Electoral canvassing operations in Montgomery County, Sunday March 13
Cancel Student Debt art build, Friday March 18 and Sunday March 20
Stomp Out Slumlords protest meeting, Wednesday March 16
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Electoral Organizing - Canvassing operations continue in Montgomery County, Sunday March 13
Join the Montgomery County elections working group on Sunday, March 13, to knock on doors in Silver Spring for endorsed candidates Max Socol (Maryland State Senate District 18) and Brandy Brooks (Montgomery County Council at-large). The meet-up location is the Forest Glen Metro. We'll provide training, a script, and canvassing partners if wanted, and then we'll meet up after knocking on doors to socialize and debrief. RSVP here.
Following MDC DSA, the DC Hub of the Sunrise Movement, DC for Democracy, and more, the DC Working Families Party has endorsed Zachary Parker for DC Council in Ward 5. MDC DSA members will be canvassing for Parker on both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, the DC group is planning to meet at 56 Crittendon St NE, near Fort Totten Metro at 12pm.
Cancel Student Debt — Art Build at Rhizome DC on Friday, March 18, and Sunday, March 20
On Friday, March 18, and Sunday, March 20, you can join local YDSA organizers at Rhizome DC to build art and protest materials for an upcoming day of action on student debt relief (which you can RSVP for here). On each day, artists, activists, students, and organizers are convening from 10am to 6pm to paint and build out protest materials. No art experience is necessary as the event will be facilitated by experienced artists looking to support and train volunteers. Proof of full vaccination is required to enter Rhizome’s interior & masks over nose/mouth are required unless you are actively drinking.
Biden has said the “final” moratorium on student loan payments ends on May 1, 2022. A resumption of student loan payments would siphon dollars and wealth from our communities to pay for debt that falls unequally on the shoulders of the working class. Student loan repayments do not have to be resumed: President Biden has the authority to fix it by picking up a pen and issuing an Executive Order to cancel all student loan debt. It’s a simple, effective way for him to add billions back into our economy, create jobs, narrow the racial wealth gap, and fulfill a campaign promise that he’s avoided action on so far.
The Debt Collective will be organizing a day of action on April 4th, 2022, to demand Joe Biden and the Democrats act on their promise to provide relief to student debtors. Sign up here. And join #student-debt in the MDC DSA Slack to get involved in our chapter mobilization!
Stomp Out Slumlords — Meeting to Plan Protest on the Mayor, March 16 @ 7pm — April 2nd action incoming
SOS will be holding a DMV-wide meeting on Wednesday, March 16th, to finalize plans for an April 2nd march on Mayor Bowser’s house. In October 2020, hundreds of tenants — working-class men, women, and children — marched on Mayor Bowser’s home to deliver a petition to cancel rent. They were met by police and ignored by the mayor. Despite major wins since, including successful rent strikes leading to tenants buying their buildings and STAY DC providing rent cancellation for hundreds of tenants, many tenants are still struggling to receive the relief they won. On April 2nd, we will march again to demand she meet face-to-face with the tenants that she has ignored in her re-election campaign. Next Wednesday, tenant leaders and organizers from across the District, Virginia, and Maryland will discuss logistics, recruitment, and assign day-of roles. Join the meeting here.
BRIEFS
Ward 4 Volunteer Opportunity with Janeese Lewis George
As part of an effort to make sure DC Councilmembers are accessible to their constituents — and not just during election years — DSA-elected CM Janeese Lewis George recently announced an ongoing series of community outreach events to connect DC residents to important services and agencies. These will be called Ward 4 CARE Days. CM Lewis George’s office is looking for volunteers to door-knock, direct people to District agencies and/or 311 for less urgent services, or partner with local groups that may be able to help residents with bigger lifts. The first event took place yesterday (March 10) in Shepherd Park. More on-the-ground efforts are planned throughout the month. To volunteer, visit janeeseward4.com/care.
Israeli Apartheid Week: Wheatpaste for Palestine on 3/20 and Slingshot Hip Hop Documentary Screening on 3/24
For Israeli Apartheid Week 2022, Metro DC DSA comrades and coalition partners will be wheatpasting the city with Palestinian resistance art. We will meet at Dupont Circle at noon on Sunday, March 20th. Everyone is welcome to join us, and we will be using this as an opportunity to build community. Please RSVP and find more information here: bit.ly/wheatpasteforpalestine.
We will also be hosting a virtual documentary screening of Slingshot Hip Hop, a film that chronicles the story of Palestinian hip hop as a form of resistance. Join us on Thursday, March 24th at 7pm on Zoom to watch the film together, followed by a discussion. RSVP to get the Zoom link here.
