Luis Javier Rodriguez

Today my friend James Lilly died from a self-inflicted bullet wound. He was a former Chicago gang member, paralyzed when he was 15 years old from a rival gang bullet. Still, he emerged over the years as a champion wheelchair racer who also spoke to kids in schools about not joining gangs. We spoke at events together and took part in conferences and circles on ending gang violence. He sought me as a mentor, and in the end we became friends. You can find out more about his championship run at http://pushin-forward.net/ I have much love for this brother, who emerged as a hero in my eyes. Like many traumatized young men, he also had much to wrestle with. I send love, prayers, and good thoughts to James, his oldest son Jimmy, his wife Nora, and their children. I also send prayers and much respect to Izumi Tanaka, who made the film on James’ life and stayed close to him and his family. For now, I am deeply saddened. Que en paz descanse. c/s

http://www.youtube.com/embed/4cWyjGXK9l4?list=UU-iJa60bRBOEak3eF5eO62Q&hl=en_US

For a more of my thoughts on the subject read a piece I wrote for the Huffington Post, "What 2012 Means"

I was fortunate this year to be a candidate for vice-president under the fledgling Justice Party. Justice Party presidential candidate Rocky Anderson appeared in a number of media outlets, including Democracy Now!, Huffington Post Live, Al Jazeera, and Russia Today, among others. A third party debate at Chicago’s Hilton Hotel in late-October, moderated by Larry King, was seen online by more than a million people—Rocky did a great job articulating the issues. I also traveled on my own to help get the Justice Party’s message known. I did this while promoting my new book (“It Calls You Back: An Odyssey Through Love, Addiction, Revolutions, and Healing”), bringing awareness to the Salvadoran gang peace that I’ve been involved with as a member of the Transnational Advisory Group in Support of the Peace Process in El Salvador (TAGSPPES), and promoting Tia Chucha’s book and film that I co-produced this year (“Rushing Waters, Rising Dreams: How the Arts are Transforming a Community”). Since July, I spoke throughout the Los Angeles area as well as Port Townsend/Seattle, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, San Diego, Washington DC area, Albuquerque, Boulder/Denver, upstate New York, Chicago, Seattle (again), and Phoenix—not to mention spending seven days in El Salvador. I tried to piggyback media events to add my voice to the public debate. The Justice Party had no money for major ads or for a tour. There was no corporate funding. Despite this we were on the ballot in around fifteen states and as official write-ins in another twenty states. Although our numbers on Election Day were little more than 36,000, third parties totals that day—including the much bigger Libertarians and the Green Party—broke the two million mark. There is a growing vacuum among those disenchanted with the two party system, the DuoCracy that Rocky speaks about, in which regardless of diverse interests pertaining to the economy, class, race, or gender we’re supposed to be represented by only two political parties, two heads of the same beast, both owned and run by massive corporate interests. America deserves better. This so-called democracy is mostly closed to the majority of Americans, in particular the working class and its poor. I’m outraged that more than $2 billion was spent in the presidential campaign—mostly greased by Super Pacs made up of big money that is neither seen nor accounted for. Yes, President Obama won. He won the majority of the “battleground” states. His electoral college numbers were 332 to Romney’s 206. Young voters, women, African Americans, Latinos, and progressive whites carried the day. Still there were 94 million eligible voters who did not turn in a ballot. And even though the President took the popular vote, it was largely evenly split (50.6 percent of the voters went for Obama; 47.8 percent for Romney). This country is severely divided. I’ve read and heard many arguments about why Romney lost and why the Democrats held on to the presidency and maintained their lead in the Senate… as well as harangues and even vitriol from right-wing pundits, analysts, and lay people. Some of the nuttier rants from right-wingers included statements like “America Died” and “Evil won.” Anne Coulter cried. Ted Nugent blew a casket. Karl Rove had nothing but excuses. One social media voice called Obama the “N” word and stated the president should be assassinated (she claimed she was not racist or threatening, only “stating her opinion”—when will people like her be real). I read also that residents in more than thirty states have filed “secession” papers (in Texas, as of this writing, some 80,000 people filed a petition to secede). The crazies in the Republican proved what we always knew—they are too out of it to be part of any decent public discourse. For them, it’s not about what’s right and what’s wrong—or even about reality. It’s about “I’m right… and the rest of you are the devil’s spawn.” The Republicans are a complete joke, and it’s their fault. As MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow expressed, they are simply wrong on the issues. Wrong on same sex marriage. Wrong on women’s choice in abortion. Wrong on immigration rights (Romney cut his own throat when he said the U.S. should make life so miserable for immigrants that they would “self deport”). Wrong about climate change. Wrong on not taxing the rich more than the rest of us. Wrong on cutting back the social net. Wrong on full health coverage for all people. They’re wrong about capitalism and the power of greed and money to do society any good. And as for right-wing Christians, they are wholly wrong on their most fundamental belief—which is that God is on their side. Really? Why even acts of God helped Obama win (Super Storm Sandy was one of Rove’s excuses when he said it stopped Romney’s momentum). Now how about the Democrats? Many progressives in the black, brown, Asian, and white communities went all out for Obama—even when voter suppression was used against poor and working class communities (in one of the more outrageous examples, an Ohio ballot box was removed after it was discovered that people who voted for Obama ended up inadvertently voting for Romney). But I contend these weren’t votes for the Democrats. They were votes against Romney, against the powerful and rich, against lies, against the racists (there were many subtle and not-so subtle racist statements and expressions against Obama, including more than one effigy of Obama lynched on people’s yards). While it’s true the Democrats had better electoral strategies to get out the votes, better way to track numbers and voting patterns, remember: both parties had more money than ever before. Republicans didn’t do too shabby. The point is regardless of what Republicans did to manipulate their way throughout this campaign, people aren’t buying. They knew the current crisis was a direct result of one of the largest corporate thefts of homes, finances, stocks, and loans in history—which Republicans are directly responsible for and the Democrats pretty much went along. And despite Obama’s win, most people understand—the Democrats cannot pull us out of the crisis. The system, however, only gives us two choices. We can’t be precise, cogent, or able to vote our true interests—they are being hijacked at all levels. If one party doesn’t have the right personality, funds, or the numbers, there’s always the other one... Right. America deserves better. The Democrats have failed on the economy (of the new jobs that supposedly dropped the unemployment rate during the campaign, more than 60 percent were low-paid and unorganized non-permanent positions); the national health plan is a convoluted mess with insurance companies’ hands all over it; more people were deported under President Obama than any previous president; and people’s homes are still on the line, the modification plans enacted by the administration just not able to assist the vast majority of needy homeowners. Poverty is worse and wars continue. It’s great that the electorate pushed back and a few states got same-sex marriage and even marijuana reform. Change is real and powerful. And I’m all for it. But America deserves more. The point is—we can’t stop now. We must want more and we must organize for more. We need to push forward the permanent and true interests of the poor and working class—the only social class that will free up the economy, politics, and our culture. This means not letting President Obama off the hook: Pressure, pressure and more pressure. He shouldn’t be allowed to acquiesce anymore to the big banks, big corporations, big capital interests. I also contend we must break up the big parties. People don’t need to secede from the union (although I welcome this for any state that can get a majority to agree). The Republicans can’t contain their motley crew of Tea Party extremists, right-wing Christians, moderates, libertarians, and even Gay members under one umbrella—too many interests that don’t see eye to eye. And the Democrats are made up of even more varied groups, people, colors, and flavors. Great… that’s America. But isn’t America also about many voices, many concerns, many needs. What if we had more clearly defined political parties vying for the vast American electorate, truly engaging them, pushing the majority to actually care enough to vote? What a concept? Isn’t this what the United States pushes to emerging democratic states around the world—more parties, more voices, each party given equal time? You betcha. Yet, we still think the two party system is God-given and insoluble. There are so-called third world countries known for greater corruption and control, yet with five or six political parties in their national assemblies. I, for one, plan to continue building a movement to free up the democratic process. I will do this with the Justice Party if possible. We have a long way to go, but the Justice Party is on the map and I believe it has room to build and to impact. The Green Party did well in 2012—time to build, not just for elections, but also as a movement. More voices, more imaginations, more ways to go. Yet at the same time to struggle in a rational and common sense manner (based on deeper understandings and knowledge) for the unity-in-diversity needed to keep our country equitable, expansive, and just. America deserves this and more. c/s

