The Solidarity Fund Forever, for
Mutual Aid Makes Us Strong
Last month, the phrase “mutual aid” entered the lexicon of the American mainstream. The term, which refers to the sharing of resources among communities of people, wasn’t a new one for Twin Cities DSA – our Mutual Aid/Solidarity Economy (MASE) working group has been around for three years, and while for the most part we’ve only had the capacity to do small occasional projects in that time, one project that’s been running for almost two years has recently become a jewel in MASE’s horizontalist crown: the Solidarity Fund...
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Meet Omar Fateh: Candidate for Minnesota Senate District 62
Omar Fateh is a Twin Cities DSA member running for the Minnesota Senate in District 62. Fateh is the son of hard-working immigrants from Somalia. They instilled in him the values of leadership and personal sacrifice, while raising him to work first and foremost to increase opportunity, justice, and equity for our community...
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Mobilizing in the Time of Corona
Twin Cities DSA sprang into action on many issues that came to the surface as the COVID-19 pandemic began and Minnesota declared a state of emergency. Comrades active in the NoCages coalition and on the #antiicemobilization channel in Slack took part in an innovative Car Sit-in demonstration on Friday, March 27, at the MN Governor’s Mansion to demand the immediate release of all ICE detainees in the state of Minnesota as part of the state of emergency executive powers....
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(Image from Twin Cities Never Again Action)
TCDSA Statement on Minnesota Emergency Response to COVID-19
Minnesota residents are in the middle of an unprecedented public health crisis. With each passing day, people become more terrified, wondering if they will be evicted from their homes because they can’t pay rent, unable to provide for their loved ones due to layoffs and small business closures, or forced to risk exposure at work because they can’t take paid leave or access medical care. And we know that this crisis is disproportionately impacting communities who have been on the margins for a long time– people experiencing homelessness, the uninsured, low wealth communities and the working poor, and black, brown, indigenous and immigrant communities...
(read more)
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Interested in DSA but haven’t joined yet?
Sign up here to talk with leaders in DSA about who we are and what we do, especially in this uncertain moment. This is welcome to everyone and those who are not members of DSA are encouraged to register.
The Q&A will be on Sunday, April 5 - 6PM ET / 5PM CT / 4PM MT / 3PM PT
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Health Justice Working Group
The TCDSA Health Justice is rebooting within the context of COVID-19. We're organizing around all things health and healthcare, like supporting nurses and other healthcare workers and fighting for Medicare for All. Join us at our next meeting on Monday, April 6, 5:00-6:30pm where we'll hear from local nurses about what they're experiencing in their workplaces and plan our response to the crisis. Register for the zoom meeting here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/v5cld-uhrjgs6aU_5wLVOJ728Nd6k328vA
We are especially seeking any and all healthcare workers to join us and help shape TCDSA’s fight for just working conditions in healthcare. Do you know healthcare workers who might be interested in organizing with us? We'd love to meet them! Email the working group at [email protected]
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Labor Phone ZAP!
Twin Cities DSA Labor has been called on to support Caribou workers who are organizing for their health and safety in the face of COVID-19. Employees with no paid sick leave are being asked to interact with the public without adequate protective equipment, the ability to properly sanitize their workspaces and stores, or any sort of compensation for the risks they are enduring. You can see more about their story and their demands at their petition online.
Twin Cities DSA members, together with the Restaurant Opportunity Center (ROC), and affected workers are planning a phone zap to target Caribou management to call on them to do the right thing: close their shops, compensate their workers, and cover anyone who has been infected already. We are asking you to sign up for a ten-minute calling shift between Wednesday and Friday to make your voice heard. You will be provided with phone targets and a script on the day-of. If you're interested in a greater commitment, there are phone captain shifts available as well.
Please spread this through your networks, and feel free to be public -- we estimate that we'll need 150 participants to make this action a success.
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For Further Review
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.
