Panel: Socialism on the Ballot

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[00:01:25]Amazing.

[00:01:29]Thank you all so much for joining us tonight. I see so many different cities are hopping off, hopping on and and sharing where where they are from, where they're at. So amazing to see the number the growing number of people that are joining us. It's going to be an amazing webinar. Um well, my name is Claudia de la Cruz and I am part of the central committee of the party for socialism and liberation. I am a mom. I'm an organizer. I'm an educator. And I was also the 2024 presidential candidate with the party for socialism and liberation along with my good friend and comrade Karina Garcia. The action network is a project that's helping build socialism that is helping build a strong anti-war movement in the United States in a very crucial time. And it's growing every hour, every day. And that's only possible because of you because you have spread the word. So I want to encourage you to continue to spread the word in your communities with your friends. There is a place for those of us who want to build a better future in this country and for all of us who have a sense of what it means to the international community for us to actually build revolution in this country. Um there are going to be a few links that are going to be shared on the chat. Please refer to them, look at them, sign up for the next webinar that's happening Wednesday, June 17 at the same time, 5:00 pm if you are in the West Coast, 8:00 PM Eastern if you're in the East Coast. Make sure you uh sign up, register, share with other folks. We have a very special program. We are gonna hear from five amazing comrades, socialist candidates from all across the country about the different campaigns they're running and also the urgency of building the socialist movement during the election cycle and after the election cycle. We know that one of the reasons that we intervene in the election arena is because we understand that it's a moment where everybody is talking about politics and it's a good way to introduce people to revolutionary politics. It's a good way to deepen the consciousness of the people in our community to start thinking about politics as something that we do every day if we engage in organized struggle.

[00:03:46]These are incorporate career politicians. These are my comrades. They are workingclass people and organizers in the same fights that you care about and that you're probably also engaged in. The socialist uh as socialists, we encourage you to vote socialist. If you're able to vote for one of these candidates, do so. It's a it's a way of building socialism, but it's also a way of us taking the temperature of the people in terms of where we are with the socialist consciousness. And it's a way of also, you know, getting involved. So, please listen to them very carefully. If you are not in the cities where they are running campaigns, but you do know someone else who is, make sure you let other folks know that they are socialist candidates that are doing work beyond the ballot that are also out there taking the streets, organizing, fighting to build socialism and a better future for all of us. So the struggle for socialism doesn't end on election day.

[00:04:49]We know this is just a new beginning for those who don't know necessarily more about how do we build politics every day and their first introduction to that is through elections. So now we're going to bring up our panel speakers and I'm so excited because rarely do I get to see them all in the same place. So it's amazing that we're you're here together.

[00:05:13]So each of them will get their own introduction and they will have a chance to give an opening about their campaigns. But first uh please welcome from my very own hometown and please none other than the People's Republic of the South Bronx, Andre Eastston, who is running for Congress in New York's 15th congressional district, my home congressional district. How you doing, Andre?

[00:05:41]>> I am I am very well. I'm very well. Um, definitely going to have to add uh some more uh embellishment on that as well because you know New York is also the home of the Eastern Conference champions, you know, the the New York Knicks. So, I couldn't I couldn't get on here without um you know, without mentioning that and bringing that up.

[00:06:02]So, it's a it's a great time to be a New Yorker and I think it's an excellent time to be a socialist um in a world that is accur actively showing that capitalism has no future for working people. Um, one of the things that our campaign is very intent on is reframing the way that people talk about district 15. Um, many people refer to it as the poorest congressional district, but we in our campaign believe that language is powerful. language helps you to situate yourself in the world. And we reframe that uh statement to be the that district 15 in New York is the most exploited congressional district. Right?

[00:06:42]So this is something that is very important for the people to understand because our campaign is positioned in a way that transforms the people in this district, the working people from people that are talked about to the people who are the self-definers, the people who are the the the protagonists in their own destiny, in their own futures, right? So in district 15, you know, New York City being the richest city in the world, in any country, um we have a situation where the poverty level in New York 15, uh is more than double the rate of the poverty rate in New York State, right? So New York State has a poverty rate of 14.2%, but in district 15, it is over 30%. Right? So this has tremendous negative outcomes for the people in this district who work incredibly hard to provide for themselves and to produce so much of the wealth that this city enjoys. And all of that work um really results in what we have in the district, which is a median household income of $44,000, which is about half of the median income of New York State as a whole. So these incredible contrasts are show that not only is a better life possible, not only do the resources exist, but they are not being adequately distributed and returned back to those who produce the labor that create all the value that make all New York City the city that people around the world continue to flock to for so many reasons. our culture. But the people who are the producers of that culture are lacking in the actual material benefits that the culture generates in terms of profit, in terms of you know uh all of the the feedback and the resources that our labor generates, right? Um health is another main concern in this district in district 15 where we have about 30% of the population that are rated in poor or fair health. Um we have you know asthma rate that is 20 times higher than in other New York City neighborhoods. Right? So, when you compare district 15 to other parts within the same city, you can see the disparities and why the most exploited uh congressional district is a an apt and fitting uh way to describe what the the working people in this district are dealing with. So, we believe that all of these uh conditions, these material forces make district 15 the perfect place to build socialism because only socialism can return the power to the hands of the working class to actually change the living circumstances of the the men, women, and children that that occupy district 15 and and around the country. So, this is the best place. We have rich soil and we need the the tools and the the organizational structures to transform our lives and that's exactly what we're building in this campaign.

[00:09:34]>> Thank you so much Andre. And Andre is a educator. He is a father. He's a socialist organizer. He's amazing. So we're going to go on to introduce uh another brother comrade socialist organizer mental health professioner. I was just with him not long ago. my comrade Ramsay Robinson who is running to be the people's governor of California. How you doing, Ramsay?

