Metro DC DSA’s Brake Light Clinic will take place this Saturday, October 14. At our brake light clinics, socialist mechanics fix people’s tail and brake lights for free to educate the public on removing police from traffic enforcement. Need a repair or know someone who does? Fill out this form so mechanics know what to plan for. The process for fixing brake lights is simple, but will help in reducing community interactions with police and help educate the community on legislation that activists are interested in passing in DC in the near future. DSA members, neighbors or anyone in need of a repair are invited to attend. If you would like to request a repair for Saturday’s event or would like to volunteer to learn about the process, follow through to the appropriate link on this form.
Stomp Out Slumlords anti-eviction canvass — Saturday, October 14
Stomp Out Slumlords will be conducting their next anti-eviction canvass tomorrow, Saturday, October 14, starting from L’Enfant Metro Station at 1:30pm. Members are invited to participate if they would like to come out and inform tenants facing eviction of their rights in court, how to get a lawyer and to gauge their interest in organizing their building. SOS has found that previously canvassed tenants are twice as likely to go to court and fight their eviction, so every volunteer can make a big impact.
SOS will meet at the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station on the D Street exit between 6th and 7th Street SW above the escalators — if the weather is bad, they will be downstairs just before the turnstiles. At 1:30pm there will be 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. Walk-sheets will then be distributed and you will be paired with a partner — if you have never done this before, SOS will try to set you up with a veteran who can show you the ropes.
If you have a car, please drive it down to the meeting spot. Cars are helpful for getting canvassers to Metro-inaccessible areas. Parking near L’Enfant Plaza is a bit tricky, but doable. After the canvass, come meet up at Sonny’s in Park View to debrief and socialize. If you’re interested in SOS but cannot canvass, reach out to [email protected] to learn about other ways to get involved.
#ICEoutofArlington and NoVA Migrant Justice at Arlington County Board Meeting — Saturday, October 14
Pack the Arlington County Board Meeting Saturday, October 14 at 8am to demand ICE Out of Arlington! In response to demands from the ICE Out of Arlington coalition, Arlington County board members adopted a countywide policy ending collaboration with ICE — but left an exception for the police. Show up on Saturday, October 14 to pack the board meeting and amplify the demands of affected community members to remove section 7 of the Trust Policy, which gives ACPD discretion to continue partnering with ICE. RSVP here.
BRIEFS
Join striking autoworkers in Martinsburg, WV — Saturday, October 14
Join fellow Metro DC DSA members in Martinsburg, West Virginia to support striking auto workers at GM! We’ll meet at noon at the plant at 608 Caperton Boulevard, Martinsburg, WV 25401. UAW picketers are excited to see DSA supporters on the picket line — visit the #labor channel in Slack for more information or to get in touch with organizers.
Publications Team meeting — Wednesday, October 18
Metro DC DSA’s Publications Team will be hosting an all-team meeting on Wednesday, October 18 at 7pm, where we will review our basic structures, processes for production, management and best practices for various publications and much more. New members or those interested in publications are more than welcome, but are encouraged to send a note (message @gary zZz on Slack) expressing interest so we can prepare people beforehand. Older or lapsed Publications members are also encouraged to join — we would love to show you what we have been up to. RSVP here.
Social Media and Comms for Socialists — Thursday, October 19
Sign up now to attend the online “Comms and Social Media for Socialists” training this coming Thursday, October 19 at 7pm to learn more about how to make your online communication more effective. This will be the second session in our new Nuts and Bolts training series. You will learn how to craft and test messages, how to time social media communications and how to follow up and collaborate. There will be plenty of opportunities for questions and we hope you will come away ready to get your campaign’s message out in one of the many exciting areas of work the chapter is pursuing. RSVP here for this or the other great upcoming trainings in the fall Nuts and Bolts series.
Montgomery County Decriminalization Coalition relaunches — Sunday, October 22
Since 2020, Montgomery County DSA has organized in coalition with other social and racial justice organizations to get police out of Montgomery County Public Schools and to end the practice of treating students — especially Black and Brown students — as criminals. That coalition is relaunching as the Montgomery County Decriminalization Coalition, and you are invited to the launch party. Come out on Sunday, October 22 at 3pm to Gene Lynch Urban Park in Silver Spring (8410 Colesville Rd) to learn about what we can do together to forge a path towards safer traffic enforcement, a fairer education system and a community where all residents can live and thrive without the threat of state violence. If you are unable to make this event but interested in policing and abolition work in Montgomery County, email [email protected].
24-hour Metrobus service to begin in December
Thirteen key bus lines across the District are projected to switch to 24-hour service starting on December 17, according to WMATA. Expanded hours — buses will run every 20 minutes from 9pm to 7am — will be offered on the 32, 33, 52, 70, 80, 92, A6/A8, B2, H4, S2, V2, W4 and X2 lines.
