What We’ve Been Up To
On April 21, we took part in the Columbia Earth Day Festival, where we spoke many members of our community about what DSA is doing here and around the country to build a better world, including the fight for a Green New Deal. While there, we also directed volunteer efforts to collect signatures to collect signatures for the Missourians for Constitutional Freedom initiative petition campaign to adopt a constitutional amendment to restore the right to abortion in Missouri and raised money for the Missouri Abortion Fund.
On April 29, Mizzou YDSA co-hosted an emergency protest and walkout alongside six other student organizations to stand in solidarity with people the people of Gaza enduring an ongoing genocide, as well as other student protestors across the country who have been brutalized by police and arrested on their university campuses in the last week. Protesters called for the University of Missouri System to disclose and divest their endowments from Israeli enterprises. Mizzou YDSA co-chair Ian De Smet, pictured below, spoke during the protest, explaining, “Those bombs dropping on Gaza, they have the seal of the United States government, and we, as citizens, have the responsibility and the power to stand up.”
On May Day, May 1, several of our members traveled to Jefferson City to help turn in over 210,000 signatures for a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage to $15 and allow Missouri workers to earn paid sick leave. Mid-MO DSA and Mizzou YDSA combined to gather more than 5,000 of those signatures. At the turn-in event, Mid-MO DSA member Alejandro Gallardo, pictured below, spoke about what passing this initiative will mean for the 500,000 Missouri workers currently making less than $15 an hour and the nearly 750,000 Missouri workers without paid sick leave.
On May 3, several of our members returned to Jefferson City to help turn in over 380,000 signatures for the ballot initiative for a constitutional amendment to restore the right to abortion in Missouri. Mid-MO DSA and Mizzou YDSA both met their goals of each gathering over 300 signatures in just the past few weeks, joining Missourians from every corner of this state in this fight.
What We’ll Be Doing:
Our next general meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7 at the Daniel Boone Regional Library.
All DSA dues-paying members are welcome! You can view the meeting agenda here and use this link to join us virtually.
Want to learn more about DSA, what we’ve done around the country, and what we’re doing here in mid-Missouri? Already pay dues and want to meet other local members or find ways to get involved? Been a member in the past and want to get reengaged? Just think Bernie and AOC are cool and want to talk with some likeminded people? Come grab a coffee and chat with some of our members at our next Office Hours event on Sunday, May 19 at 2:00 p.m. at Shortwave on 9th.
The Columbia Ceasefire Coalition is holding weekly marches to demand that Columbia city officials call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Those interested in attending should meet at Speaker’s Circle before 2:00 p.m. every Saturday to join the march to city hall.
Join us on Monday, May 13 for Ride United: A Public Transit Event. Come by the Fretboard Courtyard from 5:00-7:00 p.m. for an empowering public transportation rally advocating for a robust and accessible transportation system!
Hear inspiring guest speakers share their insights on the importance of inclusive transit, and learn how you can contribute to building a better-connected community. Enjoy snacks while networking with like-minded individuals and connecting with partner organizations dedicated to enhancing public transportation. Together, let’s amplify our voices for equitable and efficient transit options that benefit us all!
On Sunday, May 19, we will be hosting Organize CoMo–an event to bring together local progressive organizations to meet one another and learn about each other’s organizations and what we can all do to support them. Each organization in attendance will be given a brief opportunity to give a brief pitch about what their organization does and how people can support it. Once the list of attending organizations is finalized, we will be sending around a link for other members of the public who are interested in attending to RSVP.
Congresswoman Cori Bush, a DSA member, is facing a primary challenge from St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell. Endorsed by both the DSA National Electoral Commission and by St. Louis DSA, Representative Bush has been a critical voice in Congress in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, the fight to ensure housing for every American, protecting and restoring reproductive and trans rights, and so much more. We encourage anyone who can to consider financially supporting her re-election campaign.
