Revolutions Per Minute - Radio from the New York City Democratic Socialists of America

"Because of my access to birth control and abortion, I was able to have my first child last year when my husband and I were financially stable enough, emotionally ready and could be the best parents we could be for him. Family planning is a human right for all birthing bodies and after experiencing childbirth I am an even stronger advocate for everyone’s right to an abortion, on demand for any reason they decide to," writes tonight's host Desiree Joy Frias. For too long, anti-abortion forces have claimed the label of “pro-life” while passing laws and encouraging actions that cause direct harm to people’s lives and bodies. As the right-wing assault on abortion access in the United States continues to escalate, organizers in New York City are fighting back and standing up for politics that center bodily autonomy, human rights, and reproductive freedom. Hear from New York City for Abortion Rights on the local struggle to protect abortion clinics and ensure access to abortion by any means necessary. Plus, we visit the New York Taxi Workers Alliance sit-in at City Hall to discuss another life-or-death issue: medallion debt forgiveness. Taxi workers are demanding that New York City provide adequate debt relief for drivers as soon as possible. Follow NYC4AR on their website abortionrights.nyc or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/nycforabortionrights/. Visit https://linktr.ee/nycforabortion to sign the petition to stop clinic harassment in Cobble Hill or donate to an abortion fund in Texas. The next Cobble Hill counter-protest will be held on October 9. The NYC-DSA Debt & Finance Working Group is calling on DSA members and allies to show up in solidarity with New York taxi workers this Friday, September 24. Learn more and RSVP at bit.ly/DSAforNYTWA.

The world is on fire and the organizations of the international working class are the only force capable of putting it out. Union organizer and campaign worker Marvin Gonzalez, a member of National DSA’s International Committee, joins us to discuss his recent trip to the conference of the International in Venezuela. After that we hear from Zenab Ahmed on Afghanistan. Later in the show, we will speak to Halema Wali, a community organizer and the co-founder of the Afghans for a Better Tomorrow. We also speak to DSA International Committee member Sepehr Makaremi as well as Don Rhodes from the NYC-DSA Anti-War working group. The trio will discuss how the socialist movement has been at the forefront of organizing efforts to assist Afghan Refugees and how we can all work to challenge the power of American capitalist imperialism.

It’s a Revolutions per Minute social and fundraising extravaganza! Tonight we’re taking a break from our usual format to share a peek behind the scenes of the Revolutions per Minute collective: who we are, why we organize community radio for NYC-DSA, and why we support WBAI 99.5FM. Hear from our RPM hosts, producers, and behind the scenes comrades during this relaxed, casual show that emphasizes the importance of movement-based community media. Please consider giving to WBAI in the name of Revolutions per Minute. Monthly donations of any amount are appreciated, and giving $25 in a calendar year makes you a voting member of the station! To donate, visit give2wbai.org. We have more cool rewards coming, so keep listening and check back! To pitch a story for coverage on Revolutions per Minute, visit bit.ly/pitch2RPM. If you’re a member of NYC-DSA looking to learn more or get involved with making RPM, please visit bit.ly/RPMJoinForm. This episode was recorded remotely during a night of heavy rain and catastrophic flooding in New York City. We urge you to join NYC-DSA's Ecosocialist Working Group or another local formation and get involved with the struggle to protect workers and tenants against climate catastrophe.

This summer the IPCC released another devastating report on the climate crisis driven by fossil fuel capital, as like most of the country, we saw the impacts of climate change right here in NYC with heat waves and record rain. Tonight we’ll talk with Ecosocialist comrades Brittany Allen and Gustavo Gordillo about how DSA is taking the climate fight to one of the most essential yet resource deprived institutions across the country - our schools- with the Green New Deal for Public Schools campaign. To join the national campaign for a Green New Deal for Public Schools: https://greennewschools.com/join To join NYC-DSA Ecoscialists: https://ecosocialists.nyc/join-us/ Follow NYC-DSA EcoSocialist Working Group on Twitter: @NYCDSA_EcosocFollow NYC-DSA EcoSocialist Working Group on Twitter: @NYCDSA_Ecosoc

