What activists had to say about WWP conference

With a deepening global economic crisis and the election of the first African-American president of the U.S. creating a new political situation, the Workers World Party conference on socialism was a magnet for activists who sensed a sea change in the working-class struggle.

Community, union and youth activists came from across the country to discuss the impact of the election and the mounting struggles against the economic onslaught against workers and oppressed, and to make plans for future struggles.

Some were longtime supporters and allies of Workers World Party. For others, it was their first time at a national gathering of the party.

Sandra Hines WW photo: Kris Hamel

Sandra Hines from Detroit, Mich., was attending a WWP conference for the second time and liked what she saw. Hines, a leader with the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice, lost her family home of 38 years to foreclosure. She knows well the pain of people fighting against the greed of the banks and has become an outspoken advocate in the struggle to win a moratorium against foreclosures.

She didn’t attempt to contain her enthusiasm, frequently shouting out encouragement to speakers. “The excitement and energy people have here is refreshing,” Hines noted. “It’s predicated in the fact that the complete financial collapse has awakened us all. The collapse is a reality for people all over the world. We can’t leave it to big government politicians for our salvation. They have no interest in the working class.

“I hope people will take from the conference the courage and commitment to fight back. We need to lay out our program for where the bailout money should go. The money going to the banks is our money. It came from our blood, sweat and tears, and we have the right to demand our fair share. People have to fight back. This is no time to be afraid,” she concluded.

Deborah Wray

Deborah Wray, a public housing activist from Providence, R.I., spoke to the historic significance of the Obama election in the fight against racism. Wray is active with the People’s Assembly/Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) and helped organize events commemorating Rosa Parks’ courageous defiance of racial segregation that led to the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955.

“We exercised our freedom to get out and vote, and now we have to take on all the other issues that confront us—housing, prisons, education, unemployment and more. This is what people in my project are talking about. The Obama election was an important victory, but racism was not swept under the rug.”

Martha Rojas

This was also the first WWP conference for Martha Rojas, a Colombian activist and union organizer for home health care workers in Los Angeles. Rojas first met WWP during the 2006 massive struggles around immigrant rights.

“It’s great to see African Americans, Anglos and Latin@s involved together in the struggle,” Rojas stated. “This is my place. The speakers here are not just saying there should be unity, but they are doing things to bring it about.”

Rojas described the impact of the global economic crisis on her family in Colombia. “There is a saying that when the U.S. gets a cold, Colombia gets pneumonia. My family were never doing that well, but now they are really suffering.

“Because Barack Obama came out against Plan Colombia, the Afro-Colombian community came out in the thousands when he won,” Rojas said. “Colombia has the second-largest African community in Latin America after Brazil. The vote against racism for Obama is affecting them. If the U.S. can change, we can make a difference in Colombia against Uribe.”

Pam Africa WW photos: Gary Wilson

Pam Africa from International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal welcomed the insight the conference offered on the Obama election. “The conference was great,” Africa reported, “and very educational on where we need to go from here after the elections.

“I have never felt anything but solidarity from Workers World around the struggle to free Mumia. With all the other commitments the party has, you have never set aside your support for political prisoners, whether it’s Mumia or the Cuban Five. Workers World is not just there in a conference like this, but in the street and on the front line. Not behind me, but beside me. I’ll be at the next conference, too!” Africa concluded.

“I’m very impressed with the commitment of the people who came to this meeting from all over the country,” noted Dave Welch, a leader of the National Association of Letter Carriers Local 214 and delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council. “They are already deeply involved with the fight against foreclosures to put people back in their homes. They come from the rising movement of workers and poor who are dealing with the economic crisis that is devastating people’s lives.”

“I’m encouraged by the labor struggles I’ve heard reported here like the victory of the Boston school bus drivers. People are also taking actions to fight racism where it happens, like the lynching of Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero by a mob on Long Island. Many are fighting the epidemic of police brutality and the attacks on immigrant rights. It’s happening all over the country.”