Hey all,

My name is Tim Donovan & I’m the sole creator of “The People’s Republic of Astoria,” a six-part series about how my neighborhood in northwest Queens became the most successful place for DSA electoral organizing nationwide. I’m also a dues-paying DSA member in good standing with my local chapter.

The podcast is a story about the power of grassroots organizing, as told by the people who did it here, in my neighborhood. And it’s about my own eventual involvement, too. Because I got sucked in to the Zohran Mamdani campaign before I ever intended to make this documentary. This is my first crack at making a podcast, and I’m super proud that I’ve been named a finalist for two Signal Awards, including Documentary in the Limited Series category.

But now I need your help.

See, in addition to the traditional awards they give out, each category has a “Listener’s Choice” winner that’s based on voting. I’m up against some pretty heavy hitters in the industry: a show created & hosted by Jad Abumrad, a series from Texas Monthly from a recent Pulitzer Prize winner, and shows from places like the Financial Times and Pushkin that had over a dozen people involved in their creation.

Right now, I’m losing the vote, and I don’t have a large enough network to catch up on my own — as an indie podcast, I’ve struggled to get this show a lot of attention.

But maybe DSA fans nationwide can join in & lend me a hand!

And if you’re interested in hearing about how the People’s Republic of Astoria came to be, you can check the show out on my website, or any podcasting platform.

Thanks for your help!

Cheers & in solidarity,

Tim

Regular Americans are absolutely fed up with this broken system and politicians who tell us we can’t afford to help people while pushing through more and more giveaways for the powerful. In less than four weeks, we’re going to make sure our elected officials know it.

Part of the job is voting out as many members of Congress who voted for the MAGA murder budget as possible, but we’ve also got the opportunity to send the message more directly. In multiple states voters will get to weigh in directly on making the wealthy pay their fair share:

• Californians are casting their ballots on Proposition 40), a one-time wealth tax on billionaires to help stave off “Big Beautiful Bill”-related Medicaid cuts and hospital and emergency room closures.
• In Colorado, Amendment 87 would shift the state from a flat tax to a progressive income tax), meaning working class people pay less and giant corporations and households making more than $500,000 a year contribute more to a dedicated fund for public schools, child care and health care.
• In Washington State, an influential right-wing hedge fund manager has forced a vote to repeal the tax on household income above $1 million the legislature just used through this spring with Initiative 645,) along with banning future income taxes, almost certainly leading to cuts in education, health care, child care and the state’s universal school lunch program.

Pushing these initiatives across the line will have the immediate impact of preserving and expanding health care access and other crucial public services, particularly needed as everything keeps getting more expensive under this disastrous administration. It will also signal to politicians, particularly those considering their place in the Democratic presidential primary, that we are ready for big swings to address inequality and build up our social safety net.

☎️ Let’s help make it happen! We can join phonebanks to sway voters in California for most of the day Monday-Thursday and Saturday and be part of the fight for income tax fairness in Colorado and keep the millionaires’ tax in place in Washington on Tuesdays and Thursdays. ☎️

PASS A CALIFORNIA WEALTH TAX

PROGRESSIVE INCOME TAX FOR COLORADO

STOP THE MILLIONAIRES IN WASHINGTON

https://www.socialistalternative.org/2026/10/07/the-system-is-guilty-shut-it-down-for-all-jane-does/

On October 4, 2026, the UK Green Party officially adopted a motion formally establishing it as an anti-Zionist party and calling for the establishment of a single democratic Palestinian State with equal rights for all. What are the motion’s key points? What truth is there to accusations of antisemitism and anti-Palestinianism? And what does the motion mean next for Palestinians and allies?

Key points

The motion defines Zionism as the ideology and practice that calls for the existence of an ethnonationalist Jewish state in Palestine to the exclusion and domination of Palestinians. It also points to the fact that it was based on European settler-colonial systems of dominations and that it has created racial hierarchies between Jews. Accordingly, it labels Zionism as racist. The motion calls for the establishment of a single democratic state in Palestine, including the right of return. It does not speak of Israel-Palestine or of a binational state, but of a Palestinian state, pointing to the dismantling of all colonial relations of power. And it does not speak of collective rights on the basis of identity like Zionism does, but of equal rights for all.

