The MLK Black Studies Book Club meets every first Saturday of the month to explore, engage, and discuss books from and relating to the Black radical tradition.

We will be reading classics from authors such as Martin Luther King JR., Malcolm X, WEB Dubois, James Baldwin, Audrey Lorde, as well as lesser known and contemporary works. Our scope will not be limited to the U.S. but will encompass an array of authors across the African diaspora and will challenge our conceptions of what Blackness is and what constitutes Black struggle as a whole. Please email MLK Library's Adult Services department at adultservices.dcpl@dc.gov to inquire about meetings and to be placed on the listserv. 

Do mutual aid with us! Join us at Baldwin House every other Saturday, 10:00 am-12:00 pm, for a mutual aid distribution table. Get resources out to the community including food, clothes, and other ad hoc needs. Our next mutual aid table is this Saturday, April 5.

“El Colectivo de Familias Migrantes tendrá una conferencia de prensa, Abril 4 a las 5pm en Lamont Plaza. Invitamos a toda la comunidad y todxs lxs aliadxs que se unan a exigir que se protejan los valores de santuario en DC. Por favor ayúdenos a pasar la voz. Empezamos el alcance mañana.

The Migrant Families Collective will hold a press conference on April 4th at 5pm at Lamont Plaza. We invite community members and allies to join us in demanding that sanctuary values be protected in DC. Please help us by spreading the word. We are starting canvassing tomorrow.”

We invite you to join us for a regional Youth Advocacy and Research Convening: Empowered through Research. This is an all-day, in-person event for young people throughout the DC-Virginia-Maryland (DMV) area who are involved in advocacy and research to share work with others, learn new methods and strategies, and build networks, coalitions, and friendships. 

We (The Youth Research Council) know there are so many amazing youth-driven organizations and projects working toward equity and justice in the DMV, and we want to create a space where we can learn about and from each other and strengthen our collective impact.

Please fill out this form to tell us a little about yourself and your interest in the event. We look forward to seeing you there! Feel free to send any questions you may have to yrc@gmu.edu and bethany.monea@udc.edu.

Join the Social Housing Working Group for its biweekly organizing meeting. Learn about its latest activities, what they're planning for the future, and how to get involved.

The Social Housing Working Group seeks to educate Metro DC DSA chapter members and the general public about social housing and to facilitate collective action in support of the passage and implementation of the Green New Deal for Housing Amendment Act.

The legislation proposes to create mixed-income, district-owned housing with market rate units that subsidize a larger number of affordable units. It's a pioneering approach that deepens affordability, invests surplus funds into the creation of more social housing, and locks-in financial sustainability. The bill also includes climate and labor standards and elected tenant boards with oversight over building management.

This event is open to both DSA Members and supporters.

Join the Repro Justice campaign as we meet to discuss our upcoming events, actions, and more. We will be going over our campaign, how you can get involved! RSVP for the zoom link.

Fair Budget Coalition will be holding 4 Testimony Prep workshops for budget oversight hearings – 2 for organizational members/paid advocates and 2 for community members/individuals. 

• These workshops are great for new advocates, folks who haven't testified before, and folks who want to brush up on their skills. We can help you figure out what you'd like to testify about and how to do it!

• Registration links and times:

  • For individuals and community members:

    • Wednesday, April 2, 5 – 7 pm, Register

    • Thursday, April 10, 5:30 – 7:30 pm, Register

  • For organizational members and paid advocates:

    • Wednesday, April 2, 4 – 5:30 pm, Register

    • Wednesday, April 9, 10 – 11:30 am, Register 

Fair Budget Coalition will be holding 4 Testimony Prep workshops for budget oversight hearings – 2 for organizational members/paid advocates and 2 for community members/individuals. 

• These workshops are great for new advocates, folks who haven't testified before, and folks who want to brush up on their skills. We can help you figure out what you'd like to testify about and how to do it!

• Registration links and times:

  • For individuals and community members:

    • Wednesday, April 2, 5 – 7 pm, Register

    • Thursday, April 10, 5:30 – 7:30 pm, Register

  • For organizational members and paid advocates:

    • Wednesday, April 2, 4 – 5:30 pm, Register

    • Wednesday, April 9, 10 – 11:30 am, Register 

Join our Bee Hive fundraising community for a potluck at Baldwin House. You'll get to see the project firsthand and hang out in person with the full Bee Hive! You can sign up to join the Bee Hive fundraising sprint with this form. We'll eat, learn, strategize, and connect with other members of the Beehive. We'll gather at Baldwin House in our outdoor space (2572 Sherman Ave NW) from 6:30 pm-8:00 pm.

