Democratic Socialists of AmericaDIRECTOR’S REPORT | Time to Fight
I have never been one to sugar coat reality. The far Right is winning and close to cementing permanent minority rule. Corporate owners made record profits during the pandemic while blaming their fleecing us at the cash register on inflation. They forced us into deadly working conditions and have canceled many of the key government income supports that kept us afloat during these last few years. Now they will force many of us to shoulder the burden of often dangerous unpaid reproductive labor: incubating, birthing, and raising the future working class.
The Right’s decades-long fight to roll back a century of progress, hard won by mass movements, could succeed. The Supreme Court leak on May 3 about Roe v. Wade galvanized many to action and brought attention to the Court’s direction. Several other decisions, both in lower courts and by the Supreme Court, will bring dramatic, devastating changes to our world. For too long, we have depended on an undemocratic and unreliable institution to protect us while letting our power—the power of the people, of collective action—atrophy.
But that’s why it’s such an honor to be with you in DSA. Metro Washington D.C. DSA organized a rally at the Supreme Court the very night of the leak, and 62 DSA chapters and 34 YDSA chapters sprang into action to demand reproductive justice. It is no exaggeration to say that DSA members have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for abortion funds over the years. We face this new era with an organized base in red, blue, and purple states ready to wage political fights and build broad coalitions at all levels and to take to the streets for democracy.
The other reason I have hope is that we are not alone. We’re in a moment of unprecedented working-class revolt at Starbucks and other workplaces. Dozens of DSA and YDSA chapters are organizing “sip-ins,” solidarity rallies, and other support for our members and other workers unionizing their stores. As I write in mid-June, over 150 Starbucks locations have voted union yes! Hundreds of DSAers are training in the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s Organizing for Power Core Fundamentals series led by Jane McAlevey, and many more in the Emergency Workplace Organizing Project trainings co-led with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE).
Everything is at stake. Now is the moment to join the battle.
