Buena Vista Co-op launch party, this Sunday (7/3) co-hosted by Stomp Out Slumlords
Get Out the Vote for Max Socol and Gabriel Acevero in Montgomery County
NoVA DSA Migrant Justice Open Meeting (7/5) & NoVA General Meeting on Migrant Justice (7/14)
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Buena Vista Co-op launch party, this Sunday (7/3) cohosted by Stomp Out Slumlords at Rhizome
For the past two years, the tenants of Buena Vista Apartments have been fighting to protect their homes and families from the greed of their slumlord. Now, they have the chance to cooperatively buy their building and create dignified, permanently affordable homes.
In January 2022, La Unión Buena Vista Tenants Association voted unanimously to pursue forming a limited-equity cooperative and have secured the initial deposit loan to buy their 34-unit building. La Unión is led by a strong team, including a president whose initial organizing experience dates back to land reform struggles in Honduras and a union leader who participated in the Justice for Janitors campaign in the 1990s, and has been supported by organizers from Stomp Out Slumlords.
On Sunday July 3, from 1 to 4pm, organizers from the La Buena Vista Co-op will be hosting a benefit concert to fund this effort at Rhizome (6950 Maple St NW). There will be live music, food, and plenty of inspiration, as well as organizers from Stomp Out Slumlords there in support. DSA members and the broader community are invited to attend this event to fund the organized tenant movement in DC! Sign-up here.
Get Out the Vote for Max Socol and Gabriel Acevero in Montgomery County
There are now just three more weekends until the Maryland primary on July 19 and it’s the final stretch of the campaign for MDC DSA endorsed candidates Del. Gabriel Acevero (Maryland House of Delegate, District 39) and Max Socol (Maryland State Senate, District 18). Last weekend, DSA brought out 10 canvassers on both Saturday and Sunday. With 15 volunteers each day this weekend, our electoral working group can hit our goal of 60,000 doors this cycle. Food will be provided for DSA canvassers both days! Sign up to join our DSA electoral working group this weekend here.
This Saturday, DSA will canvass for Gabriel Acevero at noon. The launch point is Seneca Creek Disc Golf Course (11950 Clopper Rd, Gaithersburg). On Sunday, DSA will join Max’s campaign canvass in Chevy Chase at Meadowbrook Local Park. And on Monday, the Fourth of July, Gabe’s campaign has asked DSA to show up at the Gaithersburg Fourth of July parade.
This is the last stretch – victories in these races will cement socialism as a regional political bloc in Maryland and DC for the next few years – now is the time to move! Sign up for our efforts here.
NoVA DSA Migrant Justice Open Meeting (7/5) & NoVA General Meeting on Migrant Justice (7/14)
Please RSVP for the Migrant Justice Workgroup Meeting, which is open to anyone with an interest in learning more about this work. It will occur on Tuesday July 5th at 6-7pm via Zoom. You don’t have to be a NoVA DSA member to participate. Currently we’re organizing to get ICE out of Arlington as well as aiding migrants being bused to the DMV by heartless right-wing governors in Arizona and Texas.
NoVA Branch Monthly Organizing Meeting is Thursday, July 14th, 6:30 – 8pm via Zoom or in-person at the Arlington Central Library. The theme is Migrant Justice. RSVP here to get more info.
WASHINGTON SOCIALIST
The Summer edition of the Metro DC DSA's monthly publication - covering July and August - of the Washington Socialist is live. We have three fresh articles this week...
Demand for DC government to support migrants being bused to DC
Since April, Texas Governor Abbott has been busing asylum seekers to DC as part of a racist publicity stunt, and while DC area mutual aid organizations and volunteers have been working tirelessly since then to support nearly 3,000 people so far, more buses are still arriving and the DC government has completely failed to provide any meaningful assistance. We are asking comrades, especially in DC, to take a few minutes to call, email, and tweet DC councilmembers to tell them to take action. Organizers have created an advocacy toolkit (bit.ly/dctx-toolkit)with contact information and sample scripts. And if you are able, we still need funds and more support – please donate to Sanctuary DMV (Paypal or Venmo @SanctuaryDMV with “Texas Solidarity” in the memo, or sign up to volunteer for shifts at bit.ly/dcmigrantsupport22
DC teachers rally for contract
From Union City Wednesday:
For several months, Washington Teachers Union Local 6 has been in negotiations with the District for a new contract. Tuesday, teachers rallied on Freedom Plaza to express their frustration with ending the school year without securing a contract. “Our contract team is made up of classroom teachers who sit at the table day and night negotiating on behalf of our members in addition to their responsibilities as classroom teachers,” said WTU Local 6 president Jacqueline Pogue-Lyons at the noontime rally. WTU made it clear they are not just fighting for their members but all DCPS employees and students. “We want safe and healthy working conditions which ultimately are learning conditions for students and all workers,” Pogue-Lyons said. “But one thing we better know that the future holds for us is unity, not just as this teacher’s union, but unity with everyone that works in the school building.” “Whenever you all are in a fight, we are in a fight,” promised Metropolitan Washington Labor Council president Dyana Forester at the Tuesday rally.
