Join us for a snapshot of the work Harriet’s Wildest Dreams is engaged in. Our liberation is tied to one another and we need each other to do this work to protect our people — Black people, formerly incarcerated folks, queer and trans communities, and all those at risk of state sanctioned violence.

Being in the nation's capital we are at the center of the empire and also a target for far right extremists. DC is NO ONE’s playground and we must remain vigilant in our fight for statehood, our fight against mass incarceration and the fight for gender liberation and bodily autonomy for all.

If you and your friends are interested in building a better world, free from patriarchal violence, a world where queer is in, then you've come to the right place! Come sit with us as we re-imagine what this world can be and reclaim safety for all of DC.

Who Are We:

We are a Black-led abolitionist community defense hub centering all Black lives most at risk for state-sanctioned violence in the Greater Washington area.

What we do:

Our work includes legal empowerment, political and civic education, mass protest, organizing campaigns, and community care that builds alternatives to oppressive systems.

If you are in need of ASL interpretation please let us know at least 48 hours in advance.

This ‘Anti-Imperialist Summer School’ will consist of a series of teach-ins, held over the course of 6 weeks in May and June, which will provide a crash course in the shape and functioning of contemporary global imperialism.

The weekly sessions will take place Sundays from 4-6pm and run for approximately 90 minutes. All sessions will be hybrid—when you RSVP, scroll down on the confirmation page to get the Zoom link under “Instructions From Your Host”!

In the sixth and final session of of MDC DSA’s Beyond the Bombs: Anti-Imperialist Summer School teach-in series, we will turn our attention to the major global shifts currently underway—namely, the decline of U.S. hegemony, the rise of new superpowers like China, and the emergence of an increasingly multipolar world order—all of which are taking place amid accelerating political, economic, and ecological crises on numerous fronts. We will critically examine these shifts in detail, and open up space for a nuanced and critical discussion of the opportunities and contradictions that they offer the anti-imperialist left, as well as what our responsibility is as anti-imperialists when it comes to how we should understand and relate to these shifts.

NOTE: This event will be recorded and may be shared on MDC DSA’s social media platforms for educational purposes. By participating, you acknowledge that you may be videotaped and livestreamed. If you wish to avoid being recorded, you should take efforts to avoid appearing on camera or speaking.

Grab your bug spray and bring snacks to chill on the mall and literally touch grass as we discuss structural and historical dynamics that have shaped the constitutions into a barrier to the progression of democracy.

We will be reading an excerpt from Aziz Rana's hefty but fascinating book, Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document that Fails Them. One of three reading discussions we will host in July to explore different sections of Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document that Fails Them

Readers are welcome to come to drop into any discussion or come to all.

RSVP to get updates on the exact location, rain date plans, and where to find the readings.

Navigating Complexity in a Changing World

"The press in its historic connotation comprehends every sort of publication which affords a vehicle of information and opinion. What we have had recent occasion to say with respect to the vital importance of protecting this essential liberty from every sort of infringement need not be repeated.”  Supreme Court ruling, Lovell v City of Griffin (1938)

Changing technology throughout the history of the United States has raised new press freedom questions and introduced fresh challenges, with each generation developing its own tools and skills to navigate an increasingly complex information environment. In today’s digital world, where content is created constantly and technology evolves rapidly, protecting press freedom and finding trustworthy information feels tougher than ever. So, what comes next?

This moderated panel brings together distinguished journalists to explore the challenges press freedom is facing and the future of journalism. Joining the panel discussion will be Chris Wallace, the award-winning broadcast journalist whose past roles include CNN, Fox News and NBC, Tia Mitchell, the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Washington D.C. Bureau Chief, and Lori Montenegro, Noticias Telemundo’s Washington D.C. Bureau Chief. The discussion will be moderated by Poynter’s President, Neil Brown. 

6:00: Doors open for informal gathering, exhibit viewing and light refreshments
7:00: Panel discussion begins in the auditorium

Join us every Tuesday night for a lively, no-stress session where we’ll practice your 4th & 5th Amendment protections, from traffic stops to front-door chats with police or immigration enforcement at the workplace. Whether you're a citizen or not, these rights protect us all—and the best part? You can easily share what you learn with co-workers, neighbors, and friends to help everyone be informed of their rights! Come sharp, stay safe, and leave feeling confident!

Note: this is a public event! If you are not comfortable or do not feel safe attending a public virtual event (or you know someone who doesn’t feel comfortable), please email or signal Hannah for a personalized presentation in English or Spanish.

Links to the CARECEN Know Your Rights Presentation PDFs (English, Spanish)

Join MediaWise specialists in this class to help you build skills to tell fact from fiction in media.

