Socialist happy hour tonight; MDC DSA Street Team meeting next week; Fight to save TOPA with Stomp Out Slumlords 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
Join comrades for a socialist happy hour — TODAY, June 28 at 5:30pm
Join your comrades for a chapter-wide happy hour this Friday, June 28 at 5:30pm at Red Bear Brewing Co., located near the NoMa-Gallaudet Metro stop on the Red Line. RSVP here.
This event was organized by the Community Builders team. If you’re interested in helping plan more social events like this, join the chapter’s #community-builders Slack channel.
Metro DC DSA Street Team meeting — Saturday, July 6 at 4pm
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, July 6 at 4pm. 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 talk about how many of these issues connect to our campaigns. In this meeting the Metro DC DSA Street Team will be discussing summer events with a happy hour to follow. All are encouraged to attend in person at MLK Memorial Library, 901 G St NW, Washington, DC, room 401-E. RSVP here.
Stomp Out Slumlords continues the struggle to save TOPA
The landlord lobby is still trying to roll back DC’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, and tenants across DC are uniting to fight back. While the real estate industry’s efforts to include major TOPA exemptions in the DC budget failed in the spring, they have made their aims clear, and we should expect them to regroup and try again. In response, Stomp Out Slumlords has launched a campaign to demand that the DC Council preserve and strengthen TOPA by restoring it to tenants who have been deprived of their rights and funding programs that help tenant associations take advantage of the opportunity to purchase. We are canvassing large apartment buildings citywide to build support for TOPA.
Join us to canvass DC tenants to defend TOPA:
Saturday, June 29 at 11am at Park Place (850 Quincy St NW)
Tuesday, July 9 at 6:30pm at the Paramount Apartments (829 Quincy St NW)
Sunday, July 14 at 4pm at the Woodner (3636 16th St NW)
If you live in an apartment building in DC, please reach out. We can send outreach teams to help canvass your neighbors or present to your tenant association. Email SOS at [email protected].
BRIEFS
Pack the room for Palestine — Loudoun Board Meeting, July 2
Palestine supporters in Loudoun County are pushing local government officials to adopt and vote on a divestment and ceasefire resolution, and we need your support. We’ll be speaking in front of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, July 2nd in Leesburg, VA. The board needs to see the massive support for a ceasefire resolution in our county. Join us to support our speakers and to show that Loudoun County residents stand proudly with Palestine and demand a ceasefire resolution!
Loudoun residents: to sign up to speak on why you support a ceasefire resolution, call (703)-777-0200 on Friday, June 28 (today). Learn more here.
Join MDC DSA at Pride at the Plaza in downtown Silver Spring — Sunday, June 30
MDC DSA will table at Pride at the Plaza in downtown Silver Spring to talk about our Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy campaign, as well as our other social and economic justice campaigns. No experience required — just enthusiasm for socialism and LGBTQIA+ organizing. The tabling time is 12 to 5pm; feel free to sign up for a two-hour shift or stay the entire time. RSVP here.
Veterans Plaza is about a 10-minute walk from the Silver Spring Metro, and Montgomery County parking garages are located around the festival. Parking is free in county garages on Sundays.
July General Body Meeting to take place online only — Sunday, July 21; resolutions due July 2
Metro DC DSA’s next General Body Meeting will be on July 21 from 2 to 4pm. This GBM will be online only, so please RSVP here to receive the Zoom link. If
members would like to submit a resolution for consideration at this
upcoming general body meeting, it will need to be brought for a first
read at the Steering Committee meeting on July 2nd. Resolutions
can be submitted for their first read via Red Desk by selecting “Agenda
Item/Steering Meeting” and must be submitted ahead of the Steering
Committee meeting at 7pm on Tuesday, July 2. For additional information,
review our chapter’s standing rules for business at membership
meetings. We will have an in person happy hour following the GBM. Stay
tuned (and RSVP) for the location. Members on Slack can reach out in #steering, email [email protected] or reach out to any individual member of the Steering Committee.
Metro DC DSA Book Exchange and writing workshop — Sunday, July 14
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.
Stand with workers against anti-union absurdity at Compass Coffee
Compass Coffee continues to wage a war against its own employees, who are organizing at seven stores across the region to form a union. In the last week alone, Compass management allegedly hired more than 100 new “baristas” — many of them anti-labor management figures like Union Kitchen union-buster Cullen Gilchrist. Other new hires informed Compass United that management had asked them anti-union questions and spread anti-union propaganda during their onboarding training.
Joseph Babbins, Compass Coffee barista and member of the organizing committee for Compass Coffee United, shares with us that multiple stores are seeing verbal altercations between new hires: “Today, [the H Street location] has 12 new people and only 2 supervisors. They are having to pull people away from each other.”
