Metro DC Democratic Socialists of AmericaMetro DC Democratic Socialists of America
Early voting began yesterday (July 7) in Maryland — to continue through July 14, 7am to 8pm. Election Day is July 19.
Two weekends left to GOTV for Maryland socialists
Defund MPD working group retreat — Sunday July 10, 1pm at Malcolm X Park
Early voting began yesterday (July 7) in Maryland — to continue through July 14, 7am to 8pm. Election Day is July 19.
To vote early in Maryland at any of 14 early voting centers in MoCo and 13 in Prince George’s, find them here. You must vote in your own county of residence. On Election Day (July 19) you must vote at your designated polling place; see your voter card. Or you may drop off your mail ballot by 8pm July 19 at a designated drop box. Find more info and links here. Voter registration closed June 28 for the Maryland Primary.
Two weekends left to GOTV for Maryland socialists
There are only TWO WEEKENDS to go before Election Day in Maryland. Max Socol is within striking distance of unseating a conservative state senator, and our incumbent Del. Gabriel Acevero is facing a tough re-election following an incumbent team up. We’ve knocked over 15,000 doors in MoCo so far — let’s hit 20,000 doors in this cycle, and 60,000 doors across the DMV! Both Gabe’s and Max’s races could be decided by just dozens of votes, so every door really counts. Sign up for door-knocking or an Election Day polling place shift.
As a reminder, we grab happy hour after each canvass.
Other ways to help during this critical stretch:
Defund MPD working group retreat — Sunday, July 10, 1pm at Malcolm X Park
DSA’s Defund MPD working group will have our annual retreat on Sunday, July 10 at 1pm at Malcolm X Park. All members and allies are invited to join this discussion. Topics covered will be the state of police funding in DC, the current defund movement in the District, and DSA’s operations and mobilizations as part of the city-wide Defund MPD coalition. A working agenda can be found here. If you’d like to get caught up to speed, you can also review the working group’s 2021 Annual Report here.
Food will be provided, and the group will be going out to a happy hour afterwards.
Second Community Accountability Team meeting — July 13 at 6:30pm
Join the second meeting of the Community Accountability Team and help build the group’s internal democratic structure and governance!
In June, this group met to discuss what interpersonal conflict in the chapter looks like and discussed, among other things, the need to 1) address white supremacy and white saviorism in the chapter to make it a safe space for non-white and non-cis folks and 2) have spaces for real, open discussions and specific channels for disagreements.
We also discussed forming two sub-groups, which have begun to form and meet in the last month:
On July 13, we’ll hear report backs from these sub-groups and spend time discussing the structure and governance we want this group to take on. Check out a draft agenda here.
Northern Virginia (NoVA) DSA Branch Updates
DSA’s Rose Garden workday — Saturday, July 9 from 10:30am to 1pm
From 10:30am to 1pm, DSA members will be working on the DSA’s public garden plot located at DC’s Upshur Community Garden (4300 Arkansas Ave NW, located behind the soccer fields). The group will be harvesting for Ward 4 Mutual Aid’s pickup at noon that day, as well as weeding/cleaning up the beds in our area. All folks interested in learning about garden maintenance and public garden infrastructure are invited to attend and help out.
Post-Labor Notes organizing series
From our comrades at Labor Notes: join our organizing series to talk about how to rekindle the flame of rank-and-file militancy. You can register here!
Our Secrets of a Successful Organizer training series has three parts: *Beating Apathy, *Assembling Your Dream Team AND *Turning an Issue into a Campaign.
These are based on our widely acclaimed book, Secrets of a Successful Organizer. Sessions are online, Wednesdays, July 13, 20 and 27, 7:30 to 9:30pm ET. Cost is $15 for all three sessions; no one will be turned away on grounds of funds but space is limited so don’t delay. Register now!
Bikini Kill Pre-Show Happy Hour with DSA’s Socialist Feminist Section — Monday, July 11
If you’re interested in some punk, riot grrrl and music with a DC connection, join DSA’s Socialist Feminist Section (SocFem) for a Happy Hour at the Quarry House before the July 11 Bikini Kill show at the Fillmore in Silver Spring. This event starts at 5pm and is open to the public; no DSA membership or show tickets are required and the usual SocFem Section participation guidelines are waived. Stay strong through these trying times, support one another and join us for Happy Hour even if you can’t make the show!