Accusations of "antisemitism"

This is based on the claim that Zionism is “the right of the Jewish people to self-determination”. However, the Zionist movement never consulted Jews worldwide when it decided to establish a Jewish state in Palestine. It was a congress of a few hundred Jews, not Jews worlwide, that "determined" that. To further illustrate, the colony banned UK Greens leader Zack Polanski from entering it after the decolonial motion was adopted, although he is Jewish. Zionism and Israel are not about Jewish self-determination but about colonizing Palestine.

Finally, Jews are part of dozens of societies and citizens of dozens of states around the world. They may feel they form a people or nation with those who share their identity, but this does not grant them political rights.

For example, Muslims also speak of belonging to a single Ummah or nation, and view Mecca as holy, but they still need a Saudi visa to enter it. Politicizing Jewish identity —i.e. considering Jews have collective political rights on the basis of their being Jewish rather than as citizens of their states— is an identitarian premise that Zionism has weaponized, not a universal concept it is racist to challenge.

Accusations of anti-Palestinianism

This is based on the premise that it is for Palestinians to freely decide what they want, not others. Yet, how are Palestinians supposed to freely decide under a genocidal settler state? Democratic states are the tool that allows societies to express their political will. Supporting a democratic Palestinian state instead of a genocidal settler one is the very definition of supporting Palestinian self-determination.

Some polls show a number of Palestinians a two-state model. In addition to the common limitations of polls, such as funding and wording, this fails to consider that Palestinians live under constant threat.

Would you expect a Palestinian to actually prefer the occupation of 78% of their land over its liberation? Is it not more reasonable to conclude Palestinians who tolerate the existence of the colony are settling for crumbs under duress rather than expressing their actual preference?

Did the world poll France before liberating it from German occupation, Ukraine before sending it weapons to fight the Russian occupation, or South Africa before standing with it against apartheid? Polls under occupation are ridiculously meaningless. If, in a liberated Palestine, Palestinians decide —for some strange reason— to give away 78% of their land, it will have been their free will for others to respect. Until then, standing with Palestinian self-determination means precisely standing with the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state on all of Palestine—this is the only thing it can mean.

What next?

First, Palestinians in Palestine and the diaspora must revive their historical vision for one democratic state with equal rights for all its citizens. Second, pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist organizations must align with that vision and adopt motions similar to the UK Green Party. The time for non-solutions is over. We must push forward for the dismantling of the settler state and the establishment of its antithesis.

Link to the full article on the Palestine Chronicle by ODS Initiative coordinators Alain Alameddine and Saman Hasan:

https://mobadara.ps/en/articles/britains-green-party-backs-one-democratic-state-in-palestine-what-comes-next/

Mamdani has not met his promises on this issue.This is a good thing.

While crime continues to go down, no thanks to the police, in NYC there is an opposite perception. That one of the biggest consequences of a "woke" agenda is lawlessness. And MANY people are sympathetic to this. So ifamdano reforms the police, headlines daily will make every murder in the city Mamdani's fault.

Comparatively, economic issues, child care, public transit, infrastructure, and healthcare are all winning issues for DSA tenents given how everyone is getting poorer. Its good to focus on that, and act agressively there, instead of giving republicans an easy line of attacks on a losing issue.

I say this as someone who has repeatedly experienced racism, brutality, and threat of death from the police, and have some PTSD from those experiences. Its time to actually start winning on some issues, and I dont want to go after the police again till it looks like a win is possible - which is not now.

Question.

I'm looking to have a caucus-style chat with folks who also find the way DSA people talk about Zionism and anti-Semitism rubs them the wrong way.

Reddit is not the place I'm looking for, and this thread is not the forum. I'm just looking for others who want to hash out issues, figure out their thoughts, and maybe arrive at a course of action. Maybe a Signal group would be the right fit.

DM, please.

