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Collaborative DSA Covid-19 Resources One-Stop
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 Collaborative DSA COVID-19 Resources One Stop

This is an evolving, collaborative document that is meant to collect valuable resources for and from Democratic Socialists of America  (DSA) & Young Democratic Socialists of America  (YDSA) chapters as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop.  We encourage you to bookmark this document, check it regularly for updates, and get involved in adding resources. What is your chapter doing?. How are you meeting the challenge of electronic meetings?  What kind of COVID-related political work are you doing?

Write up your resources in a shareable format and link it here:  add it as a COMMENT with your chapter, name and email address or contact the organizing team with what you want to add.

Political Context

Example Local Demands

Strategies

Tactics:

Phone Zaps on Decision Makers

Responsible public events

Remote meetings

Mapping your membership

Mutual Aid

Resources, explainers, and how-tos on Mutual Aid:

DSA Chapter and National mutual aid work:

Other groups to connect to, other lists of resources:

Personal Resources

Other tactics

Political Context

This section should contain links to articles, statements & other info that gives political context to this moment, and promotes analysis within DSA as well

  1. Now is the Time for Solidarity - a democratic socialist analysis and statement from the National Political Committee of DSA
  2. How might a pandemic affect US society and politics in 2020? - political analysis from a group of activists, organizers, technologists and communicators.
  3. “‘Chinese Virus,’ World Market” - an explanation of the economic context of the virus’s proliferation, as well as the neoliberal reaction to it
  4. UNDER THE BLACKLIGHT, PART 1 ~ Age Against the Machine: The Fatal Intersection of Racism & Ageism In the Time of Coronavirus -- Kimberle Crenshaw is joined by two timely voices -- Ashton Applewhite, author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, and J.R. Fleming, Executive Director of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign -- to discuss how ageism, and its varying intersections with race, class, ability, and gender, is materializing in the fight against COVID-19  [PODCAST, 38 min]
  5. UNDER THE BLACKLIGHT PART 2 ~ The Intersectional Vulnerabilities that COVID Lays Bare --  Joining Kimberle Crenshaw, Saru Jayaraman and Mily Treviño-Sauceda illuminate the impacts on restaurant and agricultural workers; Naomi Klein talks disaster totalitarianism; Dara Baldwin speaks about the dehumanizing and ableist rationing programs being advanced in Alabama, Kansas, and Washington; and Janine Jackson critiques, the “lives v. livelihood” framing being used to manufacture consent to the harmful measures imposed on us. [PODCAST, 54 min]

This section should contain information about what demands are being made, what actions are being taken, what political strategies chapters are employing on the ground

Example Local Demands

  1. List of demands & challenges for elected officials from discussion with DSA elected officials
  2. NYC DSA-Endorsed Zohran Mamdani Campaign COVID-19 Response Memos
  3. Southern Maine DSA Demands
  4. Twin Cities DSA Demands
  5. Austin DSA Demands 
  6. Los Angeles DSA Coalition Demands
  7. Portland DSA CAlls of Mayor and Governor to Act on Coronaviru,m  n
  8. Syracuse Demands - Syracuse DSA also created demands, plus an instagramable post with bullet point demands, which makes it easy to have an overview
  9. UT Austin YDSA & Austin Community College YDSA Demands - two YDSA chapters in Austin, TX demanding justice for people affected by the school closures
  10. Milwaukee DSA COVID-19 Petition - We just finalized these and are seeking out co-signers among other Wisconsin and Milwaukee organizations
  11. Allegheny County and Pittsburgh Must Institute a Moratorium on Evictions and Utility Shut-Offs - successful initial petition, though now talking through new demand on rent freeze and more.
  12. DSA Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Demands a Working Class Response to COVID-19 - Platform of demands we're organizing around and google form supporters can use to sign on.
  13. Bernie Sanders’ Federal COVID-19 Response Plan
  14. Philly DSA Labor Commission Helped Organize a Union Response for Essential Workers.

