03/14/2021 General Body Meeting
General Body Meeting, March 14th
Facilitator: Paola S
Secretary: Ryan M
Introduction & Agenda
Meeting begins at 3:02 pm. Ali brings the meeting to order. Ali introduces the agenda as well as meeting guidelines.
Mingle & Welcome
We move to brief break out groups for introductions.
Secretary’s Report
Ryan M gives the Secretary Report. Adcom is working on developing a slack replacement, compiling results of the survey. The results of the February ballot were posted. The FY 2021 Budget was passed and the chapter voted to make Defund MPD, Stomp Out Slumlords, Green New Deal, and Labor priority campaigns. The steering committee finished appointing the Political Engagement Committee
Finance Report & Proposed
Brian W presents on the newly passed budget for FY 2021.
Branch, Working Group, and Caucus Updates
Branch updates
Montgomery County Branch
MDC DSA Slack: #montgomery-county | Email: montgomerycountydsa@gmail.com to join our Community / Activist Listserv
Welcome our new steering committee: Ingrid F., Alessandro “Alex” Lee, Susan R., and Nicole Z.
Northern Virginia Branch
NoVA Migrant Justice Working Group
#FreeThemAll Coalition Actions
Research on VA detention centers
NoVA Tenant Organizing
Weekly planning meeting Wednesdays 5 PM
NoVA Member Mobilizers
Rolling out 1:1 Program
NoVA Labor Working Group (new!)
Prince George’s County Branch
Branch Elections
Nominations: until March 21
Voting: April 5 - 19
Meetings:
3/17: General Body Meeting
Guest Speaker: Bill Fletcher Jr.
Reading:
“Race Is About More Than Discrimination”
4/7: Steering Meeting
Connect with us!
Slack: #prince-georges-branch
Email: info@pgdsa.org
Twitter/IG: @pgcdsa
Priority Campaign updates
Labor (Sam N.)
PRO Act focused meeting on Tuesday 3/16 at 7:00pm
Alexandria Collective Bargaining Ordinance pushed to April
Next WOW March 31st at 7:00pm
Next LSS April 5th at 7:00pm (tent. Vendedoras Unidos)
Defund MPD (Runal D.)
We are working as part of the Defund MPD Coalition on two important campaigns:
The FOP Campaign: Pushing for reform on the new contract for Fraternal Order of the Police (the police union)
If you haven’t signed the letter, do so today here!
The FY22 Budget Cycle Campaign: emphasizing the necessity to defund MPD in the DC Council’s FY22 budget.
There is a lot of work to be done on both of these campaigns, and many ways to plug in. Join us at our next Defund MPD Working Group Monthly Meeting to learn how you can get involved on March 21, 6:00- 7:30pm. RSVP here!
And/ or, fill out this form to plug into MDC DSA’s ongoing work.
Green New Deal (Michael B.)
Organizing Committee
Process:
At the March meeting, open nominations for joining OC
End of the following week, announce nominees
At April meeting, nominees present to the campaign on their vision
Over the following week, hold election (for any competitive spots) with Google Form ballots sent to anyone who attended a chapter ecosocialist event in the past year
This initial term would be until December
Roles:
GND Campaign Co-Chairs
We Power DC Co-Leads
PRO Act Co-Leads
Political Education Co-Leads
Internal Organizing Co-Leads
Branch Co-Leads (PG, MoCo, NoVA)
Political Engagement Committee (Stuart K.)
Voting members of the Political Engagement Committee (PEC) are below:
Stuart K, Chair (Steering member, DC resident)
Irene K (Steering member, DC resident)
Paola S (Steering member, DC resident)
Brad C (non-Steering member, Virginia resident)
Nicole Z (non-Steering member, Maryland resident)
Medicare-for-All Working Group (Chase M. or Sarah G.)
Campaigning for Medicare for All
M4A reintroduced in House 3/17, ~108 co-sponsors
Passing city council resolutions in support of M4A
Pushing for Health Justice Initiatives in the DMV
Organizing for vaccine distribution equity in DC
Support hearing on DC maternal health bill 3/29
Get Involved!
Weekly Organizing Meeting: Sundays at 5pm (today!)
Vaccine Outreach sign-up: forms.gle/cmvEk97BnfcTVhNp8
Join the #m4a Slack channel
DSA for Karishma (David W.)
DSA has knocked over 1300 doors
Canvassing:
Saturdays 10 AM/2 PM
Sundays 11 AM
Phonebanks:
Thursdays 5:30 PM
Sundays 2 PM
Online canvasser and issues training in 2 weeks!
Slack: #karishma4va
Socialist Feminist Caucus (Alexandra S. or Marie C.)
Next Reading Group:
March 27, Saturday, 2 pm ET
Until Black Women Are Free, None of Us Will Be Free By Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Aren’t socialism and feminism sometimes in conflict? By Nicole Aschoff
RSVP on MDC DSA Meetup:
Planning for Abortion Fund-A-Thon!
Socialist Night School (David K.)
Greenbelt, MD: A New Deal Experiment in Social Housing, with Frankie Santos Fritz
Monday, March 15, 2021- 6:30-8:30 pm.
RSVP: Greenbelt, MD: A New Deal Experiment in Social Housing | Socialist Night School | Meetup
Eugene V. Debs with Shawn Gude
TBD
Publications (Gary Z.)
#publications channel on Slack
Next Meeting 3/20 - 11:00 AM
Weekly Update archive
Washington Socialist
Sign up for email updates:
Open Question Time and Meeting Closing
Meeting adjours at 5:06 pm.