this is an immensely complicated problem. when i say money and politics. the money going into campaigns or citizens united and there is the shadowy network of lobbyists and a revolving door. it's this big thing. you get this. this is the reaction you get when you talk about money and politics. i do not want the face of this movement to be vendor. i am going to talk about the solution. i will talk about how to win this thing. i am so sick to death of seeing this headline over and over again. seeing the same great reform ideas show up in washington. get some democratic votes and zero republican votes and die the same slow painful death. let's talk about strategy. i want to hone in on this third point. this absolutely has to be bipartisan movement. i know what some of you are thinking. who is this [ bleep ] telling me about how to get money out of

politics? when we talk to republicans about this issue, they say the same thing but instead of the koch brothers, it's the big scary unions or pick your boogie man. if you look at the numbers, you see that both sides support the same policies we need to fix this problem. this is not a left or right wing issue, but an american issue. until we treat it like one, we are not going to win. when you are dealing with a problem this huge, you can't nibble around the edges. there all these things we have to fix. let's take one at a time. let's pass the public funding here. we found if you put them all together in a piece of legislation, it's more powerful together than it is alone. this is all stuff by the way that you can do without amending the constitution to overturn citizens united. it's not to say you shouldn't.

that's to say these two work in tandem because like the majestic voll tron, we are toech more powerful wh powerful when we unite as one. so we have something called the american anti-corruption act. i don't have time to get into the policy stuff now and i would love for people po check it out online. i want to talk about the name. when you call this issue corruption, not money and politics or democracy and not campaign finance reform, you get a 50% bump and it bridges the divide and it's honest because that's what this [ bleep ] is.

we need to stop throwing ourselves and focus on the 13 states where tomorrow we can put a statewide anti-corruption act on the ballot. it's for two reasons. one, certain states where this is good policy. money and politics is a bigger problem than at the federal level and north carolina, i'm looking at it you. number two, it's good politics because every win at the state level builds for national reform. we have done the polling for a state act. it has unprecedented support. they have never seen higher numbers. i am from colorado and i will bring up marijuana legalization. here is an issue that 20 years ago was a late night bunch line. building a right-left coalition and going state by state, they legalized it and it is polling 50% nationally. we are doing the same thing now. we are representing us and we

will do a quick shameless plug. we are running a quake candidate. use your magic computer phone and you will be happy you did. thank you so much. are you having fun? when we have progressive victories, they are important to announce. when our friends are behind, you don't like to announce them. they worked for years tirelessly to end the pebble mine in alaska. the mine will now be built in alaska. it's important to give them a shout out. if you are working on issues that are hard and have to do with water and climate, they made it so compelling and interesting and they are

tireless fighters. i want to give them a shout out because i love them. i have been to see what this place is and it has been to preserve 17,000 jobs and to preserve our environment. thank you. thank you. ladies and gentlemen, jessica morales. >> i want to take a moment to have a moment of silence for eric gardner who was killed by the nypd choke hold. young people from around the country went to the south. in mississippi they got arrest and live and worked and some of them died and they changed this country. they were willing to risk everything because they lived in an america that told them their lives didn't matter. those young people and those

organizers became the icons. they had watkins and mary king. 50 years later, two young leaders, the preacher from florida fighting stand your ground and sofia campos fighting for undocumented immigrants as a daughter were invited to speak at the march and they were not able to speak. that's when we knew we had to do our own commemoration and we came in boston in north carolina. in a tiny island in georgia. we are black and brown and asian and queer and undocumented and adopted and southern and organizers and artists. we are all of those things at once. what side are we on? are we on the side of an america that continues to incarcerate people at a higher rate than any other nation that rips families apart by deportation? what side are we on? are we on the side of an america that continues to allow black

and brown youth to struggle for equality education? what side are we on? are we on the side of an america that fires and even kills people because of who they love. it's okay with them getting married, but not have full equality under the law. last week our freedom fighters went to the association meeting in nashville, tennessee to demand a meeting with elected officials and they were arrested while black. they were dropped as having no probable cause. those freedom fighter who is were arrested were calling for our demands. one, free fully funded public education for all. two, to stop deportation and keep families together. to end the school and prison pipeline, equal access, opportunity and protection under

the law. free and fair elections. we know that another america is possible and we are building it. we dream of an america where we can be educated without crippling debt. we dream of an america where the families stay together regardless of status and we dream of an america where the institutions build the school to power pipeline. we dream of a two-democracy that represents us, where we have the safety to pursue our dreams. i am on the freedom side. we need to know. what side are you on? it's not enough to celebrate the 50th anniversary of freedom summer. we have to use the gift they gave us at the ballot box to take the power away from those who are still trying to silence us. i'm on the freedom side. what side are you on? we are in a fight for our lives and the very survival of our

communities for too long. our government denied people of color the basic freedoms are liberty and at the very foundation of this country. i'm on the freedom side. what side are you on? half a century after the men and women risked their bodies and lives, they hold little regard for black and brown youth. if you are ready, i need you to take the pledge this summer and beyond. we need to you join us in claiming our voices matter and our votes matter and our lives matter. if you are ready, stand and repeat after me. this summer, i pledge undying hostility to any government restrictions on the basic rights and freedoms of marginalized youth. i will use the power of my vote

to remove policy makers from office who support measures from harm people from california and replace them with people who care about us. >> with the freedom fighter. we go by all day and night until we get it right. what side are you on my people, what side are you on?

>> stand up for yourself. thank you guys all. thank you all. >> i am proud to be part of this. i love that you are here and you care. often times it works way harder than the pay that it means to work for other people and that you consider other voices and perspectives. always do that when you consider how you want to push things forward. let's go drink and have fun.

>> the washington journal's interview lincoln interim president james lender is part of our special series on universities in the big 10 conference. that's followed by a discussion on challenges trying to go to college. a series of discussions on campus sexual assault hosted by clair mccaskill. that starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> bringing more than 100 debates with congress. at 9:00 p.m. eastern, the third congressional district seat between 19-term incumbent and republican challenger evan jenkins. here is a look at ads running in the district. sky high electric rates and worse, he cut benefits for home

health care. favors for obama cashing in for himself. he is not for us. he worked with joe to get rid of the food tax. evan jenkins for west virginia, not obama. >> when evan jenkins voted against raising the state minimum wage, he abandoned west virginians and supported financial backers. they opposed raising minimum wage. he believes that anyone willing to work hard should be paid a decent wage and mick puts west virginians first. >> i'm evan jenkins and i approved this message. cole kept the lights on here and

across america. then he pulled the switch. he voted for the largest epa budget in history, bank rolling the war on coal with our tax dollars. for the coal miners, he slashed benefits. turn the lights out. >> i'm joe man shin. we hear about things in politic, but none worse than the lies being told on tv to fight the war on coal. don't let anyone mislead you. nick knows west virginia values. we need him in congress. >> i approved this message because i will never let anyone change our way of life. >> recent polls listed this as a toss up. then at 10:00, another house debate for the open seat in

