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“The Socialist Workers Party campaign speaks in the interests of working people, as we face unemployment, high prices, a deep social crisis and the threat of more wars,” Eric Simpson, the party’s candidate for mayor of Oakland, California, told supporters after city authorities announced he would be on the ballot in the April 15 special election.

Simpson is a longtime member of the Socialist Workers Party, a machine operator at a chocolate factory and member of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 125. Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was ousted in a November recall election.

Simpson is one of a growing slate of SWP candidates that the party is announcing around the country. Everywhere they go, SWP campaigners explain workers need to break with the bosses’ parties, the Democrats and Republicans, and take political power into our own hands. They describe how past working-class struggles show this is both possible and necessary.

Joining workers in struggle is key part of SWP campaign.

“The thing that really appeals to me is Simpson’s focus on supporting unions,” Levi Meir Clancy, who signed on to sponsor Simpson’s campaign, told the Militant.

Clancy cares for adults with disabilities and met the SWP at protests against the murderous Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas pogrom. He welcomes the party’s defense of Israel’s right to exist as a refuge for Jews.

In New Jersey, Joanne Kuniansky and Craig Honts, the Socialist Workers Party candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, found serious interest in the party’s working-class program when they campaigned on workers’ doorsteps in Passaic Jan. 19.

Supreme Stegall told the SWP candidates he’s concerned at the number of “mentally ill who are left on the streets, taking drugs.” Stegall works as a furrier in a union shop in New York.

“You say you’re for the working class, but what about those who aren’t workers, the unemployed?” he asked.

A union-led fight for jobs for all Honts said the unemployed are part of the working class, and employers use competition for jobs to try to deepen divisions among workers. “Bosses say, ‘If you don’t like it here, there are 10 others waiting to take your job.’

What’s needed is a fight for jobs for all, including a government-funded public works program to create millions of jobs at union-scale wages and a shorter workweek with no cut in pay to spread the available work around.”

Kuniansky pointed to the example of union struggles in Minneapolis where SWP members were part of the leadership of the Teamsters union in the 1930s. The union organized the unemployed to join workers’ strike picket lines. It also established an auxiliary for unemployed workers that led the fight for their interests with the backing of the labor movement.

“But if you win, how would you change things today?” Stegall asked. Kuniansky said SWP candidates would continue building solidarity with union battles and other struggles in the interests of the working class. “But the only way to really make a difference is to change which class runs society.”

She pointed to the mighty Black-led working-class movement that tore down Jim Crow segregation, showing the revolutionary potential and capacities of the working class.

“Yes, there may not be lynchings today,” Stegall said, “but the jobs situation is still no better.”

“The profit system of the ruling rich reproduces racism, it’s built in,” Kuniansky replied. She pointed to the example set by the leaders of the socialist revolution in Cuba. After the conquest of power, they organized working people to “get rid of Jim Crow race laws, drew Afro-Cubans into all industries, brought women into jobs they were excluded from, and sent 100,000 youth into the countryside to teach workers and peasants to read and write.”

“This country has been built by immigrants,” Stegall said, but he thought too many were entering the U.S. today. Honts said that the bosses turn immigration on and off to ensure themselves the labor they need and to heighten competition among workers.

“The SWP is not for open borders,” Kuniansky added, “but we fight for the defense of all workers who are here, and we demand amnesty for the more than 11 million undocumented workers. We also build solidarity with workers fighting for better conditions in other countries.”

Kuniansky also addressed the growing threat of imperialist wars. “Washington is the only power to have used nuclear weapons, against the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.”

“How do we get rid of the threat of nuclear war,” Stegall asked, “when the U.S. government claims to be the only government with the ‘right’ to have nuclear weapons?”

“All the peace treaties and disarmament pacts capitalist governments sign today only pave the way for new wars tomorrow,” Kuniansky said. “The only way to stop war is to take power from the warmakers, the capitalist class, including right here in the U.S.”

Stegall took a couple of issues of the Militant and encouraged the SWP candidates to return when he’s had a chance to read them.

Black workers hit hard in L.A. fires

“Three of my family members in Altadena lost their homes in the fire” in Los Angeles, Patton told the SWP campaigners. “I’m worried that the fires will wipe out the Black families’ legacy in Altadena.” Tens of thousands of African Americans moved to Los Angeles during the second great migration from the South between 1940 and 1970, many settling in Altadena.

“The Los Angeles firestorm falls hardest on the working class,” Richter said. “Many can’t afford the high-priced insurance and will not be able to rebuild their homes.”

“Working people need to break with the capitalist parties. We need a party of labor,” Otero said.

“I like the idea of a party of labor, to begin to take on the problems facing working people,” Patton replied. She got a copy of the Militant.

To join in campaigning for SWP candidates, contact the party branch nearest you.

Santa Muerte is called upon by many to protect their families and their children from harm. In fact, when people ask me for prayers and spell advice, this is the most common request! It’s not surprising to me that people rely upon Santa Muerte for protection. Since death is arguably one of the most powerful – and most present – forces in creation, Santa Muerte is always available to help. This is what contributes to her legendary speed.

This prayer to protect your family from harm can be used several ways. If your family is facing a specific situation, it’s good to contemplate that before you begin. Suppose your children are starting a new school, and you want to make sure that they fit in. You might think about how you’ll want their day to proceed, free from bullies and from problems. If your husband is about to go on a long road trip, you might focus on making sure he has no accidents or vehicle breakdowns. These are just some of the many possible uses. Remember, Santa Muerte has the power to affect just about everything! Of course this prayer for protection can be recited daily for general protection as well.

This prayer can be said at any time and at any place. I say one very similar to it every morning when I refresh the water on my Santa Muerte altar. For this prayer to be most effective, you’ll want to have a picture of your family available. This helps you focus your intent, which will make this prayer more effective. Lighting a simple white candle, even just a tea light, is also customary.

The prayer to protect your family is as follows:

Blessed be to Santa Muerte, Our Lady of Death,

Who is the great protector of the living,

And guardian spirit of the dead.

My lovely Skeletal Girl, please watch over me and my family

Keeping us safe from illness and from injury,

And from the curses and maledictions of others.

Please bless us with your wisdom and understanding,

And bring us friendship, good fortune, and love.

I ask this of you now and always, my most beautiful Santa Muerte,

For you are always present and ever-powerful

And I have learned to love you and trust you.

Amen (so mote it be, etc.)

Once you are finished, make sure to thank Santa Muerte for her time and her attention. Often I give my Santa Muerte statue a little kiss as well. Since she is famous for her speed, you can expect results immediately. The more you repeat this prayer, like all others, the stronger its effects will be. Build a strong relationship with Santa Muerte by praying often!