[00:10:02]>> Um, great. Good to be here with everybody for real. Um, yeah, for those of you just getting to know me, my name is Ramsey Robinson. I am running as the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for governor of California. Um, but I'm also, like you mentioned, a mental health social worker in Bayiew Hunter Point. that is one of the last black and brown communities in San Francisco. It's one of the last because people are getting priced out. California, like so many of our cities, is uh becoming so unaffordable. And I earned my credentials to run for governor. I would like to say on the front lines of the mental health crisis that I experience every day when I show up to work, the housing crisis that we're in, the attacks, the war on our black and brown communities. So when I graduated with, you know, that master's degree, I didn't go to law school. I didn't go to Wall Street. I went right to work with the people that are most hurt by this system that we live under. Like Andre said, this system is called capitalism that puts profit, greed over everything, even the health of us and the planet that we live in. And so, you know, I run I'm running because if you are what you repeatedly do, the thing that I have done like so many of us here in the Zoom call, I know for sure, is not only be a worker, but be an exploited worker. And so, when we talk about just in California, and I think you can upscale this to really whatever state we're in right now, but California is so emblematic of this inequality. When we talk about uh the crisis that workers like us face, that in California over a million of us are behind in rent, that tens of thousands of us are facing eviction, that 2.5 million of us don't have health insurance, that 7 billion dollar in wage theft is stolen, stolen from us every year in California. You know, I'm never was on the outside looking in on that. Like so many of us in California, half of us living paycheck to paycheck. That's been my experience and and that the cruelty and inhumity of this system that we live under again capitalism. Um this is this is what elicited a response uh in me you know to really fight back. And so um this is a way just like we fight in the streets in an organized uh and disciplined party and a ma building a mass movement. This is a place in the electoral arena where we can really flex because, you know, if if y'all don't know, peace and freedom party uh is the only socialist party on the ballot in California, which says a lot because that means that we're the only party saying that we should control the wealth that we create. Like my brother Andre said, that working people, oppressed people like us, should have the economic and political power. And you know what we're we're going to do with that? We're going to plan that economy to make sure that we all have what we need. So, that's a little bit about why I'm running and and what we're running about.

[00:12:54]>> Thank you so much, Ramsey. A true fighter from the people to the people. I am so so so privileged to know you and struggle with you. So, next, I'd like to introduce Jasmine Brown, who is a powerful powerful powerful socialist organizer running for mayor in Pensacola. Please, please tell us about this.

[00:13:17]>> Hey. Hey y'all. Thank you, Claudia. Um, so yes, I'm Jasmine and I'm Running for mayor of Pensacola and uh which is basically the the the panhandle right at the edge or right next to Alabama. So we are in the heart of the South. Um, and so in this city, we're in a red city.

[00:13:36]Um, like Ramsay was saying just now, um, you know, we have our system that puts profit over people. I'm an academic adviser at our local community college and I have talked to students who have had to withdraw from their classes to pick up more um, shifts at work or take on more classes so they can get, you know, more financial aid eligibility.

[00:13:56]And so um, you know, we're feeling the squeeze of not being able to pay for our basic needs in this city, you know, as well as everywhere else in in this country. And so in the south in general, we are home to the worst conditions of the country. We have, you know, super low pay. Florida is a right to work state. U we have less less access to healthcare and child care. We don't really have any safety nets. And so for decades, the South has been dominated by the most reactionary forces within the ruling class. And it uses uh racism and voter suppression as tools to maintain our political power. But because the solid south has historically been a bastion for anti-worker policies, um the region has consistently been used as a reactionary block in n national politics. Um and so we've um historically blocked any progressive reforms in city. I mean in Pensacola specifically, this city um we are we are strangled by a developer class here. Um there is rampant gentrification and um it's widespread um people are widespreadly people are feeling the the hurt from this rampid gentrification that we have in the city. Um we're in a state that faces horrific hurricanes and more intense hurricanes as climate change worsens. Um in Florida specifically, we have a extremely right-wing governor DSantis who I call Trump Jr. but really he is um really imposing many policies that kind of can rival Trump. Um we've seen several different extreme attacks on education in our in our state and even in our city. We felt that. And so what we're doing with this mayoral campaign is challenging this right-wing system. We're challenging this billionaire class we have in our city and we're challenging um fundamentally this good old good old boy politics that we have in our city. Um, when I describe Pensacola, it really is like a textbook example of what's wrong with our system.

[00:15:54]Um, for decades, Pensacola has been treated as a developers playground rather than a place where people work and build our lives. And so, um, what my campaign is is a nonpartisan race, but obviously I'm running openly as a socialist. Um, and under the guise of nonpartisan elections, there has been a revolving door of elite. um you know, under the guise of um what do they call philanthropists and there's a a very direct thread of developers and investors who have um run out historically black neighborhoods and who just continue to pop up these passion projects around town. Meanwhile, our our homeless community continues to grow.

[00:16:34]Our utilities continue to rise and our job pay in our area continue not to keep up. And so, um, what another thing we've been able to do with this campaign is fight against the, um, you know, pointing fingers at voters, pointing fingers at each other and other working-class members who many of the people in Pensacola have been disengaged from politics. Um, like I think Andre said it earlier that there's a separation between us and who our political leaders are in our in our city and and that is the case in Pensacola.

[00:17:06]And so a really great aspect of this campaign has been able to build a movement where more people can get involved into um you know being aware of what's happening in our city demanding a a seat a decision-making seat not just a seat at the table where we're discussing plans that are made after the fact but actually deciding what happens in our city. And so really we're excited for what this campaign can do. It's been really successful so far and so I do look forward to talking about more of it later on.

[00:17:33]>> Thank you so much. Yeah. That's exactly it. These campaigns are about making the working class the protagonist of their own destiny. So, thank you so much for that. And I want to introduce Joe Tache who's a youth worker, a community organizer, a socialist organizer based in Boston who's running for the people's senator in Massachusetts. I am so so happy to be here with you today.

