2026 Savannah DSA Convention
Elections, resolutions, and what's next for the chapter
Updates as of 4/5/2026, 10:21 AM ET:
Added resolution: R26-004 -- Resolution Affirming Savannah DSA’s Commitment to Believing Survivors of Sexual Assault in Honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Added essay: Believing Survivors Means Building Something Better
Added essay: Think, Rebel
Added resolution: R26-005 – Savannah DSA Resolution for Restorative Justice, Membership Standing, and Survivor-Centered Accountability Policy
Added addition Steering Committee nominations from Melinda Workman, Lindsey Grovenstein, and Keyshawn Housey.
Added resolution: R26-006 - Developing Savannah DSA Members into Organizers
Added nomination of Jessie Herbert Jr. for Co-Chair.
Added convention standing rules for membership consideration.
Added consent agenda: CA26-01 - Establishment of Charters for the 2026-2027 Chapter Year
Welcome, Comrades.
It’s convention time! This Sunday, we come together as a membership body to decide the direction of our chapter for the next year, and I’m proud of what we’ve built to get here. Even if for a short time, it has been an honor serving as this chapter’s Co-Chair of the Steering Committee. I am beyond proud to be a member of such an amazing group of human beings. Over the years, we have grown so much... not just in numbers, but in commitment to our community, to the fight, to showing up and doing the work. The Housing Working Group’s grueling battle for Yamacraw Village. Mutual Aid Working Group’s commitment to serving the community every single Saturday without fail. Our brand new Labor Working Group already integrating with the working class and their unions. The Outreach and Engagement Committee dedicated to ensuring recruitment stays strong and new members stay plugged in. And I can’t wait to see how the Communications and Design Committee executes their agitprop mission to wake people up and shout the truth from the rooftops, since our media apparatus will not. And finally, our Electoral Committee and the Vote Kendra Clark Working Group -- two entities that could really use some more love and volunteers. Regardless of what you think about the electoral process, there’s no denying that the more socialists we have in elected office, the easier it will be to win victories in our fight for a socialist nation.
The current political climate we find ourselves in is one of the most dangerous and unprecedented many of us have seen in our lifetimes. Migrant communities are under direct attack. Queer people face an escalating campaign to erase them from public life. Racialized people across the Global South are bearing the weight of imperial violence that most of this country refuses to name. We are witnessing multiple genocides unfolding simultaneously -- in Palestine, in Congo, in Sudan -- and the machinery of US empire is complicit in every single one. And while none of this is new or something unique to a President of political party, our current administration is now operating off mask. Their intentions have been made clear: transform the United States into a White Christian Ethnocracy. But regardless of what is thrown at us, we will fight and we will win.
That’s exactly why this convention matters. Our dedication to the Democratic process isn’t just a technicality. It’s our vision for this nation’s future; a nation in which the people have the power. It’s how we decide, together, what we’re willing to fight for and how we fight for it. The decisions we make Sunday will shape our chapter’s work for the year ahead, and there may not be a more urgent time to get it right.
But it’s not all doom and gloom… here’s what keeps me going: we are not alone, and we are not losing. DSA hit 100,000 dues-paying members in February. We are the largest socialist organization this country has seen in over a century, doubling from 50,000 in just 16 months. Over 250 DSA members now hold elected office across the country. Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayor’s race as an open socialist -- the most significant socialist electoral victory in modern American history. In Portland, DSA members hold a third of the city council. In Milwaukee, a socialist won a council seat for the first time since 1948. Last October, 40 DSA delegates traveled to Cuba on a solidarity delegation, meeting with public health officials, climate activists, and Cuba’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, delivering hundreds of pounds of aid and strengthening the anti-embargo fight. This movement is growing, and it’s translating into power.
I’m excited to see what our membership body decides on Sunday and motivated to continue the fight into 2027. HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE.
In solidarity,
George Robles
Co-Chair, Savannah DSA Steering Committee
Featured Essays:
This Sunday, April 5th, Savannah DSA holds its 2026 Convention at The Sentient Bean from 7pm to 9pm. Convention is the single most important meeting of the year for the chapter. It’s where the membership body sets the direction of this chapter for the next twelve months. That means electing new leadership, voting on resolutions, hearing reports from every committee and working group, and deciding together what our priorities look like going into 2027.
If you’ve never been to a convention before, here’s what you need to know. Convention is governed by Robert’s Rules and operates under the same rules as a General Meeting. You’ll hear officer reports, followed by elections for all five Steering Committee seats, followed by resolutions. Every dues-paying member in good standing can speak, vote, and bring motions to the floor. Comrades who are not members in good standing are invited to observe.
Members in Good Standing: Please review the AGENDA and the STANDING RULES. Both will be voted upon at the start of the convention.
Logistics:
Location: The Sentient Bean, 13 E Park Ave., Savannah, GA 31401
Time: Doors open at 7pm.
When you arrive, scan the QR code to check in. If you’re not sure whether your dues are current, verify your membership status before Sunday at savgadsa.org/membership-proof. Only members in good standing may vote or hold office.
There will be food, snacks, and refreshments -- come fed or come hungry, either way.
Steering Committee Elections
All five Steering Committee seats are up for election at convention. These are the people who will execute the will of the membership, coordinate chapter operations, and represent Savannah DSA for the next year. The positions are:
Co-Chair (2 seats), Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Coordinator
Declared candidates as of last update:
Co-Chair: George “Robo” Robles, Melinda Workman, Keyshawn Housey, Jessie Herbert Jr.
