Features

Local Convention Convened, New Leadership Elected –Bob M, Membership Chair

This past Saturday our chapter’s highest decision-making body, the Local Convention, took place at the First Grace UMC. Thank you to the over 60 dues-paying members who participated in our deliberation.

We had presentations on our chapter’s progress and growth over the last year, as well as highlights of our wins such as founding Queer Socialists section, feeding hundreds of people and changing hundreds of brake lights, and reaching our highest dues paying membership in several years. We also talked about our lessons learned from the municipal election cycle, the MAGA agenda in Louisiana, and the reactionary front we’re up against.

We confirmed our new Local Council who will lead our chapter over the next year. Additionally, we adopted several bylaws fixes to be in line with national DSA. We renamed our at-large Local Council members as Campaign coordinators, as well as no longer requiring campaigns to have chairs on Local Council. These reforms to our chapter will provide greater flexibility and response to the historical moment we face.

We also heard and debated different political resolutions, including renewing six of our working groups, renaming MAC to the Electoral Committee, and adopting a new technology platform to increase membership participation. We adopted a new campaign for May Day 2028 that will be renewed next convention. We also passed an electoral strategy for the next 4 years, and initiated the endorsement process for Lauren Jewett for Congress. Finally, our young comrades and our child care friends presented their vision of what they want to see in New Orleans.

Thank you to the many members who cooked, volunteered and enjoyed our company at the social after convention, as well as Ujima Collective and First Grace UMC. We look forward to the new swell of members to continue to be more involved with the chapter. Ask your friends and coworkers to join DSA!

On Power –Dan A

Power is not a nebulous concept. It is physical. It exists in the material world. It’s one of those things that once you see it—once you see how political power propagates through society—you can’t unsee it. Furthermore, once you come to understand how it works, you recognize that you are participating in it. Indeed, you must participate in it. There is no escaping it. Political power is an indelible part of the human condition. Once you realize this, the question then becomes: What am I directing my power toward?

Power is simply the ability to do stuff. It has a quantitative and qualitative aspect. Quantitatively, when I do stuff, I burn calories. So we can measure human power as calories over time. Fine. Then there’s the qualitative. Which way is my power moving? Am I burning calories with my legs? My arms? Am I running my mouth? Am I typing away with my fingies? Am I creating or destroying? Am I producing something for others to use? Am I wasting my effort? That is individual power.

We direct our action toward what we want, but sometimes we take action for others and others take action for us. If I’m sitting down and you’ve gotten up and I ask you to catch the light or grab me a drink out of the fridge please, that is political power, however slight. If power is the ability to do your will, then political power is the ability to have others do your will for you.

Those who believe in a dictator will give their power to a dictator. Those who believe in their community will give their power to their community. Ultimately, all political power comes from the people, and it always has.

All power to all people. Solidarity.

–Dan A

Law and Disorder –Andy L

In case you missed it, NOPD tried to change their drone operation manual to allow the use of weapons, but they got caught. Originally, the manual said “The [drone] shall not be equipped with weapons or hazardous materials of any kind”, but they tried to append “without prior approval, in writing, from the Superintendent of Police” to the end of the line. Busted, they backed off. As our good friend and abolitionist Wendell Phillips reminds us, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” We can never stop watching the pigs. For your Independence Day homework, go look up the 1985 MOVE bombing.

In today’s example of All Power to the People, as a grand jury in New Orleans wound down its term, it indicted Liz Murrill on 16 felony charges related to her actions around the recent unseating of Calvin Duncan as Clerk of Criminal Court. The hidden secret about juries is that they are the most powerful actor in the criminal justice system. In the other direction, ever heard of jury nullification? It’s when the jury can say, “yeah, they did it, but this is a dumb application of the law. Let them go.”

Lastly, my wife was recently on jury duty. While in voir dire (where they screen potential jurors), one of the lawyers asked if any of them or someone close to them had ever been sexually assaulted. 13 of the group of 25 raised their hand – more than half of them. The follow-up question was “how many of you reported it?” Only one person raised their hand. So let’s call this a semi-regular refresher that sexual assault remains a huge problem in our society and remind everyone that we’re all here to build a better world. Do The Work. Don’t make it weird.

Bulletins

Update on DSA Engagement with Louisiana Deserves Better

We’re ending our engagement with the Louisiana Deserves Better campaign to recall Landry and Murrill. Make no mistake: Louisiana does deserve better. But the recall committee no longer appears functional, and state law limits anyone else’s ability to pick up the pieces and move forward. Grassroots organizations without a robust democracy and clear decision-making structures don’t tend to last very long, and this has been no exception. We’re especially grateful today for DSA’s member-led democracy. DSA remains, as always, deep in the fight against fascist rulers.

Direct Service & Health Justice

First, we want to say thanks for such a successful, well-attended local convention, and thank you to so many of our DS&HJ members for volunteering to cook dishes for the event! Please join us at our next meeting taking place online this Tuesday, July 7 at 6pm at bit.ly/504DSA-DSHJ. We will be planning for our next Fork & Knife Club food distribution, and if you have a project you’d like to see us pursue this year, this meeting would be a great time to have a small presentation ready. Reach out to Direct Service and Health Justice Committee if you have any questions.

Community Calendar

Friday, July 3

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Saturday, July 4

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Sunday, July 5

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
Meet

Monday, July 6

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Tuesday, July 7

Northshore Reading Group: Constructive Criticism (Gracie Lyons)
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
St Tammany Library Causeway Branch, 3457 US-190, Mandeville

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

Wednesday, July 8

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

Electoral Committee Co-Work & Talk
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm (every Wednesday)
Morning Call, 5101 Canal Blvd

Thursday, July 9

Chapter Orientation
6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Meet

Friday, July 10

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Saturday, July 11

DSA Hangout in Kenner
3:00 pm
Nola Desi Kitchen, 3814 Williams Blvd, Kenner

Sunday, July 12

Local Council Retreat
10:00 am – 5:45 pm

Down the Road

July 19 Poli-Ed Reading Group: The Myth of Red Texas (David Griscom)
July 25 New Orleans DSA General Meeting
August 2 Coffee with Comrades