Categories
Action

HDSA for an Anti-Zionist DSA

The delegation of the Houston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of
America stands with the BDS Working Group in support of their proposed amendment to NPC Recommendation #8, “Make DSA an Anti-Zionist Organization and Overturn the NPC Decision to Suspend the Steering Committee of the BDS and Palestine Solidarity WG.” We encourage members to sign the amendment before the July 30 deadline so that it may be added to the Convention Agenda. Furthermore, we encourage delegates to vote in favor of the amendment at convention this week.

We are vehemently opposed to the attempt by the NPC to dissolve the BDS WG and fold its work under the International Committee without any prior consultation with either group through NPC Recommendation #8. We view this recommendation as an undemocratic maneuver on behalf of the NPC, and we hope that with this amendment we are able to better clarify and strengthen our organization’s support for BDS and Palestinian liberation. We also demand the reinstatement of the BDS WG leadership as a result of the disgraceful Bowman Affair.

Palestine is a red line. Anti-Zionism means fighting against settler colonialism imperialism, and the worst reactionary forces of capitalism; DSA must take this fight on without reservation.

From the River to the Sea!

Categories
Abolition Working Groups

Justice For Jalen Call To Action

Houston DSA is calling upon all its members, allies, and people of conscience in the city of Houston to join in solidarity with the family of @Jalen J Randle and all victims of racist police violence at 10AM, Saturday, April 22nd, at City Hall. April 27th will mark the one-year anniversary of the cold-blooded murder of Jalen at the hands of white police officer Shane Privette. It will also mark one year without justice – one year of protests and tireless organizing, all led every step of the way by Jalen’s parents, Tiffany Rachal and Warren Randle, supported by their allies in the neighborhood of Pleasantville and the wider city of Houston. 

This statement will not go over the hideous and outrageous details of Jalen’s murder, which you can find at the links below. They are not fundamentally different than George Floyd’s. They are – as with every lynching from Emmitt Till to Tyre Nichols – a merciless indictment and conviction of this society and how it is organized from top to bottom. 

As @Warren Randle has remarked, “it took 3 seconds” for HPD to murder Jalen. And every second, hour, day, and month since Jalen’s murder without any meaningful action from the city has demonstrated the baleful contempt and heinous disregard this racist system has for the families it destroys and the communities of color it terrorizes. In George Floyd’s hometown – whose political class was so quick to ride the protest wave of the 2020 BLM Uprising – we have a prosecutor that refuses to prosecute lynchers who wear a badge and blue, a police chief that practically shrugs at the executions carried out by the cops under his supervision, and a City Hall – Democrats and Republicans alike – that would much rather sit on their hands, pass-blocking for the interests of HPD and the wealth the cops loyally “protect and serve” than the lives of communities of color in this city.

Jalen was murdered during a far-right backlash following the 2020 uprising and was one of the 1,183 *record number* of police murders of 2022. In this context, it is worth noting further that Jalen attended Furr High School in the Houston Independent School District (HISD), which the state of Texas is currently intending to takeover and pulverize, closing black and brown schools, privatizing them, and replacing them with testing factories under the name of “charters.” It is clear they want Houston without a school district but with a police department. In Atlanta, the same forces are seizing indigenous and ecologically protected land to put up a 90-million-dollar police training facility, known as “Cop City.” From Jalen to Tortuguita, from Houston to Atlanta, the map of police activity is a map of murder and dispossession. 

To their Cop City, we say Our City. To their HPD, we say HISD.

Inside the doors of City Hall, the wall reads “The People Are The City.” This is not a statement – but a demand, one we made in the streets that BLM conquered in 2020, from the sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement, from tenants on rent strike, from workers defending picket lines – one we are still making from every grassroots struggle. If the people are the city, then Jalen’s family deserves justice – people should come before police. So should our schools, our hospitals, our nurses, our firefighters, our teachers, and our housing. When we say “Indict. Convict. Disarm. Defund. Abolish,” we demand a society beyond racial capitalism; we demand a society where life is more precious than profit – a world where Jalen would be alive today. 

We must fight for it – together – every day. Stand with Jalen’s family and join us on Saturday, April 22nd, 10 AM at City Hall.