[00:18:02]>> Thank you, Claudia. And thank you to everybody else. It's an honor to be in the struggle with everybody here. And like Claudia said, I I live in Boston in the neighborhood of Roxbury, which is the one time home of Malcolm X, whose birthday we just celebrated earlier this month. So I want to shout that out. And I'm running for US Senate here in Massachusetts. One of the things that we say in our campaign is that in a lot of ways, Massachusetts is the best that capitalism has to offer. And we think it's important to have that framing because if you look at the inequality and the poverty and the oppression that still exists in Massachusetts and this is the best that US capitalism has to offer, it makes it so clear that we need a completely new system. And to give you one example of that, uh before I was a community organizer full-time, I was teaching in a uh high set program, high school equivalency or GED program. And I work with students between the ages of 16 and 35. And the majority of my students struggled with their basic literacy skills. And this isn't a unique thing in Massachusetts. It's even though Massachusetts ranks as the number one state in public education all across the country, 60% of eighth graders right now read below grade level. in the best state in education in the entire country. And we're seeing in Boston where I live and in in cities all across the state, the public education budget is being slashed right now at a time when we have a crisis of education. And if you go across the board, people here in the state feel like our quality of life continues to get worse. There's a recent poll that came out that says only a third of people in Massachusetts think that they're better off than their parents were. So, it's this long-term decline in the quality of life. the richest 1% owns as much wealth as the poorest 90% of us. And that's the case everywhere across the country because of the system that everyone has been talking about, capitalism that prioritizes the political power and wealth of billionaires over everything else. And I think something that's really important to point out in this particular race is yeah, Massachusetts, especially in Congress, has been a one party state where the Democratic party has dominated for decades. And the incumbent in the this race, the Senate race, Senator Ed Marky, has been in Congress since 1976. So, literally half a century. And the man is going to be 80 years old at the time of the election uh for a six-year term. And I think, you know, a lot he's he's seen in a lot of ways as among the most progressive wing of the Democratic party, but I think he really represents the status quo more than almost any other politician in the country because he's been in Congress for so long. and his entire political career has represented this long-term decline in the quality of life for people in Massachusetts and all across the country because he's part of that same two-party system that is funded by and controlled by the same billionaires who are causing the problems that we all want to solve. So, of course, his political party is not going to be the solution. And we really want to drive home that message that of course it's not just Senator Marky as the individual causing the problems, but he is a symbol and symptom of the broader system that is causing the issues that we need to solve. And that's why we're building this uh third party campaign with the PSL uh to make sure that we're building workingclass power that's independent of these billionaires.

[00:21:24]>> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Joe.

[00:21:25]That was really great and really informative. Um, and last but not least, I'd like to introduce Greg Levy, a socialist community organizer, a veteran, a husband, a father, a singer.

[00:21:38]Um, you all should hear him sing in Ohio running for Senate. How you doing, Greg?

[00:21:46]>> Hey, Claudia. How you doing? I'm super great. My name is Greg Levy. I'm running for the US Senate out here in Ohio. And in Ohio, people are struggling. Ohio is a place that is very representative of the decay of the capitalist system. It's a place right in the middle of the rust belt where people like me who grew up with a father who worked at the Ford uh plant for 35 years and he had six sons and none of them got those jobs. And so we have to ask ourselves serious questions like why is this the case?

[00:22:24]What has happened to our state? We've watched our state go from a solid blue state to going super red. And we see the decay all across uh Ohio. And in Ohio right now, talking to voters, we can see that the people are ready for change and that people are ready to embrace the reality that they have to deal with.

[00:22:47]People can make the connection between five and $6 gas prices in war. people have people are against these uh illegal wars that have been happening forever, but now people are making these connections. And so like a person like me, I'm just a regular working person.

[00:23:07]You know, I spent my a lot of my years chasing my dreams trying to be a musician and what have you. In fact, I used to uh live in Atlanta and I was out there trying to have the next production house or whatever. But now, you know, I'm a father and I'm a person that's just trying to make it make it a better world for for my children. And um you know, it's important for us to make it plain for the people.

[00:23:33]>> And we have to use our life experiences to make people understand that the conditions that we live under, >> they don't have to be that way. there.

[00:23:44]They happened like that because of political decisions that were made on our behalf that we never agreed with.

[00:23:51]And so I'm so happy to be a part of this movement, a part of the PSL, which is a group of people that are serious about taking responsibility for the world and changing it in the way that we need.

[00:24:04]>> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much to all our panelists, all of whom are amazing candidates. you can't vote for if you're in the area. And if you can't not because you're not in the area, I'm going to say it again. A lot of y'all have families and friends all across this country. So, make sure you tap in and let people know that they are socialist options. And if you have not been checking out the chat, the chat has been putting out all the links to make sure that you all can connect with these different campaigns. So, next we're going to go into a panel discussion.

[00:24:38]There are a few questions that I'd like to share with you all and we'd love to hear from each of the candidate on these questions. Uh first up as socialist organizers we constantly keep our polls on the mood of the people. I mean again we are acting in many ways as amplifiers utilizing c the campaign and utilizing the spaces that we're in to speak from the people not to the people or at the people but from the people in matters that are at the forefront of our people's interests and needs. So what issues are working people in your specific communities most concerned about? What are your what are your folks struggling with in in your different communities? Some of you kind of tapped into that a little bit in your introductions, but if you want to expand on that, that would be great. And so, um I don't know if Jasmine wants to go first.

[00:25:39]Yeah, I'll go first. Um I think my campaign is is there's a real, you know, smaller localized aspect or a character of this campaign and in Pensacola. I mean, and I'm going to be talking about things that, you know, are relatable if you're anywhere in this country, but right now, um, we are seeing extremely skyrocketing housing costs. Our infrastructure is degrading. Um, we have predatory for-profit utility companies.

[00:26:07]Florida Power and Light and they have consistent price hikes that they keep imposing on the community. um which is in some cases that I've seen is leading to people to be evicted from their their houses because their their utility bills have caught up so high. Um we have in uh we have some defunded community centers in our city um that we have been struggling to try to keep open um or and to keep accessible and keep the same character of the neighborhood rather than you know and bringing in new character. that's to bring in more, you know, desirable, uh, neighbors. And right now, um, one issue that we're facing is that we h, our mayor in the city has signed a a contract with flock surveillance cameras. And, um, a lot of citizens in the in the city have mobilized against the flock contract.

