NOVEMBER 13, 2026
This is the weekly newsletter of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America (MDC DSA), which is produced by local members of the chapter’s Publications Working Group. The Weekly Update publishes every Friday at 9am. Ready to fight the Trumpocalypse? Join DSA, fight to win with a real alternative!
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CONTENTS
UP FRONT
Metro DC DSA approaches annual Local Convention — December 5–6, Location TBA
Socialists secure final DSA victory: Briana Urbina wins close election for Mayor of New Carrollton
Chapter votes are in: Oye Owolewa to be recognized as a Socialist in Office
Metro DC DSA approaches annual Local Convention — December 5–6, Location TBA
As working people in the DMV continue to ride high on rising socialist tides, Metro DC DSA commits to stoking the red wave with its annual Local Convention, a weekend-long hybrid event set for December 5–6. The chapter’s Local Convention serves as a valuable moment for the chapter to collectively assess and respond to regional political conditions, and evolve to best sustain the mass movement it has thus far accomplished. Convention timeline is as follows:
- November 12–22, virtual: Open period to propose general resolutions and bylaw amendments
- November 12–22, virtual: Open period to nominate Steering Committee members and Socialist In Office (SIO) Coordinator.
- November 24–December 1, virtual: Open period to submit amendments to previously submitted general resolutions and bylaws amendments; members will also vote on the Consent Agenda.
- December 5–6, HYBRID: Local Convention.
- Debates AND votes on proposed general resolutions and bylaw amendments.
- Debates ONLY on electoral endorsement questionnaires and 2027 priority campaign proposals.
- December 10–14, virtual: Open period for OpaVote on electoral endorsement questionnaires, priority campaign proposals, and Steering Committee members for 2027.
Metro DC DSA’s annual Local Convention is open to all to attend, though only members in good standing are able to vote. RSVP for Local Convention here.
Socialists secure final DSA victory: Briana Urbina wins close election for Mayor of New Carrollton
After months of canvassing and connecting with New Carrollton members, DMV progressives have claimed yet another electoral victory, with DSA-backed Briana Urbina winning the city’s November 9 special elections to be its next Mayor. Socialists’ snap intervention into the race proved vital in securing Urbina’s victory.
Urbina was one of the votes on the city council that removed the now-former mayor Phelecia Nembhard and triggered the special election. During the campaign, Metro DC DSA helped to coordinate and carry out an impressive canvassing operation: knocking on over 5,000 doors over the six weeks — and 700 just on the eve of the special election. After serving on the council for five years, Urbina was fueled by a desire to eliminate the power imbalance between the mayor and the council. While on the council, she included residents directly into the decision-making process, advanced priorities like better language access for residents, youth engagement, more accessible parks, and community partnerships to address public safety. As Mayor, Urbina will continue to be a beacon of progressive policies and transparency for the residents of New Carrollton. Urbina has already stated that she will run for re-election when her current term ends in May 2027.
Chapter votes are in: Oye Owolewa to be recognized as a Socialist in Office
Following a chapterwide vote over the past week, members of Metro DC DSA voted to recognize incoming DC Councilmember at-large Oye Owolewa as a Socialist in Office (SIO) of the chapter. The resolution enables Oye to participate in local and national Socialists in Office activities, joining the ranks of local SIOs Aparna Raj (DC Councilmember-elect, Ward 1), Janeese Lewis George (DC Mayor-elect), Briana Urbina (New Carrollton Mayor-Elect), Shayla Adams-Stafford (PG County Councilmember), Gabe Acevero (Maryland State Delegate), Frankie Santos Fritz (Greenbelt Council), and an ever-expanding network of hundreds of democratic socialist elected officials across the country. Oye Owolewa is a longtime DSA member and applied for endorsement for his council race at the chapter’s annual convention last year. While a majority of members voted for formal endorsement, he did not reach the 2/3 threshold. With Oye to be seated this January, Metro DC DSA voted by a margin of 96% to welcome him as an SIO.
The chapter also voted on two other resolutions, with 85% voting to reimburse the Socialist Soccer Club and 65% voting to call on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for president in 2028. The Run, AOC, Run Resolution is tied to a mandate set by National to run a socialist for president in the 2028 race and comes with an additional call for the National Electoral Committee to endorse early in the race; read the chapter’s press release here.
