Solidarity Means Action: February 27, 2026
Features
February General Meeting Tomorrow –Brodie L
Our second General Meeting of the year is tomorrow at the Healing Center. While the meeting won’t begin officially until noon, I wanted to encourage our members to come a little early at 11:30 am to just hang out with your fellow DSAers. We’ll provide vegan red beans and rice!
Our official business includes: a motion to move up next month’s General Membership from March 28th to the 21st, and breakout groups for labor, fundraising for the chapter to make our work possible, and to discuss our chapter’s attendance and goals at No Kings in March.
I hope to see and hear from all of you tomorrow! Meetings with less official business are an opportunity for us to discuss the chapter’s political questions and how we want to move forward in our fight for the working class. Every member has a say in this work!
Demand a Withdrawal of the $740,000 FQMD & NOPD Drone Proposal
The NOPD and the French Quarter Management District (FQMD) are proposing a dangerous $740,000 Drone as First Responder program that would launch camera-equipped drones to many 911 calls across the French Quarter.
The Drones as First Responder program follows a model being pushed into cities across the country, as part of a major expansion of an ongoing aerial surveillance system built for constant use.
Police drones are a terrible and dangerous city investment. Amid a budget deficit that has caused hundreds of furloughs, cuts to youth and family programs, and whole city offices shut down, we cannot afford to lock New Orleans into an expensive, long‑term aerial surveillance system.
Police drones present serious civil liberties and privacy issues. Equipped with high‑definition cameras, thermal sensors, and live video streams—features adapted from military use—these drones enable invasive surveillance that infringes on our privacy and rights.
If we build it, it will be used by other agencies, including federal ones like ICE and CBP, in ways that further erode our privacy and free speech. Through the state Fusion Center, footage from these drones can be accessed by agencies like ICE and CBP.
Drones originated as weapons of war and are increasingly repurposed for domestic policing. The Skydio drones that are included in the $740,000 proposal have been used by the Israeli army to surveill, track and terrorize Palestinians. Skydio drones have also been seen surveilling No Kings protests in 2025. The same kinds of drone systems are marketed for military, border, and tactical operations—they are built for control and surveillance, not community care.
City resources should be going to community care, not dangerous surveillance tech.
Red Rabbits Recommendation: Margin Call
The world today runs us at 100% – no excess capacity. Any excess that we can squeeze out of our lives is gobbled up by some capitalist venture: you want to zone out watching TV, you have to watch commercials; you want to doomscroll on social media, you have to sift through ads.
The challenge to us is to carve out pockets of capacity in our lives and hold on to them for dear life. Money is the obvious example. Living paycheck-to-paycheck is terrifying, and it limits our attention to only a few days or weeks into the future. Building an emergency fund of even a few hundred dollars can have an amazing effect on your mental health.
However, there are so many other ways that we can claw back capacity in our lives. Start a solid meditation practice by sitting still for five minutes a day and focusing on your breathing. Then after a while, you sit for more time, then more. Walk with your neighbors after dinner instead of going to a gym. Get cookbooks from the library.
There isn’t one set of answers. Our lives are all so varied – we face different challenges and have different abilities. The task for you is to reflect, look at your own life, and figure out how you can pull yourself back from the edge, a few tugs at a time. This is a long-term project, just like the revolution. Add capacity and keep hollowing out space for yourself in your own life. Don’t give those valuable margins to those who would consume them and then cast you aside. You’re much too precious for that. We need you to be healthy, passionate, and standing by our side.
Bulletins
Inter-Organizational Solidarity with Direct Service and Health Justice
On Saturday, February 21st, DSA, Below Sea Level Aid, and Unstoppable Kenner held our bimonthly Brake Light Clinic in Kenner, handing out food, registering folks to vote, and stumping for the upcoming Kenner city council and school board elections.
Join us on March 15th, 11:30 am, at the Healing Center for Fork & Knife Club. We’ll plate and distribute food to food pantries and community fridges across the city. We are always in need of chefs willing to prepare large batches of food for these events. If this interests you, message us in our Discord channel.
Queer Socialists Map Release
New Orleans DSA’s Queer Socialists Section has released its map of pro- and anti- LGBTQ+ businesses in the greater New Orleans Area! This map is an ongoing project which requires community support! If you know of a business that is pro- or anti-LGBTQ+, or if you are the owner of a business, please submit information to Queer Soc’s tip-line! It will be voted on at our next meeting.
Not One Dime at Starbucks
Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) baristas continue their nationwide strike against unfair labor practices. That strike includes our local unionized Starbucks in River Ridge. Please support our striking baristas here and across the country by boycotting Starbucks donating to the workers’ solidarity fund. Baristas have been fighting for over two years for a fair contract. As participants in a wage market system, every worker has a stake in seeing the SBWU fight to the end.
Meet Comrades in Your Neighborhood Circle
Organizing is about trust, and trust gets built by showing up again and again and getting to know your neighbors. Neighborhood circles are how we connect with comrades where we live, work, or otherwise spend our time. We’re using them to host gatherings, plan events, and organize around issues in our neighborhoods. Click here to join yours today! Neighborhood circles are for members only and follow the chapter’s code of conduct and guidelines for respectful discussion.
Community Calendar
Friday, February 27
NOLA Freedom Forum: Big Tech’s AI War on Louisiana
6:00 pm
Promise of Justice Initiative, 1024 Elysian Fields Av
Saturday, February 28
New Orleans DSA General Meeting
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm (11:30 gather)
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – RSVP
Sunday, March 1
Coffee with Comrades
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Coffee Science, 410 S Broad St
Poli-Ed Planning Meeting
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm (first Sunday)
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – Meet
Chapter Orientation
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm (first and last Sunday)
Meet
Monday, March 2
Northshore Reading Group
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
St. Tammany Parish Library, Causeway Branch, 3457 US-190, Mandeville
Local Council Meeting
8:00 pm
Meet
Tuesday, March 3
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Wednesday, March 4
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Thursday, March 5
Mid-City Neighborhood Social
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Skeeta Hawk Brewing, 455 N Dorgenois St
Friday, March 6
Queer Soc Meeting
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Meet
Saturday, March 7
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Sunday, March 8
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Down the Road
March 15 Fork & Knife Club
March 15 Poli-Ed Reading Group
March 28 New Orleans DSA General Meeting
March 28 No Kings
April 5 Coffee with Comrades
June 27 New Orleans DSA Local Convention