In Seattle, a bill advanced by socialist city council member Kshama Sawant has outlawed caste discrimination. She and Cornel West argue in Jacobin that the law is a victory against oppression.
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Kshama Sawant
@cmkshama
Seattle City Councilmember • Socialist • Member of Socialist Alternative • kshama.sawant@seattle.gov
SeattleJoined January 2014
Kshama Sawant’s Tweets
Seattle’s experience shows winning winning a ban on caste discrimination will require movements to boldly cut through the obfuscation & attacks by the right wing & tell elected officials the only progressive vote is a yes to banning caste discrimination.
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Socialist Alternative and I stand in solidarity with and all City of Seattle public sector union members in demanding #RSPCTForCityWorkers - shame on Democratic Party Mayor Harrell for insisting that they take an effective pay cut.
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./: "#Seattle’s new law is a victory against caste oppression and against the right-wing Hindu fundamentalist movement. We need to build on this powerful step forward." jacobin.com/2023/04/seattl #UnitedStates
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Indian American Seattle Council member Kshama Sawant sends a letter to California state legislators, calling on them to vote ‘Yes’ on a bill to ban caste discrimination in the state.
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Students organized as the and fought back to help win the historic WA assault weapons ban.
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This Tuesday, let's win a $10/month cap on late rent fees in Seattle! Link in communication to #RentersRights community movement: send an email to City Council to demand $10 cap on late fees. 👇🏼 mailchi.mp/seattle/this-t
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From 2001 to 2011, renter incomes fell. Rents kept rising. Renters took a huge hit during the Great Recession, leaving median incomes 15% below their 2001 level.
From 2019 to 2021, median household income dipped 2%. Median rent rose 3% in real terms.
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Send your emails now! Renters are skipping meals to pay rent while landlords make 30% profit, and Council Democrats say they're being "reasonable" by watering down renter protections. They will always side with the landlord lobby unless we force them to stand with us!
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Seattle renters: If you haven't emailed City Council yet, please send an email now! Urge them to reverse their regressive amendment and vote YES to cap late rent fees at $10/month, not $50: mailchi.mp/seattle/this-t
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Democrats on have a clear choice: will they stand with renters and or do the bidding of corporate landlords? Time to cap late fees at $10!
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Seattle renters: If you haven't emailed City Council yet, please send an email now! Urge them to reverse their regressive amendment and vote YES to cap late rent fees at $10/month, not $50: mailchi.mp/seattle/this-t
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Seattle renters: If you haven't emailed City Council yet, please send an email now! Urge them to reverse their regressive amendment and vote YES to cap late rent fees at $10/month, not $50: mailchi.mp/seattle/this-t
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Renters & are fighting to cap late rent fees at $10/month. City Council Democrats gifted the landlord lobby with a $50 cap instead. That $40 difference matters for struggling renters who are literally going hungry, not for rich landlords.
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“Progressive” council member Andrew Lewis sided with landlords in watering down a bill to cap late fees at $10 for renters, but there's still time for him to change his mind.
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All of this, paired w/ the banking collapses of March, indicate a rough year ahead. Workers have the ability to fight against this! All of these companies have brought in record $$$ in recent years. They don’t have to fire these workers, but are doing so to protect their profits.
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This was in response to the layoffs, but also calling Google out for having fired members of the Alphabet Union in apparent union busting efforts. These are just some of the layoffs that have haunted tech this year, bringing back fears of layoffs like those in 08/09 and 2020.
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So far, over 9,000 Amazon tech workers have been laid off this year. Just last week, hundreds of Apple workers were laid off. Roughly 12,000 workers at Google will be laid off globally in the coming months, which spurred a protest at the NYC office in February, which we joined.
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Across the country, effects of the failing economy and coming recession are being felt. The tech industry, where corporations have made record profits during the pandemic, shows how billionaires are already trying to make workers pay for the costs of this crisis.
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In an exclusive interaction with WION's , Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant (), an Indian-American, explained how the issue is fast becoming a concern in the US where there are thousands of Indian Americans
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Democrats 'CM's Strauss, Lewis, Pedersen, Juarez & Nelson voted against the increase [of the #AmazonTax on Big Business, a tax won by the socialist Council office of CM Kshama Sawant & the Tax Amazon mvmt] w/o explanation. CM Herbold [Democrat] abstained, also w/o comment.'
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This attack shamefully comes just one week after Trans Day of Visibility. The Democratic Party is a graveyard for our movements. Workers Strike Back is fighting for a new party that will stand firmly w/ all workers & against oppression. Join the fight now:
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Biden & his allies are trying to spin his transphobic attack as “prohibiting blanket bans on transgender athletes.” In reality, Biden’s order is a huge attack that allows schools to ban trans athletes on so-called "educational grounds”, "for fairness", or other reasons.
