2 Douglass-Debs Dinner 2019 www.madsa.ga Metro Atlanta DSA « 2019 Douglass-Debs Dinner 2019 Douglass-Debs Dinner Program Welcome Councilman khalid Chair, Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America Dinner Keynote Address Sara Nelson International President, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO Introduced by Richard Honeycutt, Vice President, CWA District 3 Awards Presentation of Douglass-Debs award to Highlander Research and Education Center Accepted by Annie Thomas, Regional Organizer, Project South Introduced by Eric Robertson, activist Presentation of Douglass-Debs award to Renitta Shannon GA State House Representative 84 Introduced by Charmaine Davis, Southeast Regional Administrator, Women’s Bureau, U.S. Dept. of Labor Presentation of an award for Creative Activism Daniel Hanley Activist with Black Lives Matter, Atlanta Light Brigade, MADSA, and many others Introduced by Milt Tambor, founder and MADSA chair, 2006–2017 «Cover design by Brandyn Buchanan«Photo by Steve Eberhardt « Printed by East Atlanta Copy Center www.madsa.ga Douglass-Debs Dinner 2019 3 Metro Atlanta DSA « 2019 Douglass-Debs Dinner We Have a City to Win By Councilman khalid, Chair, Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America onight, Metro Atlanta Democratic Social- supported the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions Tists of America’s (MADSA) 13th annual (BDS) movement to end Israel’s apartheid re- Douglass-Debs Awards Dinner celebrates the gime and free Palestine. courageous work of our comrades. In the past MADSA contingents again participated year, our members and allies have led important in the annual MLK Day and Pride marches, as local, statewide and national movements to ad- well as an August anti-racism march hosted by vance our goals of social and economic justice. the Atlanta Alliance for Black Lives. We joined We began 2019 with a People’s Inaugu- more protests with Project South, the Council ration in Hurt Park to protest the election of on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Georgia, Georgia’s illegitimate governor Brian Kemp. the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights The event included speakers from Atlanta (GLAHR), Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, and J Jobs With Justice, Black Votes Matter, DeKalb Street, and others. County Democrats, DeKalb Young Demo- MADSA members stood in solidarity with crats, Georgia Street Groomers, GLAHR, the organized labor in strike lines with the Commu- International Socialist Organization, Mijente, nications Workers of America (CWA), Uber and Our Revolution, the Public Policy Reform As- Lyft drivers, and actions by the Coalition of Im- sociation, Inc., Socialist Coalition of North Georgia, Southerners mokalee Workers. Tonight we are honored to have as our keynote on New Ground and United Campus Workers of Georgia. Our de- speaker the dynamic labor leader Sara Nelson, president of the As- mands included a repeal of the “use it or lose it” rule, which now sociation of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, whose courageous threatens to purge over 300,000 citizens from the voting rolls for actions ended a government shutdown. 2020 Elections. This dizzying amount of community organizing would not We joined the Direct Action Hunger Alliance, Atlanta Home- have been possible without the leadership of our 2019 chair, the less Relief, and the Housing Justice League to protest the deaths indefatigable Erin Parks; interim Chairs Gregory McKelvey and Jen of several houseless people last winter. Members also picketed the Garcia; and outgoing executive officers Jose G. Perez, Barbara Joye, Sine die of the Georgia General Assembly’s 2019 legislative session Q Benford, Jeff Corkill, and Alexander Hernandez. Together they in opposition to Republicans’ forced birthing bill and anti-voting- lead the Southeast in a national symphony movement of Demo- rights legislation. We rallied against Georgia Power’s energy policies cratic Socialists declaring that “another world is possible.” and against appalling conditions at the DeKalb County Jail. DSA’s national membership has surpassed 56,000, including 29 To oppose the rising tide of racist extremism, members of elected officials nationwide. Atlanta has been one of the nation’s MADSA joined the Frontline Organization Working to End Racism fastest-growing chapters, now with more than 700 official members. (FLOWER) coalition, which successfully counter-protested white The answer as to why is simple. Nowhere in America can capitalism’s supremacists’ Rock Stone Mountain rally in February and engaged failures be more clearly seen than in the American South, where At- in another antifascist demonstration in Dahlonega in September. lanta tops the list of America’s most economically immobile cities, Many MADSA actions this year focused