Radical Socialist on track to win Detroit Election

[JohnTheMarxist]

Thought people may be interested in this. I know this comrade and she is a genuinely good person. She is a member of the Detroit Working People's Association and a radical socialist. She came in second place in a primary for a seat on the Detroit School Board. She has just been endorsed by all 11 education unions in Detroit which givers her a great chance of winning. She is the first open socialist to make it thru the primaries in Detroit since the 1960's. She is running for office because The Detroit government is very corrupt and plans on privatizing much of the public school system in Detroit and laying off teachers...mean while they are giving themselves tax kick backs and funneling money. Here is her website. www.weltman4schoolboard.org


***the title of this was meant to be radical socialist

[chebol]

Sorry, could you explain the role, weight, etc, of the position for which she is running.

[JohnTheMarxist]

Sure. She is running for the Detroit School Board. The School board presides over the entire public education system fo the city of Detroit, a major US city that is now in extreme poverty. The board controls what buildings are bought and sold by the school system, What is privatized and what remains public, School lunches,Funding for teachers, After school programs, deciding what goods the schools need ect. basically anything to do with the public education in Detroit. Until very recently there were not free and fair elections for this position. The corrupt Mayor got to name all of his donors and cronies to the school board personally. The people Detroit recently took this power from him.

[Ownthink]

^ I hate our fucking mayor (Kwame Kilpatrick). That asshole spends public funds on luxury cars for his friends.

But yes, electing a Radical Socialist to the Detroit School Board kicks ass. We don't even have a good school (it's falling apart), and sometimes not enough books or chairs in class!

[which doctor]

Originally posted by [email protected] 13 2005, 04:07 PM
^ I hate our fucking mayor (Kwame Kilpatrick). That asshole spends public funds on luxury cars for his friends.
Wasn't that the one who was caught in a strip club using a city credit card to pay for it?

[Xvall]

Good news to me.

[bolshevik butcher]

Would be great if she got on. Detroit sure looks like it's in need of socialism.

[Martin Blank]

She just put together a radio ad that will be on during the last week of the campaign.

http://www.weltman4schoolboard.org/ifthiswasthefuture.mp3

Miles

[SocialismIsCentrist]

http://www.thunder-works.com/stevieland/mo...article&sid=123 (http://www.thunder-works.com/stevieland/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=123)

reposted in a rightist forum - some gems like:


If this "revolution" comes I will make it my personal goal to kill every socialist in america.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

That&#39;s quite a debate style that person has. <_<

[Tekun]

Good to hear she a socialist
But unless she actually changes the status quo, her socialist POV&#39;s are meaningless
Her agenda must be concentrated on improving education, eradicating the corruption, and uplifting those in her area
Unless she accomplishes or takes great steps towards these solutions, her political affiliation is and will be worthelss

[Martin Blank]

Originally posted by [email protected] 23 2005, 11:17 PM
Good to hear she a socialist
But unless she actually changes the status quo, her socialist POV&#39;s are meaningless
Her agenda must be concentrated on improving education, eradicating the corruption, and uplifting those in her area
Unless she accomplishes or takes great steps towards these solutions, her political affiliation is and will be worthelss
This is kind of like saying that, unless she takes in a breath, she&#39;ll die from lack of oxygen.

Miles

[DisIllusion]

Originally posted by [email protected] 23 2005, 02:41 PM
http://www.thunder-works.com/stevieland/mo...article&sid=123 (http://www.thunder-works.com/stevieland/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=123)

reposted in a rightist forum - some gems like:


If this "revolution" comes I will make it my personal goal to kill every socialist in america.
Haha. I looked at that guys profile, and it&#39;s a guy holding an MG42. The machine gun used to slaughter Marines on D-Day and elsewhere in Europe during WWII by Nazis. What does that tell you about this person?