Secretary: Ryan Powell (ineligible as of this writing due to membership status)
Treasurer: Melinda Workman, Michael Helmicki
Membership Outreach: Melinda Workman, Lindsey Grovenstein
Vacant seats!
Potentially Secretary (should Ryan Powell not attain membership)
Nominations remain open through convention. If you’ve been thinking about stepping into leadership, this is the time. Talk to a Steering Committee member before Sunday or nominate yourself from the floor. We need people willing to do the work.
Proposed Resolutions
The following resolutions will be brought before the membership for consideration. Motivation and deliberation will occur at the convention, but voting will take place over OpaVote after the in-person portion of the convention ends.
R26-001 -- Resolution to Rescind the Moratorium on Hosting Events at YourSpace
Rescinds a prior moratorium whose underlying basis no longer exists and restores YourSpace as an available organizing space for the chapter, its committees, and working groups.
R26-002 -- Resolution to Adopt a New Chapter Logo
Proposes a new pirate-motif chapter logo reflecting Savannah’s maritime history and democratic pirate traditions, grounded in the rose as a symbol of democratic socialism.
R26-003 -- Savannah DSA Restorative Justice and Membership Standing Policy
Establishes a chapter policy framework for restorative justice and protections for membership standing in connection with pending criminal charges.
R26-004 -- Resolution Affirming Savannah DSA's Commitment to Believing Survivors of Sexual Assault in Honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Affirms the chapter's commitment to believing survivors, centers non-carceral accountability, and calls for annual political education on the intersection of economic justice and sexual violence.
R26-005 -- Savannah DSA Resolution for Restorative Justice, Membership Standing, and Survivor-Centred Accountability Policy
Combines and expands upon R26-003 and R26-004 into a unified policy framework establishing restorative justice protections for membership standing, survivor-centered (vs survivor-led) accountability processes, and the chapter’s commitment to believing survivors – grounded in the 2021 National DSA Convention’s direction on abolitionist and transformative justice.
R26-006 -- Developing Savannah DSA Members into Organizers: A Path to Building and Sustaining Membership & Leaders
Establishes a chapter-wide system for onboarding, training, and developing members into organizers, including a membership assessment, centralized engagement tracking, and a political education pipeline to address retention, prevent burnout, and build durable leadership.
CA26-01 -- Establishment of Charters for the 2026-2027 Chapter Year
Approves the written charters for all chapter committees and working groups seeking first-time establishment or annual renewal. This consent agenda item ensures all groups maintain clear missions, scopes of work, and ongoing alignment with overarching chapter priorities and resources for the upcoming year.
Submit resolutions and amendments to info@savgadsa.org
Organizing is about the fight for a better world, but it also about the community we are fighting for. The art we make, share, and put into the world is part of how we build culture, tell our story, and reach people who might never show up to a General Meeting but will stop and stare at a poster on a telephone pole.
This issue features the work of Bonnie Jo, whose designs you’ve already seen on our ICE sticker campaign and across chapter materials. Her work pulls from a tradition of movement art that demands you look at it. The pieces featured here speak for themselves.
We want to see what our comrades and community are making. If you’re creating art, photography, poetry, design, zines, or anything else that speaks to the fight -- send it our way. We’ll feature member and community work in future issues of The People’s Report. Submit to Communications & Design Committee at communications.design@savgadsa.org with “Art Submission” in the subject line.
ICE is escalating enforcement operations across the South. Just because it’s not on the news, doesn’t mean people are safe here in Georgia. Georgia was the 4th-highest state for ICE arrests in 2025, with over 8,000 people taken into custody. Workplace raids, traffic stops, and courthouse arrests are designed to make migrant communities feel like nowhere is safe. This sticker campaign is one way the community can push back.
The concept is simple. Businesses display a sticker in their window that reads: “ICE Agents Not Welcome.” It tells ICE agents they cannot enter without a judicial warrant and it tells the migrant community that this business stands with its neighbors.
Business owners have the legal right to refuse entry to anyone without a judicial warrant. ICE relies on the assumption that people don’t know their rights or are too afraid to assert them. It is our voices that break that strategy.
The stickers were designed by Bonnie Jo and printed by Clash Printing in Atlanta, a PPPWU1 Local 527M print shop.
Know a business willing to put one up? Own one yourself? Email us at info@savgadsa.org and we’ll get a sticker to them. If you’re a patron of a shop, restaurant, or bar that you think would be receptive, reach out to them first, then let us know. A recommendation from a regular customer goes further than a cold knock from an organization they’ve never heard of.
Never miss out on chapter events. Subscribe to our calendar HERE.
April 3rd, 6pm - 8pm: Comms & Design Social at the Wormhole.
April 4th, 10am - 1pm: Zine Folding Party at Mailbox Cafe.
April 5th, 7pm - 9pm: The 2026 Savannah DSA Convention at The Sentient Bean!
April 8th, 6pm - 7pm: Migrant Rights WG - Rapid Response Training
RECURRING:
Every Saturday and Sunday, 1pm: Vote Kendra Clark Working Group canvassing.
Every Saturday, 2pm - 5pm: Mutual Aid Sharing on the corner of East 37th St & Waters Ave
Every Friday, 6pm - 7pm: Comms & Design Committee meeting (Zoom)
Last Sunday of the month, 6pm: Labor Working Group meeting (Zoom)
Every 2nd and 4th Sunday, 3pm: Book Club at Starland Yard
Every 3rd Wednesday of the month, 7pm: Outreach Committee Meeting
Printing Packing Production Workers Union