News and updates

HomelessnessNews

Fighting the pointless “chop shop” bill.

on October 11, 2017

We showed up to oppose the “chop shop” ordinance, introduced earlier this year. This bill authorizes the arbitrary confiscation of property from our most vulnerable citizens, those living on the city streets, and does nothing to stem bike theft.

The bill continues to target individuals rather than organized operations, and create an opaque bureaucracy with no real due process. Shifting the enforcement of this law from SFPD to DPW does nothing more than change the uniforms of the City employees conducting unconstitutional seizures; it does nothing to change the fundamental unfairness and cruelty of this bill. It allows the DPW to act as judge and jury of citizens’ claims to the property they possess and maintain. It creates a storage and paperwork nightmare for the already overworked department. It is a civil asset forfeiture bill that will subject our citizens to unwarranted, unconstitutional seizures.

Many San Francisco citizens, homeless or otherwise, depend on bicycles for transportation and the conduct of their work. Their use of public space to repair their vehicles infringes upon no other citizens’ rights. This ordinance would create a framework for arbitrary enforcement of a law for the convenience of the DPW, at the expense of people who are already subject to routine harassment, dispossession, and administrative citation.

The existence of illegal bicycle sales operations is not in dispute, with thousands of bicycles reported stolen in San Francisco annually. However, the city already has the means to address illegal bicycle trafficking, including the SAFE Bike serial number registry and laws prohibiting semi-permanent operations blocking public spaces.

This ordinance will have little impact on bike theft but will serve as another tool of abuse against the poorest among us. It will deepen the class divides in a city already riven by inequality and a profound housing and transportation crisis.

JusticeNews

SFPD Does Not Need Tasers

on October 9, 2017

DSA SF has joined a coalition of community groups in standing up and fighting back against a push from the right-wing San Francisco Police Officer’s Association to equip the San Francisco Police Department with deadly Taser weapons, and we need your help! Reuters has reported that over 1,000 people have been killed by police using Tasers, and we’ve seen some of those deaths occur here in the Bay Area, including a man killed by police using Tasers in Oakland this Fall. Studies show that Tasers don’t reduce police shootings, they simply add another weapon to the arsenal, at a time when we should be focusing on de-escalation tactics and community-led violence reduction programs that actually work.

Tasers, like all police violence, target the most vulnerable members of our community, including the poor, the unhoused, people of color, and those experiencing physical or mental health crises. DSA SF is committed to standing in solidarity with the poor and working class against police violence and racism.

DSA SF members have been organizing with community groups, researching Taser studies, and meeting with members of the San Francisco Police Commission, the body that will ultimately decide whether or not to allow the police to carry electroshock weapons. The Commission hastily arranged two “community meetings” on Tasers, and despite the lack of publicity or lead time, many DSA SF members turned out to both meetings. Although the stated goal of the meetings was to seek feedback from the public, uniformed and armed officers were on hand to push back against any criticism of Tasers. DSA SF members acquitted themselves well, armed with knowledge against anecdotes, and refused to back down.

DSA SF has begun collecting postcards to send to the Police Commission, to demonstrate, once and for all, that the community wants less violence, not more weapons. Look for these cards at our events and please make your voice heard! DSA SF members have also been showing up to Police Commission meetings, and will keep showing up, and ratcheting up the pressure. The vote on Tasers may happen as early as November, and we’ll need all hands on deck. Please, join us!

 

For more information and updates, contact: justice@dsasf.org

To tell the Police Commission you don’t want these weapons, email them at: sfpd.commission@sfgov.org

Or call: 415 837-7070

Direct actionNews

DSA Joins with Bay Area Community to Reject Fascist Rallies

on September 1, 2017

DSA SF along with DSA chapters from all over the Bay Area joined a broad coalition of activists, union members, community groups and religious leaders to protest white supremacy at a pair of fascist rallies last weekend in San Francisco and Berkeley. On Saturday, August 26 the alt-right group Patriot Prayer had scheduled a rally in the Presidio. Upon hearing a massive counter-demonstration was planned the fascist organizers moved the location to Alamo Square Park, and eventually fled to Pacifica. The joyous counter-protest quickly turned into a victory rally and march from Alamo Square through the Mission.

On Sunday DSA SF members joined a broad coalition of groups in an opposition rally which began a few blocks away and eventual marched to MLK park, the site of the fascist rally. The massive counter demonstration dwarfed the fascists, who eventually left the park. As with Saturday the counter-demonstration then turned into a victory march through the streets of Berkeley.

Overall the weekend was an unqualified success. Not only was DSA SF able to make a powerful statement against racism, sexism, homophobia, antisemitism and fascism, but we were able to forge deep lasting bonds with fellow labor and community groups who will be invaluable allies in organizing for equality and justice in the Bay Area going forward.

