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Entry collections on DMV issues.
North Brentwood's Windom Road Barrier Monument
Patricia Manos
Winter 2025
Dialogic public art reminds the socialist viewer that they have a role to play in breaking the iron grip upheld by corporate greed and murderous ideological formations.
Introducing Metro DC DSA's Bodily Autonomy Working Group
Adele B, Emily N, Joe R, Lyra M, Miranda E
Fall 2024
Abortion access and trans rights are on the front lines of the fight against the far right and for working class liberation. A new working group in DC seeks to advance this struggle.
Organizing for Uncommitted: Justice for Palestinians on the Democratic Ballot
Alexandra Melinchok
Fall 2024
How Maryland organizers used electoral canvassing to make voting about something more than the candidate—a tool in the fight for Palestinian liberation.
Presente, "Farmer" Steve Melkisethian
Editorial Crew
Fall 2024
Steve was an early and active member of the Metro DC DSA’s Montgomery County branch and a beloved presence at branch meetings, picnics, actions and more.
Stop and Frisk: A Tale of Two (Atro)Cities
James S
Fall 2024
Years ago, a judge found the NYPD's Stop and Frisk practice a form of systemic racial discrimination. The Stop and Frisk program in DC is even worse. Why can't we stop it?
The Case for Initiative 83
James E
Fall 2024
The option for ranked choice voting has been waiting to appear on the District's ballot. Initiative 83 would create a better electoral candidate pool, despite opposition, a member argues.
Anticapitalism in the Real World
Amanda Liaw
Fall 2024
A revolution on a world scale will take a very long time. But it is also possible to recognize that it is already starting to happen. To see the revolution around you, ask: “what is revolutionary action?”
In Memoriam: Bernice Johnson Reagon
Maxwell Rott
Fall 2024
DC civil-rights activist and music legend Reagon passed away this summer, an immense loss to the movement. Maxwell Rott calls for a new appreciation of her historical research on music in the Black Freedom Movement.
New candidates, similar ideologies win out in 2024 NOVA primaries
Alex Y
Summer 2024
With turnout slightly above average, Democratic voters opt for status quo in local and federal primaries.
Pepco tries to hide rate hikes behind climate readiness
Harrison Pyros
Summer 2024
Why is the District government allowing a monopoly to regulate itself?
What will the future of intentional housing look like?
Alex Mell-Taylor
Summer 2024
An interview on the barriers, promises and tribulations of intentional communities. Featuring three communities operating in VA, MD and DC.
Ground Down by the Wydown: baristas fired days before union election
Gabby C, Sam G
Summer 2024
Few have more acumen in the art of destroying a successful business than Alex and Chad McCracken. The story on how their greed and egos plummeted a community anchor.
More than 'Finding The Money': MMT, Political Strategy, and the State
Maxwell Rott
Summer 2024
A new documentary provides a strong impression of modern monetary theory, but socialist viewers should pay attention to the concept's strategic horizons.
New report: What is social housing and why is grassroots support growing?
David Poms
Summer 2024
A new report document the movement for social housing, a decommodified housing model, taking shape across the United States.
CapUnfriendly: Monumental Sports to shut down hockey site beloved by fans
Dr. Frank Octopus
Summer 2024
The Washington Capitals corporate owner, Monumental Sports, has just purchased a popular research tool cherished by hockey enthusiasts, with intent to permanently close the site.
The Socialist Case for TOPA
Alan Kelly and Ray Valentine
Spring 2024
Preservation of TOPA is more than just a foundational right for the DC's tenants, it is also a vital point of agitation between the rentier capitalist class and workers.
Dennis Serrette: Presenté
Kurt Stand
Spring 2024
Lifelong peace organizer and trade unionist Dennis Serrette has passed away at 83.
Fighting for benefits: One local union's successful battle for transit subsidies
Carl Goldman
Spring 2024
The successful struggle for telework, transit subsidies, alternate work schedules and similar programs was the result of the hard work of federal workers and their unions.