Strategies

  1. How to Survive a Plague Movie - A movie about the grassroots movement of activists, many of them in a life-or-death struggle, who seized upon scientific research to help develop the drugs that turned HIV from a mostly fatal infection to a manageable disease.
  2. United in Anger documentary - A documentary about ACT UP, an activist group organizing to end the AIDs pandemic, through the lens of oral histories and archival footage.
  3. New Orleans DSA’s graphic & survey - used to notify members & community members about developing a political campaign & mutual aid plan, as well as how to participate in the strategic planning process. Survey used to collect info about community needs
  4. Graphics for Social Media from Ventura County DSA: Google drive link 
  5. Organizing in a Pandemic

Tactics:

Phone Zaps on Decision Makers

It’s more difficult to pressure them in person, but you can still organize disruption through phone zap actions

  1. Example of Twin Cities DSA phone zap signup form. Reach out to them our your field organizer for ideas on how to organize the structure and info on the back end to coordinate
  2. NYC Phone Zap: Call Cuomo And Demand State Budget Justice
  3. Berkshires DSA Congressional Phone Zap Against US Sanctions

Responsible public events

This section should contain links to resources on responsible actions to prevent the spread of the virus        

  1. https://www.flattenthecurve.com/ - general guidance about how the virus spreads, why it matters to slow the spread, & what steps must be taken to make that happen
  2. “The Dos and Don’ts of Social Distancing” - article from the Atlantic about how to assess whether something is safe to do or not

Remote meetings

This section should contain links to resources on having good meetings thru conference calls, and other forms of remote work

  1. Tips on Virtual Meetings
  2. A Comprehensive List of Tips, Tools, and Examples for Event Organizers During the Coronavirus Outbreak        
  3. Zoom Safety for Organizers (and Everyone Else) – Boston DSA Direct Action, De-escalation & Security (DADS) Committee
  4. Zoom Guide for Beyond Bernie Meetings - Continue organizing your DSA for Bernie campaign by hosting an external facing Zoom call geared towards Bernie supporters in your community, with an ask for them to get involved with your chapter and join DSA.
  5. Albuquerque DSA Operations Guide - Albuquerque DSA has developed guidelines around several platforms for deliberation & decision-making remotely
  6. Albuquerque DSA Online Code of Conduct - It’s important to have clear expectations for online interactions
  7. Free audiobook, “Meet Me Accessibly – A Guide to Zoom Cloud Meetings from a Blindness Perspective” - Disabled people will be disproportionately and acutely affected by this and accessible organizing should continue to be a focus.
  8. Youtube tutorials by Zoom, Airtable, & Action Network on how to use their products

Mapping your membership

This section is for some specific tips on mapping your membership for this response - would be great to see how chapters organize this info

  1. One thing that we can do while we’re physically “social distancing” is take time to map our membership. We can do this through calling our members and asking questions about their work, what other community groups they belong to, etc. This can also help you understand your capacity for response to COVID-19.
  2. DSA of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky example labor organizing survey & COVID-19 work life survey - sent out to membership to gather data for membership mapping

Mutual Aid

This section is for links to info on mutual aid, information about chapter work in response to COVID-19, and links to other groups to connect to and resource documents

Resources, explainers, and how-tos on Mutual Aid:

  1. Sample Outreach Letter for Neighbor-Based Mutual Aid 
  1. Sample Outreach Hand Out

  1. Caring Across Distance Resource
  2. A Mutual Aid Explainer (YouTube Video, NSFW language)
  3. Safety Practices for COVID-19/Coronavirus Mutual Aid Projects (Google Doc, PDF, zine-formatted)
  4. Worst Year Ever podcast episode on mutual aid:  Scott Crow from Common Ground Collective talks about lessons learned from setting up mutual aid and community defense in New Orleans during Katrina and scaling from a few volunteers to serving thousands.


