Features

On Power: Education –Dan A

And since people “receive” the world as passive entities, education should make them more passive still, and adapt them to the world. The educated individual is the adapted person, because she or he is better “fit” for the world. Translated into practice, this concept is well suited to the purposes of the oppressors, whose tranquility rests on how well people fit the world the oppressors have created, and how little they question it.
-Paulo Freire

Won’t somebody think of the children? Turns out, a lot of people are thinking about the children. Schools are ideological battlegrounds. This is not new, it just manifests differently in different time periods. And not without good reason. Humans being cultural animals and all, members of society must be enculturated into their society in order to become functional members of it. School is just an institution that facilitates this enculturation. So why all the hand wringing?

The way in which young folks are enculturated into society determines the way they participate in it, and thus the way society is constructed. Whoever controls the indoctrination of children has immense power over the way society functions. Our current educational paradigm was purpose-built in the 19th century to turn people into good, leal workers for industrialists. The entire institution, from the strict scheduling, the grading system, the hierarchical structure, to the content of the classes is designed to limit the imagination, instill rigid habits, and inculcate compliance and nationalism. You go to school to get a job.

Education could be so much more than that because human beings are so much more than that. It could be geared toward teaching people how to expand their imagination, access their emotions, live in community with each other, and realize their full potential as human beings.

All power to all people. Solidarity.

Solidarity-Building: Calling In vs Calling Out –Troy W

I’d like to use this space to remind comrades from privileged backgrounds (e.g., white/Anglo, cisgender [particularly males], heterosexual, higher socio-economic status, etc.) to be mindful and proactive in using their privilege in ways that advance our shared goal of a more humane society. Privileged individuals need to speak out more forcefully and forthrightly against behavior from members and non-members alike that violates our policies around respectful discussion. Knowing when and how to do this can be confusing, challenging, and possibly anxiety-inducing.

I find the distinction between calling in and calling out to be helpful here (I’m adapting some of this information from a handout from my alma mater). While it’s sometimes necessary to call out behavior that is egregiously harmful or needs immediate correction, this nearly always relies on shaming tactics, and, at least in the short term, effectively shuts down further conversation. This might be OK in situations where building relationships isn’t as important, like when it involves non-members who are actively opposed to our values. Calling out comrades may also be necessary on occasion, but it ultimately hampers connection and solidarity-building.

Alternatively, calling in the person who engages in harmful behavior can result in a conversation where that person “recognizes the other’s valid human claims” and “listens deeply enough to be changed by what they learn.” Calling in is focused on preventing further harm by facilitating understanding and personal growth. I also view it as an opportunity for political education.

Examples include: “What did you mean by that comment?”, “I’m wondering why the conversation has become tense. Can we look at this more closely?”, “What are you trying to prevent/what are you concerned is going to happen?”, and “What’s the threat?”

Bulletins

New Orleans DSA Proudly Endorses Comrade Lauren Jewett for Congress, LA-01!

Volunteer Hub | Contribute | 7:30p Monday volunteer calls

Election Day is Tuesday November 3, 2026. Special education teacher, DSA member, and longtime United Teachers of New Orleans (AFT Local 527) member Lauren Jewett is running for Congress in LA-01, which covers much of the Greater New Orleans metro, Lakeview, and parts of Uptown and Mid-City.

She’s fighting for public schools and their teachers; Medicare for All, reproductive freedom, and keeping our hospitals open; paid family leave and universal childcare for every worker; restoring our coast with union jobs; and ending the billionaire takeover of our government.

Protect Renters! Save Right to Counsel!

We cannot let the administration backslide on renter protections — especially when rising rents are squeezing working class wallets and the State is ramping up criminalization of homeless people. Full funding for the program is only around $2 million annually. That’s some of the City’s best-spent money keeping hundreds of households stable and preventing homelessness each year. We need the City to recommit to renters, and for Mayor Moreno to stand up for the policy that she sponsored. Say it loud and say it clear: No one should face an eviction without a lawyer.

Direct Service & Health Justice Updates

Our next meeting is TOMORROW, August 11, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm online. We will discuss Health Justice becoming its own organizing body, and we will continue planning future initiatives.

We have a New Orleans Brake Light Clinic THIS Saturday, August 15, at AP Tureaud Park from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm! Volunteer here. We have great community turnout for these and hope you can join us! DS+HJ always welcomes donations for food and supplies.

Immigration Advocacy Language Exchange & Partnerships

Join our language exchange! Every Thursday evening, details on Discord.

