Bills remain high in wake of winter storm, but there is an alternative; Socialist outreach for endorsed candidates continues; The fight against fascist forces continues
This is the weekly newsletter of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America (MDC DSA), which is
produced by local members of the chapter's Publications Working Group. The Weekly Update publishes every
Friday at 9am. Want to fight fascism from the heart of empire? Join DSA and fight to build socialism!
Paid for by Metro DC DSA (mdcdsa.org). Not authorized by any candidate or committee.
UP FRONT
Bills remain high in wake of winter storm, but there is an alternative — DC Council oversight hearing on PSC taking place February 27
In the ongoing aftermath of a severe winter storm (made worse in DC by the apparent apathy of the Bowser administration), utility fees remain exorbitantly high for people in the District. The price increase for DC workers is the result of the DC Public Service Commission’s (PSC) inability to maintain oversight over the private companies that manage DC’s gas and electric utilities. Democratic, community-controlled power is a more urgent need than ever, and We Power DC is organizing for a better approach to utility management — strict oversight, financial transparency, greener energy, and eventually, an electric utility that the local government of DC could own and manage in the interest of the people.
We Power DC reports two ways locals can join the front against utility rate hikes in DC:
Share personal experiences with Pepco by filling outWe Power DC’s Testimonials survey. The DC Council, PSC, Advisory Neighborhood Commission members, and journalists often ask about the experiences that DC families, residents, and business owners have when interacting with Pepco. We Power DC wants the people’s stories to be heard.
Testify on February 27. The DC Council will be holding an oversight hearing for the PSC and its (lackluster) performance. DC residents can testify in person or virtually on how utility bills have skyrocketed, reliability has declined, and life in the District has gotten more unaffordable. Locals can submit testimony through the DC Council’s online LMS system.
Locals looking to get involved in the fight to control rising energy rates are encouraged to fill out We Power DC’s interest form.
Socialist outreach for endorsed candidates continues — canvasses in DC and Montgomery County, February 7 and 8
The Big Red Machine continues to churn, powered not by capital and corporate dollars but by the people.
In DC: Metro DC DSA member, former chapter chair, and current candidate for DC Council Ward 1 Aparna Raj is running to bring the voice and governing power of the working class to the Wilson Building. The campaign is launching two canvasses this weekend: on Saturday, February 7, the campaign will talk to neighbors around Howard University; on Sunday, February 8, the campaign will be maneuvering through the leafy hills of Park View. RSVP here for meetup locations.
In Montgomery County: Two Metro DC DSA-endorsed candidates are reaching out to voters this weekend. Gabriel Acevero and Josie Caballero are running for reelection to the Maryland House of Delegates 39th District and for Montgomery County Council At-Large Councilmember, respectively. Acevero’s victory would keep a pro-tenant, pro-worker advocate in the MD House. Caballero’s victory would empower the pro-tenant bloc on the Montgomery County Council, enabling a robust defense of the popular rent stabilization laws recently implemented. Both are priorities for socialist power-building in the region.
Gabe will be holding phonebanks on Saturday, February 7 at 10am and 1pm, at Gaithersburg Library (18330 Montgomery Village Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 20879). Two canvasses will be launched on Sunday (February 8) at 1pm and 3pm, from Strawberry Knoll Elementary (18820 Strawberry Knoll Rd, Gaithersburg, MD 20879). Josie will be holding a virtual phonebank Saturday, February 7 at 12pm. All are welcome, including anyone new to electoral organizing — all events will provide training for those who need it.
The Montgomery County branch of MDC DSA is also hosting a fundraiser at Clear Skies Meadery in Rockville at 6pm on Sunday, February 15 for Josie and Zola Shaw. Both Josie and Zola are campaigning for a more affordable and just Montgomery County, and they will need organized money and organized forces to counter attacks from big business, the real estate lobby, and landlords. RSVP for the fundraiser here. No donation is required to attend, but they are highly encouraged.
And next weekend in Prince George’s County: Join fellow socialists to canvass for longtime chapter member Imara Crooms for Prince George's County Council District 9: Sunday, February 15, 12 – 3pm. Imara is running to fight for people-centric development, increased police accountability, increased transit infrastructure in South County, and more. Canvassers will meet at Branch Avenue Metro Station for a brief training before hitting the doors. Attendees should have miniVAN and Signal installed on their phones before arriving along with a fully charged phone, and should wear comfortable walking shoes. RSVP here.
Socialists in PG County interested in growing the branch’s electoral power are invited to attend the first meeting of the PG County Branch’s Electoral Advisory Board this Sunday, February 8 at 4pm. The goal of this new board is to socialize electoral operations, endorsed candidates, and onboarding; register for the Advisory Board meeting here.
