Silicon Valley DSA Newsletter
Silicon Valley DSA Newsletter
Silicon Valley DSA. Branches: Lower Peninsula, San Jose

Hi John!

It's a big day for Silicon Valley DSA, whether you're new to socialism, or you're looking to organize with your co-workers, or you’re ready to put socialists into office.

  • 1:30-3:30pm Sat 9/26. Unions 101 Workshop. Our Labor Working Group is running a training for workers interested in organizing their workplace. This is how we take power as the working class!
  • 2-4pm Sat 9/26. New Member Orientation. New to DSA? Just want to know more about it? Join our orientation to learn more about democratic socialism and how you can get involved.
  • 7-8pm Sat 9/26. SV DSA Campaign Kickoff. All six of our endorsed candidates will be featured at our electoral kickoff. Learn about the changes we’re trying to bring to city councils, school boards, and the State Assembly. People are hurting - let's fight for the working class. RSVP for our campaign kickoff!

For more of our Weekend of Action events, visit sv-dsa.org/weekend. On Sunday we have our first weekly Chapter Work Session, our regular #DefundThePolice Call, and a DSA phonebank for John Lashlee.

Starting Sunday 9/27, members will vote on our voter guide, the Mutual Aid Working Group charter, and other topics. Please request your ballot here! Votes on leadership appointments will be held starting 10/4 to give folks time to nominate a comrade.

In Solidarity,
Your SV DSA Newsletter Team 🌹

Silicon Valley DSA is your local volunteer-run chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Support our endorsed candidates!

It’s crunch time for all our endorsed candidates. Ballots are going out soon, so the window to reach voters is closing. All candidates need help dropping literature & making calls. Sign up:

Let’s get to work! Come to our SV DSA Campaign Kickoff tonight at 7 to meet the candidates, and volunteer for a candidate near you!

Phonebank for John Lashlee - Sunday 5pm

Join our Electoral Working Group in phonebanking for John Lashlee this Sunday at 5pm! During the COVID-19 pandemic, phonebanking is the most effective way for us to connect with voters. It's fun, and it's easier than you think! :) Sign up here.

Updates

Here’s what’s going on in our chapter this week and beyond!

Mutual Aid

Due to the wildfires this month, we’ve been passing out KN95 masks to our community, with 900 masks passed out in one day! The overlap of crises of the pandemic and wildfires have made our work all the more important, and we are hoping to raise funds to be able to get supplies to the Navajo Nation, farmworkers, and more KN95 masks to folks in our community. Please donate if you are able!

Defund the Police

We're organizing to defund the police, get them out of our schools, and reinvest in community resources and services. The next Defund the Police general meeting is on Sept 27 from 2-3:30pm.

Political Education WG

We are planning a Socialist Night School for folks who are interested in learning more about socialism! We are also planning a Zoom movie night so look out for more information about what movie we will be screening. Join our planning process at the next Political Education meeting on October 10th. Sign up here!

Housing WG

AB3088, legislation that was recently passed in California, offers some added protections for residential tenants. But this piece of legislation does not go far enough to protect all those affected by the housing crisis and pandemic, which is why we are fighting/supporting local measures, like Mountain View’s No on C campaign, pressuring our political leaders for better housing, and organizing against evictions. Join us at our next working group meeting on Oct. 1, 7-9pm.

Labor WG

The Labor working working group is a great way to connect with new comrades, union leaders, and labor activists. Past speakers have included: Richard Hobbs, Melvin Pritchard (AFT Local 6554), and comrades in the tech industry interested in unionizing Today, Labor WG is hosting a Worker Organizing Training from 1:30 - 3pm via Zoom. Join us in learning about unions and how to have organizing conversations with your comrades!

Healthcare WG

We’re still continuing our fight to organize for Medicare for All. This includes: letter to the editor campaigns, car rallies with the Santa Clara Single Payer Healthcare Coalition, and much more. We’re in the process of creating a Medicare for All webinar and plan on flyering in South Bay sometime soon. Stay tuned!

Socialist Feminist WG

We are currently working on a script for our video on Crisis Pregnancy Centers! If you’re interested in getting involved with this work, join us at our next CPC Expose meeting (time TBD). We’ve also been sharing this petition to return the completed maternity ward to the Regional Medical Hospital (RMC). Also, did you see the Feminst Collective Ni Una Menos occupied the national human rights commission in Mexico City and are using it as a women’s shelter? Direct action!

Electoral WG

Now that the endorsement process has finished, Electoral Working Group has been working on using our social media to boost our candidates, and has been hard at work on finalizing our voter guide for a chapter vote. We’re hosting a DSA campaign kickoff event today, from 7:00-8:00pm, to encourage our members to sign up to volunteer with endorsed candidates. We hope to see you there!

Justice WG

Justice WG is putting a zine together about the use of modern day slavery (incarcerated firefighters) to fight California fires while simultaneously battling Covid-19. California recently passed #AB2147, which eliminates some barriers that prevented former incarcerated fire crews from working as firefighters after they leave prison - but there's much more work to be done to stop the injustice.

As part of our monthly RED Talks, the last Justice WG meeting had a guest speaker detailing organizing efforts against Palantir, who has announced they are moving their HQ to Denver before their IPO later this month. Palantir is known for collaborating with ICE to surveil and detain immigrants.

Socialist Self Care

In our Slack Channel #x-socialist-self-care, we have a weekly thread where comrades will list what they’re reading this week. Many working groups also have recommended reading threads and literature round-ups. Here’s a short list of what people in our chapter are reading:

  • The Justice Working Group is reading Angela Davis’ Freedom is a Constant Struggle and Are Prisons Obsolete
  • The Socialist Feminist Working group is having a reading group on 10/2, reading: Mala Muñoz, Andrea Smith, and Denisa Krásná and Sagar Deva.
  • Comrades in the self-care channel are reading : Unf*ck your boundaries, Pleasure Activism, Black Jacobins, Hate Inc, Beyond Survival: Stories and Strategies from the Transformative Justice Movement, & Racecraft

What are you reading? Let us know in the Slack channel! If you’d like to be added to Slack, please reply to this email.

Upcoming Events

  • Hatching chick 🐣 means newbie-friendly!
  • General meetings are marked with a 🌹 rose.
  • WG stands for Working Group.
  • For more events, check out our calendar.
Time & PlaceEvent
Sat 9/26
1:30-3:30p
🐣Worker Organizing Training: Unions 101 Workshop
Sat 9/26
2-4p
🐣New Member Orientation
Sun 9/27
10-12p
Comms Working Session
Sun 9/27
12-2p
🐣Chapter Work Session
Sun 9/27
2-3:30p
🐣Defund The Police: General
Sun 9/27
4:30-6p
Labor WG
Sun 9/27
5-7p
🐣Phonebank for John Lashlee
Sun 9/27
7-9p
AMP Committee
Mon 9/28
6-7:30p
Membership Development Cmte
Weds 9/30
7:30-9p
🐣#DefundThePolice: MP, EPA + PA
Weds 9/30🐣Redwood City Local

DSA is a membership organization. As a member, you can vote at our local meetings and run for leadership roles. We are funded by voluntary dues, but no donation is required to join.

Let's build socialism together!

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