Features

Getting Plugged In: Membership Trends & DSA This Summer -Bob M

I’m sure you’ve probably gotten a text or email about all the events coming up and asking you to RSVP. Each meeting that has business (voting or elections) requires that we reach a quorum of 10% of our membership in good standing. That means that as our chapter has grown to historical size, our convention and general meetings need you to show up & get engaged!

(PS – RSVP for the GM tomorrow 12p)

Since I became Membership Chair, our chapter has swelled from 346 to over 525 members in good standing. Our monthly GMs used to have around 20-30 people attending regularly, and now we average close to 50 both in person and online! Members in good standing that can’t attend can request a proxy vote – someone to count you for quorum and vote however you want – in order for us to do business according to our bylaws. As we continue to grow, we continue to need members – new and old – to attend our meetings and participate in our democratic processes and political discussion.

You may have heard about the organizing bullseye that is commonly used in DSA and labor organizing. Since serving as chair, our Core/Activist layer has grown by 170%, our Supporter layer by 175%, and our Unknown/Base layer reduced by 25% through engagement. This has been done through intentional membership engagement efforts like our new member orientations, neighborhood circles, and member cohorts, but ultimately this is because you – our members and supporters – continue to show up not just with ideas but with attention and participation in making those ideas become reality.

I hope you can participate in one of the many political discussions we’re hosting over the next few weeks culminating at our Local Convention, where we will turn those conversations and ideas into action on Sunday, June 27th at First Grace UMC and online. Solidarity!

Landry Channels His Inner Trump –Andy L

The Gret Stet of Louisiana is in quite a mess. The Governor continues the enmity between Baton Rouge and New Orleans by overriding the will of the people and taking away the Clerk of Criminal Court, overwhelmingly won by Calvin Duncan last year. The redistricting fiasco that has upended our Congressional maps also speaks to the enduring legacy of racism. The recent SCOTUS ruling effectively ends the Voting Rights Act and has already kicked off a redistricting frenzy in the southern states.

We’re going back in time, Gang, and soon you’ll have your chance to show what you would have done to fight segregation, had you been around in the 1950s. The Powers That Be want all of us Poors at each other’s throats so that we won’t stand together and fight the bourgeoisie. This is classic divide and conquer, and they use it over and over again. “Owning the libs” and maintaining white supremacy may be red meat for Landry’s base, but it’s destroying us as a society because we’re wasting time and resources that should be spent to make a better world for all of us. If we don’t find a way to move beyond these traps, we’re doomed. Starting another bullshit generational fight while we fight for the climate, the economy, and the return to a multipolar world is only hurting those who don’t have the resources to weather the storm. And that’s almost all of us, Black AND white.

Bulletins

General Membership Meeting Tomorrow

Join our General Membership Meeting tomorrow at the DSA office in the Healing Center and online. RSVP if you’re attending. Members not attending can request a proxy. Agenda can be found here. Members in good standing are eligible to vote, but guests are encouraged to attend and participate.

Queer Soc: Banner Build

May 23rd, after the General Meeting, join Queer Soc in the DSA room to help us build our banner for the upcoming Queer Northshore Pride Parade! This will also be a great chance for anyone who is interested in joining Queer Soc to come hang out with us and meet us in person. We hope to see y’all there. Also, remember if you want to get involved with Queer Soc, we meet every Wednesday at 6pm on Zoom.

Poli Ed: Steal This Story, Please!

Are you one of the millions of fans of the amazing Amy Goodman and Democracy Now!? Well the documentary telling the story of Amy Goodman’s life, Steal This Story, Please! and its award-winning director Carl Deal are coming to town. New Orleans DSA will be tabling at some of the screenings. Screenings and Q&As will be on Sunday, May 24th (3:30pm at the Broad Theater and 7:30pm at Prytania at Canal Place) and Monday, May 25th (2:30pm at Prytania at Canal Place and 7pm at the Broad Theater). If you want to help table with us, contact Poli Ed. Click here for tickets for Prytania and click here for tickets for the Broad. And if you do pick up tickets at Prytania, you can use the discount code “STEAL-THIS” for a little DSA discount. We’ll see you all there!

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!

Save the Date for Local Convention

June 27th, 12-5pm at First Grace UMC (3401 Canal St) will be our annual local convention. With the large growth in our chapter, this convocation of our members is a great way to meet members, hear political arguments, and engage in planning our next year of organizing. We’re hoping for our highest attendance in years, so please save the date and make plans to attend. Childcare will be provided. RSVP today.

Direct Service and Health Justice: Brake Light Clinics/Health Fairs

Coming in June, Direct Service and Health Justice will be holding two Brake Light Clinics, one at the Northshore Robotics STEM Festival in Covington, Saturday, June 6th at 701 N Tyler St and another Saturday, June 20th in New Orleans at 1800 AP Tureaud Ave that will be accompanied by a Free Health Fair. There will also be someone collecting signatures for the recall petitions at these events. If you want to come out and volunteer for either of these events, reach out to the Direct Service and Health Justice Committee and get plugged in and be sure to join us, 6pm every second and fourth Tuesday of the month to help us plan these events or bring us a new idea.

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, May 22

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Saturday, May 23

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

Banner Build for Queer Northshore Pride Parade
2:00 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258

Sunday, May 24

Steal This Story, Please!
3:30 pm
The Broad Theater, 636 N Broad St

Steal This Story, Please!
7:30 pm
Prytania Theatres at Canal Place, 333 Canal St 3rd Floor

Comms Meeting
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – Meet

Monday, May 25

Steal This Story, Please!
2:30 pm
Prytania Theatres at Canal Place, 333 Canal St 3rd Floor

Steal This Story, Please!
7:00 pm
The Broad Theater, 636 N Broad St

Local Council Meeting
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Meet

Tuesday, May 26

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

Wednesday, May 27

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

Thursday, May 28

Membership Working Group
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Discord

Friday, May 29

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Saturday, May 30

Queer Northshore Pride Market, Parade & Block Party
10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Mandeville

DSA Political Discussion: Labor
6:30 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – Zoom

Sunday, May 31

Krewe of Zeitoun + New Orleans Musicians for Palestine Present En Masse
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Okay Bar, 1700 Port St

Chapter Orientation
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm (first and last Sunday)
Meet

Down the Road

June 2 Northshore Reading Group: Imperialism, The Highest State of Capitalism (Vladimir Lenin)
June 2 Brake Light Clinic at Northshore Robotics STEM Festival
June 7 Coffee With Comrades
June 7 DSA Political Discussion: Electoral
June 14 DSA Political Discussion: Solidarity Work
June 20 Brake Light Clinic & Health Fair
June 21 Poli-Ed Reading Group: My Traitor’s Heart (Rian Malan)
June 21 DSA Political Discussion
June 27 New Orleans DSA Local Convention