NewsSocialist feminism

There can be no compromise on reproductive justice

on August 2, 2017

San Francisco Democratic Socialists of America’s Socialist Feminism Committee drafted the following statement about reproductive justice, subsequently ratified by the chapter at our July meeting, in response to discussion both within and outside of the DSA surrounding the Omaha, Nebraska mayoral race. The statement affirms our commitment to reproductive justice as a central plank of a just society, not only from a moral perspective, but an analytical one one as well. The way workers are oppressed under capitalism and wage labor is inextricably linked to the way that the tasks of child-bearing, child-raising, and homemaking are dictated; freedom and justice for the working class must necessarily extend to the domestic sphere in terms of relationships, the family unit, and bodily autonomy.

Yesterday, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the person tasked with winning the House of Representatives for the Democratic Party,  publically reneged on the fight for reproductive justice, declaring that Democratic candidates need not support abortion rights to receive financial support for campaigns. This selective abandonment of the Democratic party’s ostensibly ‘core values’ is precisely what inspired us to write the letter below over three months ago. In light of this announcement, we felt it important to reiterate our unwavering commitment to reproductive justice.

Now more than ever, socialists must unite to affirm our demand: reproductive justice for all. DSA SF will never support candidates, policies, or social movements that concede  on reproductive justice. Reproductive justice is central to our theory and practice of socialism. We will continue to fight for bodily autonomy of all forms, without compromise.

— Alisha Foster, Darby Thomas, Teresa Pratt, Jennifer Snyder, Shannon Malloy  DSA SF Steering Committee

Open letter to DSA National

from DSA San Francisco Chapter

Dear DSA National,

In light of recent national debate about the endorsement of anti-choice candidates in local electoral campaigns, we state firmly that the San Francisco chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America does not compromise on issues of reproductive justice. Universal access to free abortion, as one of many components of bodily freedom, is fundamental to our vision of socialism.

It is incumbent on DSA to promote a feminist analysis of political economy, one which emphasizes that any capitalist system will necessarily exploit reproductive labor. An elected official who has supported (or will support) restricted access to abortion stands in the way of economic and reproductive justice — such policies disproportionately affect the working class and exacerbate economic inequality while also violating the fundamental human right to reproductive and bodily autonomy. Any policy restricting either of these rights is incompatible with socialism.

Our support for reproductive justice is not separable from a broader socialist analysis, and any compromise on this fundamental aspect of the socialist program is unacceptable. The San Francisco chapter of the DSA thoroughly and unequivocally rejects such a stance and advocates for universal and public support for reproductive justice.

We submit the following statement as a testament to our socialist vision for reproductive justice and bodily freedom.

In solidarity,

San Francisco Democratic Socialists of America

————

Statement on Reproductive Justice

As socialists, we believe that the right to shape the conditions of your labor is a fundamental human right. This includes the conditions of reproductive labor: the work of bearing and rearing children, and any other unwaged care — cooking, cleaning, emotional support — that is necessary for society to function. This labor plays a key role in every economic system; only the advent of the wage makes it appear otherwise. Because reproductive labor is work, it can be exploited like any other form of work.

This establishes the need for reproductive justice: the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy. Everyone has the right to have children or not have children, and to parent those children in safe and sustainable communities. Crucially, the intersection of class- and race-based oppressions has produced various systems of bodily control under capitalism. Historically, this involves both the ideological and legislative denial of access to abortion and contraception as well as the less widely-known history of compulsory sterilization, the latter of which has an undeniable tie to eugenics in this country. Thus, the reproductive justice we demand involves liberation from all forms of bodily control.

This introduces a crucial tenet of our demand: while reproductive justice is undoubtedly tied to economic justice, there is no need to derive it from an argument of economic expediency. That is, bodily freedom is central to socialism as a moral good in its own right. It is as fundamental as workers’ rights, or healthcare for all, or the abolition of poverty. A woman, trans man, or non-binary person’s right to control their body is not reducible solely to an issue of economic justice.

Thus, the socialist society we envision includes support for a full range of reproductive choices. We demand free and universal access to contraception and abortion, free and universal access to fertility support, and free and universal access to transgender healthcare. These programs allow individuals to determine the conditions of their own reproductive labor as well as their bodily freedom. Giving all people freedom to exercise their human capacities for parenting and gender expression must be part of any socialist program, for it resists the ideological naturalization of motherhood as a biological and cultural inevitability.

