Welcome to your quick glimpse into some of the work of the chapter over the past couple of months, prepared for the Little Red Letter #135.
The I-94 Fight Continues
Organizers kept the pressure on after our joint event with Our Streets to shine light into MNDOT’s opaque and undemocratic process at the January Political Advisory Committee. MNDOT’s next stop was a Minneapolis City Council committee meeting to justify why we should keep a highway that pollutes our neighborhoods and contributes majorly to climate change, contrary to the unanimous resolution passed by the full council to study the conversion of I-94 into an at-grade boulevard. People showed up to stand with the City Council and insist that MNDOT continue to study all of the options for the future of the I-94 corridor.
Cut the ZenCity Contract!
In coalition with other orgs in the MN Free Palestine Coalition, members joined a demonstration at a March 3rd Minneapolis council committee meeting. Community showed up to demand the city cut the contract with Zencity, a tech company associated with the Israeli military. The company has a 3-year, $500,000 contract with the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) to gather information from people living and working in Minneapolis to assess public opinion of MPD.
Boycott for You, Me and the Community Event
Our Palestine Working Group (PWG) in partnership with Family Against Military Madness (FAMM) hosted the family-friendly event Boycott for You, Me and the Community at Hosmer library Saturday on March 22nd. At the event FAMM members and leadership provided lessons in the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement and had a public reading of Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney’s Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation. TCDSA’s Tony “Big Tony” engaged children in the PWG’s No Appetite 4 Apartheid (NA4A) campaign and the importance of teamwork in targeted boycotts of grocery products. Events like this build intergenerational relationships and center simple, concise messaging on the importance of Palestine solidarity against Zionism and apartheid Israel. Food was provided and kids got supplies to make their own Pro-Palestine protest signs.
Educational Event – From Palestine to Turtle Island: Resistance
The second session of our four-part education series “From Palestine to Turtle Island”, was held on March 28th, exploring the shared legacies and struggles of indigenous populations. This event explored resistance movements against colonialism and imperialism, analyzing historical and contemporary struggles. We discussed revolutionary strategies, the role of mass movements, and critiques of reformism, using case studies from Palestine, Turtle Island, Ireland, and South Africa.
2025 Chapter Endorsements – Minneapolis and Saint Paul
The chapter concluded our local endorsement process for 2025, announcing eight endorsements for Minneapolis Mayor, Minneapolis City Council, and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, as well as the Saint Paul City Council Ward 4 special election. With 286 chapter members casting ballots in the race, ten candidate forums hosted to provide member engagement, 60+ speakers sharing their thoughts at our endorsement discussion, our electoral program continues to grow and evolve along with our chapter. That was followed up by a strong showing at the Minneapolis DFL caucuses by DSA members, with over 150 members committing to turn out. Now we look forward to the Saint Paul special election in August, and a summer of strong ground game in Minneapolis.
On the Ground with Street Corps
The chapter’s street corps cells continue to organize in support of our unhoused neighbors, including during an eviction last week of the Union Gospel encampment in Saint Paul. All of the cells convened earlier this month for the Street Corp all-cell meeting, reflecting on their work since January and planning how to expand their organizing efforts across the Hamline/Midway, Marcy/Como, and Longfellow cells.
Building Worker Power
As part of the Workers Solidarity Circle, assemblies are being convened to bring people together and talk about how working class people can organize and resist the federal government’s assault on their rights and freedoms. At the most recent one in March, attendees heard from immigrant workers about past and future efforts to protect our communities from the threat of deportation, and discussed plans for mass resistance to deportations. The next event in May will talk about the movement that would need to be build to have the power to force Trump out of power. Our labor branch also continues their efforts in support of the Delta unionization effort, with weekly phone banks in support of one of the biggest organizing opportunities nationally. To read more on union support and efforts to organize working class people, read the most recent Labor Branch Newsletter here.
Hands Off! Nationwide Protests
It would take more time than we have to detail the full extent of the chaos President Trump and Elon Musk have instigated across the federal government, from mass firing of federal workers and cancellation of union contracts, unilateral shutdowns of government agencies and suspension of grant and social support funding, a campaign of deportation against immigrants and the suppression of peace activists for the demonstrations for a free Palestine. Demonstrations locally and nationally have been growing in response to these actions, including the national day of action April 3rd for sanctuary campuses, and nationwide April 5th Hands Off! protests. It is crucial this opposition energy generates into action and organizing that can meet this moment.