[00:27:00]Um, and in addition to one of the other crisis we have, which is the opioid abuse epidemic. Um, and this is just not hopefully not going into too much detail, but the um some the money that was awarded to um an opioid abatement fund was justified to be used to sign onto this flock contract. And so people are really upset that um money that is literally supposed to like explicitly supposed to be used for this crisis was used for mass surveillance. And so, um, among the the the housing and utility, um, crisis that we're facing in the city, um, there's just other issues that we're seeing are not being addressed to the degree that they should be addressed. Um, and then as a background to all of this, we live in Florida and we're we're approaching hurricane season. And every single year, every single year since I've grown up, I've not really seen a real effort from the city to make sure people are prepared, that people have access to evacuate if they need to. Um, in fact, last year we had a snowstorm here, historic snowstorm, and nobody was prepared.

[00:28:08]people were, you know, holed up in their houses for days, couldn't get their prescriptions or groceries, and probably there was power outages in some places of the city. And so in the in this city, um, there's a general feeling of being left behind by our leaders. And so um what we're doing to explain these crisises to people is to explain that it is you know the symptoms of this system the system that does not speak for us that does not our interests are not represented um in in our local office for sure. And we unfortunately like many bigger cities, we don't have a a so many social agencies like a patchwork of social agencies unfortunately um to make these improvements around the edges or you know offer to fill those little gaps here and there that we are in dire need of. And so, uh, you know, people have, you know, gone door to door and people ultimately just feel like our our leaders don't listen, that our resources are just funneled into the wealthiest projects. Um, and that there's not an a a real uh representation for those in Pensacola who are just crumbling under these these this unlivable situation that we have in this city. And so we see that we have a lot of opportunity to explain these problems and to offer socialist solutions to people um to where people can know that it's not this specific person here in office. It's a whole network at play um and it's a it's a system at play that we can change that we can rearrange and that we can actually have a shot at having at pulling the power the levers of power.

[00:29:51]>> Thank you so much Jasmine. So, we're gonna hear from two two other candidates. Um, and I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna let them choose who they going to be. Um, so that we can move on to answer other questions as well. So, let's see. If you don't, I'm I'm have to volunte. Okay. So, I have Andre and then I have Ramsey. Go ahead.

[00:30:13]It's it's really exciting being able to hear from all the wonderful uh campaigns that are running around the city. I think around this country um I'm so proud to be a part of this movement with you all. Um but to really bring it to um more touch points to you know comrade Jasmine um you know the thing that most people working people in my community are most concerned about um is New York City right this is the richest city in the in the country in the world and um as a result the the cost of living is on the front of everyone's mind um we are talking about you know skyrocketing costs for housing childare and energy costs like these are things that are are top of mind for anybody that I'm stopping or I'm speaking to in any aspect of of my life. Um, and in the Bronx, it becomes even more dire in a sense. Um, one in three Bronx households spends more than half of their income on rent, which makes very little room left for other opportunities, for other investments, other things that we could spend our money on to improve our lives.

[00:31:22]Um it it it puts so many people on the brink of of of crisis in the sense that some of the hostility that people may feel um you know just in the air. The tension is really due to the fact that so many of us are are are really one you know mishap or one accident or one illness uh from you know financial disaster. So keeping people in that state um you know really prevents us from being able to have the kind of conversations that we need to have that can identify what the problems are. And I think it's also particularly important that we acknowledge that the Bronx is a part of New York City and New York City, you know, had its first historic election of, you know, our first uh democratic socialist mayor, right? So, what does it look like to build ma uh socialism inside of a city, inside of a district um where we are under a a democratic socialist mayor? Um so the way that uh we have to understand it is looking at what has been put forth uh for New Yorkers in terms of housing and how we can expand upon that and put forth the actual socialist solutions that we know would not only solve the problems of housing and health care and and and mental health and poverty but could actually give what workers in this district really deserve which is a dignified life, right? Um so in New York City um you know because of the strong socialist history that organizers uh have um demonstrated um in New York City we have 2.4 million tenants in this city that live in privately owned but rentstabilized apartment. So rent stabilization what it means is that landlords can only raise rents by a percent each a percentage set each year by a mayorappointed body that is called the rent guidelines board. So that annual vote determines how much more rent stabilized um tenants will pay and um each time you know each year in the recent years it has delivered hike after hike. Right? So this body that is meant to you know govern uh the ability for landlords to increase rents has consistently failed in preventing the increase in rent in rents. Um so uh as the rent guideline boards uh each year the annual vote is coming up on June 25th so next month. Uh so those 2.4 million rent stabilized New Yorkers are going to be pushing for the relief that they're owed after years of hikes. Um recently on May 7th that fight moved closer to a win. So the RGB or the rent guidelines board voted to advance a preliminary range that included a zero increase for rent stabilized apartments.

[00:34:01]a direct result of Mayor Zoran Mdani's promised rent freeze. So, we're seeing progress in the direction of finding relief for uh workingclass people in the in the area of rents. But we have to understand that this is not something that comes without struggle or comes without a a fight because the landlords and the developers have their own interests and they're actively lobbying in ways to try to push back against that and to ensure that there are rent increases. And this is uh especially concerning considering that rental income rose recently 4.8% which outpaces the operating cost increase of 4.2%. So even though they're still netting a profit margin from their these these units they're still pushing for an increase in rent. So this is really what lays bare the problem of capitalism as it states right because there are two competing interests. One is the interest of the billionaires, the developers and the landlords and the other is the interest of the working people who want to live comfortable dignified lives a after being you know the labor that produces all of the quality in what many people consider one of the greatest cities on earth. Right? So landlords are trying to use the system to benefit themselves to increase their profit to extract more and more of our labor and our value through increased rents.

[00:35:25]Whereas working people are fighting to survive, fighting to live dignified lives. So we know that the only way to deal with this is through socialist solutions. And our socialist solutions are very clear, right? We know that in order to take the profit motive out of housing, we have to expand greatly the availability of publicly owned housing in New York City. So not just here, but nationwide. Right? So that looks like lifting the fair cloth amendment to build new good quality highquality public housing nationwide with rent capped at 20% of income. Right? That public the availability of highquality public housing. It ne it neutralizes the profit incentive because it makes housing available and it's not sold on a scarcity basis for profit. Right? We want to fully fund repairs to existing public housing. So if we have money to give refunds to companies that lost out on the illegal tariffs from Trump, then we have money to be able to invest in the necessary repairs for all of the, you know, NICHA housing and public housing that is already existing in in New York City and around the country.

