Over the past couple weeks, we’ve seen our government carelessly allow the federal moratorium on evictions to lapse, all to have the CDC reinstate it through October 3 – an extension that will be challenged in courts. Will it survive potential challenges? What happens after October 3? Who knows?

We don’t, but we certainly know who wants to know – the millions of us who are tenants and still struggling with uncertainty, income loss, and health concerns from the pandemic. While the White House congratulates itself on saving millions from homelessness, those of us who live the crisis daily are left to cope with the anxiety of not knowing whether or not we’ll be able to stay in our homes through the end of the year, and knowing that our fates will be decided by a handful of landlords and bureaucrats we’ll likely never meet.

The moratorium extension is, such as it is, is welcome, but it is not what we are fighting for. Safe and stable housing means healthy people and healthy communities – it is not something that should be up to the courts to decide, and certainly not in the unfeeling hands of the market. We must remember that this housing precarity, and the anxiety that comes with it, is a capitalist creation – it is from a system that values financial health of the few over human health of the many. Any eviction moratoriums are little more than reminders that we live in a system that would allow millions to lose their homes.

Learn more about how the market intersects with police power at DSA SF Tenant Solidarity and East Bay SHOP’s next documentary screening on Thursday, August 12 at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom. We’ll be watching “The Fall of the I-Hotel” by Curtis Choy, which takes a close look at the significance of San Francisco’s famed International Hotel protests in the 1970s. There will also be a guest speaker on our panel after the film who was one of the many folks involved in the events shown in the documentary!

Please RSVP here if you are interested, and feel free to email tenantsolidarity@dsasf.org for more information!

Upcoming Events

? Wednesday, 8/11 (6:45 p.m.): August Chapter Meeting (virtual)

? Thursday, 8/12 (7:00 p.m.): Tenant Solidarity Documentary Screening: The Fall of the I-Hotel (virtual)

? Monday, 8/16 (6:00 p.m.): Ecosocialist Book Club: Dina Gilio-Whitaker’s As Long as Grass Grows (virtual)

? Wednesday, 9/1 (6:30 p.m.): Introduction to DSA (virtual)

For more events, click here.

Chapter Accessibility

As part of its plan of work this year, the Steering Committee identified accessibility as a long-standing chapter need. For accessibility concerns and accommodation requests, or if you would like to join the Chapter Accessibility Task Force to help us implement a chapter survey and accessibility guidelines, please email steering@dsasf.org. 

Regular Chapter Meeting

Please join us for our regular chapter meeting tomorrow, August 11 from 6:45-9:45 p.m.! We’ll have news from District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston’s office, and we’ll get updates on our chapter priorities. We will also discuss chapter plans for mass action and education around international solidarity with socialist movements around the world. RSVP for the meeting here, and take a look at the agenda here.

Announcements

NEW! Read DSA SF member Julian L.R.’s op-ed in Jacobin

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors have now committed to looking into creating a public bank for the City. In this Jacobin piece, DSA SF member and Equity Economics Lab founder Julian L.R. writes about why we need a public bank at the federal level.

Julian writes about why we need a public bank that will put control of tax money back in the hands of the people – not a government that keeps giving it to Wall Street and the military-industrial complex. Read up on why a public bank will help deliver more social housing and investment in our badly underserved BIPOC communities, then join us in the fight to win socialism!

Ballot Measure Campaign: Send us your ideas for 2022!

We’d like to hear from you! As part of our chapter priorities, we passed a priorities resolution to draft two ballot measures in 2022. We’d like to hear your ideas to build a San Francisco for all, not only the rich. Fill out the survey here.

Reading Groups

Ecosocialist Book Club: Dina Gilio-Whitaker’s As Long as Grass Grows

Join the DSA SF Ecosocialist Committee’s book club biweekly on Mondays in August! The remaining two sessions are on August 16 and August 30 at 6:00 p.m. -7:15 p.m. We’re reading and discussing Dina Gilio-Whitaker’s As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock. Open to all! Register now using the link here.