Yuma Street Cultural Festival
We will be tabling at the Yuma Street Cultural Festival and would love to have you join us. If you do not want to table, we do encourage you to attend the festival in order to support the construction of the Yuma Street Cultural Center and Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills. An official sign-up for volunteering will be sent out in the next newsletter!
Happening over the Next Two Weeks
Comrade club will meet today at 6pm at the Manhattan Public Library in the Collaboration Space. Come join us! This is a very lowkey and chill way to come meet some of the local socialists. Bring your reading, your homework, or latest craft!
Every Wednesday, comrades come together at the City Park in Manhattan to run. While some folks are training for a 5k, we welcome all comrades at all levels. Your running speed can
Yuma Street Cultural Festival
Join us for the Yuma Street Cultural Festival 2026, a full-day community celebration honoring the legacy of Manhattan’s historic Yuma Street District while raising support for the future Yuma Street Cultural Center.
This event will take place on Sunday, September 6, 2026 (Labor Day Weekend) from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Yuma Street Historic District and Douglass Center Complex in Manhattan, Kansas.
THERE ARE NO EVENTS ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2026 as the library will be closed.
General Body Chapter Meeting
The next General Body Chapter meeting will take place in two weeks on Monday, September 14, 2026.
Call for Volunteers
Chapter Socials and Drives
The Membership and Outreach Coordinators are working on two upcoming events for the September and need volunteers to help plan and coordinate.
The first event is a Community Potluck and End-of-Summer Food Drive.
The second event is a Community Drive for K-State students and is in partnership with the YDSA.
Reach out to Matt and/or Nhic to learn more!
Common Table
Common Table serves dinner every night, 365 days of the year. They are always looking for volunteers to help in providing this service.
Comrade Derron has signed up to volunteer as head cook on Sunday, August 23, 2026 and to be a cook’s helper on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Consider signing up to volunteer with Derron. We would love to see if we can’t get a group together each month to volunteer.
The opportunity to volunteer opens up in batches by month, so be on the look out for when volunteer opportunities for November and beyond open up!
Flint Hills Socialist Book Club
Hammer and Hoe
For the September Flint Hills Socialist Book Club, we will be reading Hammer and Hoe, a 1990 history book by Robin D. G. Kelley that explores the pivotal role of Black workers and sharecroppers in the Alabama Communist Party during the 1930s and 1940s.
We have moved from Bookclubs.com to Fable, which is app-based. Join us on Fable.
Committees and Working Group Updates
Please take 2 minutes to fill out the Committee and Working Group Interest Form so that the stewards of each group can set a monthly meeting day and time.
CIVIC
The last time CIVIC met in June, before the July break, we were tasked with brining our ideas for engaging with the community that first, would improve upon the materially lives of our neighbors, and second, would provide an opportunity to recruit (if possible) new members to the chapter. If you were not able to attend the last meeting, begin thinking about these things. Information about regular meeting times will be forthcoming.
Housing Working Group
The Flint Hills Tenants United have been working over the last month to gather information and resources to provide to the public. We are excited to share our update website!
We are also tabling at the Chautaqua – At Home in Manhattan event on September 19-120 in the City Park. If you would like to be involved in tenant organizing, reach out to the steering committee to be added to the Flint Hills Tenants United Discord server.
Political Education
Besides the book club, some members are interested in trying out The People’s Free School. Please fill out the this form if you would like to be part of the group convening for The People’s Free School and to provide your availability.
Political Action
BIDEN Grant
Besides that, members also attended a Riley County Law Board meeting to voice concerns about the Riley County Police Department’s application for a $31 grant through the FY 2026 Bridging Immigration-related Deficits Experienced Nationwide (BIDEN) Program, which would require the RCPD to house undocumented immigrants for HSI and ICE.
So far, an application has been submitted, and it would be up to the Riley County Commissioners to approve accepting the grant if it is awarded. The PAC will keep members up-to-date on this.
Data Center
No new movement has been made on the data center, though signatures are being collected in Pottawatomie, by one of our members to get a five-year moratorium on the county considering the construction of the data center. Any updates about the data center will be shared with the chapter in future newsletters.