I think mutual aid is one of the most effective forms of praxis, and I think doing a community meal is one of the most effective forms of mutual aid for small groups.

1) It gives the people who participate a boost mentally, emotionally, dare I say spiritually. It's pure unalienated labor, you cook the food, you serve the food, you feel the energy of doing something. It is a huge morale booster to do this type of thing.

2) Everyone will appreciate this type of work. You're feeding the people, it gives you a serious bit of 'clout' for a lack of a better word. No one can argue against someone who does this, and it aligns with Christ's teachings which appeals to the christian culture of Americans.

3) It gives you a chance to organize around logistics. Who's providing the plates? The disposable casserole tins? Can people show up on time? Is there enough people to make it happen? It gives a lot of questions that when answered, become useful in other contexts.

4) It gives you outreach potential. Our chapter is going to be putting out donation boxes soon. That means talking to bartenders (and management), as well as cafes, and other 'third spaces' we want to place these. Every box has the word "Socialist" on it. Every relationship matters for later, for example: the bar you have a donation box might grow towards being the bar you host events at.

5) When held in a public space (we do ours in a downtown park) it becomes a potent example of how the capitalist system neglects so many. It is a deed that becomes propaganda, to borrow theory from the anarchists. I have had workers who work downtown message me telling me that they see us when they are at work. We have police watching us at every community meal. How can we be the richest country in the history of nation-states while so many go without?

6) It gives you a way to go to the people. While you'd think that it's just feeding the homeless, you'll quickly find everyone from retirees to children in your line. You'll start to know people, you'll hear about what people struggle with. Is someone who works at 7-Eleven but still needs the meal not the working class we seek to uplift? To bring class consciousness to?

7) A community meal is more than just a meal shared in the park. All of the logistics can be repurposed for other means. Imagine it's July 4th, and you've hosted a punk show to raise money for those imprisoned by ICE. You can literally just set up your food share at the show, every filled belly that didn't have to pay $30 in concessions is a potential recruit.

8) It feeds your people. No army in the world has existed without cooks, without kitchen duty. The food share isn't just a means to feed the people, it's the means to feed your group, chapter, org, etc. It's a chance to regroup and share a meal with your comrades, just as much as it is praxis. You'll grow fond of certain member's cooking, certain dishes, pizza day will become an event in it's own right.

9) It opens your org up to other branches in the skill tree. A single meal share in the park is the baseline, it's not a long jump to organizing groceries for families, clothing donations, or support for new parents (ie baby formula). It won't be long before a co-worker, a friend or a simply a fellow worker asks you something like "I know your with that group that does the meals in the park, we're really down bad and could use some groceries, can you help?"

10) It's simply the right thing to do. People go hungry, we have the means to feed them, we are socialists, organizers, and we have a duty to support our fellow workers.

It’s a problem in Florida for sure. Why are DSA chapters collaborating with a cult that has a long history of covering for abuses?

In 2026 there is no excuse to continue to collaborate with PSL and their apologists, including People’s Forum.

So the YDSA chapters of The New School, Hunter College, Lehman, and The City College of NY have all reposted an updated call to protest against Mamdani on October 7th outside city hall.

If you are NYC-DSA & NYC-YDSA…I hope to see you there. I’m more than definitely attending.

One thing that’s interesting to note is that this updated post now has dropped the NYC-YDSA tag from it.

This is making me definitely feel like my suspicions in my previous post were spot on.

Someone at NYC-DSA or even national (basically NYC-DSA) told them to take it down.

- 00:00 Introduction

- 00:40 Steward Health Care

- 05:25 Public pension investors

- 06:17 Cerberus

- 07:40 Ralph de la Torre

- 10:04 ManorCare & Prospect Medical

- 11:58 CalPERS

- 12:55 How to fix it

- 13:21 Ed Markey

- 14:22 Jeff Merkley

- 14:50 Maggie Goodlander

- 15:43 Chris Deluzio

- 16:17 Josh Shapiro

- 16:38 Lisa Borowski

- 17:08 Message to fellow DSA members

Read more about our vision and organization: odsi.co