Monthly roundup: October

Around the chapter:

Solidarity with National Nurses United

GBDSAers continue their work with National Nurses United. We’re continually fighting for unionization for Johns Hopkins nurses as well as fighting for patients via the NNU’s “Know Your Rights” charity care campaign. GBDSA is sponsoring canvasses, so check the calendar and come out!

Coalition for a Humane Hopkins

GBDSA members accompanied the Coalition for a Humane Hopkins on a visit to Hopkins Hospital CEO Kevin Sowers’ home to try and speak with him about the hospital’s predatory debt collection practices. As has been the case so far, the CEO was not willing to engage in dialogue.

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Watch video from the event here.

Solidarity With Rojava

The GBDSA condemns President Trump’s shameful betrayal of our allies and continues to call for solidarity with the Kurdish people and the YPJ and YPG. Read our full statement here: https://baltimoredsa.org/blog-2019-10-08-sdf-solidarity

PILOT

Instead of paying real estate taxes to Baltimore, many of the city’s biggest institutions, including Johns Hopkins University and hospitals, negotiate a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT).

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These PILOTs are significantly lower than actual taxes, and place a huge burden on city taxpayers and infrastructure. GBDSA has joined a coalition with United Workers, the AFL-CIO, and the Johns Hopkins Sit-In organizers to urge the city to renegotiate the PILOT with Hopkins in order for the biggest, richest institutions in the city to pay their fair share. At a rally before a City Council hearing on the PILOT, Council members Zeke Cohen and Kris Burnett spoke in favor of reopening PILOT negotiations. Meanwhile, Baltimore mayor, Jack Young, ignored the rally and drove away.

You can read the GBDSA statement (delivered at the rally) here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CzTuPe-MJ494HcV85dqyDc31Wd1-OfDimF8lsqsQFMs/edit

DSA Movie Nights

Move nights are baaaack! The Political Education Committee organized a screening and discussion of La Batalla de Chile, the seminal documentary about the Chilean coup of 1973. In a seasonally appropriate decision, the consensus was that we should revive “mummy” as a disparaging term for conservatives this Jacobin piece explains.

Click here to vote on the next movie, screening November 15.

Salons

Our salons continue, with discussions of dual power, the nature of the state, and the future of socialism. Keep your eye out for a writing prompt from Political Education to prepare for the next phase of discussions.