The fight against fascist forces continues — DMV locals expand resistance to occupation
In Minneapolis, the retreat of Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino — chased out by the people of Minneapolis — suggests that continued pressure against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is draining the occupiers of their capacity and range of motion. His replacement, Trump ally and “border czar” Tom Homan, has since taken charge of Minneapolis’s occupation by ICE and announced a drawdown of federal forces by a third (~700 federal agents). There is a risk that public declarations of a limited retreat will delude the national public into believing ICE operations have thawed, and dispatches from the ground suggest that recent developments have not slowed the full-scale assault on Minnesota communities. A report released this week by journalist Ken Klippenstein suggests that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has an enormous munitions cache operationalized for use on the people of Minneapolis.
At time of writing, the proposed budget to massively inflate the DHS is stalled. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has announced that all ICE agents will now wear body cameras — a measure publicly presented to imply accountability, but which will massively expand ICE’s surveillance capacity. The occupation of DC, although not as public or intense since the summer invasion, still continues. ICE and CBP agents travel around secretly, deputized federal officers are still seen performing jump-outs, and the National Guard still marches in bizarre patterns in DC’s federal and night-life corridors. Despite pressure from DC locals, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) continue to openly collaborate with federal agencies in everything from traffic stops and fare enforcement to arrests for open containers and evictions.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress have resumed exercising colonial dominance over the people of DC — recently overturning a bill passed by the DC Council that decoupled DC’s tax code from the federal analog, which expanded DC’s Earned-Income Tax Credit for the local working class and created a local version of the Child Tax Credit targeting families in the District. This attack, a clear and brazen affront to home rule, is being exercised to force compliance of locals, who loathe Trump and the Republican regime. Although the DC Council has attempted to organize local pressure against Congress, their decision last year to overturn Initiative 82, repeal TOPA rights and other eviction protections, and hand over billions in tax credits for construction of the RFK Stadium has sapped them of credibility among locals longing for freedom.
Still, across the DMV, pressure against ICE’s collaboration with local law enforcement is working. In Howard County, emergency legislation revoked a building permit to convert an office park warehouse into a detention center. After leaked footage revealed the horrifying human rights violations at an ICE facility in Baltimore, statewide demands led to a bill prohibiting and ending 287(g) agreements with state employees and agencies. The Baltimoreans’ fight isn’t over, though; the ban on 287(g) does not fully prevent local law enforcement from collaborating with ICE, and another detention center is being planned for a site in Hagerstown. Baltimore DSA has called on Maryland residents to contact their state delegates to support HB630 (which would prohibit buildings not originally designed for detention from being used as immigration detention centers), submit written or oral testimony at the hearing on February 18, and tell their public officials to shut down the ICE facility in Baltimore.
In DC, the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DCAARPR), alongside the Families Not Feds coalition and others, are holding a rally at ICE headquarters (500 12th St SW) TODAY at 6pm to mark the one-month anniversary of Renee Good’s murder by ICE agents and to demand justice for all victims of ICE terror.
Metro DC DSA’s Abolition Working Group is also holding two virtual events to deepen local resistance to ICE interventions and MPD collaboration. On Thursday, February 19 at 6:15pm, Metro DC DSA will be holding an Abolish ICE teach-in to cover the connection between policing and ICE, the process of constructing safe communities without carceral systems, and initiate a panel for DC-area community members to discuss what they’ve been seeing in the streets. On Monday, February 23, socialists will be holding an MPD testimony writing workshop, where locals can learn about the process of writing to the DC Council about MPD’s budget and oversight. Anyone considering testifying at the MPD oversight hearing on Wednesday, February 25 is encouraged to sign up ASAP; the deadline to sign up is February 23, with the testimony submission deadline in early March. Locals can sign up to testify at the MPD oversight hearing here.
BRIEFS
Speak out to protect rent stabilization in Takoma Park, MD — Wednesday, February 11 at 7:30pm
The Takoma Park City Council has approved a study of the city's rent stabilization law, potentially laying the groundwork to weaken the law. Takoma Park's rent stabilization law is stronger than the county's rent stabilization law; for example, Takoma Park's law only allows rent increases equivalent to the Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation, while the county's law allows rent increases of 3% plus Consumer Price Index. Join Montgomery County DSA at the City Council to speak out in favor of protecting Takoma Park's strong rent stabilization law during the public comment section of the Council meeting. RSVP here.
