1) "WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE" CONFERENCE A SUCCESS!
                  2) THE FUTURE OF STUDENT-LABOR SOLIDARITY
                  3) YDS CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
                  4) NEW SLIDE SHOW ON SOCIAL SECURITY
                  5) ON THE TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE IRAQ WAR...
                  6) RACE & "THE DEATH OF ENVIRONMENTALISM?"

1) "WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE" CONFERENCE A SUCCESS!
This past weekend's YDS conference was a hit.  Students from as far away as Arkansas, Oregon, Maine, and New Mexico came to New York City to attend "When Bush Comes to Shove: Youth Organizing Against Right-Wing and Corporate Power".  Feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive.  We'll be posting a conference report and photos shortly.

Building off the momentum of our conference, YDS is scheduling visits to campuses and communities across the country.  If you want a YDS organizer to come speak at your school, help start/strengthen your chapter, or work with you to put together a teach-in or training, please contact our Field Coordinator, Malav Kanuga, at: malav@dsausa.org.  YDS has also compiled a series of resources that were used in association with "When Bush Comes to Shove" conference workshop sessions that we can make available for you to use when tabling on campus, conducting internal education or handing out at your sponsored events.


2) THE FUTURE OF STUDENT-LABOR SOLIDARITY
Betting on the Future: Youth and the Labor Movement
by Ben Waxman (YDS member, labor-union intern and political science major at Juniata College).
http://www.alternet.org/story/21505


3) YDS CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Below is a partial list of upcoming events that YDS will be participating in.  If you would like more information about these events or are planning to attend and would like to meet up with other YDSers, please contact us.

MARCH 18-19
YDS will be conducting a few workshops at "True Colors: Over the Rainbow and Out of the Box" - the largest and most comprehensive LGBT youth issues conference in the country.
Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT
http://www.ourtruecolors.org/home.htm

APRIL 1-3
YDS will be at the conference "From Reproductive Rights to Social Justice."  YDS' Feminist Coordinator, Amanda Singer, is one of the key conference organizers.
Hampshire College, Amherst, MA
http://clpp.hampshire.edu/

APRIL 15-17
YDS is mobilizing for the "2005 Left Forum" - a must-attend conference that will bring together some of the biggest names on the left including democratic socialists like Barbara Ehrenreich, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Frances Fox Piven, Stephen Eric Bronner and many others.   Contact YDS if you would like to come and/or are in need of housing.
CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY
http://www.2005leftforum.org/

AUGUST 10-12 (tentative date)
Mark your calendars for the summer "YDS National Conference and Activist Retreat"!  A unique opportunity for YDS members and activists to get away from it all, to remember why we do what we do and to learn how to do it better.  More details soon... but make suer to carve out time for this important weekend.
Location TBA.  Will be in an affordable and accessible retreat setting. 
http://www.ydsusa.org


4) NEW SLIDE SHOW ON SOCIAL SECURITY
The Bush Plan Weakens Social Security
Why private investment accounts are a bad deal for young and old.  This slide show also documents how class struggle and left-wing organizing led to a range of popular victories, including the establishment of Social Security.
produced by Steve Max (DSA Vice Chair, Midwest Academy Director of Organizing and Training)
http://www.midwestacademy.com/Social3/index.htm


5) ON THE TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE IRAQ WAR...
DEMAND BOOKS NOT BOMBS!
March & Rally to Bring the Troops Home!

Join the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition (of which YDS is an active member) Books Not Bombs Contingent in Fayetteville, North Carolina on March 19 or organize a local event in your area!

March 19-20 marks the two-year anniversary of the US bombing and invasion of Iraq. Two years of lies and cover-ups, two years of torture and killing, two years of destruction and pillaging of Iraq's resources. Young people have been in the middle of it all: young Iraqis dying at the hands of the US military. Young Iraqis trying to live a normal life under a brutal occupation. Our brothers, sisters, cousins, and classmates finding themselves in a US military uniform, fighting and dying without reason.

And for over two years, young people in the US haven't for a moment stopped speaking out, in every way and every channel. The outcry to end the occupation pops up everywhere:  As the military steps up its recruitment campaigns, we step up counter-recruitment efforts. As funding for "defense" goes through the roof and education funding is slashed, we make our voices heard everywhere from the halls of Congress to the halls of our high schools. And as the war and occupation continues, young soldiers speak out and refuse to take part in an unjust war.

After all of the death and destruction, and with the Bush administration claiming a mandate to continue their war, there's a new urgency and a stronger determination within the global antiwar movement. We will gather in Fayetteville to protest, to mark over two years of resistance to the war and occupation, and to say with one voice: Bring the Troops Home Now!

Fayetteville is the home of Ft. Bragg, one of the largest military bases in the country. Nearly 1 in 5 soldiers deployed in Iraq is from North Carolina.  Nearly 50 soldiers from Fayetteville have died in Iraq.  Thousands more have been repeatedly separated from their families for long periods of time.
Soldiers and veterans push to piece their lives back together.

Therefore, this year's weekend of events will focus on the voices and experiences of soldiers, veterans, their families, and those closest to the war and its ravaging effects.  Our aim is to stand with and amplify the voices of those veterans and military families who are brave enough to speak out and tell their truths. For those of us coming to Fayetteville from other regions, we have the opportunity to support the efforts of Southern organizers to build a Southern movement to replace war and occupation with justice and self-determination.

If you can get to Fayetteville, make this action your priority!  Drive your car or your cousin's car, organize a bus from your campus or community, catch the Greyhound, or hitch a ride - just get there! Or, bring your Books Not Bombs signs to your local anti-war event: see a listing at  www.unitedforpeace.org

If you would like to hook-up with other members of NYSPC and maybe even represent YDS at their face-to-face meeting in Fayetteville following the protests, contact YDS as soon as possible.  We would also appreciate your report back on local organizing you are doing to build an informed anti-war movement.  YDS also recommends the following article written by veteran activist, Tom Hayden:
"Ending the War" http://www.tomhayden.com/index.cgi


6) RACE & "THE DEATH OF ENVIRONMENTALISM?"
Rainbow Warrior
Dramatizing the "death" of environmentalism doesn't help urban people of color, or anyone else
by Adrienne Maree Brown (friend to YDS, writer, trainer and program director for the League of Young Voters)
http://www.grist.org/comments/soapbox/2005/03/15/brown/

 

 
Get Update from the Young Democratic Socialists by email. Send a request to yds@dsausa.org and you will be added to the list.