Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.06.2018, Blaðsíða 13

13 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2018
of the marginalised not only heard,
but present in City Council itself.
Passing on the majority
Before the dust had even settled after
the elections, people were speculating
on whether or not the Socialist Party
was going to help the Social Demo-
crats and others form a broad-based
centre-left coalition. Sanna’s response
was definitive: not only were they
not going to help that coalition; they
weren’t going to be taking part in any
majority coalition discussions.
This decision was met with confu-
sion, and in some cases even anger,
from many people. But to Sanna the
issue could not have been simpler.
“Our entire campaign was based
on the experience of the working
poor, pensioners, disabled and immi-
grants,” she says. “We didn't want to
compromise or give a discount on our
platform by joining a majority.
“Also, all during the campaign we
were criticising how these left parties
were working, that they weren't radi-
cal enough and weren't talking against
this neoliberalism that we have been
putting so much focus on, so if we
would all of the sudden be in a major-
ity with them, then maybe the voters
would decide that we're all very simi-
lar and there's not much difference
between us. People felt betrayed by
these leftist parties. There was some
misunderstanding, where people
thought we were giving up, but I think
now more people get it. I'm still going
to have a seat in City Council. I can
still make proposals and criticise.
It's not like I'm packing my bags and
giving up. We can do a lot more work-
ing with these marginalised people."
And what does “power to
the people” mean?
In an additional follow up to this
controversy, Sanna penned a lengthy
essay that unpacked one of Malcolm
X’s famed essays in which he outlined
the difference between people who
work towards liberation and those
who, having been given small rewards
for their obedience, prefer to work
within the existing system — these
two different classes mark a division
within the same group of people.
Sanna saw parallels between the
phenomenon Malcolm X described
and her own struggle, and wasn’t
afraid to highlight them.
“I really like powerful stories to
explain to people what I mean,” she
says. “I really like how that one story
is rough, it's brutal, it's honest. It
doesn't talk between the lines. So I
look a lot to this kind of literature in
this battle, because there's a lot of
similarities with our struggle."
The platform points Sanna is fight-
ing for are easy to understand, but
broad in scope.
"We have three points that we want
to tackle: power to the people, hous-
ing for all, and to end the low-wage
policy for city workers,” she says.
“Safe housing is just one of the most
basic welfare factors that need to be
corrected in people's lives. The stress
you face when you don't have secure
housing is tremendous. Renters
have so few rights. We'd like to look
at putting a cap on rental prices. And
we don't want to see this outsourcing
amongst city workers. And by power
to the people we mean we want to see
more people be able to take an active
role in deciding policy. I need to talk
to these grassroots groups, and ask,
'What is it you want to have heard in
City Council? What can I emphasise?'
We want to be a movement, and in
a movement you need the voices of
everyone."
“We want
to be a
move-
ment, and
in a move-
ment you
need the
voices of
everyone.”
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"Safe housing is just one of the most basic welfare factors that need to be corrected in people's lives."