Want a Socialist DC to flourish? Let’s grow a branch — DC branch exploratory commission forming
At last year’s convention, members of Metro DC DSA voted to authorize creation of a commission to explore construction of a DC branch of Metro DC DSA. The exploratory branch commission will research and advise the chapter on the formation of a DC branch. Any DSA members who live or work in DC and want to help the chapter develop its organizing and program for the District can apply to join the commission here. No experience necessary, just a willingness to explore and evolve the structure of the local chapter.
Build community in Northern Virginia with the NoVA Mutual Aid Working Group this weekend
The Northern Virginia Mutual Aid (now officially a) Working Group will be holding their next fiber arts meetup on Saturday, February 7 from 10am – 12:30pm at the Westover Library (Longfellow Room) in Arlington. Bring your own personal projects to work on, or help knit hats and scarves to donate to those in need. The event is kid-friendly, and snacks will be provided, as well as Plan B courtesy of EC4DC and the Bodily Autonomy Working Group. RSVP to the fiber arts meetup here.
On Sunday, NoVA MAWG will be holding their next mutual aid distribution outside of the Crystal City Metro from 11am – 2pm, leaving everyone plenty of time to get to their evening Superb Owl plans. Distros are every second Sunday of the month at Crystal CIty, and people are free to bring any donations they can offer and take any donations they may need — as well as some cool pamphlets and zines promoting MDC DSA’s work. RSVP to the distro here (or just show up and say hi). People unable to make it out can also donate money to the distribution here or buy directly from NoVA MAWG’s wish list. Anyone interested in getting plugged in with NoVA MAWG is encouraged to fill out their interest form.
DC Spanish Club for Socialists is back, now at St. Stephen's — Monday, February 9 at 7pm
Spanish Club for Socialists, a project of multiple area socialist and mutual aid organizations including Metro DC DSA, is a free weekly event where organizers meet up to practice their Spanish. The event is about 90 minutes long and is split into beginner, intermediate, and advanced groups, so learners of all levels should feel welcome. The next session is scheduled for Monday, February 9 from 7 – 8:30pm at St. Stephen's (1525 Newton St NW). Sign up here for calendar updates and conversation guides.
New in the Washington Socialist: grief as key to organizing a sustainable socialist movement
As state terror increases, fascism abounds, and masked federal agents murder people in the streets, more and more people are drawn to political movements and organizations on the Left. But a mistaken assumption often repeated by newly activated organizers is that “this is not normal.” Comrade Sarah D argues, in “This is Too Normal and That is The Problem,” that reckoning with the United States’ very normal pattern of imperial and stateside violence — and grieving its victims and the shattered illusions of the US — should be a key part of DSA’s work moving forward.
“Developing an organizational relationship with grief will not require us, as Metro DC DSA members, to table the important work the chapter is doing. Rather, DSA members should look at this as a necessary step to preserve the longevity of our membership and the resilience of our projects.”
Ill-trained ICE paramilitary irregulars — sometimes with real soldiers as onlookers — continue to infest our cities, layering white-nationalist fervor atop our constant capitalist yoke. Want to fight fascism from the heart of the empire? Join DSA and fight to build socialism! We’re the alternative that works for people, not profiteers and their captive politicians. MDC DSA’s chapter embraces NoVA, DC, PG, and MoCo. There’s organizational info on our Metro DC chapter — DMV branches, working groups, campaigns, current activities, and enduring values — right here. Attend “Why You Should Join DSA/New Member Orientation” either in person on Wednesday, February 11 from 7 – 8pm (note: currently oversubscribed) or virtually on Wednesday, February 18, also from 7 – 8pm. What grounds our activism? See the rich archive of our acclaimed Socialist Night School. Details? Join an MDC DSA Reading Group. Members are encouraged to join our Slack for real-time info on working group and campaign events, strategy/tactic exchange, and inspiration. Email [email protected] with your most recent DSA dues receipt to get access.
How to stay current with MDC DSA: Weekly Updates, like the one you are reading, are sent every Friday — sign up here; current and past Updates are available anytime on our website. The MDC Dispatch is the chapter’s new video news series, published on the first and third Sunday of each month. Got chops and skills to bring to this latest video effort? Check in with the Publications Working Group (roles list here) or submit your Update or Dispatch suggestions (or DMV scandal tips) to our tip line. The Washington Socialist, published since the 1970s, offers in-depth analytical/opinion articles on a quarterly schedule; the two-part Winter issue is wholly in release. Anyone, MDC DSA member or not, interested in contributing to the Washington Socialist can email submissions or questions to [email protected]. Members, look in on us or join at #publications on Slack.
DMV LEFT COMMUNITY BULLETIN
Have an allied event, action, or resource we should know about? Share it with us by using our tip line.
