Tag: reading group

  • 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!

  • Monthly Round-Up – October 2025

    By a Comrade

    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. 3 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/

    Union Efforts Continue in Madison

    In August we celebrated the successful union elections at Festival Foods, and Hilton Monona Terrace. Another union battle continues in Madison, however, led by healthcare workers at GHC, and supported by patients and community members.

    The GHC union effort was able to initiate a Special Member Meeting on October 13, where patients with GHC could express opinions on unionization, and conduct an “advisory” vote directing GHC to support the union. Members unanimously supported the union, and asked GHC’s board for transparency around how much money they’re spending on union busting.  Read more here! 

    Beating Back the Political Doom

    MADSA members have been creating more opportunities to learn and be in community, for members AND non-members. These are crucial antidotes to the doom, overwhelm, and helplessness that many people are feeling about the current state of the world. 

    This month, these events included:

    • A discussion with Copaganda author Alec Karakatsanis about policing, media, and narratives around safety;
    • A presentation, for people of all knowledge levels, on understanding the mechanisms of capitalist exploitation, titled Marx’s Capital and Global Capitalism Today;
    • An Organizing 101 workshop for people to learn about workers’ rights and the union process.

    The Electoral Working Group is also busy at work in this realm. Members of this WG have been canvassing local residents to learn more about the issues that matter most to them, and what solutions they hope to see. The working group also organized a public Madison Community Town Hall, with the goal of creating a space for community members to express grievances and connect around possible next steps.

    There was also fruitful internal discussion this month about a potential change to a MADSA voting policy, and how this interacts with the role of meetings in our organization. Some members made compelling points about meetings as a space for developing important leadership skills, refining our ideas and worldviews, changing each others’ minds, and strengthening community bonds; on the other hand, other members discussed concerns around accessibility and inclusivity, and encouraged the chapter to ensure that people can participate meaningfully in major decisions if they have limitations around meeting attendance. Debates like this reflect the chapter’s process of growth, and ongoing work around participatory and inclusive democracy. 

    Further Organizing Highlights This Month

    Our work continues in many ways thanks to our dedicated membership. Here are other key organizing efforts taking place this month in MADSA. This summary is not exhaustive! 

    • No Kings, No Bosses – The “No Kings” protests had a massive presence across the country this month, and this included Madison, WI! MADSA members showed up with a strong presence at the rally.
    • The petition process begins for potentially endorsing candidates in statewide elections. When MADSA endorses a candidate, it is not just a symbolic seal of approval; the chapter is also pledging to provide consistent labor and organization to help that candidate win and to collaborate with them throughout their term. Candidates who wish to gain backing from MADSA must go through a process that includes collecting petition signatures, meeting several times with various chapter bodies, and ultimately winning a chapter-wide endorsement vote. The candidate must demonstrate their commitment to following the expectations outlined in the chapter’s endorsed candidate policy, found here.
    • MADSA’s No Appetite for Apartheid contingent is supporting members in making a pledge to boycott Israeli products. Click here to take the pledge, and to get updates about stores who commit to being an Apartheid Free Store.

    Social Opportunities

    Our chapter has several ongoing reading groups, including:

    • Skyscraper Jails, discussed in the Abolitionist Working Group meetings;
    • Wretched of the Earth, discussed on Sundays, in a hybrid virtual/in-person format.

    We continue hosting recurring social events – New Member Orientations, Coffee with Comrades, Crafting with Comrades,  MADSA Run Club, and the Rosebuddies program.

    Protest Song of the Month

    The song I choose for this month is “Freedom Now” by Tracy Chapman! This song was dedicated to Nelson Mandela and his work in the anti-apartheid movement. I think that the sentiments in this song still resonate to this day.

    And that concludes our monthly round-up!