Secure DC is now the law: here's what to know
Abolition Working Group
Spring 2024
The Secure DC omnibus crime bill (“Crimnibus”) was passed by the DC Council. Here's what's in and what's out of the unpopular carceral package.
Unmasking the new wave of anti-mask legislation
Scott Gruber
Spring 2024
Anti-mask bans are making a comeback, and they are disrupting anti-capitalist resistance movements and suppressing civil liberties in the process.
Should the DC left fear ranked choice voting or semi-open primaries?
Joe R
Winter 2024
Does Initiative 83 pose a threat to the District's left-wing electoral project? A Minnesotan expatriate shares their perspective on the proposed system.
DC fails to protect its children
David Schwartzman
Winter 2024
Unaddressed income and wealth inequality has produced staggering child poverty in the City, with low income support for Black and brown families plus additional assault from toxic lead exposure.
Mass DC protest demands end to US support for Israeli apartheid
Gary zZz
November 2023
A mass protest erupted in DC on November 4th, 2023. The scale of turnout demonstrated mass desire for an end to US support for Israel's apartheid regime.
Book Review: Disrupting DC: The Rise of Uber and Fall of the City
Sam DiBella
November 2023
Disrupting DC recounts a local episode in corporate control of our shared social life.
What would a police free future look like?
Alex Mell-Taylor
November 2023
The revolution will not be message tested.
What will journalism look like under a socialist future?
Alex Mell-Taylor
October 2023
A wide-ranging interview with photo journalist Michael Key on the current problems with journalism and its future under socialism.
A new Football Stadium for DC? Just say “No”
Bill Mosley
October 2023
DC is set to inherit full control over a prime parcel of real-estate. Should we build housing for all, or parking lots for a blood sport?
Congressional Republicans attack DC again. What’s DC going to do about it?
Bill Mosley
Midsummer Edition
Republicans in Congress, having solved the rest of America’s problems, have renewed their focus on how the District of Columbia runs its municipal affairs.
DC should municipalize its energy utility and embrace public power
Katharine G.
Midsummer Edition
A multinational corporation owns and operates DC's electrical utilities at the expense of the public good. There is an alternative to this exploitative arrangement.
2023 MPD Budget Oversight Testimony
Elizabeth Tang
May 2023
To enhance the safety of all residents in the District, DC must embrace a decarceral regimen that funds care and support, not cages and violence.
How to Disillusion the Public — DC’s Budget Engagement Forums
Ryan Cudemus-Brunoli
March 2023
Don't believe the hype; Mayor Bowser's budget engagement forums are little more than show-n-tell propaganda events.
Past and Present collide in The High Ground
Bill Mosley
March 2023
The emblematic play by Nathan Alan Davis, currently in its world premiere at Arena Stage, connects America’s fraught racial past with its present.
Metro DC DSA Annual Report: 2022
MDC DSA Steering Committee
January 2023
Annual report provided to document activities of the Metro DC DSA in 2022.
How Montgomery County builds social housing on the cheap
Will Merrifield
Winter 2024
Montgomery County, Maryland is building a network of social housing at virtually zero cost. Here is how they do it, and why social housing is desperately needed in DC.
Make Amazon Pay
Bill Mosley
December 2022
Brief coverage of an anti-Amazon rally held on Black Friday.
College Park is a Company Town
Sam DiBella
December 2022
The time is now ripe for College Park to become a union town—if the people of Maryland make it.
Five lawsuits demonstrate MPD's inability to reform
John P.
December 2022
In the past fourteen months, current and former officers have brought five lawsuits against MPD. The failure of the department to protect honest whistleblowers casts doubt on the possibility of police reform.
Decarbonizing DC will be dirty work
Advait Arun
December 2022
Compliance fines and renewable energy credits are not encouraging energy providers to decarbonize DC's power grid. The District should directly finance renewable expansion and confront the dirty work head-on.
Election Roundup, Nov 2022
Editorial Crew
November 2022
What went down on election night, 2022.