[00:36:28]And we have to end the privatization of public housing. The public private partnership always ends up with the working class on the losing end because profits always overshadow what the interests the necessary repairs and developments for workingclass people because you know highspeed internet is not profitable as a right uh access to clean water is not profitable as a right and when profits enter into the conversations they always overshadow what the needs and the interests of the workingclass people are. So, we want to be able to push forth uh common sense, achievable socialist solutions to the problem and help people to understand that capitalism creates unwinable situations that we are going to see um become more and more obvious as as these weeks and days um approach. So, June 25th, we're going to be outside. We're going to be at the rent guidelines board and we're going to be bringing our socialist platform and our socialist solutions to the problems in New York City. And I hope that other cities around the country will, you know, join us in in in challenging and demanding what they deserve and not just accepting what the lesser of two evils has to offer.

[00:37:34]>> Thank you so much, Andre Ramsey.

[00:37:37]>> Oh, well, I mean, not surprising. I think whatever state we're representing or city we're representing, we see the similarities. So, y'all, I've been on the campaign trail for just about a year now, and it really comes down to three or four issues. I mean the broadly people in California with the hundreds I think it's safe to say the hundreds of people that I've talked to they say affordability California like so many of our cities and our states are becoming so unaffordable even if we're working full-time jobs sometimes two jobs and to break that down a little more what that means is what I'm hearing is like so many of us housing health care and and jobs unattainable jobs you know the lack of dignif ified secure jobs, the lack of health care where we're all safe and sound, and the lack of housing. And just to pick up with what Andre said, you know, there in California, it's really interesting about how we can change this. There are mechanisms and laws already in the state that the governor could be using to make sure that we have guaranteed housing. In California, it's called the California Emergency Services Act. And I mentioned that because when when a million of us in California are behind on rent, like I mentioned, when tens of thousands of us are behind on rent, when these huge corporate landlords like Blackstone, Invitational Homes, America's for homes for rent, when they are snatching up tens of thousands of properties all over California, raising the rent, evicting people and pocketing the money, like Andre said, gambling, right, with with that on on like like uh you know, like a casino chip, right, on the market, people are really suffering and so we want to point out that it doesn't have to be like that and we will invoke the California Emergency Services Act which will allow us to halt advance and freeze the rents. I like what Andre said it's the same for California. Imagine if you get your paycheck once a month, twice a month, and only 20% of your paycheck went to the landlord. Well, that's the California that we can build out here on the West Coast, you know, and we want to challenge these corporate landlords as well. This this campaign really is about power and about making sure that us folk, oppressed people and working people that we have the power. And so we are going to build 1.4 million public homes and we're going to make sure that they're affordable for everybody. So that's for housing, for health care. Oh my gosh, in California, like I mentioned, 2 and a half million of us don't even have health care. 15 million of us, million of us are drowning in medical debt in California. And so this is unacceptable in the fourth largest economy in the in the nation. No, in the world. California has the fourth largest economy in the world. And yet you're saying that we can't make sure that everyone has guaranteed health care, no premiums, uh no co-pays, everything covered, mental health, reproductive care, gender affirming care. Well, the peace and freedom party and socialists are saying we can have that California.

[00:40:38]Um, and it's the same for for uh employment too. In California, there are 600,000 to 1.6 million jobs that can be filled.

[00:40:49]But again, these capitalists, right, they they want to keep a huge sector of us without jobs. So the ones that us that do work, they can when we always as we respond to this cruel and humane system, when we speak up for our rights, they can say, "Oh, no. you just shut up and be quiet because we have all this reserve labor here that will take your places, right? So, we're countering that by making sure that workers have economic and political power. Economic power, $30 an hour minimum for jobs. And we can do that again, uh, codes on the books in California, labor code 1170, that says the state can set state wages.

[00:41:27]That's how we can do it. And for, you know, guaranteed union jobs, making sure that the state, right, make sure that every state job has a union. So, we have that political power, too. If you're working a private sector job and you're being abused and they're, you know, treading on your rights, you know that you can come to the state with no throwaway jobs, real jobs that give us the security and dignity that we deserve. But you know we the peace and freedom party knows it this fight is going to be on two fronts and it's going to be in the ballot box right and the peace and freedom party has had ballot status since 1967 formed out of the anti-war movement formed out of the black liberation study. We the PFP was co-founded by the Black Panthers who were a socialist party as well. They demanded that the attacks on our black community stop. They demanded that we have the same thing housing, health care and and jobs. So, we're continuing that legacy in the ballot box, but we also know that we need, like all of us, I'm sure in here know, a mass movement that's happening in between election cycles, too. And and we're organizing for that, too. We've had 10,000 volunteers that have knocked on 30,000 doors all up and down California. And we ain't going anywhere. After the primaries in June 2nd, we're going to be out there in the streets when there's more threat of war and racism and sexism and xenophobia. you know that the peace and freedom party, the party for socialism is going to uh continue that and I know we're going to be doing it all. Everybody, you know, in this Zoom room, we've been doing it together already. We're just going to continue that fight.

[00:43:00]>> Thank you so much. All right, so we're going to go on to a little bit more of a personal question and I hope comrades if we could keep it a little brief so that more folks get a chance to talk. I know I know how it is, you know, we like to give context. That's the type of people we are, you know. Um, but I remember being out, you know, during the campaign trail and it was so inspiring to hear the stories of the different folks that I that I came into contact with. You know, some of them some of the stories were really sad and obviously were really uh impactful because we are living under a capitalist society, but there was also a lot of hope that was being shared by the communities that I was coming in contact with. So, I'm wondering what has been the best or most inspiring moment in your campaign trail.

[00:43:48]Um, so I'm going to give the floor to Greg first.

[00:43:52]>> All right. This is a great question. Uh, so I have a son who has the same government, right? Like we call him Elijah, but his name is Greg Levy, too.

