Farewell Speech to SGA Wolfson (Miami Dade College Student Senate)

By Al R Suarez

From April 27^th, 2018

My fellow students, let me state the truth is like a lion, it does not need be defended, it only need be unleashed. Those who fear truth defend tyranny, those who embrace truth, defend liberty. No amount of awards can cover the truth, or the fact last year many processes voted on by the majority of senators were shut down in a way that was not consistent with our constitution. Be on the side of truth & justice always. Indeed, remember the promise of liberty and justice for all, endowed by the founders of this great nation. 13 years ago I sat in those seats you are in now, as recruiter of SGA, before I moved to Europe. That is right, for those of you who don’t know I have a history with Wolfson. Early last year the prodigal son returned, to a college facing many of the same problems. As I move on to finally graduate, there are some things worth mentioning. Many of the same struggles we face now we faced then during the Bush years. However, am much more wise than I was then. The current constitution you have is the most pro-student constitution in Miami-Dade College history, any changes to it must be minimal. The young man who masterminded the constitution, was former Senator Travon Pierre, he reminded me much of myself 13 years ago.

Not to sound arrogant, but I have been involved in political activism 17 years, when many of you were 1 or 2 years old. This is just to give you an idea of my experience. And I am always here for you after I move on, you can always call me for advice. You should know, candidates running for office in this nation in their 50s and 60s come to me for advice, am 33, and am known to be wise for my age. Unfortunately, many times I tried to council some of you, young people my age or younger, and was largely ignored, my presentation in this room, a few weeks ago, on communication based on studies from Harvard & MIT, was largely ignored. And yet I still have hope, that the redeemability of people can prevail. An exodus of fine senators quit over what happened, committees were disbanded, and as I am not a quitter, I was one of the last of the old guard, trying to keep the constitution which defends the students, who are the first on my mind, and I care for dearly. If you look through history often those who follow principles, and are in the minority, and who care the most, are the least popular. You should not seek to be popular as much as you should seek to do what is right. Godwilling you will have the strength, and courage, to do it.

The notion of mutual respect, started out on this campus as a common sensical approach, and turned out to be a confrontational revolutionary idea. The latter is not such a bad thing. You can destroy the revolutionary, but to destroy the idea is another thing. The notion of mutual respect means that if Student Life or administration demands respect from us, they must first give us respect. Indeed, Bernie Sanders talked of a revolution as well in our own times, he called for a political revolution, Martin Luther King called for a radical revolution of values. Much of what we faced in the 60s we face now, as history echoes. The oncoming social revolution will be a struggle of tremendous proportions, we can only begin to imagine, and as always it will be led and championed by the youth. As John Lennon said, you may think I am a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. In one of my favorite movies, and life does not always have happy endings like in some films, but can be cruel, called The Mission, there is a scene where the representative of the Vatican was told after he lamented at the massacre of Jesuit priests, and the Guarani, that it was the way of the world, the representative responded by saying “No, it is the world we made, it is the world I made”, be the change you want to see in the world! Said Gandhi.

 

They say what does not kill you makes you stronger, back in 2011, my sister, my only sibling, the mother of my beautiful almost 10 year old niece, passed away. Soon after I was homeless. When I recovered, and started studying again in Tampa, I wrote a book about this experience. I turned this tragedy into something constructive, and my resolve, to make a better future for my niece, who 8 years from now will be a legal adult, is stronger than ever.

As a political activist, the future of the youth of this nation is my foremost concern. As an activist many times we question our methods and ask what is winnable, what is effective, to me the most important question is, can I look someday my grandchildren in the eye and tell them I tried as best I could to make them a better world. It is better to do something than to do nothing. Even if you lose a battle. There is an old Arab proverb, a people who have had many battles, that says in every defeat there are seeds of victory, and in every victory seeds of defeat. Indeed, we must plant the seeds of real change. Eventually it will grow. We have fascist tyrants in DC, we have fascist tyrants in Tallahassee, these representatives of tyranny want to take away these colleges, and ruin the opportunities of the working class students, to better serve the interest of the rich elite. My sister enrolled in a community college and studied paralegal, she wanted to be a lawyer, she had to stop these studies as she found out she was pregnant. I was only in high school till I finished junior year. So this graduation will be my first graduation, and I will dedicate it to my sister, who was not able to finish college. When I finished middle school, I gave a speech and said I was ready for the transition to high school, I say now I am ready for university, and I hope all of you will be ready too, ready for that and the outside world. Let this be a lesson to you all. To be more than sympathetic of the oppressed people of the world, but to be empathetic. To do what is right no matter how hard, to make a difference, and not be in this for opportunistic reasons. On our campus we have a piece of the Berlin Wall on display. My grandfather built our side of the Berlin Wall, when it came down my Mom gave him a piece of it as a present. All walls have fallen or ceased to exist, this generation, the Parkland generation, will end walls! I leave you with two quotes from one of my heroes I mentioned earlier, Mahatma Gandhi.

“Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.”

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Thank you!

Photo of Senators together back when we were united, taking a stand against fascism, 2017.

Exclusive Interview with Tim Canova, Independent Candidate Running against Debbie Wasserman-Shultz

By Al R Suarez

Canova and me at Science March in Miami almost a year to the day, April 2017, we spoke shortly before he gave a speech.

