Campaigns

Priority Campaigns:

Housing Justice: under capitalism housing is an investment commodity hoarded by landlords, instead of being a basic human right. In Southern Maryland we suffer from a shortage of affordable housing. We focus on organizing and empowering tenants to stand up for their rights, and on legislation that will bring us closer to social housing for all. For about a year and a half we have been working with the tenants of Lord Calvert Mobile Home Park in Lexington Park. First to prevent their neighborhood from being redeveloped, then to build a Tenant Association to fight for their interests in the neighborhood. Now we’re continuing to support their efforts, as well as looking to help more people organize their neighborhoods in a similar way. Want to organize your neighborhood? Contact us and let us know!

Queer Liberation and Bodily Autonomy: capitalism needs the working class to reproduce itself exponentially, so it promotes strict gender roles, a gendered division of labor, and the subjugation of women. One of our goals as socialists is to break those chains, protect the rights of LGBTQ people to exist as our true selves, and safeguard bodily autonomy. We are currently working on a campaign to pressure the St. Mary’s, Calvert, and Charles County Boards of Education to adopt a bill of rights protecting LGBTQ staff and students. Additionally, we have ongoing fundraisers for the DC Abortion Fund.

Labor: since most of the prosperity of our society comes from labor, and all profit comes from exploiting labor, strong worker organizations are the key to a just future. We work to support all unionization efforts in our community, such as the Charles County Bus Drivers and Attendants’ union. We are currently working with the Greater Baltimore and Frederick chapters in a campaign to end the ban on public sector worker strikes. Additionally, many of our members work within unions like the Teamsters and the Maryland State Education Association. Need help organizing your workplace? Let us know!

Additional projects:

We do other important work, outside of our priority campaigns:

Our Community Defense Working Group is our chapter’s iteration of the DSA Red Rabbits. It consists of members trained in first aid, de-escalation, and marshaling. We attend local progressive events and protests to ensure the safety of all attendees. We also moderate a group of Facebook called Hate Watch SoMD, where community members can keep each other informed about far-right activity in the area and respond accordingly.

Our Palestine Solidarity Working Group was formed at the beginning of the Uncommitted Campaign and convinced hundreds of Southern Maryland voters to join the campaign to pressure Biden to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. We have since shifted our efforts to ending public funding for the Maryland/Israel Development Corporation, and to pressuring local politicians and candidates, like Angela Alsobrooks, to support sanctions against Israel for its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Mutual Aid: we work closely with our sister group, Feed the People SOMD, to provide food, toiletries, and fresh produce to people in the community for free, with no means testing. Donations come from other members of the community. Our Facebook group, additionally, is a space where members of the community can give and ask for help from others.

Help us with our work!

If you want to join or support these campaigns: