Presidential candidate Claudia De la Cruz and Vice President candidate Karina Garcia spoke to an energetic crowd in East Oakland
Presidential candidate Claudia De la Cruz and Vice President candidate Karina Garcia spoke in East Oakland in early spring 2024 on a wide variety of topics. Both De La Cruz and Karina are candidates within The Party For Socialism and Liberation (also known as the PSL). Karina is a teacher and is now running for vice president. The event, packed wall-to-wall, took place at the Liberation Space in East Oakland, a revolutionary place where people can come by and educate themselves.
Karina talks about the connection with capitalism and the violence it pushes upon its residents, especially those who are poor “We are taught to be apathetic, very individualist,” Karina explained. “Part of the pillars and values of capitalism that allows capitalism to be what it is, is precisely allowing us to think that if it doesn't happen to me or the people near me, I don't need to care. If I don't see it, it doesn't bother me.”
One participant named Farrid stated he became a PSL member mainly due to the Democrats’ handling of the war in Gaza, where thousands of men, women, and children have been excessively bombed.
“You look at Biden, who is supporting a genocide in Gaza right now. Before that, we had Hillary, and we know she's a well-known warmonger and has a terrible corrupt criminal past as well.”
Farid sees a cycle of war throughout especially in this country through supporting politicians like the Democrats.
“We've had war after war after war,” he said. “ We've had young men and women and people, who have had their whole lives ahead of them, go out and do the dirty work of politicians.”
Farid has seen the war machine with his own eyes as he lives during the Afghanistan war occupation of America. The effects of war there are affecting that country to this day.
“Famine has been happening in the past couple of years, because they literally just don't have the infrastructure to grow food,” he said. “They don't have enough manpower, the knowledge, the education, the resources to grow food.”
Priyana Hannan explains that police make high salaries, which shouldn’t be the case in this country. “If you are in a neighborhood where your only choices are to be told that you're going to be shot or you're the one doing the shooting, you join the police force and you're the one doing the shooting, how messed up is that?” Harris has regurgitated multiple times his belief for funding police despite a growing defunding politicians who are also democrats. Claudia De la Cruz campaign spoke on Tyre Nichols and other victims of police brutality, “Our campaign stands in solidarity with all victims of racist police brutality - a key feature of the war on Black America being waged by the ruling class of the country.”
Hannan also believes the Democrats focus on policing instead of supporting workers, who make this country run. “The essence of capitalism is profit over people,” she said “The meaning of capitalism is about exploiting workers, and exploiting wealth.”
Hannah feels like the need for policing and high rent would be stopped if there is class solidarity. “We're pitting workers against each other here,” she said. “We would be able to unite and we would have real power.”
Hannah believes that the rich are scared of this.“
That's what they're scared of, the ruling class, because they know that when we have class solidarity, that's a threat to the ruling class.”