utah's fourth district. see may love and doug o pens for the seven-term congress. it's all tonight on the companion network of c-span. >> be part of the conafter and follow us on twitter and like us on facebook. video clips of key moments and previews from the politics team. c-span is bringing you over 100 senate, house and governor debates. can you share your reactions to what the candidates are saying. the battle for control of congress. stay in touch and engage by following us on twitter at c-span and liking us on facebook at facebook.com/c-span. we will hear from the party chairman who talks about the

mid-term elections and the party's economic agenda. this is almost 90 minutes. i was born and raised in jersey. i'm a member of the communist party and the yco. we are gathered here this weekend for the 30th national convention of the communist party usa. it is a party that has had 95 years of history of struggle, dedication, defeats and victories. from each of those struggles

that the party has been a part of, we have been able to learn from those experiences in order to go forth and analyze the ever changing political climate. here in the year 2014, we deal with a nation and a world in a state of unrest. we are the working class and continue to struggle, fight, and most of all survive. in a capitalist society, hell bent on our exploitation and demoralization. this weekend we are coming together to share our experiences. learn from one another, analyze our current political situations and hopefully leave here with a better outlook for tomorrow. the key word i think of when thinking about what we are doing here this weekend is experience.

they give the tone of being archaic, moving and gone. basically i was afraid i would give something of a eulogy. the thing is this is not a funeral. the elders who are with us in spirit are very much alive and fighting and have a wonderful resource of the knowledge they think they are. the parties we need to know to be reminded of in being the best

we can be. the political activist said children have never been good on listening to their elders. they never failed to imitate them. this holds true with the case of the party. sometimes is busy. the struggles can get us down and we get wrapped up in our own affairs that we can get tunnel vision. we can think this is the first time something is being done, a problem is arising or a battle is being fought. the thing s the battle and struggle for the end of capitalist exploitation and a society based on equality, it has been a battle they have been wamging for 95 years. it is a battle that has taken on many forms.

people in this room and around the country who have been fighting for decades and continue to fight in it. we can at least hope in some ways to imitate their strength and resilience. to be able to have the similar life lessons they had and to be able to help contribute to the rich legacy of the party as they had as well. okay. i'm going to sum this up. i feel luck tow have contact with adults who made the change. that feeling of not being paralyzed as a human being.

>> a reminder of what elizabeth wrote when speaking of the older generations. the most beautiful people have known defeat, known suffering and known struggle and known loss and found their way out of the debts. these persons have an appreciation and a sensitivity and understanding of life that fills them with compassion and gentleness and a deep loving concern. beautiful people do not just happen. she is right. beautiful people don't just happen. they are created and blossom in the complexity of and struggle. that's who the elders are. truly beautiful people who we are so grateful to have still fighting by our sides and being able to learn from their experience and lessons. thank you.

>> the executive vice chair of the party. >> i hope you are feeling as uplifted as i am right now. you all look great. i say to you good afternoon. i say we'll have a great convention here. i have a specific test for this evening. i want to talk to you about extending a welcome to the international guests. coming from the most powerful imperialist nation in the world, our party has a long and courageous record of anti-imperialist solidarity.

workers and the oppressed people of the world unite. more than a great slogan for the party for 95 years. we have fought this fight all through those 95 years with all that we have to translate those powerful words into a powerful movement of struggle. the founders of the party lifted the banner of internationalism and solidarity with the first socialist nation in the land that developed in the land. we carried it in defense of republic spain and berlin and tokyo. tokyo and roam. axis. the banner protested batista and it embraced the cuban socialism.

total it frees the cuban five. our banner is lifted in solidarity with the people of vietnam and the struggle against u.s. imperialism. we are with the people of vietnam today and hopeful that a peaceful solution will be found to end a current and most serious conflict with the people's republic of china that is going on right now. our banner of anti-racism was raised high in solidarity with south africa's fight for freedom. and when we hailed the founding of the new anti-racist democratic republic of south africa, we continue to raise the

banner in solidarity with the new pro socialist venezuela and all the new elected progressive governments in latin america. they stood with the people of iraq against the invasion and occupation in the country. and in their continued struggle for lasting peace and self determination, the banner of the cpusa forever will wave against u.s. imperialism and solidarity with the oppressed and exploit it in the world. it is against austerity which is being spread by the most powerful economic forces around the world. laboring and people's fight back all over the world. we stand with the people who ran against the threats of war

coming mainly from the ultra right, but not only. also from the israeli ruling circles. the anti-imperialisms in central and south america and the struggle for social justice and economic and political independence. in the ukraine, u.s. policy is to join with those who wave the flag of nazism including to some surprised the confederate flag was waved in kiev. these people who carried a confederate flag of savory. they are supposed to be the allies in the ukraine?

hell no. the world has not forgotten what nazism is. u.s. imperialism does not represent the interest of the american people. we know that. their goal is not peace on earth, but how big of a piece of this earth they can dominate and exploit. it is the wasted treasure of our nation squandered on war it is many of whom are coerced and bullied into military service on behalf of u.s. corporate imperialist interests. that same interest that exportedor jobs in the first place.

the fight for peace is where the basic interest lies. it is where we as a people make the greatest contribution through the future of humanity. we know comrades was the international solidarity with the market martyrs that established day as a worker's holiday.

that's because of the international solidarity. it was a wealthy english woman abolitionist who put up the money that performed the freedom of frederick douglas who was a fugitive slave. they led the fight to refuse to unload shifts made from slave labor. anti-racism and racist solidarity. our pearlt it's been a long

time. my party will never forget the communist works from parties around the world and the fight to save angela davis. many parties have wonderful greetings to our convention. we are especially delighted. they have many guests who joined us many thousands of miles to be with us. a number of other parties has john mentioned who are blocked by the state department and the cubans sent in their application for a visa. they didn't say no. they hid the visa. i don't know. nothing came out of it and they often do that. what are we so scared about.

i thought we were irrelevant. what are they scared of? sec ta tear of state, come on. we had guests from all over the world. what is your problem, brother? you understand what i'm saying? i think it's part of their -- whatever. i don't know what it is. i'm not even going to try. whatever. the south africans would be here, but there was a problem of health. he could not make the trip. they sent their best wishes. we say to though who are here, welcome, comrades. we are honored by your presence. i want to ask each one to stand as i call your party's name and try to hold your applause until our comrades are all standing.

fat chance, i know. first of all from the communist party of brazil, please stand. remain standing. the communist party, please stand. that's all the applause y'all can do? come on. i'm teasing you. the party of germany, please stand. the two-day party of iran. the communist party of japan is

here. and the communist party of vietnam. welcome. please give them a rousing hand. you all get a chance over the course of the weekend to hear much and meet them and so on. but long live international solidarity. i'm sorry i got emotional. thank you.

