Takiyah Thompson, Dante Strobino, Loan Tran, Peter Gilbert, and the rest of our Workers World Party comrades who tore down the racist Confederate memorial in Durham should not face any charges for their actions. We thank them for having the courage to do what Durham should have done long ago, and we will stand in solidarity with them as police, elected officials, and right-wing extremists attempt to intimidate them in response to their heroism.
We Have Everything To Lose
Community, for many people, is real, lived. They can name it and identify countless others who belong to it. They can also name those they don’t belong to. Community, for me, has been abstract or, at best, ephemeral. At its center I have imagined it, ideally, providing stability within which joy is truly possible. That joy motivates most of my pursuits, and while it is an emotional expression for a degree of psychological soundness, it is best visualized by summer camp huddles, house parties, or those aspirational tableaux of spirited, beautiful, sun-lacquered people used to sell anything on Instagram.
NCPDSA Supports Duke Teaching First and the Duke Graduate Students Union
North Carolina Piedmont Democratic Socialists of America stands in solidarity with the non-tenure-track faculty and graduate students at Duke University in their fight for fair wages, fair benefits, and fair working conditions through their unions, Duke Teaching First and the Duke Graduate Students Union.
We're One Year Old!
It’s been a really busy week in North Carolina and across the nation, but we wanted to take a brief moment to acknowledge our one year anniversary as a DSA chapter! The drive for our chapter to get started began in 2014 with the dedication and tenacity of comrade Neil Ashton. We asked Neil to say a few words on this momentous occasion.
—Amber & Matt (co-chairs)
A year ago this month, a small group of at-large DSA members, Jacobin readers, and Bernie activists met in a living room to sketch ideas for a campaign. This tiny gathering was the first general meeting of the newly chartered NC Piedmont local of DSA.
A lot has changed. Today we’re a federation of groups in four cities with a total of over three hundred registered members. We’ve been joined by new organizing committees in Asheville and Charlotte and new YDS groups in schools around the state.
We’re floored that so many of you who’ve been stirred into action by the present crisis have decided to make us your comrades—and we look forward to another year of growth in mutual struggle toward a North Carolina of freedom, equality, and solidarity.
—Neil Ashton
A Coup in Carolina
In case there was any remaining doubt, the Republican majority in the NC General Assembly have now made perfectly clear their gleeful contempt for democracy. The measures pushed through in this latest special session are a naked power grab with the specific and unmistakable intent of nullifying last month’s election.
From North Carolina to North Dakota: Stop the Pipelines, Respect Native People, Protect Clean Water
Since the spring, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Native Americans from nearby tribes, and allied activists have been gathered at Sacred Stone Camp to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. Their efforts, as well as the militarized police response to their peaceful protests—which has includedwater cannons, rubber bullets, mace, and more—have made national news.
But the fight to protect Native land and clean water is not limited to North Dakota.
Resist Anti-Immigrant Bigotry in North Carolina
What now? Socialism!
On Tuesday, over 47 percent of voters chose a racist, billionaire demagogue to lead the country. It was a victory for nativism, bigotry, regressive economic theories, anti-LGBTQ identity politics, and antichoice policies. But it was not a repudiation of radical progressive programs.
In fact, the time is ripe for common-sense socialism to make concrete gains across the country–and it’s needed now more than ever.