Comrades, 

The moment we’ve been awaiting has finally arrived: signature gathering for the Empty Homes Tax campaign starts this weekend! We’ll be gathering for a rally and mobilization on Sunday, February 27 at 12:30 pm at the corner of Hayes and Scott to officially start talking to our neighbors about this groundbreaking measure. RSVP here to let us know you’re coming. 

We’re also going to be phonebanking members and supporters tonight and tomorrow to make sure we have as many people out there as possible for our kickoff. Sign up here to make calls and help us have a successful kickoff! 

Solidarity, DSA SF Electoral Board

Events

🌹 Tuesday, 2/22 (7:00 p.m.): Phonebank for Empty Homes Tax Campaign Kickoff (Zoom)

🌹 Wednesday, 2/23 (5:00 p.m.): Phonebank for tenants’ rights with Daybreak PAC (Zoom)

🌹 Wednesday, 2/23 (6:00 p.m.): Phonebank for Empty Homes Tax Campaign Kickoff (Zoom)

🌹 Saturday, 2/26 (3:00 p.m.): Grounding Walter Rodney’s Groundings with My Brothers (Zoom)

🌹 Sunday, 2/27 (12:00 p.m.): A Conversation about Internationalism with DSA SF and the DSA International Committee (Zoom)

🌹 Sunday, 2/27 (12:30 p.m.): Empty Homes Tax Campaign Kickoff Rally and Mobilization (in-person, corner of Hayes and Scott)

🌹 Sunday, 3/6 (2:00 p.m.): Naila and the Uprising Film Screening (Zoom)

🌹 Saturday, 3/19 (2:00 p.m.): Ecosocialist Book Club: Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future (in-person, at the Panhandle in Golden Gate Park)

For more events, click here.

Announcements

Learn about Palestinian women and the resistance against settler-colonialism

Join us and East Bay DSA for a film screening of Naila and the Uprising on Sunday, March 6 at 2:00 p.m. This film is about a Palestinian woman activist named Naila Ayesh who resisted against the Israeli occupation during the First Intifada from 1987 to 1993. This is also in partnership with the National BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group. This film screening highlights the importance of Palestinian women coming together to share knowledge, mobilize their community, and more. This film is just over 1 hour long, and we will have a group discussion after watching the film. Register here to join us!

---

Join DSA SF and the DSA International Committee for a Conversation about Internationalism

On Sunday, February 27 at 12:00 p.m. on Zoom, join ISOC and members of DSA International Committee, including Luisa Martinez from IC’s Steering Committee, Austin Gonzalez from the National Political Committee, IC Secretariat Marvin Gonzalez, and ISOC member David Paul for a conversation about internationalism, what the IC is doing, and how we can do this work on the local level in our chapter. Register here!

Reading Groups

Join Us to Discuss Walter Rodney’s Groundings with My Brothers

Join the Black Liberation and Indigenous Sovereignty chapter priority and the Education Committee for our first discussion on Walter Rodney’s Groundings with My Brothers on Saturday, February 26 at 3:00 p.m. on Zoom. In this classic work published in the heady days of anti-colonial revolution, Groundings with My Brothers follows the global circulation of emancipatory ideas, from the black students of North America to the Rasta counterculture of Jamaica and beyond. The book is striking in its ability to survey the wide and heterogeneous international context while remaining anchored in grassroots politics, as Rodney offers us first-hand accounts of mass movement organizing. Having inspired a generation of revolutionaries, this new edition will re-introduce the book to a new political landscape that it helped shape, with reflections from leading scholar-activists. You can find the direct link to the Zoom meeting here.

Ecosocialist Book Club: Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future

Comrades,  “We’re all we’ve got” – words to live by, and a sentiment essential to socialism. Winning a world built around mutual compassion and support requires strong ties within our communities, and that starts within our own community here in DSA SF. This week, we’re launching a new Slack channel to help chapter members get some 1-on-1 time with each other – use it to chat or meet up with comrades to get to know the chapter better and learn how we can all better support each other. And, if you have the capacity, you can help the Electoral Board reach out to folks who haven’t been as active in the chapter lately – with election season ramping up, we’ll need every bit of support to get our ballot measures passed. More details on all that below, along with a few chapter events coming up in the next few weeks!  Solidarity, DSA SF Comms Committee

Events

🌹 Tuesday, 2/15 (6:00 p.m.): Phonebank with the Electoral Board (Zoom)

🌹 Wednesday, 2/16 (5:00 p.m.): Phonebank for tenants’ rights with Daybreak PAC (Zoom)

🌹 Sunday, 2/20 (12:30 p.m.): DSA National webinar on the War in Yemen (Zoom)

🌹 Saturday, 2/26 (3:00 p.m.): Grounding Walter Rodney’s Groundings with My Brothers (Zoom)

🌹 Sunday, 2/27 (12:00 p.m.): A Conversation about Internationalism with DSA SF and the DSA International Committee (Zoom)

🌹 Sunday, 3/6 (2:00 p.m.): Naila and the Uprising Film Screening (Zoom)

🌹 Saturday, 3/19 (2:00 p.m.): Ecosocialist Book Club: Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future (in-person, at the Panhandle in Golden Gate Park)

For more events, click here.