Coalition Launches Campaign to Take DC Police Out of Traffic Enforcement
Bill Mosley
November 2022
A new coalition is looking to disrupt police involvement in basic traffic enforcement.
Sanctuary City: The Human Cost of America's Immigration Madness
Bill Mosley
November 2022
A new play at DC's Kreeger Theater explores the common threads that link unique immigrant experiences.
Initiative 82: here's what to know
Gary zZz
October 2022
In November, DC voters will again be asked to end the subminimum wage.
Dispatch from Loudoun County: Democrats’ Virginia Problem
Max B. Sawicky
October 2022
The Virginia Republican Party has fully embraced the far-right culture wars.
ATUN 2022 Convention shows potential of a nation-wide tenants network
Stephanie Bastek
Summer 2022
The enthusiasm and promise of a nation-wide tenants network was on display at the ATUN 2022 convention.
The 2022 DC Primaries and the Future of the District
Ben D
Summer 2022
An analysis of the District 2022 primary elections suggest DC is depolarizing around race and repolaring around class.
Gentrification, Homelessness and Elections: When Does a Difference Make a Difference?
Kurt Stand
Summer 2022
Too often, those elected are content to let business as usual remain unchanged — even in communities, where those elected say all the right things. When can electoral change make a difference?
Mayor Bowser's botched public safety policy
Alex Mell-Taylor
June 2022
It's simple to wave your hand and say you will hire an unrealistic number of police officers. But reality is more complicated than that.
On education, Mayor Bowser's talk is too cheap
Les P
June 2022
Gains the Mayor has made in improving DC’s public education system have been undermined by a callous approach to workers, funding mismanagement, and a disregard for transparency and open communication.
RIP: David Marcuse, 1948-2022; Common Concerns, 1980-1991
Bill Mosley
June 2022
On April 7, the DMV lost an important figure in the history of DC's left-wing currents.
Making art inside capitalism (w/ Claire Alrich)
After The Storm
June 2022
On DC's DIY scene, explorations of beauty, and deploying novel artist feedback mechanisms.
Mayor Muriel Bowser and the housing fund she mismanaged
Alex Mell-Taylor
June 2022
The vehicle Mayor Bowser is using to build more affordable units is not well managed, and her administration has a history of using it to reward developers that do not perform the best.
How Socialists Can Flood the Zone in DC's Local Politics
Dieter L-M
June 2022
By laying a foundation of civic and political education in local Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, the DSA can equip and prepare socialists to vie for power in the District.
Joyful, Creative Tactics in DC Deserve Air Time
Alice Mayne-Ashworth
May 2022
Arrestable protests in Washington are not the only way to get a response from the President. It is time for mainstream media to give creatives greater news coverage.
Testimony Provided to the DC Council's Police Oversight Hearings
Metro DC DSA's Defund MPD working group
April 2022
The District has made strides to replace police with non-law enforcement public servants and non-carceral programming. Our message to DC Council is simple: keep going.
What’s Really Behind Attacks on the Teaching of America’s Racial History
Bill Mosley
March 2022
What opponents of CRT are really afraid of is white students embracing solidarity with students of color in favor of social change.
Food waste, hunger, and the compulsion of wagedom
Ryan Cudemus-Brunoli
February 2023
Without a guarantee of healthful food to all, we will be unable to move forward or effectively organize any form of alternative to capitalism.
Interview with Camila Tapia-Guilliams, 'Alternative Universe: Visualizing Queer Futurisms'
After The Storm
February 2022
“…portraying the struggle ahead of us, but with hope and motivation”
DC's defund effort - one year out
Gary zZz
January 2022
In DC, the Defund MPD effort has found quiet success in changing policy and opinions on policing shared by the broader public.
Howard University Students win demands through #BlackburnTakeover
Les P
December 2021
How to take on power and win.
Election Roundup 2021
Editorial Crew
December 2021
On election night 2021, nationally endorsed DSA candidates won over 25 local victories at the hyperlocal level.
