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May 30, 2025

Features

Comrades and Canvassing - Lauren J

New Orleans DSA is endorsing three chapter members in city council races. Let’s talk about the power of canvassing and the power that our membership has to help candidates win.

Over the years, New Orleans DSA members have canvassed to build power across our city and state. Canvassing is simply going door-to-door and talking to people about the issues. For elections, that can mean informing them about ballot measures and candidates. Canvassing tends to be the most effective voter outreach - even more than phone banking, sign waving, or social media - because voters tend to remember when you show up on their porch, after walking two miles in New Orleans humidity, to ask for their vote! That effect is even greater when you apply a strategic and consistent approach, like targeting registered and chronic voters in high turn-out precincts.

Powerful, member-driven organizations canvass. Our Make Entergy Pay campaign canvasses about the importance of safe and reliable utilities, asking people to join our Entergy debt strike. Even before I joined DSA, I canvassed with my comrades in the UTNO teachers’ union for New Orleans DSA member Marguerite Green’s run for Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture.

The act of direct voter-to-voter contact has remained an important tactic for our chapter as we have ventured into more electoral work. New Orleans DSA members have canvassed for endorsed candidates Mandie Landry, Davante Lewis, Bob Murrell, Devin Davis, Gabriela Biro, and me, with many of these efforts resulting in victories. Even when they have not, our canvassing work still builds power down the line and furthers our chapter’s work. Canvassing was also successfully employed by several of our members who ran for positions on the Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC) and local Democratic Parish Executive Committees (DPECs) in spring 2024. Every time we put in the work to build a strong electoral campaign, we set the foundation for work later on.

Now it’s time for us to provide the material support we committed to for the City Council campaigns of endorsed members Danyelle Christmas (District E), Jackson Kimbrell (District C), and Bob Murrell (District A). Let’s hit the streets and empower our neighbors to build a city that works for all of us. Together, our voices are powerful.

Not All Milestones Are Good - Andy L

We passed a dubious milestone recently: the 800th flight of US weapons sent to Israel since October 2023 landed on Tuesday. Sure, there was medical equipment and personal protective gear as well, but most of the supplies were bombs and armored vehicles. 90,000 tons of them.

Stick with me here for a little math. The area of the Gaza Strip is 141 square miles. New Orleans (the land part) is 169 square miles, so we’re about 20% bigger than Gaza. 20% more weapons would be 108,000 tons. 108,000 tons divided by 169 square miles is 639 tons per square mile. As it turns out, there are 640 acres in a square mile, so let’s restate that result as one ton (2,000 lb) per acre. (Stick with me, we’re almost there). A typical plot in the city is 30’ wide by 150’ deep, which is 1/10 of an acre. So what we’ve done is given Israel the equivalent of a 200 lb bomb for every house in New Orleans.

That level of destruction still has not broken the Palestinian people. Israel has lost the war. They cannot defeat the Palestinians – they can only kill them. If you haven’t been doing it already, it’s time to talk to your friends about Palestine. Public opinion is turning against Israel, and one way we can accelerate that is by having sincere, patient, informed conversations with our peers. The Al-Aqsa Flood was 600 days ago, so there has been ample time for folks to realize what we’re doing to the Palestinians.

And I say “we” because this genocide is funded by, supplied by, and diplomatically protected by the U.S. Just as Germany will forever be tied to the Holocaust, the US will be permanently tied to the Gazan genocide.

Liberate Palestine.

Red Rabbits Recommendation - Mask Up!

Masking is one of those special activities that is good for you and good for others, which means that we should be doing more of it. We all know the public health benefits: keeping whatever’s inside you closer to you, so that you don’t spread it to others – while also slowing down anything let loose by someone else. What you might not have thought about is masking up for security reasons. Cops waste our tax dollars on security cameras, drones, facial recognition software, and all kinds of other expensive toys rather than investing in our communities with more teachers, smooth roads, and neighborhood clinics. However, something as simple as a face mask can frustrate that technology. Keep your masks simple but effective – that fully-blinged out Saints mask may be the bee’s knees, but it is also identifiable, and therefore traceable. We owe it to each other to not make anything easy for the pigs. Stay smart. Stay safe.

Bulletins

May General Membership Meeting Saturday

Our monthly GM will be this Saturday at 12:00 pm in room 204 of the Healing Center (2372 St. Claude). We will be hearing from the candidates running for delegate to August’s National Convention. We’ll also hear from members returning from a delegation to Cuba. We’ll discuss our upcoming Local Convention, the DSA Fund’s How We Win Conference, and get committee updates and more. RSVP here and request a proxy if you’re unable to attend.

Support our Endorsed Candidates for City Council

Our chapter voted to endorse three candidates in this year's City Council races. Now, it's up to us to help get our members into those seats! Check out our newly launched Endorsement HQ to find up-to-date info on all of our endorsed candidates! Take a minute to follow them on social media, donate to their campaigns, and volunteer using the links provided. Also, fill out our (very brief) Campaign Outreach Survey and let us know how you can best get involved.

