March 25, 2022

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

UP FRONT

Stomp Out Slumlords protest against rent increases and evictions, Tuesday, March 29th
DC Council Judiciary Committee accepting budget input from residents
Starbucks labor organizing campaign kickoff — Sunday, March 27

Stomp Out Slumlords protest against rent increases and evictions, Tuesday, March 29th

On Tuesday, join a protest with Stomp Out Slumlords to tell DC Candidates: No Evictions, No Rent Increases, No Slum Conditions! 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 are still struggling to receive the relief they won. Now, tenants are demanding to be heard by DC’s electoral hopefuls. Meet at Rhode Island Metro Station on March 29 at 6:30pm. Look for the black t-shirts with the SOS logo. Drivers giving rides to tenants are also needed — please email tenants@mdcdsa.org if you can support. There will also be an art build to paint banners and signs for the action this Saturday, March 26th at 2pm at Girard Street Park, 1450 Girard St NW, Washington, DC 20009.

Can’t attend the protest Tuesday? You can join SOS in an Anti-Eviction Canvass on Sunday, March 27. We’ll meet at the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station near the 7th & Maryland exit above the escalators (if the weather is bad, we’ll be downstairs just before the turnstiles). At 1:30 PM we’ll have a short training to explain why these canvasses are necessary, how to talk to tenants about their upcoming eviction suits, and how to fill in walk-sheets. We’ll then hand out walk-sheets and set you up with a partner — if you’ve never done this before, we’ll try to set you up with a veteran who can show you the ropes!

DC Council Judiciary Committee accepting budget input from residents

It is budget season in DC, which means DC Council has the opportunity to fund programs that actually keep District residents safe: non-police emergency services, violence interrupters, trauma-informed supportive services, jobs, housing and healthcare. The DC Council needs to hear from all of us to keep going — to keep building out non-carceral alternatives to the police, to expand funding for these alternatives and to pay for it by taking from the police budget. Submit a letter to the Judiciary Committee’s MPD Budget Oversight hearing today.

Starbucks labor organizing campaign kickoff — Sunday, March 27

Starbucks stores across the country are unionizing in a historic campaign that could result in the unionization of hundreds of Starbucks across the country. The Democratic Socialist Labor Commission (DSLC), DSA’s national labor organizing body, is hosting a call on March 27th at 6pm to mobilize our membership to support their local Starbucks workers and to help fundraise for Starbucks workers who have been unfairly fired for unionizing their shops. Sign up to join the call here.

BRIEFS

Gaithersburg Canvass for DSA endorsed Gabriel Acevero and Brandy Brooks — Saturday, March 26

The race for control of the Maryland Statehouse is in full swing: State Delegate and MDC DSA-endorsed candidate for re-election Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) outlines the steps Maryland must take to hold police accountable, including ending qualified immunity and no-knock warrants, in the Baltimore Sun. MDC DSA is leading a canvass for both Acevero and Brandy Brooks, our endorsed candidate for Montgomery County Council, this Saturday at noon, launching from the Shady Grove Metro. RSVP here.

Zachary Parker secures more progressive, grassroots support in DC Council race

MDC DSA-endorsed candidate Zachary Parker continues to consolidate DC’s left in his race for DC Council, Ward 5. Parker received the endorsement of the Jews United for Justice Campaign Fund, following the MDC DSA, the DC hub of the Sunrise Movement, DC for Democracy and the DC Working Families Party.

Naila and the Uprising Screening and Panel Discussion with Naila Ayesh, organizer of the First Intifada, on Sunday, April 3 at 2pm

The DSA BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group invites you to our national film screening and panel discussion of the film Naila and the Uprising on Sunday, April 3rd at 2pm ET. This feature-length documentary chronicles the remarkable journey of Naila Ayesh and a courageous community of women organizers whose stories weave through the most vibrant, nonviolent mobilization in Palestinian history — the First Intifada of the late 1980s. We will be joined by Palestinian activist and the film’s namesake, Naila Ayesh, along with the Deputy Director of Just Vision, and the film’s impact producer, Emma Alpert. Registration is required.

Cancel Student Debt: Training April 3 (Time TBD), Action April 4, noon to 4:30pm

Join Metro DC DSA, local YDSA chapters, and the Debt Collective for an action demanding that Biden cancel all federally held student debt. Student debt is one driver of the racial wealth gap and canceling student debt can help close this gap (source). Congress granted the US Secretary of Education the authority to “compromise, waive, or release” its claims over student debtors decades ago. With “the flick of a pen” roughly $1.5 trillion of federal student loans can be canceled (source). We are simply demanding Biden use power that he already possesses. Join us for a musical, artistic, moving action where we will show what a debt-free future could look like for millions of us!

