This is important. We're all in this together.

THE WEST SOUND SOCIALIST NEWSLETTER FOR WEST SOUND DSA April 29th, 2026 Altar for those lost and still detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, maintained by La Resistencia with vigils held in support of hunger striking detainees inside. Upcoming Events Get in touch with the organizing working group to learn more about event specifics, like time and location (Or see if the information is available on our events page)! May Day Resource Fair & Benefit Concert Join us this Friday, May 1st, from 7:00pm-8:00pm for a resource fair, followed by a benefit concert at 8:00pm, see imbeded flyer for more info! Kristin for Kitsap Campaign Launch Party! May 4th, 6:30pm-8:00pm Otherwise Society Commons, Poulsbo General Meeting May 7th, Otherwise Society Commons, Poulsbo, 7:00pm - 8:30pm Welcome to all, family friendly, bring snacks! Socialize with Socialists May 9th 5:00pm-6:30pm Otherwise Society Commons Newcomers welcome! Veterans for Peace Benefit Concert May 15th, 7:00pm doors open, 8:00 show start at the Charleston in Bremerton (Flyer below!) Brake Light Clinic May 16th 10:00am-5:00pm at the People's Exchange on Callow Ave in Bremerton. Contact Daniel on Discord in the COGS channel, help appreciated or come get your dead brake lights changed out! Recurring events Socialist Reading Group Every Monday, 7:00pm-9:00pm (except May 7th) Cranes Castle, Bremerton We have recently finished J. Sakai's book "Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat" and have moved on to reading and discussing articles from a socialist perspective for now.  If anyone would be interested in joining us, there is always room at the table.  We meet Mondays at Crane's Castle at 19:00. Manufactured Home Canvassing - Kitsap Housing 4 All Canvassing every weekend until summer! Saturday and Sunday. Contact: email: [email protected], [email protected], or on our Discord General Meeting - first Thursdays of the month (excepting holiday proximity) 7:00pm-8:30pm Future Locations TBD Electoral Committee Meeting Second and Fourth Sundays from 4:30pm-5:30pm - meet remotely May 10th, 4:30pm-5:30pm Open to all members in good standing Comrades, As always, thank you for being part of the West Sound chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and thank you especially for all the work you've each contributed. Without these efforts, we wouldn't be in the position we find ourselves in today. We are gaining recognition within our community and the county, while poised to make meaningful strides in helping reinvigorate the labor movement locally. Overcoming the ways in which capitalism promotes feelings and attitudes of resignation among the working class will continually be a key component to our short and long-term success as democratic socialists. As May Day approaches, it's a good moment to reflect on the tumultuous history of labor movements in this country and what we should be striving for in the present. Throughout our nation's past, labor victories rarely included everyone, often times leaving out marginalized groups. From women to black and brown people, indigenous peoples, and immigrants. Historic concessions to this country's working class largely served to placate the labor movement as a whole in an effort to sedate or pacify it. Now, we've witnessed decades of the erosion to those very concessions, with wealth inequality now rivaling the times of the 1920's and 30's. To achieve longer-term success, and not just for select peoples, we can look back at what Marx and Engels believed: that to truly have the lasting radical shift in society we desire, we'll need to dismantle all tools of oppression. Systemic inequalities serve not just to punish those seen by the right-wing as "unamerican", but also aid in preventing the formation of a class consciousness by pitting us against one-another. We'll need to think beyond just clawing back lost worker protections, towards ensuring everyone benefits and has their rights protected. Achieving a sustainable labor front requires a solid baseline of mutual respect and cooperation among all members of the global working class.  It is divisions within the working class along the lines of traditional "identity politics" that is a useful tool for how capitalism sustains itself. To address bigotry and systemic inequalities is to fight corporate propaganda and the disinformation machine. It provides many with a lens as to why so many in the working class are succumb to fascist ideology and conspiratorial thinking as a mechanism to explain their struggles within capitalism.  Through education and community building, along with the work all of you are already doing, can we begin to create frameworks for a resilient socialist society capable of tackling the biggest challenges facing humans, from climate change to endless war.  "Workers of the world, unite!" - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto. We will need all able hands and minds in our work to come, so if you haven't yet gotten plugged in and are wanting to, please reach out! Join in discussions with your comrades on discord and join a working group, and especially ask for help if you need and if you're not yet a DSA member please sign up here!  