Metro DC DSA Weekly Update for Friday, September 6, 2019


** What's On This Week
------------------------------------------------------------
Comrade, TOMORROW: MDC DSA’S GBM AND CAMPAIGNS FAIR

Are you new to the chapter and would like to meet other members?
Have you been a member but don’t know how to get involved?
Then join us for our Fall Campaigns Fair and September GBM! It’s tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 7at the Arthur Capper Community Center, 1000 5th St. SE ([link removed]) , from 2:30 to 4:30 PM. (Yes, the GBM is on Saturday)
There will be representatives from various working groups to talk to individuals about how to get involved in their campaigns!

And there will be food! We also strongly encourage individuals to bring a treat/snack to share ([link removed]) ! Follow the link to coordinate food, and please make sure to label foods for allergy purposes.
------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: Results of chapter vote on resolution on earmarked funds, debated at the August GBM:
>>Amendment to Resolution to Designate Earmarked Monies: Passes
>>Amended Resolution to Designate Earmarked Monies: Passes
------------------------------------------------------------
HELP DSA FOR BERNIE GET STARTED
Metro DC DSA is getting started on our canvassing and outreach operation in support of Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign! This is an exciting opportunity to support the strongest democratic socialist electoral campaign in more than a century, to raise class consciousness in our region, and to recruit more workers to join DSA. Because we are running an independent expenditure campaign, we have the freedom to print our own literature about what democratic socialism has to offer working people in DC, Maryland, and Virginia and control our own messaging and outreach.

But that freedom means we have to independently fundraise to cover printing and event costs. Right now our working group has set a fundraising goal of $10,000 to cover all expenses for the program. Our chapter has come together to help candidates fundraise in the past, and we’re certain we can meet this goal in order to empower our comrades to support democratic socialism at the national level and organize the working class at the local level.

Can you make a donation of $5, $10, $27, or whatever you can spare today in order to support MDC DSA’s Bernie Working Group? Here’s the link to donate: [link removed]

Thank you so much for your support.