BRIEFS
Democrats fail to secure impeachment of Defense Secretary Hegseth, as others raise alternatives to stale leadership in Senate & House
In the immediate aftermath of electoral victory, Democrats failed to advance the impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Tuesday evening. The vote fell short by just seven votes, and would have been surmounted if 11 absent Democratic Congressional Representatives had shown up to vote yes. Among those absent: Julia Brownley (D-CA), Lou Correa (D-CA), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Brittany Pettersen (D-CO), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), and Frederica Wilson (D-FL). Some of these House members exchanged representing their constituents’ cries for change in exchange for representing their own campaign accounts at an event for a front group of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Secretary Hegseth — one of Donald Trump’s most loyal lackeys in the executive who crushes his fascist boot into America — has invoked the ire of workers for upending the government by launching an illegal war on Iran, bombing fishermen in the Caribbean and Pacific, helping organize the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and helping orchestrate the ongoing occupation of DC. Advancement of the impeachment vote would have served as a valuable first step toward unwinding Trump’s disastrous foreign policy and initiating a long-overdue offensive against his imperial regime.
The Democrats’ failure to mobilize their own electeds reveals a larger failure of leadership within the party. As they look to a bicameral power grab come January, working people nationwide have been calling for a long-overdue shift in legislative leadership, vying for new leaders who will lead independently of corporate puppet strings and the behest of the war lobby, and instead fight for their constituents. Currently, Senator Chuck Schumer’s leadership in the Senate appears in peril, with Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen — a liberal the American left holds in high regard, particularly for his anti-war and anti-ICE stance — being raised as a credible alternative. In the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8) faces a populist uprising against his leadership in the Congress, with DSA’s incoming Congressional bloc amplifying skepticism of his ability to keep leading the party, especially amidst his disastrous failure to rally his own party members to vote to impeach Hegseth.
See the full list of Democratic Socialists elected this cycle on National DSA’s Electoral Tracker.
DC residents want Council to pump the brakes on autonomous vehicle legislation
To advance his Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026, DC Councilmember Charles Allen called a snap meeting of the Council Committee on Transportation and the Environment to markup the amendment bill for advancement — at 4pm on Veterans Day. Giving residents less than a full day’s notice, Allen clearly felt the sting of his bill being resoundingly denounced by progressive politicians, community organizers, and advocates for the District’s most marginalized communities. At Thursday’s meeting, a coalition of labor, disability, and transit organizers showed up at the Wilson Building to demand that the Council pump the brakes and take their time crafting this bill. By educating others on the bill’s many shortcomings, calling councilmembers, and showing up in person, DC residents sent a strong message to the Council that they are not going to let the rideshare industry and corporations make a mockery of the District’s transportation system by speeding through proper community conversations and public safety understandings.
After a terse vote, Allen’s bill failed to advance and will have to be reintroduced during the next council period. At-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman cited her desire to promote a “culture of certainty,” in her remarks, calling back to last week’s debacle where Councilmember Christina Henderson switched parties multiple times in a clear power grab that only succeeded in making DC Council look unstable. In her remarks, Mayor-elect Janeese Lewis George reminded the Councilmembers that they will need to consider what the next term will bring: “a new Congress with leadership that respects the District’s right to self-governance, a new mayoral administration with new agency heads with a different vision of how to make our streets and neighborhoods safer.” The fight isn’t over yet, but this is an important step forward — and the District’s organizers, along with the left’s allies on the Council, are prepared to win.
Socialist Parents Meetup — Saturday, November 14 at 11am
The Socialist Parents Club is hosting a story and singalong hour at Mt. Pleasant Library (3160 16th Street NW) on Saturday, November 14 at 11am with songs, stories, and playtime. RSVP for the story and singalong hour here.
Anyone interested in joining the Socialist Parents Club can also sign up here to get notices for upcoming events.
Leftist Baking Club Meeting — Sunday, November 15 at 7:30pm
Bread and Rosewater, a leftist baking club run through Metro DC DSA, will hold their next meeting on Sunday, November 15, at 7:30pm in Penn Quarter. The club meets monthly to share homemade baked goods aligned to a member-chosen theme; this month’s theme is to bake either a family recipe or something from your cultural background. Fill out this interest form to attend and receive the exact address.
