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UP FRONT

• The Sunday, July 23 General Body Meeting includes tenant organizing, MDC DSA participatory budget and fast-track MoCo resolution.
• Notice of Emergency Resolution in opposition to the Montgomery County Austerity Charter Amendment
• July 15 Protest Southern Towers Evictions

July 12 General Body Meeting
The MDC DSA GBM for July 12 will include a review and update on our Stomp Out Slumlords campaign and the related housing justice and tenant organizing campaign, including tenant organizing training. The next stage of the Participatory Budgeting process will be unfolded. There will also be a presentation by MoCo Branch of an emergency resolution regarding a time-constrained ballot campaign, per this announcement after the Steering Committee meeting of Tuesday, June 7.

Notice of Emergency Resolution
At Thursday night’s Steering Committee (7/7), we voted to move this resolution which was submitted by members of the MoCo branch to be considered an emergency resolution as outlined in the bylaws. This resolution will be presented at our July GBM, then be on the ballot that members receive following that meeting. In order to pass it will require a 3/4ths vote of the membership. If it fails it may still move forward to a second and third read in the usual manner. Happy to answer any questions in the #steering channel and also at the GBM on Sunday.
– Ryan M, secretary

Protest Southern Towers Evictions Wednesday, July 15
The Rent Strike at Southern Towers is now in its third month. The landlord, Bell Partners, refuses to meet with the tenants, and conditions continue to be abysmal. Sanitation is poor, water services are regularly cut, and AC breaks without the management handling in a timely manner. Now, with the eviction moratorium lifted, Bell Partners has begun to evict residents at an alarming rate - they have already filed nearly 150 eviction hearings in the first two weeks of July alone! This is only expected to get more dire as time goes on.

The Rent Strike Committee has asked the DSA to support them in an action on Wednesday, July 15 at 12 pm in front of the Alexandria Courthouse (520 King St) - Come join the Southern Towers residents in solidarity as they face the first major wave of eviction hearings. We will be protesting in front of the courthouse and providing folks with information on “knowing their rights” for their hearings.

Ahead of this court date, we will have another action on Saturday, 7/11 at 10 am at Southern Towers (5001 Seminary Rd.) - Come flyer with other striking tenants at Southern Towers. We will be handing out flyers to residents to make sure that they know their rights in court, and invite them to join us in expanding the strike and demanding that Bell Partners meet with them to negotiate rent and improve conditions.

THE WEEKEND

BRIEFS

Funding/Defunding the MPD
This budget season, the DC Council is calling a proposed budget increase for the MPD a “cut.” If you’re interested in getting involved in our campaign to defund the MPD, fill out this form. AND Comrades — those of us in the Defund MPD political education group have compiled lots of materials about defunding and abolition, and now we need your help to figure out where and how our efforts can be best put to use. We’d be very grateful if you could fill out this 1 min survey to help us out!
– Ben M

Ed Lazere endorsement next steps
Our DSA chapter has voted overwhelmingly to endorse Ed Lazere for DC Council At-Large. You can take action to support Ed’s campaign today:

• volunteer with the chapter’s 2020 D.C. Council Elections Working Group;
• download and sign the petition to get Ed on the ballot;
• contribute to Ed’s campaign, and D.C. will multiply your donation by 5x.

Socialist Night School
Last Monday, Socialist Night School explored how DC became a legislative model for Uber; how Uber became an institutional actor in the city; and what such an arrangement means for thinking about urban politics. You can review the recording, suggested readings, and summary of the event here. Our next event takes place on July 13, covering Reconstruction and Democracy in the South.

Videographer wanted
Are you a videographer who wants to share D.C.’s radical history with comrades from across the country? Join me to film an outdoor “Radical D.C. Tour” to post on the Democratic Left website. Professional experience not necessary, only a demonstrated ability with operating video equipment with good video and audio quality as well as editing. Professional video equipment preferred but a good-quality smartphone is acceptable. Pandemic precautions are required, including the wearing of a mask and social distancing. Will involve riding in a car and/or Metro. It is a volunteer project with no compensation and will involve a three-to-four-hour commitment at a mutually convenient time in addition to editing and post-production. If interested contact Bill Mosley, [email protected] no later than July 15.

