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[mailto:change-links@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On
Behalf Of Jim DeMaegt
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 7:38 AM
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Subject: [change-links] Nativo López on May
1
Socialist Worker
Nativo López on May 1:
"The power to
stop the system"
April 28, 2006 | Page 9
NATIVO LOPEZ is president of
the Mexican American Political Association and
a leading organizer of the 1
million-strong March 25 demonstration in Los
Angeles, called to protest
vicious anti-immigrant legislation sponsored by
Rep. James Sensenbrenner. At
an April 22 meeting of organizers in Chicago,
Nativo spoke about the
importance of the next step in the struggle--the
Great American Boycott on
May 1.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WE HAVEN'T seen anything as odious and hateful as the
Sensenbrenner
legislation since the Fugitive Slave Act of 1857. People should
look it
up--another law that asked citizens to participate in the persecution
of
others and the returning of escaped slaves to their former masters.
HR
4437 is the culmination of state and local legislation that we have
been
faced with--persecution in different places for the past 10
years.
Hear Nativo López speak at
Socialism 2006, a political conference
scheduled for June 22-25 at Columbia
Univerisy in New York City. For more
information, go to the Socialism 2006
Web site at socialismconference.org.
It's also the product of 10 years of
hate speech on right-wing radio. The
level of hate speech and hate-mongering
coming from the Clear Channel and
others is unprecedented.
This is
also globalization coming home to roost. There is a dynamic with the
economic
powerhouses of Europe and North America in relation to developing
countries.
The powerhouses are extracting as much wealth as they can from
those
countries. Legal and undocumented immigration is going to continue in
a
structural and profound way as long as this is the case.
Our greatest
fear is that the Democratic Party is going to cut a deal behind
closed doors
and contain the movement that has been born.
Capital is creating for us a
movement that we didn't have 20 years ago.
Capital has sent immigrants to
every corner and every town of the country,
so that mass demonstrations are
possible everywhere.
Therefore, I'm going to go to the capital and invite
George Bush to join us
in "One Day Without Immigrants" on May 1 and
participate in the movement
that he is helping to create.
There are
some people who are criticizing the call to boycott, but
nevertheless, the
call has been made, the word is out there, and people are
ready to pursue
it.
I happened to be at a conference last Friday at the Catholic
Cathedral of
Los Angeles, right after Cardinal Mahoney made the announcement
not to
boycott. I talked to the workers who work at the Cathedral. They came
up to
me and told me excitedly, "Nativo, we're not going to work on May
1!"
This movement is based on the Ghandian principals
of non-cooperation. It's
also based on the idea that the only power we
possess is our labor power.
The only power we have is the
power that creates value in this society. When
workers refuse to
cooperate, they realize the power they have to tinker with
and stop the
system.
The immigrant "problem," as some call it, can only be resolved
when workers
themselves refuse to cooperate with the system until it fairly
remunerates
them. And in this case, fair remuneration is full unconditional
legalization
for all workers past and present.
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