In Solidarity,  Carlos Yosten Co-Chair May 7th General Meeting Keep an eye out for an email with the meeting's agenda soon, including all previous General Meetings minutes. Come and vote on the proposed establishment of the Outreach and Communications committee! We will also have some other amendments present to consider which we touched on in the last GM. We will also be voting to endorse Whole Washington as an active partner and support their efforts to implement statewide universal healthcare through the Washington Health Trust. Attention Parents and Families! We want to recognize how difficult it can be to attend meetings generally after already working long days. We have members actively working to make it easier to bring your family and would love your input at the next meeting or online! These events are family friendly and so we want to emphasize that all are welcome and we will do our best to accommodate. What projects are your fellow cadre members working on? A glimpse into what you will find within this newsletter: Kristin for Kitsap (more information below) Electoral campaign for State Legislature for our very own comrade! Manufactured Home Canvassing Join Kitsap Housing 4 All in letting tenants know their rights under the tenants rights bill passed last summer. More volunteers are needed! If you have some free time on these next upcoming weekends please consider volunteering to help us canvas the final parks! More information below in the Member Memorandums portion of the newsletter, under Kitsap Housing for All. Immigration Know Your Rights with WAISN & KIAC From hosting trainings to distributing red cards and flyers, we are building Immigrant solidarity. Building A Resilient Kitsap (BARK) A project going directly to the people, surveying what residents of Kitsap are struggling with today in order to help guide our chapter moving forward. Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) Volunteer Picketing & Boycott A facet of our national effort to help service industry workers unionize in the face of staggering labor law violations. Quarterly special issue of The West Sound Socialist Ready for print! Labor and Mutual Aid Organizing Prepping for May Day, a break light clinic, and more! Kristin for Kitsap The campaign launch party is on Monday May 4th at 630 pm at the Otherwise Society. Please come help support the campaign and let Kitsap County know the socialist message is popular and we mean business. Member Memorandums Curious about what's being done or planned by your fellow comrades? Hear from them below! Working Groups Bodily Autonomy The Bodily Autonomy group is working on billboard logistics to publicize abortion resources in Kitsap County. We’re also focusing our efforts to combat the upcoming anti-trans ballot initiative with a Trans Alliance Group. Child Watch It takes a village! Members have rustled up some toys, trays, and coloring supplies for the kids of DSA to play with at meetings! We are also excited to see how shifting the format of the General Meeting to a communal, potluck-style affair helps encourage the attendance of whole families. Communities Organized in Grassroots Solidarity (COGS) COGS is our labor and mutual aid working group. Why the acronym? Think of cogs in the machine of industry, only together we can leverage labor towards proletarian solidarity. Folks have been taking some time to volunteer in coordination with Starbucks Workers United in order to boycott and picket non-unionized stores as baristas across the nation participate in rolling strikes. Labor solidarity extends from the shipyard to the cafe. Our renewed efforts to participate more meaningfully in local labor activism, starting by supporting those in the service industry, will help us make meaningful steps in community engagement as well. Alongside this, we are working on our upcoming Brake Light Clinic and planning for May Day's fair in collaboration with Kitsap Industrial Workers of the World, People's Exchange and Food Not Bombs. Kitsap Housing 4 All A new law passed last year that limits the amount a landlord can raise rent. For mobile home owners, that number is 5% per year. Because mobile home parks often house the most financially vulnerable among us, Kitsap Housing for All is currently on a mission to spread the news to mobile home owners in Kitsap County. We have canvassed around a quarter of the parks in the county, but we still have quite a way to go. If you are interested in helping us, please email [email protected] - training will be provided! We’ve been busy canvassing nearly every weekend this year. Out of 40 mobile home parks in the county, we’ve visited 32. Only 8 left! However, these last 8 account for about half of the total lots we aim to canvass. We are looking for more volunteers to help us finish this goal! We’ve gotten some incredible feedback from our efforts. Residents of the parks are generally happy and grateful that we’re out there talking to them. We’ve gathered so many stories about egregious park policies, past rent hikes, fee changes, potential illegal changes to rent, poor water quality, and generally greedy land owners. Every person we talk to helps us shape the path we take forward and guide us in helping our community. Come join us!  