 Frank Lara |
Good afternoon everyone,
I am very honored and proud to be
speaking in front of such an important event and such a great group.
I also
have the privilege to share my story of struggle and how I find myself speaking
on behalf of the PSL today. Like many of us who are led to question
capitalism’s authority, I noticed injustice and inhumanity early in my life. I
grew up in Calexico, a small border town in the desert Valley of Imperial
County, 2 hours east of San Diego. Two things about my upbringings exposed a
flaw in something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on at the time.
First, I was brought up to believe
that it was right for some who lived on one side of the fence (which is really
a large and extensive increasingly militarized border fence) to enjoy the
comforts and access to resources that they hadn’t worked harder for but had
simply been born into. Those whose fate
was not as lucky as mine, unfortunately, found themselves in absolute poverty
and crime. Things that would be considered horrendous and inhumane in my
community would be commonplace and inevitable in theirs.[NH1]
While I had to travel often back and
forth through this imaginary line, the impact was real and nothing brought the
message home more than the time I looked injustice directly in the eyes. I was
9 and we were in the car waiting to cross the border. As usual, vendors and
beggars were walking between traffic trying to eek out a living by washing
windows, selling chewing gum, or exposing their untreated injuries. However,
not as usual, I turned towards the window and there I stared at a boy, the same
age, similar features, whose frozen posture also suggested what I realized
right then and there, why me? Why us? I was scared to death and I did what I
was told to do, I looked away. But the stare didn’t leave my memory and I broke
down. I could not understand why I was in the warm car while he was out in the
cold pavement barefoot asking for something, anything to survive the night. Why
was I born on the US side and he was born on the Mexico side? Why did life have
to place one and not the other on the other side of the fence? That stare has
never been forgotten. Sadly, you are forced to suppress it in order to remain
sane, or so we are told.
The second thing that impacted my
upbringing was leaving the comfort of my hometown. In Calexico, a city 95 percent
Mexican or Mexican-American, I had the opportunity to be raised as an
individual void of any notion of race or bigotry. I believed I was my own
person who was always judged by my personal performance. In college, in the
city of San Luis Obispo, I was stripped of such ignorance.
I quickly realized that outside of
the Valley, you are a race first and that in order for people of power and
privilege to feel comfortable around you, they must first categorize you in
ways that demeans your persona. For many, this was considered reality, a fact
that they grew up with as children. This blunt awakening instilled in me some
sense of consciousness and at the same time deep sorrow for my oppressed
brothers and sisters, who did not have the benefit of experiencing a time where
they were considered truly equal and allowed to have access to the same
opportunities as everyone else.
Slowly, I was forced to stop looking
away and to not suppress these memories, which I had become so accustomed to
doing. I was forced to start fighting to change it. But I didn’t know how. Where
should I begin? And to what end? All my life, I was told the society we lived
in was the greatest one in history. It provided liberty and freedom for all, it
gave endless opportunities for success and wealth, it was the land of the
American Dream that so many of my brothers and sisters from that other side
would risk their whole existence for. Yet, there had to be some explanation as
why I felt such a strong need to change what I had been told was “perfect”.
I came across Karl Marx and his
views on something called “Communism”. The “communist manifesto” gave concrete
reason as to why a systematic failure existed in a society based upon
commodities. He gave rationale behind the entire process by which we are
isolated and exploited while being forced into submission by a whole network of
state mechanisms that turn people against one another for the benefit of a few.
Later, Vladimir Lenin’s writings,
the great Bolshevik leader who led the first successful worker’s revolution to
obtain state power and maintain it, offered a very real and objective analysis
of what struggle entails and what is needed to accomplish absolute change. Growing
up with a “realist” father (which is putting it nicely), anything I idealized
growing up, dreams, aspirations, goals would always be confronted by:
¿O si mijo,
todo suena muy bonito, pero como lo vas a ser?
