Your National Political Committee newsletter — We must struggle together
Enjoy your May National Political Committee (NPC) newsletter! Our NPC is an elected eighteen-person body (including two YDSA members who share a vote) which functions as the board of directors of DSA. Read on for more!
- From the National Political Committee
- TONIGHT, Thursday 5/27 — Immigrants’ Rights Working Group Farmworkers Act call
- PRO Act Weekend of Action Saturday 5/29 and Sunday 5/30 — Sign Up Now!
- New Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee Guide — Training Series Begins Wednesday 6/2
- Thursday 6/3 — Join Abolition Working Group’s Intro to Abolition call!
- DSA Muslims Town Hall: Abolishing the War on Terror Monday 6/14
- Labor Solidarity Action — Give to Unite All Workers for Democracy
- Sign Up for Democratic Socialist Labor Commission Gig Workers Industry Network
- Convention Updates
FROM THE NATIONAL POLITICAL COMMITTEE
It was beautiful to see over 85 chapters celebrate May Day by demanding labor rights, red flags flying high, after a year largely devoid of coming together in person. The work that chapter members have put in, not only to make over 1 million calls in support of the PRO Act, but also in support of DSA-endorsed candidates, to organize workplaces, and to show international solidarity has been nothing short of inspiring. A year ago this week, the police publicly executed George Floyd, resulting in the largest anti-racist uprising in the U.S. in more than 60 years. The courage and resistance of everyday people built significant support for the movement to defund and abolish the police, and that legacy continues in the powerful displays of solidarity in support of a free Palestine. We reaffirm the call to our comrades across the country to mobilize around BDS and to continue to fight against apartheid, colonialism, and military occupation. We also know the best way to support these efforts, home and abroad, is to continue to build a mass, militant socialist organization that can meaningfully confront empire.
As our term comes to an end, we’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on the past two years, assessing not just the political moment we’re in, but also what opportunities we seized and what missteps we made along the way. DSA is a larger organization than when we were elected, and we know we will need many more people to win our demands. We want to build with intention, to make sure our membership is rooted in every segment of the working class, with Black and brown workers, with people across generations. We want to reach our comrades in a variety of languages.
We know the fight against capitalism will require the largest socialist organization in the country to be seen in part of this country and for our message of solidarity and working-class power to reach millions of people. Doing that will require being honest about how we get there, where we fall short, and what we can do to fix it. DSA must be a political home that attracts, retains, and supports people of color. This starts by practicing the simple fact that a socialist movement will fail without leaders of color. We are committed to helping our chapters engage in discussions on racism and to address how to adopt organizing practices to make our work more inclusive and approachable. We have already begun these conversations with chapter leaders and plan on having many more. Our membership survey, released earlier this week, will also be instrumental in assessing where we are as we come closer to our 100K milestone. This isn’t overnight work. As comrades, we give each other grace as we also keep each other accountable to our values as socialists.
There are no easy fixes to a system which relies on the material oppression of the working class, the poor, and people of color, but struggling together will lead us to our collective liberation. Hasta la victoria.
Solidarity,
Your National Political Committee
TONIGHT, THURSDAY 5/27 — IMMIGRANTS’ RIGHTS WORKING GROUP FARMWORKERS ACT CALL
We will be focusing on the current legislation with an emphasis on The Farm Workforce Modernization Act. The forum will be moderated by IRWG co-chair and organizer Jorge Mujica.
PRO ACT WEEKEND OF ACTION SATURDAY 5/29 AND SUNDAY 5/30 — SIGN UP NOW!
Transforming our world starts with an organized, militant, multiracial working class. The PRO Act will clear the path for millions to join unions. DSA members are working hard to pass the PRO Act, making hundreds of thousands of calls, organizing May Day rallies, and building relationships with unions.
To get us over the finish line, we need all hands on deck! Our goal is to make 1 million calls. We are over 75% of the way there. For the next two weekends, we will have double phone bank shifts Saturday and Sunday, to put double the pressure on politicians who haven’t decided if they stand for the working class or the ruling class. Sign up here and spread the word!