The Defund NoVA PD coalition has launched our new web page!
Learn about our coalition partners, ways we can avoid getting the police involved in our daily lives, and get engaged with our work! Check it out at www.defundnovapolice.net
MDC DSA Formation Quarterly Reports (April – June 2022)
Per our bylaws, working groups, priority campaigns, and sections are expected by the chapter to submit standard reports ahead of quarterly joint meetings between the Steering Committee and the Campaign Council. The purpose of this report is to provide the general body, the Steering Committee, and other working groups, priority campaigns, and sections with an understanding of the strategic direction of formations within the chapter.
This quarter, the Steering Committee received four of these reports. The Campaign Coordinator and the Campaign Council will be working together to get higher participation for the next quarter. That being said, if the Steering Committee receives additional reports for this period after this publication, they will be included in following publications.
Testify in Favor of the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act
The DC Council’s Committee on Judiciary & Public Safety is holding a hearing on July 7, 9:30am to 3pm on the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act. The bill, which already has majority support in the Council and the Judiciary & Public Safety Committee, would give green card-holding permanent US residents of DC the right to vote in local elections (e.g., mayor, councilmembers, attorney general, etc). This bill will give power to communities that are usually excluded from outreach during election seasons, and as a result, their issues are not prioritized by people in power. Local organizers are asking DC residents to sign up to testify in-person or in writing. The deadline for oral testimony is July 1, but the written deadline should extend past the hearing date. If you would like to sign up to testify, submit written testimony or ask a question, contact the Judiciary & Public Safety Committee at [email protected] with your name, telephone number, organizational affiliation and title (if any).
Last week to sign up for Summer Reading Groups
MDC DSA’s summer reading groups have started, but it’s not too late to join! Sign up here and group coordinators will reach out with details. If you’re interested in coordinating a reading group this fall or next spring, sign up here or get in touch with Elizabeth or Jackson (contact details in linked forms).
July 11th, join the Socialist Feminist Section at an open happy hour prior to the Bikini Kill concert
If you’re interested in some punk, riot grrrl and music with a DC connection, join us as we see one of the seminal Riot Grrrl bands at the Fillmore in Silver Spring. These events are open to the public, no DSA membership required and the usual SocFem Section participation guidelines waived.
SocFem co-chair Marie adds: “These are trying times, comrades, and one thing that we hope to discuss at the Happy Hour is how we can protect the right to self-determination, bodily autonomy, and not being forced to provide unpaid reproductive labor in the face of a minority-installed fascist theocracy. Clarence Thomas said the quiet part out loud: Next they’ll be coming for marriage equality, sodomy laws, and contraception. Possibly even inter-racial marriage. Stay strong, support one another, provide resources that can help people with uteruses who may need to travel to go ‘camping,’ and donate to abortion funds.”
DC homeowners facing foreclosure or payment troubles can apply for federal relief
DC government passes emergency legislation loosening restrictions on medical marijuana sales
On Tuesday, the District Council passed legislation that removes doctor recommendation requirements for patients wanting to purchase marijuana from District medical dispensaries. Although the bill will make it easier for residents to purchase marijuana in the city, the bill has received some scrutiny from pot shops in the city who fear greater competition in an already tight market. I71 compliant stores in the District “gift” marijuana to customers who purchase speciality and novelty items in the stores.
Congressional subcommittee finds corporate landlords have undermined homeownership and driven up rents in the US
A memo released by the US Congressional Committee on Financial Services suggests that the targeting of single-family rental homes by private equity firms has driven up rents and made it harder for those seeking to purchase homes. Corporate ownership of single family homes took off after the last recession, with private equity firms vacuuming up foreclosed homes — but the 3rd quarter of 2021 showed the largest yearly increase in corporate ownership in 16 years. Five companies in particular added almost 76,235 rental homes between March 2018 and September 2021; when resold, it was typically to other institutional investors, rather than tenants or individual homebuyers. The Committee reported other troubling findings:
The firms typically target black neighborhoods, and in neighborhoods with high concentrations of single mothers;
The firms hiked fees they charged tenants significantly during the survey period — fees per lease increasing about 40% between 2018 and 2021
The number of renters who fell behind on rent nearly doubled — rent arrears went from 11.3% in 2018 to 19.1% in 2021
You can find the Primary election resultsfrom the DC Board of Elections, and you can find our coverage of candidate positions on the Washington SocialistREDBUG.