Stop Pepco’s Price Hike!
Pepco is trying to raise electricity prices even though thousands of DC residents are struggling to pay their bills due to COVID-19. And Pepco continues to undermine the clean energy transition we need to fix the climate crisis. Join us for a digital town hall to discuss Pepco’s plans and explore alternatives that put our communities before Pepco’s profits. Pepco’s plan would raise rates by $81 million over three years while guaranteeing the company $25 million worth of new profits. “Pepco’s multiyear rate proposal harms consumers, fails to deliver benefits and is not needed in order to meet the District’s short- or long-term environmental goals,” according to the DC government’s Office of the People’s Counsel. The rate hike would enrich Pepco’s executives but devastate low-income DC residents, most of whom are people of color.

We must not let Pepco pollute our air and fleece our neighbors–especially in the middle of a pandemic. There is a better way: a democratically-run public power system would let us rapidly switch to clean energy. Public power removes the profit motive and allows us to focus on the priorities of DC residents. Our utility fees would fund community needs instead of going into the pockets of Pepco’s rich executives. Join us for a digital town hall on July 21 to discuss Pepco’s plans and explore alternatives that put our communities before Pepco’s profits. We’ll hear from DC neighbors as well as energy policy experts who have ideas on how to improve our energy system. This event requires Zoom pre-registration: Register Here! This virtual event is free and open to the public. Audience members will have a chance to ask questions of the panel. If there is anything that you need to be able to fully participate in this event (for example, ASL interpretation or translation) please email [email protected]

MDC DSA CALENDAR OF EVENTS

EVENTS FROM OUR ALLIES IN THE DMV

NATIONAL DSA EVENTS

Monday, July 13th | 8:00 PM EDT
When We Take Power with Sam Gindin & Leo Panitch
Socialism is growing as a force in the US, but as the history of European social democracy shows, electoral wins are not enough. Socialists must not only win power but fundamentally transform how power works in the state and society if we want our efforts to go beyond reform and transcend capitalism. Join us for a talk with Sam Gindin and Leo Panitch, authors of The Socialist Challenge Today.

Tuesday, July 14 | 8:00 PM
Fossil fuel power mapping webinar - via Zoom
This webinar will offer a primer on how to research and map corporate power generally and fossil fuel and utility power specifically. We’ll learn the basics of power mapping through looking at Exelon, which owns Pepco and several other utilities targeted by DSA energy democracy campaigns. Participants will learn about research tactics, databases, visual mapping tools, and other resources to help them get started mapping corporate power. Discussion will also focus on how power mapping helps organizers concretely strategize and come up with new and effective tactics (with examples). The corporate power-mapping organization LittleSis will lead the training. The webinar is co-sponsored by LittleSis and national DSA Ecosocialists.

Thursday, July 16 | 7:30 PM EDT
Faith, Abolition, and Socialism: Panel and Discussion
Join DSAers Linda Sarsour, Andrew Wilkes, and other panelists for an exciting and informative discussion about the roles of people of faith in the current campaign for abolition of policing as we have known it.

INFO ACCESS

Metro DC DSA publications are intended to keep a socialist perspective and lens on events and actions both for our members and our allies, and we reach over 4,000 readers in the DMV. Our branches in Montgomery County, Maryland and in Northern VA are part of our coverage.

Publications Schedule: July updates will be published Fridays, July 17 and 24, and the August issue of the Washington Socialist will be sent Friday, July 30, with an article deadline of July 25. As always, submissions are welcome at [email protected]. We welcome all comments, questions, or observed issues with the new site; please send notices through the Red Desk or notify us in our #publications Slack channel.

What does MDC DSA do, actually? Surprises may abound in this annotated list of our activities – campaigns, working groups, caucuses and how our local chapter runs its, um, business. It’s a great resource for new members or existing members wondering what to do with quarantine. Check out our chapter structure here. Members of campaigns are of course contacting us at #publications regularly to keep individual entries current and informative (you know who you are).

IN THE JULY EDITION OF THE WASHINGTON SOCIALIST...

