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.

Hosted by Makia Green

Songs have always been the heartbeat of our movements—they bring us together, lift us up, and remind us what we’re fighting for. Let’s bring that energy back. In partnership with Momentum Community, We Defend DC and many others join us on December 15th from 4–6 PM to reflect on the history of movement songs and create new ones for today’s struggles. Whether you love to sing, write, or want to be part of something bigger, this space is for you.

Save your spot now, and let’s make something powerful happen.

Come learn about union organizing from experienced union organizers at our last school of the year!

Lunch provided.

Join the MDCDSA NOVA Abolition Working Group (and the rest of the Abolition Working Group) on Saturday, Dec. 14th from 3-5pm for a cozy winter Solidarity Social! We will be raising money for the Free Them All VA commissary fund and writing letters to incarcerated folks while enjoying cozy drinks!

Folks can sign up with letters for liberation to get matched with a long-term incarcerated pen pal. There are several opportunities for orientation before the social. If you can’t make a longer-term commitment, we will connect you with folks who would appreciate a one-off holiday letter as well. We will supply paper, envelopes and stamps for all writers!

Free Them All VA is a coalition amplifying the demands of folks organizing in VA migrant detention centers, jails & prisons. Their Liberation Fund supports incarcerated people and their families with legal costs, bonds, and commissary funds.

Saturday, Dec. 14th from 3-5pm at Detour Coffee, 946 N Jackson St, Arlington, VA.

Masks encouraged and provided. Event will take place outdoors, weather permitting.

Join comrades in this anti-eviction canvas! Come out and inform tenants facing eviction of their rights in court, how to get a lawyer, and to see if they're interested in organizing their building. Tenants we speak to are twice as likely to go to court and fight their eviction, so every volunteer can make a big impact.

We’ll meet at the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station on the D street exit between 6th and 7th above the escalators (if the weather is bad, we'll be downstairs just before the turnstiles). At 1:30 PM we’ll have a short training to explain why these canvasses are necessary, how to talk to tenants about their upcoming eviction suits, and how to fill in walk-sheets. We’ll then hand out walk-sheets and set you up with a partner — if you’ve never done this before, we’ll try to set you up with a veteran who can show you the ropes!

If you have a car, please drive it down to the meeting spot! Cars are helpful for getting canvassers to metro-inaccessible areas. (Parking near L’Enfant Plaza is a bit tricky, but doable!) If you’re interested in our work but can’t canvass, reach out to tenants@mdcdsa.org to learn about other ways to get involved.

Have you ever wanted to make a change in your community, city, country, or the world but gotten stuck wondering how? Are you excited about taking action and making a difference, but feel intimidated by coming up with a strategy for change? Wondering how to get the attention of elected officials or other powerful people, but need some support and inspiration? Then come join us for this interactive training that will teach you how to think strategically when you want to make a difference. We’ll include case studies from our decades of experience, and a simulation we’ll work through together.

Join We Power DC for our final happy hour of the year on Friday, December 13th at 6:00 pm at Sonny's!

Talk with us about Pepco's latest dirty deed (with the help of our industry-captured Public Services Commission): securing a $123 million rate hike over the next 2 years, yanked from the pockets of our poor and working class neighbors. For more information on Pepco's greed, see We Power DC's press release on the rate hike approval.

It's a great time to talk about how to fight back over a beer! (Hint: the answer is public power!)

En esta reunión, discutiremos cómo podemos fortalecer nuestra comunidad y asegurarnos de que todos estemos preparados para cualquier desafío que pueda surgir con la administración presidencial entrante. Será una oportunidad para aprender, compartir ideas y conectarnos con otras personas que están comprometidas con la defensa de nuestros derechos y nuestra seguridad.

¡Su participación es esencial para garantizar que DC sea un lugar más fuerte y seguro para todos!

It’s time to break the bonds of apartheid and genocide! U.S. investments in Israel Bonds have funded decades of occupation and military aggression against the Palestinian people. These financial instruments prop up a system of genocide and apartheid—and it’s our responsibility to disrupt it.

By organizing for cities, counties, states, and institutions like unions to divest from Israel Bonds, we can strike at the heart of the financial machinery that fuels oppression. Together, we’ll explore the power of collective resistance and strategic divestment campaigns that have the potential to shake the foundations of apartheid’s economic support. Join us to learn about the campaign's objectives, strategies, and the broader implications of divesting from Israel Bonds!