I’m 2012’s vice-presidential candidate for the Justice Party, running with presidential candidate Rocky Anderson. Why? Because we need justice in our economy, in our environment, and in our politics.

Today there is a growing gap between the wealthiest and the poorest people of the land, a largely closed and corporate-run democratic process, and few remedies to address climate change and fossil fuel dependence.

Neither Republicans nor Democrats have the long-range, comprehensive, and substantial solutions to any of these as the two parties are daily revealed to be two heads of the same beast.

I understand the dangers of having Governor Romney and Senator Paul Ryan possibly becoming our president and vice-president with the same outlook, policies, and war-mongering that got us into this mess in the first place—there is no way they can be removed from the hammer blow of responsibility for what Republicans in the White House and Congress have done to our country.

I support the historical place Barack Obama has as our first African American president and whatever good he has done against terror in the Middle East and for job growth. Most of those who voted for him reached out to the hope.

But as many others have said before—we should want more.

The Obama Administration’s continual bail-out of financial institutions that have mercilessly ripped off the American people, increased raids and deportations of hard-working immigrant families from Mexico and Central America, and the fact that 60 percent of the job growth has been in the low-paid, unorganized and unrepresented sectors of the service economy cannot be excused.

The eroding of our civil liberties, the waste of lives and monies in the drug wars, and the ongoing use of military operations to resolve the world’s problems, leading to more insecurity, cannot be excused.

President Obama is also a leader. It’s clear he can’t lead us out of economic and political collapse, except to prop up the same ideas and tired structures from the other side of this two-headed entity—which has also failed us.

I’m in this race with Rocky Anderson to inject new ideas, to inspire a new imagination for what’s possible, and to help with a true healing of the people and the land.

I’m in this to make sure the poor and pushed out are at the forefront of any policies and plans—finally… justice for all.

