Metro DC DSA monthly newsletter for Labor Day, 2019


** What's On This Week
------------------------------------------------------------
Comrade, LABOR DAY WEEKEND --

MDC DSA event – Sunday, Sept. 1 -- Rent Control Working Group Meeting ([link removed])

Here’s the Labor Day Weekend calendar from Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO [link removed] It includes a weekend-long festival in Greenbelt ([link removed]) , NoVa Labor picnic ([link removed]) on Sunday, and Monday parades in Greenbelt ([link removed]) and Gaithersburg. Our Revolution MoCo will be canvassing for Medicare for All at the Gaithersburg Parade. DSA members in Prince George’s will have a booth at Greenbelt’s Information Day ([link removed]) on Saturday; MDC DSA members are invited to drop by.

On Labor Day, a different stepoff: Monday, September 2 March for Full Employment and Economic Justice, 11 AM-2 PM -- demanding that Congress pass a Federal Job Guarantee. Start at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, 1964 Independence Ave, S.W. to Federal Reserve Headquarters, 1850 K Street, N.W. Sponsored by Our Money; info here ([link removed]) .
------------------------------------------------------------
SATURDAY, SEPT. 7 -- MDC DSA FALL CAMPAIGNS FAIR AND SEPTEMBER GBM ([link removed])
Are you new to the chapter and would like to meet other members?
Have you been a member but don't know how to get involved?
Then join us for our Fall Campaigns Fair and September GBM! It’s at the Arthur Capper Community Center, 1000 5th St. SE ([link removed]) , from 2:30 to 4:30 PM.
There will be representatives from various working groups to talk to individuals about how to get involved in their campaigns!
And there will be food! We also strongly encourage individuals to bring a treat/snack to share! Please make sure to label foods for allergy purposes.
------------------------------------------------------------
FEATURED ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE OF THE WASHINGTON SOCIALIST

Report Back from the 2019 Convention ([link removed]) – our comrade Kaiser F brings a complete and thorough account of the events and decisions in DSA’s critical plan for the next several inevitably tumultuous years.
DC Statehood still on the table in Congress ([link removed]) – Bill Mosley previews the House hearing for the landmark legislation that is gaining some ground for the first time in a decade or more.
Books: Ursula Le Guin’s vision of socialist society ([link removed]) – up close – in her groundbreaking The Dispossessed – an extrapolation by Jason S-F.
Money – it’s a hit, until it’s not ([link removed]) – does where money (capital) comes from really change its quality(ies)? A thought experiment by Woody Woodruff
January-August Article Index for the Washington Socialist ([link removed]) – a refresher on the best that has been thought and said – at least, in this humble monthly newsletter, this year so far.
Maryland: Gov. Hogan withholds money ([link removed]) for a newly empowered panel to cut drug prices in the state – who’s mad, who’s not. By Woody Woodruff
ICYMI here’s the Dispatch for August ([link removed]) from National DSA, sent Aug. 28.

BRIEFS
------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday September 24th --Next Labor Working Group Meeting from 6:30-8:00 PM at 1616 P St NW, Suite 150. We will have a Zoom link available.
Solidarity -- DSA Stands with Grocery Workers! March with Giant and Safeway UFCW Local 400 members as they prepare for bargaining Thursday September 12th at 11 AM ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Justice for Muslims Collective & The Sanctuaries DC are launching a timeline exhibit of the War on Terror and how it's targeted Muslims and institutionalized state violence here and abroad. They are holding a launch event and interactive session with guest speakers on Wed. Sept. 11th, from 5-8 PM, at 1200 U St NW. For more information and to register (the event is free), please visit [link removed], and share the Facebook event at [link removed]
------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to our comrade Maria B for this calendar of September events leading up to Shut Down DC, a local pivot point of the worldwide Climate Strike activities Sept. 20-23 [link removed]
------------------------------------------------------------

