4) SOCIALISTS CAMPAIGN AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA This past May 17th, the International Union of Socialist Youth (of which YDS is the U.S. member org.) celebrated the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO). To mark this occasion, YDS former National Organizer, Lucas Shapiro, drafted a statement on IUSY's behalf calling "For Action Against Homophobia/ The Right to Assembly." You can view the statement here:
www.iusy.org/pdfs/iusy_news/2006/05/For_Action_Against_Homophobia.pdf
Furthermore following the success of IUSY-sponsored Queer Easter 2006, IUSY in collaboration with ECOSY and IFM-SEI have put together a joint newsletter in celebration of IDAHO:
www.iusy.org/newsletter/2006/RED_and_Pink_May2006.pdf
5) JUNE 2nd: NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO QUARANTINE WAL-MART!
On Friday, June 2, while CEO Lee Scott is convening Wal-Mart's annual shareholders meeting, thousands of concerned citizens dressed in hazmat suits and armed with yellow caution tape will be putting Wal-Mart sites across the country under "quarantine." Activists will be targeting local Wal-Mart stores and potential sites, public officials who are on the record as supporting new Wal-Mart stores in their communities, and Wal-Mart's board members. The purpose of the day of action is to mobilize activists and to send a message to shareholders that there continues to be great concern over WM's corporate practices.
Visit the Quarantine Wal-Mart website to to find location actions, launch your own, oder the "quarantine kit": www.quarantinewalmart.com
Don't forget to contact YDS for more Wal-Mart related resources and to let us know how your quarantine events go!
Why a quarantine? A majority of Wal-Mart employees have no healthcare while the healthcare options that Wal-Mart does provide are inadequate and full of hidden costs. Because of these and other violations, Wal-Mart has been classified as a threat to public health and must be placed under strict quarantine until said offenses are remedied.
6) SAY NO TO BUSH'S ANTI-IMMIGRANT MILITARIZATION AGENDA!
For nearly five years the Bush administration has claimed the only way to make our country safe from terrorism is to wage wars abroad and expand Presidential power at the expense of rights at home.
Now President Bush wants us to believe that our security depends on militarizing the U.S. border. Pandering to his right-wing base, on May 15th President Bush proposed sending 6,000 National Guard soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border to keep undocumented immigrants out of the U.S.
Guard soldiers are trained to deal with natural disasters. The Bush Administration has deployed to Iraq thousands of National Guardsmen who never expected to be sent to war. Now the Bush Administration wants to impose a military solution on a political and economic issue. They are trying to turn the Guard into a law enforcement agency.
But undocumented immigrants are not "criminals," "invaders," or "terrorists," as Minutemen and Republican officials argue. And we are not under attack.
Undocumented immigrants are mothers and fathers making tough choices about how to support their families under difficult conditions. They are being driven out of their countries largely by war and unemployment caused by unfair globalization policies -- policies often pushed by our government.
CALL YOUR SENATORS TODAY
Add your voice to the chorus demanding immigration policies that are fair and just, and that respect the rights and dignity of all immigrants and other members of our society.
If efforts to radically amend Senate Bill 2611 in a progressive, pro-immigrant direction do not succeed, it must be defeated.
For more call-in instructions, background information on the Senate immigration bill and Bush's proposals, you can visit United for Peace and Justice (YDS is a member org.) here:
www.unitedforpeace.org
The Framing of Immigration
by George Lakoff and Sam Ferguson
www.commondreams.org/views06/0520-23.htm
7) NEW ORLEANS, IMMIGRATION & RACIAL JUSTICE
Looking for Common Ground
If Congress' current proposals for immigration reform pass this year or next, would they help the immigrant workers now doing reconstruction on the Gulf Coast? What about the residents hoping to return home what would these proposals mean for racial divisions already in the wake of the flood?
by David Bacon (DSA member, labor journalist and photographer)
www.arc.org/C_Lines/CLArchive/story9_1_01.html
8) APPLY TO NY UNION SEMESTER BY JUNE 1st
YDS encourages members and allies to get involved with union organizing whenever possible. If you do apply and attend NY Union Semester, let us know! Our national HQ is in the city and we have connections with activists in a number of NYC unions.
THE NEW YORK UNION SEMESTER PROGRAM is now accepting applications for its Fall 2006 program. Application deadline is June 1.
Union Semester is a semester-away program that provides students with the opportunity to intern at a labor union or community organization in New York City while taking Labor Studies courses at the City University of New York for a semester.
The program is open to all-undergraduate majors. In addition to a $1700 scholarship and a weekly $210 stipend, all participants receive 16 undergraduate credits for their work and a Labor Studies Certificate.
Internships include a wide range of activities--from organizing to research, to media and communication. A diverse group of unions and community organizations have hosted interns, including SEIU, HERE, TWU, Community Voices Heard, and Jobs with Justice. New York Union Semester is an excellent career opportunity for students interested in working for social and economic justice. For more information and an application go to
www.unionsemester.org, e-mail the Program Coordinator, Amanda Plumb, at
unionsemester@qc.edu, or call 212.827.2075.
9) BUY YOUR SUMMER SOCIALIST BOOKS ON-LINE!
DSA's on-line bookshop has been completely redesigned. The bookshop offers members and friends the opportunity to order new titles and socialist classics from the on-line bookseller
. DSA receives a small commission (up to ten percent) that is used to support our program to educate a new generation of socialists. As you read about social change you can help us to make social change.
And don't miss our listing of some of the "Best Democratic Left Books of 2005-6"!