Masks required. One will be provided to you if you arrive at in-person activities without one. All events are hybrid with the exception of the film screening. Locations provided closer to / day of event.
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1.10 Parable of the Sower Reading Group (starts tonight!) RSVP
1.12 Menstrual Hygiene Drive Planning Meeting RSVP
1.19 Abortion, Arizona, and DSA RSVP
1.26 History of the Mexico-United States Border RSVP
1.29 Undeterred Film Screening RSVP
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This is an exciting moment to get more involved with the Tucson chapter of DSA. In 2022 our working groups dedicated to ecosocialism, reproductive justice, and political education began to grow. This year we aim to build on these initiatives as well as create new publications, launch new campaigns, and build relationships and partnerships in the Tucson community. We’d love to hear from you about what our priorities should be in 2023, and how we can best support you if you’re interested in getting more involved. Please fill out this form to tell us about your interests and availability. This January, two of our events concern the Mexico-United States Border. A lecture and a free film screening & fundraiser. Read on to learn about DSA member Ben M's visit to Camp Ocelot and the fight that helped stop Ducey's border-wall construction.
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MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS DRIVE
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The chapter's Reproductive Justice (RJ) Working Group will be hosting a menstrual hygiene drive for the month of February, and we need your help! Join us on January 12th to plan drop-off locations and other logistics. We'd love to partner with your organization for this as well. Please bring your ideas and suggestions. RSVP.
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ABORTION, DSA, AND ARIZONA
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On January 19th, the RJ Working Group will host a presentation and discussion on the current state of access to abortion care in Arizona; the work DSA members around the country have been doing to protect abortion; and an introduction to putting abortion in the context of socialist organizing. In-person attendees will receive a souvenir that was hand-made by a chapter member. RSVP.
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UNDETERRED FILM SCREENING 🎬🎥
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January 29th at 6:30 PM, the chapter is screening the documentary Undeterred at Tucson's Screening Room located at 127 E Congress St, Tucson, AZ 85701. RSVP. The fundraiser proceeds will be donated to Border Wall Resistance.
"Undeterred is a documentary about community resistance in the rural border town of Arivaca, Arizona. Since NAFTA, 9/11 and the Obama and Trump administrations border residents have been on the front-lines of the humanitarian crisis caused by increased border enforcement build up. Undeterred is an intimate and unique portrait of how residents in a small rural community, caught in the cross-hairs of global geo-political forces, have mobilized to demand our rights and to provide aid to injured, oft times dying people funneled across a wilderness desert."
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December & January COVID-19 Update
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The pandemic continues. Reporting on and drawing attention to COVID-19 is essential to be safe and to resist the idea that THIS is the new norm. Please continue to take precautions and urge others to do the same.
News & Resources
What’s the scoop on COVID-19 and the triple-demic locally? COVID Case levels are inaccurate due to a lack of reporting new cases and contact tracing. You can check out the statistics the Arizona Department of Health Services published but again, keep in mind these numbers are lower than the reality. The XBB variant is said to be “the most immune evasive variant yet” and spreading quickly across the country. Keep an eye out for congestion and body aches. Good news is that the number of cases of RSV in Arizona is in decline.
Check out the People’s CDC. This is an organization of healthcare professionals who are telling it like it is. Criticizing the CDC for misrepresenting the threat posed, publishing regular reports and weekly updates, guidance, and other materials to keep us all informed. You can find their December Weather Report here. Their next Weather Report Comes out on January 9th.
Some commentators have pointed out the ridiculous hypocrisy of the Biden administration’s restrictions on travelers from China. Why are there mandated restrictions on these travelers yet no real precautions being taken for Americans at large? See “America’s Covid Test Requirement for Chinese Travelers Is a Farce”. People’s CDC tweeted out the following: “The new policy to test international travelers from China for COVID is racist and will likely increase racist and xenophobic anti-Asian attacks - which have been happening throughout the pandemic - and does nothing to stop the COVID variants spreading in the US."
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Some updates from the chapter's Political Education Working Group! We're going to be working on zines, offering public lectures and continuing to read together in this new year. Exciting things are happening. Please reply to this email for an invite to the Tucson DSA Political Education Working Group discord!
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History of the Mexican-American Border Lecture
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January 26th, learn about the history of the border and the ongoing struggles against the border from the perspective of radical geography. This is the first in a three-part series of lectures. The second and third lectures will be on Tucson and Mexico. RSVP.
