Clean water is a human right! | Bulletin

GM UPDATE: Please remember to RSVP for our General Meeting on May 7, and plan to join us for the Paul Prescod canvass immediately after! As a reminder, the GM is at the First Unitarian Church, but we'll have a virtual option, too. See the RSVP form for details.

Friend — 

Our Green New Deal for Philly Public Schools Campaign is organizing to get the lead out of our schools' drinking water, and you can help us win a vital protection for students and staff.

In 2016, Philadelphia City Council passed a package of legislation requiring the School District to test for lead contamination in each water outlet in every school building and publicly release the results. Four years into testing, only 29% of public schools have been tested. According to a report by PennPIRG and PennEnvironment, of the 65 schools that had been tested as of February 1, 2022, 98% had at least one tap where lead was detected at 1 ppb or greater in the tap water. 

No amount of lead in students’ water is safe. Councilmember Helen Gym has introduced new legislation that would require all facilities operated by the School District of Philadelphia to replace all water fountains with hydration stations by June 2025. Hydration stations filter out contaminants in tap water, effectively eradicating lead in the water supply.

You can fight to protect students by taking five minutes to contact your councilmembers and urge them to pass this bill. Here is a link to a toolkit the Green New Deal for Philly Public Schools Campaign put together, with phone and email scripts as well as sample social media posts. You can also retweet our Twitter thread or share the carousel posted on Instagram (@phillydsa). Organizing together, we can build the schools that every kid deserves.

On the calendar
Unless otherwise specified, all events are held via Zoom.

Upcoming Paul Prescod Canvasses
If you’ve been reading these bulletin blurbs and thinking to yourself, “man, I really need to get out there and canvass,” now is the time —  because we're running out of time. We have fewer than three weeks til the primary, but luckily we've got a lot of opportunities for you to talk to potential voters! Sign up for one (or more!) canvasses here:

• Saturday, April 30th @ 2pm - Kingsessing Rec Center (this canvass is FAMILY FRIENDLY in collaboration with the Education Justice Committee; childcare available!)
• Sunday, May 1 @ 3pm - Malcolm X Park
• Tuesday, May 3 @ 6pm - Point Breeze
• Wednesday, May 4 @ 5:30pm - Kingsessing

Green New Deal Commission Meeting, April 28 at 6:30pm
Hear updates about our Green New Deal organizing, plan future work, and find ways to get involved! 

Racial Justice Committee Open Meeting, April 30 at 12pm
Please join the RJC for updates from our campaigns and ways to tap into the work. We're a growing committee and can always use the help.

May Day Picnic & Coffee Solidarity Rally, May 1 at 1pm in Malcolm X Park
Join Philly DSA to celebrate May Day with a picnic in the park! Food and drink will be provided, and we'll have fun activities! 🤸‍♀️🎨 After the picnic, we'll travel together to a coffee solidarity rally in support of Starbucks' and other cafes' unionization efforts. 

Housing Committee Monthly Meeting, May 2 at 6pm 
Join us for our monthly meeting!

Ben Fletcher Campaign Meeting, May 3 at 7pm
Working with comrades across the city on a mural to commemorate Ben Fletcher and the legacy of interracial labor organizing in Philadelphia.

View the full calendar.

Updates from the branches

View all BuxMont events or all Delco events

Virtual Socialist Social, April 29 at 7pm
Cooped up at home? Join your comrades for a virtual social event!
We'll talk local issues and organizing for socialism in the suburbs, and play some games!

May Day Social and Fundraiser, May 1 at 2pm, Peace Valley Park Pavilion 5
Join us for all the festivities celebrating the largest global holiday in commemoration of the working class! We will have fun games and food! 

Delco DSA Reading Group, May 5 at 8pm
Join us as we start reading Alex Vitale’s excellent book “The End of Policing.” Here is a link to the reading! 

This week in unions

• We’re so excited to share that Philly DSA has approved funding to send a group of 8 DSA members and their coworkers to attend the 2022 Labor Notes Conference, June 17-19 in Chicago! It’s a great opportunity to develop your skills as an organizer, attend trainings and panels about the labor movement, and step up to share the lessons and skills you learn with the rest of our chapter.
  • Apply to be a part of the delegation here by Monday, May 1 at 8pm!
  • Donate here to raise money for conference registration, airfare, and hotel rooms for the duration of the conference! The goal is to raise $750 by June 1, but the chapter could potentially send a larger delegation if we exceed that amount.
• Support Barista Organizing on May Day – Workers at Starbucks, Good Karma Cafe, Old City Coffee, and Korshak Bagels are unionizing to fight for living wages, healthcare for all, predictable scheduling, better staffing levels, and more! But the bosses are using every union busting trick in the book. Coffee workers across the city need the community and the whole labor movement behind us!
  • Join the rally and hear workers share their stories of how they're overcoming union busting, and how you can be a part of the movement. Rally is at 5pm on the northside of City Hall.
• Teachers, parents, and students at Paul Robeson HS in West Philly are organizing to demand district management commit to long-overdue renovations for their building. Classrooms are without air conditioning, forcing students and staff to work and learn in dangerously high temperatures during the warmer months, which are growing longer and hotter due to climate change. 
  • Support the Robeson HS community by attending their rally on May 6 at 3pm, and by calling district management to support their demands. RSVP for more information, and read more about their struggle in The Inquirer.

To get involved: If you’re interested in supporting workers who want to organize, organizing your workplace, supporting workers and unions taking collective action, or in building relationships with rank and file union members and leaders, email [email protected]. 

On the bulletin

• SEEKING STARBUCKS SOLIDARITY COORDINATION: Do YOU want to help coordinate Philly DSA's solidarity with organizing Starbucks workers? This would be an ongoing commitment with other team members who will support! Email [email protected] to learn more!
• BIG NEWS: DSA has endorsed 14 candidates, including our very own Paul Prescod. Donate to working class socialist candidates – donors can split their dollars evenly between the 15 endorsed candidates or allocate a custom amount to each. Socialist cash beats capitalist trash!
• Join us on Slack: If you’re a Philly DSA member and you’d like to join our Slack workspace, please fill out this form.
• Harassment and Grievance Process: Read about the process to file a grievance here.

In solidarity,

Philly DSA

http://www.phillydsa.org/

"The answer to injustice is not to silence the critic but to end the injustice." - Paul Robeson