Following a massive mobilization on the part of our branches leading up to the Sept. 13 primary, branches are holding educational sessions for the many new members NYC-DSA has gained over the primary season – it’s a great time to get to know your local branch!
Bronx/Upper Manhattan
At the August branch meeting, B/UM members had a great discussion about branch strategy and how to measure the success of our campaigns. Canvassing has continued this month to save the psychiatric ward at Allen Hospital in Inwood, collecting hundreds of postcards opposing New York-Presbyterian’s plan to close this crucial community mental health resource. The B/UM branch provided garden stewardship at La Finca del Sur, an urban farmer cooperative in the Bronx. Members also canvassed in Harlem for universal rent control, in the Bronx for postal banking, and even trekked all the way to Brooklyn to canvass and get out the vote for Julia Salazar!
Labor Branch
The Labor Branch will be holding two training meetings in September that all are welcome to attend. The first, held on September 20th and entitled “Beating Apathy, Secrets of a Successful Organizer,” inspired by Labor Notes, gave a basic overview of how to organize at work. They covered the “Bull’s eye” model for mapping your workplace, how to have a one-on-one conversation and much more. In the coming year we will alternate between branch meetings and Labor Notes inspired trainings.
The Labor Branch Organizing Committee would like to encourage all members of NYC-DSA who have any interest in organizing at work to attend Labor Notes Troublemakers School. New York troublemakers are planning a day of skill-building workshops, education, and strategy discussions to put some movement back in the labor movement.
This school will be a great opportunity for union members, stewards, and activists to share strategies and build the solidarity required in these tough times. A light breakfast, lunch, and a copy of the Labor Notes book, Secrets of a Successful Organizer, are included with registration.
Workshops will include: *Secrets of a Successful Organizer * Assertive Grievance Handling *Organizing After Janus* Saturday, 9/29 9am-4pm, The James Baldwin School, 321 W 18th St. NYC REGISTER HERE
Central Brooklyn
Central Brooklyn kicked off new branch committees to support local initiatives and member development. Each committee met to define goals and will present during a portion of our upcoming branch meeting. CBK branch members also organized a Central Brooklyn canvass day for Julia Salazar.
Lower Manhattan
The Lower Manhattan branch had a very successful August meeting featuring members from the Labor Branch on the importance of Resolution 33. They encouraged DSA members to actively join the unionized workforce so as to help steer unions toward a socialist analysis of the relationship between labor and capital. They will be forming a local political education night school in the coming weeks and LoMan upcoming monthly meeting will focus specifically on healthcare as a citywide priority and the Medicare for All campaign.
South Brooklyn
South Brooklyn spent the first half of the month canvassing for Julia, Cynthia, and Jumaane, pairing these canvasses with promotion of the New York Health Act. In the second half of the month, they focused on their Atlantic Antic tabling initiative and their Health Justice Teach-In. The teach-in brought speakers from around NYC to South Brooklyn to discuss medical debt, the insurance industry, the NYHA, the fight for single payer in other countries, and how to strategize in regards to the opposition. The September meeting centered around the War on Drugs, with speakers from DSA Medics, El Grito, and Court Watch joining to speak about drug policy, policing, and harm reduction.
The Political Education Committee in SBK also offered programming this past month, holding its final day school session on Immigrant Justice in collaboration with the IJ Working Group and hosting a free screening of the film En El Septimo Dia (On the Seventh Day) (2018), a film set in Brooklyn about the life of undocumented workers.
Moving forward, SBK will be focusing on the establishment of committees for its members, in particular, a Healthcare Committee to guide its actions in support of the NYHA and national Medicare-for-All.
Queens
Queens DSA made housing and tenant organizing the centerpiece of its late August membership meeting. The Queens Housing Working Group regularly provides information on tenant rights and tenant organizing to the public in Ridgewood; it will table next on Saturday, October 13, from 10 am to 2 pm at the Ridgewood Veterans Memorial at the intersection of Cypress Avenue and Myrtle Avenue. The housing working group’s next meeting will be Monday, October 15, from 7 to 9 pm, at 45-42 41st Street, Sunnyside, Apt 4G.
The Queens Electoral Working Group mobilized members to participate in Julia Salazar’s successful campaign for State Senate in the Democratic Primary in North Brooklyn. Now, it is shifting its focus back to Queens, where it will mobilize members to support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign for Congress in the general election.
North Brooklyn
North Brooklyn has been hard at work over the summer volunteering for comrade Julia Salazar’s campaign for state senate! That work paid off on September 13 when Salazar defeated long-time incumbent Martin Dilan. Thanks to all the DSA members who showed up to get out the vote for Julia in the final days of her campaign! North Brooklyn members are now hard at work on other campaigns to build socialism in their neighborhoods and to work with all the people newly interested in DSA after Salazar’s win. They also congratulate North Brooklyn member Justin Charles who had an Election Day victory of his own: Justin is now the county committee rep for his election district!