We’re building connections with local partners supporting our immigrant comrades & neighbors. Join us in the Discord #immigration-advocacy-working-group channel to keep informed on: local partners, upcoming dates to watch, and resources on how to stay involved. If you have connections to local organizations that you would like to connect, please join our working group!

SOCIAL-ISM in the Marigny!

Join us for some end-of-week fun and camaraderie every Thursday 6-8ish at Anna’s in Marigny, at the corner of Royal & Franklin, 2601 Royal St. There’s always a pop-up kitchen, plenty of great drink options (including nonalcoholic cocktails and soft drinks), and of course, Jeopardy! on the projector. Look for Charlie B and his dog June Bug, and don’t be a stranger.

Afrosocialists and Socialists of Color Social Saturday, Monthly Meetings

Come pop in between 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm to chat about goals and activities for our group, Saturday, August 15^th at Kinfolk Coffee (1208 St Charles Av). Can’t make the social? Join our Discord #afrosoc channel for updates.

Then join AfroSOC fourth Thursdays at 6:00 pm. This group welcomes Black, Indigenous, and Socialists of Color, and builds power with DSA’s Black/POC membership and community members.

Dr. Cassandra Shepard to Discuss Settler Colonialism Is the Disaster with Poli-Ed

Dr. Cassandra Shepard from Xavier University will be joining us August 16^th at 5:00 pm to discuss her book and scholarship around settler colonialism, the failures of neoliberal politics in the rebuilding of New Orleans, and the ongoing struggle for alternatives to racialized disaster capitalism. Please RSVP here if you plan on attending.

Sober Socialists: Weekly Meetings

Join Sober Soc Sundays at 8:00 pm to help us decide how this section will be shaped and where and when we will be having meetups. These events are explicitly alcohol- and drug-free, although we accept comrades at any point of their sober journey. We hope to see y’all there! Solidarity!

International Working Group Partners With Palestinian Youth Movement

Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) New Orleans will join us at our General Meeting on August 22nd to share information about their No Appetite for Apartheid (NA4A) campaign. On a date TBD, we’ll join PYM for a group canvass to create apartheid-free zones in Mid-City. Volunteers will talk to Mid-City stores about joining the boycott of israeli and genocide-complicit goods, and raising financial pressure on the Zionist entity. No previous canvass experience necessary, training provided!

View the map of local NA4A certified businesses, and see the requirements to make the list. Already know an apartheid free store, restaurant, or grocer? They can submit the form to join the list here.

Pre-Order Shirts Featuring Art by Influential New Orleanian Sign Painter Pam Collins

If you’ve been to the chapter’s office in the New Orleans Healing Center in the last couple of months, you may have seen a new hand-painted New Orleans Democratic Socialists of America sign. This was made by Pam Collins, an influential sign painter who was described as “unofficially, the official artist of the city of New Orleans” by the time she retired in 2013. You can use this form to pre-order shirts featuring her design as well as red DSA logo shirts and Global Liberation Now pelican shirts. You can also order the skulls and roses shirt design on our Good Press shop.

Community Calendar

Monday, August 10

DSA for Lauren Jewett Weekly Call
7:30 pm – 8:15 pm (Mondays)
Volunteer | Meet

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

Tuesday, August 11

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

Cohort Session #3
7:45 pm – 9:00 pm
RSVP

Wednesday, August 12

Electoral Committee Online Meeting
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Online

Thursday, August 13

DSA Happy Hour
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Anna’s, 2601 Royal St

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

Local Council Meeting
7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Meet

Immigration Advocacy Language Exchange
(Thursdays)
Details on Discord

Friday, August 14

Feminist Socialists Interest Meeting
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258

Saturday, August 15

Brake Light Clinic
11:00 am – 2:00 pm
AP Tureaud Park, 1800 AP Tureaud Av

Afrosocialists & Socialists of Color Social
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Kinfolk Coffee, 1208 St Charles Av

Sunday, August 16

DSA Hangout
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Baldwin & Co, 1030 Elysian Fields Av

Poli-Ed Reading Group: Settler Colonialism Is the Disaster w/ Dr. Cassandra Shepard
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm (third Sunday)
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – Meet | RSVP

Sober Socialists
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm (Sundays)
Meet

Down the Road

August 21 East Jefferson DSA Hangout
August 22 New Orleans DSA General Meeting
August 27 Afrosocialists & Socialists of Color Monthly Meeting
September 6 Coffee With Comrades