MDC DSA-endorsed Janeese Lewis George wins primary re-election; Mass rally for Palestine on Saturday; Queer Socialist Happy Hour on June 14 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
Victory for the Big Red Machine: MDC DSA-endorsed Janeese Lewis George handily wins re-election in DC Council primary
Metro DC DSA-endorsed Janeese Lewis George won a commanding victory in the Ward 4 Democratic primary last Tuesday. Her campaign pulled over 66% (~9.3k) of reported votes as of Tuesday — an expanded vote share from her 2020 victory. Her opponents took every opportunity to deride her association with the chapter, pro-worker legislative focus, and critical posture against MPD. Janeese Lewis George’s victory suggests that Ward 4 voters are happy with the values and positions of their candidate, as well as a wide mandate for her and her allies to continue passing pro-worker, pro-tenant progressive policies that will improve people’s lives.
Metro DC DSA’s Electoral Working Group, headed by the Political Engagement Committee (PEC), played a critical role in the race. Canvassers from Metro DC DSA knocked on the doors of over 20,000 voters and helped anchor the defense of the Ward 4 seat.
Wider election results can be found on the DC Board of Elections website. Although ballots are still flowing in, here are some notable results:
Total ballots counted so far at 86,270 — a sizable dropoff from 2020 (when 114,890 ballots were counted). That’s about 22% of DC’s voter base.
City-wide elections mostly favored incumbents: Oye Owolewa appearing likely to hold onto his US Shadow Rep seat with 57% of the vote, Eleanor Holmes Norton with nearly 80% for DC Delegate and Robert White securing well over 80% of the vote for his at-large incumbency on the Council.
Shadow Senator seat (which advocates for DC statehood) is still close, but progressive Sierra Club alum Ankit Jain appears likely to secure victory against Democratic consultant Eugene Kinlow.
The Ward 7 race, which will replace ex-Mayor Vincent Gray’s seat on the Council, was widely contentious and divided. Wendell Felder — a DC Democratic Party official — is likely to hold the lead with 23% of the vote. He is tailed by Ebony Payne (20.13%) and the Board of Education rep Eboni-Rose Thompson (20.07%).
Incumbent Trayon White secured his primary re-election, pulling in over 52% (~3.4k) of votes in the Ward 8 primary.
“Write-in” votes — which can be assumed to be votes for “Gaza” or “Ceasefire Now” in protest of Joe Biden’s complicity in Israel’s genocide against the people of Gaza — pulled over 6k votes, collecting over 7.5% of the presidential primary vote in DC. Incumbent Joe Biden pulled over 70k votes, over 86% of the total. Ward 1 pulled in over 25% of total write-in votes counted so far.
Stay tuned next week for special coverage of the Virginia primary elections in Alexandria and Arlington. Socialists in the chapter’s NoVA branch have developed a voter guide for release next week to aid in guiding left-wing voters on these important local elections.
Mass rally for Palestine this Saturday, June 8; DSA contingent converging at Farragut North, 11:20am
June 8 marks eight months of US-backed Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the 54th anniversary of the occupation of Gaza. President Joe Biden infamously said that an Israeli invasion of Rafah was his “red line,” but Rafah has suffered brutal attacks and invasion for weeks with no substantive change in policy from the White House. DSA members will join protestors from across the country to surround the White House on June 8 and tell Biden: the people are drawing the line. Those interested in joining DSA can RSVP for access to communications and Signal chat.
Metro DC DSA’s Internationalism Working Group will be meeting at Farragut Square (Southeast Corner) at 11:20am, with plans to depart for the march as a bloc at 12. Protesters are encouraged to wear all red, and local DSA members can join the #internationalism channel in the chapter Slack to receive updates on the march and the link to join the appropriate Signal channel for on-the-ground coordination.
Meet and mingle at MDC DSA’s Queer Socialist Happy Hour — Friday, June 14
Looking for more Queer community generally or within DSA specifically? Metro DC DSA members will be holding a Queer Socialist Happy Hour at Trade (1410 14th St NW) at 6pm on Friday, June 14, hosted by the Community Builders team. All are welcome to attend.
Want to stay in the loop with Community Builders events? Follow #community-builders in the chapter Slack and message us to get involved. We meet biweekly to plan fun social events, including a monthly Final Fridays chapter-wide happy hour. Stay tuned for info on a Pride-themed picnic in the park later this month.
BRIEFS
Socialists go local: Abolition WG planning ANC & Community Activism 101 event for June 27
Metro DC DSA’s Abolition Working Group will be planning a training seminar on June 27th focused on turning up socialists and abolitionists at DC Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) and community meetings. ANC and community meetings are an area the Metro DC DSA is targeting to expand socialist messaging and to confront representatives and community stakeholders. The training will focus on curating the tools and strategies needed to empower our socialists and abolitionists to engage in community spaces to advocate for police abolitionism and other chapter-wide priorities in a continuous and sustainable way. Free food and childcare will be made available at the event. RSVP here.