Houston DSA

Sources:

When HPD killed Jalen Randle, the east Houston community of Pleasantville lost a son

Roland Martin interview with Jalen’s family

The 2020 BLM Uprising Lives On in Houston’s Struggle Against Police Violence

Categories
Uncategorized

Let Ron DeSantis Know He’s Not Welcome In Houston

Black Lives Matter Houston, Community Voices for Public Education, Houston DSA and allied grassroots groups are calling on all people of conscience in our city to protest Ron DeSantis’ speaking engagement at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Friday, March 3rd, where he’ll be addressing a local Harris County GOP fundraiser. DeSantis is at the sharpest edges of a vicious and murderous anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist backlash following the historic BLM protests of 2020. As over 20 progressive groups did on Monday in Chicago, where he addressed the Fraternal Order of Police, we must mobilize in solidarity with communities under attack and send a clear message to all that DeSantis, his supporters and his politics of queerphobia, racism and attacks on public education are not welcome in Houston.

We are asking attendees to gather at Discovery Green across the street from the George R. Brown at 4:30pm, Friday, March 3rd. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

Categories
Uncategorized

Houston DSA Statement on the Murder of Tyre Nichols

CW: Graphic descriptions of police violence


The footage of Tyre Nichols being killed at the hands of Memphis PD captures the murderous function of police in all its brutality. The police initiated and escalated the violence; they passed him around as they beat him with fists and batons; in his last moments, Tyre called out for his mama.

Police don’t keep us safe. The only tools they have at their disposal are to incarcerate or kill; their ultimate purpose is to use these tools to protect the ruling capitalist class’ institutions and interests, as evidenced by the eager expansion of the police state by both Democrats and Republicans. The violence is inherent; the behavior of the police officers that murdered Tyre is the expectation, not an aberration.

Houston DSA is committed to fighting for a world free from police and free from systems of violent oppression, systems that disproportionately affect black and brown, working class people. Memphis and Houston are not so different- in our own city, Jalen Randle was murdered by HPD on April 27th, 2022, and the family is still fighting for the officer responsible to face justice. We stand in solidarity with all victims of police brutality, and mourn the loss of Tyre Nichols.

Disarm, Defund, Abolish. Black Lives Matter. ACAB.

Categories
Uncategorized

Statement on The Colorado Springs Shooting

The Houston Democratic Socialists of America is appalled by the horrible act of violence against the LGBTQ+ community in Colorado Springs. 

This tragic event was not a senseless act of terror, but the expected result of a purposeful campaign of hateful and incendiary rhetoric deployed by the far-right to demonize queer people. 


As socialists, we stand against homophobia and transphobia as a denial of queer peoples’ right to exist fully, without shame. It is an attack against their basic humanity.

While we mourn the lives lost, we will continue to fight and organize to build a world where everyone will be free to live and love how they please and with who they please, without apology or fear.

Categories
Uncategorized

Help us support the Young Active Labor Leaders Summit!

Looking to join or form a union? Perhaps you’re a union worker or a DSA member looking to build organized labor’s power across the state of Texas and beyond?


Join young workers and students from across Texas (and beyond) at the Young Active Labor Leaders (YALL) Summit, being held Friday, July 22nd through Sunday, July 24th, 2022, in Round Rock, located just outside of Austin in the beautiful Texas Hill country.


The three day event will include a variety of panels and breakout sessions. Topics will include:


– Digital Organizing
– Texas Green Climate Jobs: Organizing around climate change
– Creating a union
– and much more!


Get to know and learn from your fellow Texan labor enthusiasts as we Educate, Agitate, and Mobilize for a brighter future.


For more information or to register, please go to yallsummit.org.
Houston DSA and our Labor Working Group are raising funds to provide scholarships and financial assistance to youth and workers to attend this Summit!

Categories
Uncategorized

Houston DSA Chapter Statement on NPC/BDS Working Group Resolution

Houston DSA members voted to affirm their full solidarity with the DSA BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group, and call for the DSA National Political Committee to reinstate the Working Group’s leadership. 

We “commit to struggling through conflict, …remain true to our anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist values, and …[stand] with our Palestinian and Palestinian-allied comrades against censorship.”
View the Resolution passed by chapter membership at General Meeting on April 14: http://bit.ly/HDSA-Palestine

Categories
General Meeting Uncategorized

January 2022 General Meeting Recap

Thank you to everyone who showed up to the January general meeting yesterday; it was longer than normal but we covered a lot of important voting. We’re proud to announce Franklin Bynum for Harris County Criminal Court 8 and Molly Cook for Texas Senate as re-endorsed and newly endorsed candidates respectively! The membership also passed a resolution calling on the NPC to expel Jamaal Bowman and uphold BDS in our own work.

Again, thank you to everyone who showed up, expressed their point of view, or ran for endorsement. It was exciting to see so many people show up and forge a path for our chapter through debate. We hope to see you at canvasses and other organizing events in the future!