Announcements

Meet your comrades 1:1 with Donut – sign up today in Slack!

The DSA SF Chapter Coordination Committee’s Community Team is bringing back a cool and fun app to our DSA SF Slack — Donut! The Donut app helps pair members new, old, and everywhere in between. Join in, and you’ll be periodically paired randomly with another chapter member 1-on-1 – it’s a great little nudge to get to know new comrades or catch up with folks you haven’t gotten to talk to in a while. If you want to participate, please drop a donut emoji or reaction in the post in #one-big-slack and you’ll be added to the Donut channel when it goes live this Thursday morning!

Help the Electoral Board bring inactive members back into the fold!

Help the Electoral Board reach out to inactive members and spread the word about the chapter’s signature gathering kickoff! Tonight at 6:00 p.m., the Electoral Board will be making an effort to reach out to new and inactive members to start onboarding conversations. This will be a hybrid in-person/Zoom phonebank – join us at the DSA SF office on 1916 McAllister Street or on your computer using the link here!

Watch DSA National’s webinar on the War in Yemen this Sunday

Saudi Arabia launched its offensive on Yemen with U.S. backing nearly seven years ago. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have died, causing what is widely considered one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. A year ago, President Biden announced that the U.S. would end all “offensive” support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, effectively promising the U.S. would provide less material support for the war. Unfortunately, the U.S. continues to provide logistical support for airstrikes and sells billions of dollars in weapons to the Saudis. Join Shireen Al-Adeimi, Aisha Jumaan, and Erik Sperling for a discussion on the history of the US-backed Saudi offensive on Yemen, the current humanitarian crisis in the country, U.S. involvement under the Biden administration, and the steps we need to take to help bring this devastating war to an end. The discussion will take place on Zoom this Sunday, February 20 at 12:30 p.m. PT – RSVP here.

Learn about Palestinian women and the resistance against settler-colonialism

Join us and East Bay DSA for a film screening of Naila and the Uprising on Sunday, March 6 at 2:00 p.m. This film is about a Palestinian woman activist named Naila Ayesh who resisted against the Israeli occupation during the First Intifada from 1987 to 1993. This is also in partnership with the National BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group. This film screening highlights the importance of Palestinian women coming together to share knowledge, mobilize their community, and more. This film is just over 1 hour long, and we will have a group discussion after watching the film. Register here to join us!

Join DSA SF and the DSA International Committee for a Conversation about Internationalism

On Sunday, February 27 at 12:00 p.m. on Zoom, join ISOC and members of DSA International Committee, including Luisa Martinez from IC’s Steering Committee, Austin Gonzalez from the National Political Committee, IC Secretariat Marvin Gonzalez, and ISOC member David Paul for a conversation about internationalism, what the IC is doing, and how we can do this work on the local level in our chapter. Register here!

Reading Groups

Join Us to Discuss Walter Rodney’s Groundings with My Brothers

Join the Black Liberation and Indigenous Sovereignty chapter priority and the Education Committee for our first discussion on Walter Rodney’s Groundings with My Brothers on Saturday, February 26 at 3:00 p.m. on Zoom. In this classic work published in the heady days of anti-colonial revolution, Groundings with My Brothers follows the global circulation of emancipatory ideas, from the black students of North America to the Rasta counterculture of Jamaica and beyond. The book is striking in its ability to survey the wide and heterogeneous international context while remaining anchored in grassroots politics, as Rodney offers us first-hand accounts of mass movement organizing. Having inspired a generation of revolutionaries, this new edition will re-introduce the book to a new political landscape that it helped shape, with reflections from leading scholar-activists. You can find the direct link to the Zoom meeting here.

Ecosocialist Book Club: Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future

Comrades, 

It’s an election year, and that means it’s time to brush up on how to get out there and get signatures to support our ballot measures! This week, the Electoral Board is holding two training events on the basics of canvassing, including how to gather signatures and how to train your fellow comrades to do the same! Winning socialism at the polls takes months of on-the-ground work at every step of the process, and this is step one. There will be one session this Thursday, February 10 at 6:30 p.m. and one session on Saturday, February 12 at 1:00 p.m., both in-person at the DSA SF office on 1916 McAllister Street. You can use the form linked here to register for either one – hope to see you there! 

Solidarity,

DSA SF Comms Committee

Events Calendar

🌹 Wednesday, 2/9 (6:45 p.m.): DSA SF February Chapter Meeting (Zoom)

🌹 Thursday, 2/10 (6:30 p.m.): DSA SF Signature Campaign Training (in-person at DSA SF office, 1916 McAllister St)

🌹 Saturday, 2/12 (1:00 p.m.): DSA SF Signature Campaign Training (in-person at DSA SF office, 1916 McAllister St)

🌹 Saturday, 3/19 (2:00 p.m.): Ecosocialist Book Club: Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future (in-person, at the Panhandle in Golden Gate Park)

For more events, click here.