Join the Socialists’ labor solidarity force — Monday, November 23 at 6pm
Metro DC DSA’s Labor Working Group continues to support working organizing efforts across the region. The Labor Working Group will host its next Solidarity Committee meeting virtually on Monday, November 23rd, to collate updates from active campaigns and develop plots for initiative picket-line support, textbanking operations, wheatpasting, and more. Regardless of organizing experience or union membership status, all who are interested in developing the might and muscle of the working class are invited to participate and learn. RSVP here for the meeting.
Spanish Club for Socialists — November 16, 18, and 19
Spanish Club for Socialists is a group that meets up to practice speaking Spanish. At a time when DC’s Spanish-speaking residents are threatened, developing language skills is essential for truly awakening the strength and ambition of the multi-racial working class. The Spanish Club for Socialists has three events planned next week:
- Monday, November 16, 7pm: Spanish Club Mt. Pleasant at St. Stephens
- Wednesday, November 18, 7pm: Spanish Club Online via Zoom
- Thursday, November 19, 7pm: Spanish Club H Street at the DC Liberation Center
The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy, featuring Osita Nwanevu — Thursday, December 10
Does the “blue tsunami” from the midterms matter? Is the era of Trump over? How should the expanded democratic socialist bloc in Congress use their power to improve the lives of working Americans? Save the date for this discussion with Osita Nwanevu, one of the country’s most prominent left-wing journalists and authors. Nwanevu is a columnist at The Guardian, a contributor to outlets including The New Yorker and the New York Times, and a past guest on Hasan Piker’s political stream. Attendees will discuss how the Republican Party became so deranged, why corporate Democrats have been unwilling to do much of anything to mount an opposition, what liberal analyses of the current political moment leave out, and the need for a radical overhaul of US political-economic institutions. Get more information and RSVP for the discussion here.
INFO ACCESS
Since summer 2025, Trump’s paramilitary puppet force of National Guard troops and ICE agents has occupied, threatened, and terrorized our neighbors throughout the DMV. In the year-plus of oppression, MDC DSA has been up front among progressive forces who have contested these goons, pushing back against extrajudicial kidnappings, violence, and chaos meant to coerce the DMV (and the US at large) into capitulating to fascism. Metro DC DSA and community allies of the deep-rooted DMV Left continue to resist these brownshirt forces and their orange overlord with community actions, providing educational resources and mass trainings to empower working people to make the fight theirs. Nationally, DSA’s growth into a 120,000-plus-member force has galvanized the working classes across Blue and Red corridors alike, those whom other politicians across the spectrum have long abandoned.
This is a movement that leads with the declared elements of socialist transformation by and for the worker who gets a paycheck signed by a boss. Join us in our fight to replace the current status quo, designed for profiteers and their captive politicians, with one designed for us. Here’s how to know about MDC DSA:
- Sign up to receive the Weekly Update newsletter to stay in touch and learn more about ways to grow more involved.
- Already a member? Join our chapter Slack for real-time updates on working groups, campaign events, and inspiration. Email slack@mdcdsa.org with your most recent DSA dues receipt for access.
- Learn more about our chapter’s working groups, geopolitical branches, campaigns, and guiding values.
- Join us at our next concise New and Prospective Member Orientation virtually on Wednesday, November 18.
- How is our activism grounded in radical praxis? Visit the rich archives of our Socialist Night School, peruse our 45-year-old political magazine, Washington Socialist, and watch the latest MDC Dispatch video chronicle on YouTube.
- Use our tip line to submit news and requests for urgent support and action.
- We are democratic, meaning sometimes-tough discussions. Need guidance to navigate conflict? The chapter’s Conflict Support Commission offers consultation, mediation, perspective building, restorative justice circles, and training. Visit the Slack channel #csc, or email csc@mdcdsa.org.