Badges Without Borders: DC Walking Tour Saturday, April 9th at 1pm

The Badges Without Borders: DC Walking Tour starts at 1pm on Saturday, April 9th at Dupont Circle — sign up here. The tour will explore four sites in Northwest DC connected to how policing and state violence have been, and continue to be, exported and imported worldwide from the District. The walking tour will be led by author Stuart Schrader, who researches how the United States projects imperial power overseas through police training and security assistance — and how this effort reverberates to shape the policing of city streets in the USA. The walking tour will connect those efforts to the people and sites in DC that made them happen and to contemporary organizing work against policing and the exchange of violent policing tactics — specifically to ongoing organizing to ban Israeli Occupation Forces training with the Metropolitan Police Department.

This is the perfect event for new members, friends you’re looking to get involved in the chapter and anyone in Metro DC DSA who wants to learn the history of the internationalization of policing. The tour is cosponsored by MD 2 Palestine. It will meet at Dupont Circle at 1pm and will end in Georgetown at 3:45pm, followed by a happy hour afterward. Be sure to sign up to help with logistics or get notice in the event of inclement weather.

March General Body Meeting Roundup

The March GBM heard reports from many of our MDC formations: SocFem, YDSA, Queer Section, Defund MPD, Internationalism, PEC, SOS and Labor Working Group, as well as a major update from the new-ish Member Engagement Committee. The GBM also heard a campaign presentation from our endorsed candidate for the Maryland Senate, Max Socol. Links to the slides for all presentations can be found here.

Local chain deploys despicable tactics against unionizing workers

Workers at Union Kitchen, a specialty chain with five stores operating in DC and VA, recently filed petitions to unionize workers at their store with United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400 (Metro DC DSA turned out last month to provide support to striking workers). Last week, a union organizer was illegally fired by the store, making it the second organizer fired by the company for attempting to organize their workplace. The vote count for the unionization drive is expected to be released sometime next week. You can follow Union Kitchen worker’s effort on twitter (@UKworkersunited) and instagram (@unitedkitchenworkers).

Hunger strikes initiated at ICA-Farmville detention center

Metro DC DSA is a proud partner in the Free Them All VA Coalition — a grassroots organization amplifying demands of those organizing in VA migrant detention centers, jails and prisons. On Monday, the Coalition released a report detailing that guards suddenly began enforcing a policy that limits detained persons’ belongings to only what can fit in a plastic container the size of a shoe box. People detained at the facility report that guards are putting many of their belongings into trash bags, including clothes for keeping warm in the often frigid facility. Guards have also confiscated food and toiletries that people in detention purchased from the jail commissary, in addition to their books and legal papers.

In December 2021, more than 100 organizations sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calling out years of mismanagement and medical neglect at Farmville and demanding DHS close the facility.

INFO ACCESS

Publications Schedule: All Fool’s Day comes on a Friday this year, so we’ll publish our April Washington Socialist then, and we welcome revolutionary articles that are liberally dosed with humor or satire. Or not. The deadline for articles is TOMORROW, Saturday, 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. Updates for April are scheduled for Fridays, April 8, 15 and 22, and the May issue on Friday, April 29, in advance of May Day events.

To get on MDC DSA Slack there’s a new path, and the most intuitive ever: email slack@mdcdsa.org. Use the email address by which national DSA knows you. The requester must be an MDC DSA member in good standing. Here’s the link to find out your paid-up status with national DSA: http://proof.dsausa.org/

Standing resources: Metro DC DSA 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.

Find more at our chapter website — including backfiles of the Washington Socialist article hub sorted by issue areas. Our activists in housing justice and Defund MPD are UP FRONT this week so check those archives for our rich and evolving approach.

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!

DSA CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Saturday, March 26

noon | Canvass for Gabriel Acevero and Brandy Brooks in MoCo

Sunday, March 27

1:30pm | SOS Anti-Eviction Canvass

Monday, March 28

6:30 – 7:30pm | Medicare4All Biweekly WG meeting

7 – 8:30pm | March Campaign Council Meeting

8 – 9pm | NoVA Branch Member Mobilizers

Tuesday, March 29

6:30pm | Tell DC Council: No Evictions, No Rent Increases

8 – 9pm | Labor Working Group workplace organizing workshop

Wednesday, March 30

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

8 – 9:30pm | Virtual watch party — Nuevo Mundo

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

Thursday, March 31

5 – 6pm | Student Debt Action Planning Meeting

6:30 – 7:30pm | Cuba Campaign Planning Meeting

8 – 9pm | Defund MPD Organizational Outreach Meeting 3/31

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

Sunday, April 3

2 – 4:30pm | MoCo Branch Monthly Meeting

Monday, April 4

12-4:30pm | Student Debt Cancellation Direct Action @ Dept of Education

6:30 – 9pm | Labor Reading Group Spring 2022 – Week 3

7 – 8pm | Defund MPD Working Group Biweekly Meeting

Tuesday, April 5

6:30 – 8:30pm | Immigration and Abolition | Socialist Night School

8 – 9pm | PEC Biweekly Meeting

Wednesday, April 6

7 – 9pm | Dawn of Everything Reading Group mtg 5

8 – 9pm | Why You Should Join DSA (new member orientation)

Thursday, April 7

6:30 – 7:30pm | Cuba Campaign Planning Meeting

Saturday, April 9

1 – 3:45pm | Badges Without Borders: DC Walking Tour

Wednesday, April 13

7pm | Cuba’s Healthcare System — What Can We Learn?