DC PAID FAMILY LEAVE AT RISK — Solidarity Ask from DC Jobs with Justice and ally Jews United for Justice.
Last week the Office of Paid Family Leave published key regulations that will determine who gets access to paid leave next year. This is where the rubber meets the road and its clear we’ve already won a few major concessions. However, under the released regulations 58,000 workers in DC would be unable to access paid family leave due to a lack of employment protections. ([link removed]) This is unacceptable — EVERY worker in this city deserves access to paid family leave!
Union City reported Aug. 21 ““Under these regs, tens of thousands of workers, especially low-income women of color, may not be able to access paid family leave,” says JUFJ DC Campaigns Manager Joanna Blotner. “This is not the universal paid leave that we fought hard to pass in 2016.”

We have until September 9th to speak up. Please join DC Jobs with Justice and Jews United for Justice in reaching out to Paid Family Leave administrators and asking them to implement truly universal paid family leave. Click here to take action! ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Curious about Metro DC DSA? MDC DSA’s website has expanded resources on our chapter Campaigns, WGs and Caucuses – check it out here ([link removed]) . Is your campaign, caucus or working group properly represented? Contact [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) , attn: web managers .
------------------------------------------------------------
MDC DSA Publications Schedule for September: Weekly Updates are scheduled in September for Friday the 6^th, 13^th, 20^th and 27^th and the October Washington Socialist will publish on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Article deadline for October will be Wednesday, Sept. 25.
Our activism gains support when it is explained in a socialist context and voice, so submit your contribution to our ongoing narrative here (mailto:[email protected]) . “Pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will,” to use Gramsci’s formulation, are best explicated as a paired mental activity in – what else – the written word. Get busy.
Opinion pieces, campaign updates, coverage of rallies, socialist illustrations or photo essays – all are welcome and valued. Check our submission guidelines ([link removed]) , and mind the deadlines. Thinking about writing an article but wondering if the subject has been covered here, and how recently? You can find out in the Index for 2016-18 ([link removed]) . This Labor Day issue includes the Washington Socialist Index for January-August ([link removed]) 2019. The 2012-2015 issues are collected in per-month PDFs; look at the Archive section on the right of the mdcdsa.org website’s Washington Socialist page ([link removed]) . And web warriors can start by talking with us about keeping the mdcdsa.org site fresh and up to date. It’s all of a piece, comrades.
Yours in solidarity, The Publications Working Group
------------------------------------------------------------


** MDC DSA Events for September
------------------------------------------------------------
Follow links for details

Follow links for details – for Labor Day Weekend events, see above
Sunday, September 1 1-2:30 PM
Rent Control Working Group Meeting ([link removed])
Petworth Neighborhood Library ([link removed]) 4200 Kansas Ave NW · Washington, DC
Our next general business meeting -- we'll continue to talk strategy and also get updates from chapter members working on our rent control campaign.

Wednesday SEP 4 7:00 PM
Steering Committee (remote only) ([link removed])
Steering Committee meetings are open to any MDC DSA member who would like to attend. You can find the Zoom link in the #steering channel in the chapter’s Slack. Follow link for details.

Thursday, SEP 5 6-8 PM
DSA for Bernie Textbank Party ([link removed]) !
Institute for Policy Studies, 1301 Connecticut Ave DC 20036
Rally comrades for our Sept. 8 canvass for Bernie. Pizza and beverages. [link removed]

Saturday, SEP 7 11 AM -3 PM
Migrant Justice: Research Training ([link removed])
501 3rd St NW ([link removed])
MDC DSA has marched on the homes of deportation profiteers behind private prisons, surveillance companies, and ICE itself. Join us as we choose our next target and plan our upcoming profiteer action! Follow link for details

Saturday, SEP 7 2:30 PM
Metro DC DSA Monthly General Body Meeting and Campaigns Fair ([link removed])
Arthur Capp Community Center,
The monthly meeting of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America is a Campaigns Fair with potluck.

