>> The People's Party convention took place
over the weekend as an answer to what I think
most people can agree was the disappointment
that people felt following the RNC and the
DNC. The People's Party convention had a number
of wonderful speakers. I wish we can cover
more of them in-depth, but I did choose two
highlights to discuss including Bernie's 2020
campaign co-chair, State Senator Nina Turner
and the incredibly powerful words that she
had to share.
Let's take a look.
>> The old and the rich will live all the
while as always eating bloated gold, letting
kids die. Kids will die in the swamps of Mississippi,
organized and sharecroppers. Kids will die
in the streets of Chicago, organizing workers.
Kids will die in the Orange Groves of California,
telling others to get together whites and
Filipinos meat rows and Mexicans.
All kinds of kids will die. Who don't believe
in lies and bribes, and contentment, and a
lousy piece. Hello, somebody. See this home
encapsulates this very moment. Brother Langston
Hughes is talking about this very moment.
I hope you caught what he said. He said, telling
others to get together whites and Filipino
negroes and Mexicans.
All kinds of kids will die who don't believe
in lies and bribes, and contitment lousy people.
That is what the movement for peoples party
is all about,
>> So Malaika, one of the things that really
stood out to me in this convention versus
the other two conventions was this message
of yes, inequality that disproportionately
impacts black people in America.
But also the inequality that most Americans
are feeling right now, experiencing right
now and just the lack of representation people
have in in government. And so this is really
an answer to that and and just this aggressive
message of hey, we're not getting what we
need from this two party system.
So I wanted to kind of get your thoughts.
Did you watch any of the convention? And do
you think that this type of messaging is resonating
with a broader electorate?
>> I paid attention to the coverage. I haven't
watched full slate excuse me, full slate of
speakers. I'm actually in Atlanta to do some
reporting on the Rashard Brooks case.
And then before that, I was in Kenosha, trying
to squeeze in all these things that are happening
in the news cycle. But I had been following
along and keeping up with some of the organizers
and I think it's very refreshing as we say
from Nina Turner that we have a formation
of an organization a formation of a party
that's actually combining it policy with this
rhetoric with this inspirational message.
You cannot have these two corporate back parties
who say all these grand things about making
America great again or building back American
better or whatever the Biden campaign has
come up with and then you look behind kind
of that veneer and you see that it's very
empty that.
Joe Biden on one hand while Kamala Harris
is talking about what she's going to do for
black people and breaking these glass glass
ceilings. And then Joe Biden talking to Wall
Street Journal reporters about the fact that
actually we won't come up with the money to
pay for all of these grand things.
And he's pushing this progressive platform,
but I have people who are actually interested
in pursuing the policies that they speak on.
I think it's very powerful. It speaks to the
fact that this movement is not dying. The
radicalized movement of people who are either
supporting Bernie Sanders are just holdovers
from occupy Wall Street Black Lives Matter
and a variety of these other movements are
millennials.
The fact that they have some sort of avenue
to actually pursue the policies that they've
been fighting for is very encouraging and
we need that right now in a pandemic.
>> Yeah and I mean, I think that this is the
message that we need in the middle of the
pandemic, right?
And I really did think that there would be
an aggressive case made for Medicare for all,
for instance, as a result of what's tens of
millions of Americans experienced as a result
of getting laid off. They not only lost their
income. They also lost the health insurance
that comes along with that employment and
it was frustrating to see.
It was a lay up really for Democrats if they
actually, genuinely wanted to push for that
type of policy, but they did the opposite.
They considered extending Cobra or expanding
Cobra, which is a program that the majority
of Americans can't afford. And they certainly
can't afford it if they've lost their jobs
and have no, no source of income.
And so you're right. I mean, I think there
are so many people right now who feel that
they're not represented. It's incredibly discouraging
to see what's happening in the country and
not just hear anyone in any position of power
offer actual robust solutions. And again,
what stood out to me about this convention
is that these are people who are speaking
to the material issues that Americans are
experiencing right now and had been experiencing
even before the pandemic just that the pandemic
has compounded it further.