In this interactive session, you’ll get a crash course in media literacy basics and proven techniques for spotting mis- and disinformation. Then, put your skills to the test with real-world examples — and walk away with practical tips for navigating tough conversations with loved ones who’ve fallen for false claims.

Courtwatch DC is a growing DC-based program that provides the space and training for the community to observe local court proceedings in the District of Columbia and document our city’s policies in action and to hold judicial actors accountable for injustice in the court system.

Courtwatch DC is powered by Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, with support from DC Justice Lab, and DC IWOC and was founded and led by formerly incarcerated Black women.

Courtwatching is a form of mutual aid. Inspired by Courtwatch PG, we strive to ensure that our community of Courtwatchers is multigenerational, multiracial, anti-racist, and moving towards an abolitionist future.

Can you find the facts, beat false information and escape?

Join MediaWise specialists from The Poynter Institute in an interactive escape room game, where you'll build news skills to help you tell fact from fiction. 

Teams work together to unlock a series of puzzles requiring them to evaluate news sources, identify misinformation, and detect digital manipulation techniques before time runs out. Use your mis- and disinformation busting skills to escape the misinfo-room.

This program will be held on the rooftop, weather permitting.

Join MediaWise specialists in this class to help you build skills to tell fact from fiction in media.

In this interactive session, you’ll get a crash course in media literacy basics and proven techniques for spotting mis- and disinformation. Then, put your skills to the test with real-world examples — and walk away with practical tips for navigating tough conversations with loved ones who’ve fallen for false claims.

This ‘Anti-Imperialist Summer School’ will consist of a series of teach-ins, held over the course of 6 weeks in May and June, which will provide a crash course in the shape and functioning of contemporary global imperialism.

The weekly sessions will take place Sundays from 4-6pm and run for approximately 90 minutes. All sessions will be hybrid—when you RSVP, scroll down on the confirmation page to get the Zoom link under “Instructions From Your Host”!

In the fourth session of MDC DSA’s Beyond the Bombs: Anti-Imperialist Summer School teach-in series, we will look at the role of international NGOs and quasi-autonomous US government entities like USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in upholding global imperialism, and American empire in particular. We will examine how these entities promote neoliberalism in the name of humanitarian assistance and ‘international development,’ as well as how these institutions have historically served and continue to serve as fronts for direct and indirect U.S. intervention in the affairs of sovereign nations in the Global South.

NOTE: This event will be recorded and may be shared on MDC DSA’s social media platforms for educational purposes. By participating, you acknowledge that you may be videotaped and livestreamed. If you wish to avoid being recorded, you should take efforts to avoid appearing on camera or speaking.

Mi Casa is hosting a special Co-op Clinic on June 21st at 12:30 and we would love for you to be there. The co-op clinic will be an opportunity for your co-op to meet one-on-one with one of our co-op development specialists to answer any specific questions you have about the challenges your co-op is currently facing.

Join us for a catered meal from a local restaurant, a chance to get to know some members from different co-ops, and some individualized support from one of our co-op development specialists or partner organizations.

Limited seats are available so be sure to register by June 18th at 5:00 pm. Please note that only participants who register will be provided food.

Date: June 21st

Time: 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Location: 3232 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, DC (Get Directions)

Cancellation Policy:

As seating for this lunch is limited, we require you to cancel your reservation for this dinner at least 48 hours before the event. Please reply to this email in the event that you can no longer attend.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Children’s Legacy Theatre, Inc. (CLT) creates theater experiences that educate and challenge young people and their communities. Our mission is to inspire teens to explore, think and connect, through imaginative theater, to other people and ideas using inductive reasoning. CLT brings classical and historical plays to life in ways that encourage teens to dream about who they are and who they may become thereby, producing kinder and positive contributors to society.

Join Bread for the City in celebrating Black liberation at Bread for the City's Michelle Obama Southeast Center. This family-friendly block party, located in the heart of Anacostia, features a local Black-owned business marketplace, food, live performances, and educational sessions, all rooted in Black culture and history.

This forum will break down historical racial disparities in energy, transportation, and the environment. We will discuss the strategies and best practices to ensure that the transportation sector is used to benefit historically marginalized groups.

Join the DC History and The People's Archive as Amelia Tseng discusses her new book, which provides a new framework for understanding how language and identity intersect in ever-evolving America.

In the 1980s, Washington, DC—a predominantly African American, racially and economically segregated city with a strong local Black culture—became a hub of Latin American immigration. As the city's communities interacted, an identity both unique to DC and reflective of diverse Latin American cultures was born.

Empanadas, Pupusas, and Greens on the Side is the first linguistics book to explore how the Latinx community forged a new sense of home and identity in Washington. Using original ethnographic research—including interviews, narratives, and surveys—Tseng develops a new framework for understanding the relationship between race, identity, language, and culture, and she explains what happens when communities interact.

