Members of the San Francisco chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA-SF) will be doing a survival kit distribution to unhoused neighbors this Sunday, October 6 from 3pm to 6pm, beginning at our headquarters at 350 Alabama St #9, and continuing to our houseless neighbors across the city. The action was organized as a joint effort by the Homelessness Working Group as well as the Socialist Feminist Working Group within the organization, and each kit contains socks, food bars, water, and various hygienic items, including Maxi-pads for those who may need them.

According to Tiffany Chan, vice-chair of the DSA-SF Homelessness Working Group, “The solution to San Francisco’s homelessness crisis is housing, not criminalization. We demand an end to City Hall’s violence perpetrated towards our unhoused neighbors in the form of police brutality, sweeps, lack of adequate shelter, and hostile architecture. Our purpose with distributing survival supplies is to show solidarity with marginalized members of our community while fighting alongside them for housing as a human right.”

“In London Breed’s San Francisco, menstruation supplies are stolen from houseless people in sweeps; any feminist should be disgusted by this behavior. Socialist feminism stands for dignity for all, whether housed or unhoused.” according to Cara Hurtle, co-chair of DSA-SF’s Socialist Feminist Working Group.

As socialists, we stand in solidarity with and work with formerly and currently homeless folks to effect structural changes, incremental and deep, to address the homelessness crisis in a way that provides housing without strings attached and ends the criminalization of our unhoused neighbors, while providing mutual aid for immediate needs. The city chooses to respond to our housing crisis by forcing unhoused people to the margins and destroying their belongings, including IDs, medicine, as well as cherished photos and heirlooms. Our actions show that while the city takes, the community gives.

The Global Climate Strike upon us! Join us on Friday September 20th as a contingent in the Global Youth Climate March.

It’s no longer enough to wait for our politicians to act. As Greta Thunberg told Congress on Tuesday: “you’re not trying hard enough”. But we will. It’s time to strike. To shut the economy down again and again until radical action is taken.

San Franciscans understand the importance of our ecology. Nowhere does a large and influential urban center protect its land in such a hefty percentage. The nine county greater Bay Area has one of the most viable matrixes of park systems of the world. Our region remains one of the glowing bastions of the world in ecological protection and climate action. As citizens of the Bay Area, let’s show the world where our priorities are!

There is no Planet B. In a world of increasing human impact, the survival of all species, including ourselves, rely on our actions and our sacrifices. Join us now and forever in protecting the natural world that isn’t just ours. We must fight because it is a sanctuary for all living beings, both present and future.

March details:
Saturday, March 20th at 9 AM
Meet at the DSA SF office: 350 Alabama St.

Contact the Ecosocialist Committee, ecosocialist@dsasf.org for more details.

DSA SF voted unanimously at the August general meeting to join the No New SF Jail Coalition.

The coalition is a partnership between a growing number of activist and political organizations to permanently close the jail at 850 Bryant, which has been slated for demolition for over twenty years due to seismic instability.

The looming crisis, however, also presents an opportunity for San Francisco to do better than simply building a new jail in its place. Ultimately, if a new jail is built, the city will continue to rely on incarceration instead of tackling the social problems that are actually at the root of crime and injustice. The coalition instead demands increases to supportive housing, mental health, diversion programs, and decriminalization that would make a new jail unnecessary.

The coalition also opposes any stopgap solutions like transfers to existing jails or electronic monitoring that would take on the same role in the city’s political ecosystem as 850 Bryant: preventing long-term investment in social solutions to social problems.

DSA SF is proud to join other organizations including Critical Resistance, the Coalition on Homelessness, ACLU of Northern California, the SF Tenants Union, and Supervisor Matt Haney to demand that our city government close 850 Bryant and invest in non-carceral alternatives.

Ever wonder about all those billionaires out there? Who’d they crush to get their money and what do they do with it all? Wonder no more as DSA SF’s Writing Committee hosts Billionaire Story Hour, an event to expose their dirty secrets and educate the masses!

Join us for Billionaire Story Hour on Wednesday, August 14 from 6-8pm at Knockout, 3223 Mission St. in San Francisco. We’re looking for people who would like to present! Bring your own billionaire story or email us at writing@dsasf.org and we’ll supply you with material. Or, simply join us for an evening of lively storytelling as we relate the antics and offenses of some of the world’s most reviled billionaires. Come to learn, laugh, and understand billionaires’ power and be inspired to put it back in the hands of the people.