NEW EMERGENCY WORKPLACE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE GUIDE — TRAINING SERIES BEGINS WEDNESDAY 6/2
The Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) has published a guide to help workers organize their workplaces. In Case of Emergency, Fight Back provides a comprehensive and concise overview of six proven tools that have helped workers win relief from unjust working conditions in their workplace.
This guide is designed primarily for non-union workers, but union members might find some of the tips and tricks in this guide helpful as well! Please share the guide with families and friends who are interested in workplace organizing.
THURSDAY 6/3 — JOIN ABOLITION WORKING GROUP’S INTRO TO ABOLITION CALL!
What is abolition? Why should socialists care about abolition? Join the Abolition Working Group on Thursday 6/3 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT for an introductory call to answer your questions on why this work matters, how socialism and abolition go hand in hand, and how you can plug your chapter in going forward. Abolition Working Group members will be joined by organizers Andrea James from Families for Justice as Healing and Rukia Lumumba, founder of the People’s Advocacy Institute.
DSA MUSLIMS TOWN HALL: ABOLISHING THE WAR ON TERROR MONDAY 6/14
As the Biden administration marks over 100 days in office and continues harmful surveillance programs while considering new domestic terrorism and surveillance initiatives in the aftermath of the January 6th coup, we must understand how mass surveillance has come to be ubiquitous in our society. At this town hall, we’ll take a historical lens to understand why state apparatuses created mass surveillance programs, how those programs evolved in the aftermath of 9/11, and what the future of surveillance will look like.
Our ultimate aim is to harness the power of our communities to abolish the War on Terror, including mass surveillance. The second half of our town hall will be a community discussion on how state surveillance has harmed our communities and on the demands we want to raise against it.
Speakers:
🗣️ Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Executive Director, Equality Labs
🗣️ Myaisha Hayes, Campaign Strategies Director, MediaJustice
🗣️ Meral Kocak, Legal Fellow, Project South
🗣️ Yazan Za3za3, Community Organizer, Vigilant Love
🗣️ Darakshan Raja, Co-Founder/Co-Director, Justice for Muslims Collective
LABOR SOLIDARITY ACTION — GIVE TO UNITE ALL WORKERS FOR DEMOCRACY
Greetings comrades from the Democratic Socialist Labor Commission (DSLC)!
Right now there is an emerging movement inside the United Auto Workers (UAW) to democratize the union. This movement is called UAWD, Unite All Workers for Democracy. It’s exciting to see rank and file members organizing to take back power in this important industrial union! Many of our DSA comrades are UAW members at colleges and universities, and are organizing as an academic branch of UAWD. This fall, there will be a critical referendum of all UAW members on instituting One Member One Vote (1M1V) for top officers.
DSA is spreading the word about their fundraiser to put UAWD organizers in the field and at the plants. Please donate to this rank and file movement for democracy and power in their union. This could send a shock wave through the labor movement.
SIGN UP FOR DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST LABOR COMMISSION GIG WORKERS INDUSTRY NETWORK
Do you work for Uber, Lyft, Doordash, Instacart, Taskrabbit, Handy, Bellhops, Dolly or other app-based employment? Or do you know a DSA member who does? The Democratic Socialist Labor Commission is organizing an industry network for DSA gig workers to discuss experiences and prospects for organizing in this sector. Sign up today! And please contact [email protected] if you can put us in touch with members of your chapter who work through app platforms, who are interested in doing so, or with any related questions or suggestions.
CONVENTION UPDATES
Tomorrow, Friday 5/28 is the deadline to register for the Pre-Convention Conferences. Members who are running to be delegates to the Convention are strongly encouraged to attend. All conferences will be hosted virtually and are open to any member. You can find more information here.
And are you an at-large member? Make sure to vote for at-large delegates by Tuesday, 6/1! You can find more information here. An At-Large DSA member is any member who does not belong to a chapter and who is current on their dues as of 5/2 (or has made arrangements for the National Office to waive their dues). Based on DSA’s National Constitution and Bylaws, members of Organizing Committees are also considered At-Large Members of DSA.
Any member or group of DSA members in good standing may propose secondary amendments to the resolutions and constitution/bylaws amendments. You can find the secondary amendments form here. The deadline to submit these is Tuesday, 6/15.