juan lopez, the organizer of the northern california district. great privilege and pleasure to introduce our national chairman, sam web. sam has been a mentor and inspiration to many of us, including myself. i am proud to say that sam and i at the ripe age of 69 share a common destiny. we are one year from entering the prime of our lives. as young men, our baby boomer

generation was shaped by the movements of the 1960s civil rights and anti-vietnam war era to which the party just emerges from the mccarthy period made important contributions. at the time first as a college student and then a worker, sam served as leader of the party in his native main with distinction. so in the 1970s at the party's urging, sam and his family moved to detroit when the industry was still king. under sam's leadership, the party in michigan ably contributed to the fresh winds that were reenergizing and renewing the labor movement, unleashing the process resulting in today's progressive trends. out of the national party sent in in new york, sam went on to become secretary of the party's

national labor commission. he became a major trouble shooter. after the social union and the socialist camp in europe imploded. sam played a pivotal role in helping either party out of one of the most challenging periods, bringing unity, stability, continuity and renewal to the party. it was a party that elected him as the national chairman in 2000. it is this threat, continuity and renewal. continuity and renewal that the national chairman taught us to pass through the eye of the needle, resulting in the sound policies in looking trajectory that characterizes our party today. in today's world, sam leaving

with other comrades in the leadership directives. together without close coalition, we are molding a modern 21st century communist party. through the course of the next three days, we will have the opportunity to review our party's considerable accomplishments. both where we excel and fell short. we chart a course that will build on the great strides we made since the last convention. sam brought outstanding qualities worth mentioning

because of the impact they have on the party and through our party carry over into the mass arena. a deep understanding of the science and art we call marxism. marxism not fixed in stone for all time, but one very much alive, masterfully applied to concrete circumstances and evolving with ever changing reality. a keen appreciation for the sensibilities and appreciation with the working class of people not least for members of our own party. the style of leadership utterly collective with the humility at the same time reality base bold initiati initiative. leadership by example as well as persuasion. being aware that sam is not one

for personal, nevertheless i felt o plijed to bring these qualities out because they represent much of the best in our party's collective experience. and so it is with our minds set on continuity and renewal that we set out as we have said leading to our national convention, not to perform the makeover and the programs, policy and party and rather to make adjustments and do fine tuning and discuss and agree on exciting new initiatives. without further adieu, i present my dear friend sam web.

>> thank you for your overly generous introduction. and i accepted in a selective spirit, that's how we tried to function over the past 14 years and by and large, we did a pretty good job at it. i accepted in a collective spirit. it's great to see you here and a special thank you for the organizing commitmentee who did the work, john, judith, rosana, joe, joel, elena, hershel and tony. let's have a hand.

>> for the international guests, thank you for coming so far to be with us. seems like everybody is rearing to go. i hope they get us off and running well. every convention has their own particular mission. what is the mission for this 30th convention? in addition catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. general low having a good time, our mission is to take a fresh and sober look at the day's realities and challenges. this includes making adjustments of a tactical nature of new conditions. it entails taking better care of the future and the struggles of the present. over the next three days, we will turn our attention to those social movements which are

critical to recasting our country's politics, economics and popular thinking. while we will look ahead, we also keep in sight the immediate challenge of this fall's elections. of course it will give our attention to the many sided building of a party for the 21st century. such a party should be modern, mature, militant in mass. in my world, a 4 m party. they must utilize a collective and penetrating voice of the people's world. far more effectively than it has done up until now. i'm not going to turn my attention to the main challenges. the leadership of the party would like you the delegates to discuss and decide over the next three days. i will present them one by one for the purposes of clarity.

real life intermingles for the others in countless ways, challenge one. people surge. it seems like every day someone new is raising hell. the powers that be. one day it's the dreamers and the next day it's moms at wal-mart and fast footworkers and the moral monday movement the day after that. then there seemingly endless actions to increase the minimum wage. they are also initiatives to stop the deportations of the border. we have to add the mobilizations against voter suppression with ongoing campaigns to register the vote. nor can we forget and the system that is punitive with racial in-class bias. of great significance is to

protect the abortion clinics. then the inspiring student campaigns against global energy corporations. student debt and the keystone pipeline. we shouldn't forget the flood of phone calls that nearly overwhelmed the congress. switch boards to protest what looked like imminent u.s. military action in syria. it was a transformative convention last fall. still another impressive example of the surge was the landslide win of bill deblazio of mayor of new york. was a self-prescribed progressive. a few weeks ago across the mighty hudson, another impressive victory was elected newark's mayor. finally -- an aspect of this is

so inspiring it brings tears to my eyes. it has been the passing of legislation for marriage equality in state after state. these victories have become so common that it is easy to lose sight of the enormous change that represent and thanks go to the courage and tenacity of the lgbt movement. from this podium, let us tip our banner to the late harry hay as well as to the pioneering stonewall generation that includes our own gary and eric gordon. eric is with us. maybe you can stand up. the stonewall generation came

out when it was difficult to do so. they lot of loved ones to the aids epidemic and never gave an" to ignorance and hate. if i can sum it up, i might say that things are breaking good, not breaking bad. i will be the first to say that the surge might have the capacity to resolve the crisis of capitalism in a consistently democratic and working class manner. but does it have transformative potential? yes. if properly cared for, they bring a new burst of freedom, economic security and peace to our land. of course the devil's advocate would remind me of the barriers that make progress let alone social transformation unlikely.

you know what, the rob staicles are formidable. the task is daunting. we should not lose those precious gifts called hope or desire or give up on the american people. the surge is real and it can evolve into a movement of the majority and the immense majority. it reaches into small towns and suburbs as well as cities. into lu box and san francisco. into the south as well as the north. into the heartland as well as the coast. into red states as well as blue states. they put it differently. as one progressive includes the poor. the middle class has any chance of success.

that is not a marxist formulation, but frameing it like that encourages big universe thinking and tactics. both will of which is something lacking on the left in the party at times. that brings me to challenge 2. an economy for working people. the 99% are not faring too well. are you? the economic recovery is anemic and things don't look good going forward. the phrase economic tag nation as we enter the conversation of even mainstream economists after a long absence. the nobel prize winning economist and columnist wrote a while back and i quote, but what if the world we have been living in for the past five years is the new normal? what if depression-like conditions are on track to persist not for year, but two

years or for decades? wow, that is big stuff. present day capitalism of dynamics, there is little resemblance from the years stretching from the end of world war ii to the mid 70s. during that era between 1945 and 1975, sometimes called capitalism's golden age, the economy grew steadily and dynamically. this change in the mid-1970s when the conditions of sustained capitalism is dynamic and near continuous expansion over the period largely disappeared. it gave way to what is called stagflation. that is high inflation, so growth, and a sharp form in profitability. with this turn of events and a decline in profits, the money

banks of the corporates did two things. first they declared war on labor. this class that we know only too well goes on declared war on labor which we know only too well goes on abated. then a lose a good chunk of money from the sphere of material production and said to it, you are free. go wherever you want. multiply many times over and make me rich. which is exactly what the footloose and profit-seeking money did. it nestled everywhere. settled everywhere. established connections everywhere. but the main place, it flowed was into financial markets and channels. the in fact, the flow was so massive and sustained it became the main factor shaping the structure, contour, enter relations and national the global economy.