The first step is to allow the voices and alternatives to the two-party system a full airing, the same free and equal access to the media, and to be given a chance to speak out on these issues. You don’t have to agree entirely with Rocky or I, or any of the other far more interesting and knowledgeable candidates out there. But you can agree we all need to be heard.

I’m a first generation U.S. born son of Mexican migrants. My parents believed in the American Dream, which in poor neighborhoods we lived in like South Central L.A. and East L.A. was largely frozen. Although I was a troubled youth—on drugs, in gangs, and out of school—before I left my teens I dedicated myself to education, books, social justice as well as deep economic and political change. This provided me direction, meaning, and energy to move forward as a person and for my community.

I myself became a steelworker, construction worker, paper mill worker, and foundry smelter for many years until I decided in my mid-twenties to be trained as a journalist, and later as a poet, fiction writer, essayist, and memoirist. I’ve also stayed active in my community for some forty years for proper youth development, immigrant rights, better schools, neighborhood arts, and for a vibrant economy and a dynamic political reality.

That’s why I’m running as vice president of the United States for the Justice Party.

Can we win? All I know is that with the Democrats and Republicans we constantly lose. It’s time to vote for what you believe, for what you know to be true, for what you deserve.

It’s time to vote for true justice.

c/s

http://www.youtube.com/embed/QkywfNksVtE

As most people know by now, I am the vice-presidential candidate with the Justice Party, running next to Rocky Anderson for President. Here is a link to learn more: http://www.justicepartyusa.net/ I'm honored to have been invited to be in on the national dialogue on issues of poverty, jobs, democracy, the environment, and the end of war. More on this later. For now here are some national media events I've taken part in so far. The Democracy Now! vice-presidential response from Friday, October 12: http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/12/expanding_the_vp_debate_third_party The Huffington Post Live debate from Friday, October 12: http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/507339affe34445fe4000151

Please click on the following link to read the TAGSPPES report on delegation to El Salvador July 20th - 27th.

Adrienne Rich was not just this country’s most vital and honored poet, she was a revolutionary thinker and activist—and friend to me, whom she helped when I was barely entering this writer’s life. Adrienne died on Tuesday, March 27 in Santa Cruz, where she has been living for many years. She was 82. Adrienne published a dozen books of poetry and several books of essays over more than a half century. She’s won major awards for her work, including a National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, and a MacArthur Fellowship. But she also railed against the “patriarchy” of such competitions, and felt that all nominees should share the prize and do best with this recognition for women. She did exactly that. She was openly political and openly lesbian, and her poetry soared with imagery, ideas, language, rhythm, and immense skill. She was a prime example of how strong politics and highly developed art can come together in a living and dynamic way. She also helped bring along a young writer named Luis Rodriguez in subtle but important ways that I will never forget and always honor. She quoted from my newly published memoir “Always Running” in her 1993 book of essays “What Is Found There: Notebooks on Poetry and Politics.” This was an attention that I appreciate very much, especially since it’s hard to make a mark in this massive and often-segmented literary world of ours. Her mention of me brought badly needed support. In the 1990s, she helped founder/director (and great poet) Michael Warr and the fledgling Guild Complex Literary Center in Chicago, which I also helped create and organize as a board member. I remember a meal we once had, Michael and me, with Adrienne at the Drake Hotel along Chicago’s lakeshore, how warm and bright Adrienne was, so giving and genuine. Then when I returned to Los Angeles after fifteen years in Chicago, she gave money to Tia Chucha’s Café Cultural & Bookstore, newly started by my wife Trini and I, among others. It is now a thriving nonprofit cultural space/bookstore, and Adrienne continued to give when she could—knowing how her health was failing her. This support helped us continue Tia Chucha Press, mostly bringing new powerful cross-cultural voices to poetry, including Terrance Hayes, A. Van Jordan, Linda Susan Jackson, Luivette Resto, Chiwan Choi, Richard Vargas, and more. On Friday night, March 30, Trini and I attended a poetry reading for Mujeres de Maiz (Women of Corn) at Self-Help Graphics Arts Studios in Boyle Heights. There were many voices, many stories, many styles from women across L.A.'s vast Eastside and as far away as Santa Ana and Oakland (and women from Tia Chucha's "In The Words Of Womyn" writing workshops and the Young Warriors youth empowerment project). I could see Adrienne Rich's hand in all this--to legitimize, humanize, and provide deep and broad spaces for women's truths and visions. Perhaps many of the readers or audience members were unaware of the brave and consistent work that Adrienne contributed over the decades. But her impact was still there. My best memory of Adrienne was her reading at Tia Chucha’ Café Cultural not long after we first opened. The place was packed. I had to pick her up from where she was staying at Marina Del Rey, quite a ride from the Northeast San Fernando Valley. We had a pleasant talk on the way. She graciously gave of her time, pulling in energy from who knows where, although I was aware she was not feeling well and needed a cane to get around. During her reading she never showed pain or hesitancy. Her reading was rich, and it brought tears to my eyes. What a great person, woman, poet Adrienne was, is, always will be. Que descanses en paz, mi maestra. c/s