Environmental racism
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We Get What We Organize For: Smith Foundry Update
Background Smith Foundry is an iron foundry that manufactures iron castings in the East Phillips neighborhood of South Minneapolis. Smith began operations in 1923 but was purchased by Canadian private equity firm “Zynik Capital” in 2022. Holding the dubious distinction of being the largest emitter of lead in Hennepin County, little has changed inside the…
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Lessons from Cop City
You have likely heard of Cop City and the corresponding “Stop Cop City” movement in Atlanta, Georgia. However, you may have wondered what exactly are the details of this project and the campaign to stop it? How is the ruling class forcing this project into reality? What can we learn from the fight against Cop…
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Amidst Working Class Progress, the Ruling Class Strikes Back
It’s been kind of a wild ride. It started with Victor Martinez, Minneapolis Ward 5 candidate for city council, accusing Twin Cities DSA (TCDSA) of sabotaging the ward’s DFL convention. Next came the disruption of the Ward 10 DFL convention by city council candidate Nasri Warsame and his supporters. This made it impossible for the…
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Thoughts on Environmental Racism for Earth Day 2023
The ongoing fight against fracking, pipelines and all extractive industries We lost the battle if not the war on Line 3. It’s done, it’s dusted and it’s leaking into groundwater even as you read this. (See KSTP Eyewitness News for reporting on the 153 cases of pollution control violations in the latter half of 2022.)…
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Twin Cities DSA Little Red Letter #102: East Phillips, Union Strikes, Socialists in Office, and More!
Another eventful week, let’s start local. More stories to come in our featured news section.
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They Don’t Care About Us
The town of Pajaro, California is ruined. Many residents of this poor Latino farming community will never return home. The levee keeping water from the Pajaro River away from the town broke. The Federal government, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, had known for years that the levee was weak and needed to be replaced.…
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Twin Cities DSA Little Red Letter #101: Ruling Class Backlash and Movement Solidarity
Our last edition described major developments in the fight around the Roof Depot. The dynamic has changed, but the intensity of the ruling class hostility has not diminished.
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Centering the Roof Depot Struggle
Our chapter is engaged with coalition partners to stop the continued pollution and disempowerment of Little Earth and East Phillips residents. Entering this fight means directly confronting the history of colonialism that has been the rule for centuries, as well as recognizing the history of indigenous resistance to the ruling class. This land acknowledgement was…
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No Demo: Solidarity Continues in East Phillips
The fight to prevent the demolition of the Roof Depot building and to prevent the City of Minneapolis from installing a polluting truck yard and diesel fueling station in East Phillip continues, and the last two weeks have shown that the momentum is strong! In the week leading up to the originally planned demolition date…
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Twin Cities DSA Little Red Letter #100: Developments in the East Phillips Fight, UMN Graduate Labor Union, and More!
Twin CitiesDemocratic Socialists of America Little Red Letter #100 Developments in the East Phillips Fight, UMN Graduate Labor Union, and More! For Minneapolis, the last week has seen rapid changes in the fight around the Roof Depot demolition. For more context, see the update written by Connor S featured below. TCDSA members came together Saturday…
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No Demo!
The East Phillips Urban Farm fight just had a huge victory! Monday, February 27, was the anticipated first day of demolition of the Roof Depot building. But on Friday, February 24, the judge granted a temporary injunction on demolition for at least two weeks. EPNI needs to raise $10,000 in that time to post bond…
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Neoliberals on Display
East Phillips is a neighborhood plagued by industrial pollution, with children there suffering abnormally high rates of asthma and other respiratory ailments. Under a cloak of progressive rhetoric and talk of equity, the majority on the Minneapolis City Council steamrolls over both the the community vision and fears of increased pollution. With this 7-6 vote,…
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