Additionally, unionizing workers said CEO Michael Haft illegally harassed employees at the shop’s Spring Valley location, trying to force supporters to remove their union buttons. (Haft eventually acknowledged his workers’ right to wear union buttons, workers reported on X/FKA Twitter.)
Ahead of the workers’ NLRB election on July 16, workers have asked supporters to leave positive reviews in support of workers and the union on Google, Yelp, etc.; follow the union on Instagram and Twitter (@compasscoffeeu, not to be confused with another, fraudulent account purporting to be the union); stop using the Compass Coffee Mobile App; contact Compass leadership; and visit Compass Coffee to talk to workers about the union. Members looking to get further involved in the area labor movement can visit the #labor channel in the chapter Slack.
Canvass for a DC Council Ceasefire Resolution — Sunday, June 30
The Internationalism Working Group and DC 4 Ceasefire are teaming up to knock doors for a DC Council Ceasefire Resolution. There are only two weeks left in this Council session, and we want to encourage councilmembers to introduce the resolution before it ends. Join us in Edgewood Triangle Park (Franklin St & 4th St NE) from 10am to 2pm to help out; RSVP here.
Montgomery County Rent Stabilization Regulations Advancing
Thanks to historic pressure from tenants and allies, including the Montgomery County branch of Metro DC DSA, the Montgomery County Council passed a rent stabilization law, limiting rent increases to 6% or less. While the law officially went into effect last year, the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs has not been enforcing the law until the County Council approves rent stabilization regulations. Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich officially transmitted regulations to the County Council on June 18th. Now, the County Council must approve the regulations via an up or down vote within 60 days, or the regulations are automatically approved. The County Council’s Planning, Housing and Parks Committee will meet to review the regulations on July 18 and 25. Montgomery County DSA and other key organizations in the rent stabilization fight sent a letter to the County Council urging them to pass regulations as soon as possible, given that tenants continue to receive large rent increases as the county does not enforce the law.
The county’s rent stabilization law exempts the cities of Rockville and Gaithersburg. Tenants in Rockville are demanding that the city council pass its own rent stabilization law. RSVP here to attend a Rockville City Council session where the council will discuss rent stabilization and show your support!
Bolivian masses thwart coup attempt; join Internationalism Working Group to organize against imperialism worldwide
Frightening scenes turned into an inspiring display of solidarity on Wednesday, when a military coup led by ousted army general Juan Jose Zuniga was turned back by Bolivian President Luis Arce and the Bolivian people, who descended on the presidential palace in mass numbers to defend their democracy. (Bolivian trade unions also called for a general strike in response to the attempted coup.) Zuniga has since been detained; these events follow 2019’s attempted right-wing coup of then-President Evo Morales.
Socialists in the DMV are organizing against global right-wing forces and in support of the working class worldwide, from DC to Bolivia to Palestine and beyond. Get involved by visiting the #internationalism channel in the chapter Slack. You can also send this letter and share it with friends to tell Biden and your representative to denounce the coup.
MoCo DSA game night — July 14 at 6pm
Join MoCo DSA for a game night on July 14 at 6pm. 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 a DSA sign on the table and folks with DSA shirts to find our group. RSVP here.
INFO ACCESS
MDC DSA Publications is information central for not just MDC DSA but the entire DMV left. TheWashington Socialist publishes on a quarterly schedule; the Summer 2024 edition is now live and will be updated on a rolling basis. Added recently: a socialist evaluation of TOPA, the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. Anyone, MDC DSA members or not, interested in contributing to the Washington Socialist can email submissions or questions to [email protected]. Get your socialist self on the record.
Weekly Updates are scheduled and emailed on Fridays e.g. July 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th. 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. Join our Slack for real-time info and inspiration. Email [email protected] with your most recent DSA dues receipt to get Slack access.
Find out in depth about our MDC DSA chapter — structure, campaigns and working groups, Night School and reading groups — HERE. And live from our studio, Wednesday, July 3, 7 – 8pm, the biweekly Why You Should Join DSA/New Member Orientation (with Q&A). #Publications (our Slack channel) is always ready to onboard new socialist communicators. Donate to our Comradery page if you would like to financially support socialist publishing in the DMV.
COMMUNITY BULLETIN
Moral March on Washington, DC and to the Polls on June 29 | DC Poor People's Campaign
The Poor People's Campaign calls on people in the nation's capital to uplift and center the needs of the over 135 million poor and low-wage people and workers across the country. The Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers Assembly will march on Saturday, June 29, at 10am, meeting at Third & Pennsylvania Ave NW, and is mobilizing for its 17-point agenda. Learn more here.
