March 11, 2022

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

UP FRONT

Electoral Organizing — Canvassing operations continue in Montgomery County, Sunday, March 13
Stomp Out Slumlords — Meeting to Plan Protest on the Mayor, March 16 at 7pm — Save the date for an April 2nd action
Cancel Student Debt — Art Build at Rhizome DC on Friday, March 18, and Sunday, March 20

Electoral Organizing — Canvassing operations continue in Montgomery County, Sunday, March 13

Join the Montgomery County elections working group on Sunday, March 13, to knock on doors in Silver Spring for endorsed candidates Max Socol (Maryland State Senate District 18) and Brandy Brooks (Montgomery County Council at-large). The meet-up location is the Forest Glen Metro. We’ll provide training, a script, and canvassing partners if wanted, and then we’ll meet up after knocking on doors to socialize and debrief. RSVP here.

Following MDC DSA, the DC Hub of the Sunrise Movement, DC for Democracy, and more, the DC Working Families Party has endorsed Zachary Parker for DC Council in Ward 5. MDC DSA members will be canvassing for Parker on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, we will be meeting at 12pm and we will be launching from North Eckington in front of Yang Market. However, the weather report for Saturday includes freezing rain so we will be monitoring the situation and reschedule if necessary.

On Sunday, we will be meeting at 56 Crittenden St NE near Fort Totten Metro at 12pm.

Stomp Out Slumlords — Meeting to Plan Protest on the Mayor, March 16 at 7pm — Save the date for an April 2nd action

SOS will be holding a DMV-wide meeting on Wednesday, March 16th, to finalize plans for an April 2nd march on Mayor Bowser’s house. In October 2020, hundreds of tenants — working-class men, women, and children — marched on Mayor Bowser’s home to deliver a petition to cancel rent. They were met by police and ignored by the mayor. Despite major wins since, including successful rent strikes leading to tenants buying their buildings and STAY DC providing rent cancellation for hundreds of tenants, many tenants are still struggling to receive the relief they won. On April 2nd, we will march again to demand she meet face-to-face with the tenants that she has ignored in her re-election campaign. Next Wednesday, tenant leaders and organizers from across the District, Virginia, and Maryland will discuss logistics, recruitment, and assign day-of roles. Join the meeting here.

Cancel Student Debt — Art Build at Rhizome DC on Friday, March 18, and Sunday, March 20

On Friday, March 18, and Sunday, March 20, you can join local YDSA organizers at Rhizome DC to build art and protest materials for an upcoming day of action on student debt relief (which you can RSVP for here). On each day, artists, activists, students, and organizers are convening from 10am to 6pm to paint and build out protest materials. No art experience is necessary as the event will be facilitated by experienced artists looking to support and train volunteers. Proof of full vaccination is required to enter Rhizome’s interior & masks over nose/mouth are required unless you are actively drinking.

Biden has said the “final” moratorium on student loan payments ends on May 1, 2022. A resumption of student loan payments would siphon dollars and wealth from our communities to pay for debt that falls unequally on the shoulders of the working class. Student loan repayments do not have to be resumed: President Biden has the authority to fix it by picking up a pen and issuing an Executive Order to cancel all student loan debt. It’s a simple, effective way for him to add billions back into our economy, create jobs, narrow the racial wealth gap, and fulfill a campaign promise that he’s avoided action on so far.

The Debt Collective will be organizing a day of action on April 4th, 2022, to demand Joe Biden and the Democrats act on their promise to provide relief to student debtors. Sign up here. And join #student-debt in the MDC DSA Slack to get involved in our chapter mobilization!

BRIEFS

Ward 4 Volunteer Opportunity with Janeese Lewis George

As part of an effort to make sure DC Councilmembers are accessible to their constituents — and not just during election years — DSA-elected CM Janeese Lewis George recently announced an ongoing series of community outreach events to connect DC residents to important services and agencies. These will be called Ward 4 CARE Days. CM Lewis George’s office is looking for volunteers to door-knock, direct people to District agencies and/or 311 for less urgent services, or partner with local groups that may be able to help residents with bigger lifts. The first event took place yesterday (March 10) in Shepherd Park. More on-the-ground efforts are planned throughout the month. To volunteer, visit janeeseward4.com/care.