Young Workers March on Washington on February 7
Young workers in America face an affordability crisis, housing crisis, healthcare crisis, childcare crisis, and debt crisis. Enough is enough! This Saturday, February 7, join a coalition of organizations at 11am for a march and 12pm for a rally. Find more info here.
Our History, Our Humanity on February 21 | Claudia Jones School
On Saturday, February 21, the Claudia Jones School and other partners will be gathering for an afternoon to discuss the struggle against racism under Trump 2.0 and the fights to prevent a Jim Crow 2.0 with the MAGA policies repealing DEI, affirmative action, censoring Black history, firing Black federal workers, and more. RSVP here.
ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES
ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES are articles and opinion pieces of
interest to DMV leftists but not, generally, appearing in local media.
They should have links without paywalls. Readers are invited to submit
candidates at our tip line.
“Last week, a Reddit-style social network called Moltbook reportedly crossed 32,000 registered AI agent users, creating what may be the largest-scale experiment in machine-to-machine social interaction yet devised. It arrives complete with security nightmares and a huge dose of surreal weirdness. The platform, which launched days ago as a companion to the viral OpenClaw (once called ‘Clawdbot’ and then ‘Moltbot’) personal assistant, lets AI agents [agentic AI] post, comment, upvote, and create subcommunities without human intervention. The results have ranged from sci-fi-inspired discussions about consciousness to an agent musing about a ‘sister’ it has never met. Moltbook (a play on ‘Facebook’ for Moltbots) describes itself as a ‘social network for AI agents’ where ‘humans are welcome to observe.’” Ars Technica
“Community members in Minneapolis have built a vast rapid response network; patrols near schools, churches, mosques, immigrant-owned businesses, and even vulnerable intersections; witness and response to ICE presence wherever else it occurs; large-scale food and supply deliveries; an infrastructure of safer transportation; and care webs for loved ones who are left behind after ICE abductions. Many of these systems sprung to life along the paths laid down by the 2020 uprising after the police-perpetrated killing of George Floyd.” TruthOut
“It’s now clear that, in the grand scheme of things, Trump’s first-term corruption was penny-ante, involving tens of millions of dollars rather than billions. It’s not that Trump was less greedy; he simply lacked the imagination and connections to realize how the presidency could really be milked on a grand scale. But his four years out of office allowed him to remake his business empire, moving into realms like social media (with Truth Social) and cryptocurrency [where his sons play]. During these years, the Trump family also deepened its ties to the wealthy elites of Middle Eastern petro-states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These shifts allowed Trump to move from being a relatively small-scale con man to his current position as perhaps the most corrupt elected official in human history.” Jeet Heer in The Nation
Cuba’s energy back is against the wall with oil supplies from Venezuela (and possibly an extorted Mexico) falling to a trickle. “Might renewables come to the rescue? ‘Much as they would like to, they can’t take the sun away’, said one official I queried in 2025. China has recently been financing solar projects throughout the country, and it is imaginable that the situation could be transformed relatively quickly: in 2023 total electricity generated amounted to 54,304 MWh per day, of which just 457.5 MWh, 0.8%, came from solar, but solar capacity is now apparently 3250 MWh per day — a 610% increase in just a couple of years. While still a fairly small part of what is needed (about 6% of the 2023 total), this figure is forecast to triple, at minimum, by 2030, putting solar at around 18% of the total.” New Left Review TX our comrade Dan S’s 5 Lefty Links
“Alex Pretti, a VA nurse, was a member of AFGE (American Federation of Government Employees). The Border patrol agents who murdered him were also AFGE members. The role of police unions within the house of labor has long been a source of inter-union difference; in this age of ever more openly and unabashed police violence cheered on by the Trump Administration, the challenge it poses has become ever greater.” Tim Shorrock writes in Empire Blues
The ACLU has been a key player in defense of civil liberties, and it has worked on behalf of the rights of prisoners, challenging the carceral state. It has fought back against book bannings, and it supports bodily autonomy and racial justice. Yet being a defender of human rights should also mean respecting workers’ rights — but not so for the ACLU. They have not only pulled out all stops to oppose staff unionization, they are appealing to the NLRB to restrict workers' fights to free speech. Matt Bruenig has the details in Jacobin.
This is the weekly newsletter of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America (MDC DSA), which is produced by
local members of the chapter's Publications working group. The Weekly Update publishes every Friday at
9am.
Paid for by Metro DC DSA (mdcdsa.org). Not authorized by any candidate or committee.
Thinking about it, but want to get this email Update every Friday? SIGN UP
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The flame of thought, the magnificence of art, the wonder of discovery, and the audacity of invention
all belong to revolutionary periods when humanity, tired of its chains, shatters them and stops inebriated to
breathe the breeze of a vast and free horizon. - Virgilia D'Andrea
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