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December 19, 2025 |
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Features |
Tomorrow’s General Meeting is a Social at Urban South –Brodie LHoliday greetings, Comrades! In lieu of a General Meeting tomorrow, we will be having our annual Holiday Party at noon at Urban South! We were at Urban South last year, and it was a wonderful time filled with laughs, jokes, and camaraderie. Urban South has an assortment of beers and non-alcoholic options, food, and a child play area. This is a time to just be together as we’ve all been busy organizing, protecting, and protesting. We do ourselves a disservice by not taking an occasional break to rest from the torrent of propaganda and bad faith corporate news announcements. It is an opportunity for us to go beyond our political inclinations and just get to know each other better. We are three dimensional beings and while we are driven by our desire to see a more just society in our lifetimes, we also like to read fantasy, play sports and tabletop games, or any other number of hobbies. I implore you to come out, meet some new comrades, and get to know each other, for when the times darken, we have to depend on each other to help us make it to when it's light again. For now, laissez les bon temps rouler!
No Other Land Film Screening This Sunday at The Healing CenterJoin us at 5:00 pm on Sunday as we watch the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, followed by a discussion of the film. The story revolves around the slow destruction of the Masafer Yatta village in the West Bank and the resistance of its inhabitants to the Israeli occupation. As Gazans fight for the world’s attention, Israeli aggression in the West Bank is increasing. There are many bad things happening in the world right now, and it’s important for us to keep our eye on Palestine. The Reading Group meets every third Sunday, from 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm, at the Healing Center #258. Our current reading series focuses on Palestine. January 18 February 15
Chevron Out: Why We’ll Win –Matt BChevron is no stranger to us near the gulf. Most of us grew up seeing Texaco signs or have family who worked around oil rigs. Nowadays, Chevron is the same destructive company that it has always been. They have been found responsible for destroying over half of Plaquemines Parish’s landmass. Its impact goes far beyond our coastline as well. In occupied Palestine, Chevron produces nearly 70% of the energy used by Israel’s settler-colonial military and police. This is why Chevron landed atop the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) list. In Austin, artists and organizers succeeded in pressuring SXSW to drop Chevron and weapons manufacturing sponsors for 2025. This BDS victory in the heart of the empire marks a key step toward Palestinian liberation. How do we follow that path in New Orleans? French Quarter Fest started in 1984, long before Chevron was a sponsor. For Fiscal Year 2023, money from over 90 sponsors made up $2.4 million of the event’s $7.1 million revenue. French Quarter Fest can absolutely support itself without Chevron’s involvement, and we will work together to make it apparent that they need to! Chevron relies on the cultural cachet acquired through marketing and sponsorships in order to offset its enormously negative impact on people’s lives. That is why poor publicity of any kind is so effective at making them withdraw. They need not only the exchange of sponsorship or marketing dollars, but also the willingness of the people to accept their greenwashing bargain at face value. Even if the French Quarter Fest board refuses to drop Chevron altogether, our goal is to make the public outcry against them so great that it is no longer feasible for Chevron to exchange their blood money for venue logos and billboards. That is how we will win.
Red Cup Rebellion - Historic Starbucks Strike Sweeping the NationStarbucks Workers United (SBWU) baristas launched a nationwide strike against unfair labor practices (known as a ULP strike) on November 13. As of December 11, that strike has expanded to a total of over 3,800 baristas, 180 stores, and 130 cities. That strike includes our local unionized Starbucks in River Ridge. Please support our striking baristas here and across the country by boycotting Starbucks until the ULP strike is complete. Baristas have been fighting for over two years for a fair contract. The rights of workers here in the US are very thin, and Starbucks has been ignoring even those minimal rights with illegal union busting and failures to negotiate. Join union baristas at the River Ridge store (9301 Jefferson Hwy) picket line and other locations around town. There is a place to go show your support almost every day through Christmas Day! See the calendar of events below for details. Help striking Louisiana Starbucks baristas through this holiday season by donating to their solidarity fund. This national labor fight, like every labor fight, shapes the labor landscape across the US. As (many unwilling) participants in a wage market system, every worker has a stake in seeing the SBWU fight to the end.