Even with Cuomo out of office, our state still faces a housing crisis. This week, The Supreme Court has issued a temporary injunction against the "Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act," also known as the New York State's Eviction moratorium. This immediately suspends the eviction protections for tenants included in that law. Up to 40 million Americans could face eviction due to the ending of the eviction moratorium. For some, it's fifteen months worth of back rent- and in more expensive cities like NYC or Portland where rents have skyrocketed after the 2008 mortgage crisis, that can mean up to $31,500 - due immediately. As the Delta variant surges with 619,000 deaths in the last 30 days and hospitals filled to breaking point from Florida to Texas (including 90,000 hospitalized children in the last week alone), the pandemic is certainly not over. And with only 71% of adults vaccinated and children under 12 ineligible for a vaccine, it won’t be ending any time soon either. Tonight, we hear from State Senator and NYC-DSA member Jabari Brisport about the plans from the DSA Socialists in Office in New York State's legislature to fight for housing as a human right - and the right for all of us to stay at home during COVID 19. Here are resources via the Met Council on Housing on what to do if you are facing eviction: DO NOT SELF-EVICT! DO NOT MOVE OUT! It is extremely important to remember that evictions proceedings are long and there are other anti-eviction laws in place.How can you protect yourself now?1) Apply for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP): If you apply for this program, your landlord cannot move forward with your eviction. This is the strongest protection we have to keep people in their homes.2) Sign up for the federal CDC moratorium: The federal government has extended its moratorium to October 1st. It is not as strong as the NY State Eviction Moratorium but if you sign the CDC declaration of hardship, it will provide you with a defense in court if your landlord tries to evict you3) Join your building’s tenant union, or reach out to CASA, Crown Heights Tenant Union or Met Council on Housing for housing help, resources to start your own tenant union or you can also call 311 for available city resources. We here at RPM stand in solidarity with tenants across the country.

Senator Julia Salazar of NY-18 was elected in 2018 after winning an insurgent, grassroots campaign powered by NYC-DSA as well as many movement allies. Three years later, she’s serving her second term in Albany as the chair of the Women’s Issues Committee and the chair of the Crime Victims, Crime, and Corrections Committee.On tonight’s show, we speak with Senator Salazar as well as her Organizing Director and fellow NYC-DSA member, Ramon Pebenito. Dismantling the carceral system requires all of us to exercise our power to slow, stop, or mitigate the harms of police and prisons, or to throw “sand in the gears” of the machine of bureaucratic state violence wherever we are. In this episode, we hear from Senator Salazar on her surprise visits to NY State correctional facilities and from Ramon on over-policing in New York’s district 18. You can find Senator Salazar on Twitter @SalazarSenate or visit her official website: https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/julia-salazar.

We may be across a “state” line from each other, but organizers in New York and New Jersey know what unites us is much more than what divides us. On tonight’s show, we’re joined live by our comrades from North New Jersey DSA to discuss their chapter’s organizing to abolish ICE and close immigrant detention facilities, conduct mutual aid and harm reduction work with their communities, and elect socialist and union leader Joel Brooks to City Council in Jersey City. To learn more about Joel Brooks’ campaign for City Council, visit https://www.joelbrooksforjerseycity.com/ or follow @VoteJoelBrooks.You can reach out the North New Jersey Mutual Aid Working Group at: [email protected] or contribute to their fundraiser for the Ramapough Lunaape Turtle Clan’s Munsee Three Sisters Medicine Farm in Newton, NJ: https://www.gofundme.com/f/RLsolidarity Click here to learn more about the North New Jersey Immigrant Justice Working Group: https://linktr.ee/ImmigrationNNJTo learn more about North New Jersey DSA, visit https://north.dsanj.org/ or follow @NorthNJDSA.

“I'm gonna tell all you fascists, you may be surprised/ People all over this world are getting organized”Legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote those words in 1944 and here in 2021 they ring truer than ever. The far-right is on the rise globally and socialists, communists, feminists, anarchists, and unionists are joining forces to fight back. Join Revolutions per Minute host Amy Wilson for an hour of antifascist story and song, featuring recordings from the DSA National Antifascist Working Group introductory call on July 11. We’ll hear from DSA members from Long Island, Chicago, Kansas City, Houston, and Portland on what they’ve done to build antifascist response in their community and the lessons they’ve learned. We also hear classic antifascist folk songs recorded specially for Revolutions per Minute. To learn more about the DSA National Antifascist Working Group, please visit https://www.dsausa.org/working-groups/anti-fascist-working-group/ or follow @DSAAntifascist on Twitter.Special credits for this episode go to Rob G for audio production, SAREEN for audio composition, and Dan Wyman of Sing in Solidarity, NYC-DSA’s music working group, for musical performance. We send our thanks as well to comrades who participated in this episode who would prefer to stay anonymous, and all those organizing to oppose the rise of fascism where they are.