Join us to learn how to support existing campaigns and start your own! This webinar, the final in USCPR’s Community Divestment Series, will feature speakers from the South Florida Break the Bonds campaign & national network and UAW Labor for Palestine’s Divest from Israel Bonds campaign.

Join us, and get inspired by and plug into Break the Bonds campaigning!

THIS WAS PREVIOUSLY LISTED AS BEING AT SHAW LIBRARY. IT IS TAKING PLACE AT MOUNT PLEASANT LIBRARY.

In our next Socialist Night School. we’ll tackle the question of socialism. We'll discuss:

• What is capitalism?

• What is socialism?

• How do we get there?

• Why does your involvement matter?

While everyone is welcome, this session is designed for newer members, interested non-members, and those who are relatively new to socialism. The session will be led by Socialist Night School organizer and Political Education co-steward David Kaib.

This is the bi-weekly meeting of Metro DC DSA's Trans/Queer Liberation Campaign. RSVP to receive the Zoom link and join us to discuss ongoing efforts such as Project Sanctuary, our Gender & Name Change Clinics, and more!

Join us this Saturday and Sunday to view and shop unique, functional pieces of pottery made by long-time JVP-DC Metro chapter member Martin Karcher, while supporting the work of US and Palestinian-based organizations dedicated to the movement for justice and liberation for Palestinians. The exhibition and sale will be open from 12–5pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Day With(out) Art is held each year as an international day of action and awareness in response to the AIDS crisis. Founded in 1989 by a group of artists, more than 800 arts organizations, museums and galleries throughout the U.S. participated in the first iteration by shrouding artworks and replacing them with information about HIV and safer sex, locking their doors or dimming their lights, and producing exhibitions, programs, readings, memorials, rituals, and performances. 

This year, Experience a variety of activities and tours centered at the National Portrait Gallery; along G Street NW; and at the MLK Library.

An evening with Dr. Armand Lione on his book "Native American History of Washington D.C." in honor of Native American History Month.

Join DC Public Library, in partnership with Loyalty Bookstores, for an exciting conversation with Dr. Armand Lione on his book Native American History of Washington D.C. 

Register for your seat to attend and the chance to get a copy of Native American History of Washington D.C. courtesy of The DC Public Library Foundation.

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 the ACLU-DC, 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.

The Tour will explore downtown DC sites of historical and recent police violence and includes an incredible chorus of speakers:

• Afeni Evans | DC Organizer

• Alec Karakatsanis | Founder, Civil Rights Corps

• Derecka Purnell | Author of Becoming Abolitionists

• Qiana Johnson | Co-conductor, Harriet's Wildest Dreams

• Vendedores Unidos | Coalition of street vendors

What does “safety” mean in a city where selling food, being unhoused, wearing a mask during a pandemic, or protesting police violence or genocide are met with violence from the very group that many believe is supposed to keep us safe? Join us to learn about the harm police cause, from the harassment and criminalization of youth, street vendors, unhoused folks, and protesters, to the point-blank execution of DC community members. The walking tour will explore how police, prisons, and carceral logic are used to put forward an idea of “safety” that in practice only makes life even harder for DC residents with the least access to resources. We will also dive into alternative visions for the abolition of police and prisons, to build the city we deserve where we keep ourselves and our neighbors truly safe.

The tour will visit 3 sites around the downtown DC area. The tour will meet in the center of Black Lives Matter Plaza (815 Black Lives Matter Plz NW, Washington, DC) at 1:00 p.m., and the tour will adjourn at 3:45 p.m. in downtown DC after ~ 1 mile of walking - followed by a happy hour afterward at a Penn Quarter Sports Tavern (includes outside seating). 

We will provide weather dependent hot chocolate and hand warmers, snacks, and water on the tour. 

The Walking Tour is hosted by Metro DC DSA’s Political Education Working Group and DC & NOVA Abolition Working Groups.

Join comrades in this anti-eviction canvas! Come out and inform tenants facing eviction of their rights in court, how to get a lawyer, and to see if they're interested in organizing their building. Tenants we speak to are twice as likely to go to court and fight their eviction, so every volunteer can make a big impact.

We’ll meet at the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station on the D street exit between 6th and 7th above the escalators (if the weather is bad, we'll be downstairs just before the turnstiles). At 1:30 PM we’ll have a short training to explain why these canvasses are necessary, how to talk to tenants about their upcoming eviction suits, and how to fill in walk-sheets. We’ll then hand out walk-sheets and set you up with a partner — if you’ve never done this before, we’ll try to set you up with a veteran who can show you the ropes!

