VOTE for Metro DC DSA's 2023 steering committee and priority campaigns — ballots close Saturday, December 17
This past weekend, Metro DC DSA convened its annual convention to discuss important priority campaigns and resolutions. Now, voting is currently underway to determine the makeup of the next Steering Committee and our chapter’s priority campaigns for the coming year. Ballots were sent out via email on Tuesday, Dec 13. If you are a member and did not receive the email, check your spam folder, or search your inbox for a ballot from [email protected]. Your vote must be submitted by 11:59pm TOMORROW (Saturday, December 17).
If you believe you are eligible to vote but have not received a ballot, email [email protected], and our internal elections department will reach out to you to help get your vote counted. You can also reach out for extended discussion if you are on the chapter slack in the #2022-december-convention channel.
Voting in local leadership and campaign resolutions is a critical component of Democratic Socialism – it is how the chapter develops a consistent vision of socialism which is both accountable and strategic. It does not matter if you are an old, lapsed, or new member – your input matters! Ballots include Steering candidate statements and applications for priority campaigns so you can get caught up on what’s being decided.
Maryland statewide DSA meeting — Sunday, December 18
Join Montgomery County DSA, Frederick DSA, Southern Maryland DSA, Prince George’s County DSA and Greater Baltimore DSA for a statewide gathering and holiday party ahead of the 2023 session of the Maryland General Assembly at 2pm at the Silver Spring Library (900 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring, MD). All interested DSA members and allies from across the region are invited to join if they can. In addition to a discussion about power in Annapolis, a discussion will include time to mingle and socialize. Feel free to bring any organizing swag or holiday cookies to exchange with comrades!
There is free parking across the street at the Wayne Avenue Garage (921 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring, MD), and the meeting location is walkable from the Silver Spring Metro. Join us afterwards for a happy hour at nearby Silver Branch Brewing with special guest Del. Gabriel Acevero. Full details and RSVP here.
Buena Vista Tenants Co-op purchase celebration — Sunday, December 18
Come celebrate the first DSA-supported co-op purchase in the country!
For over two years, the tenants of Buena Vista Apartments have been organizing to reclaim their homes and health from the greed of their landlord. Using their experience as local union leaders and organizers for land reform efforts in Honduras, and with the support of MDC DSA’s Stomp Out Slumlords campaign, tenants have pushed forward through the byzantine development process and successfully secured financing for a purchase loan. This struggle culminated this month with the formal purchase of the property and the formation of the Buena Vista Tenants Limited Equity Co-op!
Come celebrate this victory with the tenant organizers, now tenant-owners, on December 18th at 11am with a potluck brunch! Stomp Out Slumlords will also be bringing food and drink to commemorate a long fought and hard won victory and prepare for the next steps of repairing and renovating the decrepit building. If you’re new to tenant organizing, would like to learn more about forming a limited equity co-op, or have been hungering to see what a housing victory looks like, sign up for additional details here!
BRIEFS
Stomp Out Slumlords anti-eviction canvassing — Saturday, December 17
On December 17th at 1:30pm, Stomp Out Slumlords, will be conducting an anti-eviction canvass in DC. SOS will be informing tenants facing eviction about their rights in court and how to get a lawyer, as well as provide resources for building organizing. Tenants that SOS speaks to are twice as likely to go to court and fight their eviction, so every volunteer can make a big impact.
Anyone interested in tenant organizing is invited to attend. Organizers will help train newcomers in the process. (Please sign up here so organizers can reach you.) SOS will be meeting at the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station near the D Street exit between 6th and 7th, above the escalators (if the weather is bad, the meeting spot will be downstairs just before the turnstiles). If you have a car, please drive it down to the meeting spot, as cars are helpful for getting canvassers to Metro-inaccessible areas. After canvassing, the group will meet at Sonny’s in Park View to socialize and debrief.
600 workers at Maryland's Office of the Public Defender win union election
From Union City (Thurs): Workers at the Maryland Office of the Public Defender (OPD) on Tuesday won their union election, voting to certify AFSCME Maryland Council 3 as their exclusive bargaining representative. AFSCME Maryland Council 3 president Patrick Moran called the vote “a big win for OPD workers who have been fighting to have their voices heard and respected in their workplaces.” The two bargaining units included in the pact span the entire state in 12 different districts.
PFFC Annual Homeless Memorial Vigil — Tuesday, December 20
The People for Fairness Coalition is holding their Annual Homeless Memorial Vigil on Tuesday from 5-7pm, starting at Luther Place Memorial Church (1226 Vermont Ave NW) and ending at Freedom Plaza (1301 Pennsylvania Ave NW). Specifically, they are looking for 4-6 DSA members to support marshaling. If you are interested, please see Kurtis’s post on #action-alerts. Questions and donations can also be sent to [email protected].
La Colombe sip in — Sunday, December 18
Workers at La Colombe Coffee Roasters in Chinatown are preparing to vote in their first union election on December 23. In preparation, they are hosting a sip in on Sunday, December 18 from 12-3pm to chat, relax and celebrate their impending union certification. Please stop by to spread good cheer, and remember to tip your barista. (You can follow La Colombe DC's communications on twitter here.)
Rally for Potomac Holistics — Friday, December 16
Potomac Holistics in Rockville, MD is gearing up to unionize their dispensary! They are holding a rally TODAY, Friday, December 16 from 3-5pm and ask that people show up in solidarity as they begin the fight for increased pay and paid time off. They already have the unanimous support of eligible employees and are calling for voluntary recognition. Remember to tip your budtender (and you can sign a letter of support here).
Maryland Statewide Meeting — Sunday, December 18 in Silver Spring
Join Montgomery County DSA, Frederick DSA, Southern Maryland DSA, PG County DSA and Greater Baltimore DSA for a statewide gathering ahead of the 2023 session of the Maryland General Assembly at the Silver Spring Library (900 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring, MD). We’ll hear from advocates working on social and economic justice issues in the session, discuss how Annapolis works as well as network with each other about our ongoing campaigns. All interested DSA members and allies are invited.
There is free parking across the street at the Wayne Avenue Garage (921 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring, MD), and the meeting location is walkable from the Silver Spring Metro. Join us afterwards for a happy hour at nearby Silver Branch Brewing with special guest Del. Gabriel Acevero. Full details and RSVP here.
Interested in leading a reading group?
The Political Ed team is gearing up for Spring Reading Groups — if you are interested in coordinating a specific book/reading or leading one of several groups focusing on Marx’s Capital, fill out this interest form or reach out directly to Jackson or Liz.
INFO ACCESS
Weekly Update Tip Line: The Metro DC DSA Tip Line is live. If you have news or events that you think should be promoted in the Weekly Update, please submit it to the form above. Include your contact information and any details you can for consideration.
Publications Schedule: December’s Weekly Updates will drop on Fridays, December 16, 23 and 30. The Washington Socialist monthly newsletter for January (!!) 2023 (!!) will be published in harness with the January 6 Update. The article deadline for the January Washington Socialist is December 24, the eve of etc., so plan your path around a potential conflict early …
The Washington Socialist welcomes articles — solo or collaborative responses — from our many Fall reading groups; pass along what you are learning and thinking to your comrades who aren’t present and to our wider readership on the DMV left. Join our #publications channel to chat this up on Slack and send individual or group responses to [email protected]. Check out the December Socialist — including articles on decarbonizing the District, transforming College Park from company town to union town, an investigation into the motives of YIMBYs of NOVA, and more — here.
Available as a member resource on the local chapter website is the road map of MDC DSA’s activities — campaigns, working groups etc., including our three branches. Want to see our chapter activities laid out in monthly calendar form? Here it is.
