Barbara Joye

Barbara Joye

Barbara Joye moved to Atlanta from New York City in 1966. She taught college English for several years before serving in a series of public policy research and communications jobs for government and nonprofit agencies, including a year in Washington DC with the Safe Energy Communications Council. She recently retired from the State of Georgia’s Department of Human Resources, Office of Communications.

She is married to Reid Jenkins.

Background

When she arrived at Vassar for her freshman year (1959-60) "I was disappointed that there were no progressive organizations on campus ­ until that spring, when students sat in at the Greensboro, NC Woolworths."

The four (!) black students at Vassar organized about 100 of us to hold a solidarity picket in front of the Poughkeepsie Woolworths. I was thrilled by the realization that my actions, however small, could make a difference. A few weeks later I attended a meeting of northern student sit-in supporters, where I met my future husband, a democratic socialist who was working with Bayard Rustin¹s Committee to Defend Martin Luther King (King was being harassed by the IRS). I went on to start a Vassar chapter of Students for a Democratic Society and helped organize volunteers for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. I was hooked on activism.

Activism

In Atlanta Joye volunteered for the city’s “underground” newspaper, The Great Speckled Bird, the Atlanta Independent Media Center and the community radio station WRFG-FM. A veteran of Students for a Democratic Society and Movement for a Democratic Society in the ‘60’s, she has been active in various progressive groups, including an affiliate of the Mexico Solidarity Network, Amnesty International, Women’s Action for New Directions and the U.S. Social Forum.

Supporting Peltier

Barbara Joye, Leonard Peltier, Reid Jenkins, Leavenworth 2000

Democratic Socialists of America

She is now in her second term as recording secretary for Metro Atlanta-Democratic Socialists of America and serves on the National Political Committee of national DSA.

Atlanta DSA Conference delegate

Five Metro Atlanta DSA members served as delegates to the Democratic Socialists of America biennial national convention, held in Evanston, Illinois in mid-November 2009: Jess Bowling, Barbara Joye, Barbara Landay, Milt Tambor and Jorge A. Lawton.

DSA NPC member

At the Democratic Socialists of America 2009 National Convention Evanston, Illinois November 13-15, 2009, a new National Political Committee was elected;

• Theresa Alt
• David Duhalde
• Stuart Elliott
• Virginia Franco
• Paul Garver
• David Green
• Seth Hutchinson
• Barbara Joye
• Simone Morgen
• Michele Rossi
• Jason Schulman
• Joseph Schwartz
• Herb Shore
• Maria Svart
• Rannfrid Thelle

Atlanta Fighting Foreclosure Coalition

Formed in April 2009 following a community forum at the First Iconium Baptist Church, By late 2010 the Atlanta Fighting Foreclosure Coalition represented 41 member organizations: labor unions; civil rights, civil liberties, human rights and peace and justice groups; homeless shelters; and faith-based organizations.

In late 2010, the Coalition co-chairs were:

• Charlie Flemming (Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council)
• Vincent Fort (State Senator),
• Barbara Joye (Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America)
• Dianne Mathiowetz (International Action Center)
• Rev Tim McDonald (First Iconium Baptist Church)
• Larry Pellegrini (Georgia Rural Urban Summit)
• Eric Richardson (Communication Workers of America Local 3204)
• Milt Tambor (Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America).

Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America officers

2008 officers:

• Secretary Norm Markel
• Recording Secretary Barbara Joye
• Treasurer Austin Wattles
• Steering committee members; Jeff Bragg, Robert Caine, Carol Coney and Kriston Coney, Kempton Haynes, Henry Kahn, Larry Keating, Barbara Landay,Charles Pierce, Barbara Segal and Paul Segal, Adam Shapiro
• Webmaster Robert Wohlheuter

DSA 2011 leadership

Elected to serve on the Democratic Socialists of America National Political Committee – the leadership body described as “the engine room of the organization”, in November 2011, were;

• Theresa Alt (Ithaca, NY)
• Stuart Elliott (Wichita, KS)
• Paul Garver (Boston, MA),
• Virginia Franco (San Diego, CA)
• David Green (Detroit, MI)
• Barbara Joye (Atlanta, GA)
• Frank Llewellyn (New York, NY),
• Dan Michniewicz (Pinckney, MI)
• Simone Morgen (Columbus, OH),
• Joseph Schwartz (Philadelphia, PA)
• Peg Strobel (Chicago, IL)

Plus the two YDS co-chairs, Sean Monahan (Philadelphia, PA) and Jackie Sewell (Lawrence, KS).

2011 DSA National Conference

Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America delegates attending the November 11-13, 2011 National Convention in the Washington DC area included Barbara Joye, Jorge A. Lawton, Minnie Ruffin, Milt Tambor and Bob Wohlheuter.