Publications schedule: July Updates are Fridays, July 8, 15 and 22 and the Update for July 29 will also include the August issue of the Washington Socialist newsletter. The deadline for August issue articles is July 23; hit us up at [email protected] or join the fun anytime and get early reactions to your work in our Slack channel, #publications — non-judgmental collaboration is what we do.
Heaps of MDC DSA history: An archival chronicle of our local chapter’s history, starting before the DSOC-NAM merger to the present day, compiled by one of our longtime members is available in the chapter website. Browse at will. And dip into our Washington Socialist Topic Hub to explore specific socialist issues as we have grappled with them over the years in the pages of the newsletter.
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.
Share a Seed at Smithsonian Folklife Festival Metro DC DSA member-led mutual aid and seed sharing organization Share a Seed will be presenting/tabling this weekend as part of the second and final week of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The event is held on the National Mall and the final weekend dates/times are June 30 to July 4, 11am to 5pm. Find Share a Seed sharing space with SeedBroadcast (New Mexico) in the Community Solutions Area near the Natural History Museum. SeedBroadcast will be audio recording Seed Stories at the festival, which will be included in SeedBroadcast’s Seed Story Archive and saved by the Smithsonian Institute! Share a Seed will be sharing and collecting seeds, offering plantings, and presenting on an agri-CULTURE panel on Sunday, July 3.
Mutual Aid Book Bash | The Black Knowledge Coalition, et al On Saturday, July 2 from 3:30 to 8pm local mutual aid and abolitionist groups will gather at Anacostia Park for a Mutual Aid Book Bash! Free copies of abolitionist books will be given away (courtesy of Haymarket Books) and teach-ins will occur from 4:30 to 6:30pm.
Grocery Pickup, Schedule Update | Ward 4 Mutual Aid W4MA will not be doing grocery pickups or deliveries this Saturday, July 2 in order to allow the team some time to rest and recoup. Grocery pickups will still go as planned on Wednesday, June 29 (5 to 6pm at Brightwood Park United Methodist Church, 744 Jefferson St NW).
ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC
A critical piece of labor history from the time of the Truman administration, when a revanchist Congress shackled FDR’s surging labor movement that had been fueled by the New Deal and Wagner Act — a burden that continues to haunt workers to this day. In “Seventy Five Years Later, Toll of Taft-Hartley Weighs Heavily on Labor” we learn or relearn how the decline of labor power was deliberately installed in US law. From UE News via Portside.
As election time nears, it’s good to remember who our enemies are. The Washington Post under Katherine Graham’s direction or under Bezos has been an anti-labor, reactionary voice in the DC area, notwithstanding some good reporters and the liberal tone taken in national politics. The recent article in FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting) examines the Post’s long record of hostility toward Marc Elrich and the Post’s lost history of distorting Marc’s record. Note that the WaPojust endorsed David Blair, Elrich’s self-financed developer opponent, with little to say about his platform — just that he is Not Elrich. And who else likes Blair? “Progressives?!” Well, not really, as Maryland Matters reveals in this account of a faux-progressive PAC “This is no band of wild-eyed radicals. Progressives for Progress is a new political action committee created and funded completely by real estate developers and other real estate interests that are agitating for significant change in the direction of the county,” in Josh Kurtz’s unsparing assessment.
The NYT’s Tom Edsall takes on the recent flurry of articles about disarray within the nonprofit Left, including those from The Intercept and Politico we have highlighted in this section in previous Updates. In part, it’s about where we, MDC DSA, do our work. Strikingly, “the Washington region is home to about 50,000 nonprofits employing 600,000 people, or, to put it another way, about one in four workers in Washington is a nonprofit employee, according to a 2018 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.” MDC DSA is not among them, as an all volunteer-led organization, but may include many comrades in such workplaces. Edsall seeks answers to why the sector is in such inner turmoil.
Election Happy Returns: The Washington City Paper reports on MDC DSA’s visible strength in getting a powerful win for Zachary Parker in the DC primary; Jacobin chimes in with news of a growing DSA bench in the New York legislature.
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
Sent via ActionNetwork.org.
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