DSA

It is hard to imagine the future. When I was a young hip hop head in Washington DC in the early 1990s it was inconceivable that icons Ice Cube, LL Cool J, and Ice T would join the police propaganda machine playing cops in mainstream movies and TV shows. What would Biggie think?

S. Trotter seems to ask this question in their piece Rappers Die Every Day B in Swords into Plowshares’ current exhibit Detroit 2050: A Future Beyond Billionaires. Like Trotter, most of the artists in the show focus on the present and the past rather than that oh so hard to imagine future.

In the present, Mike Williams looks at billionaires’ appropriation of our neighborhoods, children, and very lives from the perspective of Greek and Roman sacrifice. His painting, One Hundred White Bulls, depicts “a symbolic herd of sacrifice” to remind us that we are the resources sacrificed to capitalist greed.

Finland. Land of saunas. Happiest place on earth. One of the homes of Nordic Socialism.

Being half-Finnish from my father’s side, I’ve always wanted to visit Finland, and have been a bit jealous of my relatives fortunate enough to do so. I’ve got one benefit going for me, however, that my relatives don’t: I’m a member of DSA, and I’m curious to see how Finland’s brand of “Nordic socialism” works for their people.

As I started plotting out my places to visit in Helsinki this fall, I realized I was staying near the Socialist Democratic Party (SDP) national headquarters. The SDP is the largest party in Finland by membership, and is a driving force behind what is often called “Nordic socialism” and something all the nations of Northern Europe are famous for: Although they have not exactly dismantled Capitalism, they generally have a much stronger social safety net than countries like the United States, and have enacted many policies that socialists here would want to see. (Some of us may debate whether they are truly “Socialist,” but that debate is outside the scope of this article.)

Standing outside Delaney Hall, Newark’s ICE detention center that was re-opened shortly into Trump’s second term, you can often smell rotting animal carcasses. That is because there’s a fat rendering plant nearby. The wind is harsh, the cold feels especially bitter, and whenever trains pass through they honk their horns the entire time. This industrial corner of Newark is not habitable for human beings. Whenever someone expresses interest in volunteering at Delaney Hall, I tell them that I don’t recommend they do so if they have pulmonary issues.

Families line up for an hour before seeing their loved ones. They previously had to wait for longer but the visitation schedule has become more organized in the last few months. Children of all ages attend visitations with whichever guardians haven’t been kidnapped by the state. They have a harder time waiting in line for an hour, so they often run around in the mini parking lot in front of the main guard station.

Statement from the North NJ DSA Executive Committee

Jake Ephros and Joel Brooks are both longtime North NJ DSA members and organizers at heart, leading campaigns for labor and tenants’ rights in both Jersey City and the state at large, and they centered these fights in their campaigns. They ran on a platform with the interests of the working class at the forefront, fighting for universal rent control, universal childcare, and safe, clean, green streets. Wards B and D represent some of the most diverse and working-class areas in the city, and a platform addressing their basic material needs resonated with them so strongly that Jake and Joel each won by over 20 points!

Jersey City voters made state history on Tuesday, electing the first two socialists in city history and the first two socialists in the state of New Jersey in nearly 100 years! Not since William Brueckman, the former Mayor of Haledon (1912-1918, 1924-1928) who ran on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America, has New Jersey seen a socialist in elected office. Mayor Brueckman famously assisted the organizers of the 1913 Paterson Silk Strike, who used Haledon as an organizing base and rallying area for striking workers.

Jersey City voters decisively rejected Jim McGreevey and corporate control of the City Council. MAGA billionaires and establishment Democratic politicians opposed our campaigns, spent millions of dollars to front landlord and developer interests, and all of it went to waste in the face of the movement democratic socialists are building here in New Jersey and all around the country.

Jake and Joel’s campaigns represented what democratic socialism is all about, bringing the power to change the course of all of our lives back to tenants, back to workers, and back to all of us!

Come build a better world with us: dsausa.org/join

Solidarity Forever!

While you were picking up your kids from school, Joe Hogsett, backed by Statehouse Republicans, and billionaire lobby groups decided that a democratically-elected school board isn’t profitable enough.

The unrepentant abuser who runs our city as a playground for predators and capitalists made sure to find a time he knew he could sneak through a measure to consolidate education power in his own person, and away from any semblance of genuine governance by the people.

