Address to the People at Stand Up for Democracy Rally

Over 1,000 Strong at the Capitol

by John Gloster

9/3/97

This is great! But, of course, everyone here is wondering, "What can we do to win, or at least fight back effectively?" (If you're not wondering this, you should be.) Well, you can stop worrying because I've got the answer, the magic spell that will make all of this go away. [pause]

Okay, maybe I jest, but it is important that we have expectations and measurements of success. We don't just want to be another bunch of sign waving protesters blowing off steam. That is why any action the DC Statehood Party contemplates under my leadership is looked at from the perspective of whether or not the action can have a real impact on the real world.

I don't tend to get involved in ANYTHING unless I believe there is some way in which I can win. I am not interested in just settling for "fighting the good fight". A good fight is any fight I win, or if I don't win, at least the other guy comes out of it with a bloody nose. It's real simple, and it's an old political axiom. Reward your friends and punish your enemies. We've started doing that. That's why we went to N.C. and VA. on the 23^rd, to prove to our Congressional foes that we can reach out into their electoral bases and eventually reek havoc on their re-election bids. That is also why we are studying a boycott against Sen. Faircloth's pork businesses.

Another thing we need to do to win is to inventory our strengths. We often inventory our opponents strengths and weaknesses, but fail to truly study and understand the source of our own strengths or potential strengths. Our opponents know that our strength lies with People and a fair, democratic process. That is why they have acted to remove access to the democratic process. For the same reason, they have confused us into believing that the best way to communicate with the People is through the major media outlets, which they control. All the while, our foes have utilized the governmental process and the media to send a strong message that the People are not inherently good. That the People can't govern. That the People don't know what's good for them. The People need to be told what to do.

We have to send a different message. That message is: The People are good; the People

are smart; the People are wise; the People are hard working; the People can be trusted; the People are the nation's strength and reason for being; the People know best. I feel so strongly about this concept that I have included on our Party letterhead. Every official letter that comes out of the Party, like this one to The Washington Post, requesting the discontinuance of columnist George Will, says "The D.C. Statehood Party, Believing in the People".

But as I look out at all of us, I see every shade of the human rainbow. I see every diversity: race, religion, gender, sexual preference, philosophical bents..., and we are all coming together. We have among us Political Parties: Umoja, Green Party, New Party, DSA, Aids Cure, Democrats, and DC Statehood. We have churches: Union Temple, Plymouth Congregational, Imani Temple. We have civic organizations and coalitions: DAC, ANCs, ACLU, NAACP.... We're all pushing ego aside and getting serious about taking our message to the People. That's where the real battle is! It's not addressing the media. It's also not in lobbying the Control Board or even this Congress we now stand before. Our enemies are happy to have us address there tools looking for redress if we expend all our energies, and at the end of the day fail to go back home and address our true source of power, The People.

The real battle, then, is over the hearts and minds of the People, first of D.C., then of the world. We need to educate people and disabuse people of the misinformation our enemies are providing. We can only do that through direct communication. We need to leave here today and go back. Go back to our churches, mosques, and synagogues and preach the message of liberation. Go back to our civic organizations and political parties and canvas our communities, raising awareness along the way. Go back to our ANCs and neighborhoods, knocking on doors, holding informational meetings in our living rooms. And let us not forget to commune, to enjoy each other's company while we do this, because that's how people find strength and solidarity, energy, inspiration and love enough overcome all obstacles. If you truly believe in the People, you will do these things. And if we all do these things, there isn't a force in this world that can stop us! Thank you.

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