Israeli Apartheid Week: Outreach efforts on March 20 and Slingshot Hip Hop Documentary Screening on March 24

For Israeli Apartheid Week 2022, Metro DC DSA comrades and coalition partners will be wheatpasting the city with Palestinian resistance art. We will meet at Dupont Circle at noon on Sunday, March 20th. Everyone is welcome to join us, and we will be using this as an opportunity to build community. Please RSVP and find more information here.

We will also be hosting a virtual documentary screening of Slingshot Hip Hop, a film that chronicles the story of Palestinian hip hop as a form of resistance. Join us on Thursday, March 24th at 7pm on Zoom to watch the film together, followed by a discussion. RSVP to get the Zoom link here.

The theme for this year’s Israeli Apartheid Week is art and culture, and we are excited to continue organizing community events that center on art, joy, and love. Join the BDS Palestine campaign for our Monthly March Meeting on Thursday, March 31st at 8pm to help us plan upcoming political education and community events, as well as continue brainstorming towards more targeted campaigns. RSVP for the March BDS Palestine meeting here.

Congress tells DC No to marijuana legalization

On November 4, 2014, ballot measure 71 was approved by 64% of DC voters. The measure allowed DC residents to grow, trade and use marijuana. The initiative has decriminalized personal cannabis use and has given birth to a “grey market” for marijuana in the city. Formal legalization would make it easier to tax, legislate and protect businesses involved in the trade. The DC Council has been positioning to follow the path of other states and cities — such as California, Colorado and NYC — to officially legalize the sale of marijuana, which could generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for the people of DC.

Earlier this year, the absence of a ban on marijuana legislation suggested that DC would have the go-ahead from the federal government to legalize this market. However, a budget rider has been tacked on to a recent congressional spending plan, again barring DC from legalizing the sale of marijuana. Because DC is a colony, not a state, it lacks the autonomy that other states and municipalities enjoy in controlling their own laws and legislation. For decades, DC has been unable to pursue legalization thanks in part to professional creepshow Andy Harris of Maryland, who has built a career on stooging for pharmaceutical companies and deep-pocketed interests to screw over working-class voters.

Looking to get involved in the chapter?

Are you a member who’s been looking for ways to get involved in our chapter’s organizing? Are you interested in joining the DSA but would like to talk to someone about it first? No matter where you’re coming from, we’d love to talk to you! Follow this link to schedule a conversation with one of our comrades!

MDC DSA Spring Reading Groups have sprung, but still time to join

Many groups have had a first meet & greet, but in many cases, the first engagement with a specific reading has waited for the second meeting. So go boldly; here’s the lineup:

Groups include Capital Vol. 1, Marx at the Movies, Black Marxism, Work Won’t Love You Back, Indigenous Resistance, Ecosocialism and Public Power, Socialist Feminism, Debt and Finance, and “big history” reboot The Dawn of Everything. More about the groups here; everyone is welcome! Sign up here.

Reading Group Facilitation Training

From 8 to 9:30pm on Wednesday, March 16, MDC DSA’s Political Education Workgroup will be hosting a virtual Facilitation Training. Those interested in participating in or facilitating political education discussions are invited to attend!

This training is for people interested in improving their skills as a meeting facilitator. The training will familiarize attendees with the skills to facilitate a successful discussion, including the principles of good facilitation, the purpose of having a facilitator, preparation needed to facilitate a good meeting, techniques for facilitating an online training, and more. This training is oriented toward political education and is designed as a resource for Spring 2022 and future reading groups — but the techniques covered in the training will apply across organizing work. Sign up here and see you there!

Truist Bank selling public space for luxury condos

Truist Bank (formerly SunTrust and BB&T) is trying to sell the Adams Morgan plaza to develop a 54-unit luxury condo building. The plaza was given to the residents of Adams Morgan by SunTrust as a form of reparations for decades of racist redlining in Washington, DC, Ward 1, and in Adams Morgan specifically. It serves as a gathering space for community events such as concerts and farmers markets, as well as a living space for our unhoused neighbors. On February 26th, Truist-hired security guards harassed and stole the belongings of the last remaining long-term plaza residents. Their tents, sleeping gear, computer gear, phones, and other valuable belongings were seized. Truist representatives have yet to return these items. Private security guards continue to monitor and restrict the plaza’s use 24/7.

Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau has the power to secure this plaza for public use but has yet to respond to messages from the Adams Morgan Plaza Coalition. If secured, the space can retain/maintain bus stops and renovate the space with public seating and tables.

If you’d like to join the call to keep Adams Morgan Plaza as a public space:

Call or email Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau and ask her to stop any actions by Truist until the DC court has decided the future of the plaza at 202-724-8181 or bnadeau@dccouncil.us;
Sign the Adams Morgan Plaza Petition asking leadership in DC and at Truist to preserve and enhance the plaza;
EMAIL the CEO of Truist and tell them to back off from evicting our unhoused neighbors and demolishing the plaza — Bill.Rodgers@truist.com

The Washington Socialist for March 2022

Last week, we published four articles in our chapter’s monthly publication. Read it here!

INFO ACCESS

Publications Schedule: All Fool’s Day comes on a Friday this year, so we’ll publish our Washington Socialist on that portentous day, and we welcome revolutionary articles that are liberally dosed with humor or satire. The deadline for articles is March 26; hit us up at thesocialist@mdcdsa.org (all writers welcome, DSA members or not). If an MDC DSA member, join our #publications Slack channel to keep up with the chatter and watch the issue build. Between newsletter issues, we’ll publish Updates each Friday — March 18 and 25.

Standing resources: Metro DC DSA, with a long (and sometimes bumpy) history since even before DSA’s 1982 formation from the merger of Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the New American Movement, has substantial local-chapter online resources for understanding our past, present, and future. Find out about our present structure and configuration here, including current campaigns; yawn over our nevertheless-essential bylaws and check out the accompanying explainer on our governance. See our archive of recent statements from the chapter. Get the picture on our branches in Virginia and Maryland, working in very different political environments and adapting to them while rooted in MDC DSA’s advantages of scale.

That’s only a quick bite of what an MDC DSA member (or DSA-curious leftist) can find out about their own organization; see more at our chapter website — including backfiles of the Washington Socialist article hub sorted by issue areas. Are you a DSA member (or thinking about it) but wondering what tasks a socialist can undertake? We can help.

DSA CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Saturday, March 12

Noon | NoVA Branch Social Meetup

Sunday, March 13

12pm | Canvass for Max Socol and Brandy Brooks in Forest Glen, Silver Spring

Wednesday, March 16

7 – 9pm | The Dawn of Everything Reading Group mtg 2

7 – 9pm | Stomp Out Slumlords planning meeting to demand DC mayor cancel rent

7pm | Virtual Game Night hosted by NoVA DSA

8 – 9pm | Why you should join DSA / New Member Orientation

9 – 10:30pm | Reading Group Facilitation training session

Thursday, March 17

5 – 6pm | Student Debt Action Planning Meeting

7 – 8:30pm | Internationalism Working Group Monthly Meeting

Saturday, March 19

4:30 – 5:30pm | Public Power Panel w/ Organizers Across the Country

Sunday, March 20

12 – 3pm | Wheatpaste for Palestine

1 – 3pm | Prince George’s County Branch of MDC DSA general body meeting

3 – 5pm | Metro DC DSA General Body Meeting for March

Monday, March 21

6:30 – 9pm | Labor Reading Group mtg 2

7 – 9pm | Defund MPD Biweekly Working Group Meeting

Tuesday, March 22

8 – 9pm | MDC DSA Political Engagement Committee Biweekly Meeting

Wednesday, March 23

7 – 9pm | Dawn of Everything Reading Group mtg 3

8 – 9pm | Why you should join DSA / New Member Orientation

Thursday, March 24

5 – 6pm | Student Debt Action Planning Meeting

7 – 9pm | Slingshot Hip Hop: Art as Resistance, Virtual Documentary Screening

8 – 9:30pm | Virtual Watch Party — Nuevo Mundo (documentary)

Tuesday, March 29

8 – 9pm | Labor Working Group workplace organizing workshop

Wednesday, March 30

7 – 9pm | Dawn of Everything Reading Group mtg 4

8 – 9pm | Why you should join DSA / New Member Orientation

Thursday, March 31

5 – 6pm | Student Debt Action Planning Meeting

8 – 9:30pm | BDS & Palestine Solidarity March Meeting

COMMUNITY BULLETIN

Aid for Excluded Workers Greenlit | DC Council

DC is distributing $41 million to excluded workers, starting with those approved for funds in 2020/2021. If you were approved previously for funds, you should be receiving outreach directly from DC CARES. Contact email for DC CARES: info@dccares2021.org. Call 202-332-1264 with questions. New applications are currently not being accepted.

