National Conference
Turning Truth to Power: Young People and the Fight for Progressive Victories
The following is adapted from Campus Progress director David Halperin's remarks at the 7th annual Campus Progress National Conference on July 6, 2011. See video of the remarks here.
Speakers here today include Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Representatives Keith Ellison and Gwen Moore, from the White House Gene Sperling and Kalpen Modi; Amy Goodman, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cecile Richards, Jose Antonio Vargas, Van Jones, and President Bill Clinton.
Why are they all here? Not because of money—we can’t afford to pay them a dime. Not because they don’t have other invitations. They all do. They’re here because they know that young people are essential to making progressive change a reality.
Put another way, for the 7th year in a row, the most important participant at CPNC is you. It sounds corny, I don’t care—it’s true. Because you are the person who can leave here and make a difference. By finding the truth, by speaking that truth to powerful interests, and by turning truth into power for your generation.
Many of you know the concept of speaking truth to power. It comes from the Quaker tradition. Progressives have used it many times and places.
Speaking truth to power is a noble thing. But in 2011, in the United States of America, it is not enough. It’s time for the people who possess the truth to also have the power.
Young people know the truth.
For example, you know that the truth is, we can’t address deficits and put Americans back to work unless the richest people once again pay their fair share of taxes.
Another truth is that our economy and our security will be stronger, not weaker, if we pass the DREAM Act, if we do the right thing for young immigrants who did nothing wrong and want the same American dream as the rest of us.
The truth is that only bigotry stands in the way of full equality for people who identify themselves by the letters LGBTQ.
The facts are on your side. Justice is on your side.
What is needed, urgently, is to take these compelling truths and turn them into progressive victories and sustained influence.
Turning truth to power—that’s what we want to discuss with you.
I particularly want to talk about how we can counter one kind of power—the unchecked power of business corporations.
I love capitalism. Some of my best friends are capitalists. Capitalism creates jobs, spurs innovation, gives us Ipods and pizza and lots of other stuff we love.
But something has gone wrong with the way many large business corporations behave here, in Washington DC. Simply put, they lobby for positions that are not warranted by the facts or our values. They spend millions on lobbying, advertising, and campaign contributions to get outcomes that rip off taxpayers, consumers, and workers, that harm our economy and our future.
Today you’ll hear from a great panel about the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and other developments that have increased corporate influence over politics.
We’ve seen that influence on the issue of global warming and clean energy. We can see before our eyes the violence that extreme weather and climate change are causing. We see communities destroyed by toxic pollution. But the big oil and energy companies lobby to prevent reforms. Young people can see the possibility of a clean energy future. You need to fight for it.
Campus Progress and our partners have seen another example of cynical corporate power this year. There is overwhelming evidence that some for-profit colleges are abusing taxpayer money with high-priced, low-quality programs that leave many students deep in debt, their lives nearly ruined. For-profit colleges have about 10 percent of U.S. students, 25 percent of financial aid, and nearly half of all student loan defaults. Their reckless behavior risks a new subprime debt crisis. Yet the corporations that run these schools have spent millions trying to avoid even minimal accountability.
It’s disturbing to see who is lobbying for these special interests and their indefensible positions.
Some of the paid advocates for corporate greed call themselves progressives and have worked for progressive causes and Administrations. But now they use their superior skills and connections to advance positions that are anything but progressive. It’s a shame.
A 22 year old once wrote, “I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused.”
It’s more than OK to use humor to deal with your outrage, to cope with the cynical lies we hear so often. But don’t lose that outrage—put it to good use.
You need to fight against so-called “Voter ID” laws. The claimed intention of these laws is to prevent fraud, but the truth is there are almost no cases of voter impersonation—you are more likely to be struck by lightning than by someone trying to vote by pretending to be someone else. These laws do make it harder for young people, people of color, low-income people, the disabled, and older Americans to vote.
It's voter suppression, plain and simple.
Campus Progress exposed the fact that the model “Voter ID” law was drafted by a Wash group called American Legislative Exchange Council, affiliated with big business interests like Exxon Mobil and the Koch brothers. They say their mission is to promote limited government, free markets, and individual liberty. But how does making it harder for people to vote advance liberty?
John Adams said, “Facts are stubborn things.” Facts persist, the truth persists.
But you will have to fight, and build real power, if the truth is to prevail.
The people with the truth can get the power. In recent decades, the world witnessed what seemed like miracles – Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Kim Dae-Jung in South Korea, Vaclav Havel in the Czech Republic. They weren’t prisoners and dissidents anymore. They were the presidents of their countries. But miracles had nothing to do with it. Real people risked their lives and gave their lives to turn truth to power. And they’re doing it again today across the Middle East.
I hope you will work with Campus Progress and our partners in the fight for progressive change. Join with us for change on issues like affordable education, LGBTQ equality, immigration reform, and voting rights. Look to Campus Progress for support for your local activism and journalism projects. Please visit CampusProgress.org.
Enough about us. Again, this conference is about you. Many of you are well on your way to careers in activism, advocacy, journalism—use this day, and tomorrow to advance your work and make new connections.
For others who are newer to this world, I can say honestly from seven years of doing this, this event can put people on the path to their life’s work.
A member of our staff who left last year to attend graduate school in California emailed me last week. She was in a coffee shop and talked up a woman wearing a CP t-shirt. Her name was Amina, and she told her story: she came from a family of twelve, and three of her older siblings worked in sweatshops to support the family. She enrolled at UC Riverside, the first in her family to attend college.
Amina never considered herself an activist until one of her siblings lost an arm in the sweatshop, and was released from work without any compensation and told never to return. That was her sophomore year, and it got her involved in an anti-sweatshop group at school. One of the members mentioned this conference and encouraged the group to go. Amina had never left California or been on a plane, but she was determined to get here. So she got an extra job, saved up the money, and headed to the 2007 Campus Progress conference. She said the conference, "literally changed my entire life."
She met other young people involved in sweatshop activism, attended a panel on labor, and gained more confidence to take action. Now Amina works for a union focusing on child labor issues.
I remember well meeting that group from UC Riverside, many of them immigrants or children of immigrants.
There are so many stories like this—people overcoming obstacles and working to improve all our lives, especially the lives of people who need help the most.
I know many of you aspire to careers like that. You are the people who should have the power. I’m really glad you’re here.
David is the founder and former director of Campus Progress.
Sneak Peek: #CPNC12 Speakers Revealed
The Top 10 Facts About Children of Color in the United States
Cartoon: The Second Time