By
Eric Swedlund
Arizona Daily Wildcat
LOS ANGELES-Lydia Lester, a UA linguistics junior, went beyond protesting during her time in downtown Los Angeles.
She joined U.S. Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill. and Barney Frank, D-Mass., United Steelworkers President George Becker, Sierra Club President Robbie Cox, and pollster Celinda Lake on a panel discussion called "The Global Challenge," sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future, a progressive Democratic lobbying group.
In moderator Robert Borosage's introduction, he said students have "added a remarkable new energy to the fight on globalization."
Lester's speech to about 200 people at the panel discussion began with her indictment of the Democratic National Convention.
"I came here today straight of the streets of L.A. where I've been demonstrating with thousands of other people against the Democratic Party. Though there are many issues that the people have come here to address, the common thread is that the Democratic Party has consistently failed to represent the views of the majority of people in the United States. The Democrats continue to (serve) the wealthy and the corporations," she said.
Her address continued with a statement that outlined problems with both parties.
"Both the Democrats and the Republicans represent a two-party system dominated by the big corporations. The Clinton-Gore administration of the Democratic Party, backed by the pro-corporate Republicans at every turn, has failed to support labor rights, human rights, environmental protection and the needs of people of color," she said. "The pro-corporate two-party stranglehold on politics doesn't allow majority views to become public policy."
Speaking as a representative of United Students Against Sweatshops, Lester said that about a year ago, there were only a handful of campuses involved in the anti-sweatshop movement, and now there are more than 200.
She closed her time at the podium with a plea for the progressives to turn away from the two-party system.
"Third parties, such as the Labor Party and the Green Party, represent the grass-roots effort that could bring about the change the American people need. The global challenge is to change the political and economic system to truly serve the people, not the corporations and the wealthy."