[00:44:01]So his he he he works as a trucker, right? So he and uh his boss um his boss's daughter is a volunteer for our campaign and was called my son into the office in order to show his support for the campaign and it's just astounding to me like people of different uh generations uh are really responding to our message and I man it just really helps grow my confidence that you know our analysis is correct and uh the the the billionaire parties they they don't have a coherent uh program and people can tell the difference. So like that's that's the story that I would give out. Thank you so much.

[00:44:52]>> Thank you Greg. Jasmine, do you want to share some?

[00:44:57]>> Uh yes. So that's really awesome. Greg.

[00:45:00]Um, I'll say a couple of things that have been like the most significant is just how much we've been able to galvanize people and mobilize against and against major projects happen in the city or major plans beginning to happen.

[00:45:15]Um, and and we our campaign and with mobilizing community been able to throw a wrench in some of those plans. One of them is that we found out there's a local hospital in our area that was that is being demolished right now in our city wanted to go sign a contract with a consulting company called or consulting firm called Biodist Consulting. We uncovered that that same company is what had a hand in displacing around 900 black residents in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. And that's something and that's a situation that we can feel in Pensacola. Um, oftent times after major hurricanes, um, developers will come out of town and buy a property and the people who live there, they don't get their homes restored. They get, um, their their leases end and they have to move out and they're displaced. Um, so we we packed the city the city hall and um, and they they postpone and we're not going to go and sign that contract at that moment. Another thing was that our um we had our our area had been given um $5 million in grant money um after hurricane um with hurricane Sally and that money had just been collecting dust for several years and then our mayor wanted to then at the near the expiration date allocate that money to restoring our port downtown um you know which was really just going to benefit the billionaire sailing club that we have down there ultimately. And so again, we mobilized and packed the city hall and were able to um and to throw a wrench in that plan. Um but I'll just end on like the and right now we're about to fight a a data center in our county. And so that's a a humongous fight that's mobilizing. And so we're really excited for the campaign to be able to um put more power behind that struggle. And then this the last thing is that um for a couple of years I've been involved with a neighborhood association that I got involved with um after meeting a woman, the president of it at city council. And it's it's a very small but mighty association. It's a uh several o elder black people and they are one of the last bastions in our city of fighting against gentrification near our downtown core. And um so over organizing with them they're never afraid of the word socialist. um they just knew that, you know, I was there shoulder-to-shoulder with them to support and offer any type of any skills and um other um uh socialist organizers that I work with so for us to come be involved in their struggles. And um they have recently asked me to be the president of their neighborhood association. The the previous president has is going to be retiring, not even really stepping down. She's been in action for years and years. And so she's um wanting to pass off the mantle to me.

[00:47:52]And I don't even live in a neighborhood.

[00:47:53]And so they're um at this point going to be like, you know, uh figuring out a way for me to be able to to help them. And and it's not for me to just hold on to this association for, you know, years and years to come. They're excited for the possibility of bringing new energy into the association, bringing more neighbors into being act or active members and to really um really you know declare that this area is not going to be um you know snatched up in the the gentrification pattern that we're seeing across the county. It's one across the city. It's one of the la the last few um areas where you know a there's a historical character to this neighborhood and so I'm really excited to be able to continue um with me myself with the campaign with the other organizers in the city to help defend this neighborhood.

[00:48:47]>> Thank you so much, Jasmine. So, we're going to hear from for this round of questions from Joe.

[00:48:53]>> Yeah. Well, I feel like this is one of the most inspiring moments getting to hear the ways that these campaigns are building the socialist movement all across the country. uh but otherwise there's uh three other kind of themes that I want to share. One is seeing the way that people's ideas and imagination has been transformed through being introduced to a campaign that's independent of the two-party system. I'm thinking specifically of we had a a volunteer meeting a few months back and it was in Boston and there was a daughter and a mother who came from western Massachusetts, like a two-hour drive to come to this organizing meeting. The daughter is very excited about the campaign and she kind of dragged her mom along. Her mom was a little more skeptical. Uh she's an older woman, a retiree, and she was kind of grilling me uh with questions in between a break uh at the organizing meeting.

[00:49:44]And I kind of left thinking that she didn't enjoy her time there that much.

[00:49:49]And then we had a town hall in their their town Holio in Western Massachusetts a couple weeks later. And the daughter was there and she's like, "My mom loved the organizing meeting."

[00:49:59]and she went back to all her friends who were in their little like Democratic Party club in Holio and was telling them all about the meeting and the campaign and about how she understands now like the kind of issues and limitations with the way that they've been approaching politics. And so seeing how being in a collector space like that and talking with socialists in real life can really move people's consciousness is one. Uh secondly is seeing the way that the optimism that's inspired by the campaign has really allowed people to tap into their creativity. uh thinking in particular about some of the really cool local artists, both visual and uh musical artists in Massachusetts. And in particular, there are some uh really great local hip-hop artists in Boston who have been meeting together who performed at one of our recent campaign events. And they actually created an original song called Times Up for the Billionaires, which is the main slogan of our campaign. and they performed at the event and are now planning on making uh an album, an EP that has a bunch of original songs around that theme, which I think seeing the connections between culture and politics is really exciting to me and the creativity there. And then the third thing is seeing the ways that the campaign has helped uh germinate the seeds of socialism in different parts of the state uh including for example on Cape Cod. Uh, a lot of people who aren't from Massachusetts maybe have only heard of Cape Cod because like the Obama's vacation in Martha's Vineyard and kind of associated as like a tourist destination, but it's a community that has a big working-class community like anywhere else in the country and those workers really struggle with uh some of the challenges of a touristbased seasonal economy. Uh, it's right on the water, so deals with the impacts of climate change, uh, addiction, poverty, etc. And the PSL had never had events on Cape Cod before. Uh but through this campaign, we've been able to have volunteer meetings, town halls. I'm actually going back on Saturday and we've been able to pack out rooms of people on the Cape. And I can see how not just up until election day on November 3rd, but in the years after, now we're planting the seeds for the socialist movement to be a permanent fixture on the Cape on Cape Cod and everywhere else across Massachusetts.

