By Amber Enderton | February 23, 2017 | Special to EGN The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the largest socialis...

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By Amber Enderton | February 23, 2017 |





Special to EGN





The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the largest socialist organization in the USA, with 17,000 members across the US; over half of them having joined since November. Among their members includes Trevor Hill, the young man who asked Nancy Pelosi about socialism at a CNN town hall earlier this month. In Sacramento, the local chapter is also growing, and is working on issues that matter here in the capital city.





Rent in Sacramento is one of the fastest growing in the nation. If you have not been affected, consider yourself lucky. While San Francisco and the bay area have groups diligently working on rent control, Sacramento does not have a group working on it.





That is about to change.





DSA Sacramento is putting together a campaign to push the city for rent control and establish fair policies that keeps rental prices affordable. Already they have begun meeting with renters to begin organizing a coalition to put pressure on Sacramento Mayor Darrel Steinberg and city council to address soaring rent prices.





Healthy California and the California Nurses Association have been working tirelessly to bring Bernie Sanders style universal health care to California. Their activism has allowed for a new health care law to be authored in the state legislature. East Bay DSA has had several dozen people going door to door gathering signatures and performing outreach on behalf of the Healthy California measure. DSA Sacramento is preparing to do the same, forming a committee specifically to work with Healthy California here in Sacramento.





Every other week, DSA Sacramento hosts a socialist feminist reading group. They read and discuss Marxist literature from a socialist feminist perspective. It is not a ladies only affair; men are encouraged to participate and develop a new perspective on socialist literature. Their next reading group is on March 5th, where they will be discussing fascism; a popular topic since the election of Donald Trump. You can find more information about this meeting by visiting their page on Facebook.





California is at the forefront of LGBTQIA rights in the nation. We are the first state to outlaw the gay panic defense, and are on track to become the second state to recognize a nonbinary gender option on birth certificates and state IDs. Despite this, there is still more work to be done. DSA Sacramento aims to be a safe space for the LGBTQIA community, and is working on putting into place a system where they can go out and protest schools, businesses, agencies, and landlords who discriminate against LGBTQIA individuals.





If you are interested in learning more about what DSA Sacramento is all about, there is a new member orientation meeting this Saturday, February 25 from 10:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at Organize Sacramento; located at 1714 Broadway across from Scrub Boys. The parking lot is for the restaurant, so please try to park on the street. A pizza lunch will be provided for those in attendance. The event is open to the public, so if you are interested in becoming a member or just interested in getting more involved, come on down. You can RSVP to the event on Facebook, as well as learn more about what’s scheduled for the event. The suggested reading is not required to attend the event, and you will be able to keep up without it. Also, wifi will be available for guests at the meeting.



