The People’s Power tour was launched in New York on March 11. The tour
seeks to bring working, poor and oppressed people into a nationwide discussion
to help develop a unifying fightback program of action. Its literature points
to the life-and-death social issues that are intensified by the current global
capitalist economic crisis, such as “unemployment, low wages,
foreclosures, police and ICE terror, racist incarcerations, hunger and
homelessness.”
Armed with this orientation, the tour moved on from New York to
well-attended meetings in Philadelphia on March 12, Baltimore on March 13 and
Los Angeles on March 18. All the strategy meetings featured former Georgia
congressperson and anti-war leader Cynthia McKinney and tour representative
Larry Hales, an organizer against budget cuts in New York.
Cynthia McKinney at
New York meeting.
photo: John Catalinotto
In New York at Judson Memorial Church, a standing-room-only
crowd heard a panel of diverse speakers. Hales chaired the meeting. Berna
Ellorin from BAYAN-USA emphasized the need to integrate all the local struggles
with an anti-imperialist perspective.
Victor Toro, a long-time Chilean activist facing deportation, spoke on
building working-class unity with a major focus on the plight of 12 million
undocumented workers forced to come to the U.S. He called for legalization of
all immigrants. In motivating for May Day 2012, Toro stated, “The
conflict with Wall Street is the cause of all the ills in our society and
around the world.”
Jen Waller, an Occupy Wall Street organizer, described OWS as: “A
movement of people who feel they have nothing to lose. They have abandoned
family, friends, relationships to devote themselves to the movement. The main
message is to call out the 1%.”
Cynthia McKinney said, “We need a transfer of state power from those
who oppress us to ‘we the people.’ We will demonstrate the
people’s will.”
Retired postal worker Eleanor Bailey recalled the 1970 postal strike and
spoke about the current struggle to save the jobs of 200,000 postal workers and
3,000 post offices. (Google “workers world eleanor bailey” for a
summary of her remarks.)
Larry Holmes of Bail Out the People and Occupy 4 Jobs told the audience,
“The capitalists can’t provide a system of people before profits.
We have to begin to demand power — locally, nationally, globally. It
trumps capitalism.”
The panel was followed by an open mic session and then breakout groups where
a people’s program was discussed.
In Philadelphia, Berta Joubert-Ceci of the Philadelphia
chapter of the International Action Center, chaired the meeting.
Pam Africa, from International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia
Abu-Jamal, noted that even when the odds don’t seem to be in our favor,
people determined to fight back can win our demands, citing Mumia
Abu-Jamal’s recent release from death row and solitary confinement as an
example.
Margarita Padin, a Puerto Rican construction worker and leader of the fight
for inclusion of women, Black and Latino/a workers in several major
construction projects at Temple University, gave an account of their struggle
to get jobs for people from the neighborhood that surrounds the north
Philadelphia campus.
Mexicana activist Ana Martina reported on efforts to stop
Pennsylvania’s anti-immigrant legislation, including a May 7 “May
Day” rally in Harrisburg, the state capital. Jamila Wilson spoke on the
upcoming April 24 Occupy for Mumia event at the Justice Department in
Washington, D.C.
Young activists from Occupy Philly, along with seasoned activists primarily
from oppressed communities, were in attendance. Listen to the meeting at
www.deepgreenphilly.com/?p=681.
Longshore militant
Clarence Thomas at
Los Angeles rally
photo: Gloria Verdieu
In Los Angeles at the University of Southern California,
IAC leader John Parker introduced the speakers. Clarence Thomas, of
International Longshore & Warehouse Local 10, described the victorious port
shutdowns in association with Occupy Oakland and the need to build better
cooperation between the rank and file from the union movement and the
communities they work in.
Kuusela Hilo of BAYAN-USA spoke about the national liberation struggle in
the Philippines against U.S. imperialism and the link to Filipino immigrants in
the U.S. Ron Gochez of Union del Barrio told of winning local concessions
regarding the unjust confiscation at checkpoints of cars operated by
undocumented people. KB Solomon, a cultural artist, sang a stirring rendition
of “Ol’ Man River.” Larry Hales explained the necessity of a
national coordination against U.S. capitalism and its deadly attacks on workers
felt around the world.
John Catalinotto, John Parker and Betsey Piette contributed
to this article.
International Action Center • Solidarity Center • 147 W. 24th St., FL 2 • New York, NY 10011 Phone 212.633.6646 • E-mail: iacenter@iacenter.org • En Español: iac-cai@iacenter.org
