![\"Gubernatorial](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Gubernatorial_Ramsey-Robinson-2_web-620x413.jpg\")
Ramsey Robinson, candidate for governor under the Peace and Freedom Party, speaking at the Vote Socialist event on April 18. Photo by Mars Santos<\/p>\nRamsey Robinson, candidate for governor under the Peace and Freedom Party, speaking at the Vote Socialist event on April 18. Photo by Mars Santos<\/p>\n
Ramsey Robinson, an activist and social worker, visited West Fresno on April 18 to share his vision of California if he were to win the gubernatorial race in June.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am here spreading this message that there\u2019s no excuse that all the people in Fresno and all of us in California get the dignity and security that we deserve,\u201d Robinson shared in an interview with the Community Alliance.<\/p>\n
The community cookout was organized by the Vote Socialist campaign. Members of the Central Valley chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) are major drivers of the campaign locally and many of their members volunteered to make the event happen.<\/p>\n
At the event, about 100 Fresnans joined to break bread with, meet and hear from Robinson and community leaders Rev. Dr. Karen Crozier, Lourin Hubbard and Princess Rios. Rios, a volunteer for the Vote Socialist campaign and member of the local PSL chapter, hosted the event, sharing her own story before introducing the speakers.<\/p>\n
Rev. Dr. Crozier told her story of growing up in West Fresno. Through her organization Jewel of Justice, she is committed to helping folks \u201cexpand (their) capacity to think critically, act creatively and engage from (their) values and mission for racial and environmental justice.\u201d She finished with a reading from her book Fannie Lou Hamer\u2019s Revolutionary Practical Theology: Racial and Environmental Justice Concerns.<\/p>\n
Hubbard, a candidate for Congressional District 21, spoke about his upbringing by a single mom who worked multiple jobs and how he began caring for his siblings from an early age while she worked. Now a parent, he watches as his children \u201cget to be kids\u201d and reflects on the system that prevented him from accessing his own childhood.<\/p>\n
Robinson reflected on his experience with the system as well, sharing:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve lived so many years of my life in California where I\u2019ve had to live in basements that didn\u2019t have a shower, living with roommates, five, six of us in a two-bedroom house, living paycheck to paycheck, not having enough money for both rent and healthcare, having to decide which one.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asking the crowd who has experienced the same dilemma, many people raised their hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s just 194 billionaires that are hoarding $1.2 trillion of the wealth that us folk make and that we\u2019re out to get it back and make sure that we have everything we need to survive and thrive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Robinson\u2019s campaign promises include a rent freeze on day one; \u201chomes for the people, not for profit\u201d; Medi-Cal for all; fully funded public schools; full rights for immigrants; environmental safety from capitalism; a $30 minimum wage; reparations; and defense for Black Americans, women and the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n
\u201cY\u2019all have a 20 year less life span than other people, right? That half of folks in West Fresno live below the poverty line, right? So when we say that we\u2019re going to tax those billionaires and make sure that we have housing, healthcare, education, a dignified retirement and a guaranteed union job at $30 an hour, well, that\u2019s going to benefit everyone in Fresno,\u201d he said, speaking directly to the impact his proposed policies would have on Fresnans.<\/p>\n
He also emphasized Fresno\u2019s exploitation of Black and Brown people, and his plan for direct reparations and preventive measures including creation of the State Department of Anti-Discrimination.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can review, rewrite or veto any racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophonic bills because this campaign is really about building power, economic and political power that\u2019s going to put everyone, (including) the people in Fresno.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a mental health professional, Robinson works closely with youth 14\u201318 years old in Bayview-Hunters Point, a neighborhood in San Francisco that he compares to Fresno\u2019s west side. He reflects on how the structures affect his community and how meeting basic needs can have a positive impact on their mental well-being.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo much of the anxiety, the depression, the trauma that they experience is due to the crisis that they face outside of the school, outside of the therapeutic space\u2026imagine when they have guaranteed union jobs at $30 an hour minimum when they graduate, imagine if their aunties and their mothers and their mamas and their brothers and sisters that they have, they\u2019ll never be kicked out of a home, whether they\u2019re in between jobs or working full time\u2026Imagine when they get fully funded healthcare that covers mental health, that covers reproductive rights, gender-affirming care. I mean, this is going to transform people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, Robinson\u2019s campaign promises align with his slogan, a \u201cCalifornia for the People, Not the Billionaires.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to really build about this amazing society where our needs are met, that we\u2019re healthy, that we\u2019re getting preventive care, right? That everybody that needs to see a therapist can see a therapist like myself or my coworkers. This is the California we\u2019re building together.\u201d<\/p>\n
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