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Yesterday the Biden administration, which claims to support LGBTQ people, opened the door to wide-ranging bans on trans students participating in school sports. Let's be clear: this is a capitulation to the right wing & an attack on trans people carried out by the Democrats.
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Great new email from exposing the rotten role of so-called “labor Democrat” Andrew Lewis & other Seattle Dems who voted against a $10/mo cap on late rent fees yesterday
The full council vote is April 18! Send an email NOW to demand a $10/mo cap: mailchi.mp/seattle/ask-ci
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The full City Council will vote April 18 on our rental late fee cap bill.
Rhe committee vote today shows renters can win when we fight & when we have our own independent political representation.
We’ll need an even stronger movement to win rent control!
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The fact that even the shameful Democrats representing landlord greed were forced to vote yes to cap renter late fees to $50 is testament to what's possible when renters & workers fight back & how crucial Socialist Alternative's Council office has been.
twitter.com/cmkshama/statu
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The fact that even the shameful Democrats representing landlord greed were forced to vote yes to cap renter late fees to $50 is testament to what's possible when renters & workers fight back & how crucial Socialist Alternative's Council office has been.
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Today in the Renters' Rights Committee I chair, Democrats Nelson, Juarez, Lewis shamefully watered down our $10/month late fee cap legislation at the behest of the landlord lobby. They took this gratuitously anti-renter step despite an overwhelming amount of statistical data.
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Today in the Renters' Rights Committee I chair, Democrats Nelson, Juarez, Lewis shamefully watered down our $10/month late fee cap legislation at the behest of the landlord lobby. They took this gratuitously anti-renter step despite an overwhelming amount of statistical data.
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AFGE local 3197 endorsed a resolution in support of #RentControl legislation from CM Sawant’s office in 2019. Today brings forward legislation to cap late fees on rent at $10. This is a labor issue of benefit to workers, families, seniors, veterans & community.
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Councilmember Lewis just voted against Sawant’s proposal to cap late rent fees at $10/month. He voted w/ Nelson & the landlords to make renters pay more. Completely shameful. I don’t care that he walks and rides a bike while screwing renters.
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However you feel about him, I see Andrew Lewis out downtown walking, biking, supporting local business more than anyone else in Seattle politics. It’s one thing to say you support downtown recovery & another to take part in that recovery and I respect that part of him immensely.
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Landlords claim they get charged late fees if they miss mortgage payments.
Truth: most mortgages have a 15-day grace period for late payment.
Landlords charging $250 on the 5th of the month, or $50/day until late rent is paid (which is common, are blatant exploiting renters.
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To explain why renters outnumber homeowners, Democratic Councilmembers have claimed young people don’t want to own homes.
Unsurprisingly, the truth is that a large majority of young people want to own homes, but are unable to, due to financial obstacles.
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My politics have significantly changed since I woke up for this sunrise session at a library conference in '15 but I'm so glad to see standing for workers in support of the historic anti caste discrimination bill led by & expanding to my birth state of CA.
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Hello #California! As a world-renowned philosopher, scholar, and civil rights activist, Professor @CornelWest voice carries immense weight. He is calling for your support of California Bill SB 403, a crucial step towards eradicating #caste discrimination in the state. @dalitdiva
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Hello #California! As a world-renowned philosopher, scholar, and civil rights activist, Professor voice carries immense weight. He is calling for your support of California Bill SB 403, a crucial step towards eradicating #caste discrimination in the state.
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As we celebrate #DalitHistoryMonth this April, I'm super proud to share our latest podcast episode with - the woman behind the historic Seattle legislation to include caste in the anti-discrimination policy. 1/n
Spotify:
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#NLInterview | "Dalit tech workers face casteism in US"
Catch Kshama Sawant (), the Indian American politician who is at the helm of historic legislation in Seattle, in a conversation with
about the intricacies of caste in the US
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Meet Kshama Sawant (), the Indian American politician who is at the helm of historic legislation in Seattle
In an exclusive conversation with , the India-born engineer and economist details the intricacies of caste in the US
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Meet Kshama Sawant (), the Indian American politician who is at the helm of historic legislation in Seattle
In an exclusive conversation with , the India-born engineer and economist details the intricacies of caste in the US
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#NLInterview | "Dalit tech workers face casteism in US"
Catch Kshama Sawant (), the Indian American politician who is at the helm of historic legislation in Seattle, in a conversation with about the intricacies of caste in the US
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Late fees for overdue rents are like a penalty for the crime of being poor and short on money.
We need a $10 MONTHLY cap on all late fees. Sign the petition now and send an email to City Council Democrats demanding they vote YES: mailchi.mp/seattle/sign-t
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Replying to
Congratulations for your tremendous leadership on this ordinance from inception to victory! Congratulations all Ambedkarite/Dalit/Bahujan/Muslim/Sikh organizations for supporting. Jaibhim
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