After a late-night session on June 26, the Budget & Appropriations Committee of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is moving forward with a set of proposed resolutions regarding the budget. This includes one key provision proposed by Mayor Daniel Lurie to reallocate tax revenue raised from 2018’s Local Measure C, a.k.a. “Our City Our Home” or just Prop C. Besides likely being illegal – per the city attorney – this move would remove funding for a popular and successful housing program addressing homelessness in San Francisco.

In 2018, hundreds of activists came together with over a hundred endorsers in a political upsurge to fight for a durable solution to homelessness in San Francisco. DSA San Francisco formed a key part of this coalition, with DSA members occupying positions at every level of the campaign, from signature-gathering to running the field operation. We saw something revolutionary in Prop C: the ability to address homelessness at its root by funding permanent supportive housing.

Prop C implemented a gross receipts tax on large businesses, with the revenue going into a special city fund. It also specified that this fund be used for four things, in proportion: at least half for permanent housing, at least a quarter for mental health services, up to 15% on homelessness prevention, and only up to 10% for temporary shelter. This isn’t an afterthought: Prop C was built around the Housing First approach, which argues that homelessness and the constellation of issues that often surround it — drug use, mental health crises, and poverty — are best resolved by providing housing, not by temporary half-measures.

Prop C has faced challenges before. In 2018, before its passage, it received unprecedented pushback from the mayor at the time, London Breed, in an astounding statement where she highlighted the “lack of accountability” in her own administration and claimed that housing people without homes would worsen homelessness by “funding services for residents from other counties”. (San Francisco’s Point-in-Time count has continued to show that around 60–70% of the homeless population was most recently housed in San Francisco, before and after Prop C’s passage). She also raised the possibility of it being blocked by business interests: “if it passes, Proposition C will likely immediately become part of an ongoing lawsuit to invalidate it and similar signature-driven tax measures passed earlier this year.”

San Francisco’s voters approved Prop C with a 61% majority, but former Mayor Breed’s prediction came true and an anti-tax organization sued the city, claiming that special-purpose taxes require a ⅔ supermajority. This blocked Prop C spending until mid-2020 when the California Court of Appeals reaffirmed voters’ power to set taxes on businesses with citizen-initiated ballot measures.

When it has been allowed to work, Prop C and Housing First have been successful. The city’s 2024 report shows that it has provided more than 5,000 units – a number larger than the current remaining unsheltered homeless population in San Francisco – and that this housing works: “In the Permanent Housing service area, 96% of households retained their housing or exited to other stable housing options”. The contrast with other approaches is stark, and the city’s approach to temporary shelter has been, at best, chaotic: during the pandemic, San Francisco made it difficult for people to self-refer into shelter. On the other hand, Prop C made it possible for many of the residents of the city’s Shelter-in-Place Hotel program to exit to permanent housing. 

This is the funding that Mayor Lurie plans to re-allocate to temporary shelter or other programs. As socialists we believe in provisioning the economy based on the needs of the people, not on the whims of startup capitalists or technocratic heirs-turned-mayors, and it’s clear that the urgent need of San Francisco’s homeless population is housing. The people of San Francisco agree. We call on the Board of Supervisors and the mayor to keep this funding permanent supportive housing and to protect Prop C and reject this antidemocratic provision.

Regardless of what happens at the Board today, it’s clear that real solutions can only come from organizing together. This decision is a step back for the city’s democratic processes, but together we can claim this power and demand real durable solutions for the city’s problems. Join DSA to fight for a world that places the interests of the many over the interests of the few!

Let’s celebrate and pay tribute to International Women’s Day — a day of resistance, formed by the militant struggles of working-class women. From the 1909 garment workers’ strike in New York to the Petrograd protests that ignited the Russian Revolution, International Women’s Day has always been a call to action against exploitation and oppression. Now, as reactionary forces try to erase the successes of this radical history by dismantling our hard-won rights, we must reclaim its true spirit in the ongoing fight for socialism.

The revolutionary origins of International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) has its roots in the struggle of working-class women. In 1909, 20,000 female garment workers, the majority young immigrants, staged a mass strike in New York City, demanding better wages and safer working conditions. This collective action inspired the Socialist Party of America to declare February 28, 1909, as the first “National Women’s Day,” and committed the Party to the demand for women’s suffrage.

A year later, at the 1910 International Socialist Women’s Conference, German socialist Clara Zetkin proposed an annual, global day of action, an “International Working Women’s Day”. This was first observed March 19, 1911, with mass demonstrations across Europe, where women demanded the right to vote and for social security for mother and child, including maternity leave and health insurance.

