Hi John,

I hope your new year has begun with hope and renewed energy for the work we have ahead!

Berkshires DSA has grown a great deal in 2024, and we cannot wait to see how we grow in 2025. Our first General Meeting of the year will be Saturday, January 18th from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. This meeting will be virtual, but we hope to start having in-person general meetings soon!

If you haven't registered for the GM yet, please do below!  

Organizing 101 (Zoom) - 01/27/25 - 6:30 PM 

We are also thrilled to begin 101 Sessions ✊ Our first one will be Organizing 101 with a discussion for attendees about organizing and building power beyond individualism.

2SLGQBTIA+ Meeting (In-Person) - 01/29/25 - 6:30 PM

Our queer comrades have been meeting to build community and security. If you are interested in joining, please register for the next meeting. For safety purposes, the location will be shared only with those who register.

• Comrade Lou still could use some help with reliable transportation! Please consider donating to his GoFundMe.
• Comrade Mitch wrote two editorial pieces; one on the future of Simon's Rock, and one on why we need socialism (or why the Trump election is due to failing capitalism).
• Comrades Julia & Naomi are leading a local charge to change the way community care and harm reduction happen through DOPE Berkshires.
• In December, we hosted National Network on Cuba for an event, and the 2025 May Day Brigade application has finally dropped! This year’s National Network on Cuba May Day Brigade is officially scheduled for Saturday, April 26th - Saturday, May 10th, 2025.

If you're reading this, at one point, you connected with Berkshires DSA and shared your email. I know life gets busy, but I would love to connect with more people on this list. Our power comes from community, and we know we keep us safe. If you haven't been involved in a while but want to be involved now, let us know! 🌹

I have been formatting my "newsletter" emails in a similar way for a few months, so I wanted to keep this similar, but I'd love to share some additional content with you all: news, social media posts, music, etc. that have come across social media or been shared by comrades. I think we are all unsure of the future of social media, and having other ways to share content will become important. 

Gov. Healy made some claims that Massachusetts is not a "sanctuary state" due to its high volume and low capacity for migrants. Now, MA GOP is looking to change the Right to Shelter laws that they claim allow "dangerous" migrants to have shelter while costing the state too much money... Where that leaves us is the same as always - we keep us safe! Berkshire Immigrant Center has resources available, including Know Your Rights information & "red" cards that can be handed out in an ICE attempt. 

May we continue to seek out the humanity in each other and continue to work towards a bigger, better future for everyone! 

Solidarity forever,

Heidi