MAY 10, 2024
This is the weekly newsletter of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America, which is produced by local members of the chapter’s Publications working group.
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CONTENTS
UP FRONT
Last chance to knock doors for Uncommitted Maryland
DC Labor History walking tour taking place TOMORROW, May 11 — meeting at Columbus Circle, 12pm
As Israel continues genocidal assault in Rafah, MPD tear-gasses students during GW encampment raid
Last chance to knock doors for Uncommitted Maryland
After more than 80 years of still-ongoing struggle in Palestine, justice for Palestinians is on the ballot in Maryland. As part of the Uncommitted Maryland effort, Metro DC DSA members across Maryland have made over 10,000 voter contact attempts and have had almost 2,000 conversations this past month. With the election just a few days away — this Tuesday, May 14 — it’s more important than ever to talk to our neighbors about why it’s essential we vote Uncommitted for Palestine. Join us at the times below so we can send a strong message for peace and justice for Palestinians in Maryland’s Democratic primary:
Saturday, May 11 at 10:30am in Greenbelt
- Meeting point: Hollywood Neighborhood Park, 9699 53rd Ave, College Park, MD 20740 (just a few minutes walk from Greenbelt metro). RSVP here.
Saturday, May 11 at 3:30pm in Greenbelt
- Meeting point: Roosevelt Center Plaza, in front of the Greenbelt Cinema: 129 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD 20770. RSVP here.
Sunday, May 12 at 10:30am at Forest Glen Metro in Silver Spring
- Meeting point: 9730 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910. RSVP here.
Sunday, May 12 at 3:30pm at Takoma Junction
- Meeting Point: Across the street from this address: 7306 Carroll Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912. 15 minute walk from Takoma Metro station. RSVP here.
DC Labor History walking tour taking place TOMORROW, May 11 — meeting at Columbus Circle, 12pm
Sign up now to join Metro DC DSA for the DC Labor History walking tour on Saturday, May 11 at 12pm. The tour will meet at Union Station, then visit several landmarks that pay tribute to the past and ongoing struggle of the American working class with a broad range of union organizers and labor experts as guides. Participants will learn about the early rise of labor power, the violent state suppression of workers and corporate retaliation against unions that still impacts workers today, how workers fought back and won critical concessions through the Great Depression, how neoliberal international trade undercuts US labor — and much more.
The tour will meet at Columbus Circle (right outside of Union Station) at noon, walk down to Pennsylvania Avenue and include roughly ~2.4 miles of walking. The walking tour is estimated to conclude around 3, to be followed by a happy hour. Register here for updates. DSA members, union members, socialists, progressives and labor allies are all invited to attend.
As Israel continues genocidal assault in Rafah, MPD tear-gasses students during GW encampment raid
As Israel continues its genocidal bombardment of Rafah, with the official death toll in Gaza rising to 35,000 Palestinians despite Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire proposed by mediators Egypt and Qatar, MPD conducted a 3:30am raid on the Palestine solidarity encampment at George Washington University on Wednesday, May 8. Police attacked protestors with tear gas and arrested more than 20 people, with an MPD spokesperson telling the GW Hatchet that they worked closely with university administrators to conduct the raid. The attack took place ahead of a planned Republican House Oversight Committee regarding the encampment the same day. Following the raid, the hearing was canceled.
At time of writing, the university has closed off the square entirely, ending what was a source of community and solidarity for both students and the wider community. Student organizers are continuing to mobilize pressure against the university in pursuit of their demands of divestment. Using social media to coordinate, students and their community allies have been using the block of 21st & H St NW (renamed by protesters “Shohada Square”) to coordinate action and mobilization.
Israel has told Palestinians to evacuate eastern Rafah as it continues to threaten a ground invasion. (The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it would not provide weapons to Israel if it follows through with a “major” invasion.) Israel also seized the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and is blocking humanitarian aid from entering. Meanwhile, the UN highlighted the “full-blown” famine taking place in Northern Gaza, and mass graves continue to be unearthed at Al-Shifa hospital. Students across the world, including in the DMV, are maintaining their protests against their universities’ complicity in this genocide.
BRIEFS
Reproductive care kit packing event for the DC Abortion fund — Wednesday, May 15 from 6 to 8:30pm
Join the Reproductive Justice working group for its reproductive care kit packing event for the DC Abortion Fund (DCAF) on Wednesday, May 15 from 6 to 8:30pm. The event, taking place at Red Derby, aims to raise money for DCAF and to pack close to 500 care kits for DCAF to distribute locally to people in need. All are invited to attend — the more people, the more kits packed. RSVP here. Also, consider donating to the workers at As You Are DC in their time of need.
New in the Washington Socialist: The Socialist Case for TOPA
The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, or TOPA, requires that building owners in DC give tenants in apartment buildings the opportunity to purchase their housing or assign the right to another entity, guaranteeing renters a seat at the table when it comes to the potential sale of their homes. The authors write: “As the District faces its fourth wave of gentrification, this right provides a way for tenants to ensure housing stability.” But powerful developers and lobbyists are pushing to deepen already-harmful erosions in TOPA, fomenting a potentially devastating attack on the District’s affordable housing stock — and the working class’s ability to organize to protect their homes. Read more in “The Socialist Case for TOPA.”