This is the bi-weekly meeting of Metro DC DSA's Trans/Queer Liberation Campaign. RSVP to receive the Zoom link and join us to discuss ongoing efforts such as Project Sanctuary, our Gender & Name Change Clinics, and more!

In May 2023, community members in DC's Shaw/U st Neighborhood successfully purchased an apartment building after two years of dedicated community organizing. Not only were they able to take the building out of the hands of the would-be corporate developer, but they are now using the space to build a community service center, or mutual aid hub, as well as permanent affordable housing.

Join members of this project, Baldwin House, to discuss how they accomplished this and what shifting our economy means for collective liberation. This virtual webinar will take place on Monday, March 31st, at 6 PM and is also a fundraiser for Baldwin House.

Our partners at ACLU Maryland are fighting back against a secret deal between Montgomery County and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) that blocks public access to police misconduct records—undermining Anton’s Law. On March 31, 2025, from 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM, we’re heading to court to stop it, and we need YOU to show up!

Join us in community and solidarity for our Trans Day of Vision 2025 potluck picnic and rally in Malcolm X park! Share your vision and what liberation means to you as we loudly proclaim that visibility and polite requests for acceptance are not enough. It is time to loudly proclaim, and demand, our vision of a fully liberated society and our place within!

Music, games, food, community and solidarity on a beautiful spring afternoon. Updates with details will follow.

Join comrades in this anti-eviction canvas! Come out and inform tenants facing eviction of their rights in court, how to get a lawyer, and to see if they're interested in organizing their building. Tenants we speak to are twice as likely to go to court and fight their eviction, so every volunteer can make a big impact.

We’ll meet at the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station on the D street exit between 6th and 7th above the escalators (if the weather is bad, we'll be downstairs just before the turnstiles). At 1:30 PM we’ll have a short training to explain why these canvasses are necessary, how to talk to tenants about their upcoming eviction suits, and how to fill in walk-sheets. We’ll then hand out walk-sheets and set you up with a partner — if you’ve never done this before, we’ll try to set you up with a veteran who can show you the ropes!

If you have a car, please drive it down to the meeting spot! Cars are helpful for getting canvassers to metro-inaccessible areas. (Parking near L’Enfant Plaza is a bit tricky, but doable!) If you’re interested in our work but can’t canvass, reach out to tenants@mdcdsa.org to learn about other ways to get involved.

We will KICK-OFF our picket and economic education on Saturday, March 29, 2025 from 11 am – 2pm at the TARGET store at 14th and Irving Streets, Northwest. All groups and organizations working towards economic and racial justice are being urged to choose a Saturday to organize a picket, speak out and make your presence known.

Free DC is hosting a Community Art Build day and we want you to come be part of it! Join us on Saturday, March 29 any time between 10 AM and 3 PM to paint banners, print posters, press buttons, and learn the skills it takes to make our demands seen as well as heard!

This event will have facilitated art activities for kids and we’ll provide snacks and pizza lunch. Plus, bring your own t-shirts, totes or other fabric items to get screenprinted with the Free DC logo.

We will be working with permanent paint and ink so if you plan to participate, be sure to wear clothing you don’t mind getting messy.

Courtwatch DC is a growing DC-based program that provides the space and training for the community to observe local court proceedings in the District of Columbia and document our city’s policies in action and to hold judicial actors accountable for injustice in the court system.

Courtwatch DC is powered by Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, with support from the ACLU-DC, DC Justice Lab, and DC IWOC and was founded and led by formerly incarcerated Black women.

Courtwatching is a form of mutual aid. Inspired by Courtwatch PG, we strive to ensure that our community of Courtwatchers is multigenerational, multiracial, anti-racist, and moving towards an abolitionist future.

In this Socialist Night School, led by Pranay Somayajula of the Internationalism Working Group and Hindus for Human Rights, we will learn about the Hindutva (Hindu nationalist/supremacist) movement that currently holds power in India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, and which has been described as “the world’s longest running fascist movement.” We will examine the movement’s key ideological tenets and historical development over the last 100 years, charting its rise to political power in India and its expansion to other countries of the Indian diaspora, including the United States. We’ll also explore how the Hindu right has made inroads and alliances with other far-right movements in the U.S., from Zionists to white Christian nationalists, and the role that the Hindu supremacist ecosystem plays as a key node in America’s increasingly multiracial far-right as we enter a second Trump era.

