Update from the Young Democratic Socialists
www.ydsusa.org
post far & wide


  April 6th, 2006


In this YDS EMAIL UPDATE you will find:

                                             1) YDS INTERNSHIPS & SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS!
                                             2) SPECIAL: SOCIALISTS ON IMMIGRANT RIGHTS    
                                             3) "THE LEFT NEEDS MORE SOCIALISM"
                                             4) NYC/APRIL 29: PEACE, JUSTICE, DEMOCRACY
                                             5) WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH CAPITALISM?
                                             6) BARBARA EHRENREICH ON HEALTHCARE

_______________________________________________________________
1) YDS INTERNSHIPS & SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS!
Intern with YDS! Click here for information about positions available in our ongoing internship program or view postings here on our Idealist site. We´re looking for graphic/web designers, grassroots organizers, event planners, researchers, fundraisers, office support, writers/editors, and more!

Make sure to plan ahead for the YDS summer national conference (NYC, August 11-13). Click here to download and distribute conference flyer.

Join the U.S. delegation to the International Union of Socialist Youth World Festival that will bring together over 7000 young left-wing activists from over 100 countries for 6 days of sharing, debates, parties and other fun along the Mediterranean coast (Alicante, Spain, July 18-23) .  IUSY World Festival Flyer w/ more details about the event & how to participate!


2) SPECIAL: SOCIALISTS ON IMMIGRANT RIGHTS
In the past few weeks we've witnessed a truly historic mobilization by immigrant communities and their allies involving millions around the country.  Huge demonstrations, student walkouts and mass lobbying are set to continue in order to turn back the draconian anti-immigrant legislation that the right-wing is gunning for.  The fight for immigrant rights will undoubtedly be a defining political issue this election year and far beyond that.  A new civil rights movement is in the making. 
 
ALL OUT APRIL 10 FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS!     
Anti-immigrant forces are mounting a fierce battle in Congress to push through heavy-handed measures that would violate fundamental rights and freedoms and break up immigrant families. The House has already passed the unrealistic and punitive "enforcement only" bill that would turn hundreds of thousands of immigrants into criminals. Now the Senate is debating its own
bill.

On Monday April 10, 2006, immigrants and their allies are organizing a National Day of Action for Immigrant Rights. We are urging all YDSers to take the opportunity to join immigrant groups, unions, faith-based groups, civil rights organizations, and others to press our elected officials to protect the rights of all members of our communities by supporting real, comprehensive immigration reform. April 10 will continue the historic mobilizations recently organized in Los Angeles, Chicago, Milwaukee, DC, and other cities. Groups in more than 45 localities have already planned events.
For more info and a listing of April 10 events happening across the nation, visit: www.april10.org

ARTICLES TO LEARN MORE ABOUT IMMIGRANT RIGHTS:
DSA's Anti-Racism Commission
The Anti-Racism Commission has put together a collection of documents on the current immigration debate, including news coverage of the various demonstrations. This is available at: www.antiracismdsa.blogspot.com

From the Front Lines of "La Reconquista"
by Daraka Larimore-Hall (former YDS National Organizer)
http://hoverbike.blogspot.com/

A Not-So-Silent Minority
by Harold Meyerson (DSA Vice-Chair, writer for Washington Post and American Prospect)
www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=11365

Birth of a Movement
by Herb Shore (San Diego DSA and member of DSA's National Political Committee)
www.dsausa.org/LatestNews/2006/Los%20Angeles%20protest/mass%20march.html

Immigration Reform, Big Business, NAFTA and the Impact on the African American Workforce
On Capitol Hill, the debate over immigration reform is heating up in Congress as protests for immigrant rights continue across the country. Democracy Now! speaks with DSA member and labor journalist David Bacon.
Listen/Watch/Read: www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/03/1318252


3) "THE LEFT NEEDS MORE SOCIALISM"
DSA member Ron Aronson argues in The Nation magazine that it's time to break a taboo and place the work "socialism" across the top of the pages:

Living in a capitalist world, we can't get far thinking and talking about alternatives and new directions without acknowledging that many of our key values and starting points are drawn from a common historical source: the socialist tradition. We have not reached the end of history as long as the spirit of solidarity animates antisweatshop movements, as long as a root sense of fairness motivates our efforts for a living wage, as long as the belief in equality nourishes our demand for a national healthcare system, as long as we embrace the democratic social provisioning embodied in Social Security. The next left will have to acknowledge, and even celebrate, the socialist spirit. Socialism's values continue to nourish community life. Much of our world continues to be organized collectively, democratically and socially, operating according to need and not according to profitability--in schools and cooperatives; libraries and nonprofits; local, state and federal government programs. September 11 and Hurricane Katrina showed the undying need for extensive and intensive structures of community. The socialist standards of fairness, democracy, equality and justice are as much a part of daily life as are capitalism's values of privilege, unequal rewards and power.
Read full articles here: www.thenation.com/doc/20060417/aronson


4) NYC/APRIL 29: PEACE, JUSTICE, DEMOCRACY
YDS encourages all its members and allies who can to make it to New York City to join us there on Saturday, April 29th for a mass march for peace, justice and democracy!
If you want to meet up with other YDSers or need organizing materials, contact the YDS office: 212-727-8610 or email us at yds@dsausa.org!

Unite for change -- let's turn our country around!

The times are urgent and we must act.

Too much is too wrong in this country. We have a foreign policy that is foreign to our core values, and domestic policies wreaking havoc at home. It's time for a change.
We are coming together to march, to vote, to speak out and to turn our country around!
CLICK HERE FOR ALL MARCH INFO: www.april29.org


5) WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH CAPITALISM?
Check out the latest issue of the online journal Logos. Features include a special section on "what's the matter with capitalism" in addition to democratic socialist views (on the right-wing student movement, for example), book reviews and an interview with David Harvey.
www.logosjournal.com


6) BARBARA EHRENREICH ON HEALHTCARE
President Bush, Meet Lorraine (putting a human face on the need for universal healthcare)
by Barbara Ehrenreich (DSA Honorary Co-Chair and noted author)
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0331-24.htm




Young Democratic Socialists
c/o DSA 198 Broadway, Suite 700
New York, NY, 10038
office: (212) 727-8610
cell: (917) 662-0276
fax: (212) 608-6955
yds@dsausa.org
www.ydsusa.org


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