To Leave the IMPACT Behind, District Educators Should Let Go of Merit Pay
Dylan Craig
October 2021
District educators should consider abandoning pay-systems that reproduce competition and inequity in the workplace.
Police Brutality, Gentrification and the Thin Blue Line: Rest in Power An’Twan Gilmore
The Washington Revolutionary
October 2021
'The Washington Revolutionary' reports on the grotesque intersection of police brutality, gentrification and the thin blue line of silence that produces false narratives.
The Role of Art and Communal Imagination in Our Movement Work
Amanda Liaw
September 2021
As community members and creative subjects ourselves, the activist-artist must help forge a shared dream for the future.
DSA Members on Labor: Two Decades of Engagement
Bill Mosley
September 2021
A two-decade recounting of local perspectives on the labor movement.
Winning a Green New Deal for Public Schools
Woody Woodruff
September 2021
Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s HR4442 is designed to return schools to their place as centers of community. If socialists act fast, we can make it a reality.
What's up with the District's crime scare?
Gary zZz
August 2021
What would it take to reduce gun violence as we emerge from the pandemic? (Hint — more cops are not the solution.)
Tearing down the highways
Bill Mosley
July 2021
In a post-carbon future, will urban expressways wither away and revert to urban space?
Learning to Love the Machine: Some Assembly Required
Patrick Dalton
July 2021
Socialists of all stripes should reckon that we may need to rebuild at the local level the very thing we’ve been fighting for years.
June 10th MPD Police Budget Hearing Roundup
Gary zZz
July 2021
On Thursday, June 10th, the Defund MPD coalition brought its case for reimagining public safety to the District Council.
DC Protests in Solidarity with Palestine
Marie M.
June 2021
Photos from the Saturday, May 15 Nakba 73 protests in DC.
Reflections on Organizing for Palestine in the US
Aura Kaiser
June 2021
Israel's propaganda tactics have not changed in over a decade - but their success is fading in the face of activist resolve.
DC's Community Response to COVID-19: A Lesson in Solidarity
Cesar Ruiz
June 2021
Community groups, political organizations, and mutual aid networks rallied to confront the District government's bumbling vaccine rollout.
Reflections from 2000: The Communists of Shaw
Pleasant Mann
May 2021
A slice of history covering DC's oft-forgotten far-left.
John Sweeney: A Remembrance
Paul Garver
April 2021
The passing of the former labor leader's passing provides an occasion to look back on the role he played in guiding the progress of the labor movement out of the hysteria of the Cold War.
No Better Time Than Now for Medicare for All
Abel Amene
April 2021
Medicare for All is not a fix-all solution. But it is the foundation from which an equitable and just health care system can be built.
Recap of PG County DSA Labor Meeting: Focus on Amazon
Kurt Stand
April 2021
A labor contingent in PG County reviewed organizing efforts at Amazon and eco-socialist organizing around the PRO Act.
Carry Me Back to New Virginny: From Jim Crow to Progressive Stronghold?
Bill Mosley
March 2021
In 2021, Virginia is a much-changed state absorbed by a blue wave that foretells an opening for progressive politics from Virginia to Florida.
Reflections from 1985: Number 51
Rich Bruning
March 2021
DC statehood is back on the nation’s agenda. With Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, only a likely Senate filibuster stands in the way of adding a 51st star to the US flag.
State of the District Left
Gary zZz
February 2021
A decade of neoliberal retrenchment is finally starting to crack. Can DC's left recognize the moment?
Building Dual Power: The Spreadsheets of Revolution
Michael M
February 2021
Local socialists have been quietly building out an anti-capitalist technical operation for use by the DC-area left. Its impetus and activities are outlined here.
DC Police Union Negotiations Are Another Front in the Fight for Abolition
Nell Geiser
December 2020
The Police Union is a critical barrier to defunding the Metropolitan Police Department and investing in the community - here's what needs to happen.