This session is co-sponsored by the Metro DC DSA Internationalism Working Group and Hindus for Human Rights.

Questions? Accommodation requests? Email policaleducation@mdcdsa.org.

Join our upcoming advocacy training on March 27th at 6:00 pm.

The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) is a fundamental tenant right that gives tenants the power to decide the future of their housing if the owner of their building decides to sell the property. It is crucial right now that we come together to spread awareness about the rights that tenants in DC have under TOPA and that we stand against any policies that undermines TOPA as a basic right for all tenants in DC.

If you have exercised your TOPA rights in the past, would like to learn more about your TOPA rights, or care about the protection of tenant rights and affordable housing in DC, don't miss this opportunity to gather with other DC residents to learn how we can preserve TOPA rights for all DC residents.

Join Empower DC on Thursday, March 27 at 4pm on Zoom for a Know Your Rights training around building conditions and repairs for renters. Learn about DC tenants’ rights related to decent housing conditions and ways to take action to secure livable housing, free from hazards for you and your neighbors. RSVP here.

We have partnered with Suns Cinema (an independent movie theater in Mt. Pleasant) for a movie and bar fundraiser on Wednesday, March 26th.

Get tickets to the 7:00 pm movie or come throughout the night and have a drink with Baldwin House organizers (non-alcoholic options available). A portion of the ticket sales for the movie and a portion of the bar sales for the night will be donated to Baldwin House.

Join the Repro Justice campaign as we meet to discuss our upcoming events, actions, and more. We will be going over our campaign, how you can get involved! RSVP for the zoom link.

“No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.” - Marsha P Johnson

Are you a new supporter of the LGBTQIA community? Join HWD to learn basic terminology, and discuss current political debates on LGBTQIA and examples of Black Queer Feminism.

Are you a people’s history buff?

Join us on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, for a fun night of questions and answers about the history often missing from textbooks—the role of women, people of color, labor, and other social movements.

Teams of up to 6 players (teams can be formed on site). Space is limited. RESERVE YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

The event is hosted by Teaching for Change, with cosponsors, at Busboys and Poets in Takoma (235 Carroll St NW) as part of the monthly Beyond Heroes and Holidays series.

Are you impacted by recent government budget cuts?

Do you have a strategy for housing?

Join our youth partners at Black Swan Academy for their Black Youth Agenda (BYA) Town Hall on Tuesday, March 25!

At this youth-led event, Black youth will speak directly to the systems that impact their lives—offering real solutions rooted in their lived experience.

Topics include: Housing, Violence and Access to Youth Resources

DC is at a pivotal moment as it faces several simultaneous threats to its ability to maintain essential services—and the residents they support—amid deep economic inequality. Now more than ever, we must come together to protect DC’s transformative programs and push for greater investments in racial and economic opportunity.  

Join the DC Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI) for a Lunch & Learn webinar, “Policy at a Crossroads: Threats, Opportunities, and the Human Cost in DC.” This timely discussion will explore the biggest policy challenges facing the District, opportunities to advance bold solutions, what’s at stake for residents—and how you can make a difference!  

Event Details: 

Date: March 25, 2025  Time: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM ET  Location: Virtual (Zoom) 

What You’ll Gain: 

• A deep dive into federal threats, local pressures, and economic shifts affecting DC’s Black, brown, immigrant, and low-income communities. 

• Stories from partners on the ground highlighting the potential human cost of pending threats and mobilizing in response.  

• Opportunities for advocacy—how you can push back against these attacks and support people-centered policies.  

•  A chance to engage with the DCFPI team during a live Q&A. 

We hope you’ll join us for this important conversation. RSVP today to secure your spot and stay informed on how you can help shape DC’s future. 

The Reel and Meal film series at the New Deal Café (113 Centerway, Greenbelt MD) presents the film How I Got Over on March 24 at 7pm. The film depicts the deep traumas of 15 formerly homeless and incarcerated African-American women in DC as they grapple with the social causes of their plight and transform their experiences into a sold-out performance at the Kennedy Center. The documentary covers the group’s development over 12 weeks — from acting novices to crafting an original play based on their lives through The Theater Lab’s “Life Stories” program. Deb Gottesman, Co-Founder/Co-Director of The Theater Lab at the Kennedy Center, will lead the discussion following the film. Register here to attend the film screening virtually.