Twin Cities
Democratic Socialists of America

Little Red Letter #122

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TCDSA Moves In, Gaza Ceasefire Call In Minneapolis, Camp Nenookaasi Lives On, and More!

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At long last, the search for a new home for TCDSA is over and we have signed a lease on an office space! Due to the tireless work of our office search committee, and a generous grant from National DSA, our new office is located in the Spruce Tree building in St Paul (1600 University Avenue West). Our office committee is working out the operational details and we are very excited to begin hosting events in the new space. Keep your eyes peeled for an open house invitation for February 19th, where we will welcome general membership to come see the space and help us create a vision for the office this year!

Until then, we are now in the process of furnishing the office, and are looking for donations for necessary supplies and furniture to fill our space to make it usable and inviting for our members and various committees. If you have an item you would like to donate to the chapter to be used in our office space, please complete this form and a member of our office committee will be in touch. We are also stepping up our fundraising efforts to ensure our office expense is sustainable and a long term resource for our organization. If you are able, please consider one of the following ways to financially contribute. These are signing up to make a recurring monthly donation to the chapter, updating your DSA member dues to occur monthly (chapters do not get a share of annual or lifetime dues), and signing up for Solidarity Dues when you renew.

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This past Thursday, in response to the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, the Minneapolis City Council approved a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire and an end to US military aid to Israel. Despite heavy pressure from Zionist groups and the Mayor, the resolution passed on a 9-3 vote, enough votes to override a possible mayoral veto. We applaud the council for joining the global movement supporting a permanent ceasefire and an end to the occupation. TCDSA-endorsed Council VP Aisha Chugtai (Ward 10), and Council Members Robin Wonsley (Ward 2), Jason Chavez (Ward 9), and Aurin Chowdhury (Ward 12) all supported the resolution and spoke out strongly in favor of an end to the genocide and freedom for Palestine. Members of TCDSA’s newly-formed Palestine Solidarity Working Group organized phone banks to have constituents contact their City Council Members and showed up at rallies and council hearings to show our support. The fight does not end here! If you are interested in joining our Palestine Solidarity Working Group, join our slack channel #palestine-solidarity and meet with us on Tuesday 1/30 at 7 PM as we plan our next steps! (Info on meeting location will be in the Slack channel).

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Camp Nenookaasi lives on after Mayor Frey’s eviction order. In this sustained effort to reshape how Minneapolis responds to the issue of houselessness and addiction, people are working to create a new model organized around caring for people who are struggling instead of the criminalization and neglect that is the city’s status quo.

Twin Cities DSA has a core group of volunteers who volunteer at Camp Nenookaasi every Sunday. We do whatever needs to be done with them, which can often include washing dishes, insulating tents, cleaning, mending, and generally unlearning colonization and practicing a new way of coexisting in community. Camp Nenookaasi is on the leading edge of what DSA is about; access to resources according to ones need and giving according to ones ability, and cultivating care for the part of the working class hit materially the hardest by colonial capitalism. Twin Cities DSA has organizing leaders who coordinate with camp leaders. Mutual Aid work at Camp Nenookaasi is an exciting pole of attraction for the community and our chapter, and it is an excellent place to put social values into practice.

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• Palestine Solidarity Working Group
  
  Members can get involved with our Palestine Solidarity Working Group by joining the slack channel #palestine-solidarity and attending their next meeting with on Tuesday 1/30 at 7 PM as we plan our next steps! We are also looking for volunteers for a developing Palestine action team as we look to grow our capacity to organize around this issue. Fill out this form if you are interested in taking an active role in our chapter’s Palestine solidarity work!

• Environmental Justice Working Group: Camp Nenookaasi Support
  
  Our TCDSA working group continues to organize people to show up at camp every Sunday from 2-5:30pm and needs your help! We do whatever is needed and helpful on that day which can include: running errands, organizing the kitchen, fixing yurts, talking with residents. Residents are told to keep drug use to their private spaces but you need to be ok with the possibility of witnessing this.
  
  By showing up a a group we make sure there is a comrade ready to welcome you into the accessible and tangible tasks and the community of Camp Nenookaasi. Camp organizers have even started referring other volunteers to come with the TCDSA group on Sundays because it has been a regular and impactful group. 
  
  If you have questions connect with us via environmentaljustice@twincitiesdsa.org and on Slack on the #epni_coalition_with_and_events channel.

• Pickup Basketball
  
  • Saturday, 2/3, 1:30p – 3:30p
    Saturday, 2/10, 1:30p – 3:30p
    
    We’ve found a place to play basketball indoors during the winter! Super informal, please come out if you’re interested in playing and meeting other comrades. All skill levels welcome, we’re a very casual group!
    
    For location details and to spot check that we’re on for the session each week, check out the #socialists-play-sports-basketball channel on Slack.
    
    Do make sure to check as some weeks we might have overlapping events that would motivate us to cancel.If you’re not already on Slack, you can sign up here: tcdsa.org/slack.

• Ezra Ishman Solidarity Fund
  
  • Twin Cities DSA recognizes that living under capitalism sucks. Sometimes we all need help, and sometimes we can help others. The fund is a mutual aid tool. TCDSA members may apply for a grant of up to $200 for themselves or on behalf of friends or family. Please ask for help if you need it, and when you don’t, please donate what you can. The Solidarity Fund Working Group administers the fund, and over the past few months have been working to refresh the procedures around the application. Members can find the application form at the new link pinned in the #solidarityfund slack channel.

