This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager
Sunday, July 30, 2017
From Socialist Alternative- We’ve raised $60,000 to send Ginger to City Hall! (In Minneapolis)
With over 3 months until election day on November 7th, our campaign to elect Ginger Jentzen to Minneapolis City Council Ward 3 - with calls to tax the rich and make big developers pay for affordable housing - has already inspired a flood of over 1,000 grassroots donations, totaling over $60,000! With a median donation of just $20, we’re demonstrating that it’s possible to run a viable campaign based on the small contributions of working people, completely free of money from the corporate executives and big developers who typically dominate Democratic Party establishment politics.
Ginger Jentzen was the Executive Director of 15 Now Minnesota, which played a leading role in winning the Midwest’s first $15/hour minimum wage in Minneapolis. $15/hour in Minneapolis will raise wages for 71,000 workers, disproportionately women and workers of color. Many see electing Ginger as a next step in building that momentum.
“Ginger was fighting for a $15 minimum wage back when City Hall said it was impossible,”said Emily White, a Ward 3 resident and former server who donated to the campaign. “The City Council majority bent to big business pressure to delay and dilute $15. With our neighborhoods becoming increasingly unaffordable, we need someone like Ginger who will push to tax big developers to fund more affordable housing.”
Our campaign is generating excitement from working class people across the country, inspired by Bernie Sanders and the successes of Socialist Alternative’s Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant. Since Kshama’s election in 2013, she has led movements against the corporate establishment, with victories that sparked movements across the country: from winning the first $15/hr minimum wage in a major city; to divesting from DAPL-funder Wells Fargo; to recently winning a tax on Seattle’s wealthiest residents will will raise $175 million to fund affordable housing.
“I reached out to Kshama’s office when my rent skyrocketed from $1,000 to $2,300 overnight,”said Kathy Heffernan, a hospital chaplain in Seattle.“Kshama was fighting for the rent control measures that Seattle tenants desperately need, which the conservative council majority said was impossible. I donated to Ginger’s campaign because across the country, working people need more elected officials like Ginger Jentzen and Kshama Sawant.”
Like Kshama, Ginger pledges to be accountable to working people, not corporate executives and big developers - if elected, she will take only the average wage of a worker in Ward 3, donating the rest of the $80,000/year City Council members pay themselves towards building social movements.
Hundreds have chipped in locally, with many contributing right away at the doors, excited about a socialist campaign that’s not for sale. Like Bernie Sanders’ famously repeated average donation of just $27, donations from Ward 3 residents average about $29. Unions like Minnesota Nurses Association and Communication Workers of America that endorsed Bernie Sanders last year are endorsing Ginger Jentzen.
“This all shows that we have the potential to build something new,”said Ginger Jentzen. “Bernie’s call for a political revolution against the billionaire class got a deep echo in Minneapolis and in Ward 3, though few in City Hall supported him. This mood persists. There are thousands of people looking to oust the “conservative majority” in City Hall in favor of fresh candidates that support issues like $15. This shows the necessity of building an entirely new political force, a new party of the 99%, making a clean break from the big business interests that typically dominate the DFL establishment.”
Our fundraising shows that a political revolution is possible against the grip of the big business interests that dominate the backrooms of Minneapolis City Hall. We’re organizing a powerful grassroots campaign raising demands to tax the rich and build affordable housing; fight for democratic civilian control of the police; and resist the Trump agenda with movements for Medicare for All, to defend LGBTQ rights, to fight racism, and for no ban, no wall, no raids.
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