Join us TONIGHT for a presentation by Debt Collective, the nation’s first debtors’ union. We’ll be talking about using debt as power and how it relates to our Make Entergy Pay Campaign.
When we organize, we can flip the script on unjust systems that burden our communities with debt.
Topics include:
Why organize around debt?
Student Debt
Medical Debt
Utility Debt and Make Entergy Pay
When: October 9th, 6-7:30pm Where: Hi-Ballz Cafe, 4901 Canal St, New Orleans, LA
Guests will receive:
Power Outage Kit
Debt Collective’s In These Times Magazine
Open tab for food, teas, and mood-lifting mocktails
It was great seeing those who were able to come out to last weekend’s General Meeting. The resolution to create a “People’s Platform” passed! We are excited start building a coalition around policies for the working class people of New Orleans.
We are also excited to announce that we have endorsed our own Gabriela Biro for School Board!
We join the Palestinian Youth Movement and our partners in the NOLA 4 Palestine Coalition in calling on the entire GNO community to rise up and turn out to the streets on Saturday, October 5th for the International Day of Action!
Here’s what is covered in this week’s update:
International Day of Action March for Palestine: One Year of Genocide, One Year of Resistance – Sat Oct 5
Upcoming DSA Events:
Make Entergy Pay x Debt Collective – Wed Oct 9
Brake Light Clinic & Health Fair – Sat Oct 12
Electoral Action:
Support Endorsed Candidates
Voter Guide Support
Big Easy Budget Ballot Bash – Tue Oct 8
Register to Vote!
Municipal Action:
Consent Decree Public Meeting – Tue Oct 8
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION: One Year of Genocide, One Year of Resistance This week marks one year since those in Gaza showed the world the unyielding power of the Palestinian people in resisting their decades of forced displacement, apartheid, and countless forms of inhumane violence by their colonizer. The Gaza Health Ministry has released the names of over 40,000 martyrs killed by the Zionist state in less than a year, with experts conservatively estimating there’s been over 189,000 deaths in Gaza alone. Amidst this brutal genocide, Palestinians across the globe remain resolute, as do the freedom fighters in Lebanon now facing the genocidal wrath of “Israel” and its American weaponry.
Join us Saturday, October 5th at 5pm at Congo Square (701 N Rampart) to demand we stop supporting their year-long, ever-expanding genocide and to celebrate the steadfast resistance of those fighting their violent oppressors. The struggle continues, and we will make clear that our global movement will keep resisting, tirelessly, until there is complete liberation!
MUTUAL AID: Brake Light Clinic & Health Fair Join us Saturday, Oct 12th @ 11AM-2PM at a NEW LOCATION! We’ll be meeting right across Nora Navra Library at A.P. Tureaud Park (1800 A.P. Tureaud Ave). We can check and change your brake light, take your blood pressure, connect you to community health resources, share food and cold drinks, and chat about achieving socialist revolution together.
MAKE ENTERGY PAY x DEBT COLLECTIVE: You are not a Loan Join us for a powerful conversation with Debt Collective, the nation’s first debtors’ union, and discover how we can build collective power to Make Entergy Pay! Together, we can flip the script on unjust systems that burden our communities with debt.
When: October 9th, 6-7:30pm Where: Hi-Ballz Cafe, 4901 Canal St, New Orleans, LA Guests will receive: Power Outage Kit • Debt Collective’s In These Times Magazine • Open tab for food, teas, and mood-lifting mocktails
ELECTORAL WORK: Voter Guide Our Voter Guide Working Group is looking for art submissions for the upcoming guide. Please submit your entries using this form before October 8th, selected art will receive a small monetary contribution.
If you’re interested in contributing writing or editing, please join the #voter-guide-working-group channel in the chapter slack. Are you a member not on Slack? Email us to join.
Support our Chapter Endorsed Candidates Our chapter has officially endorsed Gabriela Biro for School Board! She joins Devin Davis as our chapter endorsed candidates for the November 5th election. Please give them both your support during the push towards election day.