In Solidarity,
Ben D. and Brad C.
Co-Chairs, MDC DSA for Bernie Working Group
------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL CHANCE TO NOMINATE A COMRADE FOR INTERNAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR
Do you enjoy planning events, helping the chapter develop, and helping fellow members learn more about democratic socialism? Nominate yourself or a comrade ([link removed]) who is passionate about these critical priorities for Internal Organizing Co-Chair – a position elected chapter-wide.
The Internal Organizing Committee deals with crucial issues of membership recruitment and retention, oversees the Member Mobilizers program, oversees and helps run trainings, and assists in political education efforts.
They help run our incredible Socialist Night School program, helping educate comrades about topics such as Socialism 101, social reproduction theory, and the American labor movement.
Please nominate yourself or a comrade ([link removed]) who you think would be great at organizing all of the above. A strong Internal Organizing Committee is critical to a healthy chapter!
Nominations will close on midnight Saturday, 09/07/2019. You need five nominations to be on the ballot.
------------------------------------------------------------
BRIEFS
Tuesday September 24^th —Next Labor Working Group Meeting from 6:30-8:00 PM at 1616 P St NW, Suite 150. We will have a Zoom link available.
Solidarity — DSA Stands with Grocery Workers! March with Giant and Safeway UFCW Local 400 members as they prepare for bargaining Thursday September 12th at 11 AM ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Justice for Muslims Collective & The Sanctuaries DC are launching a timeline exhibit of the War on Terror and how it’s targeted Muslims and institutionalized state violence here and abroad. They are holding a launch event and interactive session with guest speakers on Wed. Sept. 11^th, from 5-8 PM, at 1200 U St NW. For more information and to register (the event is free), please visit [link removed], and share the Facebook event at [link removed]
------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to our comrade Maria B for this calendar of September events leading up to Shut Down DC, a local pivot point of the worldwide Climate Strike activities Sept. 20-23 [link removed]
------------------------------------------------------------
DC PAID FAMILY LEAVE AT RISK — Solidarity Ask from DC Jobs with Justice and ally Jews United for Justice – speak out this weekend for inclusion.
D.C.’s Office of Paid Family Leave has published key regulations that will determine who gets access to paid leave next year. Under the released regulations 58,000 workers in DC would be unable to access paid family leave due to a lack of employment protections. ([link removed]) This is unacceptable.
Union City reported Aug. 21 ““Under these regs, tens of thousands of workers, especially low-income women of color, may not be able to access paid family leave.”
We have until September 9^th to speak up. Please join DC Jobs with Justice and Jews United for Justice in reaching out to Paid Family Leave administrators and asking them to implement truly universal paid family leave. Click here to take action! ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
DC United Against Hate is hosting a panel/discussion on the fight against eco-fascism, in the run-up to the Climate Strike. The event will be on Tuesday, Sept. 17^th from 6:30-8:30 PM at The Potter’s House in DC (1658 Columbia Rd NW). The FB event link and more information is here: [link removed] -- Kaiser F
------------------------------------------------------------
This coming weekend the Just Pay Coalition (which includes the MDC DSA Labor WG) is doing worker outreach to talk to folks about how to protect themselves from wage theft and ensure they receive the new minimum wage as well as overtime pay, paid sick days, and (starting next year) paid family leave.
Sign up here: [link removed]
Friday Sep 6^th-- U Street Outreach, 4:00 – 7:00 pm (Meet at U street Metro)
Saturday Sep 7^th-- Anacostia Metro Outreach, 1:00 – 4:00 pm (Meet at Anacostia Metro Station)
Sunday, Sep 8^th --Columbia Heights, 1:00 – 4:00 pm (Meet outside CVS at 3031 14^th St NW)
Email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) if you have any questions.
------------------------------------------------------------
Curious about Metro DC DSA? MDC DSA’s website has expanded resources on our chapter Campaigns, WGs and Caucuses – check it out here ([link removed]) . Is your campaign, caucus or working group properly represented? Contact [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) , attn: web managers .
------------------------------------------------------------
MDC DSA Publications Schedule for September: Weekly Updates are scheduled in September for Friday Sept. 13, 20 and 27 and the October Washington Socialist will publish on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Article deadline for October will be Wednesday, Sept. 25.
Our activism gains support when it is explained in a socialist context and voice, so submit your contribution to our ongoing narrative here (mailto:[email protected]) . “Pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will,” to use Gramsci’s formulation, are best explicated as a paired mental activity in – what else – the written word. Get busy.
Opinion pieces, campaign updates, coverage of rallies, socialist illustrations or photo essays – all are welcome and valued. Check our submission guidelines ([link removed]) , and mind the deadlines. Thinking about writing an article but wondering if the subject has been covered here, and how recently? You can find out in the Index for 2016-18 ([link removed]) . This Labor Day issue includes the Washington Socialist Index for January-August ([link removed]) 2019. The 2012-2015 issues are collected in per-month PDFs; look at the Archive section on the right of the mdcdsa.org website’s Washington Socialist page ([link removed]) . And web warriors can start by talking with us about keeping the mdcdsa.org site fresh and up to date. It’s all of a piece, comrades.
Yours in solidarity, The Publications Working Group


** MDC DSA Events for September
------------------------------------------------------------
Follow links for details

Saturday, SEP 7 11 AM -3 PM
Migrant Justice: Research Training ([link removed])
501 3rd St NW ([link removed])
MDC DSA has marched on the homes of deportation profiteers behind private prisons, surveillance companies, and ICE itself. Join us as we choose our next target and plan our upcoming profiteer action! Follow link for details

Saturday, SEP 7 2:30 PM
Metro DC DSA Monthly General Body Meeting and Campaigns Fair ([link removed])
Arthur Capper Community Center ([link removed]) , 1001 5^th St. SE, Washington, DC, 20003
The monthly meeting of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America is a Campaigns Fair with potluck ([link removed]) . Follow link for details

Sunday, SEP 8 9 AM-Noon
Community Garden Work Day ([link removed])
643 G St SE · Washington, DC ([link removed])
Join the Metro DC DSA Community Gardening Group for putting the finishing touches on one of our raised beds! Follow link for details

