| Comrades, we have a busy few weeks on the horizon and all of us on the Steering Committee hope to see you soon — whether virtually or in-person! The primary season is upon us and the difference between electing establishment democrats and socialists could hinge on the efforts we put in over the next month. Read an update on our electoral efforts in the “From the Blog” section below. Canvassing can be intimidating at first, but there are a lot of working people out there that we can reach on the doors who may never have considered supporting a socialist candidate before. We offer a training at the start of each canvass, and you’ll be surprised at how easy it feels once you get into it! We’ll be out every Saturday (weather permitting) between now and the August 9th primary, so we’d encourage you to pick a day and join us on the doors! More details are under the events below. On Monday, we’ll have our bi-monthly General Meeting over Zoom, featuring updates from all corners of the chapter. We’ll also be debuting the designs submitted for our logo and t-shirt design contest, with voting to follow on Slack. On Friday evening, we’ll have a chance to come together in person for an Ice Cream Social-ism in Powderhorn Park. |
| Big events in the next week |
| • Visit with Comrades at the next Open Streets – Sunday, 7/10, at 11:00-4:30 on Franklin Ave in Minneapolis |
| Last month, we made our foray back into tabling at in-person events in the Twin Cities at Open Streets Lyndale. This time, we will be on Franklin outside Boneshaker Books, and would love to talk to you irl! If you are interested in volunteering at the event, join the #tabling |
| • TCDSA General Membership Meeting – Monday, 7/11, at 6:30-8:00pm – Online, Register Here |
| Our every-other-month general meetings are a chance to hear about the ongoing work of our chapter, make decisions as a membership, and get involved. In addition to branch and working group updates (labor, abortion, mutual aid), this meeting will feature updates about the vision for the chapter we discussed at our last general meeting, and preview our annual chapter convention and officer elections, scheduled for September. Agenda here. |
| • Ice Cream Social-ism – Friday, 7/15, at 6:30-8:00pm – Powderhorn Park, South Picnic Tables |
| Building community is integral to building socialism, and what better way to get to know each other than over ice cream! RSVP here so we know how much ice cream to get! All are welcome, members and non-members alike. We will be at the South Picnic Tables – Approx.1300 E 35th St, Minneapolis, MN 55407, |
| From The Blog |
| An update on TCDSA’s endorsement process and electoral efforts from Tim H. |
| A resolution passed by TCDSA Steering Committee for the DSA National Political Committee (NPC) regarding the crushing inflation for the working class. |
| A piece by Health Justice member Linda on how current single-payer health bills relate to the fight for reproductive justice, and what immediate steps we can take to fight for it. |
| Other Asks |
| The Tech Ops committee is currently working on a redesign for the Twin Cities DSA website. We’re asking you for your feedback in this short survey to guide us. There is also a section to sign up and get involved if you’d like to help us on this project. Otherwise you can reach out on the #techops slack channel. |
| • Sign the Petition to Support Nurses – Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) have asked DSA members to support their petition to get a fair contract at their hospitals. |
| Chapter Branch/Committee Meetings and Events |
| • Brake Light Clinic Planning – Saturday, 7/9, 11:00am-12:00pm – Online, Register Here |
| Our monthly branch meetings are a space to talk about current organizing and how people can get involved! We also have discussion centered around political education on specific topics each month. Sign up for email notification including upcoming events and meeting materials by contacting us at socfem@twincitiesdsa.org |
| • Sheigh Freeberg SD65 Canvassing – Sat, 7/9 and 7/16, at 12:00-2:30pm – Online, Join Here |
| Early voting is open, the Aug. 9 primary will come up fast, and we are getting out there to talk to neighbors about endorsed candidates. Join us as we get back at it again July 9 at 12pm in Horton Park! Sign up at http://tcdsa.org/7-9-canvass. We will also canvass in Douglas Park on July 16. |
| • Orientation to TCDSA – Wednesday, 7/9, at 1:00-3:00pm – Online, Register Here |
| Join the Internal Organizing Committee as we call new TCDSA members! We will meet on Zoom to go over the script, mute ourselves and make calls, and then return to debrief how it went. These calls are a chance to meet newer members to TCDSA, hear what they need from our chapter and what brings them to socialism. All are welcome! See the pinned post on the #internal-organizing channel on Slack for more info. |
| • Internal Organizing Phonebank – Wednesday, 7/13, at 6:00-7:00pm – Online, Register Here |
| Join the Internal Organizing Committee for our bimonthly phonebank to call new TCDSA members. We will meet on Zoom to go over the script, mute ourselves and make phone calls to other DSA members, and then return to debrief how our calls went. These phonebanks are a chance to meet newer members to TCDSA, hear what they need from our chapter and what brings them to socialism. See the pinned post on the #internal-organizing channel on Slack to preview the script. All are welcome to join, but new members should note that this is a group calling session, not an event designed for new members. |
| • St. Paul Branch – Thursday, 7/14 at 7:00-8:00pm – Online, Register Here |
| All comrades in St. Paul and the surrounding area are welcome! |
| • Electoral Committee – Sunday, 7/17 at 1:00-2:30pm – Online, Register Here |
| We will be talking about how the start of our door-knocking has been, as well as considering how best to move forward with the next round of endorsement considerations. All are invited to the meeting, whatever your involvement (your perspective is important!) |
| • Clinic Defense Working Group – Tuesday, 7/19 at 6:30-8:00pm |
| Join the Socialist Feminist Branch Clinic Defense Working Group for a meeting to discuss organizing around reproductive justice. For the Zoom link, email socfem@twincitiesdsa.org or see the #socfems Slack channel. |
| Go to tcdsa.org/events to see everything! |