Stay ConnectedWeekly radio show from the Democratic Socialists of America in NYC, recorded live at WBAI 99.5 in Brooklyn NY, Tuesday @ 7pm EST. Listen and call-in!
Our vision for a democratic socialist future, from the minds and hearts of organizers fighting every day in NYC. Hear the latest news, analysis, and organizing experience from our members and partners and learn how to be part of a revolutionary political moment. Join the movement at socialists.nyc!
Copyright: © NYC Democratic Socialists of America
The elected officials of New York State ended their legislative session in Albany on June 2nd. They are headed home for the summer after failing to secure the rights of tenants or meeting New York state’s climate goals, refusing to pass Good Cause Eviction and the Build Public Renewables Act. What happened? To try and answer this and more, we bring on socialist organizers to break down what happened in Albany and how New York lawmakers left tenants and the climate out to dry. Tonight, we are joined by Avi, a tenant organizer fighting for the Right to Remain, and RPM’s co-host and ecosocialist specialist, Lee Ziesche. We will assess the situation in Albany and the movement necessary, both inside and outside the halls of the State Capitol, to defeat the corporate opposition and make Good Cause and BPRA a reality in the Empire State.
Visit right2remain.com to learn more about the ongoing campaign to pass Good Cause Eviction legislation in New York state.
On this show, Lee references the Sane Energy Project (saneenergy.org) and No NBK Pipeline Coalition (nonbkpipeline.org) as well as the NYC-DSA Ecosocialist Working Group (https://ecosocialists.nyc/).
This week marks both the 13th anniversary of the assassination of beloved abortion provider and patients’ rights advocate Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion extremist, and the second anniversary of the peoples’ uprising against NYPD sparked by the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many many more.
Although the official Supreme Court decision that will overturn Roe v. Wade has yet to be released, the reality on the ground in many places in the so-called United States is that abortion has been made illegal. Here in New York City, organizers are preparing for shifts in the nature of abortion care, attempting to protect providers in the face of the potential criminalization of abortion, and navigating a street landscape that lays bare the reality that organized white nationalists and fascists have thrown their lot in with the anti-abortion movement.
On this show, we're joined by NYC for Abortion Rights organizer Nix to discuss self-managed abortion and the landscape of abortion access now. We take live calls from the WBAI audience about abortion.
Continue the discussion by following NYC for Abortion Rights: abortionrights.nyc
On June 2, the legislative session will end in New York State and elected officials will head home for the summer. And in typical Albany fashion, the fight to pass the most transformational bills is coming down to the wire. Tonight, we continue our series of interviews with the DSA for the Many slate of candidates with Vanessa Agudelo, who is joining us live on RPM from Peekskill, New York. Vanessa is running for Assembly District 95 in the Lower Hudson Valley. We'll talk to her about why Peekskill and the other communities she’s running to represent need a Green New Deal, the status of the Build Public Renewables Act with one week left to pass the bill, and much more.
For more info on Vanessa follow @VanessaBAgudelo on twitter and visit her website www.vanessaforny.com
Amazon Labor Union scored a big victory for the labor movement last month when organized workers overwhelmingly won an NLRB election at a Staten Island Amazon facility. Yet most of Amazon and the private sector in general remains unorganized. Despite a valiant effort, ALU’s next attempt at a different Amazon facility failed. What is to be done? Brian, a former Amazon worker and member of DSA Labor’s logistics committee, joins us to discuss organizing at Amazon and the state of the labor movement.
Tonight we’re continuing our series of interviews with the DSA For the Many Slate and are joined live by Kristen Gonzalez, a tech worker and community organizer running for State Senate District 17. District 17 might be a new district spanning from Woodside, Queens to Greenpoint, Brooklyn - but that depends on the courts. We’ll talk to Kristen about the Senate redistricting debacle and much more. We’ll also be opening up the phone lines later in the show and want to hear from you!
International Workers’ Day is right around the corner on May 1, and this year it comes among a huge upswell of worker-run unionism and labor militancy. From Delta Airlines to Amazon and Starbucks to local shops like Film Forum here in NYC, workers are coming together and fighting for their rights on the job.
Here at Revolutions per Minute, we are organizers, and organizers know that all labor stories start with workers talking to each other – on the job, at home, and in the streets. For our 2022 Workers Day Special, members of the RPM collective have each interviewed a worker in our own lives about their work, their struggles, and their joys. We’re speaking to the people we love, respect, and work with, in hopes that you’ll do the same this Workers’ Day and every day!
