Features

Brake Light Clinic Returns in New Orleans East

The Direct Action and Health Justice Committee is hosting its bimonthly Brake Light Clinic tomorrow to provide valuable services and community care to our comrades in New Orleans East. From 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, we’ll be set up at 7401 Read Blvd, in the Walgreens parking lot just off of Morrison Road, offering brake light replacements, hot meals, and basic healthcare services for passersby. No costs, no questions, just neighbors helping neighbors.

A broken tail light is not just an inconvenience; it’s an opening for unwanted police attention and can come with a costly fine that can spiral into more troubling hardship. Access to basic healthcare screenings and essential hygiene products can be the difference between catching a problem early and letting it grow. These aren’t luxuries. They’re the kind of everyday support everyone deserves. We are looking for volunteers to help with:

• Setup
• Brake light replacements
• Food and material distribution
• Sign holders and community outreach

No special skills required for most roles, just a willingness to show up and serve. If you have experience in auto repair or healthcare, we especially want to hear from you. Sign up here.

Attend the UNO Justice Studies May Day Weekend Symposium

The Economic Justice Research Lab (EJRL) at the University of New Orleans, in partnership with allied unions and worker justice organizations, will host a one-day May Day Weekend symposium on Saturday, May 2, 2026, to present stories from our year-long collaborative oral history project on the history of labor and community organizing in New Orleans over the last fifty years. The gathering will bring together many of the organizers who were interviewed for the project, along with community members, union members, and other working people for a series of interactive educational workshops in which we will discuss past and present campaigns and work together to create a strategy and ongoing space for future worker organizing in New Orleans.

The symposium takes place at IATSE Local 478 at 511 N Hennessey St. Breakfast starts at 9:30am, program from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, and reception to follow. Sessions are: Story Circle with Movement Veterans on the History of Organizing in New Orleans, Expanding the Movement & Developing New Leaders, Organizing Service Sector Workers, Shifting Power Strategy Session.

The symposium is free and open to all, but space is limited and pre-registration required. If you have questions, contact Rafael Delgadillo at rdelgad2@uno.edu.

One Ingredient Is Time –Andy L

As our good friend Ursula K. Le Guin reminds us: Love doesn’t just sit there like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.

When making bread, you have to have the right ingredients, you have to follow the recipe, and most importantly, you have to wait. Different breads have different steps. Dinner rolls require a ton of kneading to turn it into a smooth mass. And then you let it rest. With focaccia you pull the dough, fold it over itself, and then rotate the bowl a quarter turn until you work your way once around the bowl. And then you let it rest. Same ingredients, different steps, always resting.

Inside the dough, wee beasties are hard at work. Although you can’t see them, don’t think that they aren’t important. They just need time to make the changes that you hope to see. Sometimes you work; sometimes they work. Together you’ll get there.

Not to single out Star Trek, but our society has come to believe that complex problems can be quickly solved with a bit of technology. In reality, quick and easy answers are sometimes wrong and can make things worse. Things take time. This war is going to take time. The Long Transition Towards Socialism and The End of Capitalism is going to take time.

This is not a call to inaction. This is a reminder to keep your focus moving. Sometimes you work here, other times you work there. You need to give your work time to be influenced by other things that you have no control over. Whether it’s bread, or love, or the future you want to build for all of us, don’t forget that one ingredient is Time.

Bulletins

Bywater-Lower 9/Downtown-Marigny Neighborhood Super Social Tonight

Building a socialist future requires identifying the needs of our community in order to take collective action. New Orleans DSA invites all members and non-members alike to an informal social near you. Come chat and get to know comrades in your community. DSA members sign up for your neighborhood circle.

Join us tonight from 6-8 pm at Okay Bar, 1700 Port St.

Worker Power: Unión Migrante May Day March!

Join your DSA comrades at Unión Migrante’s Annual May Day March. We’ll march alongside labor, immigration, and faith groups to celebrate the workers’ struggle and agitate against wage theft and other evils. The march is May 1 at 5:30 pm. Come to an art build tonight at 3330 Canal, and check the Discord for the address of the April 13 planning meeting.