Which translates to:
Oh really son, it all sounds really
nice, but how will you actually accomplish that?
It was this objectivity, the view
towards the need to address all aspects of a situation in order to achieve a
desired outcome that led me to find the Party for Socialism and Liberation. As
some of you here have experienced, there are organizations or movements whose
perspectives are too idealized or whose messages are too centralized. There are
groups who can never take their words and apply them in order to achieve
something concrete, a protest, a speak-out, a march. I am happy to say that the
PSL does not fall into any of these categories.
We are a party of struggle and we
are always looking for ways to advance that struggle. We understand that
capitalism is a crime and we are always reflecting on our methods and
strategies needed in order to achieve its overthrow. Most importantly, our
dedicated members are never satisfied with what is being done. We know we can
always do more and as more resources become available we quickly mobilize to
make the best use of them. That is why we hope that this event has not only
given you hope in a better future but has given you the courage and strength to
fight for it.
After hearing all the changes that
are happening in the world and all the changes that are still left to fight
for, you might ask, “how can I fight against such massive corruption,” “how can
I change such injustices,” well friends, today you have started to take action
towards achieving just that. You have begun to question the absolute truth of
the invincibility of capitalism, the greatest lie they tell us constantly. After
constant bombardment of consumerist and individualist propaganda; being
educated by a well orchestrated lesson plan within the strongest empire in
history; and being challenged every time you fought against social injustice,
you still manage to question capitalism’s validity.
Yet , really, “how valid is a system
that leaves people out in the cold and wet streets while there are millions of
homes empty at its disposal?” “How valid is a system that cannot afford basic
treatment for a dying child, but can afford millions in compensation for a greedy
CEO?” “How valid and humane is a system that puts the need for profit before
the needs of people?” Today, you have begun to question, like we all do, that
which we are told is “valid,” and we hope that tomorrow you stand up to change
it.
Throughout the day you listened to a
number of dedicated individuals who are fighting to bring about the change
needed for a just society The search for equality, justice, a better future,
these are things that we all want to fight for and we, the Party for Socialism
and Liberation, are an organization whose strong foundation will allow all
those who want this better future to fight for just that.
Capitalism and the capitalist, whose
grasp smother the life of the working class, will never let go of power and privilege
willingly. We are not facing an idealized foe that can be talked into being
more humane or more reasonable. If it were, it would have changed a century ago
after seeing children dying from hunger, seniors dying from curable diseases,
and families wasting away under debt and wage slavery. This system must be forcefully overthrown by
an equally determined force that places the people’s needs at the forefront of
its struggle and it is because we don’t idealize our enemies, we also don’t
idealize our struggle.
The struggle is long and difficult
one. There is no way of getting around this fact. That is why we need members
who understand the need for dedication to the struggle . We seek to build a
multinational party of the working class capable of carrying out and of leading
that struggle to build socialism. We are looking for revolutionaries who ask
and seek to answer the questions you are asking… just by your presence here. We
ask you today to consider membership in the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Speak to a comrade following the conference about membership. Or get involved
by attending a class, a meeting, or joining us in the streets.
Those who benefit from the current
economic system are rewarded grossly for their crimes and corruption; we on the
other hand, the working class, are punished for being the most productive
members of society. But our class also has such amazing revolutionary
potential. And if one day we are to lead a people’s movement, we cannot ask our
brother’s and sister’s to sacrifice what we are not willing to sacrifice two
times over. It is because of this commitment to the struggle that we know we
can and we will win this fight!
So we hope that you decide, like I
did, to stop accepting poverty, homelessness, hunger, unemployment, and lack of
medical care as the norm of a wealthy and modern society, and fight, fight to
bring about true change in this country; A change that will finally put the
needs of the people first, a change that will put workers in charge of their
future, a future in which education, jobs, healthcare, and housing, are all a
right! A change that is known as Socialism! Join the party for socialism and
liberation and let us together fight for a better tomorrow!