Reach out to Emily Barnett on discord or email [email protected] Political Education Our Political Education Working Group is building a welcoming and practical space where community members can learn, connect, and grow together. We will host DSA 101 sessions for new and prospective members, along with Know Your Rights trainings that provide clear and actionable information people can use in real situations. Our goal is to connect education with practical skills, strengthening shared understanding while helping our community stay informed and safe. We welcome all interested in learning a bit more. “No one is born fully-formed: it is through self-experience in the world that we become what we are.” -Paulo Freire As a reflection of education's centrality in the socialist movement, DSA now requires chapters to have a Political Education officer. If you're interested in building Kitsap County's collective understanding of capitalism and socialism, please nominate yourself for the position at our 2026 Chapter Convention in July! For political education resources, check out https://education.dsausa.org/. The West Sound Socialist The West Sound Socialist zine exists to spread the good news of socialism throughout Kitsap County! Through the creative, intellectual work of our members, we’re rewriting the tired cultural narrative about socialism and inviting the broader community to reimagine both our current reality and what could be. We embrace complexity and nuance by highlighting varied perspectives on socialist issues. Our dream is a zine that inspires activism, promotes rigorous debate, and tends to the aesthetics of the movement. We made our first issue debut back in December, centered around mutual aid. If you couldn't get yourself a hardcopy there may still be a couple left at the Otherwise Society Commons or you could check it out online here! The West Sound Socialist received fantastic submissions from our members. We’ve completed initial copy-editing, and Glynnis has valiantly spearheaded the design process. A print issue coming to a 3rd space near you soon! Committees and Subcommittees Outreach and Communication This sub-committee is one established by the steering committee to aid in the roles and responsibilities tasked to our membership coordinator. Work is ongoing to make this a full committee of its own. Our Outreach and Communications committee is nearing it's formal creation! The reason this committee is being formed is to ensure our message is received by as many people in the West Sound region as possible. This committee will also hold the responsibility of working with other organizations in events and actions in the foreseeable future. We're always looking to have more hands involved, so if you have graphic design, social media and/ or community outreach experience at any level, please reach out!  Electoral Committee Our committee is currently working on helping our comrade, Kristin, run for local state legislative office in any way we can, while also working on getting an electoral platform put together in the form of a voter guide for this upcoming election. Steering Thank you all for your continued support as we get into some busy planning times! We appreciate all the folks who have stepped up in leadership roles, we are looking forward to planning the upcoming chapter convention. A few of our members are looking to pass the torch of their role, so if you are wanting to take on the responsibilities of a chapter officer on the steering committee, please consider nominating yourself at the chapter convention! Your Steering Committee: Daniel Baca (Co-Chair) Ryan Cale (Electoral Committee) Sergio De Freitas Gomes (Electoral Committee) Kristin Lillegard (Membership Coordinator) Nick Schmitt (Secretary) Jared Sterling (Treasurer) Carlos Yosten (Co-Chair) Building A Resilient Kitsap (BARK) Take the survey and let us know if you are struggling, and help guide future prioritization of chapter goals! Afterwards, send the survey to a couple friends, coworkers, or local family members! BARK Survey Member Interest Survey Take the survey and tell us which of our current projects interests you! Survey Link In closing, We sincerely hope you enjoyed this deeper dive into our chapter, what we've accomplished, what's ongoing, and what is to be done moving forwards. Member and Solidarity Dues Our supplies, tools, organizing costs, and overall budget is entirely supported by your membership dues. Currently, aside from being a non-profit organization, we are also an entirely volunteer run group and are very happy keeping it that way! However, we would like more flexibility when it comes to planning events, hosting meetings, and exploring what it may take to get secure office space. We humbly ask that you consider increasing your monthly dues, and making sure that you have West Sound DSA listed as your local chapter, as this is how we get a portion of these recurring dues from National DSA. If you pay yearly dues, you are still a member of this chapter, but your dues do not contribute to us directly. If you do pay yearly dues, please consider switching to monthly so that our chapter can receive a portion of those dues! You may also want to consider upping your contribution to Solidarity Dues, where members commit to paying 1% of their annual income.  Check out dues options here. DSA Resources West Sound Democratic Socialists of America Check out our website for a calendar of events, community resources, our zine and more! Website Democratic Socialists of America Check out the site for National DSA! Website Kitsap Housing 4 All Check out the website of our longest standing working group, Kitsap Housing 4 All! Website Partner Resources KIAC Kitsap Immigration Assistance Network Volunteer to help translate, participate in accompaniment programs, or take an extensive training to help out families with legal processes. Website WAISN Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network Deportation Defense Hotline: 1-844-724-3737  Take a training and join their rapid response team! Website