[00:52:07]And I see some comments about coming to different parts of the state and I'm definitely going to. We're going to be all over the state throughout the next five months and beyond.

[00:52:15]>> That's awesome. Thank you so much, Joe.

[00:52:17]And yes, I actually attended one of the cultural events and it was amazing off the wall. A lot of good energy, a lot of creativity. Okay, so finally, I want to ask the big question. um one that many of us hear every election cycle in regards to third party candidates, in regards to socialist politics. I mean, it's something that I think socialists throughout history that have been engaged in the electoral arena have heard this from the mainstream media that teaches us and our people to repeat the same lie. You know, this question of viability. What is viable? Right? We we need to somehow hear from the Democrats and Republicans dropping bombs on babies, destroying schools, destroying hospitals, tell us what viable is, which is crazy. Um, as if they have control over what we are capable of and what our imagination can lead us to do. So what I would like to to ask is and what would I I would want for you to speak a little bit about um is you know what would you say to the people who think that voting socialist is a waste of a vote or a waste of time and um we're going to start with Ramsey and we're going to move from there.

[00:53:34]>> Sure. Um no excellent question. you know what I I get this question you know uh often and what I would ask them is one what is it that you find a challenge in your life you know what is it that you see needs to be changed in your own life and the people around you and often what comes up like we said is housing health care jobs education and then I just ask them you know are are the Democrats able to solve that you know and in California the Democrats have had the super majority. I think it was Joe was saying same in Massachusetts. California the super majority in both the House and the Senate and still half of California is living paycheck to paycheck. 7 million of us are poor. There's 187,000 of us in California that are homeless even though there's 1.2 million homes.

[00:54:31]So I think we see on the one hand that the Democrats are unable to do it and also Claudia I really like how precise your question was because you said mainstream media and that's really key because as we know the mainstream media who are they owned by owned by those billionaires. So, of course, the billionaires are going to use mainstream media to say, "Hey, just keeping just keep voting Democrat or Republican because both the Democrats and the Republicans bow down serve tha and those interests. So, they're the billionaires are going to use the mainstream media to tell us to keep voting for the people that are oppressing us." You know, the both the Democrats and the Republicans are maintaining this system ultimately of capitalism. And that's exactly why we need these socialist voices. And you know, I think we have to ask, you know, why why is the, you know, the billionaires and mainstream media saying this is because they want to keep us where we are. They want to keep the status quo the way it is. And our campaign, and I know all of us here, we we don't want the status quo being the same. So, we need now a third party. And we we're not alone. In California, the far majority and actually nationwide, 73% of Americans are saying it is time for a third party independent and separate from these bill from these Democrats and Republicans that are in bed with the billionaires. You know, and I think that shows why the Peace and Freedom Party in California is one of the fastest growing political parties in in the country and and it certainly ain't the Democrats or Republicans. So I think to that that question is we know who's behind that propaganda saying that and we know that the Democrats and the Republicans for surely have have not been able to meet our needs and so I think it speaks to why it's not a throwaway vote. We we have to show um our dissatisfaction with the system and we have to show that that the majority of us do not agree with you know it's just like the war in Iran. It's the most unpopular war in US history as we're saying, but yet these folks in power, they're still going against our will.

[00:56:43]So, I just think it it shows to one that we need to keep voting socialists, keep letting the powers that be know that we see what's up and we're coming to get them. And two, as as we've stated before too, is that we need that mass movement, right, to to put like a turbo boost jet on the political arena and make sure that we're still flooding the streets, organizing with our unions, organizing with our tenant unions, and building this power in between election cycles to make sure that we can we can get the socialist uh society that we deserve.

[00:57:15]>> Thank you so much. We're coming to get them, Andre.

[00:57:26]I feel like the kid in class that gets called on and I'm like I'm I had I was I wanted put me in coach.

[00:57:33]No, but I I really love I really love this question. Um because it really exposes just the way that there is a war on the working class, specifically on the consciousness of the working class, right? Um they say the the first casualty in war is the truth. And that's really what we're witnessing in every time we hear this media narrative come up that says that a vote for a third party is a throwaway vote. Well, I submit that capitalism is a throwaway system. Capitalism produces more waste than any other thing that we can com that we can even conceptualize. Right? I mean 40% of all the food that people labor to grow and to raise and to pick and to harvest and to transport goes in the garbage. Capitalism is a system of waste. It is a system of throwaway. So it they it behooves them to convince you that the best that you can hope to get is the the slop that they offer you which is drenched in the blood of the genocide of the the people in Palestine, of the increased war and aggression and criminality of the aggression on the people of Iran and of Lebanon and the increased aggression and attacks on the sovereign righteous people in Cuba.

[00:58:42]right now. They want you to believe that the best that you can hope for is a slight reduction in the incredibly intense violence that we're seeing all around us everywhere we go. So, they want you to believe that throwing your vote away is voting for a third party.

[00:58:57]But in reality, a vote is an expression of your political desires. A vote is an expression of the things that you want to see in the future. It was not our ancestors wish to fight and die for the ability to vote between two billionaire backed parties or candidates. Their their expression and their desire they their fight was to live in dignity to be able to have the deliverable the American promise that was sold to them. The same promise that draws people around the world to escape as the refugees of capitalism and foreign US foreign policy on their countries to come into this land and try to find a better life. That is what people fought and died for, but not to to participate in a boogeoa uh election between one billionaire bloodthirsty criminal and another. Right? We again in the Bronx in District 15, we have Richie Torres, which is probably one of the most notorious, the most emblematic examples of what capitalist politics is, where we have someone who, I mean, receives $1.5 million from the real estate lobby and another 1.4 from the pro-Israel lobby.

[01:00:05]This is a person who is presiding over the most exploited congressional district in the country. And we should not, as workingclass people, the 770,000 people in district 15 should not accept this. They should advocate for nothing less than the full control of the economic and the political power in their society in their district. And that is what the working-class people around the country deserve. And we and I'm so glad to be here with all of the beautiful people on the screen. Uh Jasmine, Greg, Joe, Ramsay, Claudia, and shout out to all of the candidates running up and down the ticket under the Peace and Freedom Party in California.