but as we know only too well, this enormous flow of overbhemioverbhem i overwhelm mingly parasitic flow was anything but expressive. sure a few people on wall street were connected to wall street got rich. rotten rich. lived in unconscionable luxury and accumulated enormous power. but most of us got spanked and spanked hard. we lost jobs and homes. piled up debts so we could get by. we did nothing but worry about the future for our families and communities. and when the financial feeding frenzy finally unravelled and the whole economic edifice came down in 2008, damn it if we didn't get spanked again. and to think that not one, not

even one of these thieves of high finance spent a day in jail. to make matters worse, five years later, things are no better for us. nearly all of the income gains, during this time, have gone to the 1%. and the prognosis for the economy is more of the same. slow growth, stagnation and mounting contradictions. what is added is the force of stagnation pressures of the vast changes that have occurred in the global economy since 1980. at the one hand at the apex of the economy are huge multicorporations and banks. and on the other hand, marxist of the unemployed, and former merrill employed has doubled in size during that time. the scale of this absorption of

work to the wage exploitation has radically releveraged the relative positions of capital and labor in favor of the capitalist class. what is more the disparity of wealth and power at the core of the economy constitutes a new and powerful source on global pressure. now, this turn of events and reconstitutionalism of capitalism could not have happened without a major assist from the government and political class. crucial employment with the election of ronald reagan in 1980 and the ascendency of the right wing that followed. but to be fair, the democrats, and especially the clinton administration were not bystanders either. they also had a hand in transforming the chi to the advantage of the 1%. so the question before the house is, how do we get out of this

mess? here's my two cents. what's needed is nothing less than the restructuring of the economy in a consistently and deeply anti-corporate and eventually socialist direction. first -- [ applause ] first, the conversion of a fossil fuel driven and militarized economy in a peaceful and sustainable one, based on and developing renewable energy sources. second, major infrastructure and construction and renewal. third, and you'll like this, a guaranteed and liveable income for all and the reduction of the work week with no cut in pay. [ applause ] fourth, the major expansion of every aspect of the public

sector, education, housing, regular creation, culture, child care, retirement, security. health care, elder care and so forth. fifth, strengthening of workers' rights and people's rights generally. six, turn too big to feel banks and energy industry into public utilities. seventh, measures to overcome longstanding inequalities in hard-hit communities. finally, controls on capital's ability to abandon communities and move around the world. [ applause ] of course -- of course, such reforms we've met with the refrain there is no money. but that is perhaps the biggest of all lies. in the past few decades, trillions of dollars of unearned wealth has been amassed by the

1%. this should be transferred into public hands. our hands. [ applause ] and another, another huge source of funds is the ordering of government priorities away from military spending. and finally, taxing of the financial flows and transactions should get our radical economic program off and running. let me add this, the purpose of such a reform program isn't to level the playing field or to ensure that everyone who plays by the rues and works hard get a fair shot of the american dream. to the contemporary, the purpose is to decisive change the rules in favor of the underpaid, the underemployed. the unemployed. the discriminated against, the struggling family, the indebted

family, the younger homeowner. the bankrupt city, the underfunded school. every victims of capital crisis. [ applause ] so where do we begin, my answer is that we begin where we are. that is with the existing movements and struggles. and there are so many. starting with the growing movements against economic inequality. the low-wage economy and rightly extremism. one day it is the afl-cio president richard trumka passionately speaking about the growth of equality. the next day, it's president obama makes a speech on the same subject. the books of thomas pickety and elizabeth warren, both of them the subject of glares and unjustified equality are in "the

new york times" best sellers' list. a progressive blocking congress stands firm behind economic justice. the minimum wage movement, the city council to lift the minimum wage to $15 an hour. [ applause ] meanwhile, around the world, powerful movements. in some cases, even governments are demanding economic justice. and before we move on, as a former altar boy, i got to bring the pope into the conversation. who said, and i have to quote him, while the earnings of minority of growing exponentially so, too, is a gap, separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few.

in balance is the result of ideologies which defend the automatic autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. a new tierney is thus born. invisible and often virtual. a new tyranny which -- oops, which relentlessly opposes its own loss and rules. the thirst and power and possibilities knows no limits. in this system which tends to devour everything that stands in the way of increased profits. whatever is fragile, like the environment is defenseless before the interests of the diet fied market which becomes the only rule. end of quote. powerful stuff. [ applause ] like lebron james, the pope's got game. one of the most compelling

struggles against economic indiai inequality, maybe the most compel sergeant low wage worker organizing campaign. who are these workers? well, they are us. they're young as well as old. black and brown, as well as white. women and men, immigrant as well as native-born. suburban and rural, as well as urban. and i'm sure gay and straight. they also come from red states as well as blue states. in their corner are important sections of the u.s. labor movement. we and many, many others are supporters of this struggle. but at this convention, we should agree to up the ante. i say, let's decide here. right now, at this 30th convention of the communist party to make the struggle a vatic? focus. can we agree to that? [ applause ]

i thought you'd agree. which moves to challenge three, assisting labor's growth and revitalization as an overriding strategic task. the labor movement is an essential cornerstone of transformative politics. not only everyone on the left is of this mind. some have signed the labor movement as no part of process of change. and still others include labor and a very long list of other political activists. contrast recession on the left with occupied to the recent convention of the a if lcio. it was gaga in win case and hoe hum

hum in the other. the working class in its organized sector possess transformative power. of course, this isn't the case today. latest membership is at its lowest level since world war ii. it's on the defensive and fraction. and the barriers are formidable. now, if this were the entire story, it would be a bummer. i'd go on vacation and head to the pub by noon. but it isn't. labor is breaking out of its defensive shell. opening up its arms to millions of new members. and taking new initiatives. so what should we do? we should do what sections of labor are doing. acknowledging, embracing and doing something about this crisis.

now i'm not pollyannaish, even the best of circumstances, transformation of a labor movement won't be accomplished overnight. but as i said, the first steps are being taken. labor is beginning to dance with a new beat and rhythm. labor's allies on the left should join the dance. thus, the question before the house, before this convention is, are you ready to put on your dancing shoes and boogie to labor's beat? now i expected you would break out in applause because i know how many of you like to dance. which takes me to challenge four. the elections and the struggle for political independence. the immediate challenge for anybody who cares about the future of our democracy is the

elections this fall. there are probably won't shift the political terrain in a deep going way. but that doesn't take away from their importance. whichever side wins will have to the wind in its sail over the next two years of the obama presidency, and a leg-up in the 2016 presidential race. if the republicans catch control of the senate, while retaining control of the house, they will claim that american people have unambiguously rejected the president in his politics of redistributive economics, government overreach and a supersized nanny state. on this ground, they will press they're reactionary agenda to the max. they will block the president at

every turn as well as ramp up efforts to portray him as incompetence, voicers of takers and free loaders and weakening in a global theater. nothing new here, except that they were pursued this smear campaign with more vigor. this is all how the republican opposition goes beyond the normal give and take and rancor of politics and heated partisanship. what it reveals is that a barely concealed and deeply felt racial animus toward a black president. in their eyes it symbolizes the old order, that is white, male and well to do. as fixated as they are on obama, they are equally measuring indifferent on the tens of millions struggling to survive. thus the stakes are tremendously high in this election.