Chevron Out of French Quarter Fest, All of Us to French Quarter Fest

We have won our demand! After first dropping Chevron from the title sponsorship, the coalition received word that starting in 2027, the festival will no longer be sponsored by Chevron at all. Now take action to thank French Quarter Fest for dropping Chevron and pressure the remaining targets to follow suit! Let’s get out there and show our support for local artists at this year’s FQF.

Poli-Ed Reading Group: Che Guevara

Please join us at the Healing Center, Room 258, on April 19 to discuss Socialism and Man in Cuba by Che Guevara. The Poli-Ed Reading Group meets on the third Sunday of every month to chat about books, films, articles, and more. Come enjoy good times, good people, and good conversation.

Queer Soc: Queer Northshore Pride Parade

Hello to all fellow Queer Socialist Comrades! The New Orleans DSA’s Queer Socialist Section is set to walk in the Queer Northshore Pride Parade on May 30th! We will have ten to twenty people marching with us and we will be carrying a banner to celebrate our DSA chapter under the theme “We Rise Together”. We will be scheduling a banner build day soon and still have some spots open if anyone didn’t see this before and still wanted to join us on our march. Please contact either Artemis or Warren if you want to get involved and/or march!

Queer Soc: LGBTQ+ Map

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!

Marketplace for Cooperatives

DSA members are starting a new tech worker cooperative, and one of our first projects is a marketplace where people can shop online at coops! This is socialism in action, as it supports businesses where workers own the means of production, rather than profiteering shareholders. Read more about the reasons why in our Manifesto.

Sign up for updates on how the marketplace is coming along and share with everyone you know who is interested in supporting worker-owned cooperatives! Visit us at https://solidarityecono.my

Membership: 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.

Write Like a Socialist: We Have a World to Win!

Have an update from your committee or working group? That’s a Bulletin! Want to tell us about an upcoming event? Add it to the Community Calendar! Got some opinion or analysis to share for the good of the membership? Write us a Feature! Make your contribution to the next edition of Solidarity Means Action from the link on Discord.

Community Calendar

Friday, April 10

Here We Shall Stay: Palestine Festival and Fundraiser
5:00 pm – 8:45 pm
LCB Pocket Park, 29 McAlister Dr

Bywater/Lower 9th Neighborhood Social
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Okay Bar, 1700 Port St

Unión Migrante May Day March Art Build
6:00 pm
3330 Canal St

Saturday, April 11

Brake Light Clinic
11:00 am – 2:00 pm
7401 Read Blvd – Volunteer Signup

Sunday, April 12

NOWCRJ/SEDND Community Outreach Day in Mid-City
12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Address on Discord

Uptown Neighborhood Social
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Z’otz Cafe, 8210 Oak St #2402

Seventh Ward Neighborhood Social
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Frenchmen Community Garden, 2107 Marais St

Monday, April 13

Unión Migrante May Day March Planning Meeting
6:00 pm
Address on Discord

Tuesday, April 14

Direct Service & Health Justice Meeting
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Meet

AfroSoc Meeting
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – Meet

Wednesday, April 15

Queer Soc Meeting
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Meet

Mid-City Neighborhood Social
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Twelve Mile Limit, 500 S Telemachus St

Thursday, April 16

Garden District Neighborhood Social
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
The Avenue Pub, 1732 St Charles Av

Friday, April 17

🌹 🌹 🌹

Saturday, April 18

New Orleans DSA General Meeting
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – RSVP

Sunday, April 19

Northshore Neighborhood Social
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Tandem Coffee and Cocktails, 424 Girod St, Mandeville

Poli-Ed Reading Group: Socialism and Man in Cuba (Che Guevara)
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm (third Sunday)
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – Meet

Down the Road

May 1 Unión Migrante May Day March
May 2 UNO Justice Studies May Day Weekend Symposium
May 3 Coffee with Comrades
May 17 Poli-Ed Reading Group
May 23 New Orleans DSA General Meeting
June 27 New Orleans DSA Local Convention