Features

Tonight: The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz

Join us tonight at 6pm for a screening of The Internet’s Own Boy in the Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258.

Aaron Swartz devoted his life to the cause of internet freedom from corporate domination. Aaron helped develop RSS, Creative Commons, and Reddit. He founded watchdog.net and Demand Progress, authored the Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto, supported Chelsea Manning, and led the fight against SOPA.

The State relentlessly harassed Aaron until he took his own life. Prior to his death, Aaron was compiling evidence of corporate influence on legal research.

Before his death, Aaron remarked that Open AI co-founder Sam Altman, “can never be trusted. He is a sociopath. He would do anything. “

Aaron envisioned something better. In his Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto, he wrote: “There is no justice in following unjust laws. It’s time to come into the light and, in the grand tradition of civil disobedience, declare our opposition to this private theft of public culture.”

Even after Aaron’s death, Obama’s U.S. Dept. of Justice and Attorney General Eric Holder, who were responsible for the harassment, defended their treatment and prosecution of Aaron.

You can get involved locally in the fight against surveillance with coalition partner Eye on Surveillance, and also by signing their petition for Prince Holmes, a victim of facial recognition bias.

RedTalk: Alienation in the Here and Now –Troy W

At our May GM, I briefly presented on the topic of alienation. Alienation is a philosophical concept, but it has very real implications for our work as socialists because it powerfully describes the problem of capitalism and gives hope and definition for something different.

Karl Marx built on the earlier philosophic work of thinkers like Hegel, who had abstractly described alienation as part of the overall human condition. Marx instead ran with this idea to specifically explain why the modern capitalist system was so harmful to human well-being.

Capitalism and its forebears had created societies built on those who need to work to survive and those who live off the work of these laborers. Capitalism, like feudalism or other economic systems before it, is not the only possible human political and economic system. It is not an objective fact of nature that capital must run our lives and we are simply subject to it. Humans are both part of the world we are born into AND can change the world.

I want to touch on something else I brought up in the presentation. A valid critique is that in highlighting the effects of alienation on the individual, many socialists of the last century began losing sight of the ultimate work of socialism: to create a new society and economic system freed of capitalism and the profit motive. A focus on the individual manifestations of alienation resulted in brittle “reforms” of a rotten core. The significant (though piecemeal) advances of the social democratic movements of the 20^th century (e.g., LBJ’s “War on Poverty”) are constantly under assault by right-wing forces because they are contingent upon a system built on capital.

Instead, we must focus on advancing socialism that mitigates and ultimately eliminates capitalism’s fundamentally alienating qualities. Changing individual circumstances cannot come at the expense of this larger project (and vice versa!).

The Ax Is Laid at the Root of the Tree –Andy L

The recall campaign for Governor Landy and Attorney General Murrill is in full swing, and at our last GM, our chapter wholeheartedly endorsed a resolution to join the effort. Recalls are a long shot, but the exercise itself could benefit the chapter for years to come.

The chapter has had two major statewide flexes in its history. The first was in 2019 when chapter member Margee Green ran for Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry. The chapter was only two years old at that point, and Margee won over 20% of the vote. The second statewide flex was in early 2024 when our chapter helped change the makeup of the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee, which culminated in the removal of the problematic Katie Bernhardt as party chair.

In 2020 and 2024, around 1.2 million Louisianians voted for Trump, but in 2023, a little more than half a million voted for Landy. 40% turnout is not a full-throated endorsement, it’s pinching your nose and pulling the lever. The Republican civil war between the Epstein Coalition and the America Firsters will open up organizing space for us. It’s up to us to step into it. As our chapter reaches its tenth year, we are organized, energized, and brimming with potential. We do a lot, and now it’s time for us to do more.

So join the campaign, practice your canvassing skills, and talk to your fellow Louisianians about what’s important to them and what a different future for the state might look like. As our good friends The Eagles remind us: we may lose, and we may win, but we will never be here again.

Bulletins

Eye on Surveillance Linux Install Party Tomorrow

Our digital environment can be hostile to organizers. Operating systems broadcast everything we do to Apple/Microsoft, which share that information with data brokers and a hostile government. They come with unwanted AI “assistants,” spyware, and bloatware that compromise privacy and slow down your machine.

Eye on Surveillance will be holding a free informational session and Linux install party tomorrow at 10:00 am at the REACH Center, 2022 St Bernard Av, Bldg C, 3rd Fl. There will be a merry band of Linux users to help you install and troubleshoot, set up good security, and teach you the basics of how to get software.

Queer Soc Tomorrow: Queer Northshore Pride Parade

Hello to all fellow Queer Socialist Comrades! We are marching in Queer Northshore’s Pride Parade! For marchers, the parade begins at 2:00 at Lakeshore Dr and Marigny Av and ends at 5:00. We are free to participate in the following block party that goes until 9:00.

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.” Please contact either Artemis or Warren if you want to get involved and/or march!

New Chapter Orientation Times

You spoke! We listened! We are now adding two weekday Chapter Orientations per month. Not everyone has free weekends, so we are expanding to ensure we can connect with as many comrades as possible. Join us on the 3rd and 4th Thursday of every month at 06:30pm where you can learn about DSA, engage, and get better plugged in. Those new to the Chapter are highly encouraged to attend, as well as current members to lend insights, answer questions from new members, or even learn something new yourself!

Direct Service & 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. 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.

Save the Date for Local Convention, June 27

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.

Community Calendar

Friday, May 29

The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258

Saturday, May 30

Eye on Surveillance Linux Install Party
10:00 am
REACH Center, 2022 St Bernard Av, Bldg C, 3rd Fl

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 – RSVP

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
Meet

Monday, June 1

Immigration Advocacy Working Group
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 & Discord

Tuesday, June 2

Northshore Reading Group: Imperialism, The Highest State of Capitalism (Vladimir Lenin)
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
St. Tammany Parish Library Causeway Branch, 3457 US-190, Mandeville

Wednesday, June 3

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

Thursday, June 4

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

Friday, June 5

🌹 🌹 🌹

Saturday, June 6

Brake Light Clinic at Northshore Robotics STEM Festival
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
701 N Tyler St, Covington

Sunday, June 7

Coffee With Comrades
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Coffee Science, 410 S Broad St

DSA Political Discussion: Electoral
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 & Zoom – RSVP

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
Meet

Down the Road

June 14 DSA Political Discussion: Solidarity Work – RSVP
June 20 Brake Light Clinic & Health Fair
June 21 Poli-Ed Reading Group: My Traitor’s Heart (Rian Malan)
June 21 DSA Political Discussion – RSVP
June 27 New Orleans DSA Local Convention – RSVP
July 5 Coffee With Comrades
July 19 Poli-Ed Reading Group