DSA Chapter and National mutual aid work:

  1. Chattanooga DSA is offering to shop for vulnerable people who can’t go to stores themselves. Contact ChattanoogaDSA@gmail.com 
  2. Southern Maine DSA Goods & Services COVID-19 Support
  3. NYC DSA COVID-19 Response Hub
  4. NYC-DSA’s Socialist Feminist Working Group is organizing a Grocery Fund through Paypal Pool. Note: Paypal has been slow to release funds, so we have had to front money for the first fifteen people we’ve been able to help.
  5. Grand Rapids DSA’s COVID-19 Volunteer Form 
  6. Ongoing list of Mutual Aid in Durham, NC Link to misc. mutual aid efforts, including by the local DSA, and other resources. Some resources span beyond local
  7. San Diego DSA’s  Mutual Aid resources - Links to a mutual aid form, info about their mutual aid fund, and their board for discussing mutual aid
  8. Las Vegas DSA’s Mutual Aid resources - Includes a link to general info, a Good Neighbor template, a mutual aid form, a form for tracking stock of necessities in the community for sourcing supplies, as well as social media graphics
  9. MKE DSA Mutual Aid- email: here, online fundraising: here, phone number: 414.377.3443. Email or call to be added to our mutual aid google group and/or for more local resources. Solidarity | Mutual Aid Not Charity / Disaster Cooperation
  10. Madison-Area DSA's webpage for COVID-19 data about the region/state, with relevant news stories about how COVID-19 is affecting community resources, links to local mutual aid efforts: https://redmadison.com/2020/03/29/madison-area-covid-19-fast-facts-and-resources/


Other groups to connect to, other lists of resources:

  1. Country-wide hubs to find and inform others about mutual aid efforts in your area:
  1. Mutual Aid Hub
  2. AARP Community Connections
  3. Master List of Mutual Aid efforts in North America
  1. National List of Covid19 Mutual Aid Groups in the U.S.A
  2. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Resources 
  3. Ongoing list of Mutual Aid Initiatives by It’s Going Down
  4. COVID-19 Resources for Undocumented Communities
  5. Massive Document - not DSA, features resources from disabled, queer, elderly, Asian, and indigenous people. Mutual aid projects from Seattle, Philadelphia, DC, Twin Cities, Boston, and Chicago have been added
  6. Lehigh Valley PA Mutual Aid Covid-19 Resources
  7. Pittsburgh Mutual Aid Library - resource library, volunteers listing help they can provide in English and Spanish, plus request for aid form.
  8. San Francisco Bay Area resources:
  1. Freedom Community Clinic's Bay Area COVID-19 Mass Resource List
  2. Contra Costa County COVID Resources

Personal Resources

This section is for links to info on how to take care of yourself during the pandemic

  1. Doctor interview on what to do if you start experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
  2. COVID-19 Survival Guide by DSAer Councilman khalid kamau
  3. Public Health, Am I At Risk? - tips to mitigate risk and NY-specific employment-related advice in 27 languages--Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Burmese, Cambodian, Chinese, Dari, Farsi, French, Haitian, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Nepali, Pashto, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Thai, Tigrinya, Ukranian, Vietnamese and American Sign Language. 
  4. Comic for children on COVID-19
  5. Care for your coronavirus anxiety -Resources to tackle mental health & anxiety during the coronavirus crisis
  6. Pod Mapping for Mutual Aid - Pod mapping is a tool created for accountability and dealing with harm in communities. However, it can also be adapted to help you assess who you can rely on in a pinch—who you’d turn to for support and who would turn to you.
  7. Emotional Aid during Covid19 - This resource includes expert advice on coping with stress and anxiety during covid. It also includes up-to-date articles about federally funded Financial aid and support during covid
  8. COVID-19 Info in English, Spanish, Italian, & French - Developed by volunteers in Italy & the US
  9. AFL-CIO list of unemployment insurance information by state.

Other tactics

This section is for everything else not covered previously.

  1. Safety in food delivery/donation
  1. CDC Guidelines for disinfecting your home (can also apply to disinfecting food/water/etc that you’re handing out)
  2. “Coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread from person-to-person through respiratory droplets. Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food. Before preparing or eating food it is important to always wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds for general food safety. Throughout the day wash your hands after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing, or going to the bathroom.It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. In general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from food products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient, refrigerated, or frozen temperatures.” - CDC FAQ
  3. Safety Practices for COVID-19/Coronavirus Mutual Aid Projects (Google Doc, PDF, zine-formatted)
  4. Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2 - EPA resource for finding the right disinfectants.
  5. WHO-recommended hand sanitizer recipe