Metro DC DSA Local Convention set for early December, next steps in MDC DSA's endorsement process, tenants win huge victory at Marbury Plaza, 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. Want to fight fascism from the heart of empire? Join DSA and fight to build socialism!
Paid for by Metro DC DSA (mdcdsa.org). Not authorized by any candidate or committee.
UP FRONT
Metro DC DSA Local Convention scheduled for early December — nomination period now open
Metro DC DSA’s Local Convention, where members debate and vote on elected positions, resolutions, and set the future direction of the chapter, is scheduled to take place on December 6 and December 7, 2025.
Voting for general resolutions and bylaw amendments will happen live during convention on December 6 and 7, while voting for priority campaigns, any electoral endorsements, and Steering Committee candidates will take place via OpaVote following local convention. The timeline for pre-convention activities is as follows:
November 12 – November 22: Steering Committee nomination period and resolution and bylaws submission period
November 24 – December 1: Submission period for amendments to previously submitted resolutions and bylaw amendments
November 26: Deadline for Steering Committee candidates to accept their nomination
November 30: Deadline for priority campaign resolution submissions
The period to submit bylaw amendments and resolutions is open;members should visit the #2025-local-convention channel in the chapter Slack to find the submission form.Per the local convention temporary rules, the form will close at 11:59pm Eastern on November 22, 2025. Only members in good standing are eligible to submit a bylaw amendment or resolution, and proposed resolutions must have at least three additional cosponsors who are members in good standing.
Please note that the Steering Committee election for the 2026 term will occur concurrently with convention and will be managed by a separately constituted internal election department. The convention will likely be in a hybrid format, and location details are forthcoming. Members with questions should contact the Steering Committee in the #steering channel of the chapter Slack.
Next Steps in DSA’s 2026 endorsement process: Candidate Q&A sessions planned for next week — electoral organizing happy hour taking place Saturday, November 22
Coming off local and national victories for socialists running for office, comrades are invited to attend question-and-answer sessions with candidates seeking Metro DC DSA’s endorsement in 2026 elections.The schedule for the three virtual, chapter-wide candidate Q&A sessions can be found below:
Imara Crooms, Prince George's County Council District 9
A Q&A session for Izola Shaw, running for Montgomery County Council District 3, is still being prepared. Members can check the #pec and #electoral channels on the chapter Slack for updates.
Ahead of the sessions, members can use this form to submit questions for the candidates.
Metro DC DSA’s Electoral Working Group is planning a fall happy hour on November 22 from 4 – 6pmto debrief on DSA’s 2025 campaigns and start to plan for the 2026 election cycle. All comrades are invited to attend. For those who haven't participated in electoral organizing, this is a perfect opportunity to dive in. The Electoral Working Group is also hosting a debrief meeting on the 2025 campaigns next Tuesday, November 18 at 7pm over Zoom for new and experienced members. Attendees will discuss how socialists knocked 40,000 doors this year and what's next for the chapter’s electoral program.
Tenants organizing with Stomp Out Slumlords win $41 million judgment against their former landlord
Marbury Plaza tenants won the largest housing conditions judgment in DC history this week. For years, Marbury Plaza tenants were forced to endure mold, leaks, rodents, and lack of heat, while the landlord defied repeated court orders to improve conditions. Tenants began organizing and went on rent strike in 2020, leading to the DC Office of the Attorney General suing their landlord over atrocious housing conditions in 2021. In 2023, the court found Marbury Plaza’s landlord to be in contempt of court orders to remedy these conditions and ordered $5 million in rent refunds to tenants. This week, tenants secured another milestone victory: $29.8 million in restitution to tenants and $11.1 million in civil penalties and attorney’s fees.
LANDLORDS PLOT TAKOMA PARK TAKEOVER: Takoma Park City Council approves study of city’s rent stabilization law — socialists mobilizing to defend rent stabilization
Something strange is happening in Maryland. The Takoma Park City Council — a historically left enclave just across DC’s border with Maryland — recently voted 4-2 (with one abstention) to award a $111,000 contract to a policy research firm to study the city’s rent stabilization law. Takoma Park has had strong rent stabilization policies on the books since 1981 and limits rent increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation; this year, landlords in the city can only raise rent by 2.4%. By contrast, landlords in most of Montgomery County can raise rent by around 6% for properties covered by rent stabilization, and in DC, landlords can raise rent by CPI plus 2% for rent-stabilized rentals (and up to 10% for every other unit). As a result of Takoma Park’s rent stabilization law, rents in the city are some of the lowest in the region. But the awarding of a contract to study the city’s law has sparked alarm of a landlord scheme to smother the policy.
Montgomery County socialists are convening a group to combat this plot, and are calling all renters and allies in Takoma Park to join the fight against the Takoma Park Takeover. Those interested in getting involved should email [email protected], and can watch this newsletter to receive recurrent updates on the plot. Those ready to join the fight immediately can join the Democratic Socialists Saturday afternoon (November 15 at 2:15pm) to flyer about protecting rent stabilization at the County Executive Forum at Newport Middle School.
Starbucks workers on strike — support striking workers AND DON’T CROSS THE PICKET LINE
Last week, 92% of unionized Starbucks baristas voted to authorize a nationwide strike. Yesterday, over 1,000 Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) members in 19 cities across 14 states went on the picket line, with more locations set to join each week. Unless Starbucks Corporate comes to the table, SBWU members will keep organizing, escalating, and fighting back.
Collective bargaining negotiations have stalled since last April, when union members turned down a paltry offer from Starbucks. The suits have failed to resolve negotiations over staffing levels and pay, inciting indignation from the union of over 10,000 baristas across 600 stores.
As Starbucks workers prepare for war, socialists across the country are preparing to join the fight. Here’s how you can help:
Don’t cross the picket line. Talk with friends, coworkers, unions, and family to let them know not to cross the picket line and to stop buying Starbucks products until resolution.
Join the DC-area socialist support force by filling out the intake form here.
Metro DC DSA’s Labor Working Group will also be holding a hybrid general meeting this Tuesday, November 18 from 6 – 7:30pm at the Shaw Library. The working group will be discussing updates from ongoing labor campaigns, identifying action steps for solidarity, and sharing opportunities for further organizing.
Explore trans resilience, celebrate queer community, and learn about abortion access with DC socialists
Tomorrow, Saturday, November 15, the MDC DSA Trans/Queer Liberation Campaign will be holding a Transgender Day of Resilience for the community to come together and grieve, reflect, and explore what resilience means to trans and nonbinary people. Local organizers will share their work, and the Rapid Response Choir will also perform. The event will be held at the Dandelion Collective in Columbia Heights, with the option to attend virtually from 6 – 8pm. RSVP to attend here.
And on Thursday, November 20, the Reproductive Justice Campaign will host a DC Abortion Access Teach-In at the MLK Library with the option to attend virtually from 7 – 8pm. The teach-in is the capstone to the campaign’s abortion resources document project [DRAFT] and will go over topics such as DMV abortion funds, emotional and practical support, legal resources, digital security, and more. After the teach-in, join the organizers at Rocket Bar for a happy hour from 8 – 9:30pm. Masking is required at the teach-in and encouraged at the happy hour. RSVP here.
All events held by the Bodily Autonomy Working Group will have free reproductive and sexual health care kits provided in partnership with EC4DC.
Ecosocialists on the move: leftists planning outreach events in support of social housing production, transit expansion, Green New Deal legislation, and more…
Metro DC DSA is planning a number of fall canvassing events in support of the Green New Deal for Housing Act. The legislation — proposed by socialist Councilmember (and rumored mayoral candidate) Janeese Lewis George — would establish a construction mode for decommodified housing in DC. Socialists interested in building support can use the linked form to sign up; organizers will follow up with more information about times, locations, and rollouts.
PG County abolitionists joining two-day meal packing event next weekend
Socialists in Prince George’s County are joining a large meal packing event taking place next weekend. The two-day event (on November 21 and November 22) aims to pack over 150k+ meals to support families in need during the holiday season. The DC-area economy — ransacked by Trump’s ongoing assault on the US government — has exposed many to economic hardship and unemployment.
Metro DC DSA is planning to organize two volunteer groups to bolster the event: One on Friday, November 21 from 8:30am to 6:30pm, and another on Saturday, November 22 from 8:30am to 6:00pm. Multiple shift times for each volunteer group are available. Sign up to participate in next week’s meal packing event here.
DC’s first worker-owned bookstore hosting grand opening — Saturday, November 15
Bol Coop was just a vision when it was founded in 2021, but now it’s finally opening a storefront in Brookland. The founders of Bol have created a business model on the ideals of global racial justice and economic democracy, and they hope to inspire open dialogue and social exchange through the book selection, social events, and provision of gathering space for aligned organizations like the Democratic Socialists. The cooperative’s grand opening event is taking place this Saturday (November 15) at Brookland Arts Walk, 716 Monroe St NE in the studio closest to the entrance from Michigan Ave (Studio #11) from 10am to 9pm.
A local DSA comrade will also be hosting a community art activity at the storefront from 12 to 1:30pm, where attendees will be invited to put their own spin on the viral sandwich guy street art.
