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**
THE
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twin cities
democratic socialists
of america


** Little Red Letter No. 56
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The Minnesota primary is this Tuesday, March 3! Do you have a plan to vote for Bernie? Find your voting location here ([link removed]) , and click here to learn how Bernie’s vision aligns with DSA ([link removed]) .
Jenny Brown, author of Without Apology, in conversation with TCDSA Socialist Feminists
(RSVP here ([link removed]) )
Join us for a reading and Q&A discussion with Jenny Brown, author of the book Without Apology: The Abortion Struggle Now ([link removed]) on Friday, March 6th, 7:00pm, at Moon Palace Books
Official Tuna 4 Bernie Shirt
[Preorder Here] ([link removed])
On February 7, the night of the Democratic debate in New Hampshire, very online Twin Cities DSA member Chris Stedman ([link removed]) tweeted a simple video ([link removed]) capturing his dog Tuna’s enthusiasm for Bernie Sanders and her…. lack of enthusiasm for Pete Buttigieg. Overnight the video went viral, and to commemorate Tuna's ongoing commitment to democratic socialism, we’ve partnered with Chris and Twin Cities DSA member Anthony Moss ([link removed]) to create an exclusive shirt. All proceeds from this shirt go directly to support the work of the chapter.
“We are all living on occupied land...these struggles are all interconnected...It’s not the sole responsibility of Indigenous folks to continue doing this really dangerous work (of demonstrating). It’s the role of settlers to undo colonialism and to put pressure on the Canadian state to stop their invasion of Indigenous territories.”

Natali Montilla, on Canadian mistreatment of Wet'suwet'en Nation's land ([link removed])
Upcoming Events:
DSA at the Bernie Rally! ([link removed])
Mon, March 2, 4:30pm – 8:30pm
St. Paul RiverCentre (map ([link removed]) )

Mutual Aid Working Group Meeting
Tue, March 3, 6:15pm – 8:00pm
Merriam Park Library (map ([link removed]) )

Super Tuesday Watch Party!
Tue, March 3, 8:30pm – 11:00pm
BlackStack Brewing (map ([link removed]) )

Communications Committee
Wed, March 4, 6:30pm – 8:00pm
Minneapolis Central Library, N304 (map ([link removed]) )
Jenny Brown, author of “Without Apology,” in conversation with Twin Cities DSA Socialist Feminists
Fri, March 6, 7pm – 9pm
Moon Palace Books (map ([link removed]) )

Beyond Bernie
Sat, March 7, 4pm – 6pm
CWA Local 7200 (map ([link removed]) )

Ops/Tech Committee Meeting
Mon, March 9, 7pm – 9pm
Minneapolis Central Library N-202 (map ([link removed]) )
Socialize with Ramsey County Branch!
Mon, March 9, 7pm – 9pm
Black Hart of Saint Paul (map ([link removed]) )

Tech Action Reading Group
Wed, March 11, 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Minneapolis Central Library, N-304 (map ([link removed]) )

Endorsement Meeting
Sat, March 14, 1pm – 3pm
Arvonne Fraser Library (map ([link removed]) )

Ops/Tech Committee Meeting
Wed, March 25, 6pm – 9pm
Boneshaker Books (map ([link removed]) )

Left Social Democrats
Thursday, Mar 26, 2020
Time and Location TBD

Housing Branch Meeting
Thu, March 26, 6:00pm – 7:30pm
Location TBD

TCDSA Libertarian Socialist Study Group
Fri, March 27, 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Groundswell (map ([link removed]) )

TCDSA General Chapter Meeting
Sat, March 28, 11:30am – 2:00pm
Northeast Recreation Center, Room 1530 (map ([link removed]) )

Keep an eye on our calendar ([link removed]) for more events as they're scheduled or changed!
Endorsement Meeting!
📣 Saturday, March 14
📣 1:00pm-3:00pm
📣 Arvonne Fraser Library
📣 Participate in Democracy!
What we're up to...

How to Fight Bloomberg and Win

The genesis of this piece is a debate between comrades about how to relate to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s campaign to be the Democratic candidate for president. Two weeks ago, Bloomberg opened five new campaign offices in Minnesota. I proposed that TCDSA take the opportunity to protest Bloomberg at the nearest one; most comrades engaged in the debate felt that it would be a strategic mistake to hold a “negative” action, that it would reflect poorly on the Bernie Sanders campaign, presumably because of DSA’s association with that campaign, and that we should focus on positive activities for Bernie instead.

That particular moment has passed, and there is no terrible loss in having missed the chance to protest a field office. But to my mind, the discussion suggested a range of views on two issues that do matter to what we’ll do in the future: how we relate to Bloomberg, and how we relate to Bernie.

