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January 2, 2026 |
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Features |
Ojos: Spread Information, Not FearWhen we do our Ojos work, we’re careful to get accurate information and avoid causing panic. We make sure that we provide an exact date and time, an exact location, and that we describe what we see. And whenever you can, get in touch with the eye witness who was there to see it. People are relying on accurate information to plan their day, get necessities, and keep themselves safe. We need an exact date and time to keep information from lingering longer than it should. Border Patrol are often quickly in and out of an area, so stale information will continue to disrupt people’s planning even after the danger has passed. We also need an exact location to avoid spreading panic. There was an alarming clip making the rounds of law enforcement chasing people underneath an overpass. But it was from Houston, so spreading it in New Orleans without an exact location caused unnecessary fear. Finally, we need to describe what we see. It’s tempting to see new, large SUVs with tinted windows, and want to warn everybody that ICE IS HERE! But guess what, that tinted SUV might be another police agency that’s not in the act of kidnapping, or it might actually just be a neighbor who likes that style. So describe what you see, and then get together with your comrades to verify whether it’s something to sound the alarm about. Clearing false rumors is just as important as confirming real activity. Your neighbors need accurate information to keep themselves safe and continue living their lives, and that can only happen when we dispel inaccurate rumors. Get your comrades and get to an Ojos training this week. Your community is counting on you.
We Are All We Have; We Are All We NeedIn response to the masked feds coming to town to kidnap our neighbors, there are amazing mutual aid projects happening across the city right now. Drivers move vulnerable people to and from jobs and doctors’ appointments and deliver groceries to neighbors scared to leave their homes. The Supreme Court’s September ruling allows racial profiling, so the federal goons are pulling over anyone who is not lily-white into this bizarre Immigration Theater. Resistance efforts like these require a lot of organization, concerned volunteers, and money. Lots of money. That’s the nature of the world: diapers and pork chops don’t grow on trees. Some groups get grants to support their work, while others hold fundraisers and silent auctions. DSA follows a different model: we are entirely member-funded. We don’t ask for money from other organizations, so we answer to no one but ourselves. The catch is that we actually need to fund our chapter if we want to do work that needs to be done. Around 10% of our members contribute to local dues. Surely we can do better than that. Often the New Year is when people try to get their money in order, hoping to straighten up and fly right for the rest of the year. We ask you to include the chapter in your financial planning. Paying Local Dues of $5, $10, or even $20 a month makes a real impact on what we can do. Don’t miss any meals or skip your medicine, but if once a month you packed a lunch instead of eating out, you’d have us covered. It’s simple math: the more resources we have, the more work we can do. Help us build the chapter with your time, your talents, and maybe a few bucks.
Red Rabbits Recommendation: Solidarity, Redundancy, and ResilienceKeep in mind that those in power put a lot of effort into building an image of strength at all times. This is an illusion, though. They are not in a position to repress all who oppose them—provided that we don’t all give up and let them do what they will. Defeatism only serves the enemy. Build and strengthen your support networks. Comrades, neighbors, friends, and family all have a role to play. Humans are social animals—we work much better together than alone. Don’t harbor ill will towards anyone who is joined in our struggle. We all have much larger battles to fight. Talk out your differences like the grown-ass adults you are, agree upon what can be agreed upon, then use those agreements to go after the bastards keeping us down. If you have a role in a project or community effort, make sure that others know how to do the work that you do. Spread your skills and knowledge far and wide. Making it easy for others to replace you can diminish any incentive to target you. Yes, you are wonderful, and one-of-a-kind, and we’re glad to have you with us, but be humble enough to know that you are not indispensable. If you want some extra homework, read CLR James’s Every Cook Can Govern, which talks about how the height of ancient Greek culture was ruled by random lot. Lastly, get going on that garden. Start your seedlings this week! By the time they’re big enough to transplant into the ground, the threat of frost will be long past. Gardening is a great way to build community. Even if you’re only making basil planters for your neighbors, you’re making connections. The free food is lagniappe. |
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Bulletins |
Direct Service & Mutual AidTime 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 out there.
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.
Red Cup Rebellion: Historic Starbucks Strike Sweeping the NationStarbucks Workers United (SBWU) baristas continue their nationwide strike against unfair labor practices. That strike includes our local unionized Starbucks in River Ridge. Please support our striking baristas here and across the country by boycotting Starbucks donating to the workers’ solidarity fund. Baristas have been fighting for over two years for a fair contract. As participants in a wage market system, every worker has a stake in seeing the SBWU fight to the end.
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 future of Leah Chase. Let your school board member know you want them to stand up for direct-run schooling in our city. Invest in our future and protect public education!
Meet Comrades in Your Neighborhood CircleOrganizing 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.
Poli-Ed Reading GroupThe 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
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. Not a fan of our social media techbro oligarchs? You can always check out our newsletter and calendar at neworleansdsa.org.
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, January 2🌹 🌹 🌹
Saturday, January 3Ojos Training ICE/Border Patrol Out of Nola Rally and March New Orleans Musicians for Palestine Art Build
Sunday, January 4Coffee with Comrades Poli-Ed Planning Meeting Chapter Orientation
Monday, January 5New Orleans Musicians for Palestine Art Build
Tuesday, January 6Ojos Training Ojos Training Procession for Palestine and Collective Liberation Procession for Palestine and Collective Liberation Afterparty
Wednesday, January 7Direct Service & Health Justice Meeting Eye on Surveillance Meeting
Thursday, January 8Critical Legal Collective March & Rally for Racial Justice, Academic Freedom & the Rule of Law
Friday, January 9Queer Soc Meeting
Saturday, January 10Fork & Knife Club Food Distribution New Orleans Community Organizing Fair Org Connect Event Ojos Training
Sunday, January 11New Orleans Community Organizing Fair
Down the RoadJanuary 15 Poli-Ed Reading Group |
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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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