Lee Ziesche interviews her life partner Miles Bartlett on his 20 years' experience as a back of house kitchen worker.
Chris Carr interviews his UAW brother and worker at the same university, Zach Valdez. Zach is an administrative assistant and UAW Local 2110 steward. Learn more about this local's contract fight at @2110for1M1V and sign their petition here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/fair-contract-now-support-local-2110-staff.
Desiree Joy Frias interviews her best friend and godmother of her son, Jamese Lamb, on her experience as a graduate student medical worker.
Amy Wilson interviews her labor movement comrade and friend, Kayleigh Truman. Kayleigh is a second-generation stagehand working Broadway, off-Broadway, and Madison Square Garden, and running for leadership in IATSE Local One to change the culture of their union.
Tonight we are joined live from New Jersey by Chigozie Onyema, a North New Jersey DSA endorsed candidate for City Council in Newark. We will also be speaking to Rebecca Martinez and Julian Mesri from the Radical Theatre collective about their production of Songs About Trains.
We also caught up with State Senator Julia Salazar to talk to her about the New York State budget, why she voted against it and what socialist in Albany are fighting for with just six weeks left in the legislative session.
For more info on Chigozie Onyema visit: www.chigozieonyema.com
Tonight we’ll continue our series of interviews with the DSA For The Many Slate with David Alexis, a rideshare driver, working class father and climate organizer who is running to represent Senate District 21 in Flatbush, Brooklyn
Many began 2022 with some hope that with Andrew Cuomo out of office, New York might finally be able to pass a state budget that meets the needs of working class people. The budget was due April 1st and is now five days late. Much of the hold up is because of last minute additions from Governor Kathy Hochul to roll back bail reform within the budget and fund a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills, owned by billionaire fracker Terry Pegula. And it's not just Governor Hochul doing the bidding of fossil fuel capital in Albany. We talk to David Alexis about his campaign to unseat Senator Kevin Parker who has stalled climate legislation in Albany earning him the nickname the “Joe Manchin of New York.” We’ll hear why David is fighting for Public Power for his neighbors in Flatbush, how being a dad impacted his run for office and his vision for public safety and housing.
Follow @David4BK or visit https://www.davidforbk.com/ for more info on David.
We spoke with a Starbucks worker-organizer from Buffalo, NY back in January here on RPM, and since that time the fight has only gotten hotter. As of today, over 170 Starbucks locations in 27 states have filed for elections with the National Labor Relations Board – including several right here in New York City! With union victories in Buffalo, Arizona, Tennessee, at the heart of the Starbucks mythology in its hometown of Seattle, Washington, and more coming in every day, Starbucks corporate is upping the pressure on organizing workers and resorting to classic union-busting techniques. This month, DSA’s national labor commission launched a nation-wide campaign to engage DSA members and allies in support of coffee workers unionizing locally. On tonight’s show, we’re live in the studio with Aimes, a Starbucks worker-organizer from the Starbucks Roastery in Chelsea, Manhattan, and Honda, from the national DSA Labor steering committee. We’ll be discussing Starbucks union campaigns in New York City, and what you can do to support local workers no matter where you’re tuning in from.
Follow @DSA_Labor and @SBWorkersUnited for updates on this campaign. Join Astoria Boulevard Starbucks worker-organizers for a rally on Friday, April 1 at 6pm outside their store at 3018 Astoria Boulevard, and follow them at @astoriablvdsbx. Solidarity to the worker-organizers of the Chelsea Reserve Roastery on their election on 4/1, and to all retail and service workers organizing today.
Tonight we’re joined live in the studio by Sessi Kuwabara Blanchard and Jacob Clary, organizers from NYC-DSA’s Socialist Drug Politics Organizing Committee. We discuss the class politics of drug use, overdose prevention centers AKA safe injection sites, and much more. Learn how the transformative perspective of socialist drug politics offers different ways of understanding drug use and the social forces that shape users' experience.
We also return to the South Bronx, where survivors of January’s devastating Twin Parks fire and their supporters are fighting for what they are owed from the city and landlord, in the face of corruption that may go all the way to the top of New York’s political structure. We speak to Ariadna Phillips from South Bronx Mutual Aid and Misra Walker from Take Back the Bronx on building real tenant power.
Follow the Socialist Drug Politics Organizing Committee on Twitter @socialistdrugs.
Join VOCAL-NY's Users Union for a Statewide Day of Action on April 7. The NYC event is a rally on the steps of City Hall at 11am. Sign up to receive more details here: https://vocal-ny.org/event/04-07-22-users-union-statewide-day-of-action/
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