Unarmed Civilian Protection Training | DC Peace Team
Unarmed Civilian Protection and Accompaniment is a methodology for teams that offer direct protection of civilians and others, reduction of hostility, re-humanization of parties, and increasing local peace infrastructure. Learn by doing — join this virtual experiential workshop on Saturday, June 29, from 1 to 4pm here.
Solidarity Economy Social Hour on June 29 | Beloved Community Incubator
Whether you're a co-op member, mutual aid-er, organizer, or co-op curious, join Beloved Community Incubator on Saturday, June 29, at 6pm at Lyman’s Tavern for the first of many solidarity economy social hours! Sign up here.
DMV Leftist Writers Social | After the Storm
Are you writing anticapitalist stories? Thinking about writing them? Interested in reading and editing such stories? Join After the Storm, a local anticapitalist magazine and writers’ collective, for a social on Sunday, June 30th, from 2 to 5pm at Sudhouse DC on U Street. Meet other writers, editors and readers and learn more about getting involved with After the Storm. We pay writers, especially local writers, to share their visions for a better world. RSVP here.
DC Ceasefire Advocacy Day on July 2 | DC Ceasefire Now Coalition
DC residents — meet with councilmembers to demand a permanent, immediate ceasefire in Gaza to be represented by elected officials. The DC community supports a ceasefire resolution! Gather on July 2 from 8:30am to 2pm at the John A. Wilson Building. Learn more here.
Volunteer for DC Zine Fest
DC Zine Fest returns this year on October 26, 2024. Tabling applications open on June 29. They're looking for volunteers to help with organizing and/or day-of support. Sign up for upcoming volunteer info sessions on July 9 at Fantom Comics, or July 21 virtually, here.
Artist Open Call | Open Doors Festival
Curated by people with disabilities, Open Doors Festival welcomes all to participate and celebrate disability culture. It'll be held the weekend of October 19, 2024 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and it's looking for artists with disabilities to submit their work by July 18. Learn more and submit here.
ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES
Julian Assange is free and home in Oz, deservedly. The US pursued him, over nearly two decades, senselessly and illegally. But: Could his guilty plea on the Espionage Act make professional journalism more risky? For starters, Al Jazeera has a great roundup and timeline, as well as a shorter, graphics-rich ticktock of the 14-year drama, suitable for forwarding. Concerns about free speech and the safety of journalists? Here’s an early response from the Guardian on the guilty plea’s dangers plus a checkoff with (mostly Brit) experts from the same source — but in the NYT, veteran national security reporter Charlie Savage says the plea threatens press freedom but could have been worse. NPR’s media reporter says he doesn’t see Assange as a journalist – a protection the WikiLeaks founder claimed – but “that he often served journalistic purposes, and he served - there was a public service to be derived from what he did.”
Yet even the reduced plea leaves uncertainty for journalists. Fox News, still refashioning its ideal audience, interviews Assange’s father and brother. Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, was quoted in the World Socialist WebSite’s thorough account: “I hope journalists and editors and publishers everywhere realize the danger of this US case against Julian that has secured a conviction for newsgathering and publishing information in the public interest that was true and that the public deserved to know.” That, she continued, had established a “precedent” that “can and will be used in the future against the rest of the press.” WSWS observed that she “pointedly stated that this had to be resisted through a struggle by all who defend press freedom.”
Assange himself, in his plea, stated a belief that the Espionage Act and current journalistic practice under the First Amendment were in conflict. As in the Fox News segment above, right and left appear a common voice on Assange’s actions and consequences. Since the First Amendment covers only government’s moves to restrict speech, it’s ironic that Assange’s plea coincides with the right-wing Supreme Court’s 6–3 ruling that the government is within its rights to complain to social media giants about unmoderated falsehoods.
Workers are voting to join unions at record high rates: Workers are voting to join unions at the highest rate in 15 years, finds an analysis out Wednesday from the progressive Center for American Progress.It's a reflection of increased grassroots momentum behind organizing — helped along by a strongly pro-worker National Labor Relations Board, under Biden appointee Jennifer Abruzzo. Workers voted in favor of a union 74% of the time this year (through April) — a jump from 2019 when it was 69%. Axios via Metro DC Labor Council AFL-CIO news.
How Israel Became a Nuclear Power: Israel’s nuclear program is its worst-kept secret. It was made possible through the support of Western nations like France and has thrived due to a cynical attitude toward nonproliferation that has made the world more dangerous. Yet the United States and other nuclear-armed states, as well as a broad range of bodies responsible for monitoring arms proliferation, continue to maintain a policy of not publicly acknowledging the existence of Israel’s nuclear weapons. This approach is effective: a 2021 poll suggested that more Americans believed that Iran has nuclear weapons than that Israel does, when the reality is the opposite. Jacobin
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
Sent via ActionNetwork.org.
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