Up Against Amazon Training Institute | For Us Not Amazon

On March 12 and 13, the For Us Not Amazon Coalition (FUNA) will be hosting a two-day training program. There will be sessions from 10am to 4pm each day on the core issues the coalition is challenging, including: impact on housing; threats to workers’ rights; Amazon’s monopoly over local communities; the surveillance state; and ways to get involved locally. Register for any or all of the sessions here!

Soles for the District Shoe Drive | National Center for Children and Families

DC spirits producers are joining forces to help bring soles to souls this spring. One Eight Distilling (1135 Okie St NE) is hosting collections for the 3rd Annual District Shoe Drive now through April 23. All donated soles (gently worn, all styles and sizes accepted) will benefit The National Center for Children and Families. Additional drop-offs are being accepted at Ricardo Dsean and Fairhill Studios. Contact Brocky (whiskeyandkicks@gmail.com) with questions.

(Plant) Baby Shower & Adoption Day | Very Sad Lab

Start your new plant family this week by joining Very Sad Lab for the closing day of The Incubator at Transformer DC. This exhibit is a living, growing installation and resource lab presented by artists Valerie Wiseman and Naoko Wowsugi of Very Sad Lab, a houseplant rehab and research-based community art project. Very Sad Lab seeks to create a greener DC by connecting people to nature through plants. Closing day is on Saturday, March 19, from 1 to 6pm at 1404 P Street NW and will feature free seed babies from Share A Seed + additional special guest engagements. Free and open to the public; face masks required.

Green New Deal Happy Hour | Office of Representative Cori Bush

Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-MO) and her team are hosting a monthly Green New Deal Happy Hour here in Washington. February’s meetup at Wunder Garten brought out over 100 friends. Sign up here to be added to the list and be notified about the next one this month.

GOOD READS / ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC

For Maryland DSAers: our allies at Progressive Maryland cobble together a roundup of progressive-focused Maryland news for their Monday Memo and post it as a separate blog. Here’s their “News You Can Use” for this week.

If you haven’t run across Chuck Collins, Rebekah Entralgo, Sam Pizzigati and the “Inequality Report” they curate every week, it’s time MDC DSAers took a look (it’s an Institute for Policy Studies spinoff). This week, they wonder if even a big infusion of personnel at the IRS will be able to match up against what they call the “’wealth-defense industry,’ that swarm of financial advisors, law firms, and lobbyists dedicated to protecting grand private fortunes.” Check it out.

Last weekend, right-wing convoys converged on DC in an attempt to strike up a range of cultural grievance protests. The mobilization failed spectacularly. You can read the rise and fall of this attempted scheme in Left Coast Right Watch.

From Washington Revolutionary: how DC elders are organizing to protect each other from exploitative slumlords.

From Portside, touted by our comrade Dave R: the usual suspects are anticipating the usual inflated profits from the latest misery.

A socialist’s appeal for unity-in-diversity for the Democrats from a NYT article.

The Italian Communist Party — with a large base of support within the working class, a rich cultural life, and a critical Marxist legacy — seemed to offer a way forward for the socialist movement worldwide. Unfortunately, the end of the Cold War — alongside the neoliberal success in demobilizing and disorienting the working class — also led to Italian Communism’s organizational demise. A recent article in Stansbury Forum by Matt Hancock discusses why that legacy is still relevant, concluding with a set of questions directed toward DSA as we seek to better root ourselves as a broad-based, mass movement that remains principled as a socialist organization.

Our comrade Max Sawicki breaks down the new USPS law’s pluses and minuses in Arcamax.

“How an Anti-War Statement Made DSA a Target” from The Nation; instructive on Democratic Party left-punching.

The flame of thought, the magnificence of art, the wonder of discovery, and the audacity of invention all belong to revolutionary periods when humanity, tired of the chains of its restrictions, shatters them, and stops inebriated to breathe the breeze of a vaster and freer horizon.

—Virgilia D’Andrea

March 11, 2022

CONTENTS

UP FRONT

BRIEFS

INFO ACCESS

DSA CALENDAR OF EVENTS

COMMUNITY BULLETIN

GOOD READS / ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC