Comrades,

Last week, DSA SF held our annual picnic and many new members finally got to meet their comrades in person for the first time. After more than a year of Zoom meetings and quarantine, times like these help us remember why socialism will win: comradeship. As San Francisco opens up, it is more important now than ever to forge strong bonds with our fellow socialists. We are trying to organize in the most alienated and segregated society in history, right after quite possibly one of the most alienating and lonely periods imaginable. As we emerge from our isolation, we each need to rededicate ourselves to meeting and connecting with comrades; not just to do our work better, but because we want to strengthen the bonds of this community against capitalists who want us atomized and living in fear of each other. Take heart and take care of one another.

Sincerely,

? DSA SF Communications Committee

Upcoming Events

? TODAY, 6/29 (5:30 p.m.): Weekly Tenant Organizing Phonebank | Email neighborsunitedsf@gmail.com or call Pat at 610-246-2552 to RSVP!

For more events, click here.

Announcements

Top Stories from SFIJ

? Over 50 Dandelion Chocolate employees, union members, city-elected officials such as Supervisors Dean Preston and Connie Chan, and union supporters rallied to demand CEO Todd Masonis hire the workers back for unionizing.

? The fight to make SF’s Muni free for riders has staunch supporters within City Hall, but failed by a single vote to overcome the Mayor’s veto. Supervisor Myrna Melgar was the only one voting “no”, despite 91% of her district supporting free Muni.

If you have committee work or another story you want to be publicized by a friendly outlet, please submit tips to editors@sfindependentjournal.com.

Support Local IAM 1546 Workers

The workers of Cummins, Inc. in San Leandro are being forcibly removed from their union health plan, and management wants to put them on a high-deductible HSA plan, with $8,000 and $11,000 deductibles for individuals and families respectively. The IAM technicians are receiving only $150 per week for strike support and are going to lose their healthcare coverage on July 1. Organizers say this strike, now entering its fourth week, is the culmination of 20 months of negotiations. You can learn more about this labor action in this Labor Notes article, or in audio report from KPFA (starting around minute 15). Our comrades in DSA East Bay have been showing support for these workers, and we can show them solidarity by donating to their strike fund. 

DSA SF is now on Tik Tok!

DSA SF’s Communications Committee has launched a chapter Tik Tok account! We will be churning out socialist propaganda, dog videos, socialist dog propaganda videos — the works. Follow us and tell your friends!

Join DSA SF’s Communications Committee

Want to post for socialism? Looking for a great entry point to learn about the broad work being done in our chapter? Join DSA SF’s newly-formed Communications Committee! We’re expanding our purview to include video, long-form and educational content, and content in different languages. But we need help! We use a broad range of skillsets, from writing and editing, to social media posting, to graphic design, and various kinds of internal administrative support. If this sounds interesting, email comms@dsasf.org to get involved!

Comrades, Join us in commemorating Pride by exploring the history of queer activism in San Francisco tomorrow, June 23, from 6:00 — 7:00 p.m. There will be a lecture and discussion covering our city’s queer history, including the significance behind the Compton’s Cafeteria in the Tenderloin, how our understanding of LGBTQ+ issues has evolved over time, and how all of this intersects with capitalism and other forms of oppression today. Register here. Sincerely, ? DSA SF Communications Committee

Upcoming Events

? TODAY, 6/22 (1:30 p.m.): 21st Century Socialism Reading Group: Jackson Rising

? TODAY, 6/22 (5:30 p.m.): Weekly Tenant Organizing Phonebank | Email neighborsunitedsf@gmail.com or call Pat at 610-246-2552 to RSVP!

? Wednesday, 6/23 (6:00-7:30 p.m.): Loud and Proud: San Francisco’s Queer History in Context

? Saturday, 6/26 (1:30 p.m.): DSA SF Summer Picnic 2021

? Sunday, 6/27 (3:00 p.m.): National DSA’s Labor Strategy: Organizing Worker Power for a Socialist Future

For more events, click here.

Announcements

New from SFIJ

? Over 50 Dandelion Chocolate employees, union members, city elected officials such as Supervisors Dean Preston and Connie Chan, and union supporters came out to a rally to demand CEO Todd Masonis to hire the workers back for unionizing.

? The fight to make SF’s Muni free for riders has staunch supporters within City Hall, but failed by a single vote to overcome the Mayor’s veto. Supervisor Myrna Melgar was the only one voting “no”, despite 91% of her district supporting free Muni.

If you have committee work or another story you want to be publicized by a friendly outlet, please submit tips to editors@sfindependentjournal.com.

Join DSA SF’s Communications Committee

Want to post for socialism? Join DSA SF’s newly-formed Communications Committee! We’re expanding our purview to include video, long-form and educational content, and content in different languages. But we need help! Email comms@dsasf.org to get involved!

Comrades,

Over the weekend at our chapter convention, we officially ratified three chapter priorities for the coming year:

• A DSA SF Chapter Commitment to Black Liberation, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Fighting Global White Supremacy
• Worker Organizing to Advance Shared Political Goals 
• DSA SF Ballot Measure Campaign

You can learn more about each of the priority resolutions here.

As nominations for elected leadership of these three campaigns are underway, we also recognize some important commemorations happening this month. This month is Pride Month. Additionally, this Saturday is Juneteenth, which celebrates the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation to slaves in Texas, who had no knowledge for three years that they were legally free.

The call for liberation is ongoing. In order to dismantle capitalism and fight against white supremacy, we must recognize that policing and the carceral state are integral to maintaining the capitalist status quo. Rather than protecting the communities they claim to serve, the police brutalize Black and Brown people and serve as the protectors of capital.

Queer folks have also long been pathologized and faced tremendous harm through the prison industrial complex, and they have been constantly targeted and criminalized through anti-queer laws, anti-trans bills, and policing. That is why this year, the NYC Pride Parade explicitly refused to welcome cops at their events. Historically, Stonewall started as an anti-police riot, which was then followed by other uprisings and rebellions, including the riot at Compton’s Cafeteria, now known as the 111 Taylor St. facility in the Tenderloin.

To put it simply, there is no liberation under racial and rainbow capitalism. As we celebrate Juneteenth and Pride, we must also remember the radical and revolutionary actions of abolitionists and queer activists throughout history. These commemorations also mean liberating all of us and each other from the oppressors. 

Fighting for Black and queer liberation is more than just standing in solidarity. It also means centering abolition as one step closer to that goal.

Sincerely,

? DSA SF Communications Committee

Upcoming Events

? TODAY, 6/15 (5:30): Weekly Tenant Organizing Phonebank | Email neighborsunitedsf@gmail.com to RSVP!

? Thursday, 6/17 (6:00 p.m.): Join Ecosocialists at Our Transit Working Meeting! Email ecosocialist@dsasf.org for the password!

? Sunday, 6/20 (11:30 a.m.): Neighbors United Lit Drop in Jefferson Square Park | Email neighborsunitedsf@gmail.com to RSVP!

? Wednesday, 6/23 (6:00-7:30 p.m.): Loud and Proud: San Francisco’s Queer History in Context

? Tuesday, 6/22 (1:30 p.m.): 21st Century Socialism Reading Group: Jackson Rising

? Sunday, 6/26 (1:30 p.m.): DSA SF Summer Picnic 2021

For more events, click here.

Participate in Our Annual Chapter Convention this Weekend!

This coming weekend, June 12 & 13 from 12:00-4:00 p.m., we will be holding our annual chapter convention! On Saturday, we’ll discuss and debate priorities for the coming year and consider amendments to our chapter’s bylaws. Priorities resolutions advanced by the membership will go up for a ranked-choice vote between the two days of convention via email, to determine which three resolutions will be adopted. On Sunday, we’ll consider a few resolutions and elect leaders to guide the chapter and represent us at the National Convention in August.

Register for the convention here.

Upcoming Events

DSA SF Candidate Forum TOMORROW at 6:45 p.m.

Join us TOMORROW, June 9, at 6:45 p.m., to meet the candidates for DSA SF Grievance Officers, Steering Committee, and our potential candidate for the National Political Committee. Chapter members will have the opportunity to ask the candidates questions and hear about candidates’ plans before voting during our Chapter Convention. Information and registration at bit.ly/dsaforum2021.

Neighborhood Outreach to Renters in the Fillmore

Interested in tenant organizing? Join Neighbors United for our weekly phonebank, tonight at 5:30 p.m.We’ll be calling tenants in the Fillmore to let them know about their rights, and how to access rent relief. On June 30th at 6:00 p.m. in Jefferson Square Park, we’ll be hosting a tenant’s rights bootcamp. Want to become more involved on a regular basis? Join our weekly meeting on Sundays at 12:00 p.m.

Fun in the Sun with Comrades

Mark your calendars: on Saturday, June 26 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. join comrades old and new, for an afternoon of food, games, and camaraderie outside. ? We will set up in the Panhandle near Lyon & Fell St – down the street from the new office! Appropriate safety considerations will be observed. We hope to see you there!

Announcements

New on SFIJ

Hi there, comrades! We think the following pieces of news from the San Francisco Independent Journal (SFIJ) may be of interest to you:

? First, demonstrators successfully blocked an Israeli cargo ship last Friday after picketing in front of six different gates at the Port of Oakland.

? Second, Mayor London Breed announced her budget proposal in a recent press conference with no mention of how her office plans to use Prop I funds, which was passed with a 15-point margin in November.

? Third, the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) voted to support occupied Palestine amid the escalating crises brought on by Israeli bombings, blockades, and illegal settlements.

? Finally, a series of emails exposed one of San Francisco’s top homelessness chiefs arguing that providing public services ‘attracts unsheltered people’ and that restricting amenities would be necessary to keep the City to be ‘tent free.’

If you have committee work or another story you want to be publicized by a friendly outlet, please submit tips to writing@dsasf.org.

Learn more about the chapter at this week’s Intro to DSA meeting!

Ready to get started with DSA SF? Have questions about socialism or our organization? Whether you have been a member for four years or four weeks, Intro to DSA is a great way to become more active in our organization. Our next Intro to DSA meeting is this Wednesday, June 2 at 6:30 p.m. – register here to join us.

Upcoming Events

Next EWOC Training Series Starts This Week!

The fifth series of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee’s Organizer Training Series starts this Wednesday, June 2, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. This is a foundational course in organizing in the workplace (your own workplace or others) and is recommended for DSA SF members looking to expand their capacity as labor organizers. You will receive the Zoom registration links once the organizers have reviewed your response. Click here for more information or to sign up!

Learn More About Abolition from the DSA National Abolition Working Group

What is abolition? Why should socialists care about abolition? Join the Abolition Working Group this Thursday, June 3 at 5:00 p.m. for an introductory call that answers these questions on why this work matters, how socialism and abolition go hand in hand, and how you can plug your chapter in going forward. Abolition Working Group members will be joined by organizers Andrea James from Families for Justice as Healing and Rukia Lumumba, founder of the People’s Advocacy Institute. Register for the call here!

Call In to Demand Environmental Justice in the Bay Area!

This Wednesday, June 2 at 9:00 a.m., the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board (BAAQMD) is having a critical vote on refinery pollution. The largest industrial source of pollution, particulate matter (PM) in the Bay Area comes from refineries’ Catalytic Cracking Units (also known as “Cat Crackers”). PM pollution is estimated to kill up to 3,000 Bay Area residents every year, mainly in working-class areas near the refineries.

There is no safe level of PM exposure! Tell the board members to support a common-sense rule to set a standard to reduce the dangerous particulate matter from Chevron’s and PBF’s “Cat Crackers” by 70%. This standard would require pollution control technology already in use at the majority of refineries around the US, including at Valero in Benicia. Sign up to get call-in information and talking points for this meeting. Zoom link for the meeting can be found here, and talking points can be found here.

Announcements

Dean Preston Office Update

London Breed Promises to Veto Free MUNI

After our proposal to pilot a fare-free MUNI program for this summer was advanced by a 7-4 vote from the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, cartoonishly evil Mayor London Breed has publicly promised she will veto the legislation if it passes. While we are disappointed, we aren’t surprised: London Breed has shown time and time again that she values her own neoliberal policies over the democratic will of SF voters and the Board of Supervisors. Let it be known that no matter what the Mayor says, we will never stop fighting for Free MUNI. Completely fare-free public transit is a socialist priority, and it is critical not only for an effective transit program, but also for an eco-friendly one.  

Big Week for Evictions & Rent Debt Legislation

This week, the Board unanimously passed legislation introduced by our office to extend the no-fault eviction ban for another 90 days. Additionally, we introduced legislation to cancel small business back rent, and another emergency law known as the Tenant Lifeline Act. The Tenant Lifeline Act would save tenants from the eviction cliff by extending the period in which tenants only have to pay 25% of their rent until the end of the year. Huge shout out to Kyle Smeallie, one of our legislative aides and a DSA member, who led the charge on all of these critical bills!

Have an idea or want to schedule a meeting with your caucus or committee with Dean’s office? Write either PrestonStaff@sfgov.org or lexvonklark@gmail.com with details, mention you’re with DSA, and we’ll schedule a day!