Announcements

Share Your Organizing Stories with The Picket Line

Join us for the February chapter meeting tomorrow night

Reading Groups

Ecosocialist Book Club: Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future

In Case You Missed It

Organize a Healthcare Labor Circle with us!

Help us organize a healthcare labor circle! We are hoping to connect with members who work in healthcare in San Francisco. Our first step would be to organize an informal meet and greet among members to discuss where people work, what issues they face, and what a healthcare labor circle might look like. If you are interested in getting involved in this process please send an email to hansen.weaver@gmail.com.

Phone bank for tenants’ rights!

The Daybreak PAC is hosting weekly phone banks every Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. where we call District 5 tenants. It’s a great chance for DSA members to help protect tenants from eviction and assist folks in applying for rent relief!

Comrades,

Black History Month is as much a time to reflect on past injustice as a time to dismantle the systems that allow that injustice to persist. The chapter’s Black Liberation and Indigenous Sovereignty priority is doing that work, examining the ways we can break down systems of marginalization within the chapter while identifying external allies and building collective power to overcome the white supremacy that has always been at the heart of this country. And collective power needs the people – if you haven’t yet, get in touch with the priority leaders to see how you can get involved.

That work does not allow for compromise with the racial capitalism that we struggle against, and it holds that an injustice to one is an injustice to all. Last year, we saw New York congressman and DSA member Jamaal Bowman vote to fund the apartheid state of Israel’s defense systems and meet with Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett – a DSA-endorsed elected politician taking pictures with the leader of a state that actively denies the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. This weekend, there will be a DSA forum on how we can hold our leaders accountable when they use their power in ways fundamentally incompatible with the international socialist project. You can find more information about that forum below.

Antiracism and international solidarity are essential to the socialist project, and we need to fight for them year-round. This Black History Month, let’s work together as a chapter to recommit to those ideals for long after February ends.

Solidarity, DSA SF Comms Committee

Event Calendar

🌹 Wednesday, 2/2 (5:00 p.m.): Phone bank for tenants’ rights with Daybreak PAC (Zoom)

🌹 Wednesday, 2/2 (6:30 p.m.): Intro to DSA (Zoom)

🌹 Saturday, 2/5 (12:00 p.m.): Bigger Than Bowman: DSA BDS & Electoral Accountability Forum (Zoom)

🌹 Sunday/Domingo, 2/6 (9:00 a.m.): El ABC del Capitalismo: Entendiendo al Capitalismo (Zoom)

🌹 Wednesday, 2/9 (6:45 p.m.): DSA SF February Chapter Meeting (Zoom)

🌹 Saturday, 3/19 (2:00 p.m.): Ecosocialist Book Club: Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future (in-person, at the Panhandle in Golden Gate Park)

For more events, click here.

Announcements

Hear about how to hold our DSA politicians accountable – Palestinian humanity is non-negotiable!

Late last year, New York Representative and DSA member Jamaal Bowman voted to increase funding for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system and met with Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, providing material support and cover for the apartheid state of Israel. DSA is an organization committed to the humanity of the Palestinian people – so what do we do when our endorsed and elected representatives fail to stand up for the core values of the movement? This Saturday, February 5 at 12:00 p.m. PT on Zoom, make time for Bigger than Bowman, a forum discussing how we can hold our DSA-endorsed elected officials accountable and push them towards BDS and away from negotiating away the rights and humanity of the Palestinian people.

---

The next Intro to DSA is tomorrow evening

Come learn how Democratic Socialists of America is building the socialist movement in San Francisco. There will be an introduction to the mission of DSA, the socialist project, and what our organizers are doing locally. Bring your questions and a friend! Registration link here.

---

Join us for the February chapter meeting next week

Mark your calendars – our February chapter meeting is on Wednesday, February 9 at 6:45 p.m. on Zoom. Join your comrades as we discuss chapter business and get updates from our chapter priorities, committees and working groups!

---

El ABC del Capitalismo: Entendiendo al Capitalismo

Domingo, 6 de febrero @ 9:00 a.m. | RSVP for more details here

En DSA Latinos Socialistas estamos leyendo los ABCs del Capitalismo. Únase a nosotros para discutir el primer folleto ‘Entendiendo al capitalismo’. Este folleto explica cómo, en palabras de Chibber, el capitalismo “genera injusticia sistemáticamente”. Pensaremos en preguntas como: ¿Qué es el capitalismo y cómo funciona? ¿Qué es el capital?¿En qué consiste el ‘poder’ bajo el capitalismo?¿Por qué los socialistas se enfocan en los trabajadores? Habrán tres discusiones, una por cada folleto: Domingo, 20 de febrero : Folleto B – El capitalismo y el estado Domingo, 6 de marzo: Folleto C – El capitalismo y la lucha de clases. DSALatSoc@gmail.com

Note: The entire event will be in Spanish.

Reading Groups

Ecosocialist Book Club: Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future

Join the DSA SF Ecosocialist Committee’s book club for a special one-shot discussion in March. We’re reading and discussing Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future – you can get the book here. The Ministry for the Future is a novel about the near future of climate change – the environmental cost, the human cost, and how we might work collectively for a different future. Open to all – register now!