Thursday, April 14

7 – 8:30pm | Internationalism WG Monthly Meeting

7 – 8:30pm | NoVA Branch Monthly Organizing Meeting

Sunday, April 17

2 – 4pm | PG County Branch Monthly General Meeting

Wednesday, April 20

6 – 7pm | WePower DC All-team Meeting

Monday, April 25

7 – 8:30pm | April Campaign Council Meeting

COMMUNITY BULLETIN

Community Mediation Ambassador Training | Ward 5 Mutual Aid

Community Mediation DC is offering an Ambassador Training for community members over the course of two virtual trainings on March 28 and April 4 from 6:30 to 8:30pm. The training program is for small groups of individuals who are active in their community and excited about mediation and peacebuilding work. The trainings cover issues such as conflict management and transformation skill-building, as well as tools for talking about collaborative conflict resolution with our friends, family and community members. If interested, please RSVP here.

Community Garden Days | Share a Seed

Spring has sprung, and Share a Seed is embracing the seasonal shift by digging in to community gardens! On April 3 (10:30am to 1pm), join Share a Seed, DSA’s Food|Justice working group and Ward 4 Mutual Aid at Upshur Community Garden for a community work and resource day. There will be opportunities to work in the garden (including in DSA’s new “Rose Garden” plot), swap plants, share seeds and connect with community members. Ward 4 Mutual Aid is accepting donations of canned goods and gently used clothing. RSVP for this event here. If you’re an educator or school garden coordinator, join Share a Seed at Washington Youth Garden on April 2 (10am to 1pm) for a Spring into School Gardening Resource Day! RSVP here for that event.

Mutual Aid Donation Request | Ward 3 Mutual Aid / Feed the Family DC

Our comrades at Ward 3 Mutual Aid are requesting help fulfilling a request from Feed the Pantry for supplies to help support their neighbors. Items requested include: soap (bar and liquid); dental hygiene products; toilet paper; panty liners. Donations can be dropped off at 4225 Connecticut Ave NW. Contact Feed the Family directly at Feedthefamilydc@gmail.com.

Labor and the Russian War in Ukraine webinar Wednesday, March 30

Several of the founders of USLabor Against War — which played a pivotal role in getting the AFL-CIO to oppose the invasion of Iraq — have organized this 8 to 9:30pm webinar with Elise Bryant, president, Coalition of Labor Union Women; Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies; Sara Nelson, international president, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA; Bill Fletcher Jr, trade unionist, writer, media commentator and a past president of TransAfrica Forum; and Carl Rosen, president of the United Electrical Radio & Machine Workers union. Register here to receive a Zoom link on the day of the webinar.

The Moral Mandate for a Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly

On Sunday, April 3 at 10am, Bishop William Barber speaks on the planned June 18 assembly at National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle, DC. Register here to attend!

Spring Canvass dates for SURJ

We’re back at it again! We invite you, whether new or experienced, to join the SURJ-DC Trans and Queer Working Group and the SURJ-DC Deep Canvass team to canvass with us this spring to continue the work of digging into police and prison abolition in our neighborhoods in DC. We are having conversations with neighbors about community safety and alternatives to policing, and dreaming about a world that is safe for everyone, particularly Black and Brown folks. We have three dates planned this spring that we invite you to join: Saturday April 9, Bloomingdale; Sunday, May 15, Bloomingdale and Saturday, July 9, Columbia Heights. If you’d like to join canvassing operations, fill out the dates that you’re available at this form.

GOOD READS / ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC

From Jacobin, author interview with Vivek Chibber delves into the author’s new book that tries to re-situate class struggle in a terrain of cultural conflict — “Critics often say the working class doesn’t fight back against exploitation because it’s confused about its real interests. But this ignores how capitalism itself leads workers to resign themselves to their situation — and how we can overcome that” — via Portside.

The rowdy transportation aggregator StreetsBlog chimes in with the focused transportation element in a Green New Deal.

Finally, an examination of the Democratic Party in crisis that doesn’t blame its left-wing members. Focusing on retiring conservative dem Rep. Stephanie Murphy, Ryan Cooper writes in The American Prospect that “Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda is dead because a handful of the party’s most conservative members, including Murphy, killed it. Now the party has nothing of legislative substance to run on, and members in swing districts are looking down the barrel of a possible midterm electoral bloodbath.”

The Economic Policy Institute has a new report on the critical nature of (majority-female) care work and the social costs of leaving it largely to the private sector.

Our comrade Sam N has written about organizing Amazon in The Forge.

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