Sunday, SEP 8 12-6 PM
DMV for Bernie Canvass Kickoff ([link removed])
Takoma – 327 Cedar St. NW ([link removed])
We are kicking off our first canvass for Bernie in Takoma Park! We are committed to electing Bernie Sanders because he is the only candidate in the race who will fight for our class. See you there. Follow link for details

Thursday, SEP 12 6:30-8 PM
Migrant Justice Action: Stand Up to Deportation Profiteers ([link removed])
The executives of for-profit companies providing key services to ICE make millions for destroying lives in our community. Join MDC DSA as we expose the fifth profiteer. Register here ([link removed]) to join the action. Follow link for details

Sunday SEP 15 2:00 PM
MoCo DSA 🌹General Branch Meeting ([link removed])
Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department, 7201 Carroll Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912
Please join us for our September branch meeting! Help us build our vision for equality, democracy, and socialism in Montgomery County. Afterwards, we’ll adjourn to a local establishment for a social hour. See you then! Follow link for details

Monday SEP 16 7-8:30 PM
NOVA Branch Organizing Meeting ([link removed])
Richard Byrd Library 7250 Commerce St · Springfield, VA ([link removed])
Welcome to our monthly NOVA DSA organizing and planning meeting. Follow link for details

Wednesday SEP 18 7:00 PM
Steering Committee ([link removed])
Institute for Policy Studies, 1301 Connecticut Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20036
Steering Committee meetings are open to any MDC DSA member who would like to attend. Please RSVP and message the hosts if you would like to join by videoconference so we can make arrangements to get you the appropriate URL. Follow link for details

Sunday SEP 22 4:00 PM
Socialist Feminism Reading Group 🌹 ([link removed])
The Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Rd., NW, Washington, DC 20009
Please read our reading group Participation Guide ([link removed]) and join us as we explore and discuss topics within Socialist Feminism. 🌹 This month, our readings focus on your ideas. You can submit suggested articles ([link removed]) anytime — we can build a topic around them! Follow link for details

Thursday SEP 26 6:30 PM
DSA Happy Hour ([link removed])
The Midlands Beer Garden, 3333 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20010
Join us for our monthly happy hour! This is a great chance to meet and mingle with fellow comrades. No agenda, no work, and no politics… well, maybe a little politics. Happy hours, like most MDC DSA events, are open to members and non-members alike! Come join us in an informal setting to learn more. Follow link for details

Thursday SEP 26 6:00 PM
Disability Justice Working Group Meeting ([link removed])
The Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Rd NW, Washington, DC 20009
Join Metro DC DSA Disability Justice Working Group for our monthly meeting. Learn how to get involved in the various campaigns to empower and liberate the disabled community from the oppressive capitalist system. We meet on the first floor of the ADA-compliant Festival Center. ASL interpretation will be provided on request. Follow link for details
------------------------------------------------------------


** Events from Our Allies in the DMV
------------------------------------------------------------
Follow links for details
SAT Aug 31 Black August Street Law 101: Know Your Rights Training ([link removed]) 1-2:30 PM Dorothy I. Height/Benning Library 3935 Benning Rd NE, Washington, DC 20019 Hosted by Black Lives Matter DC and Keep DC 4 Me — This Black August, we continue to hold MPD accountable for illegal stop and frisks, jumpouts, brutality, and murder.

SAT Aug 31 On A MOVE! Repression, Resistance and Freedom ([link removed]) 12-2 PM Shaw (Watha T. Daniel) Neighborhood Library, 1630 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001 Hosted by Stop Police Terror Project DC and Pan-African Community Action — a panel featuring Eddie and Janet Africa, members of MOVE a Black liberation group based in Philadelphia that suffered deep police repression and terrorism in the 1970s and 80s.

SEPTEMBER

WED Sept 4 Robert Kuttner, editor of the American Prospect, discusses his new book, The Stakes, on the 2020 election, at the Economic Policy Institute from noon to 1:30 PM. It’s a free event with lunch included. Interested comrades can RSVP here ([link removed]) .