On June 22, the name India Walton skyrocketed into the mainstream after the DSA-endorsed candidate won the democratic primary for the Mayor of Buffalo. Walton was endorsed by Buffalo DSA and National DSA, as well as the DSA slate in Albany. When elected in November she will be the first socialist Mayor of a large city since 1960, but she joins a number of socialist, like Pennsylvania Representative Summer Lee, who are winning elections in the rust belt. Today we'll be joined by Steven Jackson from Buffalo DSA to talk about India Walton’s incredible victory and the rise of socialism in the rust belt. Follow Buffalo DSA on Twitter at @BuffaloDSA and on Instagram and Facebook Visit www.IndiaWalton.com to support India's campaign Join the Gas Bill Strike against National Grid's North Brooklyn Pipeline at www.nonbkpipeline.org/strike

In the words of civil rights giant Ella Baker, “Until the killing of black men, black mothers' sons, becomes as important to the rest of the country as the killing of a white mother's son, we who believe in freedom cannot rest until this happens.” As the summer of 2021 continues to heat up, reactionaries and conservatives are escalating their assault on our struggle for multi-racial working-class liberation -- but socialists are continuing to fight back and rack up gains. On tonight’s show, we’ll speak to members of Suffolk County DSA about the recent election of DSA member Colin Palmer to the Riverhead Central District school board and how school boards are a crucial front for community control and democracy. We’ll also hear from the DSA’s new National Antifascist Working Group which is working to connect anti-fascists and anti-racists across the country. RSVP for the AFWG introduction call on July 11 here: https://dsausa.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uOOnljlAR0mn7UzUHlv83Q. Follow the working group on Twitter at @DSAAntifascist or subscribe to their mailing list: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/national-dsa-antifascist-working-group-mailing-list-registration Follow along with Suffolk DSA’s efforts to organize for socialism in the suburbs on Twitter @SuffolkDSA or at suffolkdsa.org. Follow Colin Palmer, Riverhead Central School District board Trustee and the first democratic socialist elected in Suffolk County, at @CJTPalmerEsq.

Yesterday was election day in New York. Since we’re dealing with the New York Board of Elections and the new ranked choice voting system here in New York City, many of the results are not yet finalized. DSA for the City candidate Tiffany Caban won her city council race in Queens while the rest of DSA endorsed candidates await the final results. Upstate in Buffalo India Walton won the Democratic Party primary for Mayor and a number of Rochester DSA endorsed candidates won their elections. Socialism continues to have unprecedented success at the ballot box in New York, but there is clearly so much work left to be done.

Happy Pride Month! As a bisexual woman of color and as a new mom, I am so proud to share this time with you as we celebrate the beauty of the queer community. I am thankful to stand beside all of you as we fight for liberation. Yet the capitalists and the police state have tried to co-opt our struggle. Everywhere you walk in New York you can see banks, corporations, and cop cars decorated with rainbows in an effort to conceal that these institutions remain forces of domination against the oppressed people of the world. The Reclaim Pride Coalition (RPC) will take to the streets on Sunday, June 27th to stage the third annual Queer Liberation March. We’re joined by Natalie James, Saje Liese, and NYC-DSA endorsed candidate for city council Tiffany Caban to discuss the upcoming action and much more.

You’re listening to Revolutions Per Minute live on WBAI 99.5fm. We’re a socialist radio show and podcast from members of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America. DSA is the largest socialist organization in the United States, with 95,000 members nationwide and NYC-DSA is its biggest chapter. We are run by our 7,000+ members and organizers who are working together to build democratic socialism in all five boroughs. As our returning listeners are well aware of, there is currently an ongoing struggle for Public Power here in New York. Earlier today, ecosocialists organizers held a rally outside city hall to demand the transformation of our statewide energy system necessary to avoid climate catastrophe. We’ll share with you protest sounds and speech from the action. Later in the show I’ll speak with DSA anti imperialist organizers Olivia Katbi Smith and Dylan Saba about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement against Israeli aparthied. DSA supports freedom of movement and equal civil and democratic rights for all people across the world. Palestinians are no exception. We’ll discuss how an anti imperialist analysis reveals how ruling classes across the region and especially here in the United States profit and are empowered by the current state of affairs. International working class solidarity is the only solution.

