DSA launches 2024 political program; Fall Reading Groups start soon; MDC DSA GBM next weekend 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
DSA launches "Workers Deserve More" political program
DSA launched its “Workers Deserve More” political platform this week, highlighting the political death spiral that the 2024 election has illuminated with sharp clarity and outlining a vision for the working class’s future:
“In the 2024 elections, Americans will often have to choose between far-right fascist Republicans and corporate Democrats. In both cases, workers lose, and our politicians will remain controlled by their corporate donors, not the ordinary people who voted for them. … That’s why DSA is presenting a bold alternative. In our 2024 program, ‘Workers Deserve More,’ we hope to bring together millions of people throughout the U.S. to fight for a true democracy where working people have control over their own lives, their government, and the economy.”
“This year, defeating the far-right, protecting the rights of the working-class, from the U.S. to Palestine, and fighting for democracy are our top priorities. Through our grassroots struggles we will build a movement with the power to take on the capitalist class and build an equal, democratic, and liberated world.”
Chapter to consider endorsement of Maryland ballot question on reproductive freedom at GBM — next Sunday, September 8, 2pm
The next online-only, chapter-wide General Body Meeting takes place Sunday, September 8 from 2 to 4pm. Members are asked to RSVP here to receive the Zoom link. At this meeting, chapter members will hear updates from working groups on active campaigns, but also will hear the second read on endorsing and mobilizing to support Ballot Question 1 on Maryland’s 2024 ballot. Chapter members will have the opportunity to debate for/against endorsement.
After the meeting, we will be hosting a happy hour in Montgomery County near the Silver Spring metro station at 5pm. RSVP to the GBM to get more info on happy hour location and timing! If members have any questions, feel free to reach out in the #steering Slack channel; interested non members email [email protected] or reach out to any individual member of the Steering Committee.
Fall 2024 Reading Groups begin after labor day — sign up today
Metro DC DSA’s famous reading groups are preparing for their Fall rollout, and all are invited to sign up. Groups begin after Labor Day and most will wrap before Christmas (unless you are reading the new translation of Capital Vol. 1). These reading groups are a great way to meet new people, learn core works connected to socialism and political economy, build our capacity to learn and debate ideas and get connected to political education in the chapter.
Fall offerings include two groups reading the brand new translation of Capital Vol. 1; an ecosocialism and political economy group reading The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won't Save the Planet; an Internationalism group reading Frantz Fanon’s classic Wretched of the Earth; the Rent Strike reading group going through classic local and international works on housing; a Family Abolition reading group reading M.E. O’Brien’s latest book by that title; a Capitalism & Culture group reading the best radical perspectives on “cultural” issues; a Prisons and Resistance Since Attica: Abolition reading group reading the Tip of the Spear; and a group for those interested in radical thinking around legal issues titled Marxism and The Law.
Register to join one or more — most groups will meet online but with regular in-person social meetups to build group camaraderie.
BRIEFS
Workers in the DMV — KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! Overtime pay and wage theft teach-in planned for September 8
On September 8, Metro DC DSA will be holding an overtime pay and wage theft teach-in at Mt. Pleasant Library from 3 to 5pm. The event will include legal and organizing experts who will explain how wage theft manifests in the workplace and what workers can do if they find themselves victims of these practices. RSVP for reminder and notices here.
This teach-in is part of a wider series of labor law and organizing programming planned by Metro DC DSA to occur over the next few months. Stay tuned for future events and actions.
Socialists in PG County planning county-wide picnic on Sunday, September 15
PG County, let's picnic with purpose. Join Prince George’s County DSA on Sunday, September 15th from 2-5pm for a community cookout featuring delicious grilled food, engaging games and meaningful discussions on making our county work better. We will also have childcare and art activities for all ages! Come hungry for both food and ideas for a better county. Location when you RSVP here.
Meet and socialize with comrades TONIGHT (August 30) at Hook Hall
Metro DC DSA comrades will be throwing a socialist party tonight at Hook Hall (3400 Georgia Ave NW, DC 20010) as part of the monthly Final Fridays DSA get-together. Members new and old are invited to stop by and meet other DSA members, talk about the working class, share plots about overthrowing capitalism, or just chill in DC’s hippest neighborhood. RSVP here.