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PARABLE OF THE SOWER READING GROUP
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Our Elite Capture group was a success. Other DSA chapters across the country are reading this book as well. Participants enjoyed the group and decided to vote for another text. The winner was Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.
The group will have an introductory meeting on Tuesday (Tonight!) January 10th from 7-9PM in the UofA Library or on the Political Education Working Group Discord. You can request a discord invite by reaching out on our socials or via email. Tuesdays from 7-9PM will be the meeting time for the foreseeable future.
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CW: This book makes many references to disturbing topics including but not limited to sexual assault and violence against children.
The book consists of diary entries from a young black California girl during the collapse of the United States in the mid 2020s. Ecological and political crises engulf California. Lauren is forced to survive, make new kin, and struggles with an empathy disorder. The disorder causes her to experience the pain of others. Lauren also invents Earthseed. Earthseed is a religion centered around the idea that God is change, contingency, and something we shape.
This is an excellent opportunity to develop an understanding of the topics and themes the story includes (addiction, patriarchy, ecology, hope, utopia) and participate in open-ended discussions about them. They are part and parcel to successful emancipatory politics and organizing. This text is also timely. The book begins in 2024 and much of it feels prophetic. Butler’s book is credited with predicting the election of Donald Trump. Now is the time to read Butler and connect with people in your community who worry about climate change, capitalism, and all the rest.
Parable is available in a wide variety of formats to match any reader's preference or needs – graphic novel, audiobook, e-book, physical. We get to hear Lauren’s voice and see images from the story. These formats will be made available to all participants.
“When I began writing science fiction, when I began reading, heck, I wasn't in any of this stuff I read. The only black people you found were occasional characters or characters who were so feeble-witted that they couldn't manage anything, any way. I wrote myself in, since I'm me and I'm here and I'm writing.” – Octavia Butler
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CLEARING LAND FOR THE HOMING PROJECT
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Reporting and photography by Rigel G
In the face of increasingly hardened cultural stances and legal threats against houseless people, The Homing Project is making a difference by building a rapid-rehousing village of tiny Pallet shelters. These 8x8’ structures will be connected to medical, dental, mental health, and addiction recovery resources along with vocational support.
Tucson DSA’s Borderlands Ecosocialists Working Group got wind of a land cleanup to make way for this site, and members of the litter cleanup crew answered the call. Previously an illegal dumpsite, the scrubland off of Irvington and Fletcher is cleaner than it has been in years thanks to the joint efforts of Tucson DSA, Casa Maria, The Homing Project, and other community volunteers. Targeting a 2023 opening, the Tucson site will join similar installations in California, Washington, and other states to provide stability and a turning point for people experiencing homelessness in our area.
The initial scope will be to house domestic violence survivors who are under 25 or over 50. As more resources are added to the project site, the site will broaden to serve other at-risk groups, with a goal of a gated community of 100 structures along with a communal kitchen and dining area, and shower and toilet stalls.
A demo unit is currently in Tucson and will be on rotation around town. Currently located in front of the First Christian Church at Speedway and Euclid, it will be on display at the Tucson Mall later on in January, with other display sites TBD. This article is being written in the shelter, seating one comfortably with heat, electricity, a bed, storage, privacy, and security. Come take a look! Folks interested in donating their time and talents, email us for an invite to the Borderlands Ecosocialist Discord and email yolanda.sethi@thehomingproject.org.
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CAMP OCELOT: A BORDER RESISTANCE SUCCESS STORY
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Reporting and photography by Ben M
Washington’s War on the Borderlands is an escalating struggle of attrition decades in the making. Scenes of brutality and inhumanity along this stretch of desert that marks the nation’s southern border- many hundreds of winding miles in length- have repeatedly gone viral, with a noted uptick in coverage over the last 20 years. In the final months of 2022, the internet became captivated by a sight it had not seen before: a conga line of double-stacked shipping containers cutting through the desert, reminiscent of a freight train with no tracks, no conductors, no engines, and no real purpose beyond offense to the senses.
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The Sonoran Socialist is published on a monthly basis by DSA Tucson. The newsletter contains information about chapter activities and aims to provide a socialist perspective of Tucson and Arizona (sometimes beyond) by way of publishing editorials, reporting, labor history, artistic materials, and more. Please direct inquiries and submissions to tucsondsa@gmail.com with the subject line “Newsletter”.
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