On June 8th, the Washoe County Dems announced that they would coordinate the state’s Democratic election campaigns, receiving statements of support from Governor Sisolak, Sen. Cortez Masto, State Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, and State Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro.

This decision to run these campaigns outside of the state party is, in reality, an attempt to run these campaigns outside the oversight of Nevada Democrats. It is a move that purposefully circumvents the mandate of the State Central Committee and disregards the results of our free and fair officer elections. We decry this shameless bid to ignore the voices and values of the Nevadans these representatives claim to serve.

We recognize that this is only the latest development in a continued assault on the right of Nevada Democrats to govern their own party. Ever since the election of Chair Whitmer and the Progressive Slate, the political elite has made it clear that it has no intention of respecting the choices of rank-and-file members.

It is time for us to send a message: free, fair, and open democracy is not a slogan – it is a foundational principle that we, as a party, must embody.

It is for this very reason that we organized around Chair Whitmer. It is for this reason that we voted for the Progressive Slate. It is for this reason that we are proud to continue to support their bold agenda of transformative change – bringing genuine inclusivity, transparency, and bottom-up democracy to our party. We remain united in our vision for a better world and a party that gives us all a say in building it. Directing our movement is not a privilege granted to us by our representatives, it is our right.

Nevada’s working people deserve to be treated as partners in the democratic process, not as subjects to be dictated to by a wealthy and privileged elite.  In the coming primary season, Democrats will remember who among our representatives stood for the choice of the people and who stood only for themselves.

Left Caucus and Las Vegas DSA remain committed to their mission of lifting up the voices of Nevada’s working class and marginalized communities, transcending our differences and uniting us in our shared struggle for justice, equality, and democracy. When we fight together, we win together.

June 1st marked the start of a newly elected SC, contact buffalodsa@gmail.com to get involved and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay up to date >>>>>

You’re listening to Revolutions Per Minute live on WBAI 99.5fm. We’re a socialist radio show and podcast from members of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America. DSA is the largest socialist organization in the United States, with 95,000 members nationwide and NYC-DSA is its biggest chapter. We are run by our 7,000+ members and organizers who are working together to build democratic socialism in all five boroughs. As our returning listeners are well aware of, there is currently an ongoing struggle for Public Power here in New York. Earlier today, ecosocialists organizers held a rally outside city hall to demand the transformation of our statewide energy system necessary to avoid climate catastrophe. We’ll share with you protest sounds and speech from the action. Later in the show I’ll speak with DSA anti imperialist organizers Olivia Katbi Smith and Dylan Saba about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement against Israeli aparthied. DSA supports freedom of movement and equal civil and democratic rights for all people across the world. Palestinians are no exception. We’ll discuss how an anti imperialist analysis reveals how ruling classes across the region and especially here in the United States profit and are empowered by the current state of affairs. International working class solidarity is the only solution.

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Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America is unequivocally opposed to recent anti-transgender legislation in Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, and 30 other states. While the exact content of these bills varies by state, the goal of each is to criminalize the existence of transgender people and/or penalize anyone who supports transgender people.

Transgender people already face harassment and discrimination on a daily basis. These additional laws install additional methods of persecution against trans people for the “crime” of existing in public.

While we believe these laws are blatantly unconstitutional and will eventually be struck down, we also acknowledge transgender people already fight harder than most to simply exist. Transgender people face much higher rates of violence than cisgender people. In 2015, nearly half of all transgender people were subject to verbal harassment within the past year and 9% of all transgender people were physically attacked for their gender identity. More than half had been subjected to emotional or physical abuse by partners. Rates of attempted suicide are likewise much higher. Transgender people also experience high structural barriers to accessing healthcare. One in five transgender people are uninsured and nearly one in five reported being refused medical care because of their gender identity. Transgender people deserve the same rights and privileges afforded to cisgender people, as well as to live their lives free of harassment and discrimination.

We stand in solidarity with our transgender comrades around the world in condemning these actions and those politicians who promote them. Furthermore, Las Vegas DSA strongly encourages the Nevada Legislature to pass SB139, which would mandate coverage of medically necessary procedures for transgender people. We also encourage our Nevada Congressional delegation to pass the Equality Act, which would expand anti-discrimination laws to cover transgender people, before the midterm elections.

Last night, hundreds of people occupied the amphitheatre area in front of the Brooklyn Museum to share stories and collectively mark the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. At least 15 NYPD vehicles lurked on Eastern Parkway 100 yards away. The police presence included the large vans used to transport people who have been arrested as well as two vans for NYPD’s notorious Strategic Response Group, a “riot control” division which has violently arrested, pepper sprayed, and intimidated anti-racist and anti-fascist protestors consistently over the last year. SRG was established in 2015 and has an estimated yearly budget of $68 million. 

We know it doesn’t have to be this way. We can change our city for the better by redistributing the massive amount of resources NYPD uses to harass and intimidate New Yorkers and investing that money in healthcare, education, housing, parks, art, and other things that will actually improve our quality of life and keep our communities safe. Tonight on Revolutions per Minute, we hear from DSA-endorsed candidate for City Council District 22 Tiffany Cabán, a long time de-carceral activist, on why she was proud to sign on to DSA’s vision for real public safety and budget justice. We’ll also be taking your calls live with Kay Gabriel, an NYC-DSA member and Defund NYPD organizer. 