Last night, hundreds of people occupied the amphitheatre area in front of the Brooklyn Museum to share stories and collectively mark the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. At least 15 NYPD vehicles lurked on Eastern Parkway 100 yards away. The police presence included the large vans used to transport people who have been arrested as well as two vans for NYPD’s notorious Strategic Response Group, a “riot control” division which has violently arrested, pepper sprayed, and intimidated anti-racist and anti-fascist protestors consistently over the last year. SRG was established in 2015 and has an estimated yearly budget of $68 million. We know it doesn’t have to be this way. We can change our city for the better by redistributing the massive amount of resources NYPD uses to harass and intimidate New Yorkers and investing that money in healthcare, education, housing, parks, art, and other things that will actually improve our quality of life and keep our communities safe. Tonight on Revolutions per Minute, we hear from DSA-endorsed candidate for City Council District 22 Tiffany Cabán, a long time de-carceral activist, on why she was proud to sign on to DSA’s vision for real public safety and budget justice. We’ll also be taking your calls live with Kay Gabriel, an NYC-DSA member and Defund NYPD organizer. Learn more about Tiffany Cabán and her campaign at www.cabanforqueens.com.Has your City Council candidate signed on to the Real Public Safety pledge? Visit bit.ly/defundpressure2021 to find out and get involved. Revolutions per Minute looks forward to seeing you at the Defund NYPD week of action May 31 - June 6! View a full schedule and sign up at https://www.defundnypd.com/woa.

With only three weeks left in the New York State legislative session and city primaries following up close behind, socialist are in the streets! Tonight we’ll hear from comrades in Astoria who are fighting to pass Public Power as well as comrades in Sunset Park, who are working to elect DSA-endorsed candidate for city council Alexa Avilés. And we’ll also talk with Alexa herself about how her mother’s struggle for Puerto Rican liberation and being a mother fighting for her own kids’ education has shaped her politics and about her community’s vision for District 38. To get involved with Alexa's campaign: www.alexaforcouncil.com/ To get involved with the campaign for Public Power: https://ecosocialists.nyc/events/

It’s our second annual post-May Day labor movement extravaganza! From coast to coast, workers are organizing to win, making gains, and reckoning with disappointments and challenges. On today’s show, we’re joined live by journalist and organizer Chris Brooks and by our radio comrades Jacob and David, hosts of Valley Labor Report -- Alabama’s only union talk radio show! From workers at the heart of New York’s cultural and media worlds to mine workers on strike in Alabama, it’s all on the table for tonight’s show. Valley Labor Report broadcasts Saturday mornings from 9:30am-11:00am on 92.5FM/770AM WVNN. Watch from anywhere on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheValleyLaborReport and follow the show on Twitter @LaborReporters. If you’re ready to organize your workplace or just get more active in the labor movement, a great place to start is the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (https://workerorganizing.org/) a joint effort between DSA National and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.

As socialists, we know that healthcare goes beyond direct contact between providers and patients and into issues of budgets, community safety, and long-standing social forces like racism and misogyny. How can we organize for real public health? On tonight's show we're joined by DSA-endorsed Assemblymember, nurse, and organizer Phara Souffrant Forrest of District 57 in Brooklyn to discuss vaccine disparities, Cuomo's austerity baby, and the goals of our movement in Albany. We also hear from NYC-DSA's Healthcare Working Group on our campaign to pass the New York Health Act and the critical importance of universal healthcare to the overall socialist project. Follow Phara Souffrant Forrest, Assemblymember for District 57 at @phara4assembly. Follow along with NYC-DSA’s Healthcare Working Group at @NYCDSA_Health or email [email protected].

Much of conventional labor organizing is centered around a shared physical location for workers, like a shop floor or a break room. But what about those who work in cars, on bikes, or in others' homes? Our labor movement stands in solidarity with all workers because an injury to one is an injury to all. On tonight's show, we'll talk to NYC-DSA endorsed candidate for City Council Jaslin Kaur about organizing for justice for taxi workers and why her home district in Eastern Queens is ready for democratic socialism. We also speak to Margaret of the Ain't I A Woman? campaign of home health care workers organizing for control over their time. Finally, we hear an update from our Defund NYPD campaign, which has launched a new pledge for City Council candidates to affirm their commitment to defunding NYPD and investing in social services. To learn more and get involved with Jaslin Kaur’s campaign for City Council, please visit jaslinkaur.nyc.The Ain’t I A Woman? campaign is calling for community support at a picket outside Chinese-American Planning Council in Manhattan Chinatown on April 28th. Learn more and RSVP at tinyurl.com/APR28CPC or visit aintiawoman.org.To learn more about the Defund NYPD campaign and its pledge for City Council candidates, go to defundnypd.com

To get involved with the campaign for Public Power: http://ecosocialists.nyc/ and https://www.nypublicpower.com/To get involved with the Internet for All campaign: internetforall.nyc/join

