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July 2019 DSA NTX Newsletter

Picketing in Solidarity with Skychef Workers

Airline food workers organized under the Unite Here Union in 21 US cities have voted to strike when released by the government.

About 900 workers at the DFW LSG Skychef voted to approve the strike. The majority of the work force are black and brown immigrants that make as little as $9.85 an hour, toil in harsh conditions, and have to work overtime just to survive. Health insurance is as high as $125 a week for the family plan.

American Airlines, who contracts Sky Chefs, refuses to be held accountable for these working conditions.

Unite Here picketed With allies at DFW airport on July 3rd to show that the workers are ready to strike when released! They will continue to picket at DFW airport twice a week and will also be having a larger action August 12th; details in the making!

All Aboard the Medicare for All Express

The weekend of June 16, several of our healthcare working group members undertook a hybrid canvassing venture on DART, our public transit system. Members brought informative Medicare for All handouts and personally created posters with messaging like “Healthcare is a human right” and “Ask me about Medicare for All.”

We rode the DART for nearly 2 hours, cultivating casual, approachable conversations with riders who noticed our posters. Many people reacted positively to our message, agreeing with us the healthcare today is unaffordable and unattainable for most of society and should be treated as a human right. Dozens of handouts were given out, and several people signed up to receive more information.
We considered the action a success which could easily be organized frequently as a community outreach opportunity for future working group organizing.

June General Meeting

In celebration of PRIDE month, our June general meeting featured a presentation from Queer Socialists. Riley spoke about the history of the struggle for queer liberation and Nan gave an explanation of social reproduction theory.

Although the history of queer liberation is often condensed into a few key events, it is a vast movement that has functioned around the world on multiple timelines. The Scientific Humanitarian Committee was the first LGBT organization, founded in 1897 in Berlin and ended by the Nazis in 1932. WWII helped to bring more visibility to issues of gay rights as the US military purged gay soldiers. Queer communities organized in major cities to decriminalize gay sex. In the 1950s, several gay rights organizations in the US formed and won a major victory when granted the right to have a LGBT publication delivered by the USPS. In Britain, the Wolfdon Report decriminalized gay sex by men 21+. Greenwich Village became a nexus of liberation struggle in the late 60s with the Stonewall Uprising, the formation of the radical political collective STAR by Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, marches by the Gay Liberation Front which eventually became PRIDE, and the Compton Cafeteria Riot.

With Dallas facing a murder crisis targeting black trans women and the US President rolling back rights and protections for gay and trans people, we must be vigilant to provide safety, housing, and healthcare for all and work towards abolishing capitalism and patriarchy.

Social Reproduction Theory (SRT) was developed by Marxist feminists to bridge the gap between class and gender oppression as a response to a class-only analysis. While Marxism focuses on the relationship between worker and owner, SRT says the production and reproduction sphere are both part of the capitalist process. Feeding, clothing, and cleaning regenerate the worker outside the workplace. Capitalists created the marginalization of homosexual identity, which didn't exist until the 19th century, in order to determine who is an acceptable family and who deserves to have power. Capitalists use this method to devalue the work of some. SRT treats questions of oppression as structurally relational to capitalist production rather than placing them in the margins of analysis or as add-ons to a deeper and more vital economic process. As Capitalism seeks to shape the way we form our identities, we must address the way our lives and bodies are enmeshed to experience true liberation.
Recommended reading:

“Social Reproduction: What’s the Big Idea?” Susan Ferguson

“What is Social Reproduction Theory” The Socialist Worker, Tithi Bhattacharya

“The Social Reproduction of Sexuality: An Interview” Viewpoints Magazine

Talking Fares with Local Public Transit Riders

Our Ecosocialism working group members have gone out canvassing and surveying public transit riders multiple times regarding the upcoming low fare discussions. Over the course of these actions, the group has gathered 200 surveys filled out by riders who would be impacted by changes in the fare structure. Members of the working group attended Tuesday evening's DART meeting to make the findings of their surveys known, essentially amplifying the voices of the public in order to create a more democratic process that advocates for public services that are accessible to all.

Bhaskar Sankura in Dallas

The Jacobin Reading Group and DSA NTX hosted Jacobin Magazine founder Bhaskar Sankura last month. Sankura spoke to a packed house about his new book, The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Age of Extreme Inequality. The author examined socialist movements, past and present, and looked at how even social democratic wins can provide an opening where we, as socialists, can organize to democratize our workplaces, have public goods that meet the needs and human rights of all, and fight for a future free of exploitation and wage labor.

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Upcoming Events

Paid Sick Pub Crawl - Thurs. July 11, 7PM - Alexandre's
Socialist Feminist Working Group Meeting - Sat. July 13, 4PM - Half Priced Books Flagship
July DSA NTX General Meeting - Sun. July 14, 4PM - CWA Hall

Democratic Socialists of America - North Texas

PO Box 5245

Dallas, Tx 75208

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