Recent Happenings
Opposing Alligator Alcatraz
On Sunday, July 20, over 40 activists gathered at Subculture Coffee in West Palm Beach to launch a campaign against “Alligator Alcatraz,” a cruel and inhumane detention center.
The action, organized by the anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist group One Struggle, aims to pressure businesses and politicians to sever ties with the facility. First steps include contacting companies that provide services to AA—find the email list here:
Attendees included members of Community Hotline for Incarcerated People (CHIP), Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), Solidarity FAU, Palm Beach DSA, and others. One Struggle previously collaborated with Palm Beach DSA during our 2022 “Rent is Too Damn High” rally in Lake Worth.
Tri-Rail Funding Threatened
“They managed to build a detention center in the middle of the Everglades” for $450 million to $600 million, he said, “and we don’t have $40 million for public transportation,” referencing the state-made-and-run immigration jail in Collier County for alleged undocumented immigrants, which Republican state officials call “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Thousands of people depend on Tri-Rail every day for transportation. If we don’t have Tri-Rail, these people will congest the roadways, and some of them won’t be able to travel at all. Instead of funding Tri-Rail, which is actually needed, used, and appreciated by Miami, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, the State of Florida has decided to fund an unneeded and unwanted detention center in our state parks as a cruel stunt.
Our tax dollars should go towards our needed services, not political stunts nobody wants. We depend on Tri-Rail.
The board governing Tri-Rail, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, will meet July 25 to discuss what to do next. That public meeting will start at 8:30 a.m. online. The virtual meeting link online in the agenda file for the meeting at tri-rail.com/Meetings/Board Meetings.
Upcoming Events
South Florida Tri-Chapter Forum for NPC Candidates 8/2 Sunday, 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Zoom
With DSA Convention 2025 just around the corner, comrades from the South Florida chapters have shown an invigorated interest in the questions that will dominate the Convention floor, and which will ultimately be determinative (if not incredibly influential) of the paths our chapters take in the ensuing months.
Join us as we ask National Political Committee candidates questions on issues important to members in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami DSA in the lead up to the National Convention. Please email us at info@palmbeachdsa.org for more info.
Palm Beach DSA General Meeting 8/16 Saturday, 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
823 North A Street
Lake Worth Beach FL 33460
Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/GATNYoknTEO-D5ymJalrew
Secretary Vacancy
We have a vacancy for the Secretary position on the Steering Committee. Secretary responsibilities include taking notes during meetings, responding to chapter emails, and submitting state and federal paperwork. We are accepting nominations during our August General Meeting. Nominees must be members in good standing.
Membership Committee Meeting after General Meeting
Logo Design Contest
We’re looking for a new chapter logo that reflects our values, energy, and identity as the Palm Beach County chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. This logo will be used on social media, t-shirts, banners, flyers, and more, so we want it to be flexible, striking, and proudly socialist.
Whether you’re a seasoned designer or a creative comrade with a vision, we want to see your take!
Design Guidelines:
• Must include at least one recognizable symbol of DSA, such as the rose and/or the handshake (stylized or reimagined is fine).
• Include Palm Beach County (or a reference to it) in the design — this could be text or a creative visual element (e.g., palm trees, ocean, sunshine).
• Should be visually strong in both color and black-and-white.
• Must look good at various sizes, including: Social media profile pics, T-shirts and stickers, print and digital banners/flyers.
• Must be your original work (please do not use generative AI images or stock images)
• Fun, bold, clear, and cool — something people will be proud to wear and rally behind!
Submission Requirements
• Submit in PNG or JPG format for review.
• If selected, you must be able to provide a vector file (SVG, AI, or EPS).
• Optional: submit a short explanation of your design (max 150 words) — your vision, symbolism, or style choices.
