Building Our Power — Your National Political Committee newsletter
Enjoy your May National Political Committee (NPC) newsletter! Our NPC is an elected 18-person body (including two YDSA members who share a vote) which functions as the board of directors of DSA. This month, a major Green New Deal win, Convention updates, and more!
And to make sure you get our newsletters in your inbox, sign up here! Each one features action alerts, upcoming events, political education, and more.
- From the National Political Committee — Building Our Power
- Sunday 5/21 — Green New Deal Win! Join Our Call for Public Renewables
- Sign Up for Strategic Mutual Aid Training Friday 5/26
- Tuesday 5/30 — Hindu Nationalism and the US Far Right Call
- Apply for National Political Education Committee Summer Speakers’ Training!
From the National Political Committee — Building Our Power
DSA has been fighting to take back our energy system from fossil fuel profiteers and make the Green New Deal a reality. After unprecedented climate organizing that pitted organized labor, climate activists, legislators at every level of government, and working-class New Yorkers against the full forces of fossil capital, our New York comrades scored the biggest Green New Deal win in US history — so far! The Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA), which just became law, is laying the foundation for a socialized electrical grid, powered by clean energy, and built by union labor. New York’s DSA chapters are taking the “just transition” from slogan to reality — and they want YOU to know how they did it. Join the upcoming BPRA debrief mass call Sunday 5/21 to hear from the organizers who made it happen, and how we can grow the movement for public power to win a Green New Deal from coast to coast!
Convention is now less than three months away, and we look forward to coming together in service of our national organization to debate, discuss, and vote on our collective work for the next two years. To that end, we’re proud to share the initial 2023 Convention Compendium. Members can now view these and submit amendments to any of the proposals listed. Amendments are due by Wednesday 6/28. As members and delegates alike are reviewing this compendium, we also invite you to join our Budget and Finance Committee and national staff for an annual report on DSA’s 2023 budget taking place Thursday 6/1. The call will include a breakdown of 2023 projected income and spending, a review of DSA’s budgeting process, a brief overview of the process for costing out Convention resolutions, and next steps for building sustainable funding models that can support our collective work for the long haul. These fundraising skills are particularly important as your chapter looks toward Convention and beyond, including for chapters aiming to open offices. If your chapter is interested in doing so, check out the getting started guide (which includes an interest form due Thursday 6/1).
Being part of the largest socialist organization in the country means we have a responsibility to make hard decisions on how we move forward and gives us the opportunity to build a stronger DSA to meet the moments ahead of us with clarity and purpose. Our National Convention is also a time for DSA members from all over the country to build community and learn from and honor our collective accomplishments together. Celebrate your chapter or send a supportive message to your delegates by placing an ad in the 2023 National Convention Solidarity Journal by Friday 6/9!
We’re just starting to build. Let’s win the world we deserve together.
Solidarity,
Your National Political Committee
Sunday 5/21 — Green New Deal Win! Join Our Call for Public Renewables
For 4 years, New York’s socialists have been fighting to take back our energy system from fossil fuel profiteers and make the Green New Deal a reality. After unprecedented climate organizing that pitted organized labor, climate activists, legislators at every level of government, and working-class New Yorkers against the full forces of fossil capital, they’ve scored the biggest Green New Deal win in US history — so far!
The Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA), which just became state law, is laying the foundation for a socialized electrical grid, powered by clean energy, and built by union labor.
New York’s DSA chapters are taking the “just transition” from slogan to reality — and they want YOU to know how they did it. Join our BPRA debrief call Sunday 5/21 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT to hear from the organizers who made it happen and grow the movement for public power to win a Green New Deal from coast to coast!
Sign Up for Strategic Mutual Aid Training Friday 5/26
Join DSA’s Mutual Aid Working Group (MAWG) Friday 5/26 at 8:30pm ET/7:30pm CT/6:30pm MT/5:30pm PT for an in-depth training on strategic approaches to mutual aid! We’ll tackle questions like:
- How does mutual aid fit into a mass movement theory of change?
- How can we build connections across organizations without depoliticizing our mutual aid work?
- How can we balance sustaining our own organization from the inside with growing it and expanding our capacity and reach?
We will cover specific organizing skills, talk about mutual aid theory as well as more general socialist mass movement theory, and have ample time to discuss our own experiences and practice some of the organizing skills we’re learning as we go.
This is a very good training for chapters to attend as a group. Please consider inviting your comrades! (We can even make dedicated breakout rooms just for your chapter, shoot us an email at [email protected] to let us know if we should plan for that!)
Tuesday 5/30 — Hindu Nationalism and the US Far Right Call
Join the Religion and Socialism Working Group, Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, and Hindus for Human Rights for a teach-in on the growing alliance between the United States and Indian far-right, the various appearances of Hindutva in US public life, and ongoing anti-caste discrimination litigation. The call will be Tuesday 5/30 at 6:30pm ET/5:30pm CT/4:30pm MT/ 3:30pm PT. RSVP today! There will be plenty of time for discussion and questions on this urgent topic.
Apply for National Political Education Committee Summer Speakers’ Training!
DSA’s National Political Education Committee (NPEC) is excited to announce our Summer 2023 Speakers’ Training! The series is for active DSA organizers who’d like to develop speaking skills, learn to give clear, compelling presentations, help lead political education within their chapters or working groups, and speak to an audience in any capacity.
The course will be held over Zoom on three consecutive Sunday afternoons: 7/9, 7/16, and 7/23, at 4:30pm ET/3:30pm CT/2:30pm MT/2:30pm PT. Because this training is intensive, participation as a presenter is selective. We ask that you only apply as a presenter if you are certain you can commit to all three sessions. Apply by Friday 6/23, or nominate a comrade to apply by Friday 6/16. If you aren’t accepted as a presenter for this session, or if you don’t wish to give a presentation but want to learn tips for preparing and giving a presentation, you are welcome to apply to join as an observer.
The course will cover how to structure a 10-15 minute presentation and concrete tips for good public speaking. All participants will work on a presentation during the course of the training, and presenters will receive intensive one-on-one feedback and present to the full group. Written materials from the course and slide templates will be provided to all participants.
Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] with any questions. We look forward to receiving your application!