Publications schedule: July Updates are Fridays, July 15, 22 and 29. The July/August issue of the Washington Socialist newsletter will add new articles to those Updates during summer as they are submitted and edited; the next full issue is our Labor Day issue, scheduled for September 2 as the Labor Day weekend begins. Send articles anytime; hit us up at thesocialist@mdcdsa.org or join the permanent gaggle and get early reactions to your work in our Slack channel, #publications — non-judgmental collaboration is what we do.
Heaps of MDC DSA history: An archival chronicle of our local chapter’s history, starting before the DSOC-NAM merger to the present day, compiled by one of our longtime members is available in the chapter website. Browse at will. And dip into our Washington Socialist Topic Hub to explore specific socialist issues as we have grappled with them over the years in the pages of the newsletter.
Sunday, July 10
3 – 5pm | We Power DC July All-Team Meeting
Monday, July 11
5pm | SocFem Happy Hour before Bikini Kill
6:30pm | M4A Working Group Biweekly meeting (rescheduled from 7/4; see signup link for in-person option)
7pm | SocFem invites MDC DSA to Bikini Kill
Tuesday, July 12
7:30 – 9:30pm | Caliban and the Witch reading group week 3
Wednesday, July 13
6:30 – 8pm | Community Accountability Team meeting
7 – 9pm | Post-Scarcity Anarchism reading club week 4
8 – 9pm | Why You Should Join DSA / New Member Orientation
Thursday, July 14 (Bastille Day!)
6:30 – 7:30pm | Cuba Campaign Planning Meeting
6:30 – 8pm | NoVA Monthly Organizing Meeting
Saturday, July 16
8:30am | ICE out of Arlington at Arlington County Board meeting
1:30 – 4:30pm | Stomp Out Slumlords Anti-Eviction Canvas
Sunday, July 17
7 – 9pm | MDC DSA General Body Meeting for July (time listed in signup link is incorrect)
Tuesday, July 19
7:30 – 9pm | Caliban and the Witch reading group week 4
Wednesday, July 20
7 – 9pm | Post-Scarcity Anarchism reading club week 5
8 – 9pm | Why You Should Join DSA / New Member Orientation
Thursday, July 21
6 – 8:30pm | Social Meetup — NoVa Branch DSA
6:30 – 7:30pm | Cuba Campaign Planning Meeting
Grow Your Own (Mushrooms) Workshop | Temperance Alley
Learn to grow oyster mushrooms at Temperance Alley’s July 9 fungal workshop this Saturday at 5pm! Hosted by your friendly neighborhood mushroom expert, Pele Solell. Temperance Alley can be found behind 1931 13th Street NW.
Organizing Skillshare | Ward 4 Mutual Aid
Interested in learning how to organize? Ward 4 Mutual Aid is hosting an organizing workshop on July 16, 11am at Mosaic Church (16 Street NW and Webster St NW) to train folks about one-on-one conversations and do some fundraising outreach.
Fleeing Climate Change: The Real Environmental Disaster | Reel & Meal
On July 18, Reel & Meal presents Fleeing Climate Change: The Real Environmental Disaster, a 2019 documentary investigating the human costs of a rapidly warming planet, at the New Deal Cafe (Roosevelt Center, Greenbelt, MD) and on Zoom. The film shows how three diverse areas — Africa, Indonesia and Siberia — are being devastated and becoming unlivable. A short documentary about desertification in Southern Europe will also be screened, and a discussion will follow the screenings. Register via link in advance.
Se buscan voluntarixs bilingües! | DC Abortion Fund
Ayudenxs proveer fondos a pacientes en español quienes necesitan cerrar la brecha entre lo que pueden pagar y el costo total de su aborto. El derecho a un aborto no debe de depender en el costo ni idioma. ¡Aplique para ser un asistente social voluntarixs hoy! CMAdmin@DCAbortionFund.org
Corporate inflation engines on the march, passed along by Chuck Collins’s Inequality Report: “Julia Rock, How To Crack Down On Corporate Profiteering, The Lever. Corporate execs who publicly proclaim plans to raise future prices are inviting illegal collusion under federal antitrust laws because announcing these future plans invites competitors to make such moves in lockstep.”
“It’s been 12 days since Roe was revoked — and Biden is still MIA.” In The Nation, Elie Mystal blasts the president — and, consequently, the mainstream democratic party establishment — for its total lack of urgency in responding to the Supreme Court’s attack on abortion rights. “We have not seen Biden echoing, amplifying, or even agreeing with calls for immediate action to protect reproductive rights by people like Senator Elizabeth Warren or Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush.”
To keep the rubble bouncing, Jacobin fumes “even the most jaded cynics have to be shocked at just how useless the party’s response has been to the Right’s most recent assault on abortion rights.”
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