Sunday, SEP 8 12-6 PM
DMV for Bernie Canvass Kickoff ([link removed])
Takoma – 327 Cedar St. NW ([link removed])
We are kicking off our first canvass for Bernie in Takoma Park! We are committed to electing Bernie Sanders because he is the only candidate in the race who will fight for our class. See you there. Follow link for details

Thursday, SEP 12 6:30-8 PM
Migrant Justice Action: Stand Up to Deportation Profiteers ([link removed])
The executives of for-profit companies providing key services to ICE make millions for destroying lives in our community. Join MDC DSA as we expose the fifth profiteer. Register here ([link removed]) to join the action. Follow link for details

Thursday, SEP 12 8-11 PM
DC for Bernie Democratic Debate Watch Party​ ([link removed])
Red Derby ([link removed]) 3718 14^th St NW · Washington, DC
Join MDC DSA as we watch Bernie Sanders take a stand for our values and against the corporate, capitalist hegemony that dominates the Democratic Party – and learn how you can get involved in our campaigning for Bernie. Follow link for details

Sunday SEP 15 2:00 PM
MoCo DSA 🌹General Branch Meeting ([link removed])
Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department, 7201 Carroll Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912
Please join us for our September branch meeting! Help us build our vision for equality, democracy, and socialism in Montgomery County. Afterwards, we’ll adjourn to a local establishment for a social hour. See you then! Follow link for details

Monday SEP 16 7-8:30 PM
NOVA Branch Organizing Meeting ([link removed])
Richard Byrd Library 7250 Commerce St · Springfield, VA ([link removed])
Welcome to our monthly NOVA DSA organizing and planning meeting. Follow link for details

Wednesday SEP 18 7:00 PM
Steering Committee ([link removed])
Institute for Policy Studies, 1301 Connecticut Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20036
Steering Committee meetings are open to any MDC DSA member who would like to attend. Please RSVP and message the hosts if you would like to join by videoconference so we can make arrangements to get you the appropriate URL. Follow link for details

Sunday SEP 22 4:00 PM
Socialist Feminism Reading Group 🌹 ([link removed])
The Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Rd., NW, Washington, DC 20009
Please read our reading group Participation Guide ([link removed]) and join us as we explore and discuss topics within Socialist Feminism. 🌹 This month, our readings focus on your ideas. You can submit suggested articles ([link removed]) anytime — we can build a topic around them!

Thursday SEP 26 6:30 PM
DSA Happy Hour ([link removed])
The Midlands Beer Garden, 3333 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20010
Join us for our monthly happy hour! This is a great chance to meet and mingle with fellow comrades. No agenda, no work, and no politics… well, maybe a little politics. Happy hours, like most MDC DSA events, are open to members and non-members alike! Come join us in an informal setting to learn more. Follow link for details

Thursday SEP 26 6:00 PM
Disability Justice Working Group Meeting ([link removed])
The Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Rd NW, Washington, DC 20009
Join Metro DC DSA Disability Justice Working Group for our monthly meeting. Learn how to get involved in the various campaigns to empower and liberate the disabled community from the oppressive capitalist system. We meet on the first floor of the ADA-compliant Festival Center. ASL interpretation will be provided on request. Follow link for details
------------------------------------------------------------


** Events from Our Allies in the DMV
------------------------------------------------------------
Follow links for details
When They See Us: Organizing Conversation ([link removed]) — 1:00 PM, ATU 689, 2701 Whitney Pl, District Heights, MD 20747 — Join Progressive Maryland’s Justice Task Force, Former NAACP President Ben Jealous, and other special guests for a discussion about our criminal legal system and learn about our plan for action to end mass incarceration here in Maryland.

SUN Sep 8 #UnitedAndFree Community Meeting ([link removed]) 5-8 PM Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, 2709 Hunter Mill Rd, Oakton, VA 22124 – Hosted by La ColectiVA and 10 others: [link removed] ([link removed])
Join community members and organizations to demand migrant children remain #UnitedAndFree with their families and communities! The federal government is attempting to open another migrant youth jail in Virginia and it’s up to us to oppose this plan. Follow link for more information.

MON Sept 9 Listening Sessions: Are you in the know about Paid Family Leave ([link removed]) 12:30 -2:30 PM at Busboys and Poets 2021 14^th St. NW Wash, DC 20009 Hosted by Restaurant Opportunities Center of Washington DC (ROC-DC): See Aug 26 entry.