As whatever parents and students were able to get there in time yelled, begging the mayor and his handpicked board to preserve what democratic accountability remains in our rapidly recovering local public school system, they smiled and shook hands, knowing they all had fat checks ready to cash in exchange for their betrayal of Indianapolis and democratic values.

This is hardly over.

Join Central IN DSA and community partners TOMORROW, Dec 4, 5pm at Purpose of Life Church 3705 W Kessler Blvd (38th and 65N).

We will be speaking out and putting forth our DEMOCRATIC plan for the future of IPS that puts ordinary people, not billionaire donors, in control of their schools. We will be notifying press and trying to gather as much support in-person as possible. Wear red, bring signs. We want to emphasize that this body is utterly ILLEGITIMATE and holds NO popular mandate of any kind.

No more games. No more fake shadow school boards. We know who is responsible for this.

We won’t forget, and we’re way beyond forgiveness.

Author: Andrew O.

“Theory” may be the most misused and misunderstood term on the left today. The popular understanding of theory, as simply things written in books, is deeply harmful to our movement. This understanding leaves the impression that theory is an object locked behind the elitist walls of academia, to be known of and kept only by those with the training and time to learn it. Frequently, this idea becomes an insistence that action is superior to theory, rather than the two not only being inseparable, but actually being one in the same.

This faux-debate seeks to make a distinction where none exists. Engaging with this debate at all limits our ability to organize and blinds us to the ways in which theory and action inform one another. When we give preference to action and minimize theory, we may occasionally hit on something that works, but we will have a limited understanding of why it worked or if it will work again in the future. On the other hand, preferencing theory and minimizing action limits our ability to effect change on the world around us. We must instead build a theoretical framework of the world to instruct our actions. This is essential to participating in a socialist movement.

Author: Barbie A

Day in and day out, more and more people are disappearing off of the streets of our communities. From migrants going in for routine immigration check ins and being detained, being targeted in traffic stops, being sought out on their way to work, or out right having their paperwork revoked from them and hunted down like animals. All across the United States, including here in Cleveland, people who call this place their home are having their lives destroyed by the racist and inhumane Trump administration. A country that once guaranteed safety and sanctuary is now trapped within a shifting system in which anyone could find themselves entangled with ICE or DHS, including U.S. citizens.

Living in the most diverse country in the world, with a long history of immigration, racism, colonization, imperialism, and injustice, as democratic socialist, it is our duty to show up for the marginalized groups of our community and stand up against fascism. During Trump’s campaign for presidency there was a lot of talk about expanding ICE operations and abilities to go after criminals, or “the worst of the worst” as he put it. For those of us familiar with the immigration system and the terminology around immigration, we understood clearly that they were going to use this opportunity of power to abuse their authority and go after undocumented migrants, child U.S. citizens, and various documented legal immigrants. A majority of immigrants who are undocumented did not come into the United States without being vetted first. Most immigrants enter the United States with legal status and end up falling out of status because of expiring paperwork, financial barriers, changes in their life situations, or for most it being that they do not have a legal way to obtain permanent residency or citizenship from the status they do have.

For example, those with temporary protected status (TPS), and people with other statuses of immigration, do not have a pathway to citizenship despite being legal documented migrants who must obey the law, pay taxes, and are excluded from social welfare, unemployment, social security benefits, and other rights afforded to US citizens. In most cases of immigration the only way to obtain citizenship is by being sponsored for a green card by an employer or by marrying a U.S. citizen. TPS holders and others are having their paperwork revoked or denied under the Trump administration. Migrants come to the United States seeking refuge and they have created lives with families, jobs, homes, businesses, and more, and yet they could lose everything they have paid and sacrificed for because this administration would rather punish the innocent than negotiate fair immigration reform. Migrants being deported who have U.S. born children have to decide between figuring out living situations for their kids here in the United States or bringing them to the countries where the parents are from but are of no familiarity to the children. This disenfranchises child U.S. citizens from having access to medical care, education, food, and many more opportunities.

We are watching the Trump administration abuse their power. The escalation is something we must be prepared for as we know anti-immigrant agencies have been rewarded $170 billion dollars via the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”. It’s imperative that all people in our country and region understand their rights under the constitution and what they’re lawfully protected to exercise.

So far we have seen Donald Trump use executive orders to try to revoke birthright citizenship (14th amendment) from people. We have seen the attacks on the fifth amendment by blatantly denying people their rights to due process, including denying people their rights to a fair hearing, to challenge deportation, or to their rights to challenge their unlawful detention (habeas corpus). Regardless of any person’s status they’re guaranteed the rights to the first amendment, in which we have seen the invasion of these protections and discriminatory practices used to target people for their rights to freedom of speech, rights to protest, rights to assemble, rights to petition the government, freedom of press, and the freedom to practice whatever religion they choose. Across the country we have also seen an overwhelming amount of evidence showing violations of the fourth amendment, which protects all people from themselves and their personal belongings illegally being searched or seized without a judicial signed warrant that would prove that there is substantial evidence to have this protection breached.

Recently the Supreme court has ruled (6-3) in favor of Noem (Kristi Noem) v. Vasquez Perdomo, in which it allows for racial profiling and discrimination. This opens the door to allowing immigration, and other enforcement, to violate the rights of all people. Agents are now permitted to bother people based on their appearance and ethnicity, language and accent, location and occupation, and other suspicionless stops. This has led to the arrests of U.S. citizens who are being treated inhumanely and having their rights violated. Cleveland DSA has vowed to commit to helping prepare the community and support immigrants during these turbulent times.

Cleveland DSA’s mission with our immigrant solidarity priority project is to show up for the communities of people who are many times forgotten about. Through preparation of our comrades to take part in our rapid response network, building and participating in extensive coalition efforts in greater Cleveland and surrounding areas, and showing up to support our communities in courtrooms, check ins, their places of employment or business, worship, and social activities; we want to meet people where they’re at and show them our commitment to justice and solidarity.

First we will start by preparing all comrades through various know your rights (KYR) training so that they can help our community to observe and document people’s interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and/or local law enforcement. When our chapter is prepared we will begin canvassing through Greater Cleveland’s businesses and organizations, churches, and public spaces, to prepare them for potential illegal raids. We will support the immigrant community by showing up in solidarity during court proceedings and check ins, time spent in detention centers, rapid response networks, protesting, and various mutual aid efforts. During this period we will build trust within the community and build our reputation to prove that democratic socialists care about the real issues facing the people in our neighborhood.

No matter anyone’s race, sex, age, language, origin, or status here in the United States, this fight impacts us all. To challenge the structural injustices that divide workers and communities, we must recognize that affirmation of the rights and humanity of immigrants is inseparable from the struggle for socialism and justice, because it confronts the very systems of exploitation, exclusion, and inequality that a society must overcome in order to truly be free. We must fight to dismantle the entrenched structure of the injustices that constrain human possibility, forging a path towards a society rooted in collective ownership, democratic empowerment, and genuine social equality!

Monthly Newsletter of the Rochester Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America

Welcome to the December issue of Rochester Red Star. This month, you can read statements from candidates for ROC DSA Steering Committee and Hearing Grievance Officers, notes from our outgoing Steering Committee, and a report from our Genesee County branch.

The issue also includes essays on topics including Democratic Party structure and strategies, farmers confronting the elimination of SNAP benefits, American exceptionalism, and more. Our newsletter contains upcoming events and coverage of chapter activities.

Interested in contributing? Send submissions to bit.ly/SubmitRedStar, or get involved with our Communications Committee. Reach out to steering@rocdsa.org and join DSA today!

I've been helping my local DSA chapter in panhandle of Florida (specific the emerald Coast). We had a friend's giving on the 23rd went great and donated all the leftovers to homeless shelters.

The next even that we have is canvassing and I'm certain that we are gonna help people register to vote.

I am honestly surprised at how much they done before joining and that there's regular meetings to attend, food shares to help with, and even a community garden club.

I do want a bigger dsa presence on the fediverse but obviously Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are bigger.

I'm. Always up for advice from other chapters

[Editor’s note: Detroit and Huron Valley DSAers fanned out across the metro area November 22 to support Starbucks workers — especially those on strike — in our biggest labor solidarity action since picketing with the Marathon Teamsters last year. DSAers picketed and leafleted at Starbucks in Ypsilanti, on 8 Mile, in Royal Oak, and on the East Side, with groups of comrades self-organizing to hold down the lines. The struck store in Ypsilanti has been completely closed since November 20, with management giving up on trying to reopen.

[As the national Starbucks strike continues, check DSA’s Labor Working group Slack for future actions.]

As the Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) unfair labor strike continues into its second week, hundreds more baristas from over 30 additional stores have joined the picket line nationwide. The Carpenter Road location in Ypsilanti is the first location in Michigan to officially join the strike, and more locations in Southeast Michigan are planning to join the strike in waves over the next few weeks.

by Elizabeth Henderson

Even with predictions of a colder winter than usual, the creative efforts of local farmers will make it possible for us to buy locally grown fresh and stored food. The Public Market and the Brighton Farmers Market stay open year-round. In November the Brighton market moves from the parking lot at the high school (1150 Winton Road) to an indoor space (1435 Westfall Road). A few exceptionally skilled farmers, like Schenk Homestead in Naples, have figured out how to grow greens year-round using hoop houses.

At the Public Market, you need to look sharp to find the local food. Though resale vendors predominate with produce from wherever, there are many area farms like Mason’s in Williamson, a major supplier of organic greens for Wegman’s with hundreds of acres of IPM fruit, Lagoner Farms in Williamson, Moss Family Farm, one of the few African-American-owned farms in our area, and Small World Foods that sells fermented foods made from local ingredients and also carries vegetables and mushrooms from other farms. Bolton Farms sells hydroponic produce, not as tasty as soil-grown, but fresh in the dead of winter. For meat eaters, there are some small local meat producers – Clearview sells beef and some produce, Heiden Valley Farm and Fisher Hill Farm have chicken and eggs, Seven Bridges sells beef, pork and chicken. I always stop to see what Alexander, a lone African-American homesteader, has to offer – unusual greens he grows himself and wild-crafted foods like ramps or sassafras that never make it to stores.

Personally, I’ve been vegan for almost a decade. This is the longest I’ve ever stuck with anything in my entire life. I’ve picked up and put down so many hobbies, played around with my gender expression, and had just shy of a million jobs, but being vegan is by far the most consistent thing about me.

Recently, my partner and I spent a weekend at Vegan Basecamp. A lovely couple living in Las Vegas plans a few trips a year to camp and hike in different parts of the southwest, and they pamper their guests with amazing homemade vegan meals. During our weekend in the Coconino Forest in Sedona we had breakfast tacos, soy curl “chicken” with roasted veggies, and the best tofu scramble I’ve ever had. I’d never been around so many vegans before, it was so eye opening. It was so nice to be somewhere for an entire weekend without having to worry about what I could or couldn’t eat.

On Saturday, November 15, people began to slowly trickle into Lewiston’s Franco Center as soon as the doors opened at 9:00 AM. Coming from all over the state, a few having traveled from as far as Massachusetts and New York, people were arriving for the first ever Maine Solidarity Conference, a day-long event put on by the Maine Democratic Socialists of America. Throughout the day roughly 125 people showed up, attending different panels and presentations focused on an array of issues ranging from labor to empire, from feminism to electoral politics, and much more followed by a social featuring local bands.

The statewide chapter of DSA voted to organize a fall conference last January during its Winter Semi-Annual Convention, the impetus being the rise of Trump 2.0 and the need for a stronger united front on the left. By bringing together people from different organizations and overlapping struggles who might not otherwise get many chances to share strategies and experiences, the hope was that the conference could offer a material step toward opening lines of communication and education between different movements that all share an interest in opposing the far right’s agenda.

Oklahoma City DSA by James Welch

Oklahoma City DSA is a small, but mighty chapter, experiencing a resurgence in membership and energy in this post-apocalyptic anti-Trump wave. Among other things, we are organizing around Queer Liberation, because our fair city has a strong LGBTQ+ community, due to many fleeing oppression in rural areas. We have organized the popular Queer Fight Club, where we teach a vulnerable population not only basic self-defense skills, but also how to deescalate confrontation and find support in the community. We have learned how to be protective of our members, and have faced some security concerns, which DSA has helped us navigate. We believe that Queer Fight Club helps promote a socialist future by teaching lessons of solidarity grounded in community awareness and access to vital services.