Readers interested in the cultural history of Washington, Latinx history, and language and society will enjoy this rich study of language as a cross-cultural current in ever-evolving America.

As the We Power DC research team nears the publication of our white paper on municipalization in DC, it's time to share it with the rest of the campaign!

Join us for a fun and informative internal political education event: a laid-back poster session where WPDC organizers will share key findings from the white paper in a digestible manner through a set of posters. The report is lengthy and wonky, but it contains important information about the evils of pepco and the promise of the public power alternative that all organizers should have a handle on--this is the perfect opportunity to learn the key points!

The event will be followed by a happy hour nearby.

This ‘Anti-Imperialist Summer School’ will consist of a series of teach-ins, held over the course of 6 weeks in May and June, which will provide a crash course in the shape and functioning of contemporary global imperialism.

The weekly sessions will take place Sundays from 4-6pm and run for approximately 90 minutes. All sessions will be hybrid—when you RSVP, scroll down on the confirmation page to get the Zoom link under “Instructions From Your Host”!

In the third session of MDC DSA’s Beyond the Bombs: Anti-Imperialist Summer School teach-in series, we will examine the role of international financial institutions—namely, the IMF and the World Bank, as well as private financial institutions on Wall Street—in upholding global imperialism. Specifically, we will focus on the predatory lending practices that trap Global South countries in unsustainable debt, as well as the deeply harmful ‘structural adjustment’ policies that coercively impose neoliberal ‘reforms’ and austerity measures that harm the most vulnerable populations in these countries. We will trace the history of these institutions and how their role in upholding imperialism has evolved over time, as well as how actors in the Global South have responded to and resisted against them.

Ready for 🏳️‍🌈Pride Month🏳️‍⚧️? We are! Join us on Saturday, June 14th, from 7-10PM for Pack, Party, Pride at the Dew Drop Inn! Celebrate pride by helping pack 🚨2,000🚨 reproductive and sexual health care kits at our pride-themed care kit event! We need your help!

Join us at the Dew Drop Inn starting at 7PM for a social hour. Then, from 8-9PM, we will be folding zines, with a break for our raffle, and then starting the care-kit packing portion from 9-10pm! Come early to catch up with us and socialize, and then get down to the good work of folding zines and packing kits!

Kits will include Plan B, condoms, lube, pregnancy tests, ours/EC4DC's zines. Once packed, the kits will be available for pickup at locations across DC via EC4DC, a mutual aid group that provides free emergency contraceptives to DC residents.

100% of your $5 ticket is going towards paying for the costs of these care kits, and earns you a raffle ticket from one of our lovely vendors! Unable to attend but want to support us? Donate to our mutual aid fund! If you're interested in buying more than one raffle ticket, we will have options available at the event!

Beads Plz (@beads_plz_) is a small Latina-owned jewelry business run by Syd! Syd works with old jewelry & vintage supplies, as well as make beadwork to support Gazan mutual aid! Syd will be raffling off their handmade earrings.

C.S. Corbin (they/them) (@cscrbn) creates paintings and prints, and takes on projects ranging from large murals to painting little free libraries (check out their instagram!). They will be raffling off their piece “Milk Man” which is acrylic on canvas, 11x14 inches.

Sasha's Scribbles (she/her) (@sashsscribbles) is a self-described scribble enthusiast, who creates mixed media fine art prints and stickers celebrating QTBIPOC’s love! Find her art at Passion Project (@passionprojectrva) in Richmond, VA! She will be raffling TWO of her pieces, “Subaru Sensitivity” and “Scissoring."

Interested in volunteering with us? Please fill out our interest form!

This event IS wheelchair accessible. Please see our accessibility document! If you’re not able to attend, donate money to our Mutual Aid Fund, linked in our bio! If you’re unable to pay for a ticket and want to attend, please email bawg@mdcdsa.org

That military parade this president has planned for his birthday? In the heart of our city? DC's not about all that.

DC communities are about connection and joy. We reject this president’s desire to center fear, military power, and weapons of war in the District, and we know the best way to do that is through joy.

Join us on Saturday, June 14 for DC JOY DAY, a community celebration with food, music, performances, kids’ activities, and more. Invite your friends, your aunties, and your cousins, bring a blanket and a cooler, and come kick it with the people who know that the people of DC choose freedom over fear.

Join us for an evening of fundraising with joy and local music! Come see live music and practice hitting those high notes for karaoke at Haydee's in Mount Pleasant from 5-10 PM on Friday, June 13th. The cost of admission is $20, a portion of which will directly benefit Baldwin House. Tickets will also cover up to $20 of food and drinks. We're excited to see you there!

Join the Social Housing Working Group for its biweekly organizing meeting. Learn about its latest activities, what they're planning for the future, and how to get involved.

