Dispatch Jan 11
★ News from the Wheelhouse
The DSOV Steering Committee met this week and plans and projects were on the table. All members of the DSOV are invited to join subcommittees and working groups involved in these campaigns.
May Day - planning is underway for Vancouver May Day action/event. Write if you’re interested in participating, and look for the planning channel in Slack.
General Membership Gatherings - we will begin to organizer regular membership gatherings. This will be an opportunity for members to pitch ideas for new working groups, changes to the DSOV, potential initiatives and a place where we can collectively imagine a future that will benefit everyone.The first will happen Sunday March 19 4:00 pm, on Zoom.
New Member Orientation - we will be hosting an orientation for new members once a month, likely on zoom. Watch the DSOV Calendar for updates.
Conflict Resolution - the safety and comfort of our membership is a priority for the DSOV and its Steering Committee. We are currently working on Disclosure / Reporting pathways and mechanisms that will ensure our spaces are welcoming and safe for everyone.
★ Organizing For Power Online Workshops
We are putting together a team of 10+ to participate in this online series. Please contact us if you’d like to join our team.
Organizing for Power’s Core Fundamentals is a skills-based training that takes place on 6 consecutive Wednesdays from the 8th of February until the 15th of March.
Each session lasts 2 hours and runs at two different times to accommodate a global audience. Click the following links to find your local start time for Track A and Track B sessions.
Registration is free and open exclusively to groups of 10+ organizers, because we’re only going to win if we’re in this together.
DSOV and VOTE Socialist members are putting together a team to attend this webinar on Organizing for Power. If you'd like to join us (it's free), please send a note to info@votesocialist.ca
★ Workers of Vancouver Listening Circle
Meet Your Fellow Workers!
We've postponed the Workers of Vancouver Listening Circle to Sunday,January 29th.
Meet your fellow workers, share your stories, and learn how workers can organize to demand better workplaces together.
Food and child minding will be provided for attendees. Time & Location are still TBA, but mark your calendar now!
We are currently looking for volunteers to help with organizing the event - if you’re a DSoV and/or VS member & would like to help, please email us!
★ DSOV Reading Group Now In Person
We will be meeting Sundays in person, typically at 7pm (although time may change based on facilitator availability) and will discuss 1-2 short pieces like articles, news items, or opinion pieces.
Anyone who has attended at least one reading group can sign up to moderate. If there is a book or long-form piece the group would like to read, then we can begin discussing it by chapter/section every other week, alternating with shorter pieces.
For more information, check out the Reading & Discussion Group Page on our Website or check in on the Reading Group Channel (#reading-and-discussion) in the DSOV SLACK
There is no meeting this Thursday, instead we will be meeting this Sunday January 15th at 7pm in person.
We are meeting at the Commercial Drive Legion (2205 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5N 4B6).
Please wear a mask at DSOV events. Masks will be available on site. Note: We are in process of developing a Covid policy for this ongoing pandemic – one that has disproportionate impacts on those who already have health challenges associated with inequality, disability, or environmental factors.
★ Monthly Fridge Stock
The DSoV Fridge Stock/Mutual Aid Working Group just celebrated its One-Year anniversary in October!
Community Fridges are decentralized food distribution networks and mutual aid initiatives created to provide healthy, free food and essential supplies to our communities across the lower mainland.
Their mission is to combat food insecurity by encouraging communities to take part in laterally-directed mutual aid, starting with providing free, safe, non-policed, accessible and nutritious foods through community fridges and pantries.
The Democratic Socialists of Vancouver (DSoV) run a monthly stock of these fridges & pantries. We meet at noon outside 1890 Spyglass Place, on 1st Avenue under the Cambie Bridge, near Olympic Village Skytrain station.
To help us purchase food & supplies for the fridge stock, donate to theDemocratic Socialists of Vancouver PayPal here.
If you have any questions about the Fridge Stock/Mutual Aid Group, please check out our page on the DSoV website
★ Outside the silo
A section of our newsletter where we share information about campaigns and events outside of the DSOV.
Red Review Podcasts - The Red Review, brought to you by Socialist Action Canada, covers the monthly happenings in Canada from a socialist perspective. This month the Podcast features to DSOV members Yvonne Hanson and Mark Lister.
The Breach - Tomorrow Jan 12, 3:30pm (pst), join Desmond Cole, Hafsah Mohammad, Meenakshi Mannoe, Ted Rutland, Tari Ajadi, Leon Laidlaw, and El Jones for a conversation about defunding police, as cities deliberate over their budgets.
Home on Native Land - A self-guided, lighthearted but super-serious course on Indigenous justice in Canada.