We hope to stage a major debate on the respective strategies of working within the Democratic Party and of organizing independent electoral activity. C-SPAN and other media will be invited to cover the debate, which may feature such speakers as Tom Hayden, Maxine Waters and Cornell West versus Ron Daniels, Karen Kubby and Sabina Virgo. Additionally, the convention will offer workshops where activists can network and share practical organizing skills. Either a short statement of unity or a more extensive platform are also anticipated. Several potential sites have been inspected, but none had been reserved as of mid-March.
Funding is needed, of course, to pay for proper facilities as well as publicity and other needs.
The Los Angeles People's Convention and demonstrations, as well as the actions planned in Philadelphia at the time of the Republican Convention, will hopefully be broadly-based, massive and politically valuable. If conditions are right, that may occur as early as summer of 2001. In the meantime, Philadelphia and Los Angeles may create building blocks toward greater working unity in putting forward a progressive people's agenda.