MON, Sept 9 BOOK TALK New York Times journalist Steven Greenhouse discusses his new book, Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor. 12:30 -2 PM at Economic Policy Institute 1225 Eye St. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC xxxxxx — Greenhouse chronicles the rise (and decline) of unions in the US and explores models for rebuilding worker power, including the #RedforEd teachers strikes, the Fight for $15, and bargaining for the common good. RSVP ([link removed])

MON Sept 9 September DC Climate Coalition Meeting ([link removed]) 6:30– 8:30 PM, 50 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001-1525 (Sierra Club office) Agenda will include the climate strike, bylaws, and continuing CEDC implementation. Hosted by DC Climate Coalition and 6 others. [link removed] ([link removed]) Volunteer signup form ([link removed])

TUES Sept 10 Book Event: Living and Dying on the Factory Floor ([link removed]) 4-5:30 PM, Institute for Policy Studies 1301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 6^th Floor Washington, DC 20036 co-sponsored with Economic Policy Institute. Moderated by Sarita Gupta, former Executive Director of Jobs With Justice — David Ranney’s vivid memoir describes his experiences between 1976 and 1982 in the factories of southeast Chicago and northwest Indiana.

WED Sept 11 Greenbelt Climate Action Network A Just Transition from Coal in Maryland ([link removed]) 7:00 – 9:00 pm conversation with Matt Dernoga, Maryland Sierra Club Beyond Coal rep, about Maryland’s six remaining coal fired power plants. We will discuss their impacts on public health and the climate, and how we can lead the way in Maryland with a just transition to clean energy. Greenbelt Community Center, Room 114 15 Crescent Road, Greenbelt, MD [link removed]

THU Sept 12 Empower DC Happy Hour Fundraiser ([link removed]) 6-9 PM Saloon, 1205 U Street Northwest Washington, DC 20009 RSVP ([link removed])

THUR Sept. 12 Poor People’s Campaign MoCo planning meeting 6:30-8:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville – 100 Welsh Park Dr., Rockville, MD.

SAT Sept. 14 – 350MoCo town hall on climate action, 11 AM t 1:30 PM, Silver Spring Civic Center [link removed]

MON Sept 16 Billy Bragg talks about his book Three Dimensions of Freedom at Politics and Prose [link removed]
TUE Sept 17 In Defense of American Democracy ([link removed]) – day-long session at the GWU Marvin Center with a star-studded guest list and some surprises; organized by Shanker Institute, AFT and Forward Together. Follow link for more information.

TUE Sept 17 DC United Against Hate panel/discussion on the fight against eco-fascism ([link removed]) , 6:30-8:30 PM at The Potter’s House in DC (1658 Columbia Rd NW) part of the run-up to the worldwide Climate Strike Sept. 20-23. [link removed]

WED Sept 21 Deep Canvass with SURJ ([link removed]) 11 AM – 5 PM Sponsored by SURJ Northern Virginia and Showing Up for Racial Justice – SURJ – DC: at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville, in Maryland. The registration form is coming soon. Follow link for more information.

THURS Sept 26 DC Stand Up Against “RIA” Displacement at Brookland Manor ([link removed]) 8 AM
District of Columbia Government DC Court of Appeals 430 E Street, NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20001 Hosted by LinkUp and Brookland Manor/Brentwood Village Residents Association:
8 AM rally; 9:30 AM pack the courtroom to protest DC’s intrusive, tax-subsidized “Rhode Island Avenue” project and its potential for displacing Brookland Manor residents. More info: linkupitsofficial.org/dc-stand-up ([link removed])

SAT Sept 28 Poor People’s Campaign Prince George’s Co planning meeting, 12-2 PM Oxon Hill Library 6200 Oxon Hill Rd, Oxon Hill, MD 20745
SUN Sept 29 – The path to single payer health care in Maryland, ([link removed]) 1:30 – 4:30 PM at Elkridge Library – 6450 Washington Boulevard, Elkridge, MD 21075 — Join Senator Paul Pinsky, Chair of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee in the Senate, and Delegate Terri Hill, of the Health and Government Operations Committee in the House, for a discussion of the road map to Single Payer in Maryland. Follow link for more information.
[link removed]

MON Sep 30 ROC DC Monthly Meeting! ([link removed]) 1-3 PM Restaurant Opportunity Center DC, Second Floor, 1100 Florida Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009 [link removed] ([link removed])
Come together and meet other restaurant and tipped workers in DC who want to build worker power in order to improve wages and working conditions in the DC restaurant industry! Follow link for more information.