WED Sept 4 The Future of Water in El Salvador ([link removed]) 2-3:30 PM at Oxfam America, 1101 17th Street, NW, Suite 1300 Washington, DC 20036 -- Oxfam ([link removed]) , the Institute for Policy Studies ([link removed]) and the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) ([link removed]) present a conversation with Karen Ramírez a leader in the National Alliance against Water Privatization in El Salvador that has been successfully fending off a coordinated attempt by El Salvador’s right-wing political parties to bring corporate entities into the public management of the country’s fragile water resources. RSVP: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

THUR Sept 5 — Progressive Cheverly Forum, What We Need to Know … and Do About the Epidemic of Gun Violence in Our Country: 7 PM, Multipurpose Room at Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary School, 3324 64th Avenue, Cheverly (note the new venue) Discussion of action to stop the mass shootings and the daily killings that have tragically affected communities everywhere. Come hear Representative Anthony Brown (invited) and Jennifer Stapleton, a state leader in Moms’ Demand Action Maryland talk about what is happening around gun reform legislation on the federal and state levels and what we can do to get involved. All are welcome.

THURS Sep 5 #DecarcerateDC Protest ([link removed]) 6-8 PM Washington, DC – Protesting outside the office of the US Attorney for DC as Trump appointee Jessie Liu holds a meeting on the anti-justice Second Look Act. Hosted by Black Lives Matter DC and Keep DC 4 Me – more at link: [link removed] ([link removed])

SAT Sept 7 When They See Us: Organizing Conversation ([link removed]) — 1:00 PM, ATU 689, 2701 Whitney Pl, District Heights, MD 20747 — Join Progressive Maryland’s Justice Task Force, Former NAACP President Ben Jealous, and other special guests for a discussion about our criminal legal system and learn about our plan for action to end mass incarceration here in Maryland.

MON Sept 9 Listening Sessions: Are you in the know about Paid Family Leave ([link removed]) 12:30 -2:30 PM at Busboys and Poets 2021 14th St. NW Wash, DC 20009 Hosted by Restaurant Opportunities Center of Washington DC (ROC-DC): See Aug 26 entry.

MON, Sept 9 BOOK TALK New York Times journalist Steven Greenhouse discusses his new book, Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor. 12:30 -2 PM at Economic Policy Institute 1225 Eye St. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC xxxxxx — Greenhouse chronicles the rise (and decline) of unions in the US and explores models for rebuilding worker power, including the #RedforEd teachers strikes, the Fight for $15, and bargaining for the common good. RSVP ([link removed])

MON Sept 9 September DC Climate Coalition Meeting ([link removed]) 6:30– 8:30 PM, 50 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001-1525 (Sierra Club office) Agenda will include the climate strike, bylaws, and continuing CEDC implementation. Hosted by DC Climate Coalition and 6 others. [link removed] ([link removed]) Volunteer signup form ([link removed])

TUES Sept 10 Book Event: Living and Dying on the Factory Floor ([link removed]) 4-5:30 PM, Institute for Policy Studies 1301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 6th Floor Washington, DC 20036 co-sponsored with Economic Policy Institute. Moderated by Sarita Gupta, former Executive Director of Jobs With Justice -- David Ranney’s vivid memoir describes his experiences between 1976 and 1982 in the factories of southeast Chicago and northwest Indiana.

WED Sept 11 Greenbelt Climate Action Network A Just Transition from Coal in Maryland ([link removed]) 7:00 - 9:00 pm conversation with Matt Dernoga, Maryland Sierra Club Beyond Coal rep, about Maryland's six remaining coal fired power plants. We will discuss their impacts on public health and the climate, and how we can lead the way in Maryland with a just transition to clean energy. Greenbelt Community Center, Room 114 15 Crescent Road, Greenbelt, MD [link removed]

THU Sept 12, Empower DC Happy Hour Fundraiser ([link removed]) 6-9 PM Saloon, 1205 U Street Northwest Washington, DC 20009 RSVP ([link removed])

SAT Sept. 14 – 350MoCo town hall on climate action, 11 AM t 1:30 PM, Silver Spring Civic Center [link removed]

TUE Sept 17 In Defense of American Democracy ([link removed]) – day-long session at the GWU Marvin Center with a star-studded guest list and some surprises; organized by Shanker Institute, AFT and Forward Together.