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• TCDSA Bowling Social – Sunday, 1/28, 3:00p – 5:00p – RSVP Here – Memory Lanes, 2520 26th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN
  
  • Please RSVP to give us a sense for turnout ahead of time.
    
    We invite you to escape the depth of “winter” and join us for an afternoon of bowling and general comradeship at Memory Lanes!
    
    The chapter will be renting 2 lanes for 2 hours, and is asking that individuals cover the cost of their shoe rental. A tip jar to contribute to lane costs will be available for anyone willing/able. Each lane accommodates up to 6 bowlers per Memory Lane rules, so depending on arrival time, etc., we could potentially accommodate 24 people for an hour each.
    
    Very open format— just show up and do any or all of the following: bowl, hang out, talk with other TCDSA members about organizing initiatives, eat, drink, generally have something fun to look forward to to combat the shorter and darker days.

• 2024 Endorsement Kickoff Meeting – Wednesday, 1/31, 6:00p – 7:30p – Zoom Registration
  
  • This meeting will be a first chance to get involved as we set the process for the year and revise our questionnaires to ensure member’s priorities are front and center as candidates apply for our endorsement. We will also do an overview of how our process functions, including how candidates apply and key points for members throughout the process.

• SocFem Craft Social – Saturday, 2/3, 2:30p – 4:00p – RSVP Here – 1600 University Ave W Suite 3, St Paul, MN
  
  • Come chill with us at our new office! OG SocFem leaders are serving classic SocFem social vibes. There will be light snacks and drink along with familiar faces and of course, oodles of fun! We will be party planning and discussing the future of our beloved branch. Coffee will be provided, bring your fav craft, baked good or simply your lovely self.
    
    Masks will be available and are required for this event.

• DSA Trans Rights & Bodily Autonomy Mass Kickoff Call ft. Rep. Zooey Zephyr and Erin Reed – Saturday, 2/3, 4:00p – 6:00p – RSVP Here – 1600 University Ave W Suite 3, St Paul, MN
  
  • On February 3rd, DSA is launching our national Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Campaign Commission with a mass virtual call. We’re honored to welcome trans journalist Erin Reed — the leading voice on trans rights news in America via her newsletter Erin in the Morning, where she routinely breaks stories cited by the New York Times, Washington Post, and other major news outlets. We invite all TCDSA members to join us to watch this call together at our new office space and talk about how we can defend and advance trans rights and abortion access locally.

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• Environmental Justice Group (f/k/a East Phillips Urban Farm Group) – Monday, 1/29, 7:00p – 8:30p – Zoom Registration
  
  • The Environmental Justice group meets every other week on Monday at 7p. Right now we are focusing most on shutting down the HERC, supporting Camp Nenookaasi Ikwe in East Phillips, and are also helping with the Reimagining of I-94 and shutting down major polluters in East Phillips such as Smith Foundry. Join us to discuss how best to support the residents and realize this environmental and economic justice vision.
    
    This group’s meetings are on Zoom, and occasionally in person.

• West Metro and Wright County Working Group – Tuesday, 1/30, 6:00p – 7:30p – RSVP Here – 12601 Ridgedale Dr, Minnetonka, MN
  
  • Monthly meeting of the West Metro & Wright County working group. This meeting will be hybrid on zoom and at the Ridgedale Library in room 174. We’ll have updates on ongoing & upcoming labor actions, talking about communications and messaging, and planning for 2024.

• Communications Committee Visioning Session – Saturday, 2/3, 12:30p – 2:30p – 1600 University Ave W Suite 3, St Paul, MN 
  
  • We are having a Visioning Session for Comms Committee at our new office space at the Spruce Tree Building.

• Steering Committee Meeting – Sunday, 2/4, 2:30p – 4:00p
  
  • Check #steeringcommittee for the zoom link and agenda. If you are a member and need access to slack, sign up at tcdsa.org/slack
    
    Log on early for a “Leadership Operations Skill-Share” where a leader in TCDSA does a skill-share about skill that is important for chapter operations. These skill-shares will be from 2:10-2:30pm before the SC meeting begins

• Minneapolis Rent Control Working Group – Tuesday, 2/6, 6:00p – 7:00p – Zoom Registration
  
  • Join the Minneapolis Rent Control Working Group as we fight for strong rent control in our city! Meetings on Zoom on the first Tuesday of the month at 6pm.

• East Phillips Health Team – Tuesday, 2/6, 6:00p – 7:30p
  
  • Note, this is NOT the DSA Health Justice WG.
    
    Goal: To improve health outcomes in East Phillips by reducing air pollution in the neighborhood. Jointly led by TCDSA, Seward Vaccine Equity Project (SVEP), and East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI).
    
    This group meets every other Tuesday from 6:00p to 7:30p. It is on Zoom, but not always on DSA accounts. Please email environmentaljustice@twincitiesdsa.org for access to the Zoom link.

• Internal Organizing Phonebank – Wednesday, 2/7, 6:00p – 7:00p – Zoom Registration
  
  • Join the Internal Organizing Committee for a Lapsed Member Phonebank to call TCDSA members with recently-expired dues. We meet on Zoom to go over the script, mute ourselves and make phone calls, and then return to debrief how our calls went. A brief training is provided and no prior experience is required. These phonebanks are a chance to meet other members to TCDSA, hear what they need from our chapter and what brings them to socialism. Register for the Zoom meeting here.
    
    IO phonebanks are held on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month. For more information about joining this meeting, see the #internal-organizing Slack channel.

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Go to tcdsa.org/events to see everything!

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