District Educators Cannot Be Pitted Against Families and Other Workers
Dylan Craig
November 2020
As the Washington Teachers Union battles against reopening plans set forth by Mayor Bowser, the need for working-class solidarity is more apparent than ever.
Reflections from 1984: Interview with Josphine Butler
Stu Comstock-Gay
November 2020
A republished interview from 1984 with DC statehood and environmental activist Josphine Butler.
Images from Occupy DC
Ronan M.
October 2020
Unearthed images of Occupy protests in Washington, DC.
Reflections from 1997: Croft for City Council
Pleasant Mann
October 2020
Longtime DSA member Howard Croft, who died of COVID-19 in June, ran for DC Council in 1997. This article provides a concise overview of Croft’s accomplishments to that point and the vision he brought to the race for the Ward 6 seat.
Can Co-ops Endure To Prefigure A Socialist World Together?
Morgan Fecto
October 2020
An investigation of how co-ops in DC are navigating the post-covid world reveals their resilience in the face of systemic turmoil.
A History of Metro DC DSA (1982-2016)
Bill Mosley
October 2020
Introduction
Days of Revolt: Notes on DC's Summer Uprising
Gary zZz
September 2020
The latest eyewitness reporting on protesters, hostile and often brutal police conduct, and Mayor Bowser’s duplicitous and self-serving maneuvers.
Class Struggle in Dupont/Kalorama: A Self-Guided Walking Tour
Bill Mosley
August 2020
A guide for exploring the clash of ideologies in a compact enclave in Northwest Washington.
Reflections from 1991: A Tale of Two Cities
Bill Mosley
July 2020
This article, published in the June 1992 issue of the Washington Socialist, looks at two uprisings from that time triggered by police violence: in DC’s Mount Pleasant Neighborhood in 1992 and in Los Angeles the previous year.
Remembering Dr. Howard Croft
Multiple Authors
July 2020
Dr. Howard Croft, DC Statehood advocate, professor and chair of urban studies at UDC and longtime member of Metro DC DSA from its earliest days, has died. Members and activists who have long memories of his tireless work for empowerment of all residents of the District of Columbia contribute their recollections.
Defunding MPD
Gary zZz
July 2020
A wide network of activists and organizers, fueled by popular uprising in DC, provides a legitimate political opening for local change.
Workers Blast Hogan for Disastrous Reponse to MD Unemployment Crisis
Woody Woodruff
July 2020
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has failed to meet the challenge of the COVID-19 virus in a state battered by skyrocketing unemployment.
Black Radicalism on the Eastern Shore: Gloria Richardson
Kurt Stand
July 2020
A history of Black radicalism on the eastern shore of Maryland.
Union Building for the Long Haul
Kurt Stand
July 2020
A review of Michael Raysson's book on security guard unizonization efforts in Boston.
Enforcing the First Amendment
Daniel Adkins
July 2020
The National Guard and police have illegally assaulted protesters in Lafayette Square (D.C.) by violating the First Amendment of the Constitution, which allows peaceful demonstrations. The demo did not violate curfew and the attack was without warning.
Reflections from 1983: Hilda Mason
Stu Gay
June 2020
Hilda Mason was not only a longtime DC councilmember but also an open socialist, making her one of the few DSA members in elected office prior to 2017.
The Battle for Rent Control
Gary zZz
June 2020
Following pandemic hardship and fears of displacement due to impending recession, stronger tenant protections have never been more urgent.
An Interview with McKayla Wilkes: "Socialism, and Socialists, are Saving us"
Adam Stromme
May 2020
An interview with candidate McKayla Wilkes, who is running against House Majority leader Steny Hoyer.
ስራ የለም? የቤት ኪራይ የለም!; Or, No Jobs? No Rent! Organizing Dispatch from Alexandria, VA
Adam Stromme
May 2020
The special impact of the COVID-19 health/economic crisis on working-class tenants around the DMV has generated mass protests, notably in Alexandria, to defy rent collection.