Big Easy Budget Ballot Bash Join our allies this Tuesday, October 8th at 5:30-7:30pm for our Budget and Ballot Bash! Food, drinks, and music alongside the opportunity to learn about the Housing Trust Fund, the Worker’s Bill of Rights, and the City budget! Free to attend. All ages welcome.
Deadline to register to vote online & early voting The deadline to register to vote or update your registration is Oct 15th. Early voting begins October 18th!
The NOPD Consent Decree Monitor (OCDM) will hold a virtual public meeting on Tuesday, October 8th at 12:00 PM CST via Zoom to discuss the proposed Sustainment Plan that was filed on September 27th and the status of the implementation of the NOPD Consent Decree.
Hope y’all are doing well and staying cool in this August heat! At our July General Meeting, we approved interim stewards for the Make Entergy Pay Campaign and Worker Power Louisiana — Congratulations to Sarah B and Aspen W! We also discussed and passed consistent expectations for our endorsed candidates.
Next GM will be August 31st, 12-2pm at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church at 5851 Canal Blvd in Lakeview.
THURSDAY, August 8th, 9:15am-til — City Council Meeting: ALL HANDS ON DECK for the People’s Ceasefire Resolution! This Thursday, the City Council is introducing a “Statement of Peace” Resolution organized by the local Zionist Jewish Federation and signed by all of the New Orleans City Council Members.
We demand the City Council not move forward with their so-called “Statement of Peace”and to work with all affected communities to craft a true ceasefire resolution. Show your support for these efforts:
❗Join us 9:15am until noon at City Hall for the next City Council meeting to tell them that we REJECT their insidious “Statement for Peace” and that WE DESERVE TO BE HEARD!
📞 Spread the word about signing onto the People’s Ceasefire Resolution, particularly to business owners, faith or community leaders, and other notable people that could influence the Council.
✍️Send an email to your council members to ditch the “statement of peace” and put the People’s Resolution on the agenda.
📢 Tell everyone you know about what’s happening! Repost this infographic to correct the record about this so-called “Statement of Peace”.
This resolution:
Actively excluded the NOLA Ceasefire Coalition, the local Palestinian community, and all Muslim organizations in the drafting process;
Doesn’t say the word Palestine or acknowledges our local connections to illegal violence against Palestinians in the West Bank;
Mischaracterizes the genocide of the Palestinian people as a “conflict” where both sides are equally situated, instead of a genocide of people resisting their colonizers;
Endorses the actions of our complicit federal government without demanding anything of them;
Dangerously insinuates that our democratic protest is a form of violent extremism; and
Undemocratically prioritizes the will of monied interest groups over their constituents who have been showing up meeting after meeting.
This must be our biggest turnout yet, so come support us in packing the council chambers this Thursday!Come at 9:15am, or show up whenever you can. We need to show that New Orleans does not stand with the US government’s support for Israel, as the city council’s statement falsely asserts.
Wear your cool Liberation pelican t-shirt if you got one at the Local Convention,your keffiyehs, and any pro-Palestine accessories you have. Other groups will be wearing red, so DSA shirts are welcome too!
Online comments will be available Wednesday but Council has been consolidating online comments if they are repetitive at the discretion of one employee at the moment. So, if you send a comment, make it short & personal about why this matters to you so we can fit as many in the time allotted.
SATURDAY, August 10th, 11AM-2PM — Brake Light Clinic and Health Fair: Join us at A.L. Davis Park (2600 Lasalle St) this Saturday! We can check and change your brake light, take your blood pressure, connect you to community health resources, share food and cold drinks, and chat about achieving socialist revolution together. If you want to volunteer, sign up here: https://forms.gle/cAMSMxnffhF5CefJ8 (or show up day of).
TUESDAY, August 13th @ 6-7PM — Comms Convos: Restructuring DSA Communications: Join us in brainstorming the future of comms in the chapter to make it more sustainable and structured. Members of all skills and interests are welcomed — communications includes A LOT, so there’s tons of different ways to get involved! Come share your ideas and let’s work together to make DSA New Orleans comms the very best it can be.
Will meet at HI-BALLZ (4901 Canal St) — if you want to come but can only do so remotely, reach out to Wash (or comment in the #comms channel) on Slack so we can set up a Zoom option!