Categories
General Meeting

November 2020 General Meeting Recap

Banner for the Virtual Meeting

We extend our appreciation to everyone who came to our general meeting last Thursday! For those that don’t know, our monthly general meetings are where we gather to discuss ongoing meetings and conduct official chapter business. Our next general meeting will be Thursday, December 10. We hope to welcome you there!

Local News

Endorsements Committee

The Endorsements Committee has 7 openings up for election! This committee is responsible for screening candidates seeking our endorsement, and then presenting that information to the general body. The committee makes recommendations, and the membership then votes on endorsement. Elections for these positions will be held at the next general meeting on December 10th. Send all nominations (whether they be for yourself or someone else) to info@houstondsa.org before then!

Abolition Working Group Resolution

We passed a new resolution to recenter our Abolition Working Group’s efforts on targeting the surveillance capabilities of the Houston Police Department, specifically their ability to access the footage of Amazon Ring Doorbell surveillance devices. This is an important step on the road to abolition as we aim to inform our community about the dangers of these devices, divest HPD funds from these and other predatory technologies, and deepen our partnership with other local organizations while making winnable demands. Look for further information on how you can become involved with this new campaign!

Get Involved: Charter Amendment Campaign

We’re collecting petition signatures to make our city more democratic. Come canvass with us this weekend at Hermann Park! We have three separate shifts you should attend (Saturday at 10:30am and 1:30pm, and Sunday at 10:30am). We will be meeting at the North entrance of the park at the Mary Gibbs and Jesse H. Jones Reflection Pool. Look for our gray shirts! You may have difficulty parking, so arrive early.

The nearest rail stop is the Red line at Hermann Park/Rice U. Check Hermann Park’s website for parking. There is street parking Northeast of the park as well. Email the Steering Committee (info@houstondsa.org) if you have any questions.

As some backstory, our membership has voted in favor of a resolution to join a coalition aiming to amend the charter of the city of Houston in order to take some of the power of the Mayor of Houston and give it to City Council Members. Under our current system, the Mayor has complete control over the City Council agenda. Even if all 16 Council Members want to vote on an issue at a Regular Session, only the Mayor has the power to let that happen.

Fortunately, the people of Houston have the power to change this. Houston DSA is working with IAFF Local 341 on an amendment to the Houston City Charter that would allow any group of three Council Members to add items to the Council agenda. While mayors come and go, our City Charter stays the same. Let’s use our power to build a more democratic, more functional City of Houston where everyone’s voices are heard.

If you are interested in getting involved this weekend or beyond, please fill out this interest form. Contact the Steering Committee if you have any questions.

Upcoming Events

The end of the election cycle means the beginning of a new congressional session and the first stages of future campaigns. Join Texas DSA members and members of DSA’s National Electoral Committee Thursday November 19th at 7pm for a discussion of DSA’s electoral strategy and what we can take on next in Texas. Come and help us plan on how we’ll get more socialists in state office!

National News

We welcomed a bunch of new members as we continue to grow both locally and nationally as part of our goal of 100,000 DSA Members! At the National Convention in Atlanta last year, delegates established to goal of growing DSA membership to 100K by 2021. Nationally we’ve had over 12,000 new members join since October, and over 40 in Houston!

Again, we extend our joy welcoming all who came last Thursday! Be sure to subscribe to our local calendar and the DSA National Calendar for a full update of all upcoming events.

Categories
General Meeting Uncategorized

October 2020 General Meeting Recap

Banner for the Virtual Meeting

We we glad to welcome everyone who attended the October General Meeting!

Local News

There were two Steering Committee positions up for election. The body reelected Dan D. as Internal Secretary, and elected Henry M. as Co-Chair, replacing Bryan L. Congratulations to all, and thank you to Bryan, who has faithfully served our chapter in an official capacity and will continue to do so as a rank and file member.

We debated a resolution for the creation of a Housing Working Group. This passed with 31 yes votes, 0 no votes, and 0 abstentions. You can read the text of the resolution here. They certainly will be doing good work soon, so make sure to keep an eye out for opportunities to help fight for housing justice in Houston.

National News

The membership committee ran a presentation on the DSA100K recruitment drive. At the National Convention in Atlanta last year, delegates established to goal of growing DSA membership to 100K by 2021. To meet those goals, Houston needs to increase our membership by 10%, or 78 members. We are asking all members to sign the pledge to recruit 3 new members by going to dsausa.org/recruit. The first 500 members to reach this goal will get a nifty DSA hat, and the next 1000 will be getting some swag as well! We’ll be having an in-depth training on how to ask people to join DSA Saturday, October 17th at 2pm. We’ll see you there!