The Boone County Community Bail Fund has resumed bailouts! As a member of the National Bail Fund Network, the Bail Fund provides essential services to low-level offenders who would otherwise be held in jail simply because they cannot afford to post bail. The Bail Fund posts bails of up to $3,000 for qualified detainees and arranges reminders and rides to help them appear at subsequent court dates. You can support them by donating or by contacting them at comobailfund@gmail.com to volunteer.
CoMo Mobile Aid Collective provides direct aid and immediate assistance to unsheltered friends here in Columbia. You can support their efforts by becoming a monthly donor!
For over two months, Mid-Missouri Peaceworks has been holding daily peace vigils in support of the people of Gaza from 12:15-12:45 p.m. by the Keyhole sculpture outside City Hall. All are welcome to join any day you can!
The Missouri Supreme Court set an execution for David Hosier of June 11, 2024. Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty has created a clemency petition to send to Governor Parson. Please sign and share!
What We’re Reading, Watching, and Listening To:
Missouri House sends initiative petition bill back to Senate with ‘ballot candy’ reinstated
Bill ending Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood heads to Missouri governor
Missouri House narrowly sends private-school tax credit, charter expansion to governor’s desk
Bayer lobbying lawmakers in 3 states, including Missouri, to shield it from Roundup lawsuits
Missouri Senate advances KC weapons facility tax break without aid for nuclear waste victims
Millions were booted from Medicaid. Insurers than run it gained Medicaid revenue anyway
Missouri prison agency to pay $60k for Sunshine Law violations over inmate death records
Instead of complaints, Bailey’s trans tip line flooded with pro-trans support
Delays in state subsidy payments force Boone County preschool to close
Faculty, students denounce Washington University response to protests of war in Gaza
SIUE Professor Hospitalized After Arrest at Wash U
Union drive at St. Louis cannabis company could have major impact on national labor law
In Relay Race to Organize the South, Volkswagen Workers Pass the Baton to Mercedes Workers
Can Grocery Workers Take Back Their Union?
Two Years In, These “Progressive” Companies Still Haven’t Negotiated First Union Contracts
Lessons from Starbucks Workers United and the Fight for $15
A 32-Hour Workweek is Ours for the Taking
Shawn Fain: May Day 2028 Could Transform the Labor Movement — and the World
Lawsuit: Alabama Is Denying Prisoners Parole to Lease Their Labor to Meatpackers, McDonalds
The Small-Business Tyrant Has a Favorite Political Party“
The Bulldozer Kept Coming”: A Girl Stares Down Death in Gaza
The “Uncommitted” Movement is Hugely Popular
Isra Hirsi On the Resilience of Columbia University’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
Columbia University is colluding with the far-right in its attack on students
The pro-Palestinian US campus protests in maps, videos and photos
How Labor Can Aid the Student Movement for Palestine
Rutgers and University of Minnesota reach resolutions with Gaza protestors
Five Lessons for Palestine Activists From the ’60s Student Left
Will New York’s Big Socialist Climate Policy Be Led by … McKinsey?
Free Download of Shawn Fain’s ‘Other Bible,’ A Troublemaker’s Handbook
To Celebrate May Day, $1 [Jacobin] Subscriptions All Week
From The Dig: Scholars Against Genocide
From Democracy Now!: I Could Not Stay Silent: Annelle Sheline Resigns from State Dept. over U.S. Gaza Policy
Six recorded sessions from the Labor Notes 2024 conference: Rebuilding a Fighting UAW; Friday Night Main Session; Saturday Morning Main Session; Organizing the South; Black Labor Struggles over Time; Sunday Main Session
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Next general meeting: Tuesday, May 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Daniel Boone Regional LibraryNext office hours: Sunday, May 19 at 2:00 p.m. at Shortwave Coffee on 9th St.Follow us:Facebook| Instagram|TwitterGet involved:Interest Form | Email List SignupContact us:midmodsa.org| midmodsa@gmail.com| (573) 319-1381Not a dues-paying member? Join DSA today!