New York meeting on Charles Barron electoral campaign

Revolutionary politics and the capitalist elections were discussed at the New York branch meeting of Workers World Party on Oct. 28, when guest speakers Joan Gibbs and Brenda Stokely spoke on the “Significance of the Charles Barron for Congress Campaign.”

Joan Gibbs

Both of these well-respected, long-time activists became key organizers for the grass roots efforts to send Barron, a revolutionary African-American New York City councilperson from Brooklyn, to Washington, D.C., to represent the 10th Congressional District in the House of Representatives.

Barron fell short of winning the Sept. 7 primary by less than 3,000 votes, coming in second place behind Ed Towns, the incumbent candidate who is backed by the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries. Towns spent over $1 million for his re-election campaign while Barron spent less than $140,000.

Brenda Stokely

Gibbs, a people’s lawyer who defends political prisoners like Sundiata Acoli, spoke about why she worked on the Barron campaign. She opened her remarks by stating that there is no fundamental difference between the Democrats and Republicans and that elections in general serve to “legitimize the existing U.S. capitalist system.”

Gibbs went on to say that while Barron ran on the Democratic ticket as a tactic, his political program is very similar to her own. This program includes supporting the Palestinian struggle, the right to national health care, freedom for all political prisoners, reparations for African Americans, affordable housing, immigrant rights, an end to police brutality, the right of return for Katrina/Rita survivors and much more.

Stokely, an East Coast leader of the Million Worker March Movement, talked about the formation of the People United Committee, which is now organizing a massive write-in campaign to get Barron elected on Nov. 7. She spoke on the importance of having a voice like Barron’s in Congress because he has always been committed to revolutionary change. Stokely described the write-in campaign as a “challenge to the corporate interests who control the electoral arena.”

Larry Holmes, a Workers World Party leader, made remarks on WWP’s support for the Barron campaign. Khalil Mustafa, a former political prisoner who was incarcerated for more than 30 years, attended the forum and is a member of the People United Committee. For more information about the Barron write-in campaign, call 718-773-5741 or write [email protected]

Another guest speaker at the meeting was Gustavo Flores, a Mexican day laborer and organizer with the Workplace Project, an immigrant rights group based in Freeport, N.Y. He and organizer Carlos Canales were given citations by the city as punishment for organizing mainly Latin@ undocumented workers.

A demonstration has been called for Nov. 6 to support these two organizers when they appear in court. Flores invited the audience to come to Freeport to show the authorities there that “we are not alone as workers.” A lively discussion occurred after all of the reports.

—Report & photos by Monica Moorehead