THURS Oct 3 The Epiphany Power Hour: ONE DC ([link removed]) 12:10-1 PM at The Church of the Epiphany 1317 G St NW, DC xxxxxx Claire Cook and Kelly Iradukunda of ONE DC teach us about organizing in our city. Hosted EVERY THURSDAY by The Church of the Epiphany and ONE DC ([link removed]) : [link removed] ([link removed])

SAT Oct 5 Street Law 101: Know Your Rights Training ([link removed]-) 1-3 PM – Dorothy I. Height/Benning Neighborhood Library, 3935 Benning Rd NE, Washington, DC 20019, Hosted by Black Lives Matter DC and Keep DC 4 Me: [link removed] ([link removed]-)
The people most targeted by police MUST have critical information about their rights during police interactions.

------------------------------------------------------------
GOOD READS

>>A long but thoughtful discussion of labor strategy decisions like those of DSA and how they might actually fit into the struggle when community factors enter the equation and “organizing at the workplace, however critical it may be, must concern itself with more than workplace issues.” Making the rounds among national caucus pages… [link removed]

>>The Guardian columnist Gary Younge is reporting from a tour of the US about folks on the identified left as compared to his experience reporting on previous US presidential campaigns: “What is different about this moment is that the momentum on the left seems to be propelled by a potentially combustible combination of both sentiments: an urgent need to prevent the rapid and deep degradation in national politics that has escalated since the [2016] election; but also an inspiration that something better and more robust must also follow. There is an acute sentiment that getting rid of Trump is insufficient…” That’s from the second of a promised five columns: [link removed]
Here's the first one, revisiting voters and activists whom Younge covered before the 2016 election: [link removed]
And the third, on the number of women moved from anger to politics by Trump’s defeat of the first female Presidential candidate [link removed]

>>Several members, including local comrades, have been commenting on and sharing around this article from the NYC local – a discussion of caucuses, their pluses and minuses in the ongoing work of building the organization. A productive discussion, certainly with more to be said. [link removed]

>>Here's a useful (?!) WAPO article by an old hand on regional issues that summarizes a longer, nerdy report. Our comrade Alex at our #regionalamazon campaign posted it. The headline rather blandly hints at the actual crisis: [link removed]
And here is the longer, nerdy report, frequently favored by our readers: [link removed]

>>An article from the Virginia Mercury by a law professor outlines how very out of date labor law is when it comes to dealing with modern workplace, automation and employment conditions [link removed]

>>What this author calls “triangulating the truth” (which also could be called “playing the odds”) got the attention of an old comrade of the Update compiler who lives in Upstate New York, former Special Forces (where paying attention to evidence is dogma) who has become quite savvy-left as we have aged in our respective places. He recommends this piece (which made its way up to an Upstate NY free weekly from our local Carroll County [Md.] Times!) as a model of how to make our arguments about the climate crisis (and on to ecosocialism) by establishing common facts and discourse first. “Far too often,” the old friend says, “we try to change the opinions of conservatives with vocabulary, style, and references that turn off the intended readers instead of swaying them.” [link removed]

>>An appreciation of the sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein, who died just before Labor Day: “Wallerstein was a sociologist fully committed to the fate of the world and, above all, to the fate of the more vulnerable populations, whose liberation, he believed, would be possible only in a post capitalist, socialist society. … His scientific stance made him question Western, Eurocentric thinking as a whole.” [link removed]
VIEW ALL UPCOMING DC DSA EVENTS ([link removed])

============================================================
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
Copyright © 2019 Metro DC DSA. All rights reserved.

You're on this list because you signed up at an event or meeting held by the
Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America | ** Email us (mailto:[email protected])

Our mailing address is:
Metro DC DSA
1301 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
USA

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])