Following is a talk given in the Keynote Plenary of the
Nov. 13-14, 2010, National Conference on Socialism sponsored by the Party for
Socialism and Liberation.
Sisters and brothers, comrades and friends,
I have been given the honor to talk to you today about the
need for a revolutionary party. And for me to take up this topic is truly an
honor.
I’m going to talk about the need for a revolutionary
party from two different points of view.
First, I want to talk about why we need a revolutionary
party as a people, as a class.
We live in a society based on oppression. No matter how much
the ruling class tries to hide it behind glittery shopping malls and fake
“reality” TV shows, the day-to-day oppression in our society is wide out in the
open.
You can see the contradictions in our society in the fact
that banks and billionaires are still making super profits in the middle of
this economic crisis. Their crisis might be over—but the vast majority of us
are still dealing with layoffs, cutbacks, foreclosures and evictions.
You see it in the legacy of racism that is still to this day
being fostered, as any index of social well-being shows.
You can see it in the reality of police terror in the Black
and Latino communities in cities large and small across the country.
You can see it in the violence and hatred being promoted
against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
You can see it in the anti-immigrant hysteria being whipped
up by the media and politicians—a hysteria backed up by a wave of detentions,
raids and deportations.
I could go on and on, but I will not. We have been talking
about these issues throughout the day and our comrades and I will continue to
show these contradiction when we are in the streets organizing our people.
I think we are all here today because we understand these
things and understand we must organize and want to fight back. We are here
because we want a different society, a different world.
We are here because we want revolution.
But let’s face it. Making a revolution will not be easy.
Most of your friends and coworkers will tell you it can never happen. Well, our
party exists to show them: Si, si se puede! We exist to show our friends
and co-workers their own power.
But we only have power when we are organized. That is why
the ruling class works so hard to divide us.
That is the first reason we need a revolutionary party: to
do our part to help organize our class.
It is not just organization though. It also has to do with
having a leadership that can keep its eyes on the prize.
I bring up the issue of leadership because among some people
“leadership” is a dirty word. Some people, disgusted by bourgeois politicians
and opportunists, will tell us that we don’t need any leaders at all.
I want to say loud and clear: Poor and working people want
leadership and need leadership. More than that—we deserve leadership. If we
don’t have leaders of our own class and people, then our oppressors will lead
us—and we will never stop being oppressed.
That is why we need a revolutionary party: to have an
organized leadership in place that is ready and willing to intervene in the
struggles of our people to throw out the class that is oppressing us. If we
don’t make it happen, it is not going to happen by itself.
Sisters and brothers, my comrades and I train every day to
be part of that leadership. That is why we organize demonstrations, hand out
flyers, raise funds, hold study groups, organize against the cops, against
crooked landlords, against racism, and ultimately it comes down to organizing
against imperialism. For us, everything we do is designed to make us ready for
the struggle.
Our party exists so that our class—poor and working
people—can develop the leadership that we need and deserve. Not a leadership
that puts itself above the class, but a leadership that is self-sacrificing and
rooted in our class.
And that brings me to the second reason why we need a
revolutionary party: as individuals, which for me is a very personal reason.
Sisters and brothers, I wasn’t born a revolutionary. But I
was born knowing what oppression meant.
I grew up having friends disappear because their families
were deported. I grew up knowing how poverty felt. I grew up knowing what
racism and sexism felt like—and for those of you who have not, it is painful.
I didn’t grow up reading about Marx and Engels in high
school. I never knew Comrade Lenin existed, but I did know who Fidel Castro
was. I never even had a chance to finish high school—I got my GED going to
night school. I didn’t have small classrooms to build my confidence—in fact,
everything in my life was deteriorating away my confidence.
I consider it an honor that I met the Party for Socialism
and Liberation, in the same way I said this was an honor for me to talk about.
In many ways, joining the PSL didn’t change my life—it saved my life.
From the beginning, I remember being told that this party
was for me—and for people like me—to develop as fighters and leaders. I was
told that this party had a leadership and membership that was committed to
helping me and people like me to train and grow, as long as we could put our
class interests above our individual interests.
I decided to take on that challenge. And I am glad I did. It
is a lot of work, and it has meant countless hours of blood, sweat and tears.
Trust me.
I spent a good part of last year talking to tens of
thousands of people in the poorest neighborhoods of New York City about the
movement we need for the society we deserve. Our party’s message was simple:
Poor and working people have power and united we can get our needs of
education, housing, healthcare and jobs, and end racism and wars home and
abroad.
So for me, the need for a revolutionary party is very
simple. I know what life means without it. I know what life is for my children
and your children if this society does not change.
I need a revolutionary party. My people need a revolutionary
party. Our people need a revolutionary party. Poor and working people need a
revolutionary party.
Sisters and brothers—join me in building the party that our
class, poor and working people, deserve.
Thank you.