The significance of March 8 was cemented in 1917, when Russian women textile workers in Petrograd took to the streets demanding “bread and peace.” This became the catalyst for the movement leading to the October Revolution, and in 1921, the Second International Conference of Communist Women officially declared March 8 as International Women’s Day; a date finally adopted by the United States in 1994 thanks to a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles).

International Women’s Day is now celebrated worldwide, a testament to the revolutionary potential of working women and their fight for liberation. Unlike bourgeois feminists that seek reforms within capitalism, as socialists we view International Women’s Day as part of the broader struggle to overthrow capitalism itself, and the abolition of both wage slavery and domestic oppression through the socialization of education and care work.

The struggle continues

Women remain at the forefront of the anti-capitalist struggle, resisting the ruling class’s attempts to maintain power through culture wars and the marginalization of vulnerable communities. 

It’s clear that neither the Democratic nor Republican Party are in the struggle for women’s liberation. Since 2020, both Democratic and Republican administrations have seen over 1,500 anti-trans bills introduced nationwide. Trans women face ongoing attacks on their health, safety, and well-being, including restrictions on sports participation, travel, and access to gender-affirming care. The Supreme Court’s striking down of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, during the Biden administration, came after a deliberate multi-decade campaign of negligence by the Democratic Party. We can see what the Republicans accomplish when they hold 50 senate seats, but when the Democrats under Barack Obama held 59? Nothing. When you strip away all their cynical rhetoric, we see the predictable result of Obama’s choice was a severe blow to reproductive justice and bodily autonomy. In so doing, Democrats collaborated in removing federal abortion protections and in leaving marginalized communities even more vulnerable. And once again, Trump’s current cruel and harsh immigration policies disproportionately harm women and children.

Though these attacks often claim to protect “women’s rights,” the same forces restrict bodily autonomy, deny abortion access, and deny the rights of trans people to exist, all while ignoring domestic abuse and sexual violence in a capitalist system in crisis.

As socialists, we know this struggle is part of a larger fight — not just for women’s rights, but for the liberation of all people from the chains of capitalism. Winning women’s liberation requires unity among people of all genders, and the fight for gender equality is not solely women’s responsibility; it serves the interests of the entire working class. Everyone, regardless of gender, must actively participate by keeping these issues central in our organizing, discussions, and education. And we must resist the ruling class’s divisive tactics, meant to pit men against women, in our fight for collective freedom.

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Further Reading

As the far-right seeks to erase history and liberals water down the legacy of progressive and socialist movements in the U.S., it is crucial we honor and elevate the contributions of women in the fight for justice. In the face of efforts to dismantle hard-won rights for women and gender-diverse people, restrict bodily autonomy, and erase the contributions of Black women and other women of color, we wanted to share this reading list curated by Lux Magazine and the DSA AfroSocialist and Socialists of Color Caucus for their Socialist Legacy of Black Feminism course.

WEEK 1 

1. Introduction to How We Get Free Black Feminism and The Combahee River Collective (2012) edited and Introduced by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
2. “Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s Ideas, Unifying Socialist and Identity Politics, Are Suddenly in the Spotlight” (2021) by E. Tammy Kim in Lux Magazine
3. “Mapping Gender in African American Political Strategies” by Leith Mullings in The Socialist Feminist Project: A Contemporary Reader in Theory and Politics

WEEK 2

1. “Identity Politics and Class Struggle” (Abridged) (1997) by Robin D. G. Kelley in New Politics
2. The Master‘s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master‘s House (1979) by Audre Lorde
3. “Nothing Short of Liberation” (2015) by Khury Petersen-Smith and Brian Bean in Jacobin
4. “Looting for Our Lives” (2021) by Marian Jones in Lux Magazine 

SUGGESTED READINGS

• “A History of Black American Feminism” from Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Clinton by Duchess Harris
• Claudia Jones and Ending the Neglect of Black Women
• “The Two Faces of Kamala Harris” (2017) by Branko Marcetic in Jacobin
• “No Time for Despair” (2017) by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor in Jacobin 
• “Sisterhood: Political Solidarity Among Women”​ Chapter 4 of Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (1984) by bell hooks
• “Intersectionality and Marxism: a Critical Historiography” (2018) by Ashley J. Bohrer in Historical Materialism Issue 26(2): Identity Politics
• “Unite and Rebel: Challenges and Strategies in Building Alliances” (2006) by Elizabeth (Betita) Martínez in Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology
• Coalition Building Among People of Color: A Discussion with Angela Y. Davis and Elizabeth Martinez (1994)

Mayor Daniel Lurie is moving to oust police commissioner Max Carter-Oberstone, known for opposing dangerous police chases and pushing for independent SFPD oversight. This is a blatant power grab to silence any challenge to the police state. Carter-Oberstone’s independence and advocacy for reforms have put him at odds with the SF Police Officers Association, and now the Mayor wants him out. As socialists, we fight not just for reforms but for the full dismantling of policing and imprisonment. We support disarming the police, shrinking their power, and holding them accountable, all while organizing for a world without them.