Learn more about Tiffany Cabán and her campaign at www.cabanforqueens.com.

Has your City Council candidate signed on to the Real Public Safety pledge? Visit bit.ly/defundpressure2021 to find out and get involved. 

Revolutions per Minute looks forward to seeing you at the Defund NYPD week of action May 31 - June 6! View a full schedule and sign up at https://www.defundnypd.com/woa.

Seven Catholic plowshares activists entered Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in St. Mary’s, Georgia on April 4th, 2018. They went to make real the prophet Isaiah’s command to “beat swords into plowshares.” The seven chose to act on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who devoted his life to addressing what he called the “triple evils of militarism, racism, and materialism.” Carrying hammers and baby bottles of their own blood, the seven attempted to convert weapons of mass destruction. They hoped to call attention to the ways in which nuclear weapons kill every day, by their mere existence and maintenance. One of those seven, Mark Colville (pictured back right), talks with Colleen Shaddox about his resistance to the weapons economy and his life at Amistad Catholic Worker House in New Haven, Connecticut. Mark talks about how he and his comrades argued that their Catholic faith compelled them to act against Trident - a defense that the jury was never allowed to hear. Now he looks forward to serving his sentence for the action. As he says, much of the Bible was written inside a prison - what better place to read it?

Dear Father Leahy,

We are writing to ask that you make a public statement condemning the Israeli military assault on Gaza. This is not a conflict between two equal belligerent parties. Israel maintains one of the world’s most sophisticated and powerful militaries, while two million Palestinians have been under siege, locked in an open-air prison in the Gaza Strip for over a dozen years, and denied access to many basic necessities. Over the last 12 days, the Israeli military killed 231 people, including 65 children. About 91,000 Palestinians have been displaced.

On Sunday, Pope Francis made an appeal for peace in the region and specifically described the death of children as terrible and unacceptable. He called for an end to the violence:

In the name of God who has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters, I appeal for calm and, to those that with the responsibility, [I appeal] to stop the sound of the arms and to walk on the path of peace with the help of the international community.

We believe that in times of great injustice, it is important for leaders everywhere to speak out in the name of peace and justice. We ask that you use your platform as President of one of the foremost Jesuit Catholic universities in the United States to speak out on behalf of the oppressed. Although we are relieved that a ceasefire has been reached, we believe that now is not the time to become complacent. Rather, we encourage you to use this moment to demonstrate your commitment to peace and human rights worldwide. 

Last summer, the Pope called on Catholic institutions to divest not only from fossil fuels but also from the armaments industry. It is a subject he has spoken about throughout his pontificate. In 2017, he stated, 

It is an absurd contradiction to speak of peace, to negotiate peace, and at the same time promote or permit the global arms trade. Is this war or that war really a war to solve problems? Or is it a commercial war for selling weapons in illegal trade and so that the merchants of death can get rich?

In a speech to the US Congress in 2015, he asked,

Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society? Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money: money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood. In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and to stop the arms trade.

In the spirit of these declarations, we ask that BC sever its ties to the military industrial complex to ensure it is not complicit in any way in supporting atrocities in Gaza or anywhere else. The CEO of Raytheon, Thomas Kennedy, sits on the Board of Governors of the BC Chief Executives Club. Raytheon is a major supplier of arms to Israel. In 2014, Israel used F-16s armed with the company’s missiles during its assault on Gaza, killing 1,462 civilians, including 550 children. Defense for Children International found that 225 of those children were killed from missiles fired from fighter planes. Raytheon munitions were also used to shell a UN school inside of the Jabalia refugee camp in 2009, killing between 30 and 40 people. In 2019, the Young Democratic Socialists of BC documented how Raytheon’s weapons have been used in war crimes against civilians in places like Yemen. In 2015, the US-backed Saudi coalition used Raytheon munitions to bomb a funeral at a community hall in Sana’a, killing 140 people and wounding 525. In the spring of 2019, Kennedy hosted an event for the BC Chief Executives Club with the CEO of General Dynamics, another arms manufacturer whose weapons have been used to kill civilians in Yemen and Syria. That same year, Kennedy told investors that increased tensions with Iran were good for the company’s business prospects. Boston College should not associate itself with people and corporations that profit off of war.

No institution that associates with these arms manufacturers can claim to adhere to any set of moral principles. There is no ambiguity in this, just as there is no ambiguity in the Pope’s denunciation of the profit motive behind the death and destruction these corporations enable. 

BC must cut ties with people like Kennedy.

We hope you will add your voice to the chorus of those speaking out in the face of oppression and injustice and not remain silent during this crisis.

With only three weeks left in the New York State legislative session and city primaries following up close behind, socialist are in the streets! Tonight we’ll hear from comrades in Astoria who are fighting to pass Public Power as well as comrades in Sunset Park, who are working to elect DSA-endorsed candidate for city council Alexa Avilés. And we’ll also talk with Alexa herself about how her mother’s  struggle for Puerto Rican liberation and being a mother fighting for her own kids’ education has shaped her politics and about her community’s vision for District 38.

 

To get involved with Alexa's campaign: www.alexaforcouncil.com/

 

To get involved with the campaign for Public Power: https://ecosocialists.nyc/events/