From Maureen Taylor:

 

Colleagues;  Several weeks ago, I approached the subject on a NWRU call about a conference to start the process of organizing a 'third party' across America.  The vision is to develop, recruit, and organize low-income populations into a force able to influence politics toward the needs we have.  This foundational group will reach out to those organizations already in the fight for our basic needs - water warriors, environmental groups, housing rights, universal healthcare warriors, access to education fighters, and all the rest who are outraged about the circumstances we find ourselves in.  

 

The carnage faced by many low-income populations is too great to not see it.  While the corporations and their capitalist friends are in disarray and fighting among themselves, we need to step toward a process that unites us around "One Class - One Cause."  These fascist Republicans have put into play an alignment of powers from the Supreme Court down to basic local elections where they are openly telling us all that they are moving into positions where they select election winners and not the voters.  Democracy is under attack but the democracy these corporations want to re-establish is not the democracy our class needs.  Democrats paint themselves as the 'party of the people' but their voices don't echo policies for the many.   Yet, we are forced to take sides because of the demonic nature of those seeking federal and state office.  How can we unite during such times as these?   Can we locate, develop, encourage and forge unity around our needs by calling for a 'third party' able to influence political directions again at such a time as these?   Are there 3,000 low-income people across the nation who see the split and can be convinced that the time to take a stand for what we demand is NOW?   Can we launch an educational campaign that begins with acknowledging the different components that have complaints then demonstrating the class-nature that helps us see what we have in common and why we can be victorious if we join those individual fingers into a united fist?  A 'third party' needs participants who don't look like us, but who think like us - can we find them?

 

I propose the following as a vision...we start reaching out to all those we know of who are in the fight for basic needs.  We develop a massive educational tool (virtual) that welcomes and then explains the economic nature of the struggle and why we must unite as a class of working people.  I am suggesting that this be a 12-month campaign that brings the first three thousand+ to Detroit in August of 2023 which is before the 2024 elections.  For such a campaign to be possible, a champion is necessary to guide the charge, and I believe that the NWRU is the champion in position to take this challenge.  We will recruit seasoned organizers into leadership positions with us along the way who are subject-matter experts able to add their skills to the process keeping the foundation of the efforts grounded in low-income voices.  We will need resources, so those contacts able to help fund this work will be reached. The terrain is rough, the trails are already bloodied, and the bodies of the poor and disenfranchised are scattered along the way but there is no place for our class to retreat - no place of safety for us - no harbor of peace.  Some of us can last longer, but not without watching the daily evictions, the daily mis-guided urban and rural examples of violence, looking at people rummaging through trash cans, being aware of crimes against women, and all the incidents that occur where we live and never in affluent communities.  Poor people are tired, we are afraid, we are all dried out, we are often without hope and there are so many of us.

 

In Ezekiel 37, we read that the Lord asked that question a long time ago..."Can These Dry Bones Live."  Can we find 3,000+ low-income voices already locked into different organizations or looking for answers and get us all organized into a 'third party' able to influence political trends?  Can these dry bones lead the nation?  Can these bones dried out by poverty stand up and fight for what is right for us all?  Can we redefine democracy and explain what real democracy looks like?  Can we just get baby food back?

In the recent Baltimore training, we heard the message loud and clear - "Instead of supporting political parties, we choose to support political positions that echo our needs."   Let's flip the script so instead of poor people following candidates, let's make them come to us.  The time is now...nothing stands in the way but air and opportunity.  "ONE CLASS - ONE CAUSE."

 

Maureen Taylor