Timeline
• Submission Deadline: August 16 (by General Meeting)
• Voting for new Logo will b at September General Meeting
Membership Committee Meeting Saturday, August 16 @ 3PM
We’re building a socialist base in Palm Beach County—and we want you to be part of it. Join us Saturday, August 16 at 3:00 PM at the Quaker Meeting House for a conversation about the future of our chapter’s Membership Committee.
At this meeting, we’ll be presenting a proposal to make membership work a sustained and strategic part of our chapter’s core activity. This includes:
- Onboarding and welcoming new members with intention and care
- Growing and sustaining our base through outreach and engagement
- Building a culture of belonging, accessibility, and political community
- Strengthening the infrastructure that keeps people connected and coming back
We know that a strong socialist movement starts with strong relationships—and that begins with how we bring people in and keep them engaged.
Whether you’re a longtime member or newly joined, this is a chance to give feedback, share your vision, and help shape how our chapter lives its values.
Let’s make our chapter a political home for everyone who wants to build power together. See you there!
Chapter Updates
Mutual Aid
Food Shares in Bryant Park are still happening twice a week. We share food every Thursday from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm and every Sunday from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm. We encourage all kinds of community members to help out. Please join the Chapter Discord server for more details.
Reading Group
There is no reading group meeting in July. Next meeting is next month.
We are reading American Exceptionalism and American Innocence: A People’s History of Fake News, by Roberto Sirvent and Danny Haiphong.
All meetings are on the PB DSA Reading Group DIscord Server. Ask Hazel F. or Rogelio P. for details.
Wednesday August 20 7 pm: Chapters 1-11
Wednesday September 17 7 pm: Chapters 12-21 and afterword
Did the U.S. really “save the world” in World War II? Should black athletes stop protesting and show more gratitude for what America has done for them? Are wars fought to spread freedom and democracy? Or is this all fake news?
American Exceptionalism and American Innocence examines the stories we’re told that lead us to think that the U.S. is a force for good in the world, regardless of slavery, the genocide of indigenous people, and the more than a century’s worth of imperialist war that the U.S. has wrought on the planet.
Sirvent and Haiphong detail just what Captain America’s shield tells us about the pretensions of U.S. foreign policy, how Angelina Jolie and Bill Gates engage in humanitarian imperialism, and why the Broadway musical Hamilton is a monument to white supremacy.
Library Workshop
Our first speaker event will be at the Palm Beach County Library, Hagen Ranch Road Branch west of Delray Beach. Topic and time TBD sometime in September. If you would like to suggest or present a topic that would be helpful for the community, reach out to us at info@palmbeachdsa.org
Convention in Chicago, August 8-9
https://convention2025.dsausa.org/
Donations
Our donation page is now live! If you can, please support us with a one-time or monthly donation.
https://palmbeachdsa.org/donations/
Member Poetry
Palm Beach DSA 2025
1:04am. Lake Worth Beach, FL
Florida
1. the part of the US
where the sun forgets mercy,
where sweat is the language
before speech,
where history is layered in limestone
pressure,
fossils,
silence.
You were all that I had
on days when the headlines screamed
Until I fell
On
the broken sidewalk
outside the payday loan office,
where someone scribbled love is a right
in pink chalk
before the rain came.
2. listen to the swamp
like a prophet
read mangroves as resistance
roots tangled
but holding,
always holding.
We met under a streetlight
that flickered like truth in Tallahassee.
You handed me a petition
like it was an invitation to stay alive.
And I did.
Stay.
Because of the way you said
“democracy
has to feel like belonging
or it isn’t real.”
I watched you write emails in your car
before canvassing
watched you press your palm
to a neighbor’s flooded porch,
blessing the water
but refusing to call it holy
until it was clean.
after the city council meeting
where we argued for trees
real ones
with shade
you hugged me
and I realized
your love language was global solidarity.
Poetry a food pantry,
socialism a southern accent.
Florida
dream dream dream
of solar panels on school roofs,
of buses that smell like citrus and safety,
of laws written slowly,
like lullabies.
There is a kind of love
that builds.
– XP SEAL
Solidarity Mangroves