With a surge in anti-AAPI violence making news and the Derek Chauvin murder trial ripping open wounds, it's time to keep up the pressure and defund NYPD. On tonight’s show, we’re joined live by Cheryl Rivera, an organizer with NYC-DSA’s Defund NYPD and Abolition Action campaigns. We’ll discuss common myths and misconceptions about defunding the police and organizing for community safety in a non-carceral framework. We also hear from Lizzy of Queens DSA and our Immigrant Justice Working Group and Yves from the grassroots collective Red Canary Song on violence against Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities and why increased policing is not the answer. To learn more about the Defund NYPD campaign, please visit www.defundnypd.com. To learn more about Red Canary Song and its work with Asian and migrant sex workers, visit https://www.redcanarysong.net/. To donate or request funds from the NYC-DSA Mutual Aid fund, visit bit.ly/covid19aid.

As the budget fight continues to heat up in Albany, workers in New York City are continuing the struggle for power and equity on the job and at school. On tonight’s episode, we’ll visit the picket line at Columbia University, where unionized graduate students are on their second week of a strike to demand fair pay and healthcare. We also hear an update from last Saturday’s NYC-DSA march to Tax the Rich and Impeach Cuomo.We’re joined LIVE by NYC-DSA endorsed candidate for City Council District 39 (and community radio fan!), Brandon West, to hear about his work to Defund NYPD, defeat machine politics, fund excluded workers, and build working-class power. To learn more about Brandon West and get involved with his campaign, please visit https://westforcouncil.com/.

Essential workers have been carrying a pandemic stricken New York City on their backs for a year now, and as economic insecurity worsens and the time frame left to address the overlapping climate crisis shortens, there’s never been a moment more ripe, and necessary for militant labor organizing. On tonight’s episode we’ll hear from NYC-DSA endorsed City Council candidate Adolfo Abreu about what essential workers in his Bronx community need and how the NYC-DSA slate plans to build long term working class power. We’ll also talk to Daniel Dominguez of DSA-Los Angeles about how DSA members and unionists across the country are organizing for the PRO- ACT, the most comprehensive labor legislation reform in generations. Listen to our September 2020 show about the fight to stop the NRG plant in Astoria: https://revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com/episodes/stop-the-astoria-power-plant, then submit a public comment to support the ongoing struggle: bit.ly/noNRGplant.Learn more about and get involved with Adolfo Abreu’s campaign for city council: https://adolfo.nyc/Sign up to get involved with DSA’s national campaign to pass the PRO Act: https://www.dsausa.org/proact/

Yesterday, March 2, New York City DSA issued a statement calling for New York State governor Andrew Cuomo to resign or face impeachment. This comes in the wake of weeks of political turmoil regarding Cuomo’s cover-up of nursing home deaths due to COVID and new testimony about his gendered workplace abuse. The organized left in New York state has known for a long time that Andrew Cuomo is far from a “Resistance Hero”, as the liberal media has cast him. On tonight’s show, we’ll hear from RPM correspondent Michael Carter and Alexandra Walling of our Socialist Feminist Working Group on Cuomo’s persistent disregard for the lives of working-class New Yorkers and what this means for our socialist movement. We also check in with NYC-DSA’s newly-elected Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes of Assembly District 51 on her first weeks in Albany and our fight to tax the rich and invest in our New York.

While the increasing rate of vaccinations is a rare bit of good news, the pandemic is still raging in New York and Cuomo is yet again throwing workers under the bus by dangerously opening indoor dining. But restaurant workers are organizing to build power that will last beyond just this crisis. Gary Inman from the Restaurant Organizing Project will update you on these crucial efforts. Restaurant workers aren’t the only ones who have suffered from Cuomo’s wrath as thousands died in nursing homes while his friends raked in profits. Alice Murphy (@rosaceabitch) joins us to discuss the protest outside Medgar Evans against the governor this past Monday. Later in the show Madeleine Pelzel from Houston DSA will share with us her on the ground perspective about man-made disaster in Texas and how local socialist have responded to the crisis. Follow @HoustonDSA @MutualAidHou, @SayHerNameTX and @MadsPelzel who are doing work on the ground right now in Texas. https://powerfortexas.org/

Our society is in economic and social crisis, and as socialists, we know that the roots of this crisis spread far beyond the immediate cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. Deliberate policy decisions by our leadership at all levels have led to a widening gap between the wealthy and the poor, crumbling social and physical infrastructure, an education system designed to reinforce the dominance of the capitalist class, a healthcare system designed to extract profit from human suffering, and a mass incarceration system that imprisons and brutalizes tens of thousands. In this episode, RPM's own Jack Devine interviews State Senator and NYC-DSA member Julia Salazar about the state budget process and how New York State can lead the charge against 50 years of harmful neoliberal austerity. We also speak to Emmaline Bennet of Columbia YDSA about the current tuition strike at Columbia and the fight for democratized universities dedicated to the pursuit of human knowledge over private profits. Finally, because it's COVID winter, Desiree Frias will walk us all through how to help eligible people, especially elders, sign up for a vaccine appointment through the city's fiendishly difficult online portals. Times are tough, but we have a world to win.https://taxtherichnys.com/https://bit.ly/tuition-strike-fundhttps://bit.ly/tuition-strike-letterhttps://nycvaccinelist.comTo give to the station, please call (516) 620-3602 or go to wbai.org. Thank you!