One of the other speeches that really stood
out to me and anytime he speaks, it stands
out to me,, cuz he's such a great speaker
was Dr. Cornel West. So here's a highlight
from his speech.
>> Seven years and three days of gold, the
greatest public intellectual in the history
of the American Empire died in Ghana.
His name was deputy be the voice. And that
next morning, young brother Martin Luther
King told America about a dream that he had
which was not the American dream, but a dream
rooted in the American dream and has everything
to do with the movement for People's Party.
Because what we're talking about here is a
people who muster the wherewithal who have
not just the courage, but the fortitude, the
fortitude to fructify and by fructify me to
generate the fruits of truth count.
To generate the truth of justice seeking,
to generate the truth of kindness and sweetness
and gentleness and how we relate to each other.
But when he feels fine, when it comes to bearing
witness in the face of oppression, that's
why the boys raised the four question. What
does integrity do in the face of old pressure?
What does honesty do in the face of deception?
Here is the People's Party, but what does
decency do in the face of insult and also
what is courage doing the fader in the face
of brute force? We are living in a moment
of massive imperial meltdown, spiritual breakdown
and we need prophetic fight back and the People's
Party is the prophetic fight man that like
the voice believes in multi-racial, multi-gender,
multi-sexual orientational, multi-binary and
non-binary sexual sensibilities are all o
rientation.
A solidarity with those friends called the
wretched of the Earth that can tell the truth
about America both its best and its worth
it. Because let us never forget, each and
every one of us come out of various families,
communities and traditions. So we have to
be true to where we come from and I come from
a people who have been on intimate terms with
catastrophe.
>> What always amazes me about Dr. Cornel
West is how his answer to some of the worst
elements of society is kindness and the ability
to recognize his own flaws, and not be overly
judgmental to people who might make mistakes.
I mean, he's a way better person than I am.
Because considering what we're going through
right now in this country, it's hard to answer
to certain things from a level of self-awareness
and kindness, right? But what I love about
his message is it always goes back to how
this system really does serve as a negative
for a lot of different people with the exception
of a small group.
A small group of few individuals who get to
take advantage of the system, hoard the money,
hoard the wealth, pour the income while other
people are experiencing the ramifications
of the system. And at the same time, lacking
the representation needed to find and pursue
real solutions.
>> Absolutely, he speaks to a kind of moral
clarity and gravity that's really needed right
now.
Because the bottom line is we are facing two
different paths right now. We are allowing
hundreds of thousands of people die and this
is not just from the Trump administration.
This is from decades and centuries of American
individualism, of capitalism, of white supremacy
of all of these systems that have said, you
know what?
We're just gonna put this in the hands of
a few individuals and a corporations. And
so we have no public infrastructure. So at
this juncture, are we saying that we are okay
with that? Are we okay with hundreds of thousands
of people dying and falling ill and then people
dying before the coronavirus, before the pandemic?
Are we okay with hundreds of thousands of
people being evicted and millions of people
being homeless? So this is a moral juncture
for America. This is a moral question for
anybody who cares about justice at all. And
so I think it's very important to have somebody
who's thinking on that level.
We know that it's also about power and that's
it. For low income people, for people of color
to also gain positions of power. But you also
wanna get at the hearts of people, because
everyone's not going to be out there fighting
in the street. So are you going to be complicit
in this problem or not?
And I wanna add to,. I think it's important
that he mentions people like Martin Luther
King who we just conceive of as this, a pastor
was talking about love everybody. But you're
also saying that America is fundamentally
flawed and that democratic socialism, and
having a fundamental revolution of our values
was vital.
And so you'll get MLK's message get coopted
by liberals the same way Ella Baker's message
was coopted by the Biden campaign during his
speech. We're talking about two socialists.
And so advocating for socialism, advocating
for anti-capitalism isn't just some theoretical,
okey dokey, academic exercise. It's about
morality and he really calls attention to
that.