Stomp Out Slumlords to hold anti-eviction canvass — Saturday, May 18 at 1:30pm
Stomp Out Slumlords is carrying out its next anti-eviction canvass on Saturday, May 18. Canvassers will speak with tenants across the city to spread awareness about their rights as tenants. Tenants that speak with SOS are twice as likely to go to court and fight their eviction, so every volunteer makes a big impact. The canvassing group will meet at the L’Enfant Plaza Metro for a quick training at 1:30pm, and then pair up to canvass followed by a debrief/social at Sonny’s in Petworth. New members are always welcome and will be paired with an experienced canvasser to learn the ropes. Get more details at the sign up link, or email tenants@mdcdsa.org to ask questions or find out more ways to get involved. The canvassing group is always in need of cars, which can help canvassers get to Metro-inaccessible areas.
We Power DC holding movement meeting — Saturday, May 18 from 2 to 4pm
The campaign to achieve a publicly owned utility company, We Power DC, is meeting at the Mt. Pleasant Library on Saturday, May 18, from 2 to 4pm. This event is perfect for people in DC who want to organize around rising energy costs, environmental justice and climate change but might not know where to start. We Power DC organizers will provide an overview of the campaign and lead skills-building sessions. RSVP here.
MDC DSA tabling at Trans Pride at the MLK Library — Saturday, May 18 from 9:30am to 5pm
The chapter’s Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Campaign will be building on the momentum gathered at Trans Day of Visibility in March and tabling at Trans Pride on May 18 at MLK Memorial Library. Those interested in learning more about Metro DC DSA, the Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Campaign, or to be in allied community are invited to attend. Interested comrades can register to attend Trans Pride here, and all are welcome to stop by and say hello. Readers interested in getting involved in the TRBA campaign or looking to volunteer for a tabling shift should email socfem@mdcdsa.org.
Metro DC DSA holding chapter-wide General Body Meeting — Sunday, May 19 from 3 to 5pm
Metro DC DSA’s next GBM is on May 19th from 3pm to 5pm. The meeting will be held both in-person and virtually, and will review chapter priorities, upcoming events, election report backs and more. The meeting will also include a focused discussion on our chapter publications and media systems, with intent to establish expectations with the broader membership and communicate updates to the broader chapter on the chapter’s media ambitions and operations.
Chapter members are encouraged to RSVP here to facilitate the use of OpenSlides for discussion and debate, and to receive the Zoom link if attending virtually. Following the meeting, the chapter will hold a happy hour nearby.
Metro DC DSA Spring Book Exchange — Sunday, May 19 from 11am to 3pm
Bring a book, take a book (or two or three) and learn how to get involved in chapter initiatives. The Metro DC DSA Political Education working group is organizing a Spring Book Exchange on Sunday, May 19 from 11am to 3pm in the picnic area of Alethia Tanner Park in NE DC. This event is open to the community and welcomes chapter members and supporters to trade books that would be of interest to Reading Group and Metro DC DSA members. Attendees can also pick up free swag, meet comrades and learn about chapter campaigns from the Metro DC DSA Street Team. Join the #book-exchange and #street-team channels on the chapter’s Slack to get involved — or see you there.
Sign up now: Summer Reading Groups from Metro DC DSA
Everyone is invited to sign up and invite your friends and coworkers to Summer 2024 reading groups through Metro DC DSA — all start after Memorial Day and end before Labor Day. These reading groups are a great way to meet new people, learn core works connected to socialism and political economy, build our capacity to learn and debate ideas and get connected to political education in the chapter.
Summer offerings include a group on Logistics and Capitalism and why it is important when the Suez Canal gets blocked, a political economy group reading The Making of Global Capitalism, a Mobilize Your Union group for anyone looking to get more active in their workplace or union, an Internationalism group reading Vincent Bevins’ The Jakarta Method, a Socialism and Culture group reading Stuart Hall about how socialism can make itself “common sense,” a Communist Manifesto group reading through the original work along with its contemporaries and reactions to it today, a Socialist Feminist group reading Wordslut about feminism and language, a Reading the Caribbean group on fiction rooted in the Caribbean coordinated by experts on the topic, and the Know Your Chapter: Bylaws Reading Group to bring people together to read and discuss DSA’s existing rules and their history. Register one or more times to join — most groups will meet online but with regular in-person social meetups to build group camaraderie.
INFO ACCESS
MDC DSA Publications: The Washington Socialist publishes on a quarterly schedule. The Spring 2024 edition is now live and will be updated on a rolling basis until Summer. The Spring issue’s pieces include remote work as a socialist weapon, the passage of DC’s “Crimnibus” or Secure DC Act, anti-mask laws in history and several analyses of the chapter’s internal strategy, including as a regional formation. Added this week: a socialist evaluation of TOPA, the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. Anyone interested in contributing to the Washington Socialist can email submissions or questions at washingtonsocialist@mdcdsa.org. Get your socialist self on the record.