As socialists, we must also support the broad range of programs that are necessary to make it possible to have and raise children with dignity. These include decent holistic prenatal care, free and universal child care and public schools, and access to healthy food and clean water. These material necessities of reproductive labor should be shared by all of society. We must counter the ideology that women are the childbearing center of each individual family unit; by placing the bulk of the economic burden of raising the next generation on individual families, we reproduce the current system wherein families with disparate means simply pass on their wealth from generation to generation. If abortion is legal, but not free and accessible, only wealthy women can control their reproductive labor. Likewise, if some wealthy women are able to hire poorer women to perform household tasks at low wages, only wealthy women are in control of their domestic labor. Neither of these are wins for feminism or for socialism.
There is no time to lose. Our current political climate has provided a platform the bigotry that disciplines gender in every possible way — most recently, with a healthcare reform proposal that treats rape and pregnancy as pre-existing conditions. All socialists must raise the issue of reproductive justice — at work, on university campuses, in our local political domains and on the national level. As long as we live in a society that drastically restricts women’s reproductive freedom, we will continue to fight for reproductive and bodily liberation alongside all other forms of social liberation.

Illustration courtesy of See Red Women’s Workshop. Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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News

DSA SF July General Meeting draws record crowd

on July 23, 2017

It was standing room only this week at the San Francisco Democratic Socialists of America July General Meeting, the first such meeting organized by our newly elected Steering Committee. All told 119 comrades both new and known gathered to participate in radical democracy, and a number of important things were decided.

First, the chapter voted unanimously to approve an open letter condemning Bernie Sanders and DSA National for endorsing an anti-choice candidate for office. The letter lays out our vision of reproductive justice, and affirms that it is an essential part of our socialism, something upon which we refuse to compromise. Our delegates intend to take the letter to the DSA National Convention in August. You can read the letter, which was drafted by members of our Socialist Feminist Committee, here.

The general body also unanimously approved a new Code of Conduct for our chapter, which will govern behavior during DSA SF business and at our events. This is a really important step for the chapter. We’re committed to fighting all forms of bigotry and oppression, and that starts at home with the organization we seek to build. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all other forms of bigotry are not okay. We will not tolerate them in our spaces.  Read our new Code of Conduct here.

We also voted to provisionally ratify the Justice Committee as an official body of DSA SF (with a few particulars to be ironed out next time). Originally founded under the name Legal Justice and Decriminalization, the Justice Committee works to protect people from police violence and the deprivations of the racist criminal justice system.

Finally, we had report backs from representatives that attended the Socialism Conference in Chicago, and the Fearless Cities conference in Barcelona, and a talk about the landscape for housing policy in San Francisco from Dean Preston, the founder of Tenant’s Together, California’s statewide tenant advocacy group. Due to the crunch on time (that’s a hell of a lot to fit in one meeting), some proposed amendments to the charter were tabled until the August meeting.

News

DSA SF hosts Northern California summit ahead of national convention

on July 21, 2017

 

On Sunday, delegates to the national convention from 5 Northern California DSA chapters gathered to discuss the issues to be decided at the convention. In attendance were delegates from Silicon Valley, East Bay, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Sacramento.

DSA SF was pleased to host these Chapters here in San Francisco, and to have played a formative role in gathering them together. Over the course of 4 hours, delegates discussed Single Payer, our strategy towards organized labor, DSA national’s role in electoral work, candidates for the National Political Committee, the proposed resolution on Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), and membership of DSA in the Socialist International. Comrades from distant chapters met and exchanged views on organizing. Plans were made to organize a second Northern California Summit to continue regional communication and collaboration.

The strength of DSA comes from our acceptance of many approaches and perspectives, and each chapter has developed their own unique culture and tactics appropriate to local conditions. Delegates from DSA SF celebrated the variety of projects our Chapter is working on, and praised our organizing style which allows everyone to engage in whatever work they most value. By avoiding focusing our entire chapter on a single issue, we have many campaigns in progress addressing many issues, and we have created a resilient member-driven organization with ample opportunity for everyone to contribute. Our variety of issues is our strength.

News

DSA marches for queer liberation and against rainbow capitalism at SF Pride

on June 29, 2017

On Sunday, June 25, DSA SF marched a contingent in the SF Pride parade, calling for queer liberation and economic justice rather than rainbow capitalism and police violence.

With signs, chants, and zines, DSA demonstrated to the audience that socialists are in solidarity in the fight to end violence and oppression and for access to healthcare and economic justice for the of queer people. By recognizing the protests and struggles of queer and marginalized people in the past, DSA recognized that right are not given, they are won.

HomelessnessNews

DSA shows up to #LegalizePizza and fight the criminalization of the homeless

on June 21, 2017

On June 13, DSA SF joined the Coalition on Homelessness to rally in support of Daniel, a homeless senior who was fined $234 simply for eating pizza at a bus stop. The COH organized a Pizza Party to Stop Unfair Fines and Fees, and DSA SF donated pizza and showed up to stand in solidarity. Thankfully, the City backed down and a judge threw out the fine after the officer who wrote the ticket did not show.