Building the power to win public power - The failures of our current energy system are all around us. Here in New York City we see blackouts every summer during heatwaves and people lacking heat in the winter. Utility debt is mounting across the state, but investor owned utilities are still building dirty fossil fuel infrastructure at the expense of rate payers, and the health and safety of communities and the climate. Today we’ll talk with Mohini Sharma and Patrick Robbins about how the NY Public Power Coalition is building power across the state to pass two bills later this year that will replace corporate utilities with a democratically controlled, publicly owned energy system.

Anyone who lives here in New York City knows the sight of mostly empty luxury towers lording over our neighborhoods. These developments generate immense wealth for real estate capital while raising rents for the working class residents who actually live here. As luxury buildings proliferate, tens of thousands are forced into homelessness and millions more pay most of their meager wages to their landlords. Gentrification is a campaign waged by real estate capital and their representatives in the state that dispossesses disproportionately black and brown working class New Yorkers for profit. NYC-DSA endorsed candidate for City Council in District 35 Michael Hollingsworth has spent life building tenant power and fighting for the people. He joins us to discuss his history as an organizer in the struggle to build working class power in his neighborhood and why he decided to run for city council on a socialist slate. We also hear from a member from DSA’s healthcare working group on the worker led fight to keep a hospital open in East Flatbush.

Earlier today, Joe Biden was sworn in as the President of the United States. He comes into office as more than 400,000 people in this country have died from Covid-19, 2020 was the hottest year on record and white supremacists are desperately fighting to maintain their power in this country after social uprisings against police brutality this summer strengthened movements for racial justice and Black Liberation. Biden ran his campaign for President as a centrist democrat and has since proposed a 1.9 trillion dollar stimulus plan called the “American Rescue Plan” and announced 17 executive actions he plans to take on day one that many in the mainstream media are describing as Biden’s way of beginning to dismantle Trump’s legacy. Today with our DSA comrades we will talk about how Biden’s plans leaves out many struggling people including essential workers and why Biden must go further in the first 100 days of his administration and embrace bold policies that Democratic Socialists and grassroots movements across the country are organizing for like defunding the police and a Green New Deal in order to truly dismantle Trump’s legacy. We’ll also hear from Desiree Joy Frias who has been on the ground at the Teamster union worker strike at Hunts Point Produce Market.

In this age of relentless corporate media propaganda, working class media institutions that are actually rooted in the socialist movement are crucial for the struggles ahead. Tonight Marian Jones and Sarah Leonard join us to discuss their new socialist feminist publication: Lux Magazine. We’ll hear about how Lux came about through organizing and why its socialist feminist analysis not only helps us understand the crises we’re living through, but provides an intellectual framework to build a better world.http://lux-magazine.com/https://ezsubscription.com/lux/subscribeTwitter - @readlux

History is on the move. Reactionary Trump supporters seized the Capitol building earlier today in a fascist show of force. What does this all mean? RPM host and antifascist special correspondent Amy Wilson join us to discuss. We lost so many people this year, including socialist intellectual Leo Panitch. We’ll share clips from his presentation to the North Brooklyn DSA on the importance of building a culture of socialist political education. Later in the show DSA National Political Committee member Justin Charles will also join us to talk about the importance of working class organization for the struggles ahead.

Tonight we are talking about how care providers have been treated during the COVID-19 pandenic, focusing on vaccines to explain the role they will play liberating us from the COVID-19 epidemic (especially in our communities of color). This is a deeply personal subject and in this episode we hope to honor everyone’s values and beliefs while grounding this segment in the science and public health knowledge of our guest. Guest Jamese Lamb is an NYC-DSA Bronx/Upper Manhattan branch member and has a doctorate in Nursing from Duke University. This podcast is not a substitute for medical advice and you should consult a primary care physician for your own personal care needs or eligibility for the vaccine.