on justice for immi- Georgia has the third-highest percentage of uninsured citizens and grants, especially the undocumented. Members of our Immigrant people of color, and LGBTQIA individuals still fight not only for Rights working group twice visited incarcerated immigrants at the basic protections from discrimination but for their very lives from Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga. with El Refugio; engaged militarized police. in a letter-writing campaign to urge the abolition of the Immigration It is no wonder, then, that this year’s biennial national DSA and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE); and anti-ICE protests in convention was held in Atlanta — the first DSA convention held Atlanta. In July, MADSA members helped GLAHR’s “ICEwatch” in the South in more than 20 years. Twelve hundred delegates from patrols document ICE activity during raids. chapters across the country (including from MADSA, along with Concern for our brothers and sisters transcended our nation’s dozens of local volunteers) converged on the downtown Westin to borders. This September we joined coalition partners to rally against debate and decide the next step for our national leadership. The Brazil’s right-wing Bolsonaro Government whose burning of the event attracted international attention. Amazon rainforest threatens not only Brazil’s indigenous peoples I was honored to give the convention’s opening and closing — but all life on Earth. We mobilized two weekends of October speeches, in which I urged DSA members to focus on translating Global Climate Strikes with Extinction Rebellion and other groups. the message of Democratic Socialism to their local communities by Georgia Tech’s Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) pushing local, socialist legislation and running for city, county and 4 Douglass-Debs Dinner 2019 www.madsa.ga Metro Atlanta DSA « 2019 Douglass-Debs Dinner state elected office. Following the convention, MADSA elected its ists to local offices and passing policies that prove that in a socialist youngest, most diverse board ever to do just that. South, “y’all” really does mean everybody. Myself as chair; Membership Secretary Brandyn Buchanan, Solidarity Forever, Treasurer Cole Reardon, Membership Secretary Nate Knauf, and At- Large Officers Catie Elle, Rara Imler, and Q Benford will focus not just on supporting Bernie in 2020 but electing Democratic Social- Highlander Research and Education Center ince 1932, Highlander has initiatives, includ- Sbeen a catalyst for grass- ing the Montgom- roots organizing and move- ery bus boycott, the ment building in Appalachia Citizenship Schools, and the U.S. South. Through and the founding of popular education, participa- the Student Non- tory research, and cultural violent Coordinating work, the Center helps to cre- Committee (SNCC). ate spaces — at Highlander In 1961, after years and in local communities — of red-baiting and where people gain knowledge, several government hope and courage, expanding investigations, the their ideas of what is possible. state of Tennessee At Highlander, leaders, net- revoked Highlander’s works, and movement strands charter and seized its come together to interact, land and buildings. build friendships, craft joint The school contin- strategy and develop the tools ued its work the very and mechanisms needed to next day as the High- advance a multi-racial, inter- lander Research and generational movement for Education Center. (L-R) Martin Luther King, Jr., Pete Seeger, Charis Horton, Rosa Parks, and Ralph David Abernathy at social and economic justice in Highlander, 1957 From 1961-1971, it our region. was based in Knox- Known for its support of labor, immigrant, and especially civil ville, and in 1972 it moved to its current location near New rights movements, Highlander has been a target of rightwing attacks Market, TN. in the past. On March 29, 2019, arsonists set fire to the main office In the late 1960s and 1970s, Highlander played a vital role fos- building; a white supremacist symbol was found nearby. An inves- tering organizing in Appalachia, supporting anti-strip mining and tigation is ongoing. However, an outpouring of support is enabling worker health and safety struggles, among other efforts. In the 1980s the center to continue with its work. and 1990s, Highlander expanded its work to support grassroots Here is a summary of the Highlander Center’s rich history: groups fighting pollution and toxic dumping, and supported the After visiting Danish folk schools, Miles Horton, a native of emerging anti-globalization movement by sponsoring workshops Savannah, TN, conceived the idea of a school in the South where on economic human rights and trade and globalization issues and teachers would work with both Black and white students to address by forging connections with international activists