Canvass to defend Janeese Lewis George and advance socialism; summer reading groups sign up closing soon; Rockville rent stabilization canvass and more ...
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.
Paid for by Metro DC DSA (mdcdsa.org). Not authorized by any candidate or committee.
UP FRONT
Defend Janeese Lewis George and advance socialist priorities — DSA organizing canvasses every day, Memorial Day weekend
There are only a few canvass days left to come out and protect Janeese Lewis George's seat on the DC Council. Janeese has defended the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, fought for domestic workers, restaurant workers and hotel workers, and led the charge for a wealth tax in DC that funded pay raises for childcare workers. Janeese faces a challenge from the right because she represents a threat to developers, landlords and bosses in DC. Opponents of Janeese recognize the danger her incumbency and the Metro DC DSA political program poses to entrenched corporate interests in the District.
Metro DC DSA’s Electoral Working Group is continuing to turn out to not only secure her victory, but to demonstrate to the mayor and her conspirators that the DSA is not going anywhere. Sign up here to get updates on canvasses (and post-canvass happy hours).
This weekend’s battle plan is below:
Saturday, May 25 (1pm) — Join us for a joint canvass with Stomp Out Slumlords to talk to tenants in Ward 4
Where: Mita Cafe, 703 Kennedy St NW (corner of Kennedy and 7th), accessible via 79, 54 and S2 bus routes
When: 1 – 4pm
Weather Report: Cloudy, high of 84 F
Sunday, May 26 (1pm)
Where: Mita Cafe, 703 Kennedy St NW (corner of Kennedy and 7th), accessible via 79, 54 and S2 bus routes
When: 1 – 4pm
Weather Report: Cloudy, high of 83 F
Monday, May 27 (1pm)
Where: Lafayette-Pointer Park, 5900 33rd St. NW and Quesada St NW, accessible via L2, M4 and E4 bus routes
When: 1 – 4pm
Weather Report: Cloudy, high of 81 F
ELECTION DAY IN DC IS JUNE 4TH. Additional voting resources:
Summer reading groups from Metro DC DSA — sign-ups closing soon
The Metro DC DSA Political Education Working Group is inviting all to sign up for Summer 2024 reading groups. All reading groups begin after Memorial Day and end before Labor Day. MDC DSA reading groups are an excellent way to meet like-minded leftists, explore the tethers between socialism and the political economy, practice debate and group discussion, and connect radical theory to actual organizing projects of the chapter.
Summer offerings include a wide array of topics appealing to a broad variety of socialist interests:
Two offerings on socialism and the political economy (Container Ship Capitalism and capitalist supply chains, and a group on the evolution of capitalism through The Making of Global Capitalism).
Labor organizers should find good insight through the Mobilize Your Union reading group, perfect for those looking to get more active in workplace organizing.
The chapter’s Internationalism Working Group will be reading through Vincent Bevins’ The Jakarta Method.
Culture jammers and artists will find good community through the Socialism and Culture reading group, which will be navigating Stuart Hall’s writings on constructing a socialist “common sense.”
The Communist Manifesto group is reading through the original Marxist work along with contemporary evolutions and reactions, and a separate reading group will be coordinating readings on Caribbean fiction, facilitated by experts on the topic.
The chapter’s Socialist Feminist section will be reading through Wordslut to learn about feminism and language.
Tactical-minded socialists will find interest in the Know Your Chapter: Bylaws Reading Group, which will discuss DSA’s existing rules and their history.
Rockville rent stabilization canvass — this Sunday, May 26
This past summer, the Montgomery County Council passed a landmark law limiting rent increases to 6% or less — thanks to tireless pressure from tenants and organizers including Montgomery County DSA. Unfortunately, the cities of Rockville and Gaithersburg are exempted from the law. Join Montgomery County DSA to talk to Rockville renters about what a rent stabilization law and stable rents would mean to them during a canvass this Sunday, May 26 at 12:30pm. The canvass location is next to the Shady Grove Metro. RSVP here.
After the canvass, join a Rockville renter picnic on Memorial Day, May 27 to build community and power with other renters and allies. RSVP here.
BRIEFS
Socialists win elected seats in the South — keep up the momentum at the NoVA Electoral social, June 6
On Tuesday night, two southern DSA chapters won local power in states alleged to be “too red” for socialism:
In Georgia: Gabriel Sanchez, a DSA member who enjoyed popular backing by Atlanta DSA, won a close primary in Georgia’s House District 42, beating out an incumbent who was supported by Senator Warnock and a wide network of elected Democrats in the state. The victory was clinched by aggressive campaigning from Atlanta DSA members, and Sanchez won with loud opposition to the Cop City being erected in Atlanta.