DC Elections Updates: DC voters looking towards sluggish at-large race as Initiative 83 hobbles onto ballot
The contours of DC’s local elections are developing in the shadow of the wider national fight. However, residents interested in a feisty local race may be disappointed. This year DC voters will only have four ballot options in the at-large race. It’s a big change from 2020, when DC voters got to pick from over twenty candidates for the seat. Why is the at-large race so tight this year? REDBUG investigates.
PLUS: Reported by Washington City Paper’s Alex Koma on late Thursday, the DC Appeals Court denied the DC Board of Elections’ push to throw out a lawsuit from the DC Democrats challenging I83 (ranked choice voting; open primaries). Although oral arguments are planned for October, ballots are being planned for printing on Sept 30. It’s unclear if the BOE will blink and prevent the initiative from going to a public vote (as crooked forces in City Hall would like), or if the BOE will allow voters a say on the initiative.
We Power DC Movement Meeting — Saturday, September 7th, 2-4pm, Shaw Library
On September 7th, join We Power DC, MDC DSA’s campaign for energy democracy in the District, for the working group’s quarterly movement meeting. The working group will be joined by an organizer from Power to the People Milwaukee, an exciting campaign that has built broad support for public power in Milwaukee that has collected over 7,000 signatures from city residents in favor of public power. This meeting is the perfect event for DC residents interested in organizing around rising energy costs, environmental justice and climate change but might not know where to start. Along with hearing from our guest speaker, We Power DC organizers will provide an overview of the campaign here in DC.
The meeting will be followed by a happy hour at Dacha Beer Garden. RSVP here.
Liberal bastion of Arlington sides with police, disbands Humans Rights Commission
Citing an increase in deaths at the Arlington jail over the last few years, the Arlington Human Rights Commission requested an investigation from the Department of Justice in February regarding possible human and civil rights abuses. In response, the Arlington County Board has decided to dismiss all current commissioners and neuter the commission. The cruelty of the carceral state is the point. For comrades interested in getting involved in the fight against the carceral state, please head over to #abolition in Slack.
NoVA residents demanding Virginia halt prioritization of Israeli businesses
Anti-war forces in NoVA are calling for fellow Virginians to stand up against an imperial organ nestled in the Commonwealth’s government: The Virginia Israel Advisory Board. The VIAB is funded by Virginia taxpayers and funnels millions of dollars in economic incentives toward Israeli businesses and away from Virginia companies. Unlike other community-specific state advisory boards, VIAB is taxpayer funded, receiving over $244,872 in fiscal year 2024 alone. The VIAB diverts millions of dollars each year in state, federal and private grants towards Israeli corporations, and pressures state lawmakers and the local business community to develop a long-term stake in Israel despite Israel’s systemic apartheid, human rights violations in occupied Palestine, and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
No other country receives Virginia taxpayer funding for business promotion. This organ can be stopped. Virginian residents are asked to use this form to send a letter to state representatives.
Upcoming Street Team monthly meeting — Saturday, September 7, 4pm
Build 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, September 7 at 4pm. This event is for anyone interested in getting active in the chapter’s Street Team to build socialist power in the DMV. The Street Team hosts and attends community events to connect Metro DC DSA and the chapters’ campaigns with the community in the DMV in order to expand the chapter's base and build a more democratic society.
In this meeting the Metro DC DSA Street Team will be discussing summer and early fall 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-F. RSVP here.
Sign up to run the chapter’s 2025 Steering election
2025 is sooner than it seems, and the Steering Committee is soliciting applications for the Internal Elections Facilitation Department. This group of volunteers will run our election for the 2025 Steering Committee. Volunteers will send up a nomination form, organize the Candidate Forum, write the Security Report on candidates and manage the actual election. We welcome applications from chapter members who’ve been organizing with Metro DC DSA since its founding and those who joined recently.
MDC DSA now has an internal wiki. All chapter members are invited to read — and write — this ever-evolving handbook of processes, procedures, records, and generally helpful information. If you don't have your SSO login yet, email [email protected] to get set up, or ask in #helpdesk on Slack.
Learn more about our local MDC DSA chapter — structure, campaigns and working groups, Night School and reading groups — HERE. And live from our studio, Wednesday, September 11, 7 – 8pm,Why You Should Join DSA / New Member Orientation (with Q&A). MDC DSA members: Join our Slack for real-time info, convo and inspiration. Email [email protected] with your most recent DSA dues receipt to get Slack access. #publications (our working group’s Slack channel) is always ready to onboard new socialist communicators.