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Reminders:
Reach out to Charlie and Max on Slack if interested in campaigning for Devin Davis. Visit devin4la.com/events to sign up.
Interested in helping develop a working group for unhoused solidarity work? Reach out to Wash on Slack!
Keep up to date with New Orleans DSA actions by following us on Instagram, joining the members-only Slack (email us for access), and checking out DSA’s event calendar at dsaneworleans.org/events.
Solidarity forever, DSA New Orleans Local Council 🌹
We hope y’all have been able to stay cool in this July heat. Apologies for the delayed announcement, but this month’s General Meeting is this upcoming Saturday, July 27th from 12-2pm! We will be covering business carried over from Local Convention and more.
We will be at Norman Mayer Library (3001 Gentilly Blvd) and on Zoom here. We will be using Open Slides again, so look out for an email from Open Slides for the sign-in. It should use the same username. The draft agenda for the meeting can be found here. RSVP here!
Exciting news: local chapter member Gabriela Boni has qualified for School Board alongside our chapter-endorsed candidate Devin Davis for Congress! They will be on the ballot for the primary election held on November 5th, so make sure you check your voter registration at the Secretary of State — the deadline to register online is October 15th. Sign up here to volunteer at Devin’s phonebank this upcoming Tuesday, July 23rd at 5:30pm.
UPCOMING:
Frustrated by recent power outages we’ve been experiencing out of nowhere? Comment on the Entergy agenda item with your experience, and tell City Council that we want affordable, reliable, and accountable energy! The agenda and public comment form are available at this link, and will remain open until 2 hours before the meeting.
Agendas and public comment links are made available by the City on their own time, usually the day before the meeting, and will remain open until 2 hours before the meeting begins
THURSDAY, JULY 25: Local Day of Action for Palestine
New Orleans City Council continues to fail their people by refusing to discuss our complicity in genocide in spite of the community demanding otherwise. Read more and tell New Orleans City Council to pass a Ceasefire Resolution NOW using this form, which will send an email directly to your councilmember to let them know that you and so many of their other New Orleanians demand that:
Gretna resident Samaher Esmail’s safety and freedom be ensured by the U.S. government due to her recent kidnapping and charging by the IDF in the Israeli-occupied West Bank;
they express their deepest condolences for Tawfic Abdeljabbar, the 17-year-old Gretna resident killed by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank
they publicly support peaceful student protests and condemn the Tulane and Loyola administrations for punishing students and attacking them with state police
And they support Palestine and an immediate and permanent Ceasefire in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Port of New Orleans continues to ship weapons to enable the genocide in Gaza. In the month of May alone, our Port has shipped to Israel:
2,727,643 aircraft engines and parts
51,261 rocket launchers, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, and torpedo tubes
80,572 drones
Join NOSHIP (New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports) in demanding the Port be held accountable for their facilitation of genocide and that the City end all cooperation with the Zionist entity by signing their petition here, joining them at Port meetings (more information below), and checking out the rest of their resources here.
(Organized by NOSHIP and Jewish Voice for Peace)
10am-noon: NOLA City Council Meeting @ City Hall (1300 Perdido St.) Noon: Inter-Action Lunch outside City Hall 🍕 Gather at 1pm: Port of New Orleans Board Meeting @ 1350 Port of New Orleans Pl.
Join us for a day of organizer-supported local government actions. Give public comments to make your voice heard on Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and beyond.
First up, City Council! There will be a greeter stationed right outside council chambers who’ll be there 10am till noon to orient newcomers & regular participants alike. They’re happy to walk you through the process and happy to see new faces every time! Tell City Council: NOLA needs to take a stand against genocide NOW!
At NOON, grab a slice 🍕 on them outside City Hall. Organizers will be on-hand to debrief the City Council meeting and to answer questions about the upcoming Port Board meeting scheduled to start after lunch.
Then, carpool on over to the Port Board meeting. Plan to gather at the Port Board meeting at 1pm so we can let the Port of N.O. know: no more “business as usual!” It’s well past time for the the Port of New Orleans to end all cooperation with the State of Israel and complicit Israeli businesses. You can also try setting up carpools from elsewhere in the city at this link.