(read more) ([link removed])

Twin Cities DSA and friends protest Line 3, call out fossil fuel industry for buying political influence

On February 26, 2020, members of Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America, Northfield Against Line 3, and other allies from the Movement to Stop Line 3 gathered in downtown Minneapolis at the offices of Winthrop & Weinstine—one of Minnesota’s premier corporate law firms and lobby shops—to call out its relationship with Enbridge Energy, the company that wants to build the massive Line 3 tar sands pipeline. Activists also took aim at JPMorgan Chase—the world’s worst funder of climate change, with offices in the same building—for contributing $5.4 billion to Enbridge pipeline-related loans.

(read more) ([link removed])


** Education roundup: MPS has many balls in the air, while Saint Paul teachers may be on the verge of a strike
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Editor’s note: A version of this column appears in the March 2 edition of Southside Pride.

Whew! I hardly know where to start. On March 10th, a coalition of pissed-off parents is going to march to demand Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) go back to the drawing board on their Comprehensive District Design (CDD) and this time consult meaningfully and in-advance with the community, especially parents. Meanwhile ESPs (Education Support Professionals) are still in contract negotiations after more than nine months and numerous informational pickets.

In other news, the Saint Paul teachers’ union, SPFE #28, voted to authorize a strike. More on that below.

(read more ([link removed]) )


**
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Informational picket at Lucy Laney School. Photo: Deb KR
Do you have opinions? Hot takes? Cool things you've been doing with DSA or our allies? Write for us ([link removed]) !
For Further Review
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With so many great podcasts, articles, books and videos coming out, it's easy to miss something great. Here's a few things members have found and loved recently.

We Can't Have a Feminist Future Without Abolishing the Family ([link removed])
This is a profile of Sophie Lewis, author of Full Surrogacy Now. Her call to abolish the family might sound extreme if it's new to you, but it's really about ending the expectation that biological families exclusively do care work for their own, and in its place creating networks of people who care for each other as well a full social safety net. --TMW

Intersex Liberation ([link removed])
By way of Sophie Lewis's Twitter, where she points out that discussions of personal trauma can be beneficial to theory, contra what some Marxists say. Also a good read if you aren't familiar with intersex people's fight for bodily autonomy, a feminist demand that's tightly connected to reproductive justice. --TMW

The Neighborhoods We Will Not Share ([link removed])
Portside reposts an in-depth piece from the New York Times reviewing the worst aspects of over 100 years of racially restrictive property laws and real estate practices, and also a proposed Trump administration rule that, if enacted, will make it technically impossible to prove "disparate impact" of local housing policies on racial or other groups when attempting to file for relief from HUD. --DKR

Mexico Is Showing the World How to Defeat Neoliberalism ([link removed])
Here's an article in Truthdig summarizing the recent policies of Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known as AMLO) which are rolling back 36 years of neoliberalism, corruption, and austerity. These include a massive expansion of Mexico's all-but-destroyed public national bank as the "Bank for the Poor," and a $44 billion plan to rebuild infrastructure and create well-paid jobs. --DKR

Here’s What Happens When Public Transit Is Free ([link removed])
Just what it says in the headline (how refreshing!) - a survey of outcomes around the world where free public transit has been initiated or trialed. -- DKR

Court awards graffiti artists $6.7m after work destroyed by developers ([link removed])
There was a great victory for public art, artists, and anti-gentrification recently. A total of $6.7 million was awarded to a group of artists whose graffiti at 5Pointz, Queens, NYC was destroyed by property developers in 2013. --DKR
Minneapolis protesters decry 'suit and tie motherfuckers' lobbying for Enbridge ([link removed])
Twin Cities DSA and comrades in the news this week exposing corruption in the Walz administration and the Public Utilities Commission around Line 3 approval. The action got a shoutout in this related story as well. ([link removed]) --ES (Best headline in a minute. -- TMW)

Rebecca Solnit: ‘Younger feminists have shifted my understanding’ ([link removed])
Rebecca Solnit uses the launch of her new book, Recollections of My Non-existence, to offer deep musings and healing writings on the right relationship between older and younger generations of feminists. --DKR

Berning Questions ([link removed])
A one-page website of facts about Bernie. Not affiliated with his campaign and meant to be shared with your skeptical friends and family who need a little persuasion to feel the bern. --TMW
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If you find something that should be shared, post to the #linkroundup channel on slack, submit to this form ([link removed]) , or reply to this email.
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Comrades at Winthrop & Weinstine, decrying suit and tie motherfuckers. Photo: Kerry Wang.

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Twin Cities Chapter DSA . PO Box 6554 . Minneapolis, MN 55406 . USA