This past Monday, New York City shut down indoor dining at restaurants and bars as COVID cases continue to rise in the city and across the country. Many restaurants were barely surviving before New York City became the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year. With little to no government support to make up for the loss of business needed to maintain necessary restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19, restaurants and bars across the city are shutting their doors for good. And of course those most impacted in all of this are restaurant workers.Today we’ll be talking with Natalia, Paul and Crystal, comrades from here in New York City and across the country in Minneapolis and Austin who are organizing with the Restaurant Organizing Project, and effort to organize restaurant workers for relief and power on the job during COVID-19 and beyond. We’ll talk about the many labor issues that existed for restaurant workers before COVID, how the pandemic has exacerbated those struggles while creating new ones, and how workers are fighting back.Follow the Restaurant Organizing Project at twitter.com/@restaurantproj or visit labor.dsausa.org/restaurants to learn more about how you can get involved!

Welcome to FINALS WEEK at Revolutions per Minute. Inspired by the developing tuition strike at Columbia-Barnard and other actions around the country, we’re focusing on workers and students organizing on campus. Our live guest, David Duhalde, will speak on the history of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, DSA’s campus-oriented arm and a crucial part of our diverse socialist movement. We also hear from Michele of CUNY Adjuncts on their struggle against austerity and for a human-centered approach to graduate labor. Finally, farmers’ protests have made global headlines as millions of workers fight back against neoliberalism in India. We’ll end our show tonight with a brief interview with Jagpreet of Queens DSA on these massive protests and the governmental policies that provoked them. To learn more about the Columbia-Barnard tuition strike, visit linktr.ee/columbiaydsa. Tired of austerity measures like those that threaten CUNY adjuncts? Tax the rich! This week, NYC-DSA, NYCC, Empire State Indivisible, and DSA chapters around NYS are throwing down to protect our communities from budget cuts. As part of their Tax The Rich week of action, their campaign is calling people across New York state to pressure Albany to Tax the Rich to fund our future. NY is facing a budget deficit of over 50 billion and we need Albany to act in the new year to pass over 50 billion in new taxes on the rich to save our state from catastrophe. Go to taxtherichnys.com to get involved.

Last week, many New Yorkers celebrated Thanksgivings, but for members of the Shinnecock Nation it was recognized as a Day of Mourning and the end of Sovereignty Camp 2020, a multi-week encampment led by Indigenous women of the Shinnecock Nation to call on New York State to drop their lawsuit over a monumental billboard the nation has put up to bring in economic development to its members who are suffering from hundreds of years of violent settler colonialism. We’ll talk with Shinnecock tribal member and lawyer Tela (tea-la) Troge about Sovereignty Camp 2020 and the nation's centuries long struggles to defend their ancestral territory. We’ll also be joined by comrades from Suffolk DSA to talk about their campaign to Defund the Police and organize to build democratic socialism in a uniquely conservative region of Downstate New York. The Shinnecock Nation lawsuit link: https://linktr.ee/WarriorsoftheSunrise Suffolk DSA Campaign: bit.ly/SteveAndTimListen to email and call Steve Bellone and Tim Sini

The winter holiday season of 2020 begins this week, bringing with it opportunities for challenging and fruitful conversations about the hot topics of religion and politics. On this week’s show, we speak with members of NYC-DSA’s Religion and Socialism Working Group on how faith and spirituality blend with our socialist organizing efforts. We also hear an update from our South Brooklyn branch and Sunset Park Popular Assembly on the inhumane conditions at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, a Federal prison in our backyard, and the organizing to demand justice for murdered inmate Jamel Floyd.To contact the RS Working Group, you can email: [email protected] or follow @ReligSocialism on Twitter or @religoussocialism on Instagram. RSVP for the next working group meeting https://actionnetwork.org/events/religion-socialism-december-2020-meetingThe RSWG is also co-sponsoring a Tax the Rich teach-in on Tuesday, December 1st: https://actionnetwork.org/events/nyc-dsa-121-tax-the-rich-campaign-teach-inFor more details on the December 4th action at MDC and the demand for Justice for Jamel, follow https://www.instagram.com/sunsetassembly/

If you think the election of Joe Biden means the defeat of fascism, think again. The twenty-first century American fascist beast feeds off the monstrous rot of neoliberalism. DSA member and union organizer Brendan O’Connor joins RPM to discuss his new book, Blood Red Lines: How Nativism Fuels the Right. We also hear directly from organizers who experienced police brutality at the Black Lives Matter protests this past summer. https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1519-blood-red-lines