Unmet access needs? DM @_noship or @jvpnola on Instagram to request accommodations.
COVID 😷 safety: Masks strongly encouraged. The City Council meeting greeters will have masks on-hand right outside council chambers.
Show up. Stand up. Speak up. Free Palestine.
The city is gearing up for its 2025 budget deliberations, but so far have postponed the town halls originally scheduled for this week. In the meantime, fill out this survey from the Vera Institute for Justice, one of a coalition of organizations which advocate to the City Council on budget issues on behalf of our community (among many other great things)!
For further information on past budgets and keep an eye on when the meetings are scheduled, you can visit the City’s 2025 Budget page here. We deserve to have our desires, values and beliefs to align with how our city spends OUR money!
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Keep up to date with New Orleans DSA actions by following us on Instagram, joining the members-only Slack (email us for access), and checking out DSA’s event calendar at dsaneworleans.org/events. Hope to see y’all at this Saturday’s General Meeting!
Solidarity forever, New Orleans DSA Local Council 🌹
Thank you to all those who were able to come out to the Local Convention on Saturday! It was great to see and talk with everyone. For those who weren’t able to come, keep scrolling to read about what was missed, and we hope to see y’all at an event soon!
Interested in supporting socialist electeds? Phonebank for Cori Bush, a nationally-endorsed DSA member and the author of the Ceasefire Now resolution, at 5:30pm today!
CONVENTION RECAP —
We had around 40 people present in-person at Broadmoor Community Church, with a few more members participating via Zoom. Our thanks go to Reverend Gregory Manning for his powerful opening remarks and all his assistance with the space. At this convention, we also officially began using OpenSlides for our voting — please reach out to Bob M on Slack with any feedback!
The meeting began with the outgoing co-chairs delivering the State of the Chapter before hearing updates from and the future priorities of each committee, campaign, and working group. Afterwards, our Local Council nominees spoke, before a vote was held to confirm their positions.
Congratulations to our newly elected Local Council!
Co-Chairs: Wash F & Jack RS
At-Larges: Bob M & Emmanuel S
Membership Chair: Iman N
Communications Chair: Taylor G
Secretary: Madelaine H
Treasurer: Chris C
Health Justice & Direct Service Committee Chair: Ali K
Political Education Committee Chair: John N
Municipal Action Committee Chair: Charlie B
At our August General Meeting, we will be electing stewards for Make Entergy Pay and Worker Power Louisiana (the labor committee). Please submit nominations for these positions by Monday, July 15th. The date of the coming GMs are TBD due to the current transition of leadership. The dates will be chosen and published soon; thank you for your patience.
DSA New Orleans deliberated on five bylaw amendments in addition to the resolution for endorsing Devin Davis. Major results include:
Internal organizing structures consolidated to include solely Committees, Campaigns, and Working Groups, made them easier to establish by reducing the amount of paperwork needed, and clarified Committee election requirements;
Expanded upon policy related to the formation of internal bodies such as caucuses and associations and established requirements needed for recognition via a Slack channel;
Committee Stewards are now referred to as Committee Chairs in line with the language currently used;
The Municipal Action Committee will assume all responsibilities and functions of the existing Electoral Working Group, and future Voter Guides will be drafted by a Voter Guide Working Group to sequester it from active electoral work;
Amended Financial Oversight section to bring it further in line with the chapter’s actual operations by adjusting the makeup of the Finance Committee, and to require finance reports at every Local Council meeting;
Term limits for all Local Council positions have been standardized to one year.
Election section condensed into more readable language and the notice requirements for elections clarified;
Codified an asynchronous voting process;
Condensed Election of Officers section by replacing the paragraphs detailing specific requirements for disclosing national political caucus affiliation with a sentence mandating disclosure of all organizational and political affiliations;
Codified requirements for a Code of Conduct and the requirements for amending them, codified the chapter’s commitment to the Jemez Principles, and mandates both are on the same easily accessible page separate from the Bylaws;
General cleaning of typos, unclear language, and repetitive or contradictory sections.