DC Spanish Club for Socialists holding weekly meetup in Adams Morgan — Tuesday, November 18 at 7pm
Spanish Club for Socialists, a project of multiple area socialist and mutual aid organizations including Metro DC DSA, is a free weekly event where organizers meet up to practice their Spanish. The event is about 90 minutes long and is split into beginner, intermediate, and advanced groups, so learners of all levels should feel welcome. The next session is scheduled for Tuesday, November 18 from 7 – 8:30pm at Potter's House (1658 Columbia Rd NW). Sign up here for calendar updates and conversation guides.
Federal Unionists Network holding fundraiser and auction to replenish reserves — Thursday, November 20 at Dew Drop Inn
The Federal Unionists Network, a coalition of federal union workers organizing against Trump’s rolling siege of the US government, is hosting a fundraiser at the Dew Drop Inn on Thursday, November 20 from 6:30 – 8:30pm to raise funds for the Federal Workers Solidarity Fund, which is out of money. A percentage of the proceeds of every drink sold will benefit the fund, and there will also be a silent auction where attendees can bid on trainings and services donated by skilled federal workers. Attendees can RSVP here for ongoing notice.
New Washington Socialist article: as community demands an end to ICE collaboration, Pinto couldn’t care less
Through hours of testimony provided to the DC Commission on Human Rights during a hearing on Wednesday, October 29, District residents revealed an unceasing tapestry of human rights violations committed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), MPD, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and other masked federal agents, in violation of the law and due process. When news of an ongoing federal attack reached the chamber during the roundtable — this time at the Georgia Ave–Petworth Metro stop — CM Nadeau asked community members to leave the chamber. Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto’s office threatened to call the cops on them as they circled the Wilson Building calling for help…
The DMV continues to be under siege by militarist authoritarians. Want to fight fascism from the heart of the empire? Join DSA and fight to build socialism! We’re the alternative that works for people, not profiteers and their captive politicians. MDC DSA spans NoVA, DC and the big Maryland suburbs – yep, the “heart of empire.” Know more this way: No matter how deep your preferred dive into exploring MDC DSA, start with the next session of our “Why You Should Join DSA/New Member Orientation”, a virtual version on Wednesday, November 19 at 7pm. Our anytime resources: You can learn about the Metro DC chapter — DMV branches, working groups, campaigns, current activities, and enduring values — right here. Members are encouraged to join our Slack for real-time info on working group and campaign events, strategy/tactic exchange, and inspiration. Email [email protected] with your most recent DSA dues receipt to get access.
Staying current with MDC DSA — Weekly Updates, like the one you are reading, are inboxed every Friday; current and past Updates are available anytime on our website. The MDC Dispatch is the chapter’s new video news series, published on the first and third Sunday of each month. Submit your Update or Dispatch suggestions (or DMV scandal tips) to our tip line. The Washington Socialist, published since the 1970s, offers in-depth analytical/opinion articles on a quarterly schedule; part one of the Fall 2025 issue is available now. Anyone, MDC DSA member or not, interested in contributing to the Washington Socialist can email submissions or questions to [email protected]. Members, look in on us or join at #publications on Slack.
DMV LEFT COMMUNITY BULLETIN
Virtual Tenants Rights Workshop on November 17 | Jobs with Justice
DC Jobs with Justice’s virtual Tenants Rights workshop is set for Monday, November 17 at 6pm. Learn about your rights! Following the passage of the RENTAL Act, tenant rights have changed in the District — this session will catch you up to speed. RSVP for the workshop here.
How to Start a Revolution | Reel and Meal at the New Deal Cafe on November 17
The film How to Start a Revolution features Gene Sharp, one of the world’s leading scholars of nonviolent revolution, whose ideas have directly informed movements around the globe. This is a timely story that reveals how ordinary people with planning, persistence, and courage can challenge entrenched systems without resorting to violence. The film will be shown for free at the New Deal Café (113 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD) on Monday, November 17, at 6:30pm — please note the earlier start time. The screenings are hybrid, in-person at the café and via Zoom. Those unable to attend in-person can register to watch virtually.
Rally to stop wasteful spending on fossil fuel pipelines on November 18 | Stop Project Pipes Coalition
The Stop Project Pipes coalition is rallying outside DC's utility regulator, the Public Service Commission, at 8:15am on Tuesday, November 18. The Commission is close to a decision on if DC residents should pay another $215 million to continue a gas pipeline replacement program that has failed to reduce gas leaks, all while driving up gas bills for everyone. Advocates are demanding an end to this ineffective project that is set to cost gas customers $12 billion and lock DC into outdated fossil fuel infrastructure. RSVP here.
