1) YDS BACK-TO-SCHOOL ORGANIZING DRIVE
                  2) CONF. REPORT: YDS RETREAT WAS HOT! HOT!
                  3) GET YOUR READ ON: BOOKS & MAGS ONLINE
                  4) HOVERBIKE ON WAGES, SPACE & REGGAE
                  5) THE LEGACY OF NICARAGUA'S SANDINISTAS
                  6) DOLORES HUERTA RADIO INTERVIEW
                  7) SEPT. 24-26: END THE WAR IN IRAQ!

1) YDS LAUNCHES BACK-TO-SCHOOL ORGANIZING DRIVE
We're gearing up for the fall semester and an important period for campus and community activism. Please contact our national office if you would like us to mail you or your group organizing materials in the mail or as email attachments (YDS chapter guides, buttons, literature, stickers, sample meeting flyers etc.).

If you have new contact info (mailing address, email, phone, school), you can send us your new info we'll update our records.

The beginning of the semester is a critical time to re-energize the campus political climate and involve newcomers in the fight for social and economic justice. Let us know how we can help you build YDS at your high school, college, university or community.

We're already scheduling visits to schools across the country for teach-ins, trainings, and visits from YDS organizers to strengthen existing chapters and help new ones get off the ground. Contact us ASAP to arrange a visit to your area. Contact YDS at: yds@dsausa.org or 212-727-8610 ext. 24


2) CONFERENCE REPORT: YDS RETREAT WAS HOT! HOT! HOT!
We've received overwhelmingly positive feedback on our weekend of workshops, networking, speakers, political strategizing and a little partying on the side.  We later learned that the heat index at the Lamont Castle reached a scorching high of 106 degrees!  The fact that we were all able to continue with the important work of "building the next left" under these punishing conditions is a testament to the dedication of YDSers and our members' commitment to justice.

Here's what Christian Parenti, our awesome keynote speaker, had to say:

"Thanks for the invitation to the conference and congratulations on all your hard work which seemed to pay off.  I had a great time and was every impressed and heartened by the crew -- all very politically sophisticated and pragmatic. It was so refreshing to be at a left gathering that was not dominated by lame academic blowhards or wing-nuts who had wondered in off the street. I left feeling, dare I say, optimistic."  -Christian Parenti

In addition to hearing from trade union activists, feminist organizers, radical professors, campus agitators and long-time community activists, we worked together on the YDS Political Program, elected a new Coordinating Committee and drafted our Activist Agenda for the coming year.  We'll be posting the Activist Agenda and other YDS updates to our website shortly.


3) GET YOUR READ ON: BOOKS & PUBLICATION GUIDES ONLINE
We've updated the YDS resource page we've listed some of the better socialist books and sources of news, commentary and analysis available in print and on the internet.  You can now download PDF versions of our "Reading List of Books" ( www.ydsusa.org/readinglist.html) and our "Guide to Progressive Publications" ( www.ydsusa.org/pp_guide.html).  We encourage our members and other leftists to check out these resources and share them with others.

Buy your schoolbooks here! www.dsausa.org/books/books.html
We've got a list of fantastic books written by democratic socialists that you can purchase easily on-line via the DSA website.

By purchasing your textbooks through Powells you will be supporting a unionized retailer, and a small portion of your purchase will benefit YDS! 


4) HOVERBIKE: WAGES, THE POLITICS OF SPACE AND REGGAE FANS
The latest from former YDS National Organizer, Daraka Larimore-Hall, on his blog, Hoverbike:
-on wages and social justice
-the politics of space
-do the reggae
You can check out these and other previous posts here: http://hoverbike.blogspot.com


5) THE LEGACY OF NICARAGUA'S SANDINISTAS
Historical note: YDS was instrumental to building the movements in solidarity with Latin America throughout the 80's and beyond.  This included hosting speaking tours in the U.S. featuring student and other left-wing activists from countries like El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua (where the Sandinistas are our sister organization).

The Sandinista Revolution and the "Fifth Freedom"
This month will mark the 25th Anniversary of the overwhelmingly successful Literacy Crusade spurred by the Sandinista Revolution. This article examines the various programs implemented during the revolution, the US reaction to the revolution, and Nicaragua's present situation.
by Mark Major (YDS member, master’s candidate in the Public Policy and International Affairs Graduate Program at William Paterson University)
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/major150805.html


6) THE PROGRESSIVE RADIO SHOW: DOLORES HUERTA INTERVIEW
Guest Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers and Honorary Chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, talks about her history with the farm workers' movement, and the need to organize today.
The Progressive Radio: http://progressive.org/?q=radio_huerta05


7) SEPT 24-26 MOBILIZATION: END THE WAR IN IRAQ!
YDS encourages its members and chapters to actively participate in the movement against the Bush administration's policies in Iraq.  As the summer coming to an end, this is an ideal time to organize an event (a debate, teach-in, speak-out) on your campus or in your community that focuses on both the war abroad and its impact at home.  Contact our national office is you want to meet up with other YDSers in D.C. from Sept. 24-26 or if you are looking for potential speakers, talking points, articles or other materials to assist your local education/mobilization efforts.  With just one month until the mass demonstrations in Washington D.C., now is the time to plan your travel, organize your local anti-war solidarity events, and use the issue of the Iraq war to promote progressive politics and your YDS chapter at your school. 

Join the National Youth & Student Peace Coalition (YDS is a member of NYSPC) and tens of thousands of people from across the country as we flood the streets of Washington DC on September 24th-26th to demand:

• Leave no military bases behind
• End the looting of Iraq
• Stop the torture
• Stop bankrupting our communities
• No military recruitment in our schools

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - Massive March, Rally & Anti-war Festival
 
Sat. Sept. 24 - Operation Ceasefire Concert
Sun. Sept. 25 - Interfaith Service, Grassroots Training
Mon. Sept. 26 - Congressional Education Day & Mass Nonviolent Direct Action and Civil Disobedience
 
For more information, visit: www.unitedforpeace.org

More than two years after the illegal and immoral U.S. invasion of Iraq, the nightmare continues. More than 1600 U.S. soldiers have died, at least another 15,000 have been wounded; even the most conservative estimates of Iraqi deaths number in the tens of thousands. U.S. promises to rebuild have not been kept and Iraqis still lack food, water, electricity, and other basic needs.
 
A majority of Americans believe that this war never should have happened, but our elected representatives in Washington continue to rubber-stamp the Bush Administration's disastrous Iraq policies. They have given military recruiters nearly unrestricted access to our schools -- and the Pentagon nearly unrestricted access to our tax dollars. At a time when our vital social programs are eroding or completely decimated, an overwhelming majority in Congress recently approved Bush's request for an additional $82 billion in war funding, and there's already talk of another $50 billion appropriation this fall.  It's time to hold all pro-war politicians accountable for the deaths, the destruction, the lies, and the toll on our communities!
 
Our mobilization will coincide with the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, whose economic policies place corporate profits ahead of basic human needs worldwide. We will speak out against the corporate theft of Iraq's resources and the decimation of the Iraqi economy through privatization and "free trade."
 
Join our weekend of action to stop this war, and help prevent future unjust wars!
See you in the streets!



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