WePower to host gathering to learn how Mi’kmaq grandmothers and climate activists defeated fossil fuel, June 20
AltaGas — the controversial parent company of Washington Gas — is increasingly referred to as “one of the worst fossil fuel companies in North America.” But don’t take our word for it. For nearly 10 years, Indigenous Mi’kmaq grandmothers from Nova Scotia fought — and won — a bruising pipeline fight against AltaGas. Along the way, they encountered the kind of false claims, greed and fossil fuel expansion efforts that Washington Gas now shows almost daily across DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia. Join WePower DC on Thursday, June 20 from 6:30 to 8pm at the Foundry United Methodist Church to hear the incredible story of the Mi’kmaq grandmothers and of climate activists’ fight against AltaGas, and learn how you, too, can fight AltaGas and Stop Project Pipes. RSVP here.
Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition to hold Annual Juneteenth celebration
On June 19, members of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC) will be meeting at the entrance to Moses Cemetery in Bethesda (5214 River Road, MD) to honor the deceased and to call for an end of the desecration and ongoing flooding and theft of the cemetery’s land by private developers. Metro DC DSA will be tabling at the event and joining the rally in solidarity and in the spirit of resistance to white supremacy.
The event will include a number of speakers, including historian C.R. Gibbs, Busboys and Poets Founder Andy Shallal and Peabody Award-winning journalist Carl Nelson. The program will also feature local musicians, the Walt Whitman high school drumline and dance troupe and others. Learn more about the BACC here.
Stomp Out Slumlords to hold anti-eviction canvass — Saturday, June 15 at 1:30pm
Stomp Out Slumlords is carrying out its next anti-eviction canvass on Saturday, June 15. 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 [email protected] 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.
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.
Metro DC DSA Book Exchange and writing workshop on Sunday, July 14, from 2-4pm
The Metro DC DSA Book Exchange and After The Storm are partnering for an afternoon of anticapitalist reading and writing on Sunday, July 14 from 2 to 4pm at Malcolm X Park. Bring, read and swap books and write in community with others. This open event is for everyone who wants to carve out some intentional time this summer and spend it in good company. Writing prompts will be available, with optional sharing time in a low-key, drop-in space. 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 — today, June 7, then the 14th, 21st and 28th. 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: our Weekly Updates attract over 5k readers a week. 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 19, 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.
Participate 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 contribute. You can even donate to our Comradery page if you would like to financially support socialist publishing in the DMV.
COMMUNITY BULLETIN
Write-in DC Celebration & Debrief on June 8
Join Write-in DC on Saturday, June 8, from 10:30-11:30am at Lulu’s Juice Bar to celebrate the outcome of the write-in efforts from DC’s primary elections. They will also be sharing/brainstorming ways to get involved with other local groups.
Queer Marxism in Two Chinas Book Club on June 20 | Claudia Jones School
The Claudia Jones School for Political Education, a popular education project dedicated to organizing DC’s working-class community, is talking about Queer Marxism in Two Chinas by Petrus Liu. RSVP here to participate in their discussion on June 20 at 7pm at Sankofa.
Learn about the Immigrant Justice Platform
The Immigrant Justice Platform is a collective of immigrants and immigrant rights groups who came together to advocate for a shared platform of policy and budget priorities that directly benefit the DC immigrant community and change the systems by disrupting the status quo. Coalition members include Beloved Community Incubator, Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid, noncitizen voters, and more. View their platform here and take action to tell the DC Council to support their demands.
Eat the Rich Workshop for Abolitionists on June 11 | Harriet’s Wildest Dreams
In this second edition of the Eat the Rich abolitionist workshop, Harriet’s Wildest Dreams will dive deeper into the fight for racial, social, economic, and environmental liberation. RSVP here to participate virtually on June 11 from 7-9pm.
ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES
Between Victory and Defeat: How can the left escape burnout? – a meandering but provocative review of Burnout: The Emotional Experience of Political Defeat by Hannah Proctor, contributing to the debate (including within DSA) over whether noble defeat or qualified political victories are more likely to keep an organization thriving or at least off the endangered list. From The Nation.
California Communism and its Afterlives: In this longread review of a new history of the Communist Party’s ups and downs in 20th-century California, one of our cherished MDC members of the ‘80s and ‘90s, Dorothy Healey (d. 2006), had a significant role. “California CP leader Dorothy Healey once complained that historians often ‘present the history of the party as if the thirties were our single great moment […] with the implication that everything that followed was just a sort of trailing penumbra,’ insisting that, ‘[i]n fact, the immediate postwar years were actually our most productive.’” Author Jessica Mitford, labor leader Harry Bridges (an “influencer” but probably never a member) and others turn up in this account. From the Los Angeles Review of Books via Portside
Palestinian legal scholar barred from a second (Columbia’s) Law Review after Harvard quashes his first article: The Intercept outlines how Palestinian scholar and human rights lawyer Rabea Eghbariah’s article “aimed at creating a legal framework for the Nakba similar to genocide and apartheid, which were concretized as crimes in response to specific atrocities” was obliterated after publication by higher-ups’ shutting down the Columbia Law Review’s entire website. The Columbia student editors had reached out to Eghbariah after Harvard’s law review was barred from publishing his work – by higher-ups.
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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