and it goes without saying that we should be in this battle. no one should sit on the bench. this is playoff time. now, granted, it won't be a cakewalk. but whoever said the road to freedom would be easy or smooth. whoever said, for example, it would be easy to elect the first african-american president. none of us, i bet. most of the people shared our view. but life and struggle and a yes, we can attitude, combined to break new ground and make history. can we surprise the pundits once again and give the republicans a good thrashing in november. we've got the right spirit. but we and the larger people's

movement have to combine the spirit with two other things if we are to win in november. first, good talking points. we convince people that the vote counts and that the right wing can be defeated this fall. and, two, a massive voter registration, protect the vote, get out to vote campaign, beginning now. if this is done, and i think it can be, lots of talking heads predict that the republican victory will have to eat their words. now, some on the left and progressive movement minimize the importance of this election, in part because they don't share our concern about the right danger, and in part because they feel that the democratic party is no great shakes either. well, i'm mindful of the fact that democratic party has a class anchorage and it ain't working class. despite the broad range of

people and organizations that comprise it, not everyone has an equal seat at the table. but i'm also mindful that any realistic strategy to defeat the right, thereby creating opportunities to move through higher ground, necessarily includes the democratic party as part of a growing people's coalition. so, so how do we square the circle? i'm not sure if i can do it completely but here are some brief thoughts. first of all, an independent labor-based party able to compete on the national level with two main parties of capitalism doesn't exist now, nor is it on the horizon. while there's disaffection within the democratic party,

nearly nobody is ready to say see you later. what they are ready to do is to fight with a party leaders and wall street over policy and political direction. so if a third party isn't on the agenda for now, what does the left do in the meantime? hope the democratic party will do us right? not at all. two interrelated tasks come to mind. one is to continue to build the broadest, deepest grassroots coalition, including the dems, against the right in this fall's elections and beyond. and the other is to give new imagination and urgency to extending and deepening the stream of independence both inside and outside of the democratic party and to press an

aggressive agenda. now, will there be tensions? of course, how could they're not be? that's the nature of coalitions. but we will learn the course of doing, how do unravel this and move this whole thing forward which takes me to challenge five. climate change and sustainability. the piling up of carbon and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere has reached the point that james hansen, one of the world's foremost climate scientists, calls it a planetary emergency. what makes matters worse is that time is becoming our enemy. our window to act is closing. never before has such a challenge confronted the human species. and yet we sit on our hands. can't say the same thing about the fossil fuel industry.

most of the republican party, right wing, well-funded think tanks and the right lly despise koch brothers. can i hear a boo? >> boo. >> this molly gang is making the rounds. denying the science of climate change and resisting the smallest measures that might cut down on carbon emissions. while this crisis is planettarian scope, it works the most on working classes, poor and especially on countries and peoples of the developing world. despite this impending calamity, the response of the left in broader democratic movement hasn't been commensurate with the new danger. in this party in particular, we are going to be graded on our performance, my guess, is that

we will get a "d". and the only reason we wouldn't receive an "f" is due to the regular and outstanding coverage on climate change in the environment and the people's world. we can and must do better. the clock is ticking. i'm reminded of a quote from martin luther king in another context. and i quote, we are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. we are confronted with a fierce urgency of now. and this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there's such a thing as being too late. procrastination is still the thief of time. end of quote. if king's eloquent words and scientific data don't move you to be a better steward of this

fragile planet, the place we call earth, then make it personal. that's what i do. i think of my two daughters. stepdaughter and stepsons. and i also think a lot about violet and pearl, my two granddaughters, 2 and 4 years old, who hopefully will live long in this century in climate conditions that are friendly to humans and other life forms. whether that happens or not, however rests on what we and tens of millions of other people do in the next few years. but here's the good news, if i made you too gloomy. a movement is being born. and it includes young people in the trade union movement, too. although they are understandly

concerned that working people, not fear the weight of the necessary and absolute necessary transition to a fossil fuel-free economy. we should join this movement heart and soul. we should bring our energy and whole tool kit, including socialist perspective to it. and in the globalization of the united nations to demand action and cloimate change, can we agree that we will join as well as mobilize friends and neighbors for this action. what do you think? >> a month or two ago, month or two ago, i signed up as our leadership to convince soviet obedient to start the keystone pipeline. how many of you will make that pledge today? new beginnings require a first step. and i think we have taken one.

how many of you will make that pledge today?ge new beginnings require a first step. and i think we have taken one. bring in challenge number six, new racist order. the right wing -- the right wing attack against democracy and equality is sustained, d the coordinated and exceedingly dangerous.ad a who and the right wing's bull's-eye of the whole range of the rights and social institutions, unionsa churches, community organizations, families and kinship groups and so forth.mi to sustain everyday life and empower tens of millions.y and but for sections of the ruling class and democracy and subsequent equality is at war. with their world view and and zealous pursuit for full spectrum political dominance. this gang of democracy and

equality busters by temperament, outlook practice, authoritarian, m misogynist. they despise labor i wish i could say this gang isn't yet an the gate, but they are.ey hop and in two years they hope to be inside and in charge of the castle. no joke. what do we do now? of what do the american people do? the obvious answer is four fold to concede no ground, go on the defense, expand on equality, interconnect the whole range of, democratic struggles and give g the right wing a spanking this fall and again in 2016. of particular significance in this regard is racism and le agn the struggle against it. both have left an indelible mark on every aspect of the democratic and class struggle over the past 300 years.morro

today, and i dare say tomorrow, would be no different. as much as racism and the struggle against it, a timelesse way to express themselves differently over time as conditions change.e in fact, i would argue that the vast political and economic c social and demographic changes, going back to the 1960s have given rise in the opening yearsy of this century to a new racist order and to a new anti-racist movement, resisting that order.k this dialect makes the strugglee against racism and equality it wants more difficult and more promising. here's why. on the one hand, notable lity l victories and struggle for equality led by people of colore in the first place have been registered over the past few decades.ed o perhaps none more than the stunning election of president n obama in 2008 and '12.ni furthermore, racial attitudes and sections of the white community have changed for the

better.be of particular significance sections of labor and other her social movements, engage in organized anti-racist struggle and take steps to make their leadership reflective of their membership. something that they didn't do years ago. can anyone who grew up in the i '60s and there's a bunch of us here, imagine former afl-cio presidents kirkland stomping tht country and making the case to i workersde to vote for an african-american presidential candidate? don't think so. and of course, young people like to embrace some of the old racist and other stereotypes ofe older generations. this is one side of the one dialectic in which inform and even broader and deeper multiracial unity and anti-racist understanding. but on the other side of the

dialectic, new political and economic realities have which taken shape the past 30 years and given rise to a racist order makes racism exploitation and discrimination much more difficult and durable to dislodge. and legitimize this structure which brings together new and old racist notion, including thr pernicious notion that our nation has entered into a post o civil rights color blind erag . dress that notion up as you will. but it is nothing but hog wash. so what do we do?ems to seems to me, reexpand in every e way what we have been doing. that is struggling for jobs, g,e housing, adequate funding of schools and education.schools for an end to racial profiling, stop and frisk and the war on drugs. for an overhaul on the criminal

justice system, mass incars afr nation system.at for political representation, affirmative action, for the tio. defeet of the right in the coming elections. i would add me, you and me, have to make the case more persuasively and vigorously thaa everyone who hopes that this country move in a democratic direction, let alone the people where people and nature trump we corporate profits cannot affordt to sit out the struggle. if left unchallenged, this new racist order could throw the country back to days long gone by or into a future that we lon. thought could never happen again.ave to we have to argue that racism hurts. it crushes hope. dreams of families. it tramples on dignity. it destroys lives. it denies jobs. it short-changes education and housing.

