Supporters of the Claudia De la Cruz/Karina Garcia 2024 socialist presidential ticket gathered in Newark, New Jersey on January 28 for the kick-off in-person campaign event. Longtime activists spoke about Claudia and Karina’s record of commitment to people’s movements before the candidates themselves took the stage, followed by a cultural event featuring singer-songwriter Carsie Blanton.
Claudia and Karina have spent their entire adult lives as organizers, helping to lead struggles for justice on many different fronts. Testifying to their long-standing dedication, the crowd heard from Texas-based community leader Lucy Ceballos Felix, NYC-based activist Miya Tada, Stephanie Weatherbee of the International People’s Assembly, reproductive justice activist Juana Lopez, pro-Palestine Harvard student leader Amari Butler, United Educators of San Francisco Vice-President of Substitutes Nathalie Hrizi, author and host at Black Power Media Dr. Jared Ball, Nisreen Muntasser of Mamas For Palestine, and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research Executive Director Vijay Prashad.
Eugene Puryear, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Central Committee, spoke about why the PSL decided to run the Claudia/Karina 2024 ticket in the presidential election.
Claudia’s speech underscored the importance of building a political force that represents the interests of the people and is independent from the tiny class of millionaires and billionaires that dominate society. She told the crowd, “The US empire is not the people’s political project. Capitalism, be it in the United States or anywhere in the world, is not a project of the working class.” Claudia continued, “It is Wall Street, it is the bankers, the Federal Reserve, the Pentagon, it’s every politician in Congress – their political project is a ruling class project … This campaign is about uprooting a system that has hurt us enough and that we are unwilling to allow to continue.”
Appealing to people to volunteer, Karina Garcia spoke to the campaign’s focus on building a fighting movement that can stand up for our rights beyond just the election cycle. She said, “What we have to offer in this campaign is the opportunity to contribute to a movement … to have a community of dedicated, organized fighters of the working class. That’s what excites me about this campaign.”
The two capitalist parties claim to be the only “real” options for people in this country, but every day they prove themselves to be committed to exploitation, war, and destroying our planet to make more profits for the super-rich. We launched this campaign with the main goal of building the movement for socialism and liberation, but also to cut through the lie that we have to always choose the “lesser of two evils.” Both the Democrats and Republicans serve CEOs, bankers, and Wall Street – working class and oppressed people in this country want and need our own party!