WED Sept 21 Deep Canvass with SURJ ([link removed]) 11 AM – 5 PM Sponsored by SURJ Northern Virginia and Showing Up for Racial Justice – SURJ – DC: at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville, in Maryland. The registration form is coming soon.

THURS Sept 26 DC Stand Up Against “RIA” Displacement at Brookland Manor ([link removed]) 8 AM
District of Columbia Government DC Court of Appeals 430 E Street, NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20001 Hosted by LinkUp and Brookland Manor/Brentwood Village Residents Association:
8 AM rally; 9:30 AM pack the courtroom to protest DC’s intrusive, tax-subsidized “Rhode Island Avenue” project and its potential for displacing Brookland Manor residents. More info: linkupitsofficial.org/dc-stand-up ([link removed])

SUN Sept 29 – The path to single payer health care in Maryland, ([link removed]) 1:30 - 4:30 PM at Elkridge Library - 6450 Washington Boulevard, Elkridge, MD 21075 -- Join Senator Paul Pinsky, Chair of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee in the Senate, and Delegate Terri Hill, of the Health and Government Operations Committee in the House, for a discussion of the road map to Single Payer in Maryland.
[link removed]

THURS Oct 3 The Epiphany Power Hour: ONE DC ([link removed]) 12:10-1 PM at The Church of the Epiphany 1317 G St NW, DC xxxxxx Claire Cook and Kelly Iradukunda of ONE DC teach us about organizing in our city. Hosted EVERY THURSDAY by The Church of the Epiphany and ONE DC ([link removed]) : [link removed] ([link removed])

------------------------------------------------------------
GOOD READS

>>Instructive developments as workers and families in Puerto Rico fill the political vacuum with their growing agency [link removed]

>>Excellent review by DSA member Steve Early of a book memorializing the less-told story of GI resistance to the Vietnam War while still in uniform, a generally risky pursuit in those days and one that significantly shifted overall public opinion about the war, along with the resistance from veterans’ groups like VVAW. [link removed]

>>Our local (Va.) member Max Sawicky outlines the last gasps of neoliberalism in Jacobin [link removed]

>>Also in Jacobin, an analysis of the labor resolutions passed at the recent DSA Convention: [link removed]

>>There are many large-scale service industries that could benefit from shifting from private to public ownership, but none is more ripe than the delivery of electric power. Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed a sweeping move to public ownership of the grid and production resources, accelerating renewable use and ending the consumer’s subsidy to shareholders in massive under-regulated corporate boondoggles like our local overlords Exelon and Dominion ([link removed]) . “The future is public,” the author writes. “It is accountable to the principles of environmental justice. It is democratic. It is decommodified.” [link removed]

>>The working class: two articles that argue that traditional notions of the class structure no longer are useful, from somewhat different perspectives.
A book review [link removed] indicates “The American Dream that permitted manual and factory laborers to have a secure job, with a supportive union and community, is a thing of the past.”
And Tom Edsall in the New York Times argues that the reactionary responses to Trump have many nuances that show big changes in the class structure in “We aren’t seeing white support for Trump for what it is.” [link removed]



VIEW ALL UPCOMING DC DSA EVENTS ([link removed])

============================================================
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
Copyright © 2019 Metro DC DSA. All rights reserved.

You're on this list because you signed up at an event or meeting held by the
Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America | ** Email us (mailto:[email protected])

Our mailing address is:
Metro DC DSA
1301 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
USA

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])