it profiles and sanctions violence. and it kills. especially the young, sometimes on the street, sometimes in distant lands.s on t sometimes in prisons. and the victims of people of color. but racism also tempers, racism disciplines, brings wisdom. it gets courage. provokes resistance. inspires liberating and poetic visions. and gives rise to a narrative of freedom thus making people of color into long and front row n marches on freely's road and a powerful voice and material for us in progressive and radical change generally. but i would add this. and this is a crucial point.ter after the end of the day, whiteh people as well are morally and materially scarred and diminished in one way or ideol

another. while racist ideology and practice denies equality and dignity to people of color in the first place, it also hides s exploitation of all. corrodes real democracy for all. it makes a society free of clas racial and gender divisions a pipe dream. can we overcome?ca which leads to my challenge, enter violence in a world of peace.e we can barely turn in any direction without encountering violence of one kind or another. violence is a pervasive presence in the world..rld. it kills innocent people and ent tears up the social fabric of mt our communities and societies.ie it can even numb our sense of outrage. to the point where we become accepting of its presence. a but violence is a natural and

eternal. hate is an inhuman kind dna. war is a social construct. there are alternatives. dr. king was right when he appealed for a transvaluation of values. his majesty, human kind was nonviolence and love.r but for him, pass appeals of pee people's goodwill but categories of struggle.ug they rested on contesting the structure of exploitation and oppress that are the material ground for violence.led he appealed to anyone who would listen to the elimination of poverty, racism and militarism or the gateway to a beloved community and nonviolent world.i were he alive today, i can't help but think that he would t despair, but only for a moment.k

but think that he would tell us that our mission can be nothing less than to join with millions of others here and across our planet to insist on peace and end violence to studyd war no more. but to be concrete, let me what i think nsist should be on our peace agenda. first, we should insist that our government make a u-turn in its foreign policy. second -- [ applause ] second, we should insist on the dismantlement of the alliance and multiinstitutions that are not but staging grounds to protect violence. third, we should insist not only on araby and the pacific but to common efforts resolve the poverty and equality and climate change. shoul four, we should insist on a jusl settlement of the palestinian and israeli conflict that

includes, at its core, an n stat independent, viable, robust palestinian state, existing side by side, existing side by side, and in peace and equality with israel. sho five, we should insist hand, off, venezuela, no war in iraq. [ applause ] a normalization of cuba and an freedom for cuba and an end to the whole -- that's the spirit. and an end to the whole generalized sanctions regime. six, we should insist that big powers is existing and rising, respect the rights of small states. seven, we should then insist one an end to war on terror in the surveillance state. a terrorist actions against innocent people cannot be justified and should be stoppede

but the war on terror isn't the way to do it. it becomes easily the rationale for wars or aggression abroad and cutting down of democratic rights and neglect of human needs at home.erro the scourge of terroristb actions can only be counted by the collective effort of the world community. eight, we should insist on a peace budget, not a war budget.m in the peace economy, an materialized one. the judicial system be overhauled, and justice be not punitive but redemptive and restorative.overust ten, we should insist on an endi to capital punishment, the er imposition of stricter gun control laws and the formation of power civilian review boards in every city. 11, we should insist on the

expansion of health care clinics and school staff to provide humane treatment to people. young and old. young and old who have mental problems, no shame in that. right? 12, we should insist on the reconstruction plan of massive scale on a massive scale for the purpose of restoring and sustains hard-hit communities and cities, rural communities and reservations of native peoples. 13, and finally, we should shol insist on a just and humane immigration system.din if we want to fight a war, we should once again declare a war on poverty, joblessness, decaying underfunded schools, ml inadequate housing, malnutrition and all the social ills that make life difficult for millions. nor should we show any innertolerance towards racism and phobia or homophobia, which

all can easily turn into acts of violence. and we know it all too well. lenin once wrote, the peacer ape among nations, cessation of pillaging and violence, such isl our appeal. end of quote.d modify i would modify that. i would modify that in this way. the end of violence is our ideal but it must become our passion. it should not be a goal but e better yet encoded into our yet emotional and political dna.do. into everything we say and do and into the images, banners and slogans that we create. if peace is to have a chance. we have to embrace and convince others to do the same. finally, building the communist party.is i'm sure everyone would agree that taking care of the future and the struggles of the present

includes the building of the tr party and size, cavity andfully. in other words, building a transformative party. so what is to be done? what will it take?e? and here i'm going to abbreviate my remarks in the interest of time and not exhausting your patience. what i will do is mention what stands out in my mind, if our o party -- if we're going to be build a transformative party, o including a couple of things that generated some lively discussion in our preconvention period. first of all, it will take ake confidence that the audience for ideas in our party is growing under the impact of changing objective and subjective conditions. and there is reason to think that this is the case. both in size, capacity, mass relations and influence, we're in a better place now than we were four years ago when we gathered.

we are growing not by huge leaps and bounds but incrementally. but incremental growth can add up. also to build a transformative party, you have to pay systematic attention at every l level of the party, to building the party. it can't be the work of one or two or three comrades. it has to be the work of the entire collective. also to build the transformative party, we have to address twice further deepen and extend a wh whole new pool of younger comrades.we are i think we're a little bit too t thin in terms of political dept that the level so we have to change that. ta also take more active and par vibrant clubs which are the i ground floor of a transformative party. it is hard and not impossible to increase our political

organizational capacity withouta a much larger organizational ci presence in the form of clubs at the local level. just as union power depends on t local union, party power is concentrated in a dense network of clubs across the country.s it should go without saying that the clubs who come in many different sizes and shapes, some will be statewide. others citywide. and still others we hope will be located in a neighborhood or workplace. building a transformative party will also take a more robust gh. mobilization of social media and especially the people's world. we have made headway in this area but not enough. we still have a long ways to go. also teak a special approach too the party among trade unionistse with people of color, women, youth and immigrants. also take a range of forms including the young communist league to attract youth to our circle. and we have to do more