The theme for this year’s Israeli Apartheid Week is art and culture, and we are excited to continue organizing community events that center on art, joy, and love. Join the BDS Palestine campaign for our Monthly March Meeting on Thursday, March 31st at 8pm to help us plan upcoming political education and community events, as well as continue brainstorming towards more targeted campaigns. RSVP for the March BDS Palestine meeting here.
Congress tells DC No to marijuana legalization
On November 4, 2014, ballot measure 71 was approved by 64% of DC voters. The measure allowed DC residents to grow, trade, and use marijuana. The initiative decriminalized personal cannabis use and has given birth to a “grey market” for marijuana in the city. Formal legalization would make it easier to tax, legislate and protect businesses involved in the trade. The DC Council has been positioning to follow the path of other states and cities – such as California, Colorado, and NYC – to officially legalize the sale of marijuana, which could generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for the people of DC.
Earlier this year, the absence of a ban on marijuana legislation suggested that DC would have the go-ahead from the federal government to legalize this market. However, a budget rider has been tacked on to a recent congressional spending plan, again barring DC from legalizing the sale of marijuana. Because DC is a colony, not a state, it lacks the autonomy that other states and municipalities enjoy in controlling their own laws and legislation. For decades, DC has been unable to pursue legalization thanks in part to professional creepshow Andy Harris of Maryland, who has built a career on stooging for pharmaceutical companies and deep-pocketed interests to screw over working-class voters.
MDC DSA Spring Reading Groups have sprung, but there's still time to join
Many groups have had a first meet & greet, but in many cases, the first engagement with a specific reading has waited for the second meeting. So go boldly; here’s the lineup:
Groups include Capital Vol. 1, Marx at the Movies, Black Marxism, Work Won’t Love You Back, Indigenous Resistance, Ecosocialism and Public Power, Socialist Feminism, Debt and Finance, and “big history” reboot The Dawn of Everything. More about the groups here; everyone is welcome! Sign up here.
Reading Group Facilitation Training
From 8 to 9:30pm on Wednesday, March 16, MDC DSA’s Political Education Workgroup will be hosting a virtual Facilitation Training. Those interested in participating in or facilitating political education discussions are invited to attend!
This training is for people interested in improving their skills as a meeting facilitator. The training will familiarize attendees with the skills to facilitate a successful discussion, including the principles of good facilitation, the purpose of having a facilitator, preparation needed to facilitate a good meeting, techniques for facilitating an online training, and more. This training is oriented toward political education and is designed as a resource for Spring 2022 and future reading groups — but the techniques covered in the training will apply across organizing work. Sign up here and see you there!
Truist Bank selling public space for luxury condos
Truist Bank (formerly SunTrust and BB&T) is trying to sell the Adams Morgan plaza to develop a 54-unit luxury condo building. The plaza was given to the residents of Adams Morgan by SunTrust as a form of reparations for decades of racist redlining in Washington, DC, Ward 1, and in Adams Morgan specifically. It serves as a gathering space for community events such as concerts and farmers markets, as well as a living space for our unhoused neighbors. On February 26th, Truist-hired security guards harassed and stole the belongings of the last remaining long-term plaza residents. Their tents, sleeping gear, computer gear, phones, and other valuable belongings were seized. Truist representatives have yet to return these items. Private security guards continue to monitor and restrict the plaza’s use 24/7.
Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau has the power to secure this plaza for public use but has yet to respond to messages from the Adams Morgan Plaza Coalition. If secured, the space can retain/maintain bus stops and renovate the space with public seating and tables.
If you’d like to join the call to keep Adams Morgan Plaza as a public space:
Call or email Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau and ask her to stop any actions by Truist until the DC court has decided the future of the plaza at 202-724-8181 or [email protected];
Email the CEO of Truist and tell them to back off from evicting our unhoused neighbors and demolishing the plaza — [email protected]
The Washington Socialist for March 2022
Last week, we published four articles in our chapter’s monthly publication. Read it here.
Given the domestic and international tumult unleashed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we want to remind all local DSA members to consider contributing their perspective on the war to the Socialist. Recording and chronicling the opinions, ideas, thoughts, and strategy of socialists is not just useful in the moment - but critical for establishing a record of socialist history and thought into the future.
INFO ACCESS
Publications Schedule: All Fool’s Day comes on a Friday this year, so we’ll publish our Washington Socialist on that portentous day, and we welcome revolutionary articles that are liberally dosed with humor or satire. The deadline for articles is March 26; hit us up at [email protected] (all writers welcome, DSA members or not). If an MDC DSA member, join our #publications Slack channel to keep up with the chatter and watch the issue build. Between newsletter issues, we’ll publish Updates each Friday — March 18 and 25.