WASHINGTON SOCIALIST
The Fall 2026 issue of Washington Socialist is OUT: the first round of articles releases today, with the second to come next week. The Socialist is Metro DC DSA’s long-standing political journal and a one-of-a-kind publication among DSA chapters nationwide, comprising articles written by and for local socialists and allies. This week’s key features for DMV leftists:
- On Giving Birth, an Angry Urethra, and Shitty Healthcare: To launch the Washington Socialist’s new parents’ column, author “Mom” grapples with the physical and psychological traumas of giving birth amidst ever-deteriorating political conditions that exacerbate DC’s already-dire healthcare shortage. Despite the bleakness of the current moment, “Mom” looks to the electoral rise of socialism and traction for the fight for universal healthcare to provide a more accessible and equitable healthcare system in the near future.
- Our Water, Our Air, Our Land: How Communities Are Standing Up to AI Data Centers: Community resistance to data centers — and the laundry list of harms they bring — is mounting across America. With over 75 projects already halted, this article examines the key features of successful community mobilizations, providing Washington Socialist readers with their own tools to bolster the fight against local data centers.
- Organizing in the DC Restaurant Industry: Originally published in EXPO Magazine, DC’s first publication by and for restaurant workers, this article explores the current landscape of restaurant organizing in DC. From the repeal of Initiative 82 to DOGE layoffs and the increased ICE raids, recent and current organizing fights are rooted in local history, highlighting that workers are the backbone of the service industry, not the owners.
- Seeing Wikipedia as a Political Commons: An overview of the de-institutionalized origins of a crucial, yet sorely underappreciated, online resource and the mounting mobilizations of the editors who service and defend it in the face of attempted takeover.
- Anti-genocide activists shine a spotlight on Chevron’s business with Israel: MDC DSA’s Internationalism Working Group refreshes DMV socialists on Chevron’s corporate-driven complicity with Israel’s decades-long occupation and genocide of Palestine, and provides crucial updates on both national and local efforts to divest financial relationships from the oil mogul. Most recently, it seems their efforts have succeeded in getting DC’s National Cherry Blossom Festival to remove Chevron as a sponsor — a critical local win in the larger fight for liberation.
- Populism is NOT Enough: This piece reflects on the shortcomings of a number of seemingly populist political candidates who came up short this year.
- Who Televises the Revolution?: Cemented in Lenin’s famous line that “of all the arts, for us the cinema is the most important,” this article explores the power that cinema has held for both capitalists and socialists by examining how films can strengthen (or counter) the imperialist narratives broadcast to society.
DSA CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Saturday, November 14
10am – noon | Abolition Wheatpaste
11am – noon | Socialist Families Meetup
Sunday, November 15
1 – 3pm | MoCo DSA November General Body Meeting
2 – 3:15pm | MDC DSA Internationalism Working Group Monthly Meeting
3 – 5pm | MoCo DSA Post-GBM Social
Monday, November 16
5:30 – 6:15pm | Public Land Working Group
6:30 – 8:30pm | New Magazine Essays Discussion Club
Tuesday, November 17
6:30 – 8pm | Labor Working Group November Meeting
7 – 8pm | NoVA Medicare for All Working Group Meeting
Wednesday, November 18
2:45pm | MoCo Housing Opportunities Commission Meeting: Homeless Housing Voucher Preference
7 – 8pm | PGDSA Abolition Working Group – Abolition 101
7 – 8pm | Trans and Queer Liberation Campaign Meeting
7 – 8pm | Why You Should Join DSA/New Member Orientation (virtual)
7:30 – 8:30pm | We Power DC Biweekly Campaign Meeting
Thursday, November 19
6:30 – 8:30pm | NoVA Branch DSA Social Meetup
DMV LEFT BULLETIN
Working with another local left organization? Submit their events here.
BOL’s First Anniversary in Brookland on Nov 15 | BOL Coop
Celebrate BOL’s one-year anniversary in their Brookland brick-and-mortar store (716 Monroe St NE Studio #11) on Sunday, November 15 at 1pm, with chai, snacks, and more. Get more information and RSVP here.
Say No to Waymo Rally on Nov 15 | Empower DC
Waymo, a driverless car company, is building a charging station less than 300 feet from the historic Crummell School, a community center that serves all Ivy City residents, especially youth. On Sunday, November 15 at 2pm, join Empower DC at Trinity Baptist Church to demand the DC Council to stand up for District residents’ safety and livelihood and SAY NO to Waymo. Get more information and RSVP here.