The Social Housing Working Group seeks to educate Metro DC DSA chapter members and the general public about social housing and to facilitate collective action in support of the passage and implementation of the Green New Deal for Housing Amendment Act.

The legislation proposes to create mixed-income, district-owned housing with market rate units that subsidize a larger number of affordable units. It's a pioneering approach that deepens affordability, invests surplus funds into the creation of more social housing, and locks-in financial sustainability. The bill also includes climate and labor standards and elected tenant boards with oversight over building management.

Join Dream Defenders DMV and BYP100 DC for a night of truth-telling, memory, and movement.

We’re screening Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest, featuring the episode “What Comes After Hope? 2008–2015”, directed by Asako Gladsjo. It covers the Obama years, the rise of police violence, and the creation of Dream Defenders and BYP100.

After the film, stay for a panel conversation moderated by Makia Green, on how these moments shape our organizing locally and nationally today. Guest speakers to be announced soon!

Can't make it? Please take a moment to forward this email 5 people and organizations by June 8th.

Wednesday, June 12True Reformer Building Auditorium, 1200 U St NW, DCDinner at 6 PM | Film at 7 PM | Panel at 8 PM

RSVP now: secure.everyaction.com/iAdK1KKYykK0JpmPRUb2kg2

On Wednesday June 11, 2025, it is imperative that we show up in full force to ensure Taya’s freedom. We keep eachother safe and we keep eachother free. Our presence can make a significant difference in this case and demonstrate to the court that she has a strong support system. This is a trial date, so we need as many people in the courtroom as possible to pack the court!

The courthouse is located at 500 Indiana Ave. NW Washington DC courtroom 302

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to our community.

This Copwatch Training is designed to equip community members with the basic skills and knowledge necessary to safely and effectively monitor police activity. Participants will learn about their rights and responsibilities when observing law enforcement, how to document interactions accurately, and strategies for de-escalating potentially volatile situations. By fostering a network of informed citizens, the training aims to promote accountability and transparency, ultimately contributing to a safer and more just community for all.

This ‘Anti-Imperialist Summer School’ will consist of a series of teach-ins, held over the course of 6 weeks in May and June, which will provide a crash course in the shape and functioning of contemporary global imperialism.

The weekly sessions will take place Sundays from 4-6pm and run for approximately 90 minutes. All sessions will be hybrid—when you RSVP, scroll down on the confirmation page to get the Zoom link under “Instructions From Your Host”!

In the second session of MDC DSA’s Beyond the Bombs: Anti-Imperialist Summer School teach-in series, we will look at how the architecture of the global trade regime has been structurally designed to exploit the Global South and enrich the Global North, first through intentional underdevelopment during the era of colonial rule and then through the construction of a neocolonial trade system during the era of decolonization. We will explore how the United States’ hegemonic position at the head of this neocolonial system is upheld through the dominance of the US dollar, and how this dollar dominance enables the United States to impose unilateral sanctions as a devastating tool of imperialist violence and coercion. We will also examine the humanitarian impacts of sanctions regimes, and challenge the notion that sanctions are a ‘humane’ alternative to traditional warfare.

On June 7, 2025 the D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice (DCAESJ) will be hosting a walk/march from the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), to highlight the censorship of history in schools and museums—stopping at each of the museums along the way to share stories about what teachers, students, and others have learned and why that knowledge matters.

This action is a part of the Zinn Education Project’s 5th Annual Teach Truth Days of Action for a national day of action with actions all year long. #TeachTruth.

Hey Teens! Celebrate World Pride at MLK Library on June 6th with an evening made just for you. We’re turning up with live performances from local teen artists, music, and creative vibes all around.

It all leads up to an epic drag show you do not want to miss—bold, fierce, and full of Pride energy! Featuring Latrice Royale, DJ Amorphous and band, Flowers for the dead.

Come hang out, express yourself, and be part of something unforgettable. Whether you're here to vibe, perform, or cheer on your friends, this is your space to shine. Free event, open to all teens. Bring your crew and let’s celebrate YOU!

Note: Youth Block Party reserved for ages 13–19 only.

• Carnival Games, Mechanical Bull, Shoot-N-Shooter Basketball, Axe Throw, and GAMING Zone

• Glitter Tattoo Artists

• Local Band Flowers For The Dead performing under the MLK Library Loggia

• Raffle for prizes including a Laptop PC

• The Library's Great Hall becomes a WORLD PRIDE Laser Dance Floor with Teen Lounge and Performance Runway 

• Food Trucks and Snacks onsite

• Main Stage by Poet Taylor and Justin Prince Stewart

• Internet sensation and Beyonce Renaissance Deejay, AMORPHOUS!!

• A Special Performance by RuPaul Drag Race Favorite LATRICE ROYALE!!!