Who would you rather see showing up in your neighborhood—heavily armed, masked men, snatching random neighbors peacefully going about their daily business, shoving them into unmarked cars and taking them away to unknown destinations? Or people in puffy fanciful animal costumes, surrounded by a crowd singing and dancing, carrying colorful banners and chanting funny slogans?

People living in a very wealthy neighborhood in San Francisco got the better of the deal on Saturday, November 15 when the second type of group appeared on the streets they call home. But then the rich usually get the better of any deal. This event, however, hinted that the deal wasn’t entirely favorable to them.

As the attacks on federal workers escalate, and the necessity becomes clearer for disruptive mass action that confronts the oligarchs, the East Bay DSA / Federal Unionists Network (FUN) / Fighting Oligarchy campaign has accelerated its solidarity activities in support of federal workers and begun building the infrastructure needed for mass action. The FUN campaign is linking this work to the DSA National Labor Commission May Day group. Through organizing trainings, social gatherings, canvasses at federal buildings, and turnout to mass events, the campaign is organizing toward May Day 2028.

Because the campaign has relationships with key labor organizations and Bay Area resistance groups, is organizing turnout for mass actions, deepening our solidarity work connecting local and federal labor struggles, and is the priority campaign for the EBDSA chapter, it is well-positioned and resourced to contribute to the local organizing necessary to build a May Day 2028 event at the required scale.

The following is a summary of an interview John MarienthaI conducted with Silicon Valley DSA officer Jessen Fox on November 9.

Our chapter had a unique experience in working with the local Prop 50 coalition. We endorsed a second, local campaign alongside it: Measure A, a temporary Santa Clara County sales tax that will expire in five years. Measure A passed by a 57%-43% margin.

Measure A created a 5/8 of one cent general sales tax increase, beginning April 1, 2026, to raise $330 million a year to replace the federal funding cut by Trump and the Republican Congress to the Santa Clara County Health System. Starting with the process of endorsement, our chapter allied with the South Bay Labor Council to do both phone banking and canvassing.

Trump’s had a bad month so far. Although Senate Democrats caved on the shut down, Trump’s numbers have slipped as many voters blame the Republicans for SNAP cuts, federal layoffs and furloughs, and airport chaos. Yucking it up with Saudi Prince MBS failed to distract from his disorganized retreat on the Eptsein files, MTG’s mid-term resignation, and early Wall Street wobbles. Meanwhile, there is a noticeable shift in mood on the left. Katie Wilson won big in Seattle… as did centrists in New Jersey and Virginia. Mainers crushed a Republican referendum to suppress voting rights. Millions turned out for No Kings! rallies in October and significant and sustained opposition to ICE invasions has thrown sand into the gears of Trump’s pet militia. Trump’s chummy approach to his meetup with Zohran Mamdani might indicate he’s feeling vulnerable on the affordability front. All this is to the good, but don’t count MAGA out.

Trump has accumulated a great deal of power. He has succeeded in remaking the Republican Party into a far-right machine and has done lasting damage to the liberal welfare state. He has remade NATO, crippled the Iranian challenge, and is openly pushing for a coup in Venezuela. The Supreme Court rubber-stamps 90% of what he does. And there is more to come. It is easier to destroy than to build. Moreover, Trump and the MAGA right are building a purified imperialist administrative state that will not “go back to normal” even if Schumer and Jeffries claw back a narrow majority in the House. There is little prospect in the short term for completely reversing Trump’s cuts and evisceration of democratic rights, and even dimmer prospects for reforms and spending on the (limited) scale of Biden’s (failed) Build Back Better.

I was canvassing for Prop 50 in Boyle Heights, a predominantly Latino neighborhood in LA, and asked a middle-aged man, “So, what do you think, do you support it?” He looked me in the eye and said confidently, “Well, yes, we have to stop Trump; he just cares about himself and getting rich.”

A few weekends later I canvassed in Cypress Park with a new DSA member. We walked up to our first door and knocked. We were greeted by a middle-aged Latino, who, after turning down the loud cumbia playing on the stereo, invited us to their backyard. He went to get his wife, who gathered all five people in the house so that we could inform them about Prop 50 and get them to vote. She was not eligible to vote, but she wanted her family to. After we shared our information, her husband and the younger family members, in their 20s and 30s, were supportive.