Admission is free and Knockout will be selling drinks as usual. Accessibility information: This event will have amplified sound. Knockout is located on the ground floor.

Want to present and tell us all the dirt on a billionaire? Questions? Email writing@dsasf.org today.

Come commemorate two years of DSA SF this Friday! DSA is hosting a party at the Tenderloin Museum to celebrate the growth of our chapter these past two years. The event is free, but we’ll also be raising money to send our delegates to DSA’s National Convention this August.

This event is great for first-time attendees! A facilitator will be available 15 minutes before the scheduled start time to orient new members.

Our keynote speakers for the event will be Professor Emeritus of Geography at UC Berkeley Richard Walker, current candidate for SF District Attorney Dean Preston, and DSA SF Co-Chair Rose Kleiner.

Appetizers will be served.

Details:
Friday, July 19, 2019
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM PDT
Tenderloin Museum, 398 Eddy St. San Francisco

The 2019 DSA National Convention is right around the corner and DSA SF is getting ready to make the most of it. In our last general meeting we elected a diverse group of incredible organizers to represent us in Atlanta. Congratulations to Kaylah W., Darby T., Jennifer B., Jen S., Otto P., Rose K., Aelia P., Shanti S., Evan M., Jon X., Faiq R., Nishikant S., Gabriel M., Lia R., Brace B., Shahid B., Hae Min C. Sasha P., Alexander P., Elizabeth M., Drew D., and Charles D., and thank you for your service to our chapter!

The chapter also unanimously endorsed Pass the Hat, a national resolution that would help build and maintain smaller DSA groups outside of metropolitan areas by providing a $100-per-month stipend to all chapters.

Next up on the convention prep checklist is our June 13th Resolutions Walkthrough meeting. Our chapter’s delegation will be presenting research and summaries of the resolution compendium for this year’s convention, and we’ll be discussing the more contested resolutions as a chapter. These are decisions that will affect all of DSA, and our delegates need to know what the chapter thinks about them, so come make your voice heard!

DSA SF’s Justice Committee held its second Brakelight Replacement Clinic of the year on June 8, 2019, at the San Francisco Christian School, located in the Outer Mission.  Members of the committee and other volunteers replaced neighbors’ brakelights, free of charge, and conversed with neighbors about socialism. Earlier this year, the Justice Committee held the clinic in the Bayview.

Originally founded by New Orleans DSA in 2017, the Brakelight Replacement Clinic is a practical way of pushing back against the over-policing of communities of color by taking steps to minimize chance encounters between civilians and police.  It’s also a great way to meet our neighbors. During San Francisco’s Bayview and Outer Mission clinics, our hardworking volunteers spoke to dozens of neighbors and replaced over 50 brakelights.

This event is a great opportunity for volunteers of all levels of experience, whether they know how to change a brakelight or not.  Interested in organizing a clinic for your neighborhood or signing up for a shift in the future? Get in touch with the Justice Committee at justice@dsasf.org.

Members of DSA SF’s Socialist Feminist (SocFem) working group joined community organizers and sex workers at Oscar Grant Plaza on June 2, 2019, in a rally and celebration in honor of International Sex Workers Day, also known as International Whore’s Day.  

International Sex Workers Day, observed annually on June 2, honors sex workers and brings attention to inhumane working conditions, exploitation, and unequal access to justice faced by sex workers around the world.  The day’s activities challenge oppressive patriarchal standards of morality and deeply-rooted stigma that harm sex workers and take away their economic agency.

The date commemorates an eight-day occupation of a church by a group of sex workers seeking better working conditions in Lyon, France, in 1975, and is commemorated in various cities around the world.  This year, Bay Area sex workers and their allies rallied for the total decriminalization of sex work, which would allow sex workers more autonomy, independence, and freedom from criminal prosecution.

SocFem has supported sex workers’ rights to work and organize in the past and collaborates with community partners to support former and current sex workers.  Like any other workers, sex workers deserve dignity, empowerment, and the ability to found unions and collectives to advocate for better working conditions.

Interested in organizing with women, trans and non-binary people, and cis-male allies to fight issues stemming from the intersection of capitalism and the patriarchy?  SocFem meets the second Wednesday (6:00-8:00 p.m.) and third Saturday (2:00-4:00 p.m.) of the month.