In 2016 I was the press secretary for Stephanie Anderson, an independent progressive, against Wasserman-Shultz, it was a free position we took no corporate money, and I was living in Tampa at the time. Nevertheless, I did come to Miami and met Anderson, as well as Jill Stein during her presidential campaign, as I had met her before. Steven Machat’s independent campaign for Florida senate was in full swing back then, and I helped campaign with him in Tampa. He is now running for Congress in Miami as a Dem. He has campaigned along side Alina Valdes, who is in a similar district to him. People have compared Machat to a man known as He-Man, who ran as an independent against a corporate Dem for the legislator in Miami last year, a lady named Taddeo.

I campaigned for He-Man. And Machat’s new campaign manager is He-Man’s former campaign manager. I felt it was the time for independent or third party candidates who were truly progressive in 2016, and we typically did better than in 2012, but we still did not get enough traction. Have conditions changed since then, can the millenial vote make a difference? Will the Dem Enter strategy fail, and Dem Exit be the only option? Will the corporate parties lose power, or the Dems join the Republicans? The US has historical parallels to this, but did not question Canova on all of this since did not want to go off topic too much.

By the time Anderson joined the race, Canova had lost the Democratic primary against DWS, and Anderson was taking up the mantle of sorts, but not with much support. She did support Canova initially. I did not know much about Canova at the time. However, when I moved to Miami early last year, met him, and got in touch with his people, I realized this was a man who cared. I predicted a year ago he would run as an indepenent this time around and people called me crazy. I have communicated with Canova over the past year and adviced him on different things. Well am happy to say he has finally made the move. So I decided to be one of the first alternative journalists to interview him after he announced this decision.

 

Do you feel your move to go independent will have a domino effect, and other candidates, like Alina Valdes, and Steven Machat, will leave the Dems as well and run independent?

My announcement that I’m running as an independent has already had some domino effect. I’ve heard from several candidates around the country saying they are following my lead, including Joshua Sauberman, a Congressional candidate in New York. There’s no predicting what other candidates may go independent. Every race and every district is different.

Why this time around do you feel its better to run as an independent?

I did not rush to go independent, but it became clear that party officials and even election officials in Broward County will continue working against me in a closed Democratic primary.

How have things changed since your last election?

After I brought a lawsuit to try to inspect the ballots in my 2016 primary, the Broward Supervisor of Elections destroyed all the paper ballots in violation of federal and state law, and in defiance of the court’s rules and authority. No Democratic Party officials were willing to even call for an investigation. Under such circumstances, I like my chances against the corrupt Wasserman Schultz political machine in a November general election.

 

What do you see the Dems are like today?

I’ve said many times that the Democratic Party has become a conduit to funnel corporate lobbyist money to political consultants and the mass media. To accomplish that primary mission, they promote corporate-funding candidates in primaries. That’s the party’s primary objective, to defeat progressives in primaries and keep the party in the pockets of giant corporations. It’s secondary objective is to defeat Republicans in general elections, but it’s secondary to remaining a corporate-owned party.

 

Do you think a new party can come about and make the corporate parties lose power?

Yes, I think it’s possible we will see a new party come to power in the years to come. The two major parties are morally and intellectually bankrupt. People are hungering for alternatives, for parties and candidates who will represent the people and not the huge corporations.

How is Florida good ground for independents?

The fastest growing part of the voting population are young voters. It’s now estimated that as many as 70 percent of Millennials and younger are registering as No Party Affiliation. NPAs make up about 41 percent of voters, making them larger than Democrats and Republicans. These same trends exist in Florida, making this state happy hunting grounds for independent candidates. These independent voters cannot cast ballots in a closed Democratic primary, but they will now be able to vote for me in the general election. They are also far more progressive in outlook than any other generation.

What laws can be changed, such as primary laws, that can make our society more democratic?

To make our system and society more democratic, we need to overturn Citizens United, ban corporate money from politics, and implement a system of publicly financed elections that maximize small donations. But that will not be enough if we don’t reform our election system itself. We need a system of 100 percent paper ballots, counted by hand in public, to ensure transparency and verifiable elections. There’s no such thing as a hacker-proof electronic voting machine, whether it’s hacking from a foreign power or a domestic agency or corporation.

How can the media be used to give alternative candidates a better shot, including social media?

The mass media should be required to give free air time on radio and television to candidates. That’s the least they can do in the public interest for their broadcast licenses and outsized profits. Social media is also crucial for grassroots political organizing and progressive candidates. We need net neutrality and we need rules to prevent social media sites from throttling progressives, such as removing their followers, by manipulating their algorithms.

How can independents get in the debates in Florida against corporate or main party candidates?

I just participated in a debate with other candidates in my race, except for Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who does not believe in debates because she doesn’t believe in democracy. The debate was hosted by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Local 3104 in Pompano Beach, and included Republican, Democratic, and independent candidates. We need other groups (unions, caucuses, clubs, non-governmental organizations of all kinds) to invite candidates and host debates. We need to shame candidates who dodge debates. In 2016, all over the country and in my district, people were asking Wasserman Schultz when she would debate me. Her response was always to turn and walk away without answering the question, and these encounters were often video recorded on people’s smart phones. We took highlights from those encounters and made it into a 30 second political advertisement for both television and social media. Wasserman Schultz finally relented and bowed to one early Sunday morning debate. I believe the Republicans will have every incentive to push for debates that include me.