MDC DSA Publications is information central for not just MDC DSA but the entire DMV left. TheWashington Socialist publishes articles on a quarterly schedule; the Summer 2024 edition is now live and will be updated on a rolling basis. You can also follow our chapter’s political blog, REDBUG. 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; current and past Updates are on the web here. Not subscribed? DSA member or not, sign up to get the Update here. Submit your Update suggestions to the tip line, including nominating articles for ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES. Donate to our Comradery page if you would like to financially support socialist publishing in the DMV.
COMMUNITY BULLETIN
Fall Fellowship Applications Due September 3 | Rising Organizers
The Rising Organizers Fall Fellowship is an opportunity to learn, grow, and connect with a community that shares your commitment to justice and progress. This free program is a launchpad for people who are eager to dive into organizing and activism. Running from September 21-December 14, sessions are held approximately every two weeks on Saturdays. Learn more and apply here by September 3.
Nonviolent Self-Defense on September 7 | DC Peace Team
Learn to protect yourself while fostering peace and respect. This experiential session focuses on reducing hostility, re-humanizing, and disengaging safely. Join DC Peace Team on Saturday, September 7, from 2:15-3:15pm at Yoga District Petworth to build skills that can transform conflict into understanding. Sign up here.
Inner Voices on September 24 | Voices Unbarred
Inner Voices is a performance created and performed by survivors of solitary confinement. Voices Unbarred hosts collaborative workshops with survivors of solitary confinement from the DC chapter of the Unlock the Box Coalition. Come see their finalized script in action on September 24, 7pm at the True Reformer Building. RSVP here.
ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES
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.
US teacher strikes were good, actually
New research finds labor stoppages raised wages without harming student learning: Nearly one in five union members in the US is a public school teacher — and their high-profile, disruptive strikes generate significant media attention and public debate. But do these strikes work? Do they deliver gains for workers? Do they help or hurt students academically? Summed up, an arduous NBER study shows teacher strikes lead to significant wage increases on average, regardless of length. In contrast, the researchers find no evidence that US teacher strikes, which are much shorter, affected reading or math achievement for students in the year of the strike, or in the five years after. Vox
Reading Revolution Between the Lines
“Maybe the main current in the stream of consciousness that is our America has changed course—from a broad consensus stipulating that unregulated markets are the source of freedom and progress because they’re anonymous arbiters of equal opportunity, to an implicit agreement on the assumption that markets are merely economic means to social and political ends, manageable devices we use to achieve goals that we decide on democratically.” (James Livingston: Politics and Letters)
Why the Uncommitted Movement Was a Success at the DNC Political strategist Waleed Shahid explains why the Uncommitted movement’s organizing at the Democratic National Convention should be seen as successfully moving the needle within the Democratic Party toward justice for Palestine. “The Uncommitted movement didn’t win every immediate demand. But the true victory lies in the alliances forged, the hypocrisies exposed, and the narrative shift that will reverberate long after the convention doors have closed.” Jacobin via Portside
Worker Coops Bring Undocumented Workers Into The Labor Movement
How can immigrants without work authorization avoid being hyper-exploited, and instead find work where they have some autonomy and collective power to raise standards? A movement that has been incubating in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, might offer some answers. Sunset Park boasts one of the highest concentrations of worker cooperatives in the United States. This business model, brought to the neighborhood by the Center for Family Life, guarantees all members standard and legal wages, a voice in their company’s governance, and control over their schedules. From Labor Notes via Popular Resistance newsletter.
Low-wage corporate giants spent profits on stock buy-backs, not on employees
A new Institute for Policy Studies report shows that “between 2019 to 2023, the 100 largest low-wage employers in the US, the 100 corporations in the S&P 500 with the lowest median worker pay, spent $522bn on stock buybacks. Lowe’s and Home Depot spent the most on stock buybacks, with Lowe’s spending $42.6bn during this period and Home Depot spending $37.2bn.” IPS noted the companies covered were “spending significantly more money on stock buybacks than capital investments and contributions to employee retirement plans” and the CEOs appeared “focused on their own personal short-term windfall” instead. The Guardian
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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