This packed edition of the Washington Socialist covers a variety of contemporary issues: the Defund MPD campaign, DC statehood, DSA electoral strategy, and more…

• Police Reform and the Working Class - Police brutality is not simply a problem of individual racist police officers but is a result of a class dynamic;
• Defunding MPD - policy impacts are beginning to be felt, and left and insurgent strategies have knitted together in this review of local protest activity;
• Hogan Unemployment Fiasco - Working people have hit the streets, unions have pushed back on behalf of all workers and legislators have been attentive;
• Black Radicalism on the Eastern Shore - remembering the contributions of Maryland organizer Gloria Richardson, part of the forgotten history of radicalism in Maryland;
• Reflections: the 1992 riots - In 1992 police violence and its aftermath led to large demonstrations in Los Angeles’ communities of color and in D.C.’s fast-changing Mount Pleasant neighborhood;
• Union Building for the Long Haul - this book review shows how hard the work of staying organized can be, and how the compensations for that near-thankless work sometimes surprise with their value;
• Unrest and Statehood - DC Statehood advances but further steps toward that goal will have to wait for Democratic wins in Senate and White House;
• The Time for Statehood is Now - A shadow member of Congress reviews why statehood is of critical importance;
• On Electoral Strategy - Franklin Roberts considers DSA’s electoral strategy amid capacity and resource questions;
• Enforcing the First Amendment - government employees must respect the First Amendment rights of citizens;
• Remembering Dr. Howard Croft - Dr. Howard Croft, DC Statehood advocate and longtime member of Metro DC DSA from its earliest days, is remembered by activists who knew him.

GOOD READS

Samuel Miller McDonald discusses recent historical evidence of solidarity and how we can reproduce and perpetuate it, even while being world-weary, tired, broke, and broken. He demonstrates three practical ways to enact solidarity in our daily lives, and how to support it. From Current Affairs.

Our friends at the Economic Policy Institute have a projection (with map) of how quickly unemployment will rise with the layoff or re-layoffs that result from the virus spike in Florida, Texas, Arizona and elsewhere (due to poorly managed “reopening”, though EPI kindly doesn’t dwell on that).

Another from Current Affairs - a scathing analysis of our tech-bro overlords, and how they have appropriate the worst (and lamest) aspects of science fiction fandom to justify their egotistical business and political decisions.

Stomp Out Slumlords are providing recurrent updates on their renter organizing work. Their perspective provides great insight into the nuts and bolts of organizing for change.

In other hyper-local organizer news, one DSA member has recounted their experience attempting to organize at Whole Foods - from the Midwest Socialist, a publication of our comrades out in the midwest.

Academics have begun to parse the remarkable political differences governing personal responses to scientists’ consensus advice on COVID-19 health practices, such as mask/no mask. Tom Edsall of the NYT takes a deep dive.

“It doesn’t seem that we have any knowledge about how to create high-quality schools at scale under conditions of concentrated poverty,” says one sociologist engaged in a longitudinal study of school funding and outcomes. Solutions for historical residential segregation and community poverty are part of the mix, as shown in this account from the Hechinger Report, which blows holes in the way Trump’s DeVos gang parses the money side of education.

From The Nation - this article has attracted significant attention on the left. Although some have noted it may be too general, there are good points that are important to remember what the modern class struggle looks like. Still, the article’s hyper-focus on DSA feels a bit offputting. From one local member: “There’s a pretty big difference between a group saying that it embraces Black leadership and demonstrably changing its culture and practices so that Black leadership is centered and followed. Pretending that this isn’t a serious, ongoing, widespread issue within almost every white-led or white-dominated leftist organization is to ignore and deny the actual reality of leftists of color who have to struggle within those organizations every day.”

Ages have come and gone, kingdoms and powers and dynasties have risen and fallen, old glories and ancient wisdoms have been turned into dust, heroes and sages have been forgotten and many a mighty and fearsome god has been hurled into the lightless chasms of oblivion.

But ye, Plebs, Populace, People, Rabble, Mob, Proletariat, live and abide forever.
- Arturo Giovannitti