Teach-In: Breaking the Duopoly on November 19 | Bol Coop & Third Space Politics
On Wednesday, November 19 from 6:30 – 8:30pm, join Bol Coop at its new location in Brookland for a teach-in on breaking the duopoly, organized by Third Space Politics. How might regular people build space for a left political party in the US? Join for a discussion on political parties: why a left political party is necessary to save democracy, why our current system is not really a party system, and legal reforms and organizing strategies that can help us build the political infrastructure we need. 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.
Another mayoral box checked by socialists’ march:Katie Wilson, Seattle’s mayoral victor, who like New York’s Zohran Mamdani is a self-described socialist, focused her campaign on affordability — highlighting her own struggles to afford life in Seattle. She supported a capital gains tax to raise revenue, a move opposed by [incumbent Bruce] Harrell, stronger protections for renters and improving public transit. Politico reports that the close race with the incumbent mayor is now comfortably call-able for the insurgent Wilson. Politico
Will DC be the next city to tap a socialist into the top? Reports on DC’s Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George planned run for mayor are growing. Elected during the 2020 uprisings, CM Lewis George became the first elected Democratic Socialist on the DC Council in over 20 years. CM Lewis George won her initial race by organizing a loyal army of tenants and workers to oust the closet Republican that controlled loathed Mayor Bowser’s home ward. Since her election, CM Lewis George has remained a committed ally of the left and been open about her associations to the DSA. WAMU
This is what a good job looks like. “To reverse the rise of authoritarian populism, the Democratic Party, like left-of-center parties everywhere, must reconnect with the working class. Just as Franklin Roosevelt did 90 years ago, it has to defeat the rhetorical economic populism of the right with a version that delivers. At the heart of that agenda must be a program that spurs not only jobs, but good jobs. A good job is one that pays a decent wage and provides fair treatment, some degree of autonomy and advancement opportunities. Only about 40 percent of American workers have one. Nearly half of Americans believe they would not be able to find one.” Dani Rodrik, NYT
Blood spilled in Sudan can be seen from space. Nobody can feign ignorance about what’s going on. The massacres carried out by the RSF in El Fasher, Darfur, with the support of its UAE sponsors, will only stop when the international community act. The RSF has embarked on a killing spree of civilians so severe that images of blood saturating the ground have been picked up by satellite. The speed and intensity of the killings in the immediate aftermath of the fall of El Fasher has already been compared by war monitors to the first 24 hours of the Rwandan genocide. The Guardian
Whoops! Zohran Mamdani just inherited the NYPD surveillance state!In addition to affordability, New York City’s mayor-elect will be forced to reckon with the NYPD’s sweeping mass surveillance operations. One area where Mamdani is guaranteed to clash with [NYPD Commissioner Jessica] Tisch is on the NYPD’s massive technical surveillance apparatus and intelligence-gathering methods, which have metastasized since 9/11 to levels that rival the capabilities of a midsize country. WIRED
Overwhelm the Public With ‘Muzzle-Velocity’ Headlines. The seemingly unending barrage of [Trump-generated] stressful news is a strategy with ties to the past. “Scholars have found that the constant, often conflicting and at times false information coming out of the White House and shared via social media posts and the conventional news media causes members of the public to see truth and fact as relative and makes them more likely to dismiss those who disagree with them as untruthful. This leaves doubt about what’s real and what isn’t. This citizen paralysis creates what philosopher Hannah Arendt described in “The Origins of Totalitarianism” as a general public ‘for whom the distinction between fact and fiction … no longer exist.’ When lies are truth and truth is derided as lies, Arendt wrote, ordinary people lose their bearings and can be manipulated for totalitarian objectives. The Conversation via Portside
Hundreds of veterans protest Trump policies at Veterans Day rally at D.C.’s Union Station. Called “Vets Say No,” the DC rally [on Tuesday, Nov. 11] was part of a nationwide protest by veterans across several major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, Boston and Memphis, Tenn. The protests were held as a counterpoint to commemorations at war memorials in honor of Veterans Day. Organizers said many of the rallies were staged in locations where Trump has deployed or threatened to send troops. About 500 people showed up at the D.C. gathering to wave signs and object to what organizers described as the “militarization of our communities.” They also cited the administration’s cuts to food stamps and Medicaid, the mass deportation of immigrants and the military’s recent ban on transgender individuals. “We are veterans who are against what’s happening in this country,” said Russell “Jolly” Ellis, founder of Remember Your Oath.” Stars&Stripes (but not a word in WaPo)
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.
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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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