Red Desk is where all members can go to request support, calendar links for events, etc. for their campaigns and working group needs. How to access and use Red Desk? Here are some visual how-tos.
COMMUNITY BULLETIN
Women Cooking In Prison: Food Justice in Jails & Prisons | Who Speaks for Me? Who Speaks For Me? is hosting its third annual fundraiser, Women Cooking In Prison: Food Justice in Jails & Prisons on December 16, from 6-8pm. Women who have survived incarceration will share their recipes and demonstrate how they made gourmet meals from food purchased from the commissary using microwaves, clothing irons and hot water. They will walk through each step and show you how they survived food injustice in carceral spaces. This event will raise awareness about how community is formed around food and cooking in jails and prisons. It is also an opportunity for you to learn the importance of advocating for access to a variety of healthy food — including vegetarian and vegan meals — for incarcerated people. This show is offered in-person (Eaton DC, 1201 K Street NW) and live-streamed and is ticketed.
Winter Clothing Drive | DC Fair Food and Happy Hour Fund Drop off your gently used or new warm clothing this Saturday, December 17 at Mt Pleasant Farmers Market! DC Fair Food and Happy Hour Fund are co-hosting a clothing drive drop off from 10am-12pm at the farmers market. Accessories (e.g., hats, gloves, scarves) will also be accepted in addition to clothing and coats.
Community Table | Miner Mutual Aid Network & Ward 6 Mutual Aid There will be a community resource table at Miner Elementary School (601 15th Street NE) this Saturday, December 17, starting at 11am! Free cleaning supplies, clothes, food boxes, household items and more will be available (no questions asked) to community members.
Film Screening, The Shadow of Gold | Reel and Meal On Monday, December 19 at 7pm, Reel and Meal presents The Shadow of Gold at the New Deal Café (113 Centerway, Roosevelt Center in Greenbelt). The film details the gold extraction processes of mining companies that dig deep and lop off mountaintops, exploiting some twenty million miners in the world’s poorest nations in the process. Discussion after the screening will be led by local labor activist and PG DSA comrade Kurt Stand. The film will be presented hybrid-style with seating at the café; prior registration is required for virtual attendees. Joining virtually will be possible anytime after 6:45pm.
ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC
The Pandemic Has Exacerbated a Long-Standing National Shortage of Teachers, our comrades at the Economic Policy Institute report, adding rigor to everyone’s intuitive read of where our schools have landed post-COVID, and how. “The pandemic exacerbated a preexisting and long-standing shortage of teachers. The shortage is, instead, the result of a lack of qualified teachers willing to work in what has long been a highly stressful job for compensation that is well below what is available to college-educated workers in other professions.” Via Portside.
“2023 is the year Capitalism and Journalism finally break up,” predicts media prof Victor Pickard in the Niemanlab’s anthology of forecasts for the coming comms year. “Capitalist logics wire our news media to behave in antisocial ways, from exploiting news workers to privileging some audiences (whiter, wealthier) over others. Various forms of redlining and market censorship — patterns of exclusion and bias — are baked into the system.”
Eviction protection in Maryland may be waning: Maryland received about $750 million in emergency rental assistance funds, and some say it successfully prevented a wave of evictions predicted early in the pandemic. As of June 30, more than 82,000 Maryland households had received emergency rental assistance, according to state data. Now, as in other states, that money is running out, and there’s no indication the federal government will be doling out more. The article is from The Baltimore Sun; a paywall may intervene.
Degrowth can work — here’s how science can help, argues an editorial in Nature, referencing recents reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. New research continues to emerge supporting a shift away from growth as a continuing economic necessity. Shorter work weeks, increased availability of public services, and decreased production of harmful commodities like cars, meat, and fast fashion seem increasingly instrumental in creating a fair and sustainable economic system.
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 vaster and freer horizon..
- Virgilia D'Andrea
Sent via ActionNetwork.org.
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