The murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police marked the beginning of an international, Black-led, popular rebellion against racism and police brutality.
In a matter of days, the Black Lives Matter movement in Madison has coalesced around a collection of demands:
- establish community control over the Madison Police Department,
- defund the Madison Police Department, kick cops out of the Madison schools, and
- decarcerate the Dane County Jail System.
Many of the Madison protests have been led by the anti-capitalist, anti-racist organization Freedom Inc, while others have been led by Black students. Their leadership is paramount, and has informed DSA’s supportive work in the Madison protests.
During the week, Madison DSA’s ad-hoc Justice for George Floyd committee has provided protest support to rank-and-file members on the ground, held daily debriefs and discussions around the Madison protests, and coordinated a media push (see: recent coverage in Red Madison and Tone). The DSA Labor Working Group has issued materials to support union workers in demanding that their unions push for Justice for George Floyd and demanding that cop unions be expelled from AFL-CIO, among other demands.
For a fuller summary of this week’s events and critical educational material see this document.
Looking forward:
- June 8 at 7pm: Racism, Capitalism, and Rebellion— a discussion of how we can build the fight against racism with Haley Pessin, a member of DSA in Queens, New York and of DSA’s AfroSocialist and Socialists of Color Caucus. Register here.
- The Electoral Working Group will host an event, “Organizing for Socialism in the State Senate,” with Nada Elmikashfi on June 9th at 7pm on Zoom.
- Next Sunday at 5pm, we will host a viewing of Freedom Inc’s panel on abolition in the Madison context, followed by a discussion. Keep an eye on the calendar for registration details.
- The Electoral Working Group will continue to work with DSA-endorsed elected officials to build a defund the police movement. The group will need ideas, support, and labor to build a network with other activists in Madison, coordinate with officials, and much more. Reach out through the electoral slack channel or email madsa.electoral@gmail.com.
In the meantime, email the school board to demand that they take up a resolution at their meeting tonight to kick cops out of schools. And join the DSA Slack to stay in touch with other comrades about ongoing organizing efforts.
In solidarity,
Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America