Heist: A Film about the Human Cost of the DOGE Assault on Federal Jobs on Nov 15 | PG Peace and Justice
The film HEIST chronicles the 40 days of mass firings and the dismantling of federal agencies that began in February 2025. Under Elon Musk’s DOGE, federal workers were branded wasteful, expendable, or enemies of the public. The film reveals that the consequences of gutting the government extend far beyond lost jobs. These sweeping cuts jeopardized scientific research, weather forecasting, veterans’ services, and essential public benefits. PG Peace and Justice is holding a screening of Heist on Sunday, November 15 at 6:30pm at New Deal Café (113 Centerway). In addition to enjoying the film, attendees will learn about two new bills, HR 3093 and HR 9730, which aim to rebuild the federal government devastated by the DOGE assault. IMPORTANT: Please note that the Reel & Meal screenings now occur on Sundays — a new day for our program. The screenings are hybrid: in-person at the Café and virtual over Zoom. RSVP to attend over Zoom here.
How to Win Any Argument at the Holiday Dinner and Beyond on Nov 16 | Rising Organizers
Join this free, virtual one-hour training on how to have difficult but crucial conversations, navigate disagreements, and answer tough questions. This training will take place on Monday, November 16 at 12pm. RSVP for the training here.
Training Bootcamp Series starting Nov 16 | Free DC
Large-scale mobilizations require many people with specific skills working in coordination to succeed. Join Free DC and partners for one of four training sessions and experiment with putting the skills you learn into action. The training sessions are: Mobilization, Action Comms, Action Safety, and Sounds + Visuals. Get more information and RSVP here.
Art Against Brutality: Book Talk on Nov 17 | Institute for Policy Studies
This panel will cover the 1981 massacre of 1,000 innocent civilians, many of them small children, in El Mozote, El Salvador, and the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her fifteen-year-old daughter at the University of Central America in San Salvador. This event will take place on Tuesday, November 17 at 6pm, at Busboys and Poets in Takoma (234 Carroll Street NW). Speakers will include:
- Claudia Bernardi, Artist and Author
- Representative Jim McGovern
- Carolyn Forché, Poet Author: What You Have Heard Is True
- Professor Ana Patricia Rodriguez, University of Maryland School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
- Ana Maria Méndez, WOLA Director For Latin America
- Lilo Gonzalez, Singer, Songwriter
This event is sponsored by Busboys and Poets, Center for Latina American and Latino Studies at American University, Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), Department of Spanish and Portuguese at University of Maryland, Immigration Lab at American University, Institute for Policy Studies, Teaching for Change, Washington Ethical Society GC, and Washington Office on Latin America. While free, registration is required; register for the panel here.
ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES
ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES are articles and opinion pieces of interest to DMV leftists but not, generally, appearing in local media. They should have links without paywalls. Readers are invited to submit candidates at our tip line.
10 Reasons Hakeem Jeffries Should Not Be House Speaker
Voters did not reject Republican extremism just to see Democratic leaders continue pouring billions into wars and corporate interests while families struggle to afford housing, healthcare, and basic necessities. Common Dreams
Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries Are Not Meeting the Moment
The Democrats’ congressional leaders have been handed an enormous mandate they have no interest in carrying out. The Nation
Exclusive: Bernie Sanders on Why It’s Vital for Democrats to Replace Chuck Schumer
The progressive icon says that the Senate leader is “way out of touch with where the American people are at.” The Nation
What Democratic Socialists Can Learn About Endorsing a Presidential Candidate in 2028
The Democratic Socialists of America has gained increasing electoral influence. After the Left’s success in the midterms, the group could make an impact in the upcoming presidential race — if organizers take lessons from previous cycles. Our longtime DC comrade, now NYC-based comrade David Duhalde writes in In These Times
‘The cold is lethal’: storms leave thousands in Gaza without shelter
Don’t let Israel’s barbarism take a media holiday. Charities warn of lack of protection amid health fears for more than 940,000 displaced people living in flood-prone areas (and IDF resistance to admitting aid materials). The Guardian
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
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