Nominations for Delegates to National Convention

We have 10 members who are running for delegates to National Convention. DSA National Convention will be August 8-10 in Chicago. Chapter delegates and at-large delegates from across the country meet to set our course for the following two years and elect our new National Political Committee (NPC), which functions as DSA’s highest decision-making body between conventions. The nominees will be introduced at the General Membership meeting. After the General Membership meeting, everyone will receive an OpaVote link to vote over a 5-day period. You can view the candidate statements here

Nominations for 2025-2026 Local Council

Local Council is our democratically elected chapter leadership with responsibility for managing the overall direction of the chapter. Local Council consists of two co-chairs, one membership chair, one secretary, one treasurer, two at-large members, a steward for each of the official committees, and a representative of each administrative or currently-chartered campaign group. For a complete description, see our chapter bylaws. To nominate yourself or someone else, email a candidate statement to [email protected].

Submissions Open for 2025 Local Convention

New Orleans DSA’s annual Local Convention will be June 28. Submissions can include proposals to amend bylaws, resolutions for new campaigns, or they can be for other chapter business. Reach out to Jack RS for information on how to write a resolution, and stay tuned for a resolution writing workshop ahead of convention.

Municipal Action Committee Wants You! 🫵

MAC currently has 2 vacant co-chair positions. While they aren’t strictly defined roles, we think it would be extremely useful to have one that is focused on electoral work, such as coordinating with our endorsed candidates, and one that is focused on civic engagement, such as keeping tabs on our various city governmental institutions. If either of these areas interest you, please shoot an email to [email protected] or find Charlie B on Slack!

Chapter Merchandise Available Now!

Support and rep your favorite socialist organization with merch! Help us fundraise to send our delegates to DSA’s biennial National Convention, move into a new space by ordering a shirt, or just give us feedback on what items you might want to see in the future. Check it out at bit.ly/dsanola-merch.

Brake Light Clinic & Health Fair

We’re co-hosting our next Brake Light Clinic & Health Fair with member and endorsed City Council District E candidate Danyelle Christmas. Join us on Saturday, June 14, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at 4961 N Claiborne Ave. Sign up here to volunteer.

Political Education Committee Reading Group

The Political Education Committee’s book for the month is The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins. Whether you finish the book, only part of it, or just want to hang out for discussion, come by Oak St. Brewery, 8201 Oak St., on June 19 at 7:00 pm.

Community Calendar

Friday, May 30

12:00-12:45p Free Palestine! Abolish ICE! Weekly Lunch Hour Rally - NOLA ICE Field Office, 1250 Poydras St.

Saturday, May 31

11:00a-3:00p Peace by Piece Youth and Family Wellness Day - Conrad Park, 3400 Hamilton St.

12:00-2:00p New Orleans DSA General Meeting - New Orleans Healing Center, 2372 St. Claude Ave. Room 204 - RSVP

2:30-4:30p Canvassing (Bob Murrell, District A) - Signup

Sunday, June 1

9:00a-12:00p Canvassing (Jackson Kimbrell, District C)

11:00a-1:00p Listwork Session - Coffee Science, 410 S. Broad St.

1:00-4:00p Canvassing (Bob Murrell, District A) - Signup

Monday, June 2

6:00-7:30p Make Entergy Pay Campaign Meeting - Care Forgot Beercraft, 1728 St. Charles Ave.

Wednesday, June 4

5:00-6:00p Health Justice and Direct Service Meeting - Zoom

6:00-8:00p VOTE New Orleans Monthly Meeting - VOTE New Orleans, 4930 Washington Ave. Suite A

Thursday, June 5

7:00-8:30p Political Education Committee Planning Meeting - Meet

Friday, June 6

12:00-12:45p Free Palestine! Abolish ICE! Weekly Lunch Hour Rally - NOLA ICE Field Office, 1250 Poydras St.

Saturday, June 7

1:00-4:00p Canvassing (Bob Murrell, District A) - Signup

Sunday, June 8

1:00-4:00p Canvassing (Bob Murrell, District A) - Signup

Down the Road

June 12 Drinking ~~Liberally~~ Socially - Location TBD

June 14 Brake Light Clinic & Health Fair - 4961 N. Claiborne Ave.

June 14 No Kings Counter-Parade & Protest - Lafayette Square, 550 St. Charles Ave.

June 17 Sports Drink Community Night: Politics Edition - Sports Drink, 1042 Toledano Ave.

June 19 Political Education Committee Reading Group - Oak St. Brewery, 8201 Oak St.

June 28 New Orleans DSA Local Convention - New Orleans

August 8-10 DSA National Convention - Chicago

October 11 Municipal Election Day - Open Primary

November 15 Municipal Election Day - Runoff

Complete Calendar

Solidarity Means Action is the weekly newsletter of the New Orleans Democratic Socialists of America. Subscribe for updates every Friday at 8:00 am Central.