Get your socialist wardrobe staples for fall
With the leaves turning and the air becoming crisp, it’s time to don some layers of chapter merch! Metro DC DSA’s Merch Store has hats, tees and hoodies that will keep you warm this fall. Each item is proudly union-made.
INFO ACCESS
MDC DSA Publications Schedule: This month’s Weekly Updates will arrive on Fridays, October 20 and 27. Next issue of the Washington Socialist is scheduled for Friday, November 3, with an article deadline of October 28. Submit to [email protected].
Would you like to participate in MDC DSA’s publications? We write, we edit, we design, we do the tech — there are so many ways your hand could lighten the load. Check us out on #publications and let us know what you would like to write, or write about, or …? Our comms/pubs all-team meeting on Wednesday, October 18 at 7pm will outline our ongoing projects and tasks; dip into the nitty-gritty of a cross-platform program for an informed membership.
If you would like to see something included in the Update, suggestions can be submitted to the tip line.
DSA Feed, an RSS feed that aggregates multiple DSA publications — including our own Washington Socialist — in one convenient place. More from the National Tech Committee here.
Reel & Meal film screening | The New Deal Cafe Come to Greenbelt’s New Deal Cafe (Roosevelt Center) or join via Zoom on Monday, October 16 for short documentary films on alternative, planet-friendly energy sources such as geothermal, tidal power and (“green”) hydrogen. The New Deal Cafe has a full dinner menu and the free movie program starts at 7pm. Click here to register.
Volunteer in the Garden | City Blossoms There are four great opportunities to get your hands in the soil and support youth gardens with City Blossoms coming up this month:
Tuesday, October 17 from 3:30 to 6pm at Cardozo Education Campus (1200 Clifton St NW)
Tuesday, October 24 from 4 to 6pm pm at LaSalle-Backus Elementary (501 Riggs Rd NE)
Friday, October 27 from 10am to 12pm at UPO @ Eagle Academy (3425 10th Pl SE)
Saturday, October 28 from 10am to 1pm at the Girard Children’s Garden (1480 Girard St NW)
All events are family-friendly and open to groups. For groups larger than five, email [email protected].
Fall Festival | Wangari Gardens Wangari Community Gardens annual Fall Festival is back and welcomes all neighbors in Park View (and beyond) to gather for a day in the garden on October 28 from 12 to 4pm. There will be great live music, free local food, workshops, games and more — costumes encouraged!
The Green Scream at The Well | The Green Scheme The Green Scheme is back for a second year in a row of family-friendly Halloween fun at DC Greens’ urban farm, The Well at Oxon Run (300 Valley Ave SE). The Green Scream is open to community members of all ages. Free costumes for kids, face painting, games and snacks will be provided.
The Garage Gala | Live from the Garage Live from the Garage will be hosting a concert fundraiser for Ikemba Foods and Remora House DC, two local mutual aid groups committed to providing assistance for those in need in DC. Doors open at 7pm on November 10.
ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC
In The Guardian, Vincent Bevins provides an adapted excerpt from his new book, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution. “From Brazil to Egypt, Turkey to Hong Kong, the 2010s saw a series of huge public uprisings. Yet many of them led to the opposite of what they asked for.”
The failed Southern economic development model is “Rooted in racism and economic exploitation” — Southern politicians claim that “business-friendly” policies lead to an abundance of jobs and economic prosperity for all Southerners. The data actually show a grim economic reality. Read the report from the Economic Policy Institute.
Amid strikes across the United States in industries ranging from health care to entertainment to automotive manufacturing, members of the Maryland Senate’s Finance Committee met this week to review the landscape of collective bargaining powers for Maryland’s state employees and to discuss where opportunities may expand in the upcoming 2024 legislative session. In 2024, lawmakers may again consider extending collective bargaining powers to university faculty, part-time faculty and graduate assistants, a state staff analyst said. A similar bill was filed for the 2023 legislative session, but was unsuccessful, Maryland Matters reports.
MoCo 360 highlights more wins for unionized workers — this time, it’s the unionized commercial office cleaners of 32BJ SEIU. “Unionized commercial office cleaners in Montgomery County and the D.C. region reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with the Washington Service Contractors Association on Tuesday… The hourly wage increases of $3.55 to $3.75 over the new four-year contract will help lift the wages of cleaners who currently earn between $12.50 and $18.60 per hour, depending on the market, according to the release.”
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 its chains, shatters them and stops inebriated to breathe the breeze of a vaster and freer horizon.
- Virgilia D'Andrea
Sent via ActionNetwork.org.
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