systematic field work in places where the party is in its ency. infancy. it will take a more full-blooded and modern ped t educational program that is d o quick to reachme new members an old members alike.is this, i think, is a major responsibility task. another requirement of the transformative party is a deeper organizing culture. we aren't jet steeped enough in the notion and practice of organizing and influencing the thinking and actions of others. yes, we are part of a mix. we take part in mass organizations, activities and movements.f we fight the good fight, but in too many kays, we're only the participants. not movers and shakers. not organizers and change agents. we make things happen and change the way people think. also, building a transformative

party will take a more compelling vision of socialism. a view of socialism that is modern in shape, national experiences, realities, traditions, sensibilities and challenges.the vi a rear view mirror to construct the vision of socialism usa won't fill the bill. you won't meet the challenge of the new stature including massive economical challenge.oml and the deep yearnings for real democracy. socialism, if it is going to be attractive to millions, can't simply speak in the language of structure, relations, planning, growth rates and the material provision of goods. that won't do it. unless possess a vision or tell a story that expands the freedo

boundaries of human freedom and equality. situates ordinary people in thea center of the transforming practice of creating a new society. accents of full free and many sizes of development of the individual.opts of paints in many colors and hues new arrangements of collective living and working.e socialism, i would add, be reduced to working class power either. n ofr in the application of power should be subordinated to vision and values.ub it has to be combined with justice and embedded in and accountable to and checked by if need be, democratic policy, culture and institutions.e part. and power shouldn't be the property or constitutionality of any one party. thus centralize it into the hand

of a single entity. if the 20th century taught us anything, it should have taught us that. us that. in short, our vision of ion socialism should give new vigor, if not recover, the democratic emans cipa tore of marxist socialist. building a transformative party, requires that we understand that our leadership role is an issue from our self-declarations or ye what we did yesterday. rather, it pivots on the final analysis of how well we in to distinguish ourselves at the level ofda ideas and practice i today and tomorrow's struggles. we will be much better served if we situate ourselves as an equal and dynamic part of the larger left and progressive movement.

and on that ground, make, in fact, we are making a vital, unique and necessary political and practical contributions to immediate and longer-range struggles.ng finally, building a transformative party will take a party that is guided by marxism. g while wei give great pride a place to marxism of lenin, we embrace the whole body of marxist thinking.ly as well as a nation's radical and democratic conditions. we need to take more seriously lenin's observation. i quote, we do regard marx' theory as something complete and invaluable. on the contrary, we are convinced that it has only laid the foundation stone of the on science which socialists must develop in all directions that they wish to keep pace with life.

end of quote. [ applause ] i understand that to mean that we have to act on the creative and ongoing development of annt marxism. it's not a closed and completed system, but one that needs ab constant attention and elaboration. our task isn't to reduce politicians to cut and dried as schemes. to simplistic answers and formulas that are just the opposite. our task is a brief movement. complexity, processes, contradictions and even contingency. i sometimes think that when it comes to theory and politics, jc our job is to complicate our own and other people's understanding of class.cl class struggle, roles of democracy and democratic acy and struggles.

the process of social change, racism, anti-racism, gender ecn impression, imperialism, economy and so on. how theoretical and analytical will strongly argue is not what it should be.gly falls fa it falls far short of what is le necessary to hope to evolve int a major political player in the politics of our country. being in the fight is an absolutely necessary condition. if we are to qualitative lly git up our role and influence this in the successive stage of the struggle. but it is not enough.nt it never will be., a modern militant mass, mature,. 21st century communist party has to distinguish itself at the level of ideas, as well as at the level of practice.it both are crucial. and for that matter, the quality depends on the quality of the

other. in ending, finally, you're thinking -- [ laughter ] enormous challenges are all around us. so enormous that one could easily wallow in despair but i know you won't do that. because communists here and her around the world, don't give upe on the face of momentous challenges. it's not our style. it's not our heritage. it's not in our dna. in fact, it's not in the style, heritage or the dna of the american people. we made a conditions require back up for a moment. but we never back down. it is in our default position. fighting harder and smarter is.

and i don't doubt for a moment that we will do both in the years ahead. as this journey that began 95 years ago takes another step down freedom road, let us conv resolve in this hall, in this convention, on this day, and in this great city, to step up the pace of our march. our legs may be tired. but our spirit is strong. our determination is unshakeable. freed our mission is just and our vision of a free people, living in harmony with each other in nature is ever more urgent. and while we can't exactly say when socialism will arrive on s this journey, we remain as a mark deeper in this century confident that one day it will.

and on that day, the bells will ring. the people will rejoice. and the new burst of freedom trf will grace our land, transforming our nation into a more perfect union. [ applause ] and on that day, we will remember the songs of woody, paul, pete and odeta. we will hear the echoes of dr. king's words on the washington mall in august of 1963. we will recall the memory of farm workers marching from delano to sacramento. shed we will shed a tear or two for d tear or two for the trail of tears, slavery, unrelenting exploitation and r m the other crimes of a now vanquished capitalism. and we will feel a any kinship,a

a renewed kinship, with all the freedom fighters who walked and rambled down freedom's highway and whose footsteps remain forever etched in the sands of time. and also on that it day, we will sing the prophetic words of maya angelou. you may write me down in histore with your bitter twisted lies. you may ready to me in the verye dirt, but still like dust, i'll rise.>> who [ applause ] who will win?l who will overcome? thank you. thank you! [ cheers and applause ]

now more from the american communist party's 30th national convention in chicago.comm this portion looks at efforts ta organizetion workers in the fas food industry. this is about 45 minutes.

[ applause ] tonight, we will interview our panelists. there will be no speechifying. we will get their impressions as labor journalists, activists, and organizers of the movement h for raising the minimum wage and for the rights of low-wage workers. e an i what impact will this strugglem have for dignity and living wagn on the future of the labor of h movement and local sustainable economic development in our loc communities?al it will be a little bit jimmy fallon a little bit queen latifah-style interviewing. no worries, naquasia, it won't be like stephen colbert. but for one question, panelists,

will this be a great panel or the greatest panel?will thi >> greatest! >> greatest.e >> greatest!t >> greatest.anel? >> all right. >> so i want to introduce our panel who are going to join naquasia, michael and rasheen.ra terry o'donnell, the coed tour of people's world, homegrown here in chicago. howard kling, secretary of the international labor communications association afl-cio and editor of minnesota working.members else redmond, organizing national board member of jobs with justice.na

so panelists, kari and howard, this story is as old as dirt.ols corporations making mega profits and paying the workers barely a living wage. and the left and labor press hae always covered the struggles for better life for working people.e so tell us one story that you ht have written about concerning low wage workers, the struggle , of fast-food workers and what those stories show about the uniqueness of these struggles today. >> okay. >> do the mikes work? >> what's that? the mikes work. >> okay.om >> well, okay, i'm at the a

university of minnesota ect of education service and actually the project of work day minnesota and it was sort of my idea or whatever. right? hav but anyway. we have been covering a lot of -- oh, working minnesota is . the first on-line labor newspaper in the united states. we think. it was founded in 2001. giv we have been covering labor news in minnesota since then. so just to give people an idea.e so we have been covering the organizing of low wage workers and minimum wage fight in minnesota. as it's been going on for a number of years now.hap i'll tell you one story that just happened. monday, i had the privilege and i do video, and i contribute about half the video to our site, and we dovy bunch of videos every week, short ones.tr i had the privilege anyway, monday, and it is, to go to a trailer park in the suburb of minneapolis and interview alicia

flores who is a building cleaneg for the target corporation, a subcontracting -- actually works for a firm that subcontracts su with target. and sat in her kitchen. and had her tell me about the r recent victory that they just he had. she is a member of -- or the s center for workers united struggle. i'm language challenged, but, c anyway, workers center based int the twinie cities of minnesota that has been operating for about 3 1/2, 4 years, organizing. they've been organizing, building cleaners who work for various companies that are subcontractors with target and cub foods and sears and home depot and stuff like that.

