Elections

Today, social media has become inevitable in imperial politics, with many capitalist politicians and ruling-class political parties using it as an inexpensive and immensely influential tool for colonial propaganda.

It was the mission of Akilé and Jesse’s social media team to use social media to forward the people’s candidates and to win the masses to a platform that represented the interest of the African Working Class.

The 2017 Committee to Elect Akilé (Cainion) Anai for District 6 city councilwoman and Jesse Nevel for mayor of St. Petersburg, FL was led by the African People’s Socialist Party and made up of youthful forces powered by the slogans “Unity through Reparations!” and “Radical Times; Radical Solutions!”

For six months, from early March through August 29, the joint campaign committee was a powerhouse of energy, enthusiasm and commitment waging an outstanding ground war to elect the dynamic young candidates who excited the African working class to come out and vote for their own interests for the first time ever.

When New York assemblyman Charles Barron endorsed Eritha Akilé Anai (Cainion) for city councilwoman and Jesse Nevel for mayor in the 2017 St. Petersburg, FL elections, it was historic. Assemblyman Barron gave powerful advice, based upon years of successful campaigning and stopping the vicious tide of gentrification in East New York: “Door to door wins the war!”

The African People’s Socialist Party’s campaign for Akilé Anai (formerly Eritha Cainion) for District 6 city council and Jesse Nevel for mayor of St. Petersburg, FL this year was a six-month decorum-shattering, cadre-building, history-making mobilization of the masses of the people.

Between our announcements to run in March and election day on August 29, our daily work included work on the streets among the masses of the people, disruption of status-quo debates, fisticuffs, laughs, exuberant demonstrations, battles with the bourgeois media, social media wars and recruitment of amazing new Comrades in the process of breaking up the status quo and forcing the interests of the African working class onto St. Petersburg’s electoral agenda.

ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA—Today is a historic day for the people of St. Petersburg as they gear up excitedly, ready to make real change in the city by voting in two of the most radical elections that the city has ever seen.

The race for District 6 City Council and Mayor of St. Petersburg has reached its climax as the masses head to the polls to cast their votes for the candidates with the best plans to bring real, material change to the city.

We have entered the championship round.

As election day fast approaches, next Tuesday in fact, the people’s movement to elect myself, Eritha ‘Akile’ Cainion for District Six City Council and Jesse Nevel for Mayor have defined this period as the championship round.

“Millennials” is a generalized and imprecise term used to describe people born between the years of 1981 and 1997. This generation lives in a time where access to information is both endless and extremely suppressed. A time when paid leave is the system’s response to videos of police shootings that have live coverage, millions of views and instant commentary. A time where hashtags can start movements and end careers.

We are a generation that demands an immediate stance in response to the world and its developments. We are a generation that was sold a message of hope and change only to be betrayed by the status quo of a corrupt system that had been turned against the interests of the people.

Presented one piece of evidence after the other, millennials are suspicious, looking to differentiate between genuine representatives of progress and those who would sell out at the expense of the people.

Despite what corporate media would have you think who millennials are, we are invested and often participate in politics. Locally this is evident from the huge millennial support of Eritha Akilé Cainion’s campaign for District 6 and Jesse Nevel’s campaign for Mayor.

St. Petersburg, FL—A candidate for mayor representing a pitiful sector of the white ruling class told attendees of Tuesday night’s Mayoral debate to “go back to Africa.”

Paul Congemi made these vile comments in response to Uhuru Movement mayoral candidate Jesse Nevel, whose platform calls for “Unity through Reparations.”

The SEIU’s People’s Budget Review held a local forum on Thursday June 15th at The Sunshine Center so that the nine district 6 candidates could have an opportunity to hear out the concerns of the community. The description of the event read: “You’ll be able to engage in dialogue with candidates for the District 6 race and hear them respond to how they will be supporting the People’s agenda.”

The open forum quickly became a battle royale. Most candidates were obviously fighting in the interest of prime real estate, while others were engaged in a vested struggle against police violence and gentrification.