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LOS ANGELES — The Luis J. Rodriguez campaign for California governor is heating up!
After fielding teams of supporters, we obtained close to 5,000 signatures of registered voters and fund donations in a little more than two months to make the June 3 primary ballot. The only Green Party endorsed candidate for governor, Luis also has support from Chicanos Unidos of Orange County, PODER of Santa Barbara, Corazon Del Pueblo of Boyle Heights, Brooklyn & Boyle magazine of Boyle Heights—and people like Rudy Acuna, Chicano Studies at California State University, Northridge; Jeffery Martin, poet and Open Mic host, Sylmar CA; Jose Castaneda, Salinas City Councilperson; Francisco Estrada, Monterey County School Board; Jose Lara, Pico Rivera School Board; Ana Barrera, Salinas teacher and union leader; Alejandra Mojica, San Francisco student and community activist; Tiny Gray-Garcia and Tony Robles, Bay Area poor peoples advocates; Watts youth; and more.
So far the campaign has journeyed up and down the state seven times and recruited more than 200 volunteers. Our coordinating committee is made up of Chicanos, Salvadorans, African Americans, European Americans, South Asian Americans, LGBT, Spanish speakers, including students, teachers, workers, and organizers, among others.
Besides speaking, Luis also supported the Santa Rosa community after the unjustifiable murder of 13-year-old Andy Lopez by a sheriff’s deputy. Luis took part in an anti-fracking demonstration in Fresno and was on the steps of San Francisco’s Hall of Justice to protests the evictions of elderly people by greedy landlords. And Luis stood by Aloni Bonilla, a young college student from Pomona that a burly California Highway Patrol officer beat, although she was unarmed and handcuffed.
In addition, Luis sided with tens of thousands of Southeast L.A. and East L.A. residents being poisoned by Exide Technologies, a battery recycling plant—which is located in the same lead facility in Vernon that Luis worked at during the late 1970s.
A question often asked is—why should people vote? Isn’t this so-called democracy a farce, controlled by political parties that are two sides of the same coin, fueled by vast corporate monies, failing to address the real interests of the poor and working class?
A major aspect of this campaign is to pull the veil from over the lies of the political process. It’s to prove that the capitalist system can’t do anything about poverty, the poisonous environment, a bloated and failing prison system, costly healthcare, declining education, or the lack of arts-filled thriving communities.
On the other hand, we aim to win. Revolutionary ideas are expressed in the growing and deepening revolutionizing practice of workers and the poor. We need to learn how to strategize, how to unite, to mobilize and organize for a California we all deserve—one that is integral and healthy for everyone.
The primary election is June 3. We urge people to get out and vote, demonstrate to the powerful and wealthy ruling class that we can go against the odds, with no corporate funding, with no major media, and still become the second highest vote getter challenging Governor Brown all the way to the November elections.
If we don’t, the only ones in the dialogue, cutting out viable voices again, will be Democrats and Republicans, which represent the 1 percent against the rest of us. Go to www.rodriguezforgovernor.org to find out more, to get involved and to donate.