so, their biggest fight has been with target corporation. and monday, they an learned -- well, they announced, actually, tuesday, monday i did the interview, they announced that they had reached an agreement with target corporation. the three pieces of the agreement, this is unprecedented for i think for a workers centen and certainly the agreement includes, protects and ensures workers' rights to collectively bargain with their employers. with noninterference. two, it ensures that workers have the right to form safety h committees in the workplace made up of at least 50% of workers who are designated, i.e., three elected by their co-workers. and three -- and this is the one she talked about the most. ensures that workers are not forced to work seven days a week.

>> so alicia talked about just how this felt, right? and the time away from her and h family and the people who told her it wasn't going to work. wh her it wasn't going to work and all the doubts she had had and a finally her kids -- she had t something to tell her kids abouo why sheut had been gone in the v evenings after a long day of work or whatever. but the thing that really struck me is she said, before this happened go -- we were going ba and forth and back and forth. and my heart was so tight and so closed. now it's opened up and it's blossomed. you know, well, okay. i'm running the camera now and a little tears are -- i mean, whatever.powe the power -- they won somethingn the power of that and the dignity that she felt was just enormo enormous. it makes everything i do worth o it to be there when someone canr

tell me that stuff. so this is a remarkable le achievement. it's a worker center on its way to probably unionize. they're going to do a card car drive. they work veryd closely with service employers local 26. i could tell you way more. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> first of all, i want to say,. hashtag awesome. and i say that because my story is about the global strike. and there was a protest here inh front of mcdonald's and a lot of the mcdonald's workers were ona' there, including somebody from rockford who came in and told her story about how she startede

working at mcdonald's when she was 16 and made $3 an hour. and she's still working for mcdonald's as a crew chief but i making, because in illinois it's $8.25 minimum wage, but still can't stay alive on $8.25, but y making that. this woman has, you know, alive devoted her life to this mega-billion-dollar corporation and put herar heart and soul into -- she talked about training the people, because she's a crew chief now and peope training the people to keep to o the standards. and was unbelievably thrilled ou like the other mcdonald's e the workers there and the other

workers like walmart workers and some car wash workers, who are e struggling were thrilled about that there was 150 cities and, you know, people tweeting their. pictures from around the world, you know, brazil and japan, and that people aren't alone.that and that was the was message. and we have already heard a lot. of that. so when i went to interview another mcdonald's worker, i eri said, you know, what do you at think about all this? and she said, we will win if we all stick together, because that's what a union does. [ applause ] when you think about it, i don't know, 30 years ago, you know, when i was younger, we talked eo about, wow, all these young people working at fast food, we

should be organizing. it was like impossible. that's going to be impossible to do that. and annow, look at what's happening. you ppknow, fast food workers, walmart workers organizing, doing this. earlier today we stood up when i roberta asked who is in a unionp and a lot of people stood up.tho i was impressed with all the union members. but then i realized, why didn'tt everybody stand up? because the labor movement has opened its doors all wide and can wisay, join working america food forward, join the fight for 15, join our walmart. everybody could be part of the e labor movement, be part of the union movement. so anyway, you don't just have

to have a card that says, you know, whatever, communication workers of america, but you can be part of that labor movement.o anyway, that's it. >> thank you. tha [ applause ] cau the causes and solutions to thei crisis of growing joblessness jl and rising economic inequality u are very complicated. polls show they continue to show that an overwhelming majority support a hike in minimum wage. seattle, of course, is leading n the wayg th with the recent decn to raise the minimum wage to $1e by 2020. as a community organizer and a d labor activist, what do you wh think is driving the growing t r support for raising the minimum? wage? what is the opposition? and how can it be counted,

especially in the u.s. senate? >> good evening. my name is elce. i'm glad to be here. i wanted to answer that question with a brief story.my my grandfather was in the brotherhood of sleeping porters union. [ applause ] he spent 12 years trying to tryg organize a union there.there. and one of the things is that when i was young, he would tell stories about the massive n. dehumanization that was happening within that industry itself. tha and there was three things they were fighting for. they were fighting for living gr wages. dignity. fighting for they were fighting for respect. during that early part of the 20th century, you had sort of the big moguls. had pullman, j.p. morgan, the

vanderbilts, carnegies, rockefellers, the kennedys. and now we see in the 21st century that we don't have those individuals, but we have these t multi-national corporations. so j.p. morgan has been replaced by walmart. the carnegies have been replaced by yum brands. the rockefellers have been replaced by amazon.and th the kennedys have been replaced by disney. th you have these multi-national il corporations who are doing the same thing that these sort of robber barrons did. they don't want to pay living w wages. they don't want to give workers dignity or respect.kers they don't want to recognize a union. what we need to do now in the 21st century is what our ce

brothers and sisters from the fight for 15, the fight for moving forward, the fight for our walmart is doing is mobilizing not only on a local but a national and internationa scale. and looking at the issues of inequality and how the 1% are controlling 99% of our economy. with all of this going on, you see that people are rising up. workers from all over the world are rising up against this massive inequality. so our organizing that we're wr doing right now ise making a difference. and it's affecting the congress and it's affecting the senate. what we need to do is to mobilize even more to attack mo these issues. and the issues of inequality, the issues of poverty, the issues of racism, the issues of

dehumanization that's happening within these work forces have fs all been exposed.now now what we need do is mobilize the workers, the community labor and the faith community to really mobilize on a much more larger scale. one of the most -- unfortunately, one of the worstt issues is thehe massive in unemployment that exists within our country itself and how it affects african-americans and latinos in our society. we're we're fighting for wages but wee also need to fight for jobs andg push for f a national jobs progm that puts people back to work co rebuilding this country. [ a [ applause ] >> on may 15, the struggle for the rights of fast food workers went global with the day of teri

action from the u.k. to brazil to india to germany to japan, they took it t bo the streets. you got to love facebook. right? i hav friends in tokyo who were posting mad pictures of people going into the streets and protesting outside of mcdonald's. so what is the significance of going global? and what do you think will be the outcome of fast food workers connecting globally? what will be the outcome? what do you think is going to happen? >> let me just say, i had the opportunity to actually meet workers from other countries. i don't know if you all know, but workers in denmark