Potere al Popolo! | NYC Assembly
Sempre noi, ma in Inglese. Notes and thoughts about us for those who want to participate, to get to know us better, to join the struggle
Who are Potere al Popolo!?
Potere al Popolo! (Power to the People!) is an Italian political movement, which began in November of 2017. We participated in the March 2018 Italian elections, amplifying the voices of workers, precarious youth, migrants, and the unemployed, inside an electoral process that saw a populist far-right triumph over a center-left which had cultivated and entrenched a devasting neoliberal program for decades. Building with militants, young and old, we fostered a network that based on the basic realities of life and the local and larger experiences everyday people experience. We founded a national organization whose goals aim to bridge the disconnect between elected officials and social activism, between the party and the grassroots movement; we believe that popular power is born both in the streets and in the institutions, in the neighbourhoods and in the workplace. In fact, as the word “democracy” (literally: the power of the people) still carries important meaning, it is necessary to free the word from what is instead signified by the delegation, passivity, and resignation felt across the world by working people, and to experiment at every level, by building solidarity and common struggle, i.e. a rejuvenated way of practicing politics.
Our primary principles and goals:
Considering both our engagement in electoral politics, as well as the (crucial) grassroots work that we carry out everyday, the principle idea that guides our work is that in considering the popular masses of people, in Italy as everywhere else in the world, we have two fundamental goals of the utmost urgency: 1) To destroy the false contradiction between reactionary/xenophobic forces and the dominant liberal/“progressive” paradigm, which positions itself as an “alternative.” This illusion of choice, proposes a decision between two sides of the same violent and oppressive coin; 2) To organize ourselves in a mass internationalist movement that is at once: radically feminist, attentive to questions of climate justice, anti-racist, anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist, and furthermore attentive to the intersectionality of these positions, making clear that transform society up from the roots, we must affirm and reinforce that an alternative to capitalism is not only necessary but possible via collective action.
Why is PaP! becoming active outside of the Italian context?
Potere al Popolo! is the only political force in Italy that has dozens of active assemblies outside of the country in Europe and, indeed, elsewhere. On the one hand, this is an expression of the huge emigration out of Italy (mostly by youth) that has been profoundly visible since the 2008 financial crisis, and on the other hand, of the interests that Italians have in keeping a link with their country while they are abroad. PaP! has always given the upmost attention to these common struggles and conditions, which is a key tool in responding to what, for us, is a fundamental human tendency: to create struggle collectively.
What can a PaP assembly accomplish in NY?
At the heart of PaP! is collective cooperation and solidarity, practical work and theory in effort to unite what capitalism constantly works to divide and put into competition. The same principles guide the goals of our proposed NYC assembly, to practice this type of work together here, and internationally:
- Communications and (counter-)information. To introduce and amplify (via social media and our website) that key socio-political crises and events in Italy, US, and elsewhere, while providing firsthand insights and materials which can be useful to those active on either side of the Atlantic to counter the shortcomings of mass media. In this way, we can cultivate solidarity across countries, while connecting similar struggles across borders.
- International solidarity and collaboration. To create connections between different groups and organizations that can be beneficial to the interconnected fights we share.
- Specific struggles, fights, and campaigns. In all ways possible we aim to support, with bodies and via media and communications: strikes of all kinds; environmental struggles, resistance to evictions, displacement, and gentrification; international grassroots movements and campaigns. On the latter point, while the US is experiencing a rejuvenated growth of activism and movement on the left, we are here to help in any way that we can.
- The organization of public events: protests, actions, screenings, lectures, etc.
During the Italian elections on March 4, 2018, Potere al Popolo! used as a slogan a verse from the anti-fascist song “L’Internazionale” by Franco Fortini (song: here; lyrics: here), which goes: “where there was only no, we will make it yes.” In another passage from the same revolutionary song that we want to remember and appropriate, as it explains concisely who we are, what we believe, and for what we fight, Fortini sings:
We don’t want to hope for anything
Our dream is reality
From continent to continent
This earth is enough for us
— Potere al Popolo!
