Hello comrades, and Happy Monday!

#CloseTheCamps - As always, we remind everyone that with ICE raids a constant threat, please follow these instructions if you catch wind of a raid.



AOC in MoCo - This past Thursday, U.S. Representative (and DSA member) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came to MoCo! She joined U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD 8) at a rally held in support of his Democracy Summer political organizing program for teenagers and young adults. AOC did not shy away from the controversy that has engulfed her and the "Squad" in recent weeks after being attacked both by allies of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump. “It has taken us 240 years for us to have this unique composite of a Congress in this moment — and we will not go back. We will go not back to the days of injustice. We will not give back our rights. We will not deny our own humanity at the border. We will not go back... And we sure as Hell will not stand still.”

Elrich's Executive Order - In wonderful news today, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has signed an executive order banning cooperation with ICE -- an order considered the strongest in the Washington metro region. The Promoting Community Trust Executive Order bans the County's executive branch agencies from using any resources to assist the feds in investigating immigration cases. It bans ICE from nonpublic spaces in County government buildings and from having access to people in County custody without a court order or warrant. As SURJ MoCo notes, Elrich's executive order "restricts data collection and sharing on us, that makes sure county services are not conditioned or threatened based on immigration status, that county resources may not be used in support of ICE’s immoral actions, and that reduces contact between ICE and our residents through the most common channels by which that happens."

Free Chelsea - From Francesco R. in Friday's D.C. chapter email: It is easy to forget that Chelsea Manning has been jailed since May 17 for refusing to testify in a grand jury investigation against Julian Assange. You can read her very thoughtful letter to Judge Trenga on why she is resisting this process here. Chelsea is still facing escalating legal costs so please consider donating to her legal fund here.

Riemer for Developers - County Councilmember Hans Riemer (D-At Large) joined a group of developer interests last week at a "Future of Bethesda and Beyond" conference to bemoan the County's supposed unfriendliness for capitalists. Said AvalonBay Communities Senior Vice President Martin Howle, "In this area in particular, we have struggled to see rent growth, which makes it fundamentally more difficult to invest in projects. Downtown Bethesda, with the cost to build here, I don't see the rent growth and return opportunities here." Added Foulger-Pratt CEO Cameron Pratt, "The rising construction costs and the cost of development is a problem, but it's all solved when there's rent growth, and rent growth happens in markets where there's job growth So if you fix the job growth problem, that fixes a lot of problems." You heard it here, folks: Hans Riemer's buddies want to create more jobs in MoCo so they can raise your rent.

Solidarity Request - Our chapter is raising funds to help comrades attend the DSA National Convention in Atlanta next month. We're sending 41 delegates - including several from MoCo! Our low-income comrades need a hand, so please chip in if you can!

Protest Road Expansion & Privatization - Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition is seeking volunteers to support a prolonged protest against District 39 State Senator Nancy King’s support for Gov. Hogan’s plan to have private investors build two new toll lanes in each direction on I-270. Volunteers will occupy exit ramps in King’s district each Wednesday afternoon until August. The coalition's petition is here, and interested volunteers should contact Dylan Shelton.

Upcoming events:

 Don't forget to check out the Metro D.C. DSA Meetup Events page to find all sorts of events throughout the Washington Metro region!

 Tuesday, July 23 at 4:30 PM: UNITE HERE Informational Picket-Line Event at National Airport
Support UNITE HERE members who prepare and load the food served on American, Delta and United Airlines planes in D.C. and across the mid-Atlantic. Solidarity supporters mass at DCA Terminal B South Terrace upper level at departures from 4:30 PM-5:15 PM, then on to the historic Terminal A lobby at 5:30 for the rally. Confirmed speakers include Pres. Sara Nelson of the Association of Flight Attendants, as well as Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

In June, 11,000 airline catering workers nationwide voted to authorize strikes when released by the government. Nationally, the majority of the food workers serving these airlines still earn less than $15 per hour – and health care has become unaffordable. The week of July 22, catering workers nationwide will mobilize to end poverty in the airline industry, anchored by this informational picket at National Airport. Workers who prepare food for American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines flights at sixteen of the country’s biggest airports have all taken strike authorization votes. National actions will be taking place at airports all through the week of July 22^nd; stay current here. UNITE HERE, which last year took 7,700 Marriott workers on strike, is committed to ending poverty in this industry once and for all. For more info about solidarity action contact Damiana Dendy or RSVP here.

 Tuesday, July 23 at 6:00 PM: Housing and Homelessness Roundtable at UDC
From the American Friends Service Committee: Please join us for a discussion on housing, homelessness and human rights on Tuesday, July 23 from 6:00-8:00pm at UDC Law School, Room 506, 4340 Connecticut Ave NW. Your input will be shared in DC’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Report to be sent to the United Nations by the American Friends Service Committee and the United Nations Association. Speaker: Eric Tars, Legal Director at the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.

Saturday, July 27 at 12:00 PM: A Trip to Red Emma's!
Red Emma's is a well-known lefty bookstore in Baltimore that is also a worker-owned co-op! Join us for lunch there and a discussion with worker-owners about how the co-op works. Details here.

Wednesday, August 14 at 7:00 PM: Socialist Night School - Prison and Police Abolition
Join Montgomery County DSA and MDC DSA's Socialist Night School for a discussion on the politics of police and prison abolition, situated in the context of our community and the larger region. At Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center. Details here.

Thursday, August 15 at 6:30 PM: Migrant Justice Action - Stand Up to Deportation Profiteers
From the organizers: As ICE detains and deports immigrants every day, they are helped by for-profit companies. These profiteers allow ICE to function by providing key services: operating detention centers, making electronic ankle bracelets, building lists of undocumented immigrants, and more. The executives of these companies make millions for destroying lives in our community. Join MDC DSA as we expose the fifth profiteer on August 15th! We will be providing the location and time as we get closer to the date of the action. Further details here.

Wednesday, August 21 at 6:30 PM at Silver Branch Brewing Company: Queer Caucus Happy Hour in MoCo
The Queer Caucus (all LGBTQIA+ comrades and our allies/accomplices are welcome!) will be having our August happy hour at the Silver Branch Brewing Company in downtown Silver Spring! Details here.

September 20-27: Global Climate Strikes
From the organizers: This September, millions of us will walk out of our workplaces and homes to join young climate strikers on the streets and demand an end to the age of fossil fuels. Our house is on fire — let’s act like it. We demand climate justice for everyone. Details here.

Good Reads:
 From the Washington Area Spark, a fascinating look back at local history in J. Brinton “Brint” Dillingham's campaign for County Sheriff!

 From ProPublica: "Their Family Bought Land One Generation After Slavery. The Reels Brothers Spent Eight Years in Jail for Refusing to Leave It." by Lizzie Presser. "In the spring of 2011, the brothers Melvin Davis and Licurtis Reels were the talk of Carteret County, on the central coast of North Carolina. Some people said that the brothers were righteous; others thought that they had lost their minds. That March, Melvin and Licurtis stood in court and refused to leave the land that they had lived on all their lives, a portion of which had, without their knowledge or consent, been sold to developers years before."

 From the New York Times: "Landlords Strikes Back, Suing to Dismantle Rent Regulation System" by Luis Ferré-Sandurní

 From Michael-Hudson.com and the Real News Network: "Retirement. What Social Obligation?" with Sharmini Peries and Michael Hudson. "The mythology aims to convince people that if they’re the beneficiaries of Social Security, they should be responsible for saving up to pre-fund it. That’s like saying that you’re the beneficiary of public education, so you have to pay for the schooling... Nobody anticipated in the 19th century that people would have to pay for their own retirement. That was viewed as an obligation of society. You had the first public pension (social security) program in Germany under Bismarck. The whole idea is that this is a public obligation. There are certain rights of citizens, and among these rights is that after your working life you deserve to live in retirement. That means that you have to be able to afford this retirement, and not have to beg in the street for money. The wool that’s been pulled over people’s eyes is to imagine that because they’re the beneficiaries of Social Security, they have to actually pay for it."

 From Politico: "The Racist History of Tipping" by the Rev. Dr. William Barber II. "You might not think of tipping as a legacy of slavery, but it has a far more racialized history than most Americans realize. Tipping originated in feudal Europe and was imported back to the United States by American travelers eager to seem sophisticated. The practice spread throughout the country after the Civil War as U.S. employers, largely in the hospitality sector, looked for ways to avoid paying formerly enslaved workers.

"One of the most notorious examples comes from the Pullman Company, which hired newly freed African American men as porters. Rather than paying them a real wage, Pullman provided the black porters with just a meager pittance, forcing them to rely on tips from their white clientele for most of their pay.

"Tipping further entrenched a unique and often racialized class structure in service jobs, in which workers must please both customer and employer to earn anything at all." 

In solidarity,