Direct Service & Mutual AidHey Direct Service comrades! Thank you all SO MUCH to those who attended our bi-monthly Brake Light Clinic on Saturday. We had 18 volunteers who distributed 90+ hot meals and snacks, changed 8 brake lights, and distributed a whopping 44 coats for our Coat Drive! Your direct help made this one of our most successful brake light clinics yet!! Time to lock in for the next event!! Please join us Saturday, January 10, from 11:00 am - 1:30 pm for our Fork & Knife club food distribution at the Healing Center #204 (Blue Room!) to prepare, cook, package, and distribute hot meals and food supplies to various community fridges in the city! We are also partnering up with SEDND for their ongoing grocery donation drive for families affected by ICE. It’s crucial we show up for our community during these difficult times and make it known that New Orleanians fight back for our immigrant community. Your direct impact strengthens our chapter and mutual aid presence as well. Solidarity and y’allidarity forever! Hope to see you next month.
On Leftist Gun OwnershipDear Comrades, As leftists in an era of globally ascendant fascism, we no longer have the luxury of choosing not to own firearms. There are more guns in the U.S. today than there are people. Unfortunately, they aren’t going away anytime soon—as much as an ideal world would exclude guns entirely. When every neo-Nazi under the sun is stocking up on weapons and ammo, I’m not going to sit idly by and let them hold a monopoly on violence. We know full well about the rightwing militias in rural America actively looking to harm us and our families. It would be greatly advantageous for leftists to use the existing legislation to our advantage and become well acquainted with firearm safety and regular training intervals. Remember the righteousness of our cause—we act ONLY in self-defense. We must seize the tools at our disposal and use them for good in this moral struggle against fascism. |
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Bulletins |
Neighborhood Social Tonight in Kenner. Have the Next One in Your NeighborhoodTonight at Game On Social Hub on Veterans Blvd in Kenner, from 7:00-9:00 pm, members and non-members alike are invited to be merry and build community. Organizing is about trust, and trust gets built by showing up again and again and getting to know your neighbors. Neighborhood circles are how we connect with comrades where we live, work, or otherwise spend our time. We’re using them to host gatherings, plan events, and organize around issues in our neighborhoods. Click here to join yours today! Neighborhood circles are for members only and follow the chapter's code of conduct and guidelines for respectful discussion.
Follow New Orleans DSA on Socials!We’re now on TikTok! Wherever you scroll, keep up to date with chapter happenings and share with your friends. We’re on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Protect the Leah Chase School from Charter ProfiteersThe future of our city’s only publicly run school, the Leah Chase School, is at risk. The business lobby and charter school profiteers have been contacting school board members incessantly about closing the school. They want to spread the lie that direct-run schools are doomed to fail. Direct-run schools are accountable to residents who live here, and not to out of town charter school networks. Gaby Biro, Orleans Parish School Board and DSA member, is fighting hard for the students, families, and staff of Leah Chase. Let your school board member know you want them to stand up for the Leah Chase School and direct-run schooling in our city. Invest in our future and protect public education!
Organize With Our Immigration Advocacy Working GroupDSA members have flocked to Ojos trainings and are flying around town every day, filming ICE, and scaring them away from schools, work sites, and neighborhoods. We’re forming coalitions with partner orgs and putting our mutual aid skills and infrastructure to work. We’re making our demands known to City Hall, and we’re keeping receipts on who steps up and who stays quiet. When the people come together, the people will win. Join our Discord channel to plan our workshops, steer our neighborhood groups, and build transformative campaigns to run Greg Bovino out of our town.
Write Like a Socialist: We Have a World to Win!Have an update from your committee or working group? That’s a Bulletin! Want to tell us about an upcoming event? Add it to the Community Calendar! Got some opinion or analysis to share for the good of the membership? Write us a Feature! Make your contribution to the next edition of Solidarity Means Action from the link on Discord. |
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Community Calendar |
Friday, December 19Starbucks Workers River Ridge Picket Starbucks Workers Magazine Sip In Kenner Neighborhood Social
Saturday, December 20Starbucks Workers River Ridge Picket New Orleans DSA General Party Starbucks Workers Chateau Sip In
Sunday, December 21Municipal Action Committee Social
Monday, December 22Starbucks Workers River Ridge Picket Starbucks Workers Claiborne Sip In Local Council Meeting
Tuesday, December 23Starbucks Workers River Ridge Picket Starbucks Workers Wilshire Sip In Direct Service & Health Justice Meeting
Wednesday, December 24Starbucks Workers River Ridge Picket Starbucks Workers Freret Sip In
Thursday, December 25Starbucks Workers River RidgePicket
Friday, December 26Queer Soc Meeting
Saturday, December 27🌹 🌹 🌹
Sunday, December 28Queer Soc Meeting Chapter Orientation
Down the RoadJanuary 4 Coffee with Comrades |
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Solidarity Means Action is the weekly newsletter of the New Orleans Democratic Socialists of America. Subscribe for updates every Friday at 8:00 am Central. |
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