Stay Alert, Be Prepared, and Stand In Solidarity

The largest firestorm in Los Angeles history has killed 11 people and counting, destroyed thousands of homes, and displaced hundreds of thousands of Angelenos. It is January, well outside of fire season. Only a tenth of the typical rain has fallen in Southern California, making the hurricane force Santa Ana winds hot and dry. Ash has fallen across the entire region for three days. Smoke blankets Los Angeles, making it hard to breathe. The destruction is widespread. Everyone knows someone who has lost their home. This wildfire complex is unlike anything this region has ever seen. 

This emergency is not over. The Santa Ana winds will pick up again early next week. Sign up to volunteer, and take a look at our Emergency Wildfire Resource Guide at dsa.la/emergency for direction on how to Stay Alert, Be Prepared, and Stand In Solidarity.

The capitalist ruling class set the conditions for this disaster, at the expense of the lives and livelihoods of the working class. Fossil fuel companies have spent decades lying to the public and buying favors from elected officials, only to leave us with a planet on the brink of climate disaster. Our governments have favored overspending on police militarization and the carceral state, while underfunding emergency preparedness and climate protection operations. Wealthy developers and real estate speculators have placed profits before human needs and sustainable urban development, creating the fuel for runaway mass fires here in Los Angeles. 

Working people are holding communities together in this disaster. Right now, as the fires burn across the region, working class Angelenos operate essential services -- in grocery stores, restaurants, schools, gas stations, hotel front desks, and pharmacies. While billionaires pay private firefighters thousands per day to siphon public water to protect mansions and capital, working Angelenos depend on incarcerated firefighters making only dollars a day to save their homes and lives. After the flames subside, it will be working-class Angelenos leading the charge to clear the rubble and start building our city back up.

As socialists we demand more for our planet, our communities, and our future. Climate change is an ever-present threat in Los Angeles. We must organize to win a world prepared to respond to climate disaster, and rebuild Los Angeles to meet our needs, not the needs of speculators and developers. It is up to all of us to build a Los Angeles that protects our communities from climate catastrophe.

An Update on Leadership Elections

Due to the ongoing devastation from wildfires across LA County, the DSA-LA Nominations Committee has rescheduled the Subgroup Leadership Election and Candidate Forum — forum to be held on Jan. 16 with voting period now Jan. 17-24.

This election will determine the new leads for some of the most pivotal work we do as an organization in our many subgroups, including committees (such as Climate Justice & Political Education) and campaign working groups (such as our Power to the Tenants campaign). 

Candidates have been announced for each group (view them all here), and before the election launches, we have rescheduled the candidate forum to Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7 pm on Zoom to get to know the comrades running and to learn about their visions for their subgroup's work. Join and participate in DSA-LA democratic process!

Ballots for the election will be sent via email the following day, on Friday, Jan. 19, and the election will run through 11:59 pm on Friday, Jan. 24. Winners will be announced the following day on Saturday, Jan. 25.

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