The bylaws on our chapter’s website have been updated to reflect the several new changes. Want to know more about what happened at Local Convention? Find the convention minutes in the #convention2024 Slack channel!
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Excerpt from the State of the Chapter: “Looking forward, we face fascist right-wing governments on the state and federal levels, absurd levels of corporate greed and attacks on working people, unsustainably bad infrastructure, and the wholly unprecedented effects of late-stage climate change already impacting the most marginalized communities… We face a tidal wave of statewide issues either from repressive governments or from natural disasters, and there is no time like the present to collectively build our strength so we can weather the storms (both physical and political).“ -Wash F, co-chair. Read the full speech here.
We hope to see you in the fight for a better world soon!
Our Local Convention is this Saturday! 📆 RSVP HERE (especially if you need to indicate any accessibility, dietary, or childcare needs!)
Our Local Convention is an annual meeting where our members elect chapter leadership, vote on amendments to our bylaws, discuss the political direction of our chapter, and review the year’s progress, priorities, and upcoming challenges to overcome. It’s our largest gathering of the year, so it’s also a great opportunity for socializing, building community, and sharing good homemade dishes.
We will be holding a hybrid convention, with in-person meeting at the Broadmoor Community Church (2021 S Dupre St) and on Zoom (registration link here) starting at 12pm noon on Saturday, June 29th until approximately 4pm. Masks will be required and provided for those without.
If you are unable to attend, your vote can still count! Email hello@neworleansdsa.org to request a proxy vote either for a specific comrade to vote in your place or for Local Council to find someone to hold your vote.
We will be using a website application called OpenSlides for Convention to handle voting and stack. Be on the lookout for your login email with the subject “Welcome to OpenSlides – New Orleans DSA Local Convention”.
Please RSVP as soon as you can, and visit our Convention Hub at bit.ly/NOLADSA24 for more info. We look forward to seeing you there!
Mark your calendar for our Local Convention! 📆 RSVP HERE (especially if you need to indicate any accessibility, dietary, or childcare needs!)
Our Local Convention is an annual meeting where our members elect chapter leadership, vote on amendments to our bylaws, discuss the political direction of our chapter, and review the year’s progress, priorities, and upcoming challenges to overcome. It’s our largest gathering of the year, so it’s also a great opportunity for socializing, building community, and sharing good food.
We will be holding a hybrid convention, with in-person meeting at the Broadmoor Community Church (2021 S Dupre St) and on Zoom (registration link here) starting at 12pm noon on Saturday, June 29th.
Nominations are open for the Municipal Action Committee Co-chairs. Members in good standing are eligible and can nominate themselves. Please submit your nomination (link here) by June 22nd.
ALSO! TOMORROW (SAT 6/15) @ 11AM-2PM — Brake Light Clinic, Health Fair, & Hurricane Prep and Solidarity Event at A.L. Davis Park, Saturday 11am-2pm!
We can check and change your brake light, take your blood pressure, connect you to community health resources, share food and cold drinks, and chat about achieving socialist revolution together!
We’ll also be hosting a Solidarity and Hurricane Preparedness event where we’ll talk about prepping for this hurricane season, share skills for mutual aid during disasters, and distribute mini hurricane prep kits. Did you know they have forecast as many as 27(!) hurricanes this Atlantic Hurricane Season!? We’re all in this together — Be ready and help your neighbors be ready.
If you want to volunteer at the Brake Light Clinic & Health Fair, sign up here: https://forms.gle/cAMSMxnffhF5CefJ8 (or show up day of). See you Saturday!
New Orleans DSA is a democratically-run, all-volunteer organization of the working class, and every year we convene to elect officers, consider amendments to our bylaws, and debate member-submitted proposals for the coming year. In short, Convention is our most important annual gathering! Members can weigh in on chapter priorities and fully exercise their power to shape Chapter work for the coming year and beyond. This year our Convention will be held June 29th at 12PM at the Broadmoor Community Church, 2021 S Dupre St. Don’t miss it!
Submit your bylaw amendments, political resolutions, and electoral endorsements to hello@dsaneworleans.org by June 25th. We also encourage members to post submitted or draft proposals to the #amendments-and-resos channel in slack for feedback and discussion.
Officer Elections
The following positions are up for election this year:
Co-Chairs (2): Wash F. & Jack RS.
At-Large Council Members (2): Bob M. & Emmanuel S.
Secretary: Madeleine H.
Membership Chair: Iman N.
Treasurer: Chris C.
Communications Chair: Taylor G.
Proposals & Bylaws Amendments
Below is a list of resolutions which will be debated and voted on at Convention (these require a 50%+ vote to be adopted).
We’ll continually update these lists as new proposals are submitted before the deadline on June 25th, so be sure to check back then to read everything we’ll be voting on this year.
Voting
Only members currently in good standing can vote on proposals and in Chapter elections, so make sure you’ve signed up to DSA before the start of Convention! If you’re unsure of your membership status, please visit proof.dsausa.org, or email us at membership@dsaneworleans.org.
Proxy Voting: If you are unable to attend either in-person or via Zoom, you may identify another member to serve as your proxy. This member then votes on proposals and in elections according to your preferences. Attending members may hold up to two proxies. If you will be requesting a proxy, please notify us at hello@dsaneworleans.org by June 27th with the name of another dues/paying member who will serve as your proxy. If you are unable to identify another member to name as your proxy, please let us know in a note to the above email address, and we’ll assign you a proxy to make sure your votes are cast.Proposals: Resolutions and Bylaw Amendments will be voted on at the Convention using OpenSlides in a browser on your phone or computer. You will receive a login from DSA New Orleans – OpenSlides with your login. For more information, here’s the member guide to OpenSlides.
Happy start to the summer, comrades! To celebrate, this weekend’s general meeting will be a BBQ at the Lakeshore Park — read on for more info!
SATURDAY, May 25th, 12-2pm — BBQ GM!: Join us this Saturday at Lakeshore Park (1626 Cloverleaf Rd) for good vibes, food, and conversation! Veggie options will be available and kids are welcome!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: DSA New Orleans Local Convention will be JUNE 29TH!
Our Local Convention is an annual meeting where our members vote on chapter leadership, amendments to our bylaws, and take up business related to the political direction of our chapter in the coming year.
We will be holding a hybrid convention, in-person at Broadmoor Community Church (2021 S Dupre St) andon Zoom starting at 12PM NOON.
For the first time, we will be using OpenSlides to run the meeting. If you have any interest in assisting with tech, please reach out! No prior experience with OpenSlides required, just willingness to help out.
Join the convention-planning channel in Slack to help with planning, discuss bylaw change proposals, and organize cooking!
THURSDAY, MAY 30th — Local Council Nominations DUE!
Nominations for 2024-2025 chapter leadership should be emailed to hello@neworleansdsa.orgby May 30th! Read more about these positions here. You may nominate as many members as you like, but no one may nominate themselves. If you have any questions or interest, reach out to any current LC member to chat more about it!
OTHER REMINDERS:
The Electoral Working Group is looking to recruit at least one candidate in the 2025 Fall election for municipal offices like City Council. Contact Bob M at 504-417-4121 or on Slack if you’re interested.
SIGN CEASEFIRE PETITION: If you have not already, sign the petition demanding City Council call for a ceasefire, stop all support of Israel, and condemn the murder of Tawfic Abdeljabbar. DM the Instagram or respond to this email if interested in getting more involved with this campaign. Follow @nola4palestine on Instagram if you haven’t already, subscribe to this constantly-updated calendar of actions and benefit events in the City, and check out NOSHIP’s fantastic site of resources, petitions, ways to help, and more.
Are you a member in good standing but not in our Slack? Email us so we can get you in!
Find other upcoming events on the calendar on our website!
The poor and working people of Louisiana are under attack. Since taking office, Governor Landry and the Republican supermajorities in the Legislature have enacted a reactionary criminal punishment regime. These regressive measures will send more people to prison, keep them there longer, fail to prevent new crime, provide no justice for victims, and take millions of dollars from the people to funnel it into the hands of sheriffs, district attorneys, and the private contractors in the prison industrial complex.