On Saturday, major news networks called the Presidential election for Joe Biden after it became clear he had won the State of Pennsylvania. New Yorkers took to the streets to celebrate the defeat of President Donald Trump as much as to celebrate Biden’s victory. On tonight’s show, we’ll talk with NYC-DSA co-chair Chi Anunwa about Saturday's march as well as DSA’s organizing strategy under a Biden administration. We also have Ariadna Phillips from NYC-DSA’s Bronx Upper Manhattan Branch live with us to talk about DSA’s mutual aid work to feed South Bronx community members. The New York Times recently published an interview with Bronx and Queens congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after centrist democrats claimed leftist demands such as Medicare for All, a Green New Deal and defunding the police had caused the Democrats to lose races in swing states. We’ll talk with Ariadna about the necessity of such policies in her South Bronx community and more. To support South Bronx Mutual Aid and Undocumented Women’s Fund by volunteering, donating, or requesting assistance, please click here: https://linktr.ee/SouthBronxMutualAid

Welcome to the Void. As Americans hit the streets to demand the vote be counted, Michael Carter and I will be discussing what looks to be a close electoral college victory for Joe Biden as Trump falsely claims to have won the election and attempts to stop the count. Later we’ll dive into DSA’s successes at the ballot box across the country and what socialists need to do under this new political terrain. In the first half of our show you’ll hear from Lee Ziesche as she interviews Democratic Socialist Cambridge City Councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler as they talk about their ideological journey since working together on Obama 2012. Later we’ll hear from Claire about DSA’s 100k recruitment drive. https://act.dsausa.org/donate/membership2020/ https://100k.dsausa.org/login

On the two year anniversary of the deadly attack by a white nationalist on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and the eve of the 2020 election, we’re joined by antifascist organizer and very special guest (you know her better as a host and comrade here on RPM) Amy Wilson to discuss the various organizing strategies and mobilization efforts in the movement to fight back against far right violence here in New York City and beyond. You can follow @UARFNYC on Twitter for updates on this Sunday’s broad-based mobilization. However, first we'll check in on the Socialist Feminist struggle for Reproductive Justice following the confirmation of Amy Coney Barret. We also have a report from the streets on the fight against the fracked gas pipeline in North Brooklyn. Lastly, before we begin we just want to let our listeners know that we will be moving to a new time slot after today’s show. Starting next week we’ll be on Wednesday nights at 9pm. Today we’ll give a preview of some additions to our format, including opening the phone lines earlier in the show so we can hear from our listeners.

When climate collapse strikes home, we’re all we’ve got. On today’s show, we’re learning about two separate but interconnected climate struggles. After getting slammed by two hurricanes just several weeks apart, residents of SW Louisiana have been left to take care of each other and their communities. We'll talk with Megan Romer of SW Louisiana DSA on how people can help from afar and how no matter where we are we can prepare to respond to the many crises we face, with mutual aid and solidarity.We’ll also discuss an ongoing climate struggle right here in our own backyard -- the fight to stop a new fracked gas pipeline in North Brooklyn, where communities are stepping up to stop construction by putting their bodies on the line. Did the message of this show hit home for you? Rally for Public Power and stop National Grid! The rally will be held Thursday 10/22 at 9:30am, outside of National Grid headquarters in downtown Brooklyn (1 Metrotech Center).For updates on the North Brooklyn Pipeline, follow @frackouttabk on Instagram and @nonbkpipeline and @BVilleGreen on Twitter.Support the comrades in SW Louisiana and follow along with their specific requests at @DSASWLA.

Back with another podcast exclusive! While we'll be back live on WBAI soon, we're currently off the airwaves as we deal with a potential FCC violation. We wanted to share with you all an update on our current status as well as a breakdown of our organizing work at the radio station through the Red Wave Collective. We'll also be dropping some additional podcast exclusives so stay tuned! If you want to get involved in building working class media power with Red Wave hit us up at: Email: [email protected] Twitter: @RedWaveWBAI

No live episode today but we have a podcast exclusive for you! We hear from Ryan of the Religion and Socialism Working Group on their upcoming event "The End of the World, As We Know It: Faith and Ecosocialism Beyond Apocalypse" coming up on October 13. Details and RSVP for the event are available here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-faith-and-ecosocialism-beyond-apocalypse You can also follow @ReligSocialism on Twitter or visit religioussocialism.org for more from comrades organizing at the intersection of religious faith and anti-capitalism.

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at [email protected]. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at [email protected]. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at [email protected]. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at [email protected]. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in New York City broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at [email protected]. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at [email protected]. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at [email protected]. You can find us on our websites revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or rednet.socialists.nyc as well as on twitter @nycRPM.

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at [email protected]. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM