Red Madison

Tag: community defense

  • Monthly Round-Up – March 2026

    Monthly Round-Up – March 2026

    This article is written by a DSA member and does not formally represent the views of MADSA as a whole or its subgroups. 

    Welcome to Vol. 8 of the monthly round-up! The content in this publication overlaps significantly with our DSA newsletter and monthly General Membership Meetings. To sign up for the newsletter or check out an upcoming General Membership Meeting, visit: https://madison-dsa.org/events/

    This photo depicts approximately 40 Madison DSA convention attendees with their fists raised. They are in a room with wood paneled walls.

    MADSA Annual Convention a Success

    The chapter held our annual convention on the evening of Friday March 20th and the full day of Saturday, March 21st. MADSA members elected new leadership for the coming year, voted to continue many working groups, and debated and passed resolutions that will shape how the chapter does its work this year and beyond. Below are 3 key themes from this year’s convention.

    1. Organizing Everyday People, Especially Labor

    This convention passed several exciting proposals around mobilizing everyday worker power. One was a major resolution setting clear goals around a “rank and file” worker organizing strategy. In short, key goals include: increasing organizing discussions in people’s unionized and non-unionized workplaces; taking specific actions to help existing unions become more active and socialist; taking steps towards a mass labor action on May 1, and building further potential for mass labor actions; and leveraging MADSA’s worker power for building new unions, pulling existing union members towards socialism, and building coalitions within and between unions. The resolution emphasizes a move away from convincing formal labor leadership, and towards supporting rank-and-file workers in taking concrete steps for socialist organizing in their specific context.

    The convention also ratified a Community Defense Working Group, which will be taking the main role in guiding MADSA’s STRIKE ICE OUT actions. The group will emphasize community education, non-violent neighborhood mobilizing, mutual aid, and strike preparation. Specific goals for the working group include providing materials and trainings, doing administrative tasks for maintaining neighborhood group chats across the city, encouraging in-person meetings between neighbors, disseminating information from other reliable sources (Voces, MTI, and Comite Sin Fronteras), supporting tenant organizing, and helping build towards a May 1st major labor action / general strike.

    2. Electoral Work

    Members voted to continue the Program Working Group, which is developing a formal platform with the key viewpoints and priorities of MADSA as a chapter. This work will be helpful in guiding MADSA’s collaboration with political candidates, and when deciding how to prioritize projects in the face of unprecedented growth in membership. 

    Members also passed a resolution to build DSA’s capacity as an independent political party. The resolution included a continuation of this past year’s electoral work, while also adding features like additional political education in the “off-season,” and collaboration with the Labor Working Group around research and explicit support of policy that improves labor rights.

    Lastly, members passed a resolution reaffirming the chapter’s commitment to Palestinian liberation and anti-Zionism. This resolution mandates that any program, platform, and/or candidates endorsed by MADSA “must support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, refrain from any and all affiliation with the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups, pledge to oppose legislation that harms Palestinians and support legislation that supports Palestinian liberation.”

    3. Improving Chapter Functions

    Lastly, several convention items focused on improving the running of our chapter. A spirited discussion took place around the accessibility of meetings. One particular area of concern has been disability access, including – but not limited to – variable masking requirements at different meetings. Another topic was improving support for working parents within the chapter, who face additional barriers to participating in regular meetings. On Saturday, members discussed a proposal and an amendment around accessibility issues, and they ultimately decided to table the final vote until the April general membership meeting.

    Several resolutions did pass related to the running of the chapter, including: 

    • Changes to certain chapter rules and processes, including standing meeting rules;
    • Creating a cohort model for welcoming and onboarding new members to the chapter;
    • Creating some editorial practices and increased structure for Red Madison, to improve responsiveness and to foster more participation in the publication. 

    A resolution around creating a process for formal coalition-building with external groups did not pass, after significant discussion and debate. 

    MADSA Attends “No Kings”

    This image depicts Madison DSA members at the recent No Kings protest. Some prominent signs say, "No ICE, No Wars, No Billionaires," and "Money for People's Needs, not endless wars and ice!"

    Members of the chapter recently attended the No Kings protest on March 28th, with the goal of being a visible socialist presence, handing out materials, and talking to interested crowd members about action steps for being politically engaged and effective. In preparation for the march, MADSA had organizing meetings, an art build on 3/27, and a crowd canvassing training emphasizing “NO ICE, NO WAR, NO BILLIONAIRES!” 

    Several MADSA members gave speeches at the protest! You can see them here, and shorter clips will be posted on Instagram in the coming week.

    ICE Out Efforts Continue

    MADSA continues to coordinate information about trainings and events, and neighborhood group chats, via the Strike Out ICE hub. Check it out here, and keep your eyes out for the newsletter in your inbox! 

    A major next step in the process is the Madison Worker’s Assembly on April 4th. This is an opportunity for the community to come together and reflect on goals and strategies for mass labor action.

    Additional Organizing

    This image is a promotional poster for the affordable housing panel from March 27th. It shows Ryan Clancy, Juliana Bennett, Bobby Gronert, Heidi Wegleitner, and Tex from Dane County Homeless Justice Initiative.

    Other important efforts this month included the following:

    • Labor Working Group hosted a Strike Studies event on 3/2; the next one is on April 6th.
    • MADSA hosted a panel discussion titled Against Empire: A Socialist Conversation on Imperialism on 3/26 – a topic that is especially relevant given current events.
    • MADSA held an Affordable Housing Panel, featuring local organizers and elected officials on 3/27 – video here!
    • The Program Working Group had an event on one of the planks in MADSA’s developing platform – public transit! This took place on 3/31.
    • There was a one-off reading group on 3/23 focusing on two short texts by Alexandra Kollontai, focusing on the intersection of Marxism and feminism. 

    And coming soon:

    • MADSA is starting to prepare for another Queer Liberation March, with a meeting planned for 4/4.
    • DSA made plans to attend the upcoming May Day Strong Solidarity School, preparing for a May 1st day of mass labor action / general strike – this is scheduled for April 11th.

    Social Events

    We continue hosting recurring social events – DSA 101, Coffee with Comrades, and the Rosebuddies program. MADSA Run Club is making a return on Sundays as the weather warms up!

    Protest Song of the Month

    For this month’s song, have a 1913 tune by Joe Hill, We Will Sing One Song.

    And that concludes our monthly round-up!

  • Monthly Round-Up – February 2026

    Monthly Round-Up – February 2026

    This article is written by a DSA member and does not formally represent the views of MADSA as a whole or its subgroups. 

    Welcome to Vol. 7 of the monthly round-up! The content in this publication overlaps significantly with our DSA newsletter and monthly General Membership Meetings. To sign up for the newsletter or check out an upcoming General Membership Meeting, visit: https://madison-dsa.org/events/

    ICE Out Hub / Strike Out ICE!

    MADSA has launched a centralized resource for community defense and related organizing in Madison. Members in the February GMM debriefed about MADSA’s ICE-related efforts so far, and approved a proposal for Strike Out ICE!

    MADSA’s goals are to support other groups already doing this work – especially Voces de la Frontera – while also developing networks of mutual aid, supporting MADSA members in becoming active organizers, and building towards a national general strike on May 1st. What is most exciting to this author is that the strike plan is a movement backed by real strategy and community ties, not just a random internet call to action. The chapter is working on political education, building community bonds, spreading the word among coworkers and friends, and coordinating with other organizations, including unions. The strike could be a historic step in taking back the people’s power across the nation and in turning the tides of politics in the United States, if people embrace the spirit of making real, concrete demands, and shutting down the economy to ensure they are met.

    You can check out the hub here: https://madison-dsa.org/ice-out-hub/ The hub also contains weekly strike reports, and members will receive these reports in their email inboxes as a newsletter.

    I encourage all members to take action today, whether that’s joining a neighborhood group chat, attending an educational meeting about strike history or organizing skills, being trained as a legal observer, or talking to people in your life about the strike. And remember – millions of people participating imperfectly will always outweigh a few dozen participating perfectly. Embrace uncertainty and imperfection as a normal part of your political process! 

    MADSA Endorses Heidi Wegleitner for Re-Election

    Members voted in the February meeting to endorse Heidi’s re-election campaign for Dane County Board. Heidi has served as a delegate to the South Central Federation of Labor, is in a leadership role with the United Legal Workers union in Madison, and has a long history of fighting for housing rights. She will be running in District 2, which includes most of the Isthmus north of E. Washington Avenue, including neighborhoods around James Madison Park, Tenney Park, and Demetral Park. Elections will take place on April 7th, 2026.

    Additional Organizing

    Other important efforts this month included the following:

    • No Appetite for Apartheid held a launch party, and is now regularly hosting Grocery Scouting with DSA. At these 1 hour events, you can meet a MADSA member at a specific grocery store and learn how to spot products for boycotting, and how to build your voice for pressuring stores to stop carrying companies that are complicit in the subjugation of Palestinian people.
    • Phil Gasper held a talk on Trotsky’s Marxism at the Madison Public Library.
    • Southern Dane County Branch successfully had its own membership meeting.
    • There is now a working group meeting regularly about Fran Hong’s campaign.
    • A temporary working group is aiming to establish a physical office for MADSA to help with our growing size and work load.
    • Some chapter members have been seeking to grow community ties through art and music, and are building towards a community art build in March, as well as fostering a stronger chanting and music presence at protests.

    Social Events

    We continue hosting recurring social events – New Member Orientations, DSA 101, Coffee with Comrades, and the Rosebuddies program. A highlight from February was a special Galentine’s day event on February 13th! 

    The chapter also has a newly-started reading group for The Communist Manifesto, meeting on Saturdays at 10am.

    Protest Song of the Month

    MADSA members highlighted a few songs this month as part of the budding art and music efforts in the chapter. A recent feature was a modernized version of The Internationale, with lyrics updated in 2020 by Billy Bragg. Check it out here – song starts at 3 minutes in!

    And that concludes our monthly round-up!