Energy is the largest provider of energy in the state of Colorado. If you live in the Metro Denver area, chances are Xcel is your electric utility. Thanks to community and activist efforts over the years, Colorado has passed measures forcing the company to increase its use of clean, renewable energy. Despite this, Xcel still sources 63% of its energy from fossil fuels and continues to oppose efforts to move faster. 

Meanwhile Xcel siphons over half a billion in profits annually to Wall Street investors, and seeks to grow that annually, despite electricity becoming cheaper thanks to renewables. 

A key opportunity to shift Xcel to clean, affordable and renewable energy is its Electric Resource Plan (ERP). An ERP is a ten year plan for how Xcel will power the state and how much they can profit from it. The ERP maps out what coal and gas plants close and by when as well as what new projects like wind and solar will come on line. 

Xcel’s Plan to Increase Our Energy Bills and Continue Fossil Fuel Profiteering

Xcel released their preferred plan in 2021 and unsurprisingly they want to keep profiting off fossil fuels at the expense of us and the planet. 

Key items include: 

• Increasing our energy bills to line the pockets of Wall Street investors
• Running the state’s largest coal plant, Comanche 3, until 2035
• Running the Cherokee CC gas plant until 2055
• Running the Arapahoe gas plant until an unknown date

Continued pollution and fueling the climate crisis literally means more death in already suffering communities.

Denver Ecosocialists’ Clean Energy Plan for the People

Instead we need a plan that will lower our energy bills, transition to clean energy and democratize the grid.

We demand the following: 

• Close all coal plants and the Arapahoe and Cherokee gas plants by 2030
• Transition to 100% renewable energy for Denver by 2030
• Help coal and natural gas plant employees’ transition to new jobs by covering their workplace training costs and guarantee them a well-paying union job
• Increase rooftop solar by lifting the net metering cap and paying us fully for the electricity we contribute to the grid from solar panels
• Democratize the grid by building rooftop solar, parking lot solar, community owned  storage, and upgrading the grid to support this distributed energy.
• Finance all new projects through public banking to save money and invest money back into our communities (not Wall Street).
• Lower our energy bills by passing on the savings renewable energy will bring, not allow Xcel to keep raising rates and pocketing the profits.

How We Win

Xcel’s Electricity Resource Plan must be approved by the Public Utility Commission (PUC), a section of our state government. The PUC exists to, 

“serve the public interest by effectively regulating utilities and facilities so that the people of Colorado receive safe, reliable, and reasonably-priced services consistent with the economic, environmental and social values of our state.”

Four governor-appointed people serve on the PUC- 

• Republican Doug Dean, Director
• Democrat Eric Blank, Commissioner
• Democrat Megan Gilman, Commissioner 
• Independent John C. Gavan, Commissioner

Their track record of regulating Xcel “consistent with the economic, environmental and social values of our state” is a mixed bag, to put it generously. However, when public attention is on, they have followed through with their responsibilities.

It’s up to each of us to raise our voices and make clear to the PUC that they need to stand up to Xcel’s lobbyists and do the right thing by passing a plan that reduces our energy bills by shifting to clean, affordable and renewable energy.

Thousands Of Us Commented on the Plan

All Colorado residents, regardless of age and citizenship, can leave a public comment on Electric Resource Plans. Every comment is read and tallied by the PUC.

Over a thousand people commented in favor of clean energy, much more than the opposition. You can read those comments by visiting the Colorado Government’s Archive of Electronic Filings.

Search for Documents with a Proceeding Number of 21A-0141E and Document Type Comments.

Pueblo Residents Demand the Comanche Coal Plant Close

On October 28, 2021 over two hundred Pueblo residents spoke out against Xcel’s plan to run the state’s largest, dirtiest coal plant, until 2040. 2030 is the absolute latest we can run coal to avoid the worst of an already worsening climate crisis.

Over Hundred Coloradans Speak Out at the Statewide Public Hearing

Hundreds again showed up on December 2, 2021 to continue demanding a swift and just transition. The meeting was scheduled to end at 6pm but ran well past 7. Person after person spoke out in favor of the above demands.

Over One Hundred Colorado Residents Attend Public Hearing on Xcel’s Electric Resource Plan Demanding a Just Climate Transition

Organizing in Response to the Final Electric Resource Plan

The Public Utility Commission will announce their final decision on Xcel’s Electric Resource Plan in the spring of 2022.

We’re organizing contingency plans for the various outcomes that could come out from this process. Whatever the PUC decides, we’ll continue to work to end the fossil fuel era, democratize the grid and win energy justice.

If you have any other questions or just want to get involved, email us at ecosocialist.committee@denverdsa.org or attend an upcoming meeting.

We have a world to win!

Today we’re talking with Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest and her district manager Justin Freeman about how they are bringing their socialist office directly to the community they represent and are building power not just to win elections, but pass legislation that meaningful changes the lives of the working class in Brooklyn like the Less is More bill, which was signed into law this year, and Public Power and ‘Good Cause Eviction’ bill which are top priorities for DSA electeds this upcoming legislative session.

 

And it’s not just the power in the halls of government that is being challenged by organizers in New York City right now. Workers are taking on one of the most powerful and influential Ivy League universities and newspapers in the country at the same time. We’ll hear from RPM’s own Chris Carr who is one of many union members of the Student Workers of Columbia currently on strike and from one of the New York Times’ Wirecutter union members who plan to strike on Black Friday.

 

Follow Phara and Justin on twitter @phara4assembly and @JustinR_Freeman

and get involved with Phara's office at bit.ly/pharaoffice