MLK Day Parade: DSA and Georgia for Bernie Contingent

Atlanta Monday 18 January 2016, MLK Day Parade: "DSA and Georgia for Bernie Contingent" organized by Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America

Those indicating intention to attend on Wherevent included Kelly Rhyne, Scott Darce, Angela Noel, Julian Harden, Julius John Hayden III, Erica Darragh, Mazlum Koșma, Kylee Reed Fulton, Dougie Hanson, Nick Langley, Daniel Hanley, Lamarcus Davis, Josh Thurmond, Barbara Segal, Melissa O'Shields, Adam Leonard, Adam Cardo, Steve Wise, Mandie Turner Mitchell, Asher Emmanuel, Tim Franzen, Joshua Collins, Jamie Mize, Rebekah Joy, Josh Martin, Steve Gill, Michelle Jones, Shelley Elise Berlin, Caroline Mask, Adriana Barros-Woodward, Debra Poss, Glenda Arrington Poindexter, Denise Woodall, Peggy Stentz Casey, Arletta Faheemah Saafir, Barbara Joye, Beth Ensign.

Anti-Trump protest

According to Barbara Joye, January 30, 2017 started with a demonstration of solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux protest against the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) that threatens a major water source and sacred sites. A crowd of about 500, including Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America members Dani Atlanta, Barbara Joye, Daniel Hanley and Reid Jenkins, marched from a rally at Piedmont Park to another at the North Ave. MARTA station. Sierra Club lobbyist Neill Herring reminded us that the Sabal Trail pipeline under construction through our state will take gas from fracking in Alabama to Florida so utilities can compete with solar energy.

Later, several thousand Atlantans massed and chanted for two hours in front of the south terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, protesting Trump's executive order excluding all refugees and banning citizens of seven Muslim countries from entering the U.S. Many MADSA members took part, dispersed among the crowd.

Congressmen John Lewis and Hank Johnson, State Sens. Vincent Fort and Nan Orrock, State Rep. Stacey Abrams, and Mayor Kasim Reed joined us - though Reed's statement that Atlanta is a "welcoming city" sparked cries from the crowd for a sanctuary city, as advocated by speaker Azadeh Shahshahani, spokesperson for GA-J20, the coalition which presented that demand to Reed's office on Jan. 20 (MADSA is a coalition member).

National Conference delegates

Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America elected a full slate of 13 delegates and 2 alternates to represent the group in August 2017 at the Democratic Socialists of America's National Convention! The delegates: Jeb Boone, Adam Cardo, Scott Douglas, Anat Fintzi, Chad Floyd, Daniel Hanley, Barbara Joye, Brad Lathem, Erin Parks, Eric Robertson, Maxwell Ruppersburg, Ron Spears, and Matthew Wolfsen, and alternates Reid Jenkins and Tom Ladendorf.

Democratic Socialists of America Unity

Barbara Joye supported the Democratic Socialists of America Unity grouping, established for the 2017 Democratic Socialists of America National Convention in Chicago.

Campaigning for Fort

Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America, was out campaigning for Vincent Fort on October 16, 2017.

With Nate Knauf, Larry Pellegrini, Matthew Golden, River Grana, Megan Harrison, Krupesh Patel, Heather Marie Laveau, Josh Tuccio, Aaron Thorpe, Patrick Guinn, Matthew Wolfsen, Tyler Daws, Daniel Hanley, Barbara Landay, Bob Wohlheuter and Barbara Joye.

March for Life

March 2018, several Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America members turned out to support the Grady H.S. students who walked out as part of the nation-wide protest demanding effective gun control legislation in the wake of the Parkland, FL massacre. It seemed that the whole school, including teachers and the principal, participated in the demonstration, which they held in the Grady sports stadium. After a moment of silence a few students gave brief, eloquent speeches and then the whole group marched around the track a few times before returning to classes, well beyond the announced 17 minutes. Barbara Joye, Reid Jenkins, Evan Seed, Lisa Ashway, Lorraine Fontana, Cecelia Cantrell and Ann Mauney were there from MADSA; Cecelia Cantrell, Lorraine Fontana, Ann Mauney and Barbara Joye were also members of Atlanta Grandmothers for Peace, which had brought many of the supporters.

2018 leadership

Congratulations to the newly elected Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America officers!

• Erin Parks, Chair
• Lisa Ashway, Membership Secretary
• Barbara Joye, Recording Secretary
• Speck Kevin Pratt, Treasurer

Members at large:

• Jeff Corkill
• Alexander Hernandez
• Gregory McKelvey

Stand with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

We Stand with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a 2018 letter signed by several Democratic Socialists of America members mainly from the DSA North Star in response to attacks on Ocasio-Cortez over remarks she made on Palestine.

A recent petition circulated by some DSA members criticizes Ocasio-Cortez for supporting a two state solution to the Palestine-Israel question and not aligning with a long list of demands regarding Palestine and Israel. Should Ocasio-Cortez fail to agree with this list of demands, the petitioners are calling for DSA to revoke her endorsement. These attacks on Ocasio-Cortez have come despite the fact that she has staked out positions which will make her one of the strongest advocates of Palestinian rights and self-determination in Congress.

We stand with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The position she has taken on Israel and Palestine are principled stances, worthy of a democratic socialist, in its recognition of both Palestinian humanity and rights and Israeli humanity and rights. On this issue, as many, she will be a voice for the voiceless in Congress.

Signatures included Barbara Joye.

DSA North Star

In 2018 Barbara Joye was an original signatory of the DSA North Star founding principles statement.

Rainbow Roses Atlanta

Members of Rainbow Roses Atlanta Closed Facebook Group, as of June 3, 2018 included Barbara Joye.

Socialist Majority Caucus

DSA's Socialist Majority Caucus signatories list as of April 25 2019 included Barbara Joye of Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America.