Socialists Must Consolidate
Ryan Mosgrove on the importance of in-person recruitment to DSA. -- NJR
What Liberal Feminism Leaves Out
This is a piece about differences between liberal and left feminism. It's mainly through the lens of liberal feminists' parasocial identification with Elizabeth Warren, and I'm typing this on the morning Warren suspended her campaign, but I suspect it'll hold up over the long term. A satisfying read. -- TMW
How British Feminism Became Anti-Trans
Who among us hasn't wondered why on earth the UK is so TERFy? Sophie Lewis offers an explanation. -- TMW
Against the Logic of the Guilltotine
Resist the logic of the guillotine. Whatever you use the state to do to others, others may use the state to do to you. -- DKR
From Mutual Aid to Dual Power in the State of Emergency
Reactive mutual-aid organizing without an eye to building lasting dual-power structures will not bring us any closer to revolutionary transformation. We must strive to go beyond functioning as a “supplementary service provider within the void left by the state’s negligence.”
“Dual power is the process of simultaneously building and demanding.” -- AHR
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Also, I am happy to announce that AARP has now joined the anarchist struggle. OK. Boomers! Here we go. -- DKR
Jacobin on YouTube
In case you don't have enough quarantine video content to keep you occupied, Jacobin magazine has a series of 20-minute YouTube pieces on relevant leftist subjects. You can subscribe, or just dip in at random. -- DKR
Land-Grab Universities
Fascinating investigation of the land-grant university system, and how it exists as a core outgrowth of the violent, ongoing structure of settler colonialism. The endowments and amenities of higher-education institutions all stand out as hideously violent products of primitive accumulation. -- AHR
Democratic Socialists of America Must Recommit to Its Work in Support of Palestinian Liberation
A look into DSA's 2017 BDS resolution and how DSA can deepen its commitment to Palestinian self-determination through organizing and electoral work.
We Can Build a Better World After COVID-19
The COVID-19 crisis presents an opportunity to transform society. With disaster capitalism on the rise, Sarah Jaffe lays out the case for "disaster collectivism" as a way to build a more just world.
If you find something that should be shared, post to the #linkroundup channel on slack, submit to this form, or reply to this email.
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Upcoming Events:
Ops/Tech Committee Meeting
Mon, April 6, 7pm – 9pm
Zoom Meeting
Mutual Aid
Working Group Meeting
Tue, April 7, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Zoom Meeting
TC Mutual Aid
COVID Check In Call
Wed, April 8, 11:30am – 12:45pm
Zoom Meeting
Sat, April 11, 1pm – 3pm
Zoom Meeting
Socialist Feminist Reading Group
Tue, April 14, 6pm – 8pm
Zoom Meeting
TC Mutual Aid
COVID Check In Call
Wed, April 15, 11:30am – 12:45pm
Zoom Meeting
Ops/Tech Committee Meeting
Mon, April 20, 7pm – 9pm
Zoom Meeting
Budget / Fundraising
Committee Meeting
Tue, April 21, 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Zoom Meeting
TC Mutual Aid
COVID Check In Call
Wed, April 22, 11:30am – 12:45pm
Zoom Meeting
Housing Branch Meeting
Thu, April 23, 6:00pm – 7:30pm
Zoom Meeting
TCDSA Libertarian Socialist Reading Group
Fri, April 24, 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Zoom Meeing
TC Mutual Aid
COVID Check In Call
Wed, April 29, 11:30am – 12:45pm
Zoom Meeting
Keep an eye on our calendar for more events as they're scheduled or changed! Please check the calendar for updated Zoom links, location changes, or other details.
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Do you have opinions? Hot takes? Cool things you've been doing with DSA or our allies? Write for us!
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To become a dues paying member, please click here.
To check if you're a current dues paying member, please click here.
To make a donation to TCDSA, please click here.
To make a donation to or request aid from the Solidarity Fund, please click here.
To join the TCDSA Slack, please click here.
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As always, socialism can't be solitary: what do you think about the newsletter? Do you want to help? Want to create or suggest some #content for next time? Please do!
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