Hi John!

As we continue to shelter-in-place, Silicon Valley DSA is organizing and supporting our community—while growing our grassroots movement.

We are proud to be part of the South Bay Mutual Aid network (SBMA). Sign up as a volunteer to help with grocery runs and other needs. Want to help from home? The network needs coordinators that match volunteers with people requesting aid.

Our chapter is reimbursing SBMA volunteers from our COVID-19 Fund. We are also coordinating donations of masks and other goods. Join us on one of our mutual aid check-in calls—they’re Wednesday and Saturday every week.

For more about current volunteer opportunities, see below!

In the last several weeks, we’ve seen an increase in new members, many joining DSA after the suspension of Bernie’s presidential campaign. To all the new comrades among us, we are energized by your presence, grateful for your solidarity, and excited to build a better future together. During the COVID crisis, all of our meetings are online—join us at our New Member Orientation next Saturday, or join any call that sounds interesting to you. Our upcoming events are listed at the end of this newsletter.

We’ve got a whole new chapter starting up that covers Monterey and San Benito counties: if that’s where you’re based, get connected! 🦦

Beyond the current crisis, we are looking ahead to local elections in November, supporting progressive challengers like Shahid Buttar in San Francisco, and Alex Lee and Jake Tonkel in San Jose. To learn more, contact the Electoral Working Group.

In Solidarity,
Your SV DSA Newsletter Team 🌹

Volunteer Opportunities

South Bay Mutual Aid

We are an organizational partner of South Bay Mutual Aid, a mutual aid collective that connects volunteers with community members in need. Sign up here.

We’ve had tons of people volunteering aid, and even more people asking for help, and now we have a constant and urgent need for volunteer coordinators to do the actual matching. You’ll attend a brief training on the details of the process, and you’ll be free to take on as many cases as you have time for - even taking only one or two would make a big difference! To volunteer as a coordinator, select “I can help match community aid requests to volunteers” on the volunteer form and email [email protected].

Donate emergency supplies & funds

We are accepting monetary donations to our COVID-19 Aid Fund. Your donation will be used as described here. We are currently reimbursing SBMA volunteer efforts, and are hoping to do much more!

We are also collecting emergency supplies for distribution. If you can donate any of the following, please email [email protected]:

• We are collecting hand sanitizer to distribute to community members who need it. We need: gel-based hand sanitizer; lab-grade alcohol (95% or higher isopropyl); squeeze bottles, about 4 oz in volume.
• We are making face masks to give to community members and healthcare providers. We need tight-knit 100% cotton fabric—white, cream, or light blue preferred. Cotton sheets or pillow cases with a high thread count are ideal. Quilting cotton works well too. We also need 100% cotton bias tape. If you sew and want to join our mask-making team, please reach out!

Housing WG: #CancelRent in Santa Clara County

Join us to demand a rent cancellation at the next Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Meeting on Tuesday, May 12th at 9:30am.

The current eviction moratorium is set to end next month. At that point, tenants are still responsible for all back rent! The rental assistance and installment payment plans put in place are totally inadequate, and we will see many evictions as soon as the courts open up and landlords are allowed to proceed with their cases. We will give public comment to demand that the board cancel the rent!

The meeting will start at 9:30am on May 12th. Plan to speak between 9:30am and 10:30am. Usually speakers have a minute each to give public comments. Use this link to call in. (Meeting agenda.) You can also submit written comments to the board if public speaking is not your thing.

Housing WG: Organize with your neighbors

The Housing Working Group would like to encourage members to safely reach out to neighbors so we can organize as tenants. Want to know more about the resources available? Contact us.

SocFem WG: Women’s rights under COVID

The Socialist Feminist working group is calling on electeds to stand against the rise of domestic violence and the attacks on women’s rights that have occured during this pandemic. As a first step: send this letter to your legislators, and report back on their responses.

Political Education WG: Read with comrades!

We need volunteers to facilitate a Reading and Discussion (RAD) group! What does that mean? Pick 2 to 3 articles and run a discussion about them on a Sunday afternoon call. If you would like to claim a Sunday, or if you have questions, reach out!

Run for Working Group Co-Chair

This month we’re holding our elections for Working Group Co-Chairs. Working Groups organize around a particular purpose in line with SV DSA’s mission. The current Working Groups are:

• Ecosocialist
• Electoral
• Healthcare
• Housing
• Labor
• Justice
• Political Education
• Socialist Feminist

Being a Working Group Co-Chair is a great opportunity to grow as an organizer and to advance the democratic socialist movement. You would act as a facilitator and organizer in the group to ensure meetings happen, decisions get made, and work gets done; as well as interfacing with the Chapter at large. If elected, your term would last 6 months. There will be a training and orientation session to ensure that everyone is familiar with the relevant tools and processes.

Nominate yourself by May 24 at 11:59pm.

If you'd like to know more, current co-chairs and the Membership Development Committee would love to chat!