In Kentucky: JP Lyninger won his election to the Louisville Metro Council with enthusiastic support from Louisville DSA members. Lyninger ran as a proud democratic socialist and called for an expansion of public services and municipally owned grocery stores and electric utilities. Lyninger ousted a centrist incumbent on the council.
Will socialists and progressives in the DMV be able to follow up on this promising momentum? Lefties, workers, socialists and progressives are invited to attend the NoVA Electoral social on Thursday, June 6 at 7pm in Arlington’s Continental Beer Garden. All socialists and progressive allies interested in expanding southern socialist power through Virginia are invited to attend. RSVP here.
Montgomery County Upcounty Social — Saturday, May 25
Join the Montgomery County Branch for an upcounty social at Bohrer Park on Saturday, May 25 from 3 to 7pm as a way to build community with members and friends who live in Gaithersburg, Germantown, Montgomery Village and beyond. Children, family members and friends of all ages are welcome. Please RSVP so that organizers have a head count for food, and indicate whether you can bring food, supplies, or serve in a volunteer role. RSVP here.
Chapter-wide happy hour and opportunities to join Community Builders — Friday, May 31
Meet fellow comrades at the next chapter-wide happy hour at 6pm on Friday, May 31 at Midlands, hosted by the new Metro DC DSA Community Builders team. And stay tuned for fun Pride-related community events in June, including a picnic and queer happy hour.
Interested in joining Community Builders to help plan fun social events, recommend venues, make friends, and brainstorm ways to build community throughout the chapter? Message us in the #community-builders chapter on Slack.
Metro DC DSA Street Team monthly meeting — Saturday, June 1 from 3:30 to 5pm
Build socialist power in the DMV and join the Metro DC DSA Street Team by attending our monthly meeting at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, June 1st at 3:30pm. This event is for anyone interested in getting active in the chapter’s newly formed Street Team, organized by the Metro DC DSA Political Education Working Group. The Street Team hosts and attends community events to connect Metro DC DSA and its campaigns with the community in the DMV in order to expand the chapter's base and build a more democratic society. We are interested in talking to DMV residents to hear what is going on in their everyday lives and discuss how many of these issues connect to our campaigns. In this meeting the Metro DC DSA Street Team will be discussing spring and summer events. All are encouraged to attend in person at MLK Memorial Library, 901 G St NW, Washington, DC, room 205-B. RSVP here.
We Keep Us Safe — in anticipation of general election chaos in DC, Red Rabbits formation reconvening
As part of the chapter’s preparation for the general election this fall, DSA chapter members are looking to expand and formalize marshal training and chapter security work. If you have an interest and inclination to do anti-fascist research, help vet members or marshal at protests, fill out this extremely easy survey. First meeting date TBD.
MoCo DSA game night — Thursday, May 30
Join MoCo DSA for a game night at Silver Branch Brewing on Thursday, May 30th at 7pm. Drinks and food can be purchased at the venue. We'll have some games, but feel free to bring a favorite game of your own! Look for folks with DSA shirts to find our group.
Places We Call Home, a benefit for Montgomery County branch DSA, scheduled for Saturday, June 15 from 2 to 4:30pm
On Saturday, June 15, join the Montgomery County branch of MDC DSA for a benefit event featuring visual art and musical performances centered on the theme “Places we call home.” Proceeds will support the cost of bilingual, union-printed canvassing literature to support the branch’s field organizing for renter protections, abolition and Palestine solidarity. More details to come in future updates. RSVP here.
INFO ACCESS
MDC DSA Publications: TheWashington Socialist publishes on a quarterly schedule. The Spring 2024 edition is now live and will be updated on a rolling basis until Summer’s issue. Added recently: 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 [email protected]. Get your socialist self on the record.
Weekly Updates — are scheduled and emailed on Fridays — May 31 next, then June 7, 14, 21 and 28. 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, June 5, 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 [email protected] with your most recent DSA dues receipt to get added.
Now that we (maybe) have 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. You can even donate to our Comradery page if you would like to financially support socialist publishing in the DMV.
COMMUNITY BULLETIN
Garbagefest 6 | Food Not Bombs Food Not Bombs DC will be hosting Garbagefest 6 at St. Stephens (1525 Newton St NW) on June 14. Doors open at 7pm and tickets start at $10. Come out for a night of live music, live comedy and live witchcraft. Please wear a mask to help protect vulnerable members of the community.