These fines and fees are part of a larger war happening against the poor and homeless throughout San Francisco. As tech giants and land developers try to extend their control over the city, they push longtime residents out through harassment, criminalization, and intimidation. Last year, the city spent 20.6 million dollars on “quality of life” citations rather than investing resources to combat the root causes of homelessness.

One homeless activist and organizer named Mike who spoke at the rally said that “the days of begging and pleading for help from the city are over.” He called on homeless people and their allies who have homes to organize direct actions. “If they’re going to give one of us a ticket for eating pizza at a bus stop, there better be five people right after that eating pizza at that bus stop. If they clear out a camp, we all have to show up to say ‘if you give them a ticket, you have to give me a ticket too.’” We won on June 13, and we’ll win the city if we continue to stand in solidarity against those who would criminalize and imprison people for being poor and homeless.

News

DSA SF campaigns to end anti-homeless encampment sweeps

on June 21, 2017

On Sunday, seventeen members of DSA SF’s Homelessness Working Group gathered at UN Plaza to disseminate an educational pamphlet to fellow San Franciscans as they browsed the weekly Farmer’s Market. The pamphlet provided information about the realities of homelessness in San Francisco, warned of the dangers of involving police in a homeless-related crisis situation, and listed alternative services that could deliver needed care instead of brutality and senseless displacement. Though the day was scorching, spirits were high as we saw our neighbors quickly take to our message.

We spoke with hundreds of interested people—a heartening reminder that our fellow citizens are as aware of and troubled by these problems as we are. A number of individuals were grateful to learn that there are resources like the Mobile Crisis Treatment Team (415-355-7555) and the SF Homeless Outreach Team (415-970-4000) available. They had had no other recourse than to call 911 or 311 when they witnessed a crisis, inevitably bringing down the full force of state violence on the marginalized. Now, DSA SF has presented them with a humane alternative.

Sunday’s campaign was the Homelessness Working Group’s first foray into ground game, and it was a highly successful one. With nearly 300 pamphlets distributed, we helped prevent the further oppression of the dispossessed, brought public attention to the callousness of encampment sweeps, and raised the profile of our chapter. The benefits of this action weren’t only to the San Francisco citizenry—our own members, pushing through any initial nervousness, soon found themselves uplifted by engaging conversations with sympathetic neighbors, the gratitude of the homeless people and advocates that we spoke to, and a distinct sense of empathy and solidarity. As socialists, our cause is to protect those who have been cast aside by society or ground up in the machinery of the present system. Sunday represented an early and confident step into that arena, cementing our belief that for DSA SF, the future will hold further success in combating the inhumanities of capitalism.

Fearless CitiesImmigrant rightsNews

Creating Solidarity with Immigrants and Refugees

on June 12, 2017

How are cities being fearless when it comes to its immigrant and undocumented citizens? Is San Francisco calling itself a Sanctuary City enough, or how can we change our city to be fearless in the face of xenophobia?

A policy roundtable entitled Sanctuary and Refuge Cities was presented on the last day of the Fearless Cities Summit by Xristina Moschovidou (Kilkis, Greece), Ignasi Calvó (Barcelona, Spain), Liora Danan (New York City, U.S.A.), Daniel Gutierrez (Berlin, Germany) and Amélie Canonne (Paris, France).

Though coming from five very different regions, the overarching theme was that there can’t be parallel systems in place inside a single municipality. When we construct a separate system for immigrants within an existing system that is built to exclude them, we aren’t creating actual solidarity. Instead, the system needs to be rebuilt so that the same basic public services (legal services, healthcare, public safety, education, etc.) are accessible on the same level for every citizen. And these services need to be genuinely accessible for all – what’s the point of providing access to healthcare if patients can’t communicate with their doctors?

Once emergency needs are met for new citizens, how can we continue supporting them to ensure they thrive alongside existing members? For example, are helping them find jobs and forging relationships with unions for economic solidarity? Most importantly, we need to ensure there are entryways available for new citizens to be involved in policymaking and decision making, regardless of documented status. It’s time to stop talking about immigrants and start talking with them.

The title of Sanctuary City is a slight misnomer considering local municipalities can’t provide full protections against federal policy, including ICE raids against our neighbors. Even as recently as a week ago, members of our chapter attended a rally to stop the deportations of Hugo Mejía and Rodrigo Núñez, two gentlemen who were recently detained by ICE in a neighboring area. While we may not have the powers in place to stop these events, we can and will continue to show fearlessness and solidarity with our immigrant and undocumented neighbors as we work to build a truly fearless and welcoming city in San Francisco.

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