Commissioner Carter-Oberstone’s removal will be heard before the Board of Supervisors on February 25. Join this letter campaign to urge them to oppose his removal, and attend the hearing in person to speak out!

As Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their lackeys escalate their assault on the working class, federal unions are organizing and fighting back. From the courts to the streets, rank-and-file workers in the Federal Unionists Network are launching a “Save Our Services” day of resistance on February 19, zeroing in on Tesla dealerships to expose Musk’s slash-and-burn profiteering.

In San Francisco, Mark Smith, DSA SF member and president of NFFE Local 1, is helping lead the charge. Read more about the campaign here: Federal Workers Organize Against Billionaire Power Grab (LaborNotes, February 14, 2025).

I’ve never seen a billionaire carry the mail. I’ve never seen a billionaire put out a forest fire. I’ve never seen a billionaire make sure people get their Social Security checks on time. I’ve never seen a billionaire answer a phone call from a suicidal veteran on a crisis line.

So I don’t trust a billionaire to decide what happens to our public services—and that’s why we’re fighting to get this billionaire’s hands out of them.

— Mark Smith, DSA SF member and Federal Unionist Network organizer

DSA SF member Dean Preston has written 10 Ways to Fight Fascism in San Francisco

“San Francisco belongs to us—not the billionaires, not the tech overlords, not the MAGA fascists. The only way they win is if we stay isolated—so let’s connect, organize, and fight back. Remember: there are more of us than there are of them. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, demoralized, or unsure of where to start, here are 10 ways to take action and fight fascism in San Francisco.

Every act of resistance, whether disobeying, disrupting, protecting, or protesting, matters. Authoritarians don’t seize power, it is handed to them by people who are too afraid to fight. But every day, people are standing up. You can too.”

On Friday, June 28th, the most reactionary and right wing Supreme Court in modern history rolled back civil rights protections for hundreds of thousands of unhoused people nationwide by overturning a key decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson. This ruling, supported and celebrated by London Breed and every other single major candidate running for the San Francisco mayorship, empowers cities to criminalize sleeping in public — whether or not appropriate accommodations are available.

A city-sanctioned war against unhoused San Franciscans is nothing new, but this ruling greenlights an escalation in cruelty. In the court’s decision, Justice Neal Gorsuch referenced an amicus brief, written by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu and backed by London Breed, no less than 8 times. When asked about post-Grants Pass sweeps targeting encampments, London Breed has publicly refused to rule out arrests as an official ‘solution’ to our City’s housing unaffordability crisis. DSA SF rejects this wholeheartedly. 

London Breed, as well as the broader coalition of “moderates,” represent a failure of leadership. Our City’s politicians have rallied around the notion that “compassion is killing people.” Yet, they have grossly mismanaged solutions and ignored the long term work needed to create systemic fixes for our linked crises of housing, homelessness, and public health.¹ Including, but not at all limited to, Breed’s refusal to release the money from Prop I meant for public social housing. 

Research and anecdotal evidence alike confirm that sweeps literally kill people.² In supporting the Grants Pass decision, our City’s leadership demonstrates their allegiance to protecting the needs of capital and the private real estate market at the expense of human lives. DSA SF rejects, in totality, the criminalization and ongoing dehumanization of poor, disabled, and working class people who have been forced into homelessness by the capitalist economic system. 

As Socialists, we assert that everyone has a right to live in our city, not just the wealthy and their acolytes. Breed and Co. want to ignore the path to real change: practical solutions that will get our people off the street and into the care and adequate housing they need to thrive. Violent crackdowns only worsen the crisis, and empower our government to ignore the root causes of poverty, as well as hide their own complicity. 

A better world, and a better San Francisco, are possible. We must continue to fight for safe and accessible housing for all working class, poor, and disabled people. DSA SF calls on all San Franciscans to defend and to practice solidarity with our neighbors who have been forced into homelessness by our rotten economic system.

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1.  Ronen, Hillary. “Grandstanding Politician Fuels Drug Overdose Crisis”. (August 7th, 2023). Press Release.
2. Barocas, Nall, and Axelrath. “Population-Level Health Effects of Involuntary Displacement of People Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness Who Inject Drugs in US Cities” (April 23rd, 2023). JAMA.