CCP Film Series | Suns Cinema CCP is a monthly, Sunday film series dedicated to presenting politically left-wing cinema currently hosted by Suns Cinema in Washington, DC. The body of film covered by this category is wide and, as such, CCP shows films that were produced as a part of or about a vast array of socialist, communist, anarchist, trade unionist, anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, and other revolutionary movements. Though this by no means precludes the series from showing classic revolutionary cinema such as Battleship Potemkin and The Battle of Algiers, CCP especially seeks to highlight lesser-known left-wing film that has been left behind by the standard canon. This Sunday, May 26 we’ll be screening:
Final Offer, dir. Sturla Gunnarsson & Robert Collison, 1984, English, 79 mins.
Final Offer documents the contentious 1984 contract negotiations between the Canadian section of the United Auto Workers (UAW) and General Motors. As the negotiations develop, the failure of the U.S. UAW headquarters to support the militancy of the Canadian section eventually prompts Canadian UAW leader Bob White to lead a split, creating the separate Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW). The film gives an unprecedented close up view of collective bargaining sessions and internal UAW politics.
Joe Hill, dir. Bo Widerberg, 1971, Swedish & English, 117 mins.
Widerberg’s fictionalized account of the life of Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) member and songwriter Joe Hill was originally released in 1971 and was the winner of that year's Prix du Jury award at Cannes. However, Joe Hill was never made available commercially and was largely forgotten outside left-wing film circles until being restored and released in 2015. The film begins with Hill’s arrival in New York City at the turn of the 20th century and depicts his slow transformation from a wide-eyed Swedish immigrant to a revolutionary trade unionist as he experiences the degradation of working-class life in the United States.
One Struggle, Many Forms. Asians for a Liberated Palestine | Bol Coop
On Sunday, June 9, Bol Coop is organizing a panel on the history of Asian-American solidarity with Palestine. Taking place at Creative Grounds DC from 6 – 9pm, this panel will feature speakers Janelle Wong, Anam Hussain, My-Anh Nguyen and Rae Jereza. RSVP here.
ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES
The Art of the Green New Deal
Jobs to Move America is pioneering an innovative labor strategy that turns public investments in green infrastructure and manufacturing into opportunities for union organizing and better working conditions. An economy-wide target of net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 ... involves a lot of work: expanding the transmission grid between two and five times, retrofitting the steel industry for electric arc furnaces and hydrogen fuel, building 250 large nuclear reactors, and vast utility-scale solar and wind projects, among other things. The scale of industrial construction envisioned in Princeton’s Net-Zero America study is enormous. And even if only part of it comes to fruition, it would mean some degree of reshoring and reindustrialization, and the creation of hundreds of thousands of blue-collar jobs. Jacobin via Portside
She Helped Wage the Fight for $15. Where Will Labor Go After Her?
Mary Kay Henry had one big success and one big disappointment in her 14 years as president of the Service Employees International Union, which is one of the biggest and most politically powerful in the United States. Henry, who chose not to run for re-election and stepped down on Monday, spearheaded the successful campaign to raise wages to $15 an hour or more for many of America’s lowest-paid workers, particularly in fast food and home care. “Since 2012, more than 26 million workers have won higher pay to the tune of $150 billion,” nearly half of them workers of color, the National Employment Law Project said in a tribute to Henry after she announced she would not seek re-election. The disappointment is that Henry didn’t manage to increase membership in her own union. In fact, S.E.I.U.’s membership fell to under 1.9 million now from about 2.1 million when she took office. NYT
Israeli soldiers and police tipping off groups that attack Gaza aid trucks
Individual members of Israel’s security forces are tipping off far-right activists and settlers to the location of aid trucks delivering vital supplies to Gaza, enabling the groups to block and vandalize the convoys, according to multiple sources. Settlers intercepting the vital humanitarian supplies to the strip are receiving information about the location of the aid trucks from members of the Israeli police and military, a spokesperson from the main Israeli activist group behind the blockades told the Guardian.
Maryland Senate Race: Larry Hogan’s True Politics
Notwithstanding Hogan’s attempts to present himself as a moderate opposed to the Trump agenda, his record points to different conclusions, as Gabrielle Gurney reports in The American Prospect.
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.
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.
Paid for by Metro DC DSA (mdcdsa.org). Not authorized by any candidate or committee.
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 vast and free horizon. - Virgilia D'Andrea
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