|
SPEECH TO THE NATIONAL GREEN PARTY CONVENTION
Symphony Orchestra; Chicago, Illinois
Saturday, July 12, 2008
 |
Welcome to Chicago, the city of immigrant working class neighborhoods. The City that, through its immigration
mega marches re-established the true meaning of May Day for the workers across the United States.
Welcome to the city where citizen participation in electoral politics is highly encouraged by local politicians
by urging them to vote early and vote often on Election Day.
I want to thank all the men and women in the Green Party who have worked so hard to make this Convention a learning
experience for all of us, and for making us a part of this historic event in the United States.
I am running for the US House of Representatives in the Illinois 4th Congressional District. To partially
|
quote the wife of a famous “new politician” from Chicago: “for the first time in my adult life, I feel proud of
[my] Party". I am very proud to be a Green Party Candidate.
And as a proud Green Party candidate, I’d like to share with you something about the Latino community and what
the Green Party represents to the thousands of progressive Latinos around the Nation:
The Green Party appears in our horizon at a time when the progressive forces in our communities are in the midst
of a monumental struggle. As with other Americans, Latinos face economic hard times, lack of adequate health care
and inferior education. Our families are suffering the consequences of the failed policies of the Bush evil cabal.
But in addition to these policy failures, our communities are being literally torn apart by a broken immigration
system which focuses on enforcement. Families are being separated every day by raids and deportations and children
are being left without a parent and at times without both parents after such raids. More than 12 million immigrant
families live in fear of hearing the knock on their door in the middle of the night. Our communities live under
a state of siege.
The immigrant communities around the nation came out to vote in the last elections and helped defeat anti-immigrant
incumbents and challengers. Our vote, combined with the anti-war Movement vote, sent legislators to Washington
with the mandate to end the war in Iraq and to fix the broken immigration system. We all know exactly what they
did once they got to Washington, and so, young Americans continue to be killed in an illegal and unjust war and
immigrant families are still being denied the right to work and care for their families. We asked Latino voters
to replace republicans with democrats and the Latino community of every persuasion turned out in record numbers
to vote all across the Nation for the Democratic Party. What Party can we ask them to vote for this time?
Our Nation is at a cross-road. The path of History divides before our very eyes and it challenges us to either
take the narrow road, the road that can lead us to self-determination or to take the road populated by draconian
laws, neo-colonialism, and disrespect for the Constitution of the United States. Our choices are clear: become
participants in the process that offers real change, or accept a role as subjects of the Empire. Should we decide
to take the road to self-determination, we need a vehicle that will take us down that road, and there is no doubt
in my mind that such a vehicle is the Green |
 |
Party. This is what the Green Party represents to our community, a Party that stands for self-determination and
a Party which embodies the principles of the Constitution of the United States of America. A Party that guarantees
a prosperous future for all. The Green Party is the Party of the future.
But not all Latinos will welcome the Green Party. We are going to stumble upon many Latinos who will reject
the Green Party simply because they joined a political party in search of privileges: a better job, to be elected
to a political position, maybe even get consultant and patronage contracts. This type of mercenary political party
activists, once they are inside, they close the doors to others who sincerely want to be engaged in the political
process. Their interest is not to build a party that represents the people, but a party that provides them with
access to insider advantages and privileges. And we see that this is the present status of corruption in both the
democratic and republican parties.
Joining the Green Party means uniting with a Party that shares our cause; it means recognizing that this Party
shares principles which resonate and reflect the same principles that our movement has proclaimed. People will
join the Party to change oppressive conditions and improve government. They will look for the benefits to the many
and not just benefits for the few. We want Latinos to join the Green Party - but it is our responsibility to make
the connection between the Party’s principles and the concrete here-and-now reality of our constituents.
The Green Party faces a big challenge if it is to reach the Latino Hispanic voters across the nation. The message
that needs to be proclaimed throughout the Nation is that the Green Party is open to our embrace; and this message
must be reinforced with concrete projects and advocacy positions which the Party assumes on issues such as immigration
reform, labor law reform and economic justice. We must seize that cubic centimeter of opportunity which history
offers us in order to organize a new paradigm shift in the United States. We need to communicate with clarity and
in a loud voice that the Green Party advocates for community survival programs, works for the defense of the un-organized/under
ground worker in the economy of the USA, and stands ready to defend the millions of undocumented families living
under a state siege.
We need the Green Party.
Without the direction of a progressive Party there can be no real change in the political direction in this Nation.
Without a Party - with a progressive ideology - all efforts to change the system become self-regulation of the
system: The greed of the big corporations simply shifts to other priorities but continues to be greed.
 |
So fellow Greens, I bring a request from the March 10th Movement, the Chicago (GRASS ROOTS) movement that initiated
the string of pro immigration mega marches across the nation in the Spring of 2006: Become our Party - become involved
in the daily praxis of our communities - help in the struggle to keep our immigrant families united - partake in
the fight to protect workers’ rights, fight with us to re-establish the workers’ right to strike and organize in
their work place - stand next to us when we protest police brutality and the violation of our civil and human rights.
We ask this because we believe the Green Party is the Party of the future and our immigrant communities are
an integral part of that future.
We are about to make history. We are about to nominate our presidential candidate. And, as a Latino, I am proud
to be a witness to this moment. That, my fellow greens, is our first step together into the future. So I say: Ever
Onward to Victory!
|
|