Standing resources: Metro DC DSA, with a long (and sometimes bumpy) history since even before DSA’s 1982 formation from the merger of Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the New American Movement, has substantial local-chapter online resources for understanding our past, present, and future. Find out about our present structure and configuration here, including current campaigns; yawn over our nevertheless-essential bylaws and check out the accompanying explainer on our governance. See our archive of recent statements from the chapter. Get the picture on our branches in Virginia and Maryland, working in very different political environments and adapting to them while rooted in MDC DSA’s advantages of scale.
That’s only a quick bite of what an MDC DSA member (or DSA-curious leftist) can find out about their own organization; see more at our chapter website — including backfiles of the Washington Socialist article hub sorted by issue areas. Are you a DSA member (or thinking about it) but wondering what tasks a socialist can undertake? We can help.
DSA CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Most MDC DSA meetings remain remote-only. To join remote meetings, members will need to register at the event link provided and receive the remote-access link by email.
Aid for Excluded Workers Greenlit | DC Council
DC is distributing $41 million to excluded workers, starting with those approved for funds in 2020/2021. If you were approved previously for funds, you should be receiving outreach directly from DC CARES. Contact email for DC CARES: [email protected]. Call 202-332-1264 with questions. New applications are currently not being accepted.
Up Against Amazon Training Institute | For Us Not Amazon
On March 12 and 13, the For Us Not Amazon Coalition (FUNA) will be hosting a two-day training program. There will be sessions from 10am to 4pm each day on the core issues the coalition is challenging, including: impact on housing; threats to workers’ rights; Amazon’s monopoly over local communities; the surveillance state; and ways to get involved locally. Register for any or all of the sessions here!
Soles for the District Shoe Drive | National Center for Children and Families
DC spirits producers are joining forces to help bring soles to souls this spring. One Eight Distilling (1135 Okie St NE) is hosting collections for the 3rd Annual District Shoe Drive now through April 23. All donated soles (gently worn, all styles and sizes accepted) will benefit The National Center for Children and Families. Additional drop-offs are being accepted at Ricardo Dsean and Fairhill Studios. Contact Brocky ([email protected]) with questions.
(Plant) Baby Shower & Adoption Day | Very Sad Lab Start your new plant family this week by joining Very Sad Lab for the closing day of The Incubator at Transformer DC. This exhibit is a living, growing installation and resource lab presented by artists Valerie Wiseman and Naoko Wowsugi of Very Sad Lab, a houseplant rehab and research-based community art project. Very Sad Lab seeks to create a greener DC by connecting people to nature through plants. Closing day is on Saturday, March 19, from 1 to 6pm at 1404 P Street NW and will feature free seed babies from Share A Seed + additional special guest engagements. Free and open to the public; face masks required.
Green New Deal Happy Hour | Office of Representative Cori Bush Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-MO) and her team are hosting a monthly Green New Deal Happy Hour here in Washington. February’s meetup at Wunder Garten brought out over 100 friends. Sign up here to be added to the list and be notified about the next one this month.
ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC
For Maryland DSAers: our allies at Progressive Maryland cobble together a roundup of progressive-focused Maryland news for their Monday Memo and post it as a separate blog. Here’s their “News You Can Use” for this week.
If you haven't run across Chuck Collins, Rebekah Entralgo, Sam Pizzigati, and the "Inequality Report" they curate every week, it's time MDC DSAers took a look (it’s an Institute for Policy Studies spinoff). This week, they wonder if even a big infusion of personnel at the IRS will be able to match up against what they call the “'wealth-defense industry,' that swarm of financial advisors, law firms, and lobbyists dedicated to protecting grand private fortunes."
The Italian Communist Party – with a large base of support within the working class, a rich cultural life, and a critical Marxist legacy – seemed to offer a way forward for the socialist movement worldwide. Unfortunately, the end of the Cold War – alongside the neoliberal success in demobilizing and disorienting the working class – also led to Italian Communism's organizational demise. A recent article in Stansbury Forum by Matt Hancock discusses why that legacy is still relevant, concluding with a set of questions directed toward DSA as we seek to better root ourselves as a broad-based, mass movement that remains principled as a socialist organization.
The flame of thought, the magnificence of art, the wonder of discovery, and the audacity of invention all belong to revolutionary periods when humanity, tired of its chains, shatters them and stops inebriated to breathe the breeze of a vaster and freer horizon..
- Virgilia D'Andrea
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