If you have a car, please drive it down to the meeting spot! Cars are helpful for getting canvassers to metro-inaccessible areas. (Parking near L’Enfant Plaza is a bit tricky, but doable!) If you’re interested in our work but can’t canvass, reach out to tenants@mdcdsa.org to learn about other ways to get involved.

DC is widely considered to be home to the second-largest population of Ethiopian people in the world (after Ethiopia itself). The city has undeniably been shaped by its Ethiopian residents, just as it has shaped them. At DC Ethiopian Archives Day, spend the afternoon learning about the People's Archives' initiative to preserve Ethiopian history in DC. 

This program is part of DC Public Library's Connecting Communities Digital Initiative grant project: Documenting the Ethiopian Communities of DC. It is made possible with support from the Library of Congress and the DC Public Library Foundation. 

As Black and Brown communities in D.C., we face the realities of increased policing and the threat of police abuse in our neighborhoods and at protests. It’s time to prepare, resist, and act collectively.

We invite you to join us for an urgent event:

Policing in D.C.: What to Expect
- Date: Saturday November 16, 2024
- Time: 12PM
- Location: 2500 MLK Ave. SE

Together, we will:

• Uncover the history of the Metropolitan Police Department and its roots.

• Discuss D.C.’s legacy of police brutality and our powerful history of resistance.

• Examine policing today and what we can expect in the coming days.

• Share actionable ways to get involved in protecting and empowering our communities.

This is more than a conversation—it’s a call to action rooted in the strength of our ancestors and the resilience of our people.

Register at: https://bit.ly/COLLAB_NOV

Spread the word and invite your networks. Together, we’ll build collective power to fight for justice and liberation.

Interested in abolition?

It's giving ACAB, it's giving defund MPD, it's giving abolish prisons and redistribute resources. Run us our reparations!!!!

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.

These sessions will run Monthly on Wednesdays.

The ANC6B Public Safety Committee invites you to join a virtual forum about gun violence reduction strategies and comprehensive community safety plans on November 14, 2024.

Opening remarks from the Greater Washington Community Foundation will be followed by a discussion with both local and national experts on city safety. Residents will leave with information about strategies being implemented in DC, those that are working in other cities, and what you can do to improve safety for all residents in the city.

Confirmed panelists include:

Opening remarks from Kirby Gaherty, Greater Washington Community Foundation

Rev. Judie Martin, InnerCity Collaborative Community Development Corp

Kristy Love, DC Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

Patrice Sulton, DC Justice Lab

David Muhammad, National Institute of Criminal Justice Reform

Tony Lopez, Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety

Wilford Pinkney, St. Louis Office of Violence Prevention

Closing remarks from Daniel Ehrenpreis, ANC 5F Public Safety and Health Committee

Panel moderated by Jody Kent Lavy, ANC6B Public Safety Committee

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.

This event is open to both DSA Members and supporters.

This 60-minute conversation will bring together subject matter experts to explore a bold vision for a thriving DC economy—one that moves beyond long disproven trickle-down theories and instead cultivates and taps into the full potential of DC’s communities. We will examine how early childhood education, affordable housing, economic security guarantees, and progressive revenue raisers can uplift DC’s Black, brown, and low-income communities, while creating a stronger, more equitable future. These policies are key to addressing racial and economic inequities, building stronger neighborhoods, and creating an inclusive economy where everyone can share in the District’s prosperity.  

As we take in the results of this election and everything that comes with it, it’s more important than ever to check in with ourselves and each other.

How are you really feeling? How’s your spirit, and how are these moments affecting you and your community?

We know the weight of what we’re carrying. Processing these emotions together is part of the healing and strengthening work we do in community.

Join us for an hour of sharing, grounding, and connection. This space is here for you—we’d love to have you with us.

Black & Brown Fam - Join us from 8:00 to 9:00 PM

Yte Allies - Join us from 6:30 to 7:30 PM 

The world is a dumpster fire. The 2024 election hasn’t made things easier. Join VOL to process your experience, what you’re feeling, and explore how you might get grounded after this election in ways that will allow you to exist differently. In this 90 minute virtual workshop, you will journal and participate in small group discussions about your experience and what you can do–individually and collectively–to exist differently despite the circumstances.

This is a free workshop, offered as a way to honor each other’s dignity, build community, and grow together

Join MDC DSA Labor Working Group for our "Know Your Rights" series. We will be going over the key laws protecting workers in regard to employee classification in the workplace. Attendees will learn from legal and organizing experts how labor law violations can manifest in the workplace and what to do if they find themselves victims of these practices.