Here are your 2017 DSA-LA National Convention Delegates Candidates. DSA-LA has 32 delegate spots available and have received 36 candidate submissions. Candidates that have received the endorsement of a committee or working group co-chair or a steering committee member and 3 chapter members were eligible. We have been allotted 3 alternate spots.   Due to the large number of candidates and slots, this ballot is using Approval Voting rather than block voting: vote for as many candidates as you feel comfortable representing DSA-LA at the convention. Voting will close on June 24th at 11:59pm. Should delegates be unable to attend the convention for any reason, they will be replaced by delegates in order of votes. Should our total delegation size drop below 32, the top vote-getting candidates will be allocated the extra votes to be cast at the national convention so that our chapter voting total stays at 32 votes. Continue reading

Continue reading

Earlier this month, just before an Olympic delegation touched down in Los Angeles to evaluate the city’s bid for the 2024 Olympics, members of DSA-LA’s Housing and Homelessness committee launched an opposition campaign, NOlympics LA — now with a growing list of coalition partners to bolster the fight. Continue reading

DSA-LA Stands in Solidarity with Immigrant Youth Coalition in their call to Free Claudia Rueda, IYC Organizer Claudia Rueda is an organizer from the Immigrant Youth Coalition and has just been detained by Border Patrol.  Please read below and CALL to demand Claudia's release. Early this morning, Border Patrol conducted a raid in Boyle Heights kidnapping Claudia Rueda outside her home in Boyle Heights, immigrant rights organizer with the Los Angeles Immigrant Youth Coalition and student at Cal State Los Angeles. Claudia most recently lead a campaign to free her mom, Teresa, from ICE detention after Border Patrol agents similarly kidnapped Teresa from their home. When the officials showed up this morning, family members knew not to open the door since the agents couldn’t produce a warrant. But they got to Claudia anyway while she was outside moving the family’s car. For several hours her family had no idea where she was. Continue reading

The Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA-LA) applauds the members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) for their “YES” vote on a strike authorization. The record turnout and nearly unanimous decision sends a clear message to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP): deliver a fair deal to writers or face a strong and unified strike. Continue reading

As democratic socialists, we stand in solidarity with undocumented immigrants in a struggle against capitalist exploitation. Borders are inherently violent, and cannot exist without state brutality. They limit the mobility of workers, preventing them from seeking better work and a better life while permitting investors to seek opportunities without restraint; it is an injustice that borders are open to capital and closed to people. Furthermore, many migrants come to the United States because capitalism and American imperialism have imposed poverty and violence on their countries of origin. We oppose white supremacist attempts to divide the working class and blame people of color—particularly Latinx and Muslim immigrants—for poverty and crime that are in fact caused by the unjust distribution of wealth. Employers make undocumented immigrants into a super-exploited class, hiring them precisely because they have even less access to legal protection and union representation than other workers. Continue reading

Why are we having elections? Our current executive committee consists of our committee co-chairs, who have not been democratically elected by our members. In order to be a democratic organization that is responsive to our membership, we need to instead have an elected steering committee. This committee will serve for a period of six months, during which they’ll develop new policies and leadership structures that will enable us to continue to democratically elect our leadership in the future. Who are we electing, who is eligible to run, and who is eligible to vote? We are electing a 9-person steering committee, comprised of 3 members in specific roles (Communications Secretary, Treasurer, and Young Democratic Socialists Coordinator) and 6 at-large members. To run for a seat on the steering committee, you must be a member of DSA-LA in good standing with the chapter. You must also have paid national dues by April 15 and local dues by May 12. In addition, in order to ensure that candidates have contributed productively to DSA-LA, you must have the endorsement of a DSA-LA committee co-chair. (We’ll ask you for their name and then ask them if they indeed endorse you.) The election coordinating committee may make exceptions to dues requirements on the basis of financial hardship. To vote in the election, you must be a member of DSA-LA in good standing with the chapter, and must have paid national dues by May 12. Again, the election coordinating committee may make exceptions to dues requirements on the basis of financial hardship. Continue reading

The Democratic Socialists of America - Los Angeles Chapter joins the Armenian community in its continued fight for a just resolution and against denial of the Armenian Genocide. DSA-LA recognizes and commemorates the one and a half million Armenians who were killed between 1915 and 1923. Continue reading

There is an incredibly important vote taking place both online and in-person regarding the creation of a Skid Row Neighborhood Council. Although DSA-LA as a chapter has not formally endorsed one side on this vote, our Housing & Homelessness committee has been working with various organizations involved in Skid Row. This means our chapter members are considered stakeholders and so are eligible to vote. If you want to vote online, you have until Sunday April 2 to register; if you want to vote in person, there is an election on April 6, as well as various pop-up polls happening before then. We want to make sure that all members are aware that they can vote in this election, and to provide some background information on why our Housing & Homelessness Committee feels that this is an important issue that deserves your consideration! Continue reading

DSA's new animated video: Thanks Capitalism! Featuring the talents of DSA-LA's own, Kelsey Goldberg, Joe Randazzo, and Adam Fligsten Continue reading