[workersunity]

hey good to hear shes running, Hey johnthemarxist how do you know lisa, i know of her through political work, just wondering how you know her. its like the first radical socialist that has a chance, well i guess its not a position of power, but hey all power to her (no pun intended)

ps, i think there was a thread like this some time ago

[Martin Blank]

Originally posted by [email protected] 24 2005, 10:24 PM
hey good to hear shes running, Hey johnthemarxist how do you know lisa, i know of her through political work, just wondering how you know her. its like the first radical socialist that has a chance, well i guess its not a position of power, but hey all power to her (no pun intended)
Actually, it is a position of power. Last year, people in Detroit voted to have a fully-empowered School Board, as opposed to both the Republican-organized (and Democratic-supported) state takeover and a "compromise" deal by the local Democrats to have a rubber-stamp board, with the mayor having all the power. If she is elected, she will have the power to change school curriculum, policy, etc.

Miles

[praxis1966]

Not to shit in anyone&#39;s Wheaties, but I doubt if this woman does win she&#39;ll effect any real change. There&#39;s a similar situation here in my home town, where over developement by these huge developers has gotten totally out of control. The old mayor and the entire city council (along with probably all of the county commission) were in the back pocket of said developers. A friend of my family&#39;s actually managed to get elected on a platform of historical site and environmental preservation and responsible growth. (Incidentally, she&#39;s the first woman elected mayor of my home town since it&#39;s incorporation over 90 years ago.)

The reality, she&#39;s found, is that whenever these developers (mainly St. Joe-Arvida a.k.a. the Anti-Christ) petition the city government for some zoning change to build a billion foot tall condominium building, she ends up being the only no vote. In other words, it&#39;s nice that a socialist has a shot at winning election to something as major as a school board seat in a city as large as Detroit, but I highly doubt any of her agenda gets passed.

[Martin Blank]

Originally posted by [email protected] 25 2005, 04:03 AM
Not to shit in anyone&#39;s Wheaties, but I doubt if this woman does win she&#39;ll effect any real change. There&#39;s a similar situation here in my home town, where over developement by these huge developers has gotten totally out of control. The old mayor and the entire city council (along with probably all of the county commission) were in the back pocket of said developers. A friend of my family&#39;s actually managed to get elected on a platform of historical site and environmental preservation and responsible growth. (Incidentally, she&#39;s the first woman elected mayor of my home town since it&#39;s incorporation over 90 years ago.)

The reality, she&#39;s found, is that whenever these developers (mainly St. Joe-Arvida a.k.a. the Anti-Christ) petition the city government for some zoning change to build a billion foot tall condominium building, she ends up being the only no vote. In other words, it&#39;s nice that a socialist has a shot at winning election to something as major as a school board seat in a city as large as Detroit, but I highly doubt any of her agenda gets passed.
Obviously, we&#39;ll have to see what happens to be 100-percent sure. But if the comrade&#39;s experiences, and the statements of other candidates she is working with, are any judge, she may very well be able to effect some real change. She has already built a majority among candidates for certain new provisions:

* No new charter schools
* Superintendent and school administrators to make no more than the average school worker
* Restoration of the Afrocentric curriculum
* Abrogation of the "Deficit Elimination Plan" (see her website for more on this)

It&#39;s a start.

Miles

[Martin Blank]

Latest update -- live and direct from Wonderland....

Apparently, Lisa&#39;s campaign is already having a major impact in some areas. Today, the Mid-Town Democrats, one of the largest and most powerful of the Democratic Party clubs in Michigan, broke with their local and state leaderships, and endorsed Lisa&#39;s campaign for School Board. This was a completely unsolicited endorsement, and came like a bolt out of the blue.

The MTD is effectively run by Progressive Democrats of America, the radical-liberal group that evolved out of the Dennis Kucinich campaign, is greatly influenced by Democratic Socialists of America and is composed mainly of local union activists and officials. In this respect, the MTD endorsement is an outgrowth of Lisa being endorsed by all 11 school unions.

I was present for the phone conversation between Lisa and the MTD executive board. It was quickly made clear that the Dems were well aware of her political leanings (especially after she said numerous times, "as a revolutionary socialist..."), history and program. Somehow, these were seen by these Dems as positives&#33;

I have to say, in all my years of political activity and study of U.S. history, I have never seen anything like this. Never before has a stalwart section of the Democratic Party broken ranks to support an independent workers&#39; candidate -- especially one that openly identifies herself as a revolutionary socialist.

Stay tuned. This is getting really interesting....

Miles