Weekly Updates — which are getting in the range of 6,000–7,000 opens every week — are scheduled and emailed on Fridays, May 17, 24 and 31 this month. Current and past Updates are on the web here. We’re proud that the wider DMV left sees the Update as a utility for activists. Want more INFO ACCESS? Submit your Update suggestions to the tip line, including nominating articles for ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES.
Find out about our MDC DSA chapter — structure, campaigns and working groups, Night School and reading groups — HERE. And live from our studio, Wednesday, May 22, 7 – 8pm | Why You Should Join DSA/New Member Orientation (with Q&A). AND new members (or long-timers): if you are not on the chapter’s Slack, you may be missing important organizing info and inspiration. Email slack@mdcdsa.org with your most recent DSA dues receipt to get on Slack.
Now that we’ve (maybe) got your attention about MDC DSA’s information sources, consider participating in MDC DSA’s Publications effort. We write, we edit, we design, we do the tech — there are so many ways your hand could lighten the load in 2024 and beyond. Check us out on #publications and let us know what you would like to write, or write about.
DSA CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Saturday, May 11
12pm | DC Labor History Walking Tour
2 – 4pm | WePower DC Movement Meeting
Tuesday, May 14
6:30 – 8:30pm | Bread & Roses Labor series
7 – 8pm | Abolition Working Group biweekly meeting
Wednesday, May 15
6 – 8:30pm | Repro Justice Working Group Care Kit Packing Event
Thursday, May 16
6pm | Social Housing Biweekly Organizing Meeting
6:30 – 8:30pm | Social Meetup – NoVA DSA
Saturday, May 18
1 – 2:15pm | Internationalism Monthly Meeting
2 – 4pm | We Power DC Movement Meeting
Sunday, May 19
11am – 3pm | Metro DC DSA Spring Book Exchange
3 – 5pm | MDC DSA General Body Meeting
Monday, May 20
6:45pm | Labor Filmfest — Matewan
COMMUNITY BULLETIN
DMV Leftist Writers Social on May 19 | After The Storm Magazine
Are you writing anticapitalist stories? Thinking about writing them? Interested in reading and editing such stories? Local magazine and writers collective After The Storm is hosting a DMV Leftist Writers Social on Sunday, May 19, from 2 – 4pm at Sudhouse DC on U Street. Join them to meet other writers, editors, and readers, as well as to learn more about getting involved with After The Storm — a publication that pays local writers to share their visions for a better world. This space is for all, including those who may not currently consider themselves a writer. RSVP here.
Stop the Foggy Bottom Evictions | Stop the Sweeps DC
Stop the Sweeps DC is asking people to contact the DC Government, National Parks Service and US Park Police to tell them to not evict the homeless encampments in Foggy Bottom. These sweeps do nothing to aid the unhoused or address the underlying causes of homelessness, but are successful at wasting taxpayer money to upend the lives of the unhoused and separate them from needed social services. Write a letter here.
Volunteers needed for Mother’s Day Free Market | Ward 4 Mutual Aid and Petworth peanuts
Ward 4 Mutual Aid is seeking additional volunteers for its annual Mother’s Day Free Market, which provides free clothes, toys, car seats, strollers, books, and other baby supplies for DC families. Volunteers are needed to help set up and break down before and after the event at Emory United Methodist Church on Saturday May 18, from 12 to 4pm. Email events@petworthpeanuts for more information or to sign up to volunteer.
My Body My Festival | DC Abortion Fund
The DC Abortion Fund has partnered with Burger Sounds to host a three-day music festival where abortion access is the headliner. From May 16 to 18, celebrate bodily autonomy and rally for DC statehood across three local concert venues: Pie Shop, Songbyrd, and metrobar. Proceeds benefit DCAF; get tickets 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.
Jacobin via Portside: We Need “Outside Agitators”
Pro-Palestine student protesters are being smeared as puppets of shadowy “outside agitators.” The presence of community members and experienced activists in the protests is nothing to be ashamed of: we need outside agitators to build a better world.
The New Yorker: Work Sucks. What Could Salvage It?
A nice multi-book review that explores the social purpose of work and calls for a more commie-friendly understanding of work vs. leisure
London Review of Books: Liberalism Without Accountability
A short piece about how Gaza-related repression in the US and Europe is revealing the contradictions at the heart of liberalism
N+1: Who Sees Gaza?
A long but essential essay that takes an inventory of how images have factored into Israel’s genocide of Palestinians
The Baffler: Pinkwashing the Timeline
A look at how Zionists have strategically embraced and demonized queerness to serve their ideological aims
Law and Political Economy Project: From the Encampments: Student Reflections on Protests for Palestine
Candid and thorough reflections from law students who have participated in the encampments
Maryland Matters: Advocates declare ‘unprecedented’ progress [during 2024 Session] for renter protections … still work to do
“Maryland’s renter population was at the center of several bills during the 2024 session, with even Gov. Wes Moore (D) trying to boost protections and opportunities for thousands of households who pay rent to live in their homes.The 2024 session yielded a mixed bag of outcomes on renter-focused bills” — a deep, instructive dive into the success and failure of some impressively progressive bills and a primer on how the Maryland legislature can chop them up at will.
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