[01:00:41]We are openly declaring that we know that the problem is capitalism. The problem is imperialism that exploits the people around the world. And the only solution is a clear socialist reorganization, a reconstruction of the society that puts the wealth, the tremendous wealth in this country into the hands of the people that make this country possible. So we have to openly declare that socialism is the answer.

[01:01:07]And we are not just talking about socialism in some distant future. We are offering touch points and avenues for you to get involved in building socialism right now where you are. So, I'm I'm super super excited and I I can't wait to go back uh to work tomorrow and and and and continue to build with my my students who are the youngest members of the working class and um people who are resonating with this message and and ready to make socialism a future for them because capitalism wants to throw you out. They want to throw your future out. But we we reject that and we choose to build and make the thing that we believe should exist. We will it will be what we make it and we are going to make it great because we're going to make socialism.

[01:01:49]Thank you.

[01:01:50]>> Thank you, Andre. I dropped the mic.

[01:01:55]Joe, take it home.

[01:01:59]>> You did drop the mic, but I will try to follow that maybe just uh speaking from a slightly different angle. Uh, in Massachusetts to run for president and to run for US Senate, you need 10,000 certified signatures from registered voters, which means you really try to collect 20,000 signatures. And I've been in the PSL for eight years since 2018.

[01:02:19]In 2020, when we ran our presidential campaign with Gloria Lariva at the top of the ticket, uh, we didn't collect signatures to get on the ballot in Massachusetts because the PSL was too small. It was just a handful of us and we didn't have the power to collect all those signatures. In 2024, when Claudia and Karina ran, we collected those 20,000 signatures in six weeks. And this year for our Senate campaign, we collected those 20,000 signatures in two weeks, which I think really encapsulates the fact that the socialist movement is a rising tide in Massachusetts and all across the country. And our electoral campaigns are one part of how we build that movement. like one of the our field coordinators, one of the people who ran the operation to allow us to collect those 20,000 signatures in two weeks this year. She joined the party because she learned about it through the presidential campaign in 2024. So, it's not simply about voting in November, which of course all of us want those who are on the call who can vote for us to do so, but it's really about building a political instrument that is an alternative and independent from the billionaire class. And that's not going to fall from the sky. Unfortunately, it's not going to magically happen and it's definitely not going to come from the Democrats and Republicans who are both parties that are ultimately accountable to the billionaires who are writing their checks. And if the billionaires are writing their checks and they're causing climate change, they're causing poverty and the affordability crisis, they're causing the crisis of AI, they're causing war and militarism, then how could we possibly expect those political parties that are represented by those billionaires to to solve the problems that we care about? So, our electoral campaigns, they introduce new people to the movement. They get people to activate as volunteers. They get people to help collect signatures to vote. And then people realize I don't have to just vote and wait two years or four years or six years for some politician to solve my problems knowing that they actually are never going to solve their problems.

[01:04:10]I can be a protagonist in a society and after election day, I can go and keep knocking on doors. I can keep taking the streets. I can keep organizing in my workplace to build a consciousness and organization and empower a working-class people cuz every single positive change in this country's history and really in human history has happened through the collective action of regular everyday people. You look at the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the LGBTQ movement, the labor movement, they all have movement attached to the name because it wasn't just uh one person or handful of people. And I think a lot about the the civil rights movement right now because obviously the Voting Rights Act is under attack and all on civil rights in general under attack.

[01:04:49]But think about the Voting Rights Act of 1965. You can't really tell me the Congress people who voted on that act.

[01:04:57]Actually, a lot of the people who passed that act in 1965 would have voted no on it in 1960. But it's the steadfastness and the courage of the civil rights movement starting the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 all the way up to the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 for 10 years that people fought and bled and died for the rights of people not just to vote but to live with dignity and respect in our society. And that's the type of movement that we're trying to build today. A movement that can put capitalism in the garbage bin like where it belongs as Andre was saying. And ultimately, unless we build our independent campaigns in an independent political party and project, we're not going to do that. So these campaigns are I speak especially for this campaign, the campaigns of the PSL are part of building that movement. And there's nothing there's nothing that's a throwaway about building independent working-class political power. It's actually the only hope that we have to get ourselves out of the nightmare of capitalism.

[01:05:54]>> Thank you all so much. This has been such an inspiring and this amazing powerful discussion and exchange. I mean, I'm fired up and I hope folks that are connected to the webinar are as fired up as well and that they actually feel and you know take with them this level of energy and if they are not part of the PSL action network that they join the PSL action network because ultimately it is a network that's precisely building socialism is advancing our working-class struggles. The link is on the chat as well. I want to thank the presenters once again. Thank you comrades for joining us and for, you know, I know how busy you are, parents, those of you that are coming from work.

[01:06:39]I know how hard it is and so I appreciate y'all jumping on with the different time zones as well, just to share with us such amazing work that is being done with the campaigns to advance the mass consciousness of our people and also advance our mass struggles. So, thank you all so much for joining us and I want to encourage people again, join the PSL Action Network if you are already part of the PSL Action Network.

[01:07:02]Make sure that you share information with your loved ones, with your communities about the PSL Action Network. You will be getting printed materials, printed flyers, leaflets.

[01:07:12]You'll get um stickers. you'll just get more information to share about our socialist vision and our our work towards building socialism with your co-workers, with your neighbors, with your friends. Um, you'll have an entry point to be able to start conversations with communities about the vision that we've shared here, but obviously the vision that you're also um connected to.

[01:07:36]So, we appreciate the time that you've devoted to this webinar. We hope again that you leave inspired and that you leave ready to continue to fight with us to build a better future, a socialist future here and now. Um once again, we'll drop the links to all of our candidates um who you got to hear from today. Thank you all again for joining us tonight and we will definitely see you on the next webinar on June 17th at 5:00 p. p.m. Pacific